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To Oceanside...by train!

Thursday's with Sadie! Oceanside

This week we decided after getting Sadie a new haircut, we would take the commuter train to the beach. I couldn't decide if we would switch trains after we got to Oceanside and head to other parts of the coast, but once we got there and looked around we decided it was a great place to stop.

Sadie looked for shells on the beach and found lots of little pieces, which we carried home in our pockets. We're hoping to do a little collage that reminds us of some of our outings from this year and we both decided that shells would make a wonderful addition.

The train was really neat. It was quiet and nice to sit and relax instead of driving us all over the place. It took about 45 minutes to get all the way to Oceanside, but I definitely enjoyed the ride. I was nice to have the excuse to have to walk everywhere, instead of taking the car.

The weather was beautiful, it's hard to believe it's January! Sadie loves chasing off the seagulls. There were plenty out today for her to terrorize!

We walked out on the pier, but she was disappointed I didn't have any

quarters for the "lookie thingy."

We had a wonderful time together, she even got to take a little nap on the train. Maybe our next trip we'll leave earlier and get a chance to check out some other areas we can get to on the train.

New Year...New Resolutions!

Of course I love the idea of a fresh start, who doesn't. But I hate to fail so it's easy to say I'm not making any resolutions I'm just going to be more (blank) or do less (blank). But this year I've decided to make some real resolutions. I want to be healthier and get myself to a reasonable weight, and get into better shape. This one I do every year, and sometimes I do better than others. I also want to spend more time doing fun things with my girls. Day trips and games even just little shopping trips to the mall. I want to get to know them all better. Madison will be leaving for college in just 6 years, God willing. I want to have an opportunity to know her before it's too late. This is my last year with Sadie at home two days. I have the chance to make this a special year for us. I also want to keep more up to date on this blog (little resolution) so I can keep track of my life and share it with people I care about. I'd also like to take better pictures and this will give me the opportunity to practice and share them with everyone who reads my...

Stuck in Utah

Day 108

Today I stop counting days because almost everything is back to normal.  We have most of the furniture back in place and things are much less hectic, except for the fact that's it's 11 o'clock and we leave for Montana in 5 hours.  So here are the pictures of the"finished" (except for the things that we haven't finished) kitchen.  

Here is where the sliding glass door used to be.  It was a small nook in the kitchen but now it's just part of the kitchen.  I love my door it makes me smile just thinking about it.

Here is the hallway into the entry (from the kitchen).  We caulked all the odd exterior wood paneling and it painted up real nice, it has some nice character.  This is one of the areas where we have changed our minds.  When we come home from Montana we'll be painting the textured walls in the entry the same yellow as the kitchen.  We decided it was too white.

This is the view of the former dining room, now craft room/office.  Jer drywalled up both of the former doorways, and made a wide opening on the wall in the kitchen.  Although this picture was taken at night during the day it's well lit because of this change.  He also replaced the window, added trim, replaced the baseboards, put in canned lighting, and added a beam to the entrance.

Entry way.  Here Jer covered the former door into the dining room, replaced the closet door, trimmed out the closet (and the toy room entry), replaced the baseboards, and added a couple of spots for sconces.  We will be painting the walls in here yellow, because the Swiss Coffee isn't doing it for us.  Actually putting sconces in the little blue holes.  And painting the door the same blue as my dutch door.  These were changes from the original plan, that's why we have to do them when we get back.

Another view of the entry.  We will be keeping the wood walls and ceilings Swiss Coffee, just painting the regular walls.  We also replaced the strange gold eyeball lights in favor of something a little less noticeable.

Here is the kitchen from standing just in front of the fridge and facing the entry hall.  

Here's the kitchen, pretty much done.  We did too much in here to list everything.  We still have to install 4 pendant lights (two over the sink and two over the island), put in the backsplash, and get some barstools.

Here's the dining area.  Jer replaced the window trimmed it replaced the baseboards and replaced the lights.  We still have to get a hanging fixture for over the table as well.  So short of a little tile, paint, and a few lights we're done.  When we get home in August, I'll be getting right on those things so I can have it all complete before school starts.  Then I can start of the decorating of my new spaces, once the kids are in school and I can shop with wild abandon!  I hope to continue posting while were in Montana, so keep checking in.

Day 91

Guess what this almost looks like?  A KITCHEN!

