Snow What Fun!!

Oh how the boys are having fun in this snow. This is the most snow they can remember.....so imagine their excitment when someday we get more than 3 inches:).
Getting ready to shovel the sidewalk. (yes that is a pink scarf around his neck). He wasn't to thrilled about that, but I told him it didn't make him a girl if he wore pink:)
making snow angels

making mini snow men.

Caden got out the sand toys and started "cooking". He has his measuring cups and spoons, a wooden spoon and his white bowl. I asked him if he was making snow cream.

While the boys were outside playing, Liam was having a swinging good time inside.

This Past Week

This is the before picture of the master bedroom. The walls were a sea green color and the carpet is maroon.
Here is the after shot...much better:). The wall with the bed on it is a Russian Olive Color and the rest of the walls are a Seasoned Acorn Color. The carpet is the same for now until we feel the need to pull it up and the curtains were what were left here and oddly enough I don't mind them so much as they match the bedspread and throw pillow perfectly.

The boys and I were busy also this week with christmas cookies. Since I am on a diet and do not eat any snacks between meals, making these cookies were somewhat of a challenge for me. I wanted to taste each one, but instead I gave them to the boys and they said they were good...so I guess they passed the test.

The sloppiest buckeyes you will ever see...but then this was done completely by Elijah and Caden:)

Tried a new christmas cookie this year since Im not a fan of sugar cookies. These are Pecan Shortbread Cookies.

And the usual....white chocolate covered pretzels. I found these cute christmas pretzels so that made it more fun to dip:) Elijah dipped the pretzels and Caden did the sprinkles.

What a hectic week....now onto the next week full of CHRISTmas celebrations.....just thinking about it makes me tired:).

Few More House Updates

Was able to find something to go on the wall above my fireplace. I really love it.
While nick was gone last week in TN, I painted the upstairs bathroom. It was plain white and I painted it two shades of green. Finished it this past saturday. In this picture you can see the two shades near the recessed lighting.

Here the angled wall on the right is different from the far wall on the right and left. The angled wall is the same shade as the dark color on the recessed lighting area.

Thanks to Tami for taking our family pictures. Here are the boys hanging up in our stairwell going upstairs. LOVE IT TAMI!!!

You Should Listen

This afternoon while Liam was napping and nick was busy hanging some picture frames on our walls...the boys were running around like crazy kids. I told them to be quiet as I didn't want Liam awake just yet. However they continued to be loud. The boys were running around thru the living room, the kitchen, the dinning room and then the entry way...around and around they kept running. Nick told them once again...."BOYS, stop running around like that and please dont' be so loud". The next thing I hear as I am working from the kitchen is a loud thud. I walk around the corner and this is what I discover!!!! "Are you kidding me.....boys, this is exactly why we DO NOT run around the house like crazy kids out of control". Needless to say they had a lesson on listening the first time and not the third:).





*oh and yes....Liam woke up too!!*

Christmas Decorations 2009

We were able to put up our Christmas decorations yesterday. The boys had alot of fun decorating the tree as usual. It was pretty funny when they were all done, because all the ones that Caden hung were clumped together near the bottom and all the rest that Elijah hung were at his eye level. To cute...however not cute enough for me to rearrange them when they were in bed that night:). They didn't seem to mind the next morning when the tree looked a little different to them.

Our fireplace mantel this year was tough because everything looks so small on it with this huge wall that has nothing on it yet.

Nick decorated the loft with icicle lights and garland with lights in it. Looks really neat...just hard to see from this picture.

Of course we had to hang lights outside too. We did this the weekend before thanksgiving(just didn't turn them on then) because it was so nice outside. Now we can enjoy them all lite up.

Please Meet....

**RECENT UPDATE POSTED AT END**

the two newest members of our family!!! Elijah is holding Bullseye and Caden is holding Arrow. Yeah I know, me with not just one, but TWO dogs at my house. Pretty crazy for someone who is NOT a dog/animal lover. The boys are thrilled though so that makes me happy.

After Elijah and Caden got done playing with them today, you could tell the dogs had never worked so hard....they dropped to their tummies and fell fast asleep:)

P.S. Yes we still have fluffy face(the yorkie dog) I posted about who happened to show up at our doorstep. Anyone interested in him?? We plan to take him to the pound. (I just can't have 3 dogs!!)

**Fluffy Face has found a NEW home...some friends came and got him today**(thankful someone can properly take care of him now:))**

2nd attempt

Well this is what I ended up doing to the guest bedroom walls. I went a dark gray and I really like it. I think the painting is done now in this room. I eventually want to get different shades and an orange throw for the end of the bed and orange candles for the wall hangings, but I will do that when I find sales. Thanks for any help given girls.

