Presto Change-O



See how much of a face-lift our kitchen has had?  We replaced the refrigerator, oven, dishwasher, microwave, floor, and 2 light fixtures (on the ceiling and above the sink).  We removed some wall-paper, painted, added vinyl wall lettering, and took the doors off the peninsula cupboards.  Now to finish removing the old wall-paper, get new counter-tops, put up a back-splash, replace the door/drawer pulls...

Tell me, how many of you have a fridge like mine?  I know they say that a clean fridge door can make the room seem bigger and cleaner, but I have 3 kids and do daycare.  I will not get rid of the ABC magnets that keep them occupied while I cook.  And my HUGE dry-erase calendar? I live and breathe by that thing.

Current, Complete and Consistent Kitchen

As most of you know, we've lived in our house for just over 6 years.  When we moved in, we had to buy a refrigerator but the rest of the appliances were there.  They were functional, but nothing to look at, and nothing that had any bells or whistles.  The oven was black with a white top, the dishwasher was white and we had bought a black fridge with the intention of going all black in the kitchen someday.  The appliances worked most of the time and, in the case of the stove, was original to the house when built in 1979. 

(we've made so many more updates to this kitchen, including removing the cupboards doors above the peninsula, peeling wall-paper, new pendant light above sink, new fixture on ceiling, vinyl wall writing above cupboards, etc)



First thing we replaced?  The stove.  I got a beautiful flat cooktop and an oven that was considerably larger than the old one.  Not only that, but all the burners work on the new stove!  The next thing to be replaced was the dishwasher.  The old one didn't get our dishes clean and was horrendously loud.   In the meantime our microwave also died and was replaced it with a nice, new and sleek model.  All that was left was the range hood.  The disgusting, grease-laden, impossible to get clean, white, loud and inefficient range hood. (and I don't know how many times I gouged my forehead on those sharp corners!)

Take a look at that beauty!  Not only does my kitchen now look consistent and current, but it's also quiet!  The old fan was so loud that I couldn't hear conversations at the kitchen table if I was cooking.  And the fan was so permanently gross and greasy that I had to always use it on high for it to be effective--and that's using the term mildly.  It did the bare minimum of sucking out the steam and stank from my cooking.  But this new one...oh it works so great and so quiet and looks so good.  And the filters can go in my dishwasher!!  How awesome is that?  My old filters I would soak in hot, soapy water for an hour and then scrub with an old toothbrush--all to get them as clean as possible which was about 25% clean.  Ugh.  So happy to see him gone!!  Not to finish removing the old wall-paper, get new counter-tops, put up a back-splash...

We're Baaa-aaack

Did you miss me?  Yeah, I know it's been awhile...again.  But the last few weeks have been busy.  At first, I was busy doing tons of laundry, cleaning and packing for our trip.  Then we were gone for 8 days on our trip.  Then we were home and had to unpack, settle in, buy groceries, etc.  But we had such a good time!

We flew out on Friday morning and landed in Orlando around noon (after a slight medical emergency on board).  There were 10 of us--my 5, my parents, my in-laws and sister-in-law.  We met my sister at the airport, who had flown in from VA.  It was great to see her for the first time in over a year!  We had rented a house but couldn't get in it until after 4:00, so we got our rental vehicles and headed to Cocoa Beach.  It was the first time to the ocean for our family.  We had a great time playing in the sand and waves.  Mikayla didn't like the water (it's yucky!) but she really enjoyed playing in the sand on "Coconut Beach."  After the beach we checked into our rental house and then went grocery shopping.

Day 2 was spent at Animal Kingdom, but before we got there I had to buy a new camera--mine crapped out after the beach when I plugged it in to charge.  Of well.  We got the new camera and headed to the park.  We had so much fun walking around and looking at all the various animals, many of which (hippos, rhinos, elephants...) aren't even found in zoos around home.  We went on a few rides, including Lilly's favorite roller-coaster "Expedition Everest."  We also sat in on "It's Tough to be a Bug" in 3D by the Bug's Life crew, but Mikayla did not like that at all.

Day 3 (Sunday) started with waking up and looking out the window to about 10 hot air balloons flying over our neighborhood.  The girls thought that was really cool.  Then we headed to Magic Kingdom.  We got to meet Cinderella and Ariel, went on a bunch of rides (including Space Mtn and Big Thunder, which the big girls loved) and sat in on Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor.  The Laugh Floor was really funny and they even picked on us and our matching shirts, particularly singling out Grampa Bill.  We watched the Celebration Parade and ended the day with ice cream and fireworks over the castle.

