Zac's Wolf Badge

Zac received is Wolf badge tonight. As you can see, he was soooooo excited. I don't know what his deal is with scouts. I hope his enthusiasm grows a little.

Hayden's Last Day of Preschool

Hayden is done with preschool for the year. He loved going to school and he had the best teachers. Miss Heidi and Miss Kylee ROCK! They did such fun things and he learned so much. Everyday when we left, we had to walk by this map of Pleasant Grove and find our house. Everyday, Hayden had to push the button to open the doors. He is so fun. Lately, he comes up to me and says, "I love you!" It is out of the blue and in the sweetest voice. I love it!

It's DONE!! Check out what we are so excited about!

This is what I learned from my brothers. Nathan, this doesn't look too bad, does it? It made a huge difference.

The vanity has a great story. The space is 47 inches. Do you know how hard it is to find a 47" vanity? My friend Cherly called one morning and told me to go measure this piece that has been sitting downstairs since it was given to us by our friends. In fact, I had already asked Melanie if she wanted it for her daughter's room. I went down and measured -- 46.5". It would fit perfectly into the space. The guy who did the counter upstairs drilled a hole in the top and suggested a vessel sink which I love! We've got to hang the mirror that matched, add 2 lights on the side, remove the top light and fix the drawer in the center. I also added new drawer pulls.
Marc, thanks for the suggestion on the coping saw. I really don't mind doing baseboards or trim at all. Thanks to Victor for showing me how to actually use it.
This is the king of toilets. Well, actually the prince. The king is upstairs -- it has the elongated bowl. We couldn't open the shower door unless we got the round bowl.
The shelf in this picture was Brian's idea. I really like it. We have room for towels and our bathroom stuff. Yeah.


So this is the room that we are most excited about. We have never had a master bathroom. With the boys getting older the competition for the bathroom upstairs has increased -- A LOT! Downstairs, we have the room formerly known as "the guest room". It is larger that our bedroom and has a bathroom. UM.... This is where the original plan began. This room was covered in brown paneling, an ugly ceiling, an even uglier vanity that was built in to the space you see and a toilet that worked when it felt like it. The room with the toilet had ugly brown cabinets attached to the wall and a really 70s floor happening. The only good thing was the shower. I had never used that shower until the tub upstairs was filled with tools and such from the ongoing project. The shower is awesome. The pressure is sooooo amazing. Anyway, one thing led to another. We were just going to paint the paneling, recase the window, paint the bathroom and put a counter on the existing vanity. Simple, less expensive and done quickly. The painting went so fast - thanks Cheryl and Whitney! The bedroom was painted and just needed baseboards. I moved onto the bathroom. In the bathroom, Brian removed the brown cupboards and I thought I would fix the holes, texture and paint. Nope! Someone had painted over wall paper. UG. I hate wallpaper. I peeled some off. Not looking good, we came up with another solution. Remove what I could, texture, paint and put up wainscoting to cover the rest. After removing the baseboards, mold was discovered which led to new sheet rock (I hate sheet rock!), taping, mud, sanding, the works. Then the toilet needed a new valve - this was popular. Our entire house now has new valves, including the main valve coming into the house - Thanks Plumb Crazy -- our favorite plumber. Anyway, after hours of putting a new ceiling in the bathroom, texture, painting, putting up wainscoting, painting baseboards, installing base boards, cutting trim for everthing, sanding, caulking, painting and so many more little things, we are almost done. Monday, we are moving downstairs. Waaaa Hoooo!!!

Upstairs bathroom

This is an almost finished upstairs bathroom. We need to order a mirror from somewhere. Home Depot doesn't stock the size we need. The vanity also needs the hardware added. It is fun to have it done. Logan is the best. He told Melanie the other day, "You need to stop by and see our new bathroom. You would be impressed!" It's fun to see the boys excited. Logan's Saturday job is cleaning the bathrooms and he had so much fun cleaning the new counter and toilet. I have to say that I have mopped and swept a lot more since we put the new floor in.