Wash Machine

This past Thursday I began to attempt my large amount of laundry only to find out that on the first load the washer not only did it not drain it would not spin either. So thankfully I called my mom and asked to bring over my 5 loads. She was so kind to let me do them all at her house. Friday nick got home from work and said he would attempt to fix it. Now mind you, he has never fixed a wash machine let alone know what exactly needs fixed. I was a bit annoyed at the fact that he had the entire machine cover off, and was "fixing" it. I thought, this was a joke.

I mean, we only paid 300$ for the machine to begin with as we had bought a floor model 6 years ago and to have a repair man come out was 120$ then plus the parts he would need to fix it. Was it really worth it, or should I just call my TN friend who works for whirlpool and have her ship me a new machine, since I could get it 40%-50% off thru her anyways??? (and I could get a front loader:)).

Well, nick was able to find this helpful link online where they give you a youtube video to watch on how to repair your wash machine and what they think might be the culprit for a machine that does NOT drain water and spins VERY slow. Two things he was told to check...the motor and the drain pump line for a clog. He checked the drain pump and well....stuck up inside of it was Liam's missing sock from last weeks wash. I have always told nick that my wash machine and sometimes my dryer eats socks. I mean isn't it frustrating when you know you put two pairs of socks in the wash and come out with only one!!!???

Needless to say, I am SO THANKFUL my dear husband has the ability to attemp to fix things on his own before spending money that wasn't nessesary. I HAVE A WORKING WASH MACHINE and I DIDN'T SPEND A PENNY!!! Thanks babe for doing what you do, even when your wife thinks its pointless at times and doesn't give you enough credit to "fix" something.

I LOVE YOU!!!

Chicago Vacation

*warning...long post ahead*
Waiting in Rensselear for the Amtrak that we took to chicago. Love this picture...just wish little Liam was in it as well.

Boys were super excited to ride the train. However it would happen on the day we take the train that 4 rail cars derailed at Union Station in Chicago putting us 2 hours behind our arrival time. It was well past lunch and the boys were TIRED of the train ride by the time we actually got off the train. Can you see how the excitment they had soon turned to misery!!

The boys even got to experience first time a cab ride. It was Elijah, Caden and his booster seat, Liam in his car seat and I all in the back of the cab. Let me tell you...this driver was CRAZY!! No time to buckle up kids or get them sitting correctly in the seat. I mean, Liam was at an angle with part of his seat on my leg. And this driver honked at everyone and anyone who got in his way. Even went around someone to get thru an orange light (yep, I said orange because it was just about red), but we made it thru and alive:). Fun times!

We went to the lego store and the boys each had 20$ from us to pick themselves out a lego toy. Elijah picked out a garbage truck and Caden picked out a back-ho type of truck. They love playing with lego's and thought it was so cool to see this city and dinosour(behind them in the picture) all built out of lego's.

It was extremely cold but we walked to Navy Pier to check it out and had some fun at these "fun mirrors". (pictures below)

Navy Pier in the wind and rain!! Was pretty none the less.

I laughed and laughed at all the different ways the boys ended up looking. To funny.

Take note to little Liam sticking his legs out at the bottom of nick's coat and then his head way up at the top of Nick's coat.

Nice legs there Caden!! Such talent you have.

Elijah took this picture of us. He did a pretty good job getting it centered and the beautiful buildings in the back.

We went to the Children's Museum one day as well and the kids had a great time. On Thursday nights from 5-8pm its Family Free Night, so it was great because we didn't have to pay a penny to have fun.

Liam even getting in on the water fun.

Elijah crawled in here and said "I have been eaten by a dinosour". Pretty funny at the time.

Eating at Bubba Gump Shrimp. Very good food and fun to eat someplace we have never eaten before. Boys enjoyed the good ol' cheese burger. (as always)

Liam even enjoyed his good ol' baby jar food at Bubba Gump Shrimp.

Waiting patiently for the Dolphin show at the Shedd Aquarium

Checking out the many fish and sharks at the aquarium. Lots to see...we were there about 4 hours.

Just had to walk to see the bean. Boys thought it was pretty cool. We tried to get a picture of our family by taking it ourselves (to use as a christmas card picture), but we couldn't get it to make us look our normal heights. We ended up looking like tiny people. Oh well.
We even rented a car the last day and drove up to Gurnee to visit my sister Joy and her family. It was nice spending the day with them.

We really had an awesome time on our mini vacation to Chicago. However we were really ready to come home....I am not one to vacation with an infant. We could have had better weather and not rain the entire time, but we endured the sprinkles and were thankful it never down poured on us.

