Cabin Fever

Our house has been overflowing with cabin fever lately.  Today was the first day we've been out of the house for awhile.  It was quite nice to get out even if we still had to bundle up and trudge through the snow and ice. 

Most of this week we've been stuck at home while workers have painted our basement.  It looks quite nice with some color on the walls.  Ryan and I have planned to have a couple of accent walls, but decided it would just be easier to have the contractor paint all of the walls with the beige we planned to use in the majority of the room.

I'm hoping this weekend to be able to work on some of the accent walls, especially the one behind the TV.  It just seems smarter to paint the wall before we put the wall mount back up.

Tonight we have to clean out our kitchen cabinets.  Tomorrow they're planning on ripping out the cabinets and the rest of the vinyl flooring.  Monday and Tuesday I have the tile installers scheduled to install our new kitchen floor.  Hopefully by the end of the week we'll have new cabinets and counter tops installed and our kitchen back in working order.  I am ready for this project to be finished.  I really don't like having strangers traipsing in and out of my home.

Today they only did a small amount of priming in the laundry room and then left for the day.  The kids and I took the opportunity to sneak out for awhile.  Aric got a much needed haircut, I ran some errands and enjoyed the freedom of being away from the house.  I already feel better for it.

I leave you with some evidence of our cabin fever:

Happy Birthday, Ryan

Today is supposed to be a time of celebration of your life, not a day of sadness.  I think it's hard not to mix the two a little bit.  I am so blessed for the years I had with you, but a little sad that I have to remember you not harass call you this evening.  I miss you.  A lot!

I did take the time to pick out some birthday gifts for you.  If I had been able to send you one I would've chosen from these:

It makes me giggle.

A puzzle calendar that looks like Legos.  I know you would've had fun with this.

I think it was the monkey ransom note that got me.  You would've gotten a kick out of these.

So much like your humor and your view of the public masses.

I did get you something:

I sent it to Dad and Mom.  They burnt the card and will spread it on your grave for me.  I also sent them the key gnomes.  The gnomes make me smile and think of you.  You were right, they are everywhere!

I plan to eat some of your favorite things today and think of you.  I love you and miss you so much. 

Happy Birthday!

The Case of the Missing Diaper Bag

My day has been horrible.  The main reason is I'm missing my diaper bag.  As silly as that sounds, not being able to find it has made me sick to my stomach.  It's not so much the contents of the bag but rather the bag itself.  It's the bag Ryan got me on his trip to California.  The bag that's made out of recycled seat belts and costs a small fortune.  Oh and by the way, they no longer make it.

It was in our truck, it's always in the truck.  I leave it in there fully stocked and ready to go in case we ever need it.  I saw it on Friday when I was grocery shopping and I'm pretty sure it was in there Saturday.  This morning it was gone.

In my most cynical-I-worked-as-a-dispatcher-for-too-long moments I wonder if we accidentally left our truck unlocked and someone took it.  Then I wonder if it was inadvertently misplaced somewhere.  Or is it somewhere in the garage or house?  I've looked everywhere, though, and can not find it.  I even called Ryan at work to see if it was in his vehicle. 

It has put me in a bad mood today.  If you see it, let me know, because I'm still looking.

On Having a Daughter

When I found out we were having a girl, I was terrified.  What was I going to do with a daughter?  I was used to Aric.  Used to the roughness, dirt and trucks that come along with having a boy.  The task of raising a daughter just seemed daunting.  While it has been difficult raising two kids sixteen months apart, it has been fun having a daughter.  There are just some things that a mother can only share with a daughter:

My love of seat belt bags:

My love of chatting with friends and family on the calculator phone:

My love of being a mother:

I'm pretty sure, though, that the love of wearing monkey towels is all her and not from me.

The Beginning of Progress

On Saturday morning the contractor stopped by.  We discussed the changes we wanted to make and he sent us off to the store to pick out counter tops and cabinets.  We don't have too many options since we don't have the time nor the money to order anything custom.  Ryan and I are pretty flexible, though, and we can make do with what is in stock.  After dragging Ryan back and forth between Home Depot and Lowe's we finally made some choices and I'm kind of excited about them.  Here's a sneak peak at some things we have chosen:

For the record, that's the same green that the walls are already painted.  I kind of like it and want to keep it. 

The most exciting part of it all- I'm supposed to call tomorrow and schedule the tile installation for Feb 14th.  It's nice to know things are going to be put back together in not too much longer.

Nothing New...

I haven't posted in awhile, but then not much has changed and nothing new has really happened to us.

We still sit around and have silly family moments:

I believe we were using our Chimpanzee power to help Rocket (from Little Einsteins) scale the mountain.

We still give each other high fives on a job well done:   

It's a lot of hard work using Chimpanzee power!


Kellyn still eats more than Aric:

...And she's always messier because of it!

Bath times are still lots of fun:

...And Aric still has longer hair, though, Kellyn's is long enough to "style" now.

We're still getting lots of snow:

This photo was taken before Ryan met the neighbor who lent us his snow blower.

Due to the snow, our kitchen still looks like this:

Some days I want to complain but I remind myself that we are still functioning and surviving.  Good things come to those who wait, right?

Say Goodbye...

Say goodbye to this:

After being incredibly frustrated yesterday by the non-progress in putting our house back together, we received word today that the insurance company approved the contractor's bid.  My kitchen is about to drastically change.  Since two of the base cabinets received water damage, the contractor put in an estimate to replace all of the kitchen cabinets and counterops in addition to the flooring and the sheet rock work in the laundry room and downstairs.  I never in a million years would've imagined that one frozen pipe would lead to a complete kitchen remodel.  I guess it shows that God really does have a reason and ultimate plan for everything.  I'm a bit excited about the new kitchen and looking forward to implementing a couple of small changes that would make the kitchen a bit more functional.

I'll keep you posted on our progress!