These 3

I can't believe on August 10th I will have a 4th grader, a 2nd grader and a PRESCHOOLER!!

Man the time flies.

I'm pretty sure I just graduated from high school!  No??

Well, some days it feels like it!

Some days NOT SO MUCH, but most days I don't feel a day over 25! 

Where Do I Start

I am not even sure where to start.  Summer break is in full swing and thankfully the weather has started to cooperate.  I'm not kidding when I tell you I have been crazy busy lately. 

That's a good thing right?

I wish I knew what has happened to me over the last few months.  The procrastinator in me has been silenced for a while.  Another good thing right?  Well it is...except that when I start doing all sorts of projects I tend to spend money. 

I keep telling my hubby that we are making the house our HOME!!!  For whatever reason he isn't totally agreeing with me.  It might have something to do with the fact that our basement remodel is starting in a few weeks and it a pretty hefty project.

I know it will be totally worth it in the end, but if I am being totally honest...I too have a little lump in my throat every time I think about how much money we are spending. 

Anyhoo...

Like I was saying.

I have been crazy busy lately.  In between trying to keep my kids occupied for the summer I decided that I was NOT happy with the color of the inside of our entire house.  I thought it would be a great idea to paint IT ALL!!  And I did!!  It didn't start off as smoothly as I had hoped though.  I wasn't happy with the first TWO colors I chose.  Who knew GREY was such a hard color to work with?  Apparently everyone but me!  Blue undertones....brown undertones...frankly EVERY color that I chose looked different on every wall. 

I finally chose a grey and have now painted EVERYTHING!!  Well everything except the bedrooms and my fun tangerine wall that I painted when we moved in. 

It looks fabulous and now...time to paint ALL OF THE TRIM...WHITE!!!  Yes...I know I'm crazy, but seriously I hate the oak that is EVERYWHERE!!

Do you remember these fabulous ugly curtains that were in my family room?

Well...I know that the nice lady that used to live here paid good money for them and I know they are of great quality!  But I REALLY did not like them.  My hubby told me it was not currently in the budget to buy all new blinds though.  Enter sad face!!  I knew that I wanted white blinds, but have looked and for once my hubby was right.  I have not pressed it and was learning to live with them.

And then...

Trash day came!!

Yup...for the first time ever I picked up someone's trash.  To be fair though...it wasn't like I went digging or anything.  The owners of a house right up the street had nicely and NEATLY wrapped up their WHITE blinds and set them on top of the garbage can!!

I drove by and then I quickly whipped it in reverse.  I had a pretty good feeling they would work in my house because...same builder...same window size.  And guess what??  I was right!!

I cannot begin to tell you how excited I was...and still am for that matter.  All three of the blinds in the family room were replaced and the blinds in Thomas' room.  All we had to do was buy the hardware. 

Now I have the ability to let in as little or AS MUCH light as I want!!  I will now need some window treatments for above, but for now...they are just perfect.  Someone's trash was definitely my TREASURE!!  And best of all it saved me over $300!!!

Man I love a good deal!!

iPhone Photo Dump

I've been busy...so much so that my mom said "Who are you and what have you done with my procrastinating daughter?"  I've been checkin' things off my list left and right and I am loving it. 

1.  About a minute before I ran out to buy Tatum some clothes that actually fit I decided to look through stuff I have saved from Taylor...WE HIT THE JACKPOT!!  This was the first outfit she chose.
2.  Tatum and I got to tag along for Taylor's class field trip to the zoo...it was so much fun!
3.  The weather wasn't fantastic at the zoo, but it gave the girls an excuse to wear their rainboots and do a little splashing!
4.  Our new addition to the patio...I AM IN LOVE!! 
5.  Tom finally finished my backpack wall...only 5 more days and the backpacks will hang for 8 weeks...BUT in 8 weeks all three of my kids will be heading off to school!
6.  If you are in need of ribbon...I'm your girl...I have a little bit!
7.  Another project checked off my list...A 4 post bed I refinished for Taylor!  $5 on Varagesale (a virtual garage sale app I have on my phone)...Annie Sloan chalk paint and VOILA!!
8.  Nature's candy...nothing beats a delicious cantaloupe.
9.  Another treasure I found on Varagesale...fresh coat of white paint and now Taylor can display the mini shoe collection her Nana gave her!

iPhone Photo Dump

It's been a while, but I am determined to get back to my normal routine and back to things I love!!

1.  Saturday Taylor and I snuck out for a pre-Mother's Day pedicure date...it was super yuck weather out, so lucky us we had the place all to ourselves.
2.  My hubby tried to cover the tomatoes, basil and cucumbers...sadly though...the snow was so heavy I don't think they made it.
3.  Looking out my window on Mother's Day morning...an exact repeat of LAST Mother's Day!
4.  My hubby was nice enough to do the shoveling though!
5.  She came and told me she was ready to go out in the snow!
6.  Saw some flooring at Costco that I am considering for the basement!
7.  All that wonderful snow is making for some seriously GREEN grass!
8.  Tatum begged me to paint her toes...10 minutes later she had picked it all off!
9.  I did some serious stock up on bathroom supplies!  Shouldn't need toiletries for a LONG time!

