Our Happy New Year Greetings

Merry belated Christmas and happy new year to all our friends and family.  Every year, I think I'll put together a cute Christmas card and mail it out, but I haven't followed through for I think 4 years now.  So, once again, here is the online greeting from dear little old us.

Benson started the year off working crazy awful hours as a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant manager while he looked for a new job in his field.  The new job finally came through and he started with Compliance 11 shortly after the birth of our 5th child.  And as if being the provider for 5 children wasn't enough, he managed to tear out and install a new kitchen for us over the course of about 3 months.  He is amazing, absolutely amazing.  (And so is my new kitchen if I do say so myself)

Cheryl started the year pregnant.   Managing the lives of 4 little ones and being pregnant was a lot to handle, but managing 5 little ones has proved to be even more crazy.    Just to add to all the craziness, Cheryl decided to do several craft shows in the fall.  Her art keeps her sane and any money it brings in is a nice bonus.  One of the highlights of this year for her was her family reunion in the summer.  It was spectacular chaos.  :)  We loved it.

Goose started 5th grade this fall and is doing very well.  He manages to juggle all the work he has, and is a huge help to me with the littler kids as well.  He refers to Cinderelly as his "minor challenge" and Twister as his "major challenge".  He loves Wizard 101, reading, Legos, and computer games.  He has started playing the trumpet but hasn't decided if he wants to stick with it or switch to another instrument yet...

Sweetie is in 3rd grade and is also a major help to me.  She likes to pretend she has her own restaurant and makes the family lunch whenever she is home.  She is also majorly into art and likes to draw, paint, and color whenever she has free time.  Since she turned 8 this summer, she chose to be baptized.  We had a wonderful event with her and her cousin's baptisms and blessing Cinderelly at the same time. 

Tank started Kindergarten this fall and she LOVES it.  She has also started getting the art/creativity bug and has some beautiful art to show for it.  This may have started because she wants to do everything her sister does.  They are great friends and I love watching them grow together.  She loves to help out and is a great shopping companion. 

Twister is 2 1/2 now and fits the stereotype perfectly.  He wants to do everything by himself and his way.  He is obsessed with electronics and throws a spectacular tantrum when he has to get off of them.  This too shall pass, right??!!  I just have to figure out how to mold that independence into wanting to be potty trained.  Eventually... 

Our little princess Cinderelly joined our family on March 24th.  We really can't imagine life without her anymore.  She has spectacular BLUE eyes that sparkle when she smiles at you.  She has a strong personality that we love to see more of everyday.

We loved receiving so many of your Christmas cards, we love hearing what is going on with you.   I hope you'll forgive us for sending ours out this way.  :)  Health and a happy new years to each of you.

Love,

Us.

Weekend projects

We had a great Thanksgiving last week! My parents went out of town to visit some of my siblings, so those of us left here decided to have a "Pie Night" on Wednesday. We had pizza "pie" and a bunch of pies for dessert. The kids had a blast playing with their cousins, and the adults had fun catching up and doing a bit of crafting.

I had some visions of grandeur during the week.  I decided I wanted to use the flooring we took out of the kitchen to replace some of the really gross carpet in the girls room.  Lucky for me, I have a husband who can make my strange requests into reality.  It looks great and hopefully it will help with Sweetie's allergies as well.

I also had an inspiration to organize our entry.  Shoes, hats, gloves, snowpants, coats, and boots for 7 people take up a lot of room.  A lot more than I was giving them space for, so it always looked awful.  This solution opens up the front room and gives space for so much more stuff!  I love it!

I've also been playing with a super cute baby and some yarn.  :)  I have some super cute scarves to show for it.  I'm hoping to sell some at my next craft show. 

Oh yea, one more organization project.  My mom in law got me this awesome drawer organizer.  I switched around the placement of some of our stuff to use it to a better extent.  Also... LOVING IT!

So, this Thanksgiving I'm thankful for organization.  LOL!  Oh, and my amazing husband, my sweet children, our home, and sooo much more.  Life is good. 

a little funny for you

I never know if things that I find hilarious will be as funny to other people, but we're going to try this one.  We were in the car yesterday and Goose asked me if I had the gift of charm speak.  Apparently, its a concept in "The Last Hero" which he is reading right now.   

Me:  "What is charm speak?"

G:  "It is a gift that some people have that makes other people do just about anything they say".

Me:  "hmm...  I don't have that.  It sounds sort of like people speaking in the book "Goose Girl".

G:  "Yep, its just like that."

Me:  "Do you think anyone in our family has that?"

G:  "I don't know.  I don't have it."

Tank, from the backseat:  "I think I have that!"

  Maybe it wouldn't be so funny if it wasn't partially true?? 

We had a fun halloween around here.   We had a doctor, 2 ballerinas, Buzz Lightyear and a bulls cheerleader.  :)  What a bunch of cuties.  Everyone was glad to be feeling better finally.  We recently went through a round of stomach flu.  Twister brought it home and everyone took a turn feeling awful.  My turn made me super empathetic to everyone else.  I haven't been that sick in a very long time.  SO glad to be done with that.  On top of just feeling awful, I feel like a lost a full week.  My birthday snuck up on me so fast that I didn't even realize it WAS my birthday until late morning when I got on facebook and saw it posted on my wall.  Sad, I know.  It wasn't much of a celebrating type of day, but Benson made it special with flowers and the perfect card.  Cake came late in the week with the off tune singing of happy birthday from my family.  :)  I love that.  Anyway, one year older and wiser, yahoo! 

Now, you'll have to excuse me so I can get back to work...  I have another craft show coming up on Saturday.  I think a few more like this are in the works this week...

