One Down (almost)--One To Go!!

Well, we are 99% finished with Hanna's room. Here is what's left:

• move ceiling fan from old room to new room
• new track lighting
• corner molding in reading nook wall
• light switch/outlet covers
• touch up pink paint
• new bedding--hasn't arrived yet

We plan to finish all of this except the fan and track lighting tomorrow night. We'll do the lights soon:-). Running out of steam.

Here are some before and after pics--to read all of my room reno posts from start to finish, click *here*, *here* and *here*:

Hanna loves her new room. She especially loves her pink carpet in her "reading nook" and her cool papasan chair her Nana and Grandpa gave her. Her birthday is next week, and this is an early birthday present from them.

It's a bit different having her downstairs. She used to be right across the hall from Jamie and myself. I suppose once Jesse is in her old room it will seem a little more real and "normal". Hanna and Jack have bedrooms downstairs and the rest of us are upstairs. (Our house has an odd set-up.)

I am really happy with how her room is coming together! I think Jamie has done a super job, and I'm thankful he is happy, capable and willing to do these projects for our home and family!

More pictures when the room is 100%!

Crazy Things This Past Week

First of all, we are 95% finished with Hanna's room. Just too tired to post pics tonight. I will tomorrow though for sure. It is looking super. Just little odds and ends to finish up and decorating.

This past week Joe has decided that he is going to wait for me downstairs in our mudroom when I leave to exercise each morning. I won't even know he's out of bed, I'll just be all dressed and head down to put on my tennis shoes and there he is grinning from ear to ear and begging to go with me. Well, obviously he can't go with me--one, it's my time to be alone:-) each day, and two, I am not pushing my 4 year old in a stroller while I jog. So, each morning the last couple of weeks I've told him to go back upstairs, play, get Hanna and so forth and to my knowledge he does.

I found out that a few mornings last week after I left he put on his rubber boots, wearing only a pajama top and underwear and went out into our driveway and front yard to play with our cats ALONE for who knows how long. We live on a very busy street! Jamie, Hanna, and Jack are still asleep when I leave each morning--they don't know it if Joe is awake or not. He told Jamie about his adventures over breakfast last week. We are hoping this doesn't continue and have been keeping a very close watch on him now--this really scared us. Joe is also notorious for hiding from me in stores and watching me try to find him--not funny or cute!

OK, here's the other thing--this is not pretty, so read with caution. Jack has been taking off articles of clothing before his nap time. He's also cutting molars right now, so sometimes he doesn't even nap, just plays around in his crib during nap time. I do not get our kids up before nap time is over--I am a firm Baby Wise believer:-).

He stripped down to nothing one day last week. I went into his room because nap time was over, it smelled so bad in there. He had pooped in his crib, rubbed it all over himself, his hair, his blanket, lovie, crib slats, crib--disgusting! I've never had one of mine to do anything like this and was honestly appalled! It took so long to clean all of this up!! I had to throw away some of his stuffed animals, just too gross. We've been dressing him in the hardest things to remove that he has since then. He hasn't removed an entire article of clothing since this, but has gotten some partially off. Has this ever happened to you?

That's all I have for now. We had a very busy, but very productive day!! Hoping tomorrow proves to be just as productive, and Jesse will hold out until we have everything ready for him!

Pictures tomorrow:-).

Fondue, Flowers & Godiva--Who Needs More?

We got much done around our home this weekend. It was very productive and happy too. Jamie and I celebrated our Anniversary very quietly at home. We put the kids to bed early and had a very, very yummy cheese fondue with lots of fruits, veggies and breads for dipping. Our most favorite place to eat is The Melting Pot. Since we couldn't get to The Melting Pot this year, we brought it home. We enjoy doing fondue at home every now and then.

Jamie got me lots of Godiva chocolates:-) and beautiful flowers too. I know some women don't care for flowers, but I'll admit it, they make me feel special and appreciated and I love it when Jamie gives me flowers.

I got Jamie chocolate too, and Sudoko and word puzzle books--he loves these things!! I don't have the patience for them:-).

