Miracles Can Happen

Miracles really do happen. We have been trying to finish our basement for over a year. It has been really slow going. We are a bit limited because Cody and I don't know how to finish a basement. We have been at the mercy of both of our fathers.

Consequently, the only times that anything of significance gets done is when one of them comes to our house. However, this last week we have got so much done.

Here are some pictures of how it looked on Friday morning Feb. 13.

Here is how it looked one week later on Saturday Feb. 21.

We got the painting done with my dad on Friday and Saturday and then Cody's dad came up on Monday and we got the plugs and lights in as well as touch up paint. Then my dad came on Thursday and stayed until Saturday finishing up the trim. Cody's dad also came on Friday night to help with the tile around the fireplace. We are so lucky we have such wonderful dads. We are grateful for all of their help.

When this is all over I am hoping to take a little break from home improvement projects. However, we still have garden sprinklers to work on in the spring. It never ends!

The Basement

The basement has been our never-ending project. We have been working on it for over a year. Yesterday and today we finally painted. My dad came up to help us because we were going to use his paint sprayer.

My dad also made us a mantle for our fireplace for Christmas. Yesterday we spent half the day putting it together and staining it. The we put the primer on the wall. It took us about 5 hours to get the first coat of paint on the wall with a sprayer. We spend the first hour just trying to get the sprayer primed. It took Dad, Cody and I all doing something to get it going, but we finally got it going. However, it still wasn't working very well so it took us a long time.

Since we still had two coats to put on the walls and the trim to paint we decided to bite the bullet and rent a sprayer. Dad and I got up early this morning and went and rented the sprayer. What took us 4 hours to do yesterday took us 1 hour to do today. By 4:30 p.m. we had 2 coats of paint on the walls and the trim and doors painted. That includes 4+ hours of drying time.

We are so glad to have the paint on the walls. We are especially glad to have my dad come help us! Monday Cody's parents are coming to help with more things. This project might get finished one of these months.

Puzzles, Puzzles, Puzzles

Ty and Paige both got some puzzles for Christmas. They have loved them. They have enjoyed them so much that I bought Ty some more the other day. Today I got them out so he could try them. He has done three of them with no help at all.

I have decided that I really like puzzles because the kids love doing them by themselves. It will keep my Ty busy for about 30 minutes. Paige loves doing the same puzzle over and over.

Happy Birthday Paige

Paige had her birthday on Jan. 18. I am feeling pretty good because I am only one week late in posting a birthday message. Paige is two years old! She has been acting like she is two for quite some time so we are glad to say she is officially in her terrible twos.

Paige is such a special little girl. Usually people in a family say "if Mom is happy everyone is happy." However, at our house the saying is "if Paige is happy everyone is happy." Paige is usually either really happy or really sad and it can change in the blink of an eye, or in Ty's case, the wrong look!

Despite all the tears that come to her eyes every day we love her unconditionally! Paige's laughter is so contagious. Her whole countenance glows when she is happy and laughing. It is so hard to get mad at her when she is playing, because you just look at her and have to smile no matter how much poop is in the bathtub.

Paige loves to follow Ty around and copy him. I find Ty running around the house with Paige on his heals all the time. If things get quiet I always know that I need to go check on them. Usually they are doing something they shouldn't. Paige is always the one to start doing the bad thing and then Ty quietly joins her. When I find them Ty is always quick to say it was Paigie that started it. He gets so excited to find her and join her doing something mischievous.

On Paige's birthday the Frederickson family came for church and dinner. We had dinner and opened presents and had a great time. She was really excited about her birthday cake. She has in fact been listening to Sydney talk about her "Ruff Ruff Cake" for three months now.

On Monday the Stevens family came for dinner. We had a really good time. The highlight of the night was the Inchworm Grandpa and Grandma Stevens gave her. All the kids had turns riding it. In fact, over the next couple of days Paige would get on for about 30 seconds and then tell Ty it was his turn. There will be no taking that gift back because of not sharing.

We love having Paige in our family. It would not be complete without her. I don't know what Cody would do without his little girl to love.

Fondant Again???

That is right, I made fondant again after I said I would never do it again. Paige's birthday is tomorrow and I decided that doing a fondant cake looked easy. I was wrong!

Luckily my mom was here and helped me. After rolling out fondant for about the 10th time we decided that we were insane! I don't know that I am going to let anyone eat the cake.

However, Paige is really excited about her cake and is having a hard time keeping her hands off of it. Grandma is even getting mad at her when she touches it. That is really saying something about how much effort the cake took to make if Grandma tells her to keep her hands off.

Growing Up

Brock is growing so FAST!!! I realized today that I only have 5 more days to say that he is 6 months old so I better get some pictures of him at 6 months. I have been loving it when he is naked with his diaper. He is just so lovable!

He loves to grab his feet and play with them. He does this every time we change his diaper. It is actually kind of nice because he holds his own feet up for the bum wiping. However, we have to pry his hands off his legs to get the diaper back on.

He is also sitting up really well. I think 6 months is such a fun age because they are so happy just to have something to play with. He always wants to be where the action is, but if he is sitting up by everyone else he is pretty happy.

Brock really likes toys. He always has to have something in his hands to play with. He can't just sit there with nothing to do. He has to be investigating everything. For Christmas we gave him a Curious George and he loves it. When we put him down for a nap we just have to hand it to him and he will lay there and play with it until he falls asleep. I think it has been our best purchase for him yet.

Ty really wanted to get in some pictures with Brock. I have noticed lately how much Brock watches Ty. Ty loves to hold Brock and try to play with him. He is really good to get him toys and try to help him.

Latest Sewing Projects

As most people know, I kind of like to sew. However, I have a really hard time with the tissue paper pattern-type sewing. Right after I got my Bachelor's degree I decided I was going to learn how to sew clothes. I hit the closest Joann's and bought a pattern and some $1/yard fabric to try the pattern out. Buying the $1/yard fabric was the best thing I did. I soon learned that I CANNOT sew clothes. I tried to sew some pants. However, I knew they were going to come up to high on me because I am short so I just cut the top off. I sported a plumber's crack before I even bent over. My roommates and I got a really good laugh out of EVERYTHING I made. I decided then and there that I would no longer pursue my dream of making clothes and I have never looked back!

What I do like to sew are quilts and crafty things. I started to really enjoy piecing quilts right after I graduated from High School. That is something I can actually do. I remember thinking how fun it would be to make my little girl a bedspread. Well, this was my lucky year. I didn't just get to make my little girl a bedspread but also my little boy.

It was kind of a big project to take on since I have three small children, but I really enjoyed it. They got their bedspreads for Christmas from me and they both love them.

I also made them "super capes." They love their capes and wear them almost every waking hour and also to bed. They were quite fun to make. I got instructions online and went for it. I also made one for both Aubree and Sydney.

In mid-December I got the brilliant idea to make Paige a doll bassinet and diaper bag. I looked everywhere for a pattern and finally found one online. I didn't even open the pattern until after Christmas. I was a little worried because of all my other attempts at real patterns and their disasters. I made the diaper bag and bassinet with quilt and pillow and it actually worked. I am really excited to give it to her on her birthday.

I am now putting my sewing machine away for a while and going to work on cleaning my house!