New experiences

Yesterday I had one of the most crankiest children I think Ive ever had. I mean, can the boy cry any more?? I know he has an ear infection and I guess Id have thought it was gone...he has been on amox. for 10 days now, but then again I should know that from past experiences that amox. does not work for my kids. Its just not strong enough. I was to my wits end when I discovered what I believe to be the real culprit of his crying mood. A little toothy is popping thru his gums!! Poor little boy. Can you imagine the pain that would be to have a tooth pop thru your gums?? I now understood his reasoning and felt so sorry for the boy. Back onto tylenol he went and lots and lots of hugs and kisses he got. I even told him that I wish it was me that had to endure the pain...it really has got to be painful. I can now feel it with my finger so I know the pain is nearly over. I tried to get a picture of it, but its not the greatest quality. Its on the bottom right.

On to another great thing for the day.... yesterday morning Elijah and I went out to meet the bus at 7:30am. Much to our surprise there is this dirty, wet, smelly, skinny dog at our door step. Now some of you know I am NOT a dog fan and personally would never own a dog in my life if I didn't have three boys who are dying for a dog:). Elijah hops on the bus and I decide I better check its neck for a collar. Nope...nothing. Its so cold out I start to feel sorry for the dog. I start up to the attic to get an old towel and realize...wait a minute...I do not want this dog around, why would I try to make it comfortable out in the cold?? So I turned around, went and washed (scrubbed) my hands, and feet and removed my sweat pants I was wearing(he jumped up on me) and climbed back into bed hoping this dog would be gone when I got up. Caden and I and crying Liam went about our business and I kept hearing this wimper. I thought...you got to be kidding...that dog never left?? Nope, he was sitting on the front porch in the sun and walking back and forth from door to door wimpering. Thankfully it was a nice day out and sun was shinning, so when Liam went down for a nap, Caden and I went outside. Caden played for nearly 2 hours and that dog followed him around everywhere he went. I told Caden not to touch that dog, as we didn't know if it was sick or what and Caden never touched it. I was out watching him in the front yard. Around 3pm my friend from TN was home for the weekend and surprised me with a visit. I showed her the dog and she said...wow, thats a nice dog. Its a yorky. Those are expensive house dogs. She was kind enough to take him home, give him a bath and clip out the burrs in his hair. She brought him back and the boys are just thrilled they get to touch him now. I didn't know a dog could actually keep boys busy for so long!! They have played with him non-stop and we put him in our garage last night with a bowl of food, water and a towel in a box for a bed. On several occasions this dog has attempted to come indoors. Im sure its so lost as to what to do outside. I feel sorry for it belive it or not. We are letting the boys play with it today and we plan to drive around tomorrow and see if anyone has lost a dog. If not, home it comes with us again until further notice.
Caden has named this dog Fluffy Face and Elijah has named him Shaggy. Here they are giving the dog a wagon ride. :) Do you think he has ever had a wagon ride before....I doubt it:)

Now can you see how easily it was for me to fall head over heals in love with this little guy?? To bad its not an outside dog and to bad its not ours:)

Before and After

I have begun doing a few rooms. Paint was on sale a couple weeks ago and we were able to get 5 gallons of paint. Of course I have a few more rooms to do, but we must wait for the next paint sale. Here are a few before's and after's of the rooms I've done thus far.



Nick's Bathroom off Laundry Room After (sorry no before picture...but it was a maroon color). This really brightened it up. Hard to tell but the color isn't just blue...its actually a gray blue. Oh and the GOLD fixtures in this bathroom are NO MORE:)

Elijah and Caden's Room Before

Elijah and Caden's Room After (two walls everlasting blue and two walls guacamole green)

Help Please!!

Ok all you girls out there that are so creative and know what colors should go with what....I NEED YOUR HELP!!!
Im hoping at least one of these pictures does it justice because I just don't know if I like this. Please give me some suggestions. Thanks.

I just finished painting the guest room. Ive done alot to it and maybe ive done to much and maybe ive done to many colors.

Here is what ive done thus far....

Spray painted the bed and side table black.

Bought a new brown comforter

Bought this awesome orange pillow which I love

Then I took this pillow to Menards and they matched paint so that is the color on the wall with the bed. Then I got a gray blue(it really is more gray than blue, but when put up against the orange it looks more blue than gray) and now I just don't know if I like the walls. I love the orange wall, but not sure about the other three. Is it to much color with brown, black, orange and grayish blue?? Should I paint the other three walls a different color...like a tan or some off white or leave it?? Opinions would be much appreciated.