Disneyland 2012

After several weeks of mostly patient waiting, we took the kids to Disneyland yesterday. We used it as a bribe to get Sammy potty trained, and it worked like magic. . . the week before we moved. So the trip had to wait a few weeks till we got settled. But it was the perfect day to go. The weather was sunny and warm, and we practically walked on to the rides the first half of the day. The second half we waited about 15 minutes per ride, but that is still pretty amazing. Here is the traditional park entry picture, and my pregnant self stayed out of pictures the rest of the day.

We started with the jungle cruise, which they both loved. It was so funny to watch Sammy though because you could tell he thought the animals were real.

Then we headed to pirates which we used as the measurement for how he would do on the rest of the rides. It's dark, and it has drops, neither of which bothered him, so we decided to brave splash mountain next. The last trip Andi was hysterical after the ride, but she was the one asking to go on it this time, so we gave it a try and it was such a different experience.  Here they are all smiles after getting soaked.

But here is what their faces actually looked like during the drop. Let's just ignore me screaming behind them.

Before we got off the ride I asked Sammy if that was fun or scary and he said, "That was fun, it's time to go home now."  So he didn't love it, but it didn't seem to bother him too much either. As we came off splash mountain Tigger and Pooh were just heading to their picture spots, so we were almost first in line to meet them. Sammy liked to look at them, but would not go anywhere near them for a picture. Andi on the other hand was all over it.

She got so wet!

We spent the rest of the day in Fantasy Land with one stop in to toon town. We decided we do not like toon town. I've never really been in there, but we went on one ride, which had the longest line of the day and Andi came off it saying, "We should not have waited in line for that." So we headed right back out to fantasy land.

With Daddy on the tea cups. Of course he had to spin it as fast as he could till it looked like Sammy was either going to pass out or puke before he slowed it down.

On the carousel.

Waiting to fly with Dumbo.

They loved getting their faces painted.

In front of the castle.

Casey Juniors Railroad.

Going into Buzz's astro blaster ride. Sammy was just staring at Buzz, I got him to turn his head for this picture, but only for a second, and not long enough to actually focus on the camera.

I love this face on our second round on the carousel.

They both got to pick a souvenir, and Sammy had been asking for one of these all day. He loves it, and fell asleep with it on, and woke me up asking for it this morning.

Andi chose a Snow White purse with gloves. She just loves Snow White.

By 5 o'clock we had been on every ride the kids could go on, and were getting to the point where Sammy wanted to be carried everywhere because he was just worn out. So we grabbed the souvenirs and headed out of the park to get some dinner and go home. I almost felt like we were jipping them because we didn't stay till it was dark, but the place was so not crowded that we really had done everything we could think of.  So after dinner we headed out and got home by 9. It was a lovely day, and I loved watching the kids take it all in. Now to try and explain to Sammy why we can't go to Disneyland everyday.

Progress

We are moving right along with projects around here. Last friday morning these bad boys were delivered.

A few hours later, thanks to some help from his Dad and friend Steve, Thad had them in the ground. Here is what that side of the yard looked like before we did anything.

And here are the new additions. This is by no means an after shot because there is still a bit of clean up to be done, but we'll call it a progress shot.

The best part is that once these fill in at the tops we won't be able to see that derrick behind them!

While Thad has been busy outside, I've been painting away on the inside. I even have a couple new callouses from the dumb roller. The lame thing is that most of what I have been painting leaves no before/after shots because it's the exact same color. The people who painted used plain old flat, and every time I have wiped grubby kid prints from the walls the paint came with it, so I have now repainted the staircase and hallways in flat enamel, which should hold up much better.
I did get Andi's room painted last weekend in her color of choice, turquoise. We even got a new cube organizer for her things and some cute purple drapes that have just been waiting for Thad to get back into town so they could be hung. Here is the before and after of her room. The after looks really dark, but it's not, as you can imagine that color makes the room very bright.

I have been trying to let Andi express her creativity in her room which is why the walls are turquoise and why every flat surface looks like a cluttered mess. To her it's not mess, she styled it all that way on purpose, I think she is trying to display every little nick knack she has. For now I am going to let it be and take deep breaths whenever in the room.
Sammy's bookcase got a new paint job as well in two shades of blue, but he's not sold on it yet. He told me it needs to be all rainbowed. We also painted Andi's old bike for him. The little trike was getting a bit small and this will allow him to transition to two wheels soon, but it was pink and covered in disney princesses. We just could not have him riding that. He loves the new look, and the "faster" wheels.

Sammy is still adjusting to the new house and we have been struggling with him staying in bed. A few nights ago we went upstairs ourselves for bed and found him asleep in the hall. I don't know how long he stayed awake watching tv through the banister, but now there is a lock on the outside of his door again.

 

Next on our list, put the yard back together in time for Easter dinner at our house, and hopefully get the kitchen and dining room painted, the dining room wainscoting up, and wood floors ordered. Can't wait!

Drum Roll Please

The verdict is in, and it's a boy. Sammy doesn't seem to care. Andi's reaction, "Why does it have to be a boy?!" and Thad laughed and told me I was in for trouble. I'm a little worried about having another boy after the WWF action that was going on here yesterday. Sammy threw a small folding chair at Andi's head. After I calmed her down and put ice on her gash I asked him why he did it. "Andi was mad at me and yelling." Okay, so instead of coming to get me or just yelling back, he picked up a chair and threw it at her. Logical little boy sense I guess. Maybe Thad's right, maybe I am in for some serious trouble.
Until then we have to come up with a name, and decorate, and now I can get rid of several buckets of baby/little girl clothes, so if any of you are in the market let me know!

