Laundry Room

The laundry room is finished! Looking back through all the before pictures it is amazing how much has changed through the house. Here are the before pictures of the laundry room:

And after pics... Much Better!

My Thumb Hurts...

from pushing over 200 upholstery tacks into this bulletin board! I saw this project a few months ago and knew I wanted to recreate it. We have a stainless steel refrigerator that magnets don't stick to so I don't have a good place for birthday invites, school notes, or lunch menus. I put this on a ledge in our laundry room which is close to our garage so I can glance at some of these things if I need to on the way out the door with the kids. I think it turned out cute!

First Day of Pre-K!

Today was Cooper's first day of Pre-K! He had a great day and was looking forward to being in the 4 year old class. He has the same teacher that Tyler had last year so it was nice for him to have a familiar face. He will continue to go twice a week this year and he is looking forward to having Claire join him at his school in October after she is old enough to attend. But, I'm pretty sure I'm looking forward to her starting school more!!!


Update on Tyler- He is loving kindergarten. He had a huge smile on his face yesterday when i picked him up and he jumped in the car and exclaimed, "Mom, I had a great day!" Made me feel so good about where he is and excited for him in this adventure.

Little Project

Several months ago I saw this cute little hook online at Anthropologie. In true Anthropologie fashion it was overpriced at $20. I didn't want to "fork" over that kind of money and I decided I could make one myself and I actually think mine is cuter! I found some old silverware at Canton this summer for $1 a piece. I had my super handy husband drill a small hole in the middle of each piece, super glue them together, bend the fork up for the hook, and put a nail through the hole into the wall. Threw my apron on it and there you have it!

First Day of Kindergarten!

We dropped off Tyler this morning for his first day of kindergarten! He was very excited about his new adventure and I'm excited for him too! As Travis woke him up this morning for school at 6:45, he said, "I didn't get enough rest." Cooper said, "Why did you wake me up while it was still night?" Funny coming from two boys who routinely used to wake me up every morning by 6am!

Here's to a great year of kindergarten, Tyler! We love you!!!

San Diego- Day 1

We recently got back from a wonderful trip to San Diego thanks to my incredibly generous parents! We all had a fun filled week and got to enjoy some wonderful 70 degree weather! We stayed in an incredible house that had everything you could have ever wanted. The backyard was AMAZING and included a mini golf area, trampoline, swimming pool/hot tub, playground, outdoor kitchen and an outdoor living area. I think we spent 90% of our time outside soaking up the beautiful weather. The boys would run from one thing to the next and Claire was right behind them. We had a little issue of adjusting to California time. The first morning I think the kids were up at 5:45 and by mid morning we were all ready for nap time! Here are some pictures from the first day.

The first day we hung around the house and played with Papa...

Played some video games...

Got dressed up for dinner...

and celebrated Gram's birthday and upcoming retirement!

San Diego- Day 2

On day two, we headed to the famous San Diego Zoo. It was huge and we definitely got our exercise pushing strollers up and down the terrain. Towards the end of the day we took a bus tour of the zoo and four of the six kids were asleep by the end of the twenty minute tour! They were wiped out! Here are some pictures of our time at the zoo:

Claire and Luke checking out some animals

Papa pushing some of the big kids around

Will and Tyler checking out the helicopter

The biggest lion I have ever seen!

Daddy and Cooper on the bus tour

Claire sleeping with Papa on the bus tour.

Tyler didn't fall asleep on the bus tour, but he did fall asleep on the way home wearing his giraffe mask! :)

San Diego- Day 3

On day three we headed to the beach! The water was FREEZING and just sitting on the beach was chilly. The kids didn't seem to mind though and had a great time splashing and playing in the sand.