Day 4 we went to Hollywood Studios.  It was our first day of meeting a lot of characters--Buzz, Woody, Green Army Man, Mickey, Lotso, Frozone, Mr. Incredible, Mater and Lightning McQueen.  We also saw Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid plays.  The girls each bought some souvenirs and we went on the Rock-n-Rollercoaster, which went 0-80 in about 2 seconds and went upside down!  Alayna didn't know what to think of it but Lilly, our thrill-seeker, loved it.  For dinner we went to Ponderosa Steakhouse and came back to the house to find out we'd missed out on 12" of fresh snow back here at home.  Oh darn.

Day 5 was the day to say goodbye to Bill, Lynn and Alicia.  They didn't get to stay the whole time, so after saying good-bye to them and getting them off to the airport, the rest of us headed to Epcot.  We were able to meet Daisy, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, Minnie, Snow White, Mulan and Marie from Aristocats.  While in line to meet some of the characters, we started chatting with a family that commented on our Packer jerseys (we were all wearing jersey's but my sister)  The daughter said she cheered for the Packers in the Super Bowl since the Panthers weren't in it.  Turns out it was Thomas Davis and his family--he plays for the Panthers!  After that we did the Nemo ride and looked at all the aquariums while Gramma Paula took a survey and received $150 to spend at the parks!  When she returned, we watched Turtle Talk with Crush and we completely recommend that.  It was hilarious.  Then we started the country tours and had some Italian gelato.  We ended the day with the ride that goes through the "big golf ball" and all the girls really liked that.

Day 6 we went back to Magic Kingdom.   The first thing we did was go back to meet the princesses because Belle was on duty.  Belle (Yellow Belle, to be exact) is Mikayla's favorite princess and she was so excited to meet her that she was shaking!  It was too cute.  We also met Aurora/Sleeping Beauty.  We did a few of the rides we didn't have time for the other day, like Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, rode the train around the park and finally, Splash Mountain.  Mikayla was so happy to make the height requirement (barely!) and loved the whole "roller-coaster" ride, keeping her arms up the whole time!

Day 7 was our last full day in Florida.  We took our time in the morning and then headed back to Cocoa Beach.  We played in the sand and water for a few hours, then anxiously waited for 4:50...when Discovery was going launch.  We were able to watch it launch and it was so cool.  The blast was VERY bright and it went so fast you almost could have missed it.  But we can now say that we watched Discovery launch for the last time in person.  Since the beaches were so crowded, the normally 45 min drive back to the house took 3 hours!  We got back to the house and got everything packed up to go home the next morning.

Day 8 was time to go home.  We gathered everything, did a quick tidy of the house and headed to the airport.  Our flight was delayed almost an hour, but we finally were put at a new gate and given our seating assignments.  It was hard to say good-bye to my sister, who had a flight later than us back to VA.  Our flight was uneventful and we landed safely at MSP.  Mikayla slept for about 2 hrs of the 3 hr flight, even sleeping through landing!

We had a great time and are so blessed to have such wonderful family!  I took about 450 pictures--actually, I probably took about 550 but each night I would go through my camera and delete the blurry or bad pics from the day.  I came home with about 450 on my camera.  I uploaded a whole bunch to FaceBook and honestly don't want to go through that again.  SO...if you want to see the pics, just let me know.  I can send you a link to my album on FB, even if you aren't on FB, and you can view the 125 I put on there.

Way to go Packers!

Oh...what to say?  I don't have much to say, I guess, other than

THE GREEN BAY PACKERS ARE SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS!!!! 

I was so stressed out during that darn game.  I was screaming, yelling, stomping, cheering, jumping...you name it, I did it.  I was hoarse by the end of the night but I didn't care.  The Pack was on top again.  Oh what a day! 

Until next year, Football.

C-H-A-M-P-I-O-N

Alayna came home from school on Tuesday so excited that she was jumping out of her skin.  She could barely take off her snow boots, hat, mittens and coat fast enough to tell me what she was so excited about.

