The House

For all of you who have been requesting pictures of our house...here they are. Just keep in mind that it is still very much a work in progress...but at the rate we're going it'll be several months before I get pictures of the finished product up. So, here ya go...oh and some of the pictures have really weird lighting...sorry about that.

The kitchen...yes, it's really ugly. But, it's got tons of cupboard space (I still have an entire cupboard that is empty and I have no idea what to do with it). The dishwasher was broken when we moved in, so our landlord installed a brand spanking new one on Saturday. We just keep hoping that nice yellow oven breaks soon too...

The dining room. This was one of the rooms we painted. We are going to hang a valance above the window and the Valentines decorations will be coming down. We want to hang some pictures (of what???) and I'd like to find something...a buffet or something...to fill up the rest of this large space.

From the kitchen going down to the laundry area

and from the laundry area to the garage.

The living room. Definitely needs pictures and we're throwing around the idea of doing an accent wall on that wall with the fireplace. That or maybe putting a runner on the mantel. Just something to break up all the white over there.

The bathroom. Still needs an over the toilet shelf thing.The kids room. This room is actually the exact same layout and size as their room in our last house. Crazy! So, we set up their room exactly the same, but now there are no toys in here. I LOVE IT! We did put a bookshelf at the end of Emma's bed for some books and a couple small toys, just to fill some of the empty space. I kind of want to hang curtains or something from under Emma's bed to make it a fort and make the room feel not so empty. We also need to hang pictures. We have a fun idea for this that I will post when we actually do it. Also, this was the other room that we painted. You can see the before picture below.

Before...I think ours is a definite improvement.

Our room. We're going to hang curtains and hang pictures. Beyond that I just don't know what to do in here...though I would also REALLY like to get a headboard and we are on the hunt for nightstands.

The office/sewing room/junk room. This is our least favorite room right now, the place we have been throwing all that stuff we don't know what to do with. It's kind of an awkward room. It has a door from the hall and then a door into the playroom. There is only one outlet in the room and there are no phone jacks (to hook up the internet). So, between all that and the two closets on that wall, there's not much functional wall space to work with. This may just stay like this until we eventually need it as another bedroom...and no, that is not an announcement.

The playroom. This is one of my favorite rooms in the house. It's large and comfortable and I am really loving how it's turning out. This is looking out to the backyard.

Looking from the backyard to the door leading to the laundry area. See the doors on the right...those go to the office. And right before the glass pane door there is a big hole in the wall. This room was an add on and that hole in the wall used to be a window to the backyard. So, when they made the addition they left the window frame. It's kind of a weird little thing, but it's growing on us. All that we have left to do in here is hang pictures. Jon has several movie posters from work, so we thought it would be fun to hang those around the room.

There are two of these windows in the playroom. I love them, but I don't know what to do with them. They are just high enough off the ground that they really don't work as seating, but I want to do something with them. They are just too white. And it seems like it could be such a functional space, it bugs me not to do anything with it. Ideas???

The half bath in the playroom. It is what it is...I'm not doing anything with it. But we sure do love having it!

The backyard! We have LOVED having this. When you first go out, there is a covered patio...sorry about the night pictures!

Then to the left there is the lawn, storage shed, fruit trees!, and lots of garden space along the house and the fence! We can't wait to get stuff planted.

And that's our house. Please feel free to send along decorating tips and/or ideas!

Content

This is how I've felt for the last few weeks. Very content. Very happy. We have such a good life and I love where we are at right now. I love the ages and stages that the kids are at and the way they are really starting to become friends. Sometimes I wish I could just freeze life and enjoy it like this forever. I've told Jon several times over the last few weeks that life is just so good right now...not perfect-the kids still fight and throw tantrums and my house usually isn't clean...but I feel so happy. Hopefully this isn't just the calm before the storm.

I feel like I should be really stressed right now. We're moving in less than 2 weeks and I have a total of 9 boxes packed. I look around and see so much that needs done, but then I think it can wait till later. We still have a lot of time. I have a feeling we're going to be doing a lot of last minute throwing stuff in boxes. And somehow I'm okay with that.

I am really enjoying my kids right now. I've always loved them, but some ages have just been a lot harder for me than others. I feel like the older they get, the easier it is to enjoy them. I love playing with them and seeing their imaginations at work. It makes me smile too when they shut their bedroom door and Emma tells me to go read a book or take a nap or something because they are playing. And honestly, I have NO problem with that. :) I love that I can let them play alone together. Emma is becoming much more aware of feelings. She likes to tell me what's going on with Matthew. She'll say things like, oh, he's grumpy. He needs a nap. He's sad. He just needs me. He's so happy because I shared the toy with him. It's very sweet. It also melts my heart when we put them in bed and then they lay in their beds talking and giggling until one of them falls asleep. I really do hope they are always good friends.

