New Counters!!

Here is the first look at my new Quartz countertops!! It is still missing the tile backdrop that Bryan is working on, but it looks so wonderful and I'm SOOO happy. The color in the picture doesn't do it justice, though. You'll have to come over for a home-cooked dinner to see it!

The free sink (installation not included) and our beautiful new faucet/counter.

Another view. Isn't it beautiful? Can you tell I'm just in awe of my new kitchen?

My Uncle Dannie came over the other day and was visiting from Sacramento. He stayed over one night and went fishing with Bryan the next morning. They had a great time and came back to spend the day with Will, Riva, me, and all our kids. We greatly appreciated the help he gave Bryan with our garbage disposal after the new sink was installed and we were blessed having time with him all to ourselves, too.

The kids loved to "Dog Pile Dannie" and were constantly jumping on him. He could take it, but I cringed every time someone went airborne. They were all in heaven.

Little Lynnea wanted in on the action, too - complete with her bottle.

Bryan and I got our picture with Dannie, too. We're looking forward to his next visit and we LOVED having some time with him.

For physical therapy, my doctor had me use a device called a "pinky ball." They sell them for $15 at the office, or you can make your own with a pinky ball and a dowel. So, Bryan helped me make a couple, and I use them to put pressure on my nerves in my gluteous and hip area. Well, the boys just saw the balls and had to have them and hit our backs with them, which felt really good too. So here they are watching a movie before bed and keeping their balls within eyesight.

Pardon My Dust

So, again, I must apologize for spending more time AWAY from the computer, than on it updating you all. Our family enjoyed a wonderful time with my Nana and we were so fortunate to see her several times more before she left. We were able to go to Victoria Gardens (the scene of the head wound several months back) and also to mom and dad's where the kids swam to their hearts' content. (side note...what's with the 100 degree weather lately.???..but that's a completely different issue).

All the kids actually sat together and posed with Nana. Needless to say we really didn't SHOP, but we watched the kids at the play area they have there, and drank Starbucks thanks to mom. Of course after that I had to ditch early since for the 3rd day in a row Austin was complaining of stomach pain. I made a doctors' appt. and they told me it was only malabsorption. Hmm...or trying to get attention? I don't even know, but I DO know that appointment cut the naps short....JOY.

SO....on Easter we all congregated at my mom and dad's for an afternoon of fun, birthday celebrations, and egg hunting. My Nana's birthday was on that day, and my mom's was the next Friday, when they would be out of town, so we celebrated both birthdays (somewhat). The kids loved hunting for eggs, and Will and Bryan decided they'd hide the eggs for the second round. Somehow, I DON'T think the kids will reach up by the patio cover, Bryan. AHEM. Easter is such a special holiday because it celebrates Jesus' being raised from the dead after dying for our sins. What an amazing sacrifice... and a new life for us all.

For Easter, we gave the boys new pajamas with capes. Austin got Superman...

...and Ethan got Batman. Yes, each one had a cape that velcroed onto the backs of the shirts. TOO cool.

So I actually attempted coloring Easter eggs (it only took about 5 minutes for me to get irritated). The boys were having fun, but mommy didn't read the directions on how to do the dye. I don't think it dyed very well since I forgot the last step of adding cold water to the dye. Oh well. They had fun sloshing the eggs around - until I had enough. Here they are holding their creations. Austin did NOT want to try it, Ethan ate part of the white and just about gagged when he ate a tiny piece of the yolk. That was enough for him.

SO...I know you're DYING to see pictures of the counters....j/k. Well, here's a before pic. I cleaned off my counters really well and put away all my appliances that usually sit on it. Bryan was feeling it was a little bare... He actually told me he likes seeing the mixer on there because it shows that it's a cook's kitchen.

And here's the tear-out guy literally cutting and hacking off our counters. He used no gloves and I just cringed. All those shards of ceramic. So it only took him about 4-5 hours to get the counters out and make a new template for the stone. Not bad.

