Thursday, October 6, 2011

Catching Up

Yes, I'm still here; and we are now completely moved into our new house!  Of course there is still some work to do, and lots of organizing/finishing up; but all our stuff is moved.  Yahoooo!

Two little sweeties, enjoying time together while Mom worked and Andy napped.

As you may have noticed, nothing's been posted here since mid-August.  Yup, and it's October now!  So..... there are a lot of pictures.  Not as many as some might have taken in that time period, but I was working hard!  And it's paying off, we all love our new home.

Painted the trim white; one coat of primer and two coats of high-gloss, made quite a difference!

Trying it out on a cabinet, too.
 little helper
The cabinet, looking better!
 Peeling wallpaper, they loved helping.

 Sweet, little, chubby, 2 year-old hand.
 Big-girl first grader!

 all gone... yay!
Making blackberry freezer jam, yum!
 Peeling wallpaper off pantry shelves..... yuck!
 Grandpa Jon came to put in tile, THANKS!
 We decided to put it clear thru to the other door.
 Breanna helped put the flooring in her bedroom!
 Big improvement over the linoleum...

And tile into the pantry off the kitchen.... (very convenient, the rental had the pantry in the garage!)
 Starting to get a little closer to live-able.
 Tile in the bathroom to replace the pink carpet, makes it feel bigger too.
 Loving all this color, and white trim!
Silly boy.
 Broccoli from the garden.  Levi was elated when he noticed it was growing!
 We got a lovely flu bug, I think we've had our fair share this year.
 Carrots from the garden.
 Levi learned to pump this summer, and could spend hours on the swing.
 These kids could read books most of the day.
 Helping Daddy cover some seed trailers, in case it rained.
 brothers
 friends
 sweet-hearts!

 We have been eating corn-on-the-cob like it's going out of style.
 This kid really liked it!
 And this one.
 And this one; he wanted it for all meals every day, plus snack!  =)
 Fixing up some $5 wal-mart shoes so they are cuter. (for Breanna)
 And in pink.
Cousin Kiera came to visit, it's nice living so much closer to them!
 More corn.

 It really was delicious!


 And we ate LOTS of it.  You can't grow it in Alaska, so we really enjoyed it.
 I made relish earlier this summer, but wanted to try making it with more peppers and onions for over meat; Tyler thought it sounded good.

 And of course, the boys LOVED helping.

 Andy was sure he had to keep up with Levi.


 More corn.... 
 All you need is a little butter and salt..... mmmmmm!
 Red potatoes from the garden, I can still hardly believe they grow from a cut-up potato!
 Fried zucchini with cheese.... mmmm, I could have lived on this all summer!  With or without the cheese.  It's also delicious with some fresh-sliced mushrooms.
 Seriously, we ate it at least once a day!


 Added some tomatoes (from Sue's garden) to the relish-stuff.



 Jalapeno's from the garden.
 Hawaiian day at school- Teresa gave her a leigh made of shells, she was impressed!
 She also gave her a hand-made flower for her hair.
After so much play, Levi falls asleep quite funny.
 While peeling/chipping up linoleum in the new house, I slipped with the chisel.  Went to the ER for stitches, so much for saving money by doing it myself!
 The kitchen is bright blue!
 With the wall removed, it all seems bigger.
 Another Jalapeno, we got lots of them for some reason.  Guess I'll need to grow tomatoes next year and make salsa!  We also got quite a few sweet peppers.
 One Sunday afternoon, I took a break and played with fabric.  This is for a trial-pillow, with smaller half-triangles from Tyler's shirts I cut up before.
 The previous idea didn't seem to sew up so well (I was having a terrible time with points), and I actually like this better.  Once finished it will be a throw-size, and I'm thinking quite soft since it's from well-loved shirts!
 Now to painting the floor trim white, what a chore!


 The primer took forever, high-gloss second coat went quickly.
 Picking flowers for Breanna when she came on the bus.
 She's very excited to have a shorter bus ride now, and Mommy is very excited to not drive to school twice every day!
 This was the dining room, now part of the living room.

 It all feels so open!
 The pantry.  (minus doors.)
 Looking towards the living room.
 Levi really liked the blue in the kitchen, he told me "I like it so much, that if you had shoes that color I'd make you wear them every time we go to town."  Ha!  So, I painted his room that color too.
 And added some goldfish "wallies".
 They both love their fish-bowl room.
 bathroom.
 hallway
 Breanna's green room.
 master bedroom
 Still working on the master bathroom, they used tile-like wallpaper and lots of glue.... what a mess!
 Took out the small vanity, replacing with large mirror.
 Sortof a robin-egg blue, I love it!
 Hall towards living room.
 living room.
 Craigslist dresser we got for the boys last winter. ($25)
 Decided it was a good time to paint it too!
 Daddy's brother Cody, and his friend Anthony, stopped by on their way to Alaska.
 Awesome help moving the big stuff, it was quite hillbilly-style looking!  =)
 The finished dresser; some lighter blue paint leftover from the boys' room at the rental.  I really don't like the nobs, buy they came on it and don't cost anything, so I guess they will have to stay for now.
 My quilt got quite disheveled while we were packing (I never actually got time to sew the triangles together), and the kids made make-shift beds on the floor.
 I gave this quilt to Andy for his new room, he was quite impressed.
 Very blue!  Grandma has another metal bed we are going to paint for Andy, any ideas on color?
Sacked-out on the way back from Bend.
 happy traveler
 and another
 Before I took the quilting frame down, I quilted a pretty scrap quilt for Brenda.  I love how she used so many different fabrics!
 Look at her pretty piecing.
 Tiny triangles!

