Open House~ Jump House~ And Our House

The last few days were all about Houses!! First off we had the boys open house at school this past week. Our school chooses to do the open house in March instead of May or June. That way, the kids don't feel like after open house the school year is over and they are done learning. We start the night with dancing and music and then we have In and Out Burger and then visit the classrooms. I took pictures in Ethan's room but totally forgot to in Owen's room. So, I posted a few pics but there were not many.

Dad, Mia and Ethan, Mom and Ethan, Owen and Ethan, Cousin Kaitlyn (who is in the same class) and Ethan)

Now onto the other House. My friend Tenderly did a party for her kids at a bug Jumpy warehouse. It was a blast and the kids and the adults had so much fun!!! Mia has absolutely no fear!! She was all over the place getting bounced onto her head, back and everywhere. She would jump up laughing and keep going. I, as well as every other parent in the place were amazed at how tough she was. I too was totally amazed. I know she is a tough little cookie but I could not believe how tough she was in the jumpies. There is a video of it-- take a look-- it is to funny!!

I think this is a cute picture of the Kids and I!!

More Jumping Fun! Mia with aunt Cassie, Laila, mommy, Ava, Mia and the Boys with their friends

My friend Joanne and her son, Tenderly jumping, Ethan flipping, Aunt Cassie, Ethan and Mia, Owen, Ava and Laila and more fun!!!

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Now onto our house! The kitchen is totally functional and I am loving it. There are a few things that Kevin plans on doing when he and the boys return from the Grand Canyon (they are going there during the boys spring break in the RV with all our camping friends-- Mia and I have to stay because my spring break is the following week--ugg). Once he returns he will put the crown moulding on the tops of the cabinets, the bottom of the cabinet mouldings that hide the under cabinet lighting and the back splash. That is about all there is left at this point. He left the doors off the under the sink cabinet because when he was installing the plumbing a little water leaked and he wanted to make sure it was totally dry before he puts the doors on. He is actually putting the doors on as we speak. So, other than what I mentioned, the kitchen is pretty much done. I am just in love with it and am really enjoying cooking on our new appliances. We have Easter at our house tomorrow so I will get to do a lot of cooking-- I'll post pictures tomorrow!

Eggs, Dresses & Kitchens

On Saturday our Sunday School Class has a giant egg hunt at my brother and sister-in-laws farm. It is a huge event that is a great family time. The kids just love it and we end the hunt with lunch. Both the boys found a "golden egg" which meant they got to choose a cool toy when the hunt was over. They were both quite pleased with themselves. Mia had a great time. She didn't really get what was going on but really enjoyed picking up the eggs.

Before the hunt they start with a presentation of the "Resurrection Eggs" which is a cool way to show the whole time of Jesus' death and His Resurrection. The first few pictures with the kids on the grass were of the Resurrection egg presentation.

Mia loved finding the eggs and did a pretty good job at finding them.

So, many of you know about RED THREAD STITCHES and the wonderful clothes Robin makes in order to bring their daughter Hope home from China. Well, a while back I ordered the KIMBERLY DRESS after my blogging friend Kimberly. I was so excited to receive my dress a week ago and I put Mia in it this week at Church. I realized I needed to take a picture of her in the dress before it got dirty but she would not comply.

So, this is what I got. I like the second pic (top right) the best but the dress looked so darn cute on Mia and I just loved the Chinese print-- WAY TOO CUTE!!

So, the pictures are in of the kitchen. As a tiny bit of background, we have wanted to do this big kitchen/ family room addition where we add a bunch of square footage to our home-- but-- with the market as it is we don't think that will happen anytime soon. So, we decided to keep the same footprint of our kitchen as it was before (which we don't really like but it is really all we can do with the space we have) to save money not having to do flooring and figure we can at least have an awesome kitchen to live in for a while and if we ever get to do the addition-- then way cool and we will have not invested a ton in the first place. We are not done but it is coming along really well. Kevin has tomorrow to do moulding, get the fridge in and a few other necessities before he goes back to work. As of tomorrow the kitchen will be totally functional- Stove hooked up- sink water hooked up- garbage disposal hooked up- dishwasher hooked up- fridge in and more. Already our warming drawer and oven work so I got to cook a frozen pizza for dinner (only boys Mia and I because Kevin had to work a DUI checkpoint tonight and went to work around 6pm). Anyway, as you can see, the kitchen is looking great!! The granite is BEAUTIFUL and I am so happy we chose what we did. I love our appliances and totally love what we chose for our faucet. The whole thing has really come together well and I am so proud and amazed at Kevin and his dad's ability to do pretty much everything. As you look at the pictures, know that the ONLY thing that Kevin and Don did not do it the granite. They did EVERYTHING else!! Wiring, plumbing, building all the cabinets (literally they came in a flat box and they had to be totally built). They did everything and I am so proud of the job they have done.

