Basement Phase 2 & 3

Notice the long stone on the far right tilting down?  They didn't mention in the mag that I needed a level....Also what you can't see behind the scratch coat is the electrical outlet I accidently covered up.   Oops.

We (okay, I) saw a picture of a stone fireplace in a DIY magazine and thought it would be SO easy to do.  Why do they do that?  We drove up to Wisconsin on a Friday to get this stone from a one-man stone veneer manufacturing plant (we saved a ton of money this way) and planned to complete the wall on Saturday.  Well, if you will notice in this first picture it's daylight and in the second, pitch black.  I finally quit at 9pm, resolved to get help!  It was actually a great experience and brought me a whole new appreciation for masonry.  Back in the day when I would play Tetris, I would close my eyes at night and would see little Tetris pieces and would place them where they fit.  After putting this rock puzzle together (as far as I did) I did the same thing at night!

Family room

Family/playroom looking into bar/parlor area

Workout room.  Steve and I debated heavily on what color to paint this room.  I thought it should be red - energizing and motivating, right?  Steve insisted blue would be a better choice because it's soothing and would encourage one to stay longer.  Personal preferences aside, we googled "what color to paint our workout room?" and tallied the results.  The winner? Orange!

Theater room.  We had this half wall removed, thanks to the advise of my VT's!  

Basement Phase 1

We were lucky enough to find a house with a deep pour, walk out basement - unfinished - and ready for our finishing!  Start to finish took about 2.5 months.

The soon to be ice cream parlor

Maddie, hard at work on the ladder

Sadee & Zowee

I'm not sure how Sadee and Zowee have escaped our blog thus far????!!! They are such a huge part of our family (the girls refer to them as their sisters) and we love them so much!  We adopted them on Jan 8 of 2007, the day after Alex, our shar-pei passed away.  The breeder told us they were both Yorkie-poos but our vet pretty much told us she was lying that they were in fact 'dorkie poos'!  That's yorkie, poodle and daschund (strangest spelling ever).  I guess that's what we get for meeting the breeder in the parking lot of a grocery store w/o mommie and daddy dogs.  They are 100% lap dogs and both have perfect ears for Steve to pull. :)

Family pics

The lovely Shannon Sewell took these of us while in Portland on vacation this past summer.  I'm considering a few for Christmas cards but can't decide if they're too old.  What do you think?

Happy Halloween!

Every year the girls organize their loot and made trades.   Poor Maddie had to give away anything chewy or sticky.

Madison and Josie decorating pumpkins

In Maddies classroom we had different stations set up for the kids to rotate through.  I did this fun m&m game...the kids each had 2 cups and 20 m&m's that they had to suck with the straw and transfer to the other cup.  First one w/all m&m's in cup #2 won a bag of m&m's.  If they had extra time, I had them make different Halloween shapes with their candy.  Madison won this round, but she may have had extra practice at home!  Shhhhh...

Madison and school friends.  I think it's so funny that she reverted back to being a bumble bee (she was one at 3 years old), but after seeing the costume at Target, that was it!

Rylee the magician on the schools parade route.  I pity the kid who doesn't celebrate Halloween at this school!

Go girls, go girls!

Mikayla, (our next door neighbor and instant best friend for both girls)  Lexi (in Maddies class and girl scout troop) Madison and Rylee.  Playing the audience.

I so wish I had a video of this, they were so funny!  They were rockin out to Taylor Swift and would each take a turn being Taylor.  'Taylor' would walk past the crowd and give them high fives while they would screem at the top of their lungs "We love you Taylor!" 

First day of school 2008

Ferson Creek Elementary, here they come!  After a less than exciting Back to School night, the girls were so excited for their first day of school.  I was so nervous :[ for them (especially around lunch and recess time), but they met some friends right away and didn't have to eat/play alone! Steve and I walked them in to stand with their classmates on the playground and true to form, Steve starts the jokes and even throws out a few comments about the ferrets (their kid magnets) so the other kids would start talking to the girls!  What a good daddy.  As for me, I sat on the couch and watched soaps while eating Bon Bons.  (do they even sell those things anymore, and if so, where???  Yes, I have looked for them.)

double trouble

The best money we ever spent was the 'photo booth' option on our Mac.  The girls and their friends spend hours being entertained by this thing!

Then, and now

I am forever grateful to American Girl for helping to soften the moving blow! Both girls have always loved that place, especially the AG Chicago. I loved comparing these photos of the girls from our trip here in 2004 and now, in 2008.

Ok, Ok...

To those of you threatening my person, I apologize for the delay in posting - you can call off the hit man cause here it is!

We have settled in quite nicely here in St. Charles. We've met some great neighbors and have such a great ward! The ENTIRE bishopric came to our house to meet us shortly after moving in. I think we've done more outdoors than we did in a whole year in Texas! Steve bought a canoe that we've taken to the Fox River a few times-it's only got 2 seats but Mads and Ry don't mind sitting on the bottom - they don't have to row that way! I'm still looking for those friendly mid-western folks I heard about before we moved here, so far, they seem more like New Yorkers (except our neighbors and ward).
From Rylee:
I like it here, not as much as Texas yet though. I have made a few good friends and am excited to make more. I'm scared because of the flooding. My friend Mckayla's back yard is flooded. I'm glad we got ferrets (in a high pitched, silly voice) they comfort me. I really like playing the violin. My teacher at school is really nice, her name is Mrs. Jonke, it rymes with Mrs. Donkey. Bye.
From Madison:
I wish we could move back to Texas.