Today was a good day.  After spending the day at the kids end of the school year parties I came home to find that there were no painters cars in my driveway, and it was only four o'clock.  To my surprise look what I came home to a near kitchen.  I'm so excited.  I'm so close to washing dishes in a sink I can actually feel the water!  But for us now the crunch time really starts.  I can't tell you how long my list of things to do before the floor guys show up Wednesday morning.  There is so much left to do, but since the painter got out a day early (and fixed most of the overspray issues) we have an extra day to finish.

Can I just say check out that sexy sink!  As soon as the painters got out Jer couldn't wait to get the faucet fitted in place (it's not actually in yet).  He's pretty excited too!  I think I saw him smail...twice.  Oh well enough oohs and ahhs for me I need to get my kids in bed, and get to painting.  So many walls so little time.

Day 89 (almost caught up)

This is what everything looks like with the painter in doing the cabinets.  There are doors drying everywhere.  It's a little crazy.  Here's what our soon to be dining area looks like today.

Some days I feel like were almost there others I feel like were so far from done.  Today I felt far from done.  Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.  Jeremy and I are doing great and still agreeing on everything for the most part.  We especially agree that we want to throttle the cabinet painter.  He seems to be getting overspray on everything and were really worried that it will be up to us to get it back into shape.

Grandma & Sadie Go to Sea World

For Sadie's 5th birthday Grandma took her to Sea World for the day.   They had lunch with Shamu and his friends.  Which Sadie loved, she got to see the animals up close. 

What a special day for Sadie to get to spend time by herself with Grandma.  Thanks Grandma!

Dylan Meets the Smits!

On May 21 Jon (my brother in law) came down to install our new counter tops.  Which are beautiful and he brought Julie and my new Niece with him.  I couldn't wait to meet her!

Dylan Kate Pereira was born on Sadie's birthday April 30th.  She's adorable.  

Her cousins are crazy over her.  They got to spend the evening visiting with their aunt and uncle and their new cousin.

They took turns fighting over who's turn it was to hold her.  And they thought is was hilarious when she made "a face like something smells really bad"

Uncle Jeremy seems to think she's something really special, and Sadie thinks that since they share a birthday that they must be sisters not cousins!  We tried to explain it but it didn't seems to sink in.

Thank you Jules for making a trip out here just to see us, and let us see her.  I feel so grateful for the time I got to spend with your new little family.  She is beautiful and perfect.  What an amazing mother you are becoming.  You seem so at ease.  Motherhood becomes you.  I love you and am so proud of you.

Mini Olympics 2009

For all you non-Calvinites who check out my blog.  Mini Olympics is a Calvin event that is basically just what it sounds like.  The kids are on teams designated with a color and a country.  The teams are made up of first thru sixth graders.  The Eighth Graders run the events, the Seventh Graders are the team leaders.  They compete in all sorts of events, ending in a huge relay race!

Madison was on the grey team, which was France.  She seemed to be having more fun than this picture shows.  It was a beautiful day, unlike last year which rained!

Sophia was on the red team, which was Holland.  Here's Sophia running the relay race smiling the entire way.  She seems to take after her Dad, lucky girl.  She has much more coordination than I do.  She even got her National fitness award this year for the first time.  The only thing she didn't qualify for Presidential in was sit ups.  Sit ups have kept her from getting the award every year until this one.  Way to go Fia!

I had to stop taking photos of her, she kept stopping to smile at me!  This is her during the middle of the obstacle course!

Great action shot!  This is Sophia at the standing broad jump.  PS I love my new camera.  I was able to take six pictures during this one jump!

Sadie can never be entirely left out.  She gets a piggyback ride from Madison.

Madison's Standing broad jump.  Look at her go.  I can't believe how tall she's getting.  Look at those long legs.

Day 50 (catching up)

Ok so currently were way past this, but this is the only picture I have of the new cabinets as they were going in.  So here it is.  This picture was taken while Mr. Tom was in the process of installing, mainly the lowers.

Day 49 (catching up)

Not much to say in this post other than check out my awesome sink!  Jeremy took pictures of it this day to send them to Julie and Jon to figure out the best way to template around this sink with the marble we choose for the countertops.  It's not a great picture but you get the idea!