Hiking with Dad

One Sunday, the boys wanted to go on a hike. Yes, it was Sunday. Brian took them up above our house and hiked up to the waterfall. They had a great time. They love to do stuff like that. This picture is almost to the falls -- it is the "bear cave". Ya, if they only knew what a bear looked like or smelled like.

Demolition

This is the beginning of our little home remodeling project. Overall, it wasn't bad. If I hadn't of been so pregnant, it would have gone faster. These pictures are of the upstairs bathroom being torn apart and the floor being repaired. I didn't take any before pictures of the downstairs bedroom and bathroom. I wish I had, in my mind there is a huge difference. I am so happy with how everything turned out.

Easter

Easter was so much fun this year. Really low key. Kelly, Mary, Nik, Claire and Jake came and had dinner with us. After dinner we colored eggs, played and talked. It was great. My boys are so fun to dress. A little girl isn't going to look as cute in the matching sweater. I'm sure I can make due! The rolls at the top were made by Zac. I made the dough and he rolled them out and put on the pan. He is a good little cook and helper.

Zac has done a book project each month this school year. I love it! I think he has read a lot more and has really enjoyed devouring books! In April, he had to read a biography, learn about a person, write a 30 second blurb and dress like the person to stand in a "wax museum". This was a little hard. He really wanted to read a book on a pirate so we found some great autobiographies. Small problem -- pirates steal and kill. A little too much for 3rd grade. So, the week the project was due, he decided to read the autobiography on Benjamin Franklin. It was fun to find out all of the facts about Ben Franklin that we never knew. Zac had to condense all of this knowledge to a 30 second speech. He did really well! He is a great little actor and has such a great memory for these kinds of things.

I have some serious catching up to do. Logan got to pick any animal he wanted to do an animal report on and create a diorama. He picked the white rhino -- why -- I have no clue. We couldn't find any plastic or toy rhino so together, we found lots of cool pictures on line. He learned a lot and remembered every bit. He took his diorama to school and shared with the class. His teacher had a special day when the parents were able to attend and we got to see everyone's diorama and ask them questions. It was fun and the kindergarten kids really learned a ton about their animals. Nice work Logan!

Today was awesome. Little tasks that needed done for this first project to be complete went so easily. I seem to be able to have a great day working and then the next one is a slow one. Something again about being 35 weeks pregnant. All that is left are the baseboards around the vanity area, one piece of trim, the top trim and shelf in the bathroom and Brian's closet. Seriously. We do have to clean up the construction mess but we are that close. Brian will set the toilet and put the sink & faucet on the vanity and voile' finished!
Next -- moving.

Oh my gosh! Take a look at the number in the right column -- is it really in the thirties? I am in trouble. I am anxious to meet this baby girl, but really-- can't time slow down just a little. We didn't get moved on Saturday. Something about me being tired, pregnant and oh yeah, tired. Today it is my goal to get all the trim and baseboards done. That means tiling the vanity area in order to put the base boards down. After that it is painting the wainscoting in the bathroom, the trim and the baseboards. Yes. Then done! Well, after Brian sets the toilet, sink and hooks up the faucet. Then done! Well, after we clean up the construction area and move our bedroom down. Wait! I forgot the reason for the move, Brian's closet. That still remains and it yet to be started. It's a little like ground hogs day!

So we are seeing light at the end of our little remodel project. The counter top for the bathroom is coming today -- yeah! That put a deadline on some things so there isn't much left. Baseboards, trim, a little work on the floor under the vanity and cleaning -- tools & paint put away. My list has 10 things on it instead of 100 things! Hopefully (fingers crossed) we can move our bedroom on Saturday. After that we get to put everything back under the stairs (short story - small water leak), move the computer desk to the family room, sewing stuff upstairs to the guest room and clean the computer room. Then we can start painting the baby's room. Hopefully by the end of May we can be done with everything and I can have four weeks to get baby stuff together.
The boys are almost done with school and they are so excited. I signed Logan and Zach up for baseball in June and the first of July. I've got to start looking for a swimming pool because they loved the last one. Time just passed too quickly doesn't it?