Another thing that makes me happy is when Matthew sings. He is such a good little singer and knows several songs. He loves to sing while he plays, so we hear him a lot throughout the day. We have also kind of started potty training him. He has started taking his diaper off, so when he does that he has to sit on the toilet. He's gotten that down and is okay with wearing underwear now too. I think it'll just take a little while longer for him to recognize when he needs to go. But for now, I'm happy with it. And he looks So cute in his little underwear.

Have I mentioned I love my life? Because I do!

There's nothing like a little bit of pampering to put a smile on your face.

This is one of those things that puts a smile on my face. Emma loves to play games on the computer. Matthew pulls a stool over and will stand and watch her for as long as she plays.

We've had a lot of rain recently. I think it rained non stop for a week, and we're scheduled for at least 4 more days of it. We have also had thunder, lightning, and hail...which we never get here. It has been so fun. I really do love the rain.

This was 2 days worth of rain! It's hard to tell in the picture, but the pool was about halfway full.

The kids were dying to go outside, so we headed out. They played outside for over an hour until I made them come in.

After a couple days of rain, we woke up and found these mushrooms growing in our yard. There were tons of them and they looked so cool.

How cute is this?

Christmas...and the rest of December

Here is a quick recap of our last month. It was a busy one!

We decorated a gingerbread house one night. Emma did a great job carefully putting the candy on.

Matthew enjoyed eating the candy

After we got the roof all decorated we realized the frosting holding the walls together had never dried. It was a mess! We hurried and melted some sugar and put it back together again.

Not professional, but considering Emma did most of the work, I think she did a good job.

The weekend before Christmas we had a Who party with Jon's family. We had a Who feast with roast beast and who pudding, played games, and watched "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". It was a fun night.

Before leaving Danville we had to go check out this house. It is completely covered in lights and big, tacky inflatables. Every year he adds one more thing to it.

My family came on the 23rd and stayed for almost a week. We had a great visit and I'm so glad they decided to come. Some of the highlights of their trip were

Cuddling with grandma and grandpa

lots of movie watching

Spending Christmas Eve with Jon's family. We ate dinner, had a white elephant gift exchange, and acted out the nativity. Lots of fun!

Christmas morning! We had great plans to have the video camera going so we could see the kids when they came out. However, Emma quietly came out of her room and into the living room. We didn't know she was even awake until we heard her yell "Oh look, it's my bike!" Oh well, maybe next year.

Emma very neatly spread all of her presents out

He would have been happy with just the candy!

We got the kids a potato head silly suitcase that came with several different potato head pieces. This made me laugh.

Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus riding in the airplane. Emma did this all on her own!

Emma LOVES her bike. As soon as we finished opening presents we went out so she could ride it.

The family came over a little later in the morning and opened their presents.

After they were done we went to the park. While there my brother took Matthew down the slide on his lap and Matthew ended up with a sprained ankle (again!) His foot got caught between my brother's leg and the slide and twisted. This exact same thing happened 2 months ago when I took him down the slide. So...poor kid! He's started walking on it again, so hopefully it will be healed soon.
One tired little boy!

The day after Christmas we took my family to see San Francisco. Our first stop was Alamo Square Park to see the Painted Ladies and let the kids play on the playground.

Our next stop was the Cable Car Museum. This really is such a fun little museum (and it's free!)

From the Cable Car Museum we drove down Lombard Street and then went to Pier 39 for some lunch and shopping.

Our family and my mom and brother ate at Bubba Gumps while everyone else went to the Hard Rock Cafe.

They have this fun little display outside Bubba Gumps (the shoes, suitcase, and box of chocolates)

Our next stop was the Golden Gate Bridge, where apparently the whole state of California was. I think we spent more time trying to find a parking spot than we did walking on the bridge! By this time, it was starting to rain so we didn't stay long.

Our last stop was Baker Beach, but because of the rain we only stayed for a few minutes before we headed back home. It was a busy, fun packed day!

Sunday we drove up to the temple to see the lights. There was a lot of traffic and by the time we got there it was late, windy, and COLD, so we ended up staying in the visitors center most of the time.

My family left Monday morning to head down to Disneyland. It was sad to see them go, but we're glad they came for as long as they did.

Daddy daughter bike ride

Monday Jon's parents took the kids overnight so Jon and I could have a little getaway. We took BART into the city and met up with Jon's brother and his wife to go ice skating in Union Square. We haven't been in several years, but it was so fun.

Tuesday morning we signed a lease for this house! We are moving!!! And we can't wait. Jon's commute will be much shorter, it has a large backyard, the garage, fruit trees, and 4 bedrooms. We are excited to make it our own.