Simple Pleasures

Yesterday at the store I splurged on a few things that really make me happy, I would like to share them with you.

1. Flowers- I love to have fresh flowers in my house and tulips happen to be one of my favorites. Ben is pretty good about bringing flowers home occasionally and sometimes I just buy them because the kitchen looks so much happier with flowers on the table.

2. Ice Cream- Yes I love ice cream but this is seriously the best kind I have had in a long time!! I didn't even know how good it was until I bought it yesterday. The actual cookies are ok, I like them but I don't have to have them. The ice cream is a different story, delicious! You should definitely try it especially if you like ice cream, peanut butter, and chocolate.

3. Aquafina flavored water- I love this flavored water! I hardly buy it because who wants to spend money on water? This kind is worth paying for once in awhile especially when it is on sale! A yummy treat for 0 calories!

Our Kitchen Makeover

I recently refinished out kitchen cabinets. They were the 90's oak look before. The real problem is that they looked old, there was sun fading and a bit of cracking in a few spots where the wood wasn't holding up really well. I sanded all the old finish off and then re-stained with the same color I did our kitchen table in. I like the new look and with the table finished in the same color, there is a nice flow.

This is the before kitchen



This is during the process


Almost half way done. I did the top half first and then the bottom so the kitchen wouldn't be in total disarray during the process.



You can see in the top right corner of this picture that we had to glue a wood veneer to the side of the cabinets. It was a cheap cardboard/plastic material that was sun faded blue. So we bought a thin wood, glued it on, and then put stain and polyurethane on. It turned out nice.



Here is the finished project. I am not a photographer and I don't think these pictures quite do it justice but that is just my lack of photography skills.





The project only cost $100 for new hardware, sand paper, wood veneer, stain, and paint to re-paint the walls. Now we just need to find some money for new stone counter tops:)

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day to everyone! I had a few little gifts for Ben and the kids on the table in the morning. Jacob woke up early and helped my decorate the table. He was really excited to participate but disappointed that his box of chocolates only had four chocolates in it.



Jacob made me this beautiful necklace in school and wanted me to model it so he could take a picture. I know, it is gorgeous!


There was no school last Friday, so we made sugar cookies for some of our friends. The boys had a fun time frosting and loading the cookies with sprinkles.



Ben made me a wonderful valentine with sweetheart candy sayings. What a creative guy!

Good News!

Baby Mower #4 is on its way. I went to the doctor yesterday thinking I was about 10 weeks but the ultrasound said I was 9 weeks and 2 days. Not quite as far as I had hoped but not a big deal. I am due August 20 and I am feeling great.

I was amazed how much you can actually see a baby in the ultrasound pictures.

Birthday Week

Last week Madeline and I both had birthdays. I had a great birthday! My friend took me out to lunch the day before. When I got home from running in the morning Ben had made a breakfast cake for me. Another friend came over in the morning and we made cards together. In the evening we went out to dinner, bought some presents and then finished the night with an ice cream cake from Basking Robbins. Thanks to my family and friends who called to wish me happy birthday!


Madeline had her 2nd birthday on Sunday. She wanted a horse cake. I am not sure if she realized what a birthday was but she knew it was a party!


David gave Madeline an Elmo ball and then wanted Madeline to give it to him.


Jacob gave Madeline a horse. She loves the horse and "rode" it around all evening.

Christmas 2009

We had the Mowers, Ben's parents and two brothers, come to our house for Christmas this year. It was fun to have family around for Christmas and still be in our own home. On Christmas Eve we had a nice dinner, played the candy bar/dice game, had a nativity puppet show narrated by Luke 2, read the story of The Other Wise Man, and ended by singing Christmas songs. It was a fun Christmas Eve!



We were able to sleep in until 8:00 on Christmas morning because our kids were tired and do not yet know to wake up really early on Christmas. It was nice and refreshing to get extra sleep.

Jacob and David are discovering all of the fun things in their stockings.



Ben's dad was dressed and ready to go. Here he is opening a Subway gift card, his favorite place to eat.



Madeline got a lot of dolls and baby supplies. She loves playing with her babies!



Our family before we started opening presents on Christmas morning.



My brother and sis-in-law came to our house for New Years Eve and day. We had a good time with them! We were a little lame on New Years Eve and ended up going to bed around 10:45. However, we had already celebrated the New Year at 9:00 because we set our clocks ahead for the kids. They really wanted to stay up until midnight so we tricked them.

Happy New Year to everyone!

I Am A Blogging Slacker

Since I have not been very consistent with my blogging, here is a month-in-review.

Chef Ben in his Thanksgiving turkey hat.



My parents and my brother, John, came to our house for Thanksgiving. This is John getting ready to drink the whole bottle of sparkling grape juice.



Making apple turkeys.




Here are the kids on a cute bench at the mall.



I had a piano recital for my students last week. They worked hard on their pieces and did a great job!



Every year we grow paperwhites. We put the bulbs in a pot of rocks and fill it with water. In about 2 to 3 weeks we have live flowers in the winter. These are some of the prettiest paperwhites we have grown.



Because we have a vaulted ceiling, we decided to buy a giant Christmas tree. We had to buy additional ornaments and lights to decorate it because it was so much bigger than past trees. We also had to borrow a ladder to put the star on and to decorate the top 3 feet.