My friend, Michelle, informed me a couple months back that the "traditional" gifts for your 6th wedding anniversary are chocolate and wood. Well, chocolate was a no brainer for me--you know my love of chocolate!! Jamie and I both had the chocolate covered with no problem. As for the wood, we didn't get near the wood that my friend Michelle and her husband got for their anniversary, but....we did purchase wood on the day of our anniversary for the bookshelves in Hanna's new room. Which, by the way, is moving along so very quickly now!!!! I will post pics of it later today or first thing tomorrow (I hope!).

Jamie and I enjoyed so much just talking to one another while eating our fondue, and then we ate some of our chocolates and watched a movie. We even managed to stay awake for it!! We both "burn the candle at both ends" much too often the last few months. **I am choosing not to even think about all of the calories I consumed and will consume through fondue and chocolate last night and this upcoming week:-).**

This was our first year not going away for our anniversary together. Even so, we had a nice night, and what matters to me most is that it marked the day that the six happiest years of my life began, and started another year of happiness with the love of my life.

Happy Anniversary

Today Jamie and I celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary. I thought I'd share some of the things I love and appreciate about Jamie today since this is our special day, and it wouldn't be possible without him.

Jamie has given me a life and home full of love and happiness that I never thought I'd have. He is my best friend.

What makes Jamie so special to me:

• He came into my life and Hanna's and literally jumped right into his role as a father with a ready made family without missing a beat! And I mean this, he has been a natural from day one.
• He is a hands on dad who makes time to do what our kids enjoy and he always has time for them no matter what he is doing.
• He makes me laugh every single day.
• He loves me unconditionally and tells me every day.
• He never has an unkind word to say to me and never raises his voice. He is gentle and kind and very sensitive to my feelings.
• He works hard to provide for our family and doesn't mind doing so.
• He always likes to plan special things for us to do as a family and makes everything we do so much fun.
• I have fun with him no matter what we are doing.
• He enjoys having our kids with us just as much as I do.
• He helps with middle of the night feedings and diaper changes and actually enjoys it. He truly enjoys his time with our children.
• He buys me Godiva chocolate:-).

Here are a few favorite pictures I found from the past six years. (Some I scanned in so they may be a bit fuzzy.)

This is the spot Jamie proposed to me on June 28th, 2003, at The Biltmore House--one of our favorite places to visit together.



Our Wedding Day:



His first bedtime story with Hanna--this seems ages ago as I look at Hanna in this picture and look at her today. This was her most favorite book at the time, Lily's Purple Plastic Purse. I have to add, Jamie was the one to break her of the pacifier habit too--it was so nice to have someone to help me with these sorts of things:-).



Our sealing, which was the best day of my life other than the days each of my children was born.



Special places we've gone together and memories I'll always have from our time spent together on these trips.



There are so many pictures and memories I'd love to fill this already lengthy post with. Happy Anniversary Jamie! Thank you for making me so happy and loving me with all your heart every single day we've been together. You are my best friend and I love you forever!

Fly Fly Away

We ordered some insects from Insectlore this week to study for Science--caterpillars and ladybugs. No problem with our caterpillars. They are growing just as they should. Well, we had a time with our ladybugs and I thought I'd share this funny story.

We do caterpillars every year--usually catch our own, but since it was so late in the summer and Hanna's science lesson was about insects, lifecycles and so forth I decided to order them. I thought I may as well do the ladybugs too while I was at it. I've never dealt with the ladybugs before. They came in the mail.

We followed the instructions perfectly. Placed them in the fridge for a half hour to send them into "hibernation" to make transfer easy.

When Hanna first removed the lid they were really still and calm and it seemed like this would be a breeze. Transfer them into our container we had all cleaned out and ready for them, and observe them over the next couple of weeks--lots of fun.

They almost immediately started crawling all around really fast. There were so many of them in that little container. I called for Jamie to see if he could help us out and get them transferred fast. (You can see his hand as he jumped in to help in the picture below.) They were beginning to crawl out of the container they came in, as well as the container we were transferring to, and we couldn't stop them fast enough.

