Friday Pal turns Three

This evening we went to celebrate Axel's third birthday (real day is November 29th). Toy Story and Buzz Light Year was the theme. He was one lucky kiddo and had lots of friends and family to watch him open his presents and blow out his candles. It was fun to watch him this year and to see how he has grown....as the idea has sunk in....and he did not need to be prompted on the present thing.

Awesome daddy decorated his cake again and it turned out pretty neat. Mommy made the tasty treats.

Progress on floor remodel

Today, I finally got Nathan's bathroom floor completely done. The mopping, sink and mirror cleaned and rack behind the toilet back in place. Ready to be fully used.

  

I chose not to remove the baseboard in the bath and laundry rooms....as to not want to add that to the mix as well. I am actually quite pleased with the way it turned out.

Other than needing the room dividers...the floors turned out great. I now started removing old wallies and might consider repainting the laundry room in the near future.

Our next and last round of tiling will be our master bath and closet. I think, other than the kitchen, that this will show the most improvement. We have never done any improvements or real decorating to our bathroom in the ten years that we have lived here. As soon as the tiling is done....I will be on the hunt for paint.

Dad actually laminated our closet last year (it was the first room we did) and it was a good area to learn. However, Steve and I decided that we wanted to have the tile flow all the way into the closet. Tomorrow, Damon and I will clear out the closet and remove the laminate.

Dad will start tiling Monday and hopefully will be finished by the end of the week....And then the flooring remodel in this house will be done!

You'll shoot your EYE out

Nathan got together with some of the young men in our ward last night for some "friendly" male bonding. They came together for a evening of competitive gaming using air soft pellets and guns.....

Lets just say that... Nathan obviously lost.... based on the fact that his eye could have been shot out.....

and yes...he was wearing protective goggles....they shattered.

Happy testosterone unification.

Floor update

I was off this past Friday

 and didn't have my Friday Pal for the day...so dad and I started tiling the house. I was totally wiped out at the end of the day after being dads assistant. But I must say that tiling is much easier than laying laminate.

The dining room became the storage room

 A before shot

Our first line and we are off to a good start

    

 Yes...I really did help dad

 Cutting the tile was pretty easy

And we are done with the laying the initial tile. Thankfully mom and Damon were able to help with the grouting on Saturday.

He's an Eagle Scout

Tonight, Nathaniel had his board of review and earned his Eagle Scout Rank. Hooray!!! This was a long time coming. And the saying is true that behind every eagle scout is a mother. I fully believe this (some boys are naturally motivated)....and....others need a good kick in the rear to finish this. So let this be my little personal hoorah.

Nathaniel actually did his eagle project around this time last year (video game drive for Cooks Children's Hospital).....and then procrastinated on his paperwork. Upon finally getting it wrote up and submitted, his board of review was scheduled last month.

He went. I was super nervous. They called his Scout Master into another room....for along time. I was more nervous. It was then agreed upon that more work was to be done and the review was cancelled.

In the end, Nathaniel submitted a good report and handled the interview nicely. And the board told both of us they liked his creativity and how he handled the process. Now mom gets to help plan the court of honor.

the council and two members from the ward who sat in with Nathan
(please don't look at how shaggy Nathan looks. Hair appt is tomorrow)

Happy mommy

Nathan (with his well known leather jacket) and Andrew (in full uniform)

Tonight, Andrew Colby, who has gone through scouting with Nathan also earned his Eagle Scout. His poor mom wondered if this day would come....as Andrew did his project one year before Nathan....and turns 18 this month.

A Tile Finally Found

I had my dad remove our linoleum from our kitchen, laundry and bathrooms about two months ago. And it has drove me CRAZY. This has bothered me more than the time we went without carpet/flooring in the rest of the house.

Flooring has been a bigger project than I should have got myself into. We have had very little budget for this and I very much have BMW taste with a budget that is zilch. So for a time, I tried to ignore that our home always looks in disarray without the flooring completed. But as the Christmas holiday approaches, I knew that Santa could not come to my home like this.

Steve and I looked at Home Depot and Lowe's...but nothing even sparked an interest. A friend had offered us free tile (yes, I said free) and I had to turn it down as it looked horrible against the laminate. The tile itself was nice. So in one last ditch effort, mom and I were off to a flooring outlet and miraculously we found my tile.

The count down is on to this Friday when dad and I will start on the kitchen....and hopefully, dad and Nathan will be able to finish it and start a bathroom.

A Great Swim

OH MY....THIS IS MY 100th POST!!!

This is a call for a celebration or at least a brag about my favorite someone

Today I took the day off of work to time at an all day meet (20 schools total). I was able to hang out with another mom from breakfast time to dinner time. The meet was pretty enjoyable and made for some good conversation along the way.

I was SOOOO happy with how Nathan swam. He swam like he ended the season last year and like where he should have been all along this year. Well...except for his 200 free. He totally hates this event and each week that coach has him swim this....the slower he goes. I am curious to see who will lose this battle. Nate-Coach. Coach-Nate????

However, when it came to his 500 free, he looked beautiful. His start was smooth and Nathan was able to set  a nice pace. I must admit that I was a bit nervous as I was convinced that he would tire himself out. But no....he kept it going....and swam a 6:39.40. It might  seem slow, however, this season, he has been swimming it over 7min. So regardless of the lack of motivation he has or the weight gain that occurred over summer.....Nathan had a great swim. And I hope that it will continue for the rest of the season.

Dads BBQ and Family

Yesterday was the last day for Grandma, Chris and Josh's visit here with us....so my parents labored for a day and whipped up a delicious BBQ. It was a very enjoyable evening with the family and friends who were here. And this had to have been some of dads best brisket yet...not to forget that mom made a fantastic sweet potato pie (and other tasty sides as well).

I thoroughly enjoyed having my aunt and cousin stay with us and the time we all spent together.The only thing missing was Jodie and her family....SIGH.

I always love the extended visits that grandma has here too. I think it is wonderful for all the kids to get to know their great grandma (grandmama) like they have and to be able to build memories like this. I never really got to know my dads parents like I know my mothers mom.

mother and her daughters
Aunt Chris, Grandma (Joan) and Mom (Kim)

Beautiful Creatures

Upclose with the wild animals

Today we went to Fossil Rim Animal Park out in Glen Rose. For a few it was a repeat visit, but for the rest of us it was a new experience. Nathan and Pam were able to miss school and come and join in the fun. Having more than would fit in one car...we drove to the park in two vehicles....for the tour Nathan, Pam, Josh and I rode in the back of dads truck. We braved both the chill and the animals. I am not sure who had more fun? Those in the car where many of the animals tried to place their heads...or us in the back who had the potential to be ate alive...FOR REAL...the ostriches are mean!

We all loved the giraffes, zebras (until they started to outnumber us), the many horned animals....but definitely not the WICKED ostriches. Mom had made each of us our own bag of grain for us to feed. At the half way point we had some lunch and enjoyed the view. I was able to capture a lot of great pictures. Here is a sample with us humans.  I will do another post with just pictures of some of these cute creatures. 

Enjoy.

Just a little cold and breezy

Today was Josh's birthday and he received a kiss

These cute things nibbled on a few fingers
luckily, none were mine

Aunt Chris won $5.00 with this, but I am not sure of the whole story there

Axel's expressions and excitement was great

The girls plus Axel

 

The zebras started to come in droves

The Guys