5K

I am so proud of Thomas!!  Yesterday morning he ran his first 5k!  9 years old and he ran the entire 3.1 miles with a smile on his face! 

Home Run for the Homeless at Coors Field!!

The starting line...I wasn't sure I would see him, but thanks to the socks he was wearing I did!

They ran inside Coors field before they hit the finish line...this was when he had just jumped up to high five his dad and sister!

LOL...he looks like he's walking but I assure you he was running!!

Him and his buddy Jack after finishing!  Maybe this is the first of many!  I love this kid!!

4 Days In Cali

This last weekend my hubby, the kids and I flew to California for MY BEST FRIENDS WEDDING!!  Even though it was only 3 nights/4 days...we packed in as much as we could. 

Let's just pause a minute and notice how big my baby girl is getting!!  Enter sad face...enter tears!

We stayed at Del Mar Beach Resort in Camp Pendleton.

This was our view from the room!! 

She was NOT a fan of the ocean AT ALL!!!  You can't tell here, but she is seconds from meltdown!

This one on the other hand...loved the ocean...loved the sand!

The beautiful bride!!

Here they are...my munchkins all dressed ready for a wedding!

 
They were practicing their twirling!  Moments like this are few and far between these days!

My hubby with his girls!  Love this so much!

Can you tell?!  Do you see it?

Mr. and Mrs. Newman!!

Yup...she's preggers!!  I am so excited for her and Mike!  I still can't believe it!  Jaime is having a baby! 

We got up early Sunday morning and drove almost two hours north to take the kids to Universal Hollywood!

Who's happy to be here?!  Seriously?!  I didn't notice Thomas and Taylor's faces until after I took the pic...you would think I just told them we were NOT going to Universal!  Oy vey!

And now Tatum...these kids!

This guy was hilarious!!  Thomas is basically at the age where he wants nothing to do with my camera. 

Poor Tatum wasn't big enough to ride Minion Mayham (she wasn't actually big enough to ride any rides), but she thought it was hilarious to ring this doorbell and hear the minions talk to her.  It's the little things I guess!!

In all of Universal there was this one ride that she could go on...reminded me of Dumbo ride in Disneyland!  She was super excited!

I had just told Thomas he couldn't have a Churro yet! 

My girls!!

Pretty sure Taylor wanted to take him home with us!!  He's a famous dog though, so I'm sure his life is pretty good already!

Man I wanted to take the Warner Brothers Studio tour...no kids though...so that wasn't happening!

This was Thomas and my hubby's favorite ride...claiming it is WAY better than California Soarin' in Disneyland...which by the way I HATE!!  I'll never know though, because I chose to skip it.

 
Bumblebee!!

 

Yup...there was drinking in Universal and we partook!

Man I love them!!

So close...enter sad face and tears!!  On my bucketlist to see a taping of Ellen!! 

A quick stop in Newport Beach before heading to the airport!

See...I told you it was jam packed!!

We Have Been Busy!

I can't believe it has been two months since I have blogged.  I can honestly say though...it is not just my blog that I have neglected.  I haven't been on the computer much in general.  I have feared my laptop is about to take its last breath, so I haven't opened it much.  Add the fact that we have been out of town A LOT...and the whole family was sick for over a week. 

Anyhoo... I'm back and have lots to share!

We DID finish our kitchen and I could not be happier with how it turned out. 

To refresh you memory...this is how it started out.

And this is how it looks now...

 

 This pic was taken right after the cabinets were finished, so since then we have added brushed nickel wall plates and I repainted the little wall around the window.  We also replaced the pantry door with a fancy frosted glass door. 

Next up...the basement!!!

We have also been on two trips and had two birthdays since the last time I was on here.

No big deal here...I turned 35!  I am officially in my MID-30's!!  I swear I was just in my MID-20's...oh well...times flies when you are having fun.

My wonderful dad flew to Denver in March just so he could make the drive with us back to AZ!!  The kids, my dad and I left at 4:15 in the morning and pulled into their driveway at 4:15 in the afternoon.  We spent 12 awesome days in sunny AZ.  We got to see family and friends and made lots of memories!

Top down...loving the sun!!

Horseback riding with Papa!  So much fun!!

Finally got to meet Bruschi...these two were instant buddies...or not!

 

12 days completely jam packed with fun.  Tom flew in after we had been there a week...he managed to squeeze in 4 rounds of golf, a night out with me and our friends the Grove's and a yummy BBQ with the Harding's before he made the drive back with us. 

It was a great spring break!!