What will still be left after tomorrow will probably be some moulding and the back splash. Kevin will get to that in the next couple weeks. I look forward to seeing the whole thing put together-- I LOVE IT ALREADY!!!

More Disney Fun!!

* Update-- the kitchen is coming along but I have not posted pics yet because it has not changed that much. Yesterday all the cabinets went in and today (Sunday) the granite goes in. Once the granite is in, I will take pics-- at that point it will finally look like a kitchen again -- YAAA!!!!!! Expect Pics tonight!!

Yesterday (Friday) Mia and I met Kailee, Karen, Tanya and Gracie at Disneyland. We just went for a short time and I was totally late so we didn't get to do a ton but it was fun getting to hang out for a bit.

After Karen and Kailee and Tanya and Gracie left, Mia and I went back in Disneyland and hung out for a bit longer. We were eating a snack by the big flag pole by the entrance where they put the HUGE Christmas Tree each year and Mia was being adorable as usual so I had to take a few pictures.

I love this picture of Mia! She was having so much fun!

More cute pictures!

I love this picture of Mia also!!

Fun at the Food Court

I met my sister and Laila (plus kids) at the food court at our outdoor mall today. Mia and Ava had a ton of fun!!

 

Mia is such a climber!! She climbs up EVERYTHING and scares me to death! She actually does really well but it still freaks me out to watch her climb to new heights.

 

 

Mia and Ava enjoying their beverages!!

So, Kevin put a few more cabinets in place today but I will wait until tomorrow night to post some pics.

Kitchen Day 2

Kevin and his dad worked all day on the kitchen and got a lot done but also had a number of setbacks. The drain for the kitchen sink is positioned strangely and they therefore cant put our trash compactor where we wanted it to go (right by the sink) so we had to reconfigure a few cabinets. We had to have the guy who sold us the cabinets bring us the new ones we needed and send back the ones we didn't-- poor guy! There were also a few other "issues" but they were able to get most of them taken care of.

 

This first picture is the final end product of the day. I just took it 5 minutes ago at 9:06pm. You can see the corner is complete with the cabinets-- no doors are on yet-- and the range top cabinet where the stove will set, the beautiful hood is up and the PHENOMINAL pot filler is in.

 

 

Please notice the beautiful pot filler. I love this item!!! It will be so cool to be able to fill pots of water right on the stove top-- HOW COOL!!! Kevin tested it out and it works great!!!

 

This last picture was taken earlier in the day when they were chopping up the cabinet where our cook top will sit. This is our cook top and I also love it soooooo much. It is a professional Kitchen aid 6 burner and it will heat water in no time flat!! I just love it! It comes with a 9 inch back splash that is not pictured but it has a little shelf on the top of the back splash to put things on. It is really cool! We cant install the cook top until the granite is in.

So, all is going well. Kevin plans on making and installing a few cabinets each night when he gets home from work. Kevin's dad will also be over throughout the rest of the week to do some electrical and other things. On Saturday they have to make the push to get everything in because granite comes on Sunday. I'm sure every little trim piece and detail wont be done by the time granite is installed but at least the basics of the cabinets will be done and then on Monday they can put in the appliances-- YAAA!! And that means I can cook in my kitchen again. It wont be done by then but at least the appliances will be in and I can get back to a semi-normal routine. It is crazy cooking in a microwave. I'm just not use to it at all. Today I crock potted dinner and made rice in a microwave rice cooker and broccoli in a microwave vegy steamer. It turned out fine but what a pain in the butt!! Then I get to go to my laundry room sink and wash the dishes by hand. Oh well-- this week will go fast- at least I hope it does :)

