Science Fair 2012

Again, Caitlin made her way to the regional Science Fair at MSU Mankato with her project titled "Gassy Vegetables".  Probably wondering why she chose this?  Simply said..."Gas" aka farts.  Funny huh?  Well, it was actually an interesting project and she actually had to do some research and math and science.  She had her heart set on winning a place this year, since last year she didn't and was a bit disappointed.  She's our "prize oriented" daughter. :)  So this year, she walked away with a 1st place in her catagory prize which included a certificate and $30 gift card to Walmart!  She was smiling from ear to ear. :)  John Ireland as a whole did quite well.  They had 9 kids go, 8 got purple ribbons, 1 got blue and of the 8 purple there were 4-1st places, 2-2nd places and 2-3rd places!  It's quite the experience and the pride in the room from all the parents and teachers is overflowing.

Emily bumped me when I took this-Caitlin receiving her award

We have Color & Floors!

Since my last kitchen update we've gotten the walls painted and the flooring guys have installed the hard wood and stained it.  I think it turned out beautiful!  I love it!  We'll have the flooring guys come back at the end of the month to apply the last coat of poly when they do the rest of the main floor floors.  Cabinets will go in this weekend!  Yipee!  Also, the last couple days our stucco people have been applying the 2nd layer of stucco, let it cure and then apply the final color coat!  That's exciting too!  Still our list of things to do is quite long!  Oh, I almost forgot.  The girl's bedroom got carpet last week too!  Now we need to install the trim which should happen this week too sometime.

Natalie the rock star

Here's a little ditty from Natalie and her new Gui-tar.  Don't mind the people talking in the background. :) And sorry for having to view it side ways.  I couldn't figure out how to rotate it.

Consumed

I feel like we've been consumed by our house & activities in the last few weeks.  Barely holding things together.  One step forward, 3 back...you get the picture.  I realized that I haven't even posted Easter on the blog.  I am so far behind.  There's been progression on the house which is good but living in a disorganized mess is bad.  I'm getting very antsy.  But I know I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and will absolutely love the spaces when we're finished.  Gotta keep it in perspective I guess. :)  So...I did leave off at Easter.  I don't have any pictures because I forgot to put the memory card in the camera, BUT I did have it charged this time.  So about 50-60 pictures are on Brian's phone that we'll have to figure out how to upload. :)  Sooo.....

Let's talk about Miss Natalie who turned 3 years old on Monday!  Oh how we love that little one!  She's been waiting and waiting for her bertday-(uhhh May seven-is how she tells people)  It wasn't until she saw birthday presents did she realize that it was in fact May 7 and that it was her day!  We started off her day by getting her a donut at the grocery store and she also picked out princess cupcakes for her bday cake since I have no oven to bake one in.  Then we picked up Levi at the mall and went to Scheels to see Amy, ride the escalator and get a piece of fudge.  After that we played at the inside play area at the mall and then met Heather and Amy at the food court for pizza and schwarma's.  Then I took Levi and Natalie on the carousel.  Those two have energy!! Afterward we went to Party City to get Natalie's bday balloons and a small treat.  Have you ever been in a store full of candy and lots of things to touch with two energetic/non-focused kids?  Of course you have!  As they were enjoying their suckers on the way home, I enjoyed a quiet peaceful moment. :)  Usually we let the kids pick their favorite restaurant to go to but since Natalie and Caitlin's bdays are so close and the fact that we had coupons, we decided to wait until later in the week to go to our favorite pizza place Dino's.  So I let Natalie pick today to go to McDonalds with a few of her buddies.  I'm sure we'll have a blast. ;)  Natalie loves noodles so I managed to make noodles-3 different kinds in the electric skillet (the kids thought I had planned that but really I had 3 half emptied boxes of pasta) and a rotisserie chicken and microwaved steamed green beans.  Sounds good huh? ;)  All in all she really did have a great birthday.  We're so blessed to have her and so glad that Gods plan for us worked and ours (mine) didn't.  We can't imagine our lives without #4.  Natalie is spunky, sassy and sweet in a small little body.  Wants to do whatever her older sisters do, talk like they talk, walk and play like they do.  She makes all of us laugh with her funny expressions and mannerisms.  Love, love, love her!

Kitchen Update

The kitchen is coming along pretty nicely. We finished the drywall and the mudders/tapers were here today and should finish up by the end of the week. Hardwood floors were supposed to be installed this week but the guy we had hired went out of business and now we are in a bit of a crisis to find a replacement that has good referrals and isn't swamped. Keeping our fingers crossed. There's plenty of other things to keep us busy, but the floor is very important because I do not want to go much more without a functioning kitchen! I can't complain though, since we've had beautiful weather and a place to make a temporary kitchen-less a stove. :)
Looking from the dining room toward the back of the house (new entry)
Looking from the back entry toward the dining room-opened up with new archway.

This area is really nice-much more open and functions better without the tiny corner closet that was once here.

Relocated the corner cabinet-it looks like it should have been here to begin with. I like it much better. Makes the wall look balanced.

Oh What a Sunday

We had a busy but yet, fun Sunday. We started out the day at Palm Sunday Mass. It was also the last sunday school for k-1st grade in which I teach. So I was happy to have that wrap up. After mass, the Stewardship committee (which I'm also on) sponsored a palm branch braiding event with coffee and rolls. We love our time after mass for great fellowship and gives us a chance to catch up with friends. After that we went home and got Natalie in for a nap, Brian and Rachel played a little wii, Emily did homework and Caitlin went to 7mile park with her friend Kylie. My mom and dad surprised us in the afternoon, arriving on their Harley. Funny! They treated us to DQ-thanks! It was nice to visit with them. After they left we went to our friend the Lundquists and Gilbertsons to hide eggs without getting caught. We were successful at the Lundquists but Luke totally busted us at the Gilbertsons. It was fun and we thank our friends the Yosts for starting such a fun activity. Then Brian was off to LifeTeen, the girls off to bed and relax time for me and Natalie. Once Natalie went to bed and Brian got home, we finished drywalling. I went to bed at 1:30am and not sure when Brian made it. It was a full day but very very fun!

Oh Sweet Baby

Our friends the Gilbertson's (Jeff & Heather) welcomed to the world, sweet baby Caleb Leo on March 27th at 3:14pm. Caleb weighed 8lbs 4oz and was 21" long. He looks just like his big brothers Luke and Levi and his big sister Ella. We're so happy that all went well after Heather's last 11 LONG weeks of bed rest. He is sweet and oh so cute!!! Congrats guys!