Two little joys of my life...

Need I say anything? Aren't they the cutest things all dressed up and ready for church? Aidan actually picked out the orange shirt. I wasn't sure it was the best selection, but now I just love them in it.

The almost finished product

Here are the latest and greatest pictures of our house. It's just about done minus some very important pieces....the appliances! Those should be installed on Monday or Tuesday and we close on Thursday, talk about a tight schedule. They are also working on all the little touch up issues we noticed during our walk-thru last week. The only bummer part is...well the move, I'm so not looking forward to that, but also we won't have landscaping until probably April or May. Anyway, enjoy the pics....

P.S. the kid's rooms will be painted a different color after we move in. I'll post those pictures when it's done.

Valentine's Day?

Valentine's Day? In a nutshell was busy! And by the end of the day I couldn't wait for it to end. Also, since Rick and I knew we wouldn't be able to go out for a nice dinner I decided to order what I thought would be a great dinner from this great little market in town. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out so great. First of all, I didn't realize I'd have to basically cook everything, I was thinking I could just pick it up and voila, it's ready to eat. The appetizer was different and contained brie cheese so I had to pick through it to take out the cheese. The filet mignon was so not cooked so to save time I ended up nuking mine...definitely doesn't taste good that way. Oh well, enough complaining about our dinner.

Rick did surprise me with a gift certificate for a facial at a local spa. I intend to use that after our move and get a "motherhood" massage as well. Can't wait! I love it when he surprises me with something I don't expect! (To be perfectly honest, I thought he's forgotten about Valentine's Day since our focus has been on the house and our upcoming move.)

Aidan had his Tae Kwon Do testing on Valentine's evening that ended up lasting a lot longer than I thought. But he did an awesome job. He's now a 2nd degree orange belt! Great job, Aidan! Here are some pictures a friend of mine was kind enough to take. (I was holding Kellen who as a non-napper fell asleep on the way to class. Of course he woke up right when Aidan walked on the mat and started crying. Ugh!)

Quick weekend getaway

Thursday after Aidan got of school we headed off to Boulder which is about an hour northwest of us. Great town (you can liken it to Santa Cruz or possibly Berkeley, primarily for the resident's liberal views. At least that's what we're told). And it's close to a ski resort called Eldora.

Friday morning we headed up to Eldora so Rick could go snowboarding and Aidan could attend ski school. We thought it was going to be a great day since the weathermen announced weather in the 40's and 50's this weekend, but there was one little problem....WIND! And lots of it.

Kellen and I hung around the ski resort for about an hour waiting for Aidan to get ready to head out to the slopes so I could take some pictures of him. Rick said it wasn't too bad for about 2-3 hours because an hour after opening the slopes they opened up the main runs, but after lunchtime the wind really picked up and they had to close down the main runs again.

Poor little Aidan:( His 2nd time skiing didn't go as great as it could have because of the evil wind. Rick said he headed over to where the kids were being pulled by the tow rope to go down the little bunny slopes, but a few of the kids, including Aidan got really scared with the wind and started crying and falling. Imagine, little 5-6 year olds who weigh around 50 lbs. trying to navigate and stay upright on their skis. Aidan's little face was so red from wind burn, (note to mom - buy a ski mask) and he had frozen snot all over his face. I know, nice visual, but that' s what he looked like.

His teacher said he did great, the weather just turned really crummy so it became scary for a lot of the kids. Thankfully he's not ready to call it quits. Anyway, here are some pictures of Aidan starting out. I couldn't get any of him going down the first small hill because Kellen wouldn't venture away from the building. Once again the wind was deterring him from the outside.

More house pictures

Here's the latest house pictures. They've added the tile, corian and granite to the bathrooms and kitchen.

kitchen granite

master bathroom corian - still dark in the bathroom so it's hard to tell how well it looks.

tile selection in all the secondary bathrooms

What do you say?

What do you say to someone close to your age who lost a baby at 20 weeks gestation almost a year ago and hasn't gotten pregnant since? And they recently found out the reason why she probably can't get pregnant, but insurance doesn't cover the cost for treatments and who has thousands of dollars lying around? (If there is any silver lining to this she has two beautiful children.)

What do you say to someone close to your age who was recently diagnosed with an agressive form of breast cancer and has a 5 year old son and a toddler boy running around? She is currently going through chemo and said her son shaved her hair yesterday because it's finally coming out in clumps.

What do you say to someone your age who a year ago was diagnosed with breast cancer and because of the type of cancer she opted for a double masectomy and had to have a hysterectomy? Thankfully she has two beautiful healthy children and is cancer-free one year later.

What do you say to a selfish woman (myself) who's biggest complaint is that she's pregnant with her 3rd child (thankfully with no difficulties or sickness to speak of), but is complaining about it because she's seen the "light at the end of the tunnel" (her freedom) and is dreading going back to the sleepless nights and the baby stage?

Seeing these women twice a week really makes me stop to think about my blessings. I have two beautiful, healthy, active, vibrant boys, and a husband who's so supportive and loves me. I hope one of these days I can be as brave as these women.

Interior paint

They've finished painting the interior and it looks great. It really warms up the place even without the hardwood floors installed or the carpet. They've also just about finished with the tile and we're told they should be installing our granite next week. We hope they'll start working on the stonework both outside and inside along the fireplace too. It's really fun to see all the changes they are making to our house. Can't wait for the finished product.

Finished the tile roof and the driveway.

The mudroom - a nice surprise it includes the bench. Access to garage behind me in this picture and the entrance to the kitchen is to the left.

kitchen with painted walls and ceiling.

From the great room looking into the breakfast nook and kitchen.

view of Front Range from Kellen's room. We're facing southwest which is AWESOME. Not only for great views, but less snow we'll have to shovel. The saying goes, you face north you will ALWAYS have to shovel. Notice the neighbors across the street.

The nursery. Another added bonus - the little bench below the window as well as the bookcases on either side. Love that!

Closer view of master shower.

Closer view of master tub. We just wish the tile went further up the wall. Wasn't an option though.

View of Elva's lot (the dirt mound where the tire tracks end) from Aidan's side window.