Kitchen Day 1 & Mia's Fun

*Update- I am having issues with blogger and I cant get the collages to show up. I have tried to post through Picasa and then tried to upload through blogger but it is not working. I will try again later. At least the videos are on**

Today was day 1 of the Kitchen Remodel. Kevin began the demolition last night and finished it this morning. There are a lot of fun little quirky things that came up along the way in the demo that Kev and his dad had to deal with today. For example we are installing a pot filler above the cook top and he had to run a water line to that wall. Well, there are a bunch of boards that were in the way that had to be notched out to fit the pipe. There is also a lot of dry wall repair and other interesting things that they dealt with today. Because of this, it is going a bit slower than anticipated but they think they will be OK to get it done before the granite install next Sunday (a week from tomorrow).

This first collage is of the demo last night. Owen was totally into it. If you look at a couple of the pics you can see Owen on top of the fride taking down the cabinet doors. I also included some fun video. By the way, Mia slept through the whole demo which as you can tell by the video-- was very loud!!!!

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Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

The following collage is of the kitchen today towards the end of the day.

This collage is of all the fun things I get to keep Mia out of. If left to roam, she is into everything. THIS WEEK IS GOING TO BE DIFFICULT!!! We met Laila and my sister for lunch and then Lai (and the kids) and I went to the park and let the kids play for a few hours. So luckily we were out of the house most of the day but when we got home Mia decided she wanted to climb on our new cook top and play with the screws and do all kinds of fun things. Oh this is going to be fun!!

Kev works tomorrow so new updates wont be until Monday but hopefully there will be some good progress by then. Have a good Sunday!!

Kitchen BEFORE & Panera

So, you guys want to join in watching our remodel? Sounds good to me. Tonight Kevin is starting the demolition and our kitchen will be taken down to bare walls. Last night I took literally everything out of the kitchen and put it in the dining room and the living room. MY HOUSE IS A DISASTER AREA!!!! I am not a crazy neat freak but clutter and messes make me crazy so the next week will be quite a challenge for me. We set up a makeshift kitchen in our living room with our coffee maker, toaster, microwave and fruit bowl. We will use the sink in our laundry room to wash things but we will pretty much be eating off paper plates and plastic utensils. We also, unfortunately, will have to eat out quite a bit this next week as we will not have an oven to cook. That part irritates me for a couple reasons. One, I hate spending a lot of money on eating out- we much rather eat at home- but two, I hate feeding the kids a bunch of fast food. Cooking food at home is so much better for them but also saves us a ton of money. Oh well, this next week we will have no choice. Anyway, here is the plan. Demo tonight and tomorrow part day. Saturday Kevin and his dad will be putting all the cabinets together and starting the install (cabinets were delivered last night). Sunday Kevin has to work. Monday Kevin and his dad will continue the install of the cabinets. Kev works till Friday and then on Saturday he and his dad will put the final finishes on the cabinets and on Sunday the granite will be installed. Monday Kevin and his dad will install our appliances and hopefully that night we can start moving our kitchen back in. YAAAA!! So, if all goes as intended, we will be without a kitchen for 10 day. That is not too bad. Anyway, I will post pics along the way. Stay tuned for demo pics-- FUN!!!

Kitchen Before-- old nasty 15 year old cabinets and white cracked tile-- yuck!! This is after I cleared everything out.

This is where our kitchen is now-- IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR LIVING ROOM AND DINING ROOM--UGGG!!! Its going to be quite a challenge keeping Mia out of all the stuff on the ground but at least it is only for a little over a week. I will be taking Mia and the boys out quite a bit to keep them out of the mess.

Kevin and the boys have a tradition of going to Panera before school on Friday's. This morning Mia woke up really early so I decided ot get ready for Stroller Strides so Mia and I could go with them. We also took Ethan's friend Jake (who by the way had his birthday yesterday March 6-- which was also my birthday yesterday). It was fun to actually hang out before school as opposed to just rushing out the door. After Kevin left to take the kids to school Mia and I hung out for about 30 minutes just wasting time before Stroller Strides.

