Brian & Mandy's 6 Queens-Girls just having fun...

Monday, April 2, 2012

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!

Monday, March 19, 2012

My try at DIY

I've been wanting to do this project for quite some time... Recover my dingy dining room chairs. After 13 years, 4 kids, lots of dried on play-doh, milk stains, juice stains, etc... these chairs deserved a face lift. It took me two days and some help from my friend Amy and I think they turned out pretty good. :) The girls thought they were just awesome and fought over who was going to tell Daddy about them. I wanted to keep it from Brian in case he squashed my idea! He like them too. :)

Now they have about an inch of dust on them...maybe I should have waited until after the remodel...

The Light at the End of the Tunnel????

We are on to another HUGE phase of our remodel project. THE KITCHEN... (dining room too)

Last week Brian took off work to start demolition. He and our nephew John did an amazing job! It was very messy Monday and Tuesday with all the plaster and old insulation coming down. We had beautiful weather and was able to open up doors to air out the place. Who would of thought we would have 80 degree weather in the middle of March. God was definitely blessing us! It was also nice to grill out since I don't have a stove/oven for at least a month. It's going to be hard for me to be creative with the crock-pot! So far it's going better than I expected and the kids think its great! The electrician finished up today and Brian will be putting up sheet rock this week/weekend. Things and people are scheduled so this part of the project should go pretty smoothly. Fingers crossed! I love that the space feels open yet still maintains the feeling of going from one room to the next. My favorite space is the french doors going from our bedroom into the new sunroom. My other favorite space is the landing area from upstairs. We used to have that silly corner closet but it's now gone and the space we have now is great. no more tilting the laundry basket vertically to get through the doorway! We still have a long way to go but I do believe I see the light, very dim, at the end of the tunnel!

The Before...

The After....

Thursday, March 1, 2012

School Fun

Thanks to my friend JoAnna, I have pictures of my kids having alot of fun at school. The first photos are from Catholic Schools week in which the kids got to go to Lake Crystal Rec Center for an afternoon of swimming, playing in the gym and climbing the wall. The rock climbing wall looked like lots of fun! I only have pictures of Emily and Rachel because JoAnna's kids are in their classes! I know Caitlin had a good time too!

Rachel's Class (she's the 6th one)

Emily's class (shes the 10th one)

Emily's Class doing morning prayer service.

Rachel in kindergarten having fun with Miss Eichler during the Valentine's party

Emily giving her Ecosystem presentation or she would like to call it "presentating"

The kids are learning how to roller skate and it's something they look forward to every year in Phy Ed. Emily has no fear and she's always had a good sense of balance even when she was a baby.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Fun with Family

Arrowwood Resort-Alexandria, MN

This past weekend, our family along with my parents, brother & his family and my sister and her family, vacationed together at Arrowwood Resort in Alexandria. It was nice to hang out together and the girls loved being able to play with their cousins. We stayed in a cabin while mom and dad stayed away from the chaos and was at the hotel part of the resort. Outside our cabin was a small ice skating pond. It was so much fun despite Rachel's head trauma, Natalie's elbow accident and my Dad's butt pain. We also spent time at the waterpark and swimming pool. Most of our time though was spent playing games and eating in our cabin. Yosts and Schloesser's were also there and our time overlapped and we were able to chat with them too. I was happy that Mya could meet Lydia. They're the same age and are very similar in personality! Spunky and fun! Thanks Mom and Dad for a great weekend!!