Friday, February 29, 2008

Olive Lovers

My kids must definitely take after their Dad, especially Ben. They love olives! Caelan didn't like them up until about 6 months ago, but she is making up for lost time. And Ben, he would eat an entire can of olives for dinner if I let him. I'm glad they are such fans - more for them, and less for me (YUCK!).

Disneyland Adventure

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Lots of Projects

Well, we have begun the house improvement adventures. The weekend that we closed on our house, we had a myriad of visitors and helpers meet at the house and begin our projects. My Dad and Andrea and family came down from CA to help out as well as a couple of Sean's coworkers plus my aunt and uncle from Boulder City (thanks to all). We got wallpaper removed, popcorn ceiling scraped off, the brick planter beaten out, carpet pulled out, the bathroom taped and ready for paint and the cement floor leveled and prepared to lay the wood floor. Since then we have put in about half of the wood floor, filled all the nail holes throughout the house, painted both bathrooms and textured the ceilings in all the bedrooms. I never have quite as much time at the house as I would like (the kids hang out for a while, but then they get tired of being there without their toys and are ready to go home). I try to work for a couple hours a day. I am heading over today to paint the bedroom ceilings (oh, my arms are definitely getting a workout these days) and putting one more coat of paint on the master bathroom. Caelan has been asking me every day when she can paint her bedroom, so I am trying to get the ceiling done in there so that we can get the paint up in her room. She's excited to help out. I'm also hoping that we can make some more headway on the wood floor on Saturday (really the only day in the week that Sean can work on the house). It's pretty fun - lots of work, but fun to see it change.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Mega Moo


Megan is our strong willed toddler. She turned one in November. She can really get herself around - she is constantly trying to keep up with her big brother and sister. She loves to do anything that makes Caelan and Ben laugh, and once she figures out what that is she will do it over and over again. Her vocal chords work very well, and she uses them anytime she needs or wants anything. She loves food - all kinds (she must belong in our family) as well as ice. She will take a whole cup of ice and take handful after handful until the entire thing is gone. She is starting to form some words (not much that is real understandable, but we know she is definitely trying to communicate). Taking baths is one of her favorite things. As soon as she can hear the water running, she runs into the bathroom and stands at the edge of the tub making noises until I get her clothes off. She is very busy, but she also be cuddly. Her Daddy can cuddle her up until she falls asleep in his arms (this has happened a few times at church). She attracts all kinds of attention anywhere we go, and she knows it and milks it, which in turn attracts more attention. Needless to say there is never a dull outing with this little one.

Benny Boy


Ben is our little Dude. He will be three in April. He is a real talker. He loves to ask questions, especially when we are watching movies. He definitely has a tender side to him, but he also loves all things boy: cars, trains, animals, monsters, etc. He is our master spiller - we expect to clean up at least one spilled drink every single meal (it happens like clock work). He loves his two favorite blankies ("white blankie" and "blue blankie"). He loves to play, especially with Caelan. He is also our night owl. We will put him to bed at 8 PM, and an hour and a half later he will still be playing in his bed. We are in the middle of potty training him (YIKES) - I'm hoping he will get the hang of it some time this year. He is very tender and sweet to his baby sister, although she is starting to get big enough to take away his toys (and he isn't a big fan of that). He likes to play games and do anything outside. His smile is very contagious, and his laugh is addicting.

Caelan


Caelan is 4 and a half years old. She starts Kindergarten in the Fall and is counting down the days. She is very logical - the master negotiator and has a very good memory (which can be both very good and a little annoying for a parent at times). She loves to practice writing and sounding out words. Her imagination is working in full force and has been since she started talking. Everything she touches comes to life, whether that be a barbie doll, a stuffed animal, a toothbrush or a pencil. She is very self entertained and loves to involve her little brother and sister in her play (although she definitely likes to take the front seat as far as facilitating the play). She is full of interesting and comical sayings and phrases. Just today she looked and me and said, "Mom, you're really wigging out." We love her to pieces.

New Home Owners


We just closed escrow on our first home. YEAH! We are officially home owners (or really "loan owners", but it still feels good). I went and picked up the keys about 30 minutes ago. We are heading to Home Depot later tonight to pick up supplies for our first projects. The house is 25 years old, but in great shape (an older widow woman lived there alone for years). There are definitely some features that we want to improve before we move all our stuff in (replace the carpet in the dining room with hard floor, remove wallpaper in the kitchen and paint). We're excited. How fun to finally be able to do whatever we want to our living quarters. The house sits on .86 acres, so there is a lot of room to do some fun things to the yard as well. I'm gearing up to plant a killer garden in the Spring. Good times.