Next, we put them and the container we were transferring to into a ziploc bag while we thought things out. We found another container and began to try and transfer them from the ziploc bag into this larger container. This didn't work either. They were not only crawling out of the ziploc bag, but crawling all over me, Jamie and Hanna. We were doing this in our kitchen, and they managed to crawl into the toaster, up the cabinets and then began flying around the kitchen. They were seriously everywhere.

We ended up taking the ones who hadn't escaped yet and releasing them into the backyard. (There was no way I'd be able to get the lid off of their container each day without them escaping to water them.) It was hilarious! We found them for a day or so around the kitchen and our downstairs:-). I'd thought the kids may be a little upset that they didn't get to keep and watch them as planned, but after that ordeal they had no problem setting them free.

Butterfly Exhibit and Children's Museum Field Trip

I took the kids to our local Children's museum this past Friday for a "Field Trip". I'd been wanting to go all summer to see the Butterfly Exhibit they have through October. We finally made it and we were impressed with it too. I knew Hanna would be in butterfly heaven considering she is somewhat obsessed with butterflies in general:-). We stayed in the exhibit for about an hour just looking at all of them, and the pretty flowers they had around. They had butterfly guides available. I had Joe get one and play a game of "I Spy" with his. He loved this, and found lots of different types once I initiated the game.


Hanna actually caught several butterflies on her hand. This was the highlight for her.


Jack wasn't allowed to get down and I couldn't bring the stroller in either (exhibit rules)--so I held him the whole hour--this was challenging, but it did end up working out ok, and I managed to get some good pictures even with one hand:-). Even having to be held, (which luckily he likes) he enjoyed looking at all the butterflies and seeing some up close on the plants and flowers.


After the exhibit I let the kids have fun in the museum. Their first stop was the life sized boy in the front. The inside of this boy is filled with slides, tunnels and passages that are play areas of the different parts of the human body--eyes, brain, stomach and so forth.


Hanna and Joe had fun with the large Operation game.


They also enjoyed "grocery shopping".


Joe and Jack enjoyed playing around on the farm getting eggs from the chickens and "riding" the tractor.




Hanna and Joe stopped for a camel ride in Timbuktu.


We lost Jack in Timbuktu and found him a few exhibits over on the human piano.


This was it for Mom. After frantically running through this part of the museum calling for Jack (and yes, I'm a mom who always wondered "How in the world does anyone lose a child?!") and then finding him so far away we called it a day and headed home. Despite this one upset we really did have a great time! We always enjoy this museum. There is so much to do, and the butterfly exhibit was beautiful!

Making Headway & Joe's First FHE Lesson

We are slowly making progress in our efforts to get things ready for Jesse. After a whole day (Saturday) of watching online DIY tutorials, lots of trial and error and trips to Lowe's, Jamie finally figured out how to properly put up the crown molding in Hanna's new room. He is finishing it up tonight and then things should move quickly (yeah right) the rest of the week. We are so hoping to move her into her new room this weekend!!

I got all of Jesse's newborn clothes unpacked (they hadn't even been packed up a whole year, WOW!), washed up and folded today.

Now, we just need to get Hanna out of his room and get his room ready so I have some place to put them all. I ordered his crib bedding, click *here* to see a picture of it--we just need to buy his crib, and I'll have some place to put it:-). My goal is to have our hospital bags packed by the end of the week.

Joe gave his first Family Home Evening Lesson tonight. He used a couple of packages he got in Primary over the last two weeks at church. He did such a great job and he was so proud to give the lesson. It was so fun to watch him and hear all that he is learning about the gospel and remembering.

He chose the songs we sang--the kids had fun spinning and jumping (among other actions) to "Do As I'm Doing".

I got the cutest picture of them all sitting in front of the fireplace ready for the closing prayer. Hanna was already sitting there and Joe and Jack just followed her over. This was the perfect photo opportunity waiting to happen!

We ended our lesson with chocolate cupcakes! Today was a great start to our week. We had a productive school day, fun craft time, a yummy meal (I finally restocked our freezer at Let's Dish today!!) with lots of veggies (I was craving these), and a super fun Family Home Evening Lesson to end our day.

**Today was the first official day of school in our district. I must say it felt so nice to not be a part of it. It was great knowing we are "officially" homeschoolers now!**