Holidays 2011

For Thanksgiving this year we were invited over to my cousin's house.  We had a lot of great food and this year I tried out a recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies from Made.  They were yummy and Trent helped me make them.

Trent had a great time taking pictures during Thanksgiving dinner.  He got some great shots.

Next we got ready for Christmas.

This year I bought the boys their own ornaments inspired by the things they love.  Trent's was Buzz and Woody or course and for Carter I got a little people fire truck since he loves to push trucks around.  Trent placed both of their ornaments on the tree.  After that Trent would not put anymore on, he just helped me take the rest out of their boxes.

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We also made the traditional sugar and gingerbread cookies and this year was the first year in a long time we made a gingerbread house.  

I was afraid the house would not stay together but the royal icing did it's job

The cookie making was one of my favorite parts of the holidays.  It was great watching Trent have such a good time. Auntie helped Trent with most of the decorating and he kept telling her to put more ice cream on it.  Can't wait for next year when Carter will be helping out too.

On Christmas Eve we made the trek to my cousin's house in Victorville where we had brunch.  Present time was total chaos, but so much fun.  Then later that day we headed down to Calimesa to spend time with Tim's family and open more presents.

Christmas morning was perfect.  Carter had a blast ripping off the paper and trying to play with all of Trent's toys.  Trent was in awe of everything and he was the most polite I had ever seen him.  With every present I handed him he said "thank you" as soon as it was in his hands.  Its good to know he can be polite if he wants to.

Santa brought Trent a balance bike, a Geo Trax set which he loved and a helicopter which he had asked Santa for.  Carter got a Weebles house, an airplane and a helicopter.  

Christmas day is usually very busy for us because we usually visit at least two different places, but not this year.  We relaxed at home and had a pancake breakfast.  I was even able to sneak in a nap (that hardly happens anymore on a normal day).  After our naps we went to visit my Dad's side of the family. There Trent got to play with his cousin Olivia and he had a great time.

Our New Year's was very low key.  My family came over along with Tim's cousin and the kids had a great time running around the house playing "Christmas."  Of course Carter was in bed around 7 and our plan was to celebrate with the east coast countdown.  As we were pouring champagne and getting ready to count down we realize the channel we were watching even though it said live at the top of the screen did not do a count down.  After we realized we missed it we had our own countdown and toasted to the New Year.

Each year keeps topping the rest and having kids makes the holidays a million times more special then I could have ever imagined.  I cannot wait until next year.  Let the countdown begin, only 344 days left.

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Carter is One!

I can't believe my baby is one and today he is actually 13 months.  Where does the time go?

To celebrate Carter's first birthday we threw a Mickey Mouse birthday party.  I had even ordered a Mickey shirt for Carter on Etsy, but I didn't arrive at our house until the day of the party.  I made my own shirt for him instead and think it actually turned out cuter than the one I had ordered.

I used my silhouette machine to cut out a mickey head the number one and ironed it on a onesie.

For center pieces I had Tim spray paint Styrofoam balls black and flower pots red.  I made mickey heads with the balls using toothpicks and then set them in the red pots.  Then I glued two white buttons to the flower pots.

In addition to the centerpieces I also made Mickey head garland that I hung around the patio.  I used my silhouette the cut the shapes and then just sewed them together with my sewing machine.

For dessert Carter had his own Mickey shaped cake iced with chocolate frosting.

I think this was his favorite part.  He did not cry when everyone sang to him and then had a great time demolishing the cake.

Now I just need to finish the thank you notes.

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Halloween 2011

I had grand plans for Halloween this year.  I dreamed of making Toy Story costumes for the whole family.  My dream did not become a reality, but finishing 2 out of 4 is not bad.

Trent of course was Buzz Lightyear.  That costume was very involved with many little pattern pieces to cut out.  At least I got to put my silhouette to good use.

The costume was constructed from a vintage simplicity pattern circa 2000.

For Carter's costume I used the pattern from Trent's first Halloween where he was a lion and adapted it to make an alien.

Of course he did not want to wear the hat.  Oh well, I will remember that for next year.

Tim and I even carved some pumpkins.

Trent had fun trick or treating.  We just went around our own block.

And even Carter got some candy.

I think Trent's favorite part of the evening was handing out candy at our house.  At first he was afraid of some of the scarier costumes but eventually he warmed up and answered every door bell ring.  

Overall it was a great night.  We handed out four Costco sized bags of candy by 8:00 and then turned off our light.  Next year I will miss trick or treating in this neighborhood.

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Countertops

The bathroom countertops are in!!

For the bathrooms we decided to go with caesar stone because of its modern look and easy maintenance.  The best part is you never have to seal it.

Here is the master, it is called misty carrera

And here is the boys bath

I really love the look of the caesar stone it is very clean and modern.

The granite for the kitchen is supposed to be installed today but as of 12:30 the installer still had not shown up.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that it happens today.

If all stays on schedule we want to move in this weekend, but the forecast is for rain all weekend so we will see what happens.

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Renovation Update

It's been a while since I posted and the finish line is looking closer.

Tim has started work on the flooring.

Cabinets have been installed.

Currently our bathroom countertops are being installed and the granite guy is coming today to make the template for the kitchen.

Next up is plumbing on Friday and over the weekend Tim will be installing the flooring in the kitchen.

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Tile is Done!!!!

So the tile is done in the boys bathroom and I could not be happier about how it turned out.

I love, love, love it and can't wait for the cabinets to be installed this friday!!!!!

Tim has been working on installing the laminate flooring which has been a tedious task so far.  I am hoping that once he gets the hang of it things will move along quicker.  After that is done we will be installing our sinks and fixtures.  That will also be a learning process.

Nearing the end of the renovation process is such a catch 22.  On one hand, I am so glad that the renovations are almost over, but on the other hand that means we will be moving and have to pack up all of our stuff.  I am not looking forward to the packing part.

Also while all of this is going on I am trying to make Halloween costumes for the entire family.  I will post some pics of the progress later this week.  

Back to sewing for now.

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Weekend recap

We had a lot of fun this weekend and we also accomplished many things at the new house.

We had lots of fun at Scarlet's 3rd birthday.

On Sunday I painted the office and on a whim we decided to paint the banister black:

Before

Almost done

 Tim installed ceiling fans in all four rooms upstairs and one hall light.

Love this fan.  This is the same one we have in family room of old house.

All the rooms are now painted except for the pantry and downstairs bathroom (which will be demoed once the rest of the house is finished).

Here is the pantry now:

from the kitchen

around the corner

I love the size of the pantry but I think I wanted to make some of the shelves deeper.  They have to be able to hold Costco size Cheerio boxes.

Hopefully this week the boys bath will be tiled and Tim will start installing our floors.

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