Andy's birthday

Andy it turning into a nice boy. He loves to read and I can often find him on his bed reading Harry Potter. For his birthday he got a pair of binoculars.  It was a real surprise for him -- one that I think he liked quite a bit.

Elf Kevin

We got an Elf on the shelf this year.  He was really pretty good and the kids loved him.  He stayed until New Years eve and then left us for the north pole.  We hope he comes back next year.

Miss Alec?

Lily loves to dress her little brother up in all kinds of "getups". A few weeks ago while I was getting ready for church Alec appeared in this "outfit".  I do love how well they play together.  Lily takes good care of her special little brother.

Skating

I took the kids ice skating during the last break we had from school.  They loved it and were really good at it.

Jungle

I love this story and chuckle every time I think of it.  Dad and Mom and Hilda came for Christmas dinner.  I have this decorative sign in the dining room that says Jingle that I put out every Christmas.  Dad quietly turned to Joseph and said you should change the "i" to a "u" for our household and laughed his hearty laugh. -Oh how true!

home improvement con't

Two more pictures to share.  The family room got a new coat of paint and will hopefully be expanded in the spring addition project.  

The fireplace got a new stain.  I painted the grout lines and stained the brick.  I would like to do a german smear whitewashing of the whole thing if I could talk Joseph into it.

Home improvement updates

I have spent the last few weeks on home improvement projects  We ended up replacing the flooring in the main floor bathroom-laundry room so I decided the whole room needed a change.  Here are some of the pictures from that project.

Once the bathroom was done I had the painting bug.  I decided to do stripes in Ben's room.  I love it but he says he would have preferred solid green walls.

As long as we were doing the tile in the bathroom I decided to rip up the dated tile in the entry.  We found these large tiles on a clearance sale at Home Depot and installed them.  I really like the look.  I painted the foyer after the dining room was done as it was looking shabby and the combined effect is pretty.

So, once the dining room was painted I had to do the kitchen because it looked so drab.  I really liked the paint in the bathroom.  I think I like it in the kitchen too.  It's green my only concern is that it looks too washed out with all the white cabinetry.

Lastly, I have been working on the doors.  They were all simply the hollow core doors with a wood stain.  I decided to modernize them.  I painted them white and added the trim pieces.  I really like the look and I think it updates the whole house.

Okay, one more.  I painted the living room too because with every other room on that floor getting a makeover it needed it.  With the new paint color came a need for new curtains.  I am enjoying the new stark white and think it accents the pretty windows that Joseph replaced when we first moved in.