Our house

So my sister, Kate, has been begging me to post pictures of the inside of our house. Since it may be a while before anyone gets to actually see it, I agreed, and finally I'm getting around to it. So this is for you, Kate!

This picture is taken in the family room and looking into the kitchen. To the left is a sliding door that goes to our backyard. Note the puzzle on the table...it's 1000 pieces. Tom is out of town this week from Sunday till Wednesday night and so I started it. I'm pretty pathetic, huh?

This picture is taken from the kitchen, into the family room. Note...we still have the same green couch we got when we got married! Don't worry, it's one of the first things to go!

This is our lovely den/office where we still have full boxes of things. I'm happy to say, I'm getting a computer desk (Thanks Tom for the birthday present!) and it's really cute. It comes in tomorrow and then I'll put all the boxes in the garage and have a place to organize all our computer "junk" and mail and stuff. I will get to empty a few of the office boxes into the desk. this room will look totally different in 24 hours...hopefully!

This is my baby room. I just got it put together (except I put the crib together without Tom to surprise him and did it wrong, so we have to fix it still). So I need some help...I bought all these baskets for the shelf and can't decide which ones to use. I think I like the wicker ones with the pink...adds color. Don't worry, I'm not arranging them like that. Oh, and the material hanging on the crib(you can't see it very well) is what I'm going to make a crib skirt out of. I'm doing the green w/pink flowers for the skirt and the pink for a sheet.

This is our bedroom. Pretty boring, huh? we have some hand-me-down bedside tables and a bed. It works.

the Beach

So Saturday we went to the Beach with Tim and Lizzy to celebrate Jackson's birthday.
Here Braden and Jackson are trying to figure out if they want to go in the water or not. Jackson finally decided he did, but Braden didn't. It was a little cooler day, and very windy. He stayed on the ladder by the dock most the time.



Kate and Cameron digging in the sand. This is one of our favorite things to do here. Funny thing is, in this picture, they are actually about 50 yards from the beach on the sand volleyball court digging. We usually are right by the water, but the shade was calling our names so the adults sat under a tree while the kids dug in the sand. They swam in the water a little later.
This is for you, Erin. Happy? Lizzy took this one for me...Thanks. Like anyone likes showing off their belly...even if there is a reason for it being so large. 10 more weeks...or 8 if I can have it my way!

Weekend in Bellevue

So we spent the weekend in Bellevue and we all had a great time. Tom's sister, Maria, put on a benefit concert in the Dance home and it was amazing! For any of you who don't know, she is a violinist studying at Rice University right now and man, she is really, really good! She raised over $1500 for a non-profit organization down in Houston working on helping medical conditions in Haiti. Not only is she talented, she is definately one of the favorite aunts!

Did I see my boys all weekend? No! They were playing with Jonny all day and all night long, as well as their cousin, Dallin. It was such a great break!


The boys just loved going out on the boat! Even though it was only about 70 degrees and overcast most weekend (and rainy), we found a few times to go out on the boat and enjoy Lake Washington. Brings back great memories!


This is me and my cute sister-in-laws and mom-in-law. It was so fun to just visit with them and catch up! It seems like we've been away from the Seattle area forever! It was so good to visit! (As much as we missed it, I will say I don't miss the traffic and the madhouse of Costco and other shopping centers!!! It was reaffirmed to me that CDA is the place for us, and it is WONDERFUL to have family in Seattle to visit!)

Tom's latest project

So our garage is pretty much huge (I guess here in CDA everyone has boats and you have to have a place to store them, so they build 3 or 4 car garages for everyones "toys") and it has been our storage area since we moved here. It has pretty much been a disaster though. So Tom's looked into shelving and it's so expensive, so he decided to just create something himself. Working on the basement has given him a new confidence in the construction field. So Saturday night he built the left side, and last night he did the right side (it's all full now with all the rest of our "junk" in there). He's now putting in some bike hooks for his bikes, bike stalls for the boys bikes with hooks for their helmets, and a few single shelves for his bike supplies. It's really nice having a husband who can fix teeth and use a hammer! Our basement is coming along...almost all framed. Tom's making a fort/playhouse under the stairs down there with a deck that comes out a few feet and a slide. Sounds confusing, I know, but it'll be really fun when it's done. Thanks Kate for that inspiration.

Innocence

So my kids are getting to that point where they say things and I actually have to stop and have a teaching moment with them because they don't realize what they are saying. So a few days ago Braden was mad at me for putting sunscreen all over him and he was fighting me and then he said "You Idiot". I tried my best not to laugh, because he was so serious. He has NEVER said that before, and i don't know where he got it from. We talked about it and I tried to act mad. He hasn't said it since.
Yesterday Cameron was amazed by something and said "Oh my G_ _". So then we had to get into taking the Lords name in vain and why we don't say that. But then they wonder why other people say that which brings out more and more explainations and more questions.
Cameron has already had the "girl vs. boy" parts lesson but now Braden is looking at me funny and pointing to my boobs and wondering what they are for.
I think I'm not quite ready to have older kids that have real questions. I always thought the baby stage was so hard, but I'm really looking forward to having a child who doesn't talk back to me, yell at me, throw fits, say "I'm bored" (every other word some days!), and ask questions I don't want to discuss quite yet. I guess sending a child off to school will bring many of these questions.
I'm trying really hard to have a really close relationship with Cameron so that he'll ask me questions and not be embarrased. Yesterday I told him that he'll hear lots of things at school that he won't understand and I want him to come home and ask me what it means. At this point he doesn't even understand "swear" words. It's a little scary...I wish we could keep them innocent for just a little longer.

Only 5 more days...

I've never been one of those people to get all excited about the release of a book. August 7th "Eclipse" comes out. If you haven't read the first two books by Stephanie Meyer they are "Twilight" and "New Moon". Of course you are totally left hanging at the end of the second book and now that it is August and it is coming, I'm getting really excited to lose myself in the third book of the series. The fun only lasts a day, unfortunately, as I neglect all maternal duties and read from morning till the wee hours of the night to finish.
So if anyone has not read the books, I highly recommend them. They are "young adult" books, but hey, we are still young, right?
Anyone out there have any other great book suggestions? Summer has been busy and I haven't spent any time reading but I'm ready to now.