OK - THIS is what we discovered after my counters were taken away. LOOK at that!!! I'm ALWAYS complaining of how little space I have for my pots and pans. That's IT people! They are always falling on me when I take ONE out. Now look at all that wasted space on each side. So after the guy told Bryan, "no, they are NOT support walls" Bryan had a new job. He couldn't WAIT to get started....not really. He cut out the sides and added a bottom to each side of that cabinet. Now I have SO much more storage (picture to come). I was SO excited. I've been organizing SO much these last few weeks. Yay for more storage space!!!

Now here's a sample of our new Quartz counter, and the color we're painting our kitchen.

...and here's the kitchen painted. We left the other side off-white so it wouldn't close in the space. The new counters come tomorrow!!

As a break this last Saturday, the Cubbies (Awana) and Sparks had a picnic with a waterslide, hot dogs, and snowcones. Here's what Ethan wanted to do all morning...

...and here's what Austin did all morning. He was LOVING those cones. I must say that the coconut syrup was REALLLLLLLY good. To make it even better, the sweet couple that had the hot dog stand said that we could keep coming back for snowcones (and hot dogs) until they were all out. Bring it ON baby!!

Bryan went back for more hot dogs, and we all went back for more snowcones. I couldn't resist getting a watermelon/coconut one. YUM. Here's our little cabana under the hot sun. It was blazing!! I hope this summer isn't going to be that hot....it's looking ominous. We had fun with friends and the boys crashed for their naps. They were tired of sliding and drinking. A fun day!

Time With Nana

My Nana is in town for the next few weeks and our family got the privilege of having her spend the night on Friday. The boys were excited and couldn't wait to play with her and show her everything that was a part of their lives. For a whole day (because I try not to tell them anything TOO early for fear of hearing it every other minute) they were telling me what they were going to show her. This list included their shoes, their bats and balls, and Austin had to show her his "tiny pants" or shorts. So Nana arrived with mom and we began our two days of fun.

Austin LOVED sitting with Nana and holding her hand. He always wanted her to hold him, and pick him up (to which I said no to....he's around 32 lbs at least). Here he is probably telling her that he likes her glasses, but why doesn't she take them off?

After dinner we took Nana out to a frozen yogurt place where you build your own. Ingenious idea, and their yogurt is yummy. You have about 12 flavors or so and you get to throw all these really crunchy, fruity, or sweet toppings on it. The best part is that AFTER it's weighed and you pay, THEN you can add chocolate sauce or caramel. Good deal!!

The next morning we were wondering what to do, and we realized that the boys would love to show her around Bass Pro Shops (where else?). So we took Nana there and she commented that Papa would have gone shopping with her in a heartbeat if he could have gone there every so often. Papa loved fishing! Ethan wanted to hold Nana's hand - which is not too common these days - he's too cool for mommy at times.

BPS had an egg hunt that day and each department hid eggs in their merchandise. Kids 6 and under could look for them and when they got about 5 they could redeem them for prizes at the front of the store. Well, I think the ones having the most fun were Nana, Bryan and I. It became a mission and we were looking under every hat and around every fishing pole in the store. I felt like a kid again! The boys got BPS stickers, pencils and of course candy when they turned in their eggs. Right before we were going to leave, one of the employees told us that if you found an egg with a star on it, it was a bigger prize. Well, since we had stopped looking, we immediately fanned out to look for more eggs, but realized there weren't too many around anymore. He claimed there were "lots." Hm....

On Saturdays they feed the fish and Ethan got in on feeding the trout in the pond. He loved doing it, and was very cooperative. I can't say too much for the kid next to him who almost took a nosedive twice into the pond - only to have the employee tell him to back up. Where were his parents??? Yikes.

On that evening, mom and dad came out to have dinner and take Nana home. Dad enjoyed playing baseball on PS2 with Ethan and Bryan. Dad also got "examined" by Austin (the doctor) who used his foam sword as a "shot" and pretended to put it in dad's head. Interesting...I've never seen doctors use THAT approach. I think Austin's been to the doctor too much lately. If only he'd stop using that head of his as a landing device.

This is a cute picture of mom and Nana (her mom). I'm excited to spend more time with both of them this week. Thanks for spending time with us Nana!