Day 43 (Catching Up)

Since I haven't blogged in many a day I'm catching up with the few pictures I've taken to show what's going on with us.  Here's the kitchen with no paint or cabinets but new electrical!  This is the view facing my window over the sink. ( Jeremy took these at night with no flash for some reason?)

View of what will be my refrigerator, oven and pantry wall.  Again no paint with electrical.

View from the kitchen towards the entry way, paint cut in around the edges.

This is the view of my eating area from my kitchen, nothing but electrical done.

Day 38

So for me this week I've picked out my backsplash (sort of) worked on hardware and all around feel like I've gotten almost nowhere.  My only job is to pick out stuff, but since I want it to be perfect, well it seems to take a while.  Better luck next week.

Not too much change, but Jer is out of the walls.  Here is the dining area...
Here is Leon the drywall guy. Yea! getting rid  of my swirly celings.  He'll also be patching op all the walls and texturing them so they match the parts of the walls we tore up.  He's really good at walking with that bucket under his feet.  He just scoots along with out climbing down.  I would absolutely kill myself.  I guess that's why I sit at a computer instead of putting up and texturing drywall.  It was my second carreer choice, after taxi driver, landing zone for throw up, incessent whine listener toer.
This is the main area of the kitchen, by the end of next week it will look ton's different.  The lowers will be installed and then we'll be waiting for the granite, or marble we can't decide which.
The office looks the same.  Jeremy still has to put up the drywall in here, then Leon will come back and texture this room.  It'll be sometime in the next couple of weeks.
Another view of the kitchen.  The sink goes Monday, I'll miss you sink!  I think I'll be doing dishes with a garden hose!  Just for a few weeks, hopefully, an adventure!  That's it for today, I was just excited.  These are technically the first guys other than Jer to come in and do anything.  Of course the cabinet guy has been working on it, but since he's not here I don't think of it that way.

Day 35

Yesterday Jer didn't have as much time to work, he played golf with some friends, but when he got home and finished up his "real job"  He put the drywall up on one of the  old entrances to the craft room. 
This is a picture of the skylight.  I think he's going to be putting the drywall on that today.  So I wanted to make sure I had a good picture of it, before it got all closed up.Here's the girls having breakfast at what's left of the kitchen counter.  It's a sink, a dishwasher, and a bank of small drawers!  As you can see Jeremy got out the rest last night!  Today we're hopefully picking up and installing the door (it came in yesterday, a week early!)  The kids are getting freaked out by the mosquito eaters that seem to have full rein of the house right now.  Sadie is scared to death of them, but she won't let anybody hurt them either.  So when she goes to bed we have to quick run around and kill them all!

Day Thirty Four

This is what the entry looks like right now.  It's a little hard to see but you can see (on the right behind the drywall) that Jer has framed in the existing dining/office room doorway.  Mainly the only other thing that will change is the floor.  Which will be the same wood that will go in the rest of the remodel section.  Were also adding sconces and changing out the closet door, and the solatube.
Here is the new opening into the dining/office room.  The view is from the kitchen.  Jer has finished all the electrical in the office.  He has been working for weeks on the electrical there are a lot of changes to the existing and it is all way too complicated for me to get but he and Scott seem to be doing a great job because everything works!
This is the view of what used to be a little eating nookish area that went out to the deck and had a huge slider.  Jer has put in the framing for the new door, which should arrive next week sometime.  You can also see one of the skylight opening.  Jer has framed that in as well, but not drywall yet.  You can also see that he took down my uppers.  I still have the use of my sink, my dish washer, and my range.
Here is what the kitchen looks like.  Jer has framed in the new window, the other skylight, done most of the wiring and all the can lights.  He's been a busy guy.  I'm so thankful he knows what he's doing.  We'd never be able to afford the kind of kitchen I'm getting if he couldn't do so much himself.
Not much has happened here, but really not that much is changing.  New window, new lights, floors, baseboards, and of course no more swirly ceiling texture.  Right now this is where we keep the Fridge.

The appliances arrived a couple days ago.  I haven't seen them yet because they're still in boxes.  I'm still working on the pendant lights, tile, what color to paint the cabinets.  So it hasn't changed all that much because the in the wall work is slow going.  Soon Jer will be patching up the drywall and the drywall guy will come in to texture the walls and ceiling.  I'll post more pictures when things change a little.  Still enjoying every minute, I know that sounds weird, nut after waiting so long to do this I still smile every time I walk through this mess.

Lisa