I have so many posts to catch up on. I was looking at the pictures on my camera and I am sooooo behind. I had a doctor's appointment today and everything looks good -- 7 weeks to go. No pressure or anything -- only 7 weeks to do everything we have to do. UG. Entering the world of babies again have Brian and I wondering, "What the heck were we thinking?" Seriously, we have forgotten what it was like to carry a diaper bag everywhere. We are excited and can't wait to meet her. The boys are even more excited. I lost Hayden in the store today and found him following a lady with a baby in the cart. He's like a baby stalker. He loves babies. Does he realize what is going to happen to his world in 50 day?

We are alive -- just so busy! We decide to do a little remodeling, nothing major-- and some painting. Brian and I are going to move downstairs to the guest room but before we were going to paint, baseboards, do a new vanity, new toilet and new bathroom floor. Nothing big. Well, day 2 into the painting, the toilet upstairs started leaking. Nothing big, we'll just replace the wax ring. When Brian pulled the toilet, the floor was really bad, not a surprise really. So, Johnny, Brad and Brian pulled the vanity out, removed the floor and put in new plywood and new subfloor. THANK YOU JOHNNY & BRAD! Brian and I put down new flooring and toilet. Just so you know -- when your flange breaks at 12:30 AM -- there are no stores open to help you out. Long story short -- upstairs we have part of bathroom and we are just waiting for the counter guy. Downstairs, the room is painted, trim is painted -- we need to build our closet insert, buy, paint & install baseboards, trim out the window, prime & paint the bathroom, get new doors, do a little drywall work & wait for the counter guy. I took the ceiling down in the bathroom today and removed the baseboards, unfortunately under the based boards is moldy so we now have another hoop to jump through. What an excellent month of learning experiences. I will post pictures later but really, my spare time is spent being a construction worker!

Cookbooks for Sale!!!

For our fundraiser this year we decided not to do a yard sale and instead we are selling Battle Creek 4th Ward Cookbooks. They are $10 and have 685 recipes. They have a soft cover and a plastic comb binding. I helped put it together and there are some really yummy recipes! Let me know if you would like to help out. I told the girls at the rate they are selling that they will be eating Bar S hot dogs for every meal. I'm hoping to move them up to hamburgers. Let me know if any of you want to buy one! Kallee and Ashley, you are getting a niece, isn't that worth something? Have a great day!

I will officially say that we are having a girl. The boys asked if that was 100% and I told them yep! The nurse at my appointment yesterday asked if I saw everything I wanted on the last ultrasound. I told her we didn't see the heart very well. She asked about the sex. I said, no we really couldn't tell. She said I had two very good reasons for another ultrasound. It was done by a different doctor who had a little more experience. It was awesome, I saw all the chambers in the heart the aortic artery (?) the pulmonary artery -- too cool. Everything measures at 27 weeks which is a week ahead of where I am -- I won't complain. I will say that unless something is drastically wrong, I saw nothing that would tell us it was a boy.... so here goes nothing. We are entering the world of estrogen. I told Krista not to be jealous. In eleven years when we both are attending the maturation meeting at school, hers is going to be much easier!

This weekend we had the chance to go to Burley and see Bradley Granger Crump get blessed. My mom is also opening her quilt shop. I am excited for her to start this venture and I hope it goes well! Here's some pictures of the new store.

Zac practice quite a bit for this month's book project. His assignment was to story to share verbally. Together, we found a story called, "What a Pig!" It was pretty funny and Zac did a great job. Logan, Hayden and I went to the school and listened to his rendition. The class seemed to really like it!

This is a link to the website we found his story on. It has some great picks! If you want to listen to "What a Pig" scroll down until you find it and click on it.
http://www.storyteller.net/stories/audio

This is a picture of the last day of sledding. It was after our "No Screen" week and exciting to have something they really enjoyed doing. It was also the last day of snow on the ground. As the week passed their little sledding hill looked greener and greener!