Ethan, Jake, Owen, Mia and Kevin (oh ya I'm there too) eating at Panera before school. The food at Panera is AWESOME!!

Mia enjoying herself before Stroller Strides. She loves having a cup with a straw. She can entertain herself forever with a cup and a straw.

So, stay tuned for the demolition pictures. I should have them by tomorrow.

Mia's Re-Adoption & The Duck's Game

Yesterday was Mia's Re-adoption court date. It was a very quick appointment and literally took 10 minutes. The appointment was at 1:30pm which is right in the middle of Mia's nap so she was not happy during the hearing. She literally screamed during most of the hearing. I have it on video but am having a hard time downloading the video. As soon as I figure it out I will post the video.

This is the official Re-Adoption Picture- yaaaa!!! We are all looking at the camera :)

My friend Tenderly came to the appointment with her son and daughter. Both Kenzie and Landon were adopted through our county (they are biological siblings and were adopted at age 2 and 4) and I attended their adoption court hearing so it was cool that Tenderly was able to come to Mia's. My dad and my sister Cassie also came. Unfortunately most family and friends were working so they were not able to come but we were happy we had a little group there.

Mia was happy while waiting for the hearing but as soon as we went up in front of the judge she lost it. We forgot to bring her paci with us so she was exceptionally unhappy.

Taking our oath and signing some paper (not sure what it was for).

My dad, Mia and I plus the official adotion picture.

We attempted to take some pictures in front of the court house but as always, Owen didn't want to comply. Also, the sun was so bright I could hardly keep my eyes open. Anyway, I think one may be OK.

After the hearing we went to lunch and then we went back to the court to pick up the official paperwork. The paperwork just basically makes the California adoption official and they will send us Mia's birth certificate in 9 months to a year--uggg!! They sent the paperwork to Sacramento and they will generate the birth certificate in 9 months to a year. Oh well, at least we will get one eventually!

After picking up the paperwork we had to run a few errands and then we headed out to look at the cabinets we are putting in our kitchen. After fighting LA traffic we finally headed to the Ducks game that started at 7pm.

THE DUCKS GAME

Here is the crew-- Heather and Brian, The Boys (Jared and Brandon- their daughter Heidi could not make it) and then our family.

Mia spent much of the time at the game going up and down the stairs. She is actually getting very skilled at walking up and down. She uses alternating feet-- very impressive :)

Here is a cure video of Mia and the gang.

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Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

THE DUCKS WON!!!!! It was a really good game-- lots of fighting-- that always makes for good fun!! They boys were overjoyed- so were the big boys :)

Lunch With Ava and Dumonth Dunes

On Friday before we left for Dumont I met my friend Laila (with Ava), my friend Tenderly and my sister Cassie for lunch. We had a great table where Ava and Mia were able to play on the floor and enjoy themselves. The looked so cute I had to take pictures (big surprise--right :)

Just too cute for words!!

I'm playing shy!

The girls-- cute as can be!!!

We picked the boys up from school about 20 minutes early and took off for Dumont. We got there before dark and found a good spot. We hung out, had dinner and a camp fire. This was a different type trip. We usually go to Dumont with a bunch of our friends but this trip was just our little family. It is nice to have some alone time.

The next day was nice and warm and beautiful. Mia played in the sand, Kevin and the boys rode their quads and the rhino and we all just hung out.

Mia climbs everything and managed to make it up onto Kevin's quad many times (at least the sand is soft :)

Driving the Rhino with Daddy is one of Mia's favorite Dumont activities!!

Another favorite activity is playing in the sand with all her sand toys!!

Mia had a noodle fest!! Noodles were everywhere-- thank goodness for Max and Sadie!

Today was very windy and the sand was blowing hard so Mia and I spent most of the morning inside. Mia enjoyed looking out the window at the boys braving the elements. Max and Sadie are literally lumps by the last day-- they are so tired!!!

So tomorrow is the re-adopt court date. I am looking forward to it. We will take a bunch of pictures and I will post them tomorrow night after the Ducks game. We are meeting our friends Heather and Brian (plus kids) at the Ducks game so we should have some good pictures of that also.

Have a good Monday-- Ours will be a busy one!!