"MOM!!  We had the 4th grade spelling bee today and not only am I my class champion, but I'm the champion of the whole 4th grade!!!!"  She was a little excited, but so were we.  Last year, she was 2nd and so bummed, because she knew how to spell the last word correctly, just got ahead of herself and there's no going back to correct.  This year, she made sure to take her time.  I was so proud of her that she remembered to think it through, especially since I didn't even know it was time for the spelling bee (she kinda forgot to bring the study sheet home over the weekend)  She doesn't get to go on to competition at district until next year, in 5th grade, but it's still awesome.

I remember when I was in the spelling bee.  It was down to myself and my friend Sarah.  I got the word "diarrhea" and missed the second R.  She got the word "pneumonia" and spelled it correctly, so she won.  I was so frustrated because I knew her word.  But you know what?  I don't think I've ever misspelled either of those words ever again!

Great job, Alayna!  We're so proud of you!

Super Bowl Baby!!

As you know, I am a HUGE Packers fan.  I love football in general, but the Packers have always been my favorite team.  We all have our shirts and hats and Mikayla even has a pair of Packer socks.  And now, they're going to the Super Bowl!!

My favorite player ever for the Packers was Gilbert Brown.  He was a big beast of a guy who would pretend to be a "Gravedigger" when he'd make an important tackle or sacked the QB.  He's been retired for several years now, but he still does appearances for the team.  I had my jersey Brown jersey on, cheering for the team, when BJ Raji intercepted the ball and then ran it back for a touchdown.  He did a little dance afterwards and let me tell you...he moved up a little closer to Gilbert in my heart.  I love the big guys when it comes to football and Raji's little dance reminded me of Gilbert so much!

So what will you be doing on Feb 6th?  I'll be cheering on MY PACKERS in the SUPER BOWL!!!!!

Basketball--Part 2

Saturday was the start of Alayna's second round of basketball for the year.  Earlier, she played in "tournaments" with 3 games and 30 minutes of play but no score or fouls called.  It was simply to get them some experience and confidence with playing and handling the ball.  This past Saturday, however, was the start of real play--called fouls, scores, etc.  All the girls were so excited!

The tournament was about 45 minutes away, so we were there bright and early for a 10 am game.  Their first game ended up with a loss 14-18 (if I remember correctly), their second game was a win 20-4 (I think) and their last game was a loss 14-18 again.  All in all, it was a good showing for their first time!  They ended up third, and everyone got a ribbon.  They were pretty excited.  We now have basketball again for the next several Saturdays, but it's okay.  We like to watch and cheer the team on, and Alayna loves to play.  She's really doing a great job and has improved greatly!

Yesterday, a handful of the girls from the 4th and 5th grade teams went to a basketball clinic at a University about 2 hrs away.  They were able to do drills and stations with the coaches and players for the women's basketball team, plus got a signed t-shirt and poster.  Alayna came home so tired but with all sorts of stories of things she did and learned.  Yay for basketball!

Swim Lessons

Today is Day #2 of swimming lessons for Mikayla and Lilly.  They both are so excited and can't wait.  Since we live in the middle of nowhere, there weren't any lessons within 30 miles that were held in the winter.  After some talk (for several years) there are now finally lessons available at the area motel!  Every Monday the girls go for the next 7 weeks.  I am just as excited as they are.

I'll be sure to get some pics tonight (I missed last week--their first lesson--because of a migraine.  It killed me to not be there!)  I guess Lilly did awesome last week, and Mikayla did very well...as long as she stayed in the pool.  She apparently would do what was asked, then run to make sure my mom (who took them b/c Andy was working) saw everything she did.  We're going to work on that tonight.

Double-Digits!!

Alayna is now in the Double-Digit age club. It's crazy to think that Andy and I have been parents for 10 years now! I remember taking her home from the hospital and being so worried about everything. I remember just watching her sleep and not wanting to put her down. I remember how everything she did just enchanted us. She taught us how to be parents and I think she did a pretty good job.

Happy Birthday, Mikayla!

Mikayla celebrated her fourth birthday last week. It's so strange to say that she's now 4. When they are still 3, it's easy to pretend that they are still a baby or at the very least, a toddler. But at 4, they seem so much older. There's a certain "aura" about 4 that means the 4-year-old is now big and mature and old.

Mikayla could hardly wait for Christmas because she knew her birthday was right after it. Every day she'd ask, "Is it my birfday yet?!" When it finally was, the first thing she said in the morning was, "Good morning Mommy, aren't you going to say Happy Birfday Mikayla?" She makes us laugh so hard every day!

Happy Birthday, big 4-year-old Mikayla!