Zac and I went to his first Blue and Gold Banquet. It was really well dinner. Dinner was awesome and for the programs they played "Are YOU smarter than a Cub Scout?" I didn't get to stay for the program because I had Young Womens. Zac said it was really fun. The next day was Zac's third grade program. It was very patriotic and the last song they sang was "I'm Proud to be an American" by Lee Greenwood. It was very moving.

Day 6 "No Screen Week"

This really has been a great week. The house is quiet. There just isn't the extra noise. The boys did hurry and clean their rooms today so that they could watch "Clone Wars". I know it breaks the no part of "No Screen Week" but as soon as it was over the TV was shut off. I went to a Stake RS Enrichment meeting today that was super. It was on strengthening, preparing and fortifying ourselves and our families. We were challenged to read the Ensign from cover to cover and to read the Book of Mormon in a short amount of time. There were other items but two speakers mentioned this twice and it really caught my attention. Without a TV this week I have actually had some time to read the Ensign. Now I will have to read it cover to cover. When I got home, Logan, Brian and I raked the leaves off the lawn out back. Brian and I also trimmed the butterfly bushes out front. I am really ready for spring. Doing yard work just makes it worse!

Day 4 & 5 "No Screen Week"

Nothing real eventful for days 4 and 5. The weather has been so nice. The boys come home from school and play outside with their friends. Today, Friday, I did let Hayden watch "Tom and Jerry". He has been sick and just laying around is no fun with out a show. He watched 1 hour and then we shut it off. I am pretty impressed with the boys. Logan did say,"When is this stupid no screen thing going to end." He is counting down.

Day 4 "No Screen Week"

Today was fairly uneventful. The boys just hung out and played. After school, friends saved the day and there was no mention of TV. Hayden has asked to watch "Tom & Jerry", but I just tell him not this week and he finds something to do. I haven't got much done this week. Obviously the television is quite the babysitter.

My guess!

So I sat and watched the ultrasound video last night. Then I got on line and looked at some pictures of ultrasounds. It really isn't fair that a boy is such a boy. No doubt. Just to give you some hope, the doctor did say he was 85% sure that it was a girl. Zac is telling everyone it is 85% girl. Is he an engineers son or what. Brian is telling everyone we couldn't tell. After watching the video and looking at the pictures I'm thinking its a girl. Based on my pregnancy and how things have been so different with this one -- I'm going girl!

Ultrasound Day!!

Today was our ultrasound. I was so excited to make sure that we have a healthy baby on the way! We do! This baby moved all over! The doctor asked me how much sugar I had eaten before I came. I didn't have any sugar. We may be in trouble. It is a very modest baby - its thighs were squeezed together! It constantly had its hands around its face and was even sucking its thumb! The boys thought the video was pretty cool. I wish I could make everyone happy with a beautiful pink background on my blog but there is nothing confirmed. Sorry!

Day 3 "No Screen Week"

Today Logan and Hayden discovered...... you'll never guess! Christmas presents! They got out the Hot Wheels set that Grandma Crump gave them and played for an hour!

Day 2 "No Screen Week"

So sledding was a huge success. As soon as the boys got home from school they got dressed in their snow pants and gloves and wanted to go sledding. I don't have a hill nearly as big as the one in Bountiful so we went up by the church. They had a good time and are getting more daring! When they were cold we went home and hot chocolate. Then they got out monopoly and played
for a while! Nice job boys!

Day 1 continued More Sledding Videos! There is life after TV!

Okay, just a few more short videos. It was just so much fun!

Day 1 "No Screen Week" Continued

I just wanted to post some great video of our "Tubing - The Great Adventure Day"

Day 1 "No Screen Week"

Today was a nice little vacation day for the boys. No school because of President's Day. As a family, we decided to have "No Screen" Week. This means to Wii, no N64, and no TV. We are on day one and it wasn't too bad. We may actually discover the scriptures again, the Ensign, other books, toys and so much more. I'm excited. Today we went to Bountiful and went tubing with Kelly, Mary, Nikolas, and Claire. Zac and Logan walked a million miles today, up and down one of the longest hills I've seen. It was lots of fun!