 And this one for Tyler's sister, Bethaney.  I'm not sure when it will be set up again, so wanted to get them done for them quickly!
" Grandpa" Larry came to help us pick and get the rest of the corn ready to freeze.
 Levi loved helping him, and Banner the dog seemed to enjoy it also.

 harvesting sunflower seeds!




 Levi came in while Grandma was cleaning, and said he wanted her to make some relish!  Ha ha, I think that zucchini has been ignored way too long- it's huge!


 Andy sacked out in the corner while we finished cleaning.  I sure did appreciate all the help from aunt Kylee and Grandma Maryn!  Kylee worked hard in the mornings and then took the kids to the pool and other fun things.  It really was a fun time.
 Cousins.
 and Rosie, Grandma's dog.

Andy picking out John Deere tractors.
 Rosie was quite excited when Breanna came home from school.  Breanna seemed quite impressed how excited she was to see her too.
 Enjoying the new bathtub, it's nice to have shower-doors so they can splash and not get the floor all wet!
 And I finally figured out how to download pictures from my phone.  They aren't great resolution, and I don't take many on it, but these were sweet.
 We need to get a new kitten, they sure do miss him.
 Riding the combine with Daddy.

 Breanna and the wheel-line.

 Back in August I cut up some pink and yellow coordinating squares.
 Sewed them into strips, and made Breanna a skirt!
 I had enough to make one for Kiera too, so used the phone so I could text them to Kylee.
 Now I just need to finish Kiera's so they can match!
 The kids started swimming lessons, and loved it!
 We live not to far away now, so are planning to get a yearly pass.  And maybe Kylee and Kiera will come visit more since they love to swim!  =)
 Chopped up rattlesnake that was out where I asked the kids to get in the van...... yikes!  He was really hissing and rattling, quite intimidating!
And that's all for now folks.  Hopefully now I can keep up a little better, but I've still got a lot left to do- so current house pics will have to wait.  Harvest is done, the weather is turning cooler, and it just feels like time to keep warm inside.  I mowed our lawn and the grass on the second lot; so hopefully that's all till next spring.  One positive benefit of all this work, is that I've lost 24 pounds!!  At first it didn't sound like much, but then I realized that I gained 25 pounds on each of my full-term pregnancies, so I guess it was quite a bit!  And it feels soooo nice to have a little more clothing options.  Now if I can just keep it off all winter......

12 comments:

Amy said...

Wow you've been busy!!! Your house looks great, your garden is impressive and congratulations on the weight loss!

Verity Earl said...

Congratulations on the 24 lbs! That is definitely something. :) Your kids are just so beautiful. Such big blue eyes! I love the house, everything looks awesome! And the blue in the kitchen is definitely cool. I would make you wear those shoes too. :) Maybe a yellow bed frame for Andy? I think it would go nicely with the quilt, and set off the fish motif in the room.

Kylee said...

loved the pictures! nice toe!

Kari D. said...

You've done a lot of work! Sorry about your toe. That looks painful! I'm back up in Wasilla for special mtg. rounds and it still feels like you should be here! But glad you are thriving there.

Bethaney said...

You are brilliant, Lisa! Getting all that work done, keeping yourself sane, and the kids alive while Ty harvested AND lost 24 lbs into the bargain. Can I be you? :-)
So nice to see pictures. Love those sweet babies of yours. Although they aren't babies much anymore....

Becky Gonce said...

YAY! you are alive! I was wondering! Good job on losing all that weight... I've been motivated since we are coming down at xmas time for a wedding! Oh, and you can send all your extra corn this way! We love it and miss it! What a fun pool.. might have to meet you there this winter...

billieq said...

Hi Lisa, glad you are up and blogging again. I missed you but knew what you were up to so didn't worry!! Knew you'd be back when the house got livable and it's that alright--beautiful!! Yes, a yellow bed frame---to keep the Primary-color-Theme going. Oh, and a bit of green sea grass on the wall amidst the fish would be nice---maybe a shell or two??? Yea--some people are never satisfied, right? HA Keep up the terific job you're doing.

Shay said...

Lisa, Congratulations on the weight loss. How exciting .

Im not even sure where to start with your post – so much has been going on!

All those renovations look wonderful and incredibly scary at the same time. I recall when we were doing the same thing to one room and all I did was carry on about how hard it was! You're a much braver person than I am , to tackle a whole house at once!

The kids look great. This move has really agreed with them.

Lovely to see you out and about in Blogland.

Rebekah said...

Lisa! It's wonderful to hear from you again. I love that blue in our kitchen!! And our family rooms are very much alike...same ceiling type. And wood floor. Our paint color is a golden hue of yellow though...but we have that taupe in our living room and it's such a peaceful color.

Cathy said...

Lisa I love the blue in the kitchen, and the blue color in the bathroom you can't go wrong with most shades of blue. Thanks for letting us in on your busy summer and I am definitely glad you are back :)

Marla said...

WOW Lisa you have been super busy!!! Your new place looks lovely!!! What a great job you guys have done!!

Evan and Clover and Co. said...

Finally got a chance to read this post, SO glad to see all the pictures of your kids and the new house. It looks so nice and big, we'll have to come out and fill it up with company some time! You've been busy, that's for sure!