Of course, I have to fit that around my crazy week of  teacher conferences, doctor appointments and shuffling 5 kids around.  :)  I love my life.

Some new stuff from Designs in Floral

I've been getting ready for some craft shows and wanted to share some of my new designs. :)

Dainty decorated tree.

This one was created from original artwork by my grandfather. Guess art does run in the family. :)

This is supposed to be a covered bridge.  I'm not sure if it "reads" right.  What do you think?

Another one to join my Christmas card collection. 

Feel free to share any ideas you may have...  I can always use new inspiration.  :)

Hello Blue Eyes!

I think the eye color might actually stick this time.  :)  

ps  Goose wants credit for taking this gem of a picture. 

Home Sweet Home

Is official. The kitchen is done and we are moved back in. Now to organize all the STUFF we came back with. I think it multiplied. So many bags to go through. Sigh. At least the kitchen is clean. :)

so close... yet . . .

not quite done.  This is what my kitchen looks like today. 

I changed my mind about the backsplash.  I love this!!  You can also see the new window installed. 

My new chandelier.  :)  Isn't it pretty?!!

In more exciting news, Cinderelly has decided she wants to be mobile.  She's been rolling around whereever she wants to go for weeks.  This week, she officially started army crawling.  *sigh*  She's so darn cute, but growing up too fast!!

More news...  Sweetie got glasses.  Its not a very strong prescription so she isn't wearing them all the time, but I think she'd like too, just because she thinks they are cute!

Lastly, (sorry no picture yet) Goose started band this week at school.  He decided he wanted to learn the trumpet.  Ei-ya-Ey!  He's been "Plllbbtt"-ing all week.  Wish ME luck with that!  :)

Pictures of the kitchen progress

We've spent the last month enjoying the generosity of my awesome parents by staying at their house while we work on the kitchen.  Everything seems to just be taking a little longer than expected... however, we are making good progress and we're planning on getting back home really soon.  Look how much we've Benson has done!!!

My beautiful granite tile countertop.

Our current thought for the backsplash along side my "new to me" sink.  My sister kept this one in her garage for almost a year because she loved it.  They got a new one that was the same except for being undermount.  I don't know if I mentioned it before, but the beautiful granite tiles were thanks to her too.  They were going to use them in their own kitchen, then decided on something else.  I am SOOO lucky! 

The removal of the soffit.  Note the pipes that had to be moved...

..because you'd never know they were there when he got done with the drywall.

Aren't they gorgeous!!  :) 

All new storage.  This was all wasted space before.  The microwave will go straight ahead and the stove goes underneath.  We got a steal of a deal on a floor model stove, we are really excited about it, because we didn't think it would fit into the budget.

So, that's where we are at.  Yet to come are a new window, the backsplash and all the finishing/trim work.  I'm so thrilled with how it is turning out.  Benson is absolutely amazing!  I am constantly amazed at how capable he is with this stuff.  I am one lucky girl!  :)

slight update

I need to bring my camera back to my house so you can see how things are coming, but until then, you'll have to endure my descriptions. 

The base cabinets are set and the counter is done except for a trim piece.  My BEAUTIFUL sink is installed and the plumbing is all hooked up!  The next huge undertaking is fixing the electrical wiring.  As Benson was testing some of the electrical systems, he found out that we have about 60% of our house sitting on a single circuit.  Since the ceilings are open from taking out the soffits, now is the time to pull the needed wiring to spread them out.  Once that is done, he will patch up the walls... THEN my upper cabinets can go in.  Slowly, but surely, we are getting there!  WOOHOO!

As for our other happenings, the kids started school last week.  Goose is in 5th, Sweetie is in 3rd and Tank started Kindergarten.  Tank was SOOO ready to start school.  She has been happy to go every day.  Although, we had a near meltdown when she got two warnings for talking and had to move her discipline stoplight to yellow.  It was a very sad day, but I think she has recovered.  She was even more thrilled the next day to tell me she stayed on green.  :)  I guess that means the lesson was learned.  I'm enjoying the structure and homework isn't in FULL swing yet, so I'm enjoying that while it lasts.  Ha!   I do find I have to give more individualized attention to Twister as he is used to having buddies to play with all the time.  Cinderelly is growing like a weed!! She is rolling herself all over the place!  She even has this inch-worm-ish move to scoot forward.  I'm SO not ready for her to be moving around!  I guess I can't prevent it though.  :)


So, that's a tidbit of what's going on.  I've been keeping busy just with the kids  and trying to do my own projects in between.  So, I guess that means life is good.  :)

Pictures!!!

I have the most beautiful family!  Love these kids!!!  (and love these pictures of them!)

Thanks to Erin B. Photography!!

More in the kitchen

So, we are moving along in the kitchen.  Benson got the sink and counter out.   We were unpleasantly surprised to find this steel pipe sticking out of the wall.  The previous owner went as far as to build his own cabinets around the pipe!  Why he didn't move it is a mystery.  Anyway, Benson decided to move it. 

 

Thank heaven for handy husbands!  The only downfall is that a small leak in the crawlspace became a big leak while the water was turned off.  Benson had an explanation for why this happened, but it was over my head.  Ha!  So, now we have to have a plumber come in anwyay to fix this leak in our water main.  Once that is done, we can install the cabinets and keep this party moving! 

Since the water has been off for several days, and we removed the sink etc... we moved out of our house and are house sitting for my parents while they are out of town.  We should be back in there in a few days, but it sure has been nice to hang out here with a fully functioning kitchen in the mean time! 

I also took on a craft project to pass some time.  I took a girls size 7 dress and converted it to a Cinderelly sized dress.  I think it turned out pretty good. 

 

Then I was inspired to use the leftover fabric to make some doll clothes.