It Begins

Now that the house is livable and the mountain of boxes has been removed, Thad turned his attention to his number one project on the list. Trees in the backyard to hide the oil derrick. Of course we couldn't buy decent size trees and let them grow to hide, he needed coverage now. So her ordered the 18 ft sequoias that will be here next weekend, and then realized how big the holes needed to be for those trees, and what else had to be moved before they got there. Enter Thad's toy for the weekend.

It made quick work of the things that had to be torn out or transplanted, and the kids enjoyed it too.

By the end of the day the yard was a mess, but in a good way. There are seven of these massive holes.

The picture doesn't do them justice. They are 4x4x3.5 ft. Basically Sammy could jump down in one and be hidden and not be able to get out. Tempting idea sometimes. And there are piles of stuff like this lying around needing to be disposed of.

But by next weekend we should have a wall of trees along the back wall. We also noticed that this has become a habit for us. Every house we've lived in we've had a backhoe in the backyard doing something major. Does anyone else do that or just us? We also made some major progress on hanging pictures and I came up with this little arrangement for the dining room that I just love. I've seen those gallery walls everywhere, and I wanted to do one, but I'm a little too ocd and it had to be uniform, so this is my, much smaller version.

And then I worked on this cute board for Andi's room. Kelsie made it for her for Christmas, but it no longer matched what we have in mind for Andi's room, so we just changed up the color and now it's perfect.

Today we will be replacing the ridiculous dishwasher that sounds like there's a growling animal in the kitchen, and buying paint for me to get started with!

Before Pictures

It's been just less than a week and I think we've made some great progress on getting moved in. The entirety of our old house was actually loaded up and unloaded here in 1 day. It's just taken me a few days since to unload the boxes. We even started hanging things on the walls last night. So here is a new house tour of big time BEFORE pictures. We have many plans for what the afters will look like.

View from the front door: office to the right, living room to the left, and kitchen/dining straight ahead.

View of the living room from the entry way, ignore those cords, they will all be run behind the wall eventually.

Here is the dining room still housing box mountain. And on the left of the room will be a sitting area.

This is in the dining room looking through to the living room and entry. I love that open arch.

This is from the dining room looking at the kitchen. Now imagine the carpet and linoleum have been replaced by wood floors for a seamless transition from kitchen to dining. Soon my friends, soon!

Close up of the kitchen, and that door by the fridge is my ginormous pantry.

The picture hardly does it justice, because it actually continues around the corner to the right that you can't see.

And the next door off the kitchen houses this loveliness. I know, most of you are thinking, what, it's just a laundry room. But it's indoors people! I've been doing laundry in the garage for the last 5 years, so this is amazing. 

Next up are Andi's bedroom and bathroom, which are just behind the kitchen. There are still a few boxes of toys waiting for shelving in the closet, but it's coming together. 

That is it for the downstairs. I did not show you the office, which is right as you walk in the house, because it's a horrendous mess. It's the least unpacked of all the rooms, and will probably be that way for a little while. 

Now upstairs, first is Sammy's room. 

It's quite a bit bigger than his old room, maybe now I should buy the poor kid a dresser to replace that little Rubbermaid stack.

Next door to Sammy is the future nursery, present dumping ground for all the baby things that used to live outside in the shed.

Then there is the bathroom.

And down the hall is the master bedroom.

Our bed looks so little in this huge room. We need a new mattress anyway, so it might be time for an upgrade.
That slider goes out to our little balcony that overlooks the backyard, and through that arch is the bathroom that is as big as our old bedroom.

And behind those mirrored doors is my huge closet. Yes I said mine, Thad actually has his own in the bedroom. Love it!

So that's the house. I'm having a hard time deciding on paint and  color schemes, hopefully I overcome the stupor soon. Here are a few shots of the yard. Left corner.

Middle

Right corner

 View from the back corner looking at the back of the house.

 

As you can see there is a lot to be done back there as well, but imagine a gazebo back by the fountain with a gas fire pit.  It's going to be great.

A Bit of Pretty

My house is a hot mess right now. Total Chaos is more like it. Moving day is fast approaching, and so my piles of boxes are growing and I'm running out of corners to shove them in. I told Thad not to get me flowers for V-day this year because I already packed all the vases. But he didn't listen, and I'm very glad. Somehow this little bit of pretty helps me ignore the rest of the mess that is making my OCD's twitch.

I also love that whenever Thad brings home flowers there are always stargazer Lilly's in the bouquet.He never forgets my flower. 

So being Valentines day, the kids had a pile of goodies to open this morning from us and my parents, and once the loot was opened they decided they needed their Halloween buckets out to put their stash in. Amazingly I could actually get to those, so they filled them and have been carrying their stuff around. I guess they realized it was raining outside and decided that the jack-o-lanterns would be more useful as rain head gear than candy holders. They are so strange sometimes.

Please ignore my exposed couch cushions in the background, I am washing the covers and they are not dry yet!

San Diego

Thad and I were able to get away to San Diego for a few days this week. He had a management conference and lucky for me the spouses were invited too. We left the kids with my parents and headed out Sunday morning, and it was lovely. The weather was ridiculous, 75 and sunny in January. This is why people live in Ca. Our resort was right on mission bay and there was this nice little bike path that ran behind it to the parks on either side. I had to go to meetings one morning, but spent my other day and a half reading and basking in the sun at the park. The company put on a Luau, and there was an awards banquet the last evening at which Thad received the "presidents excellence" award. Considering he was probably the youngest guy in the room and that he'd only been with the company for 2 years, I was pretty proud. Wednesday morning we did a session in the SD temple before heading home. That is one beautiful temple. They are all beautiful, but I this one is amazing. Of course we didn't take a single picture the entire 3 and a half days we were there. The only thing we have is this strip from the photo booth they had at the Luau. Better than nothing I guess!

And now project pack and clean is underway. Very slowly underway, but I'm pacing myself, we've still got a couple weeks.