Happy Easter

Happy Easter Everyone!

This year for Easter Michelle got a blue bunny (that she picked out herself), a Winnie the Pooh coloring book, new Jammies, and Mini M&M's! The Easter Bunny knew that her grandparents had gotten her stuff for Easter as well so he didn't want to overdue it at home!

Michelle did a great job on her first ever Easter Egg Hunt!

After looking through her basket, hunting for eggs and eating some breakfast we got dressed and headed out to church!

Of course her new bunny had to come too!

Now we're home from church, eating a small lunch and getting ready to go see Nana and Grandpa Tom, and then Graw and Pa! Hope everyone is having as great an Easter as we are!

Camping! ...sorta

This month was Bryan's turn to be in charge of Date Night. Honestly, I totally underestimated him! I expected a last minute, "I totally forgot", dinner and a movie, kinda date. I was so wrong! He called me Monday afternoon and let me know that he might have to work overtime that Friday. I was bummed because Fridays are usually the only days we get to relax and spend a decent amount of time together. However, he works hard and tries his best to provide for us, so I didn't complain. I did what I usually do when Bryan's not available... I called Jess! So it was all arranged that Michelle and I would hang out at Jessica's house till around 6 and then meet Bryan back at our house after he was off work on Friday. He reminded me once or twice though the week that he wouldn't be home and that he was sorry it had to happen on Friday. So Friday came and while I was at Jessica's I got a call from Bryan saying that he was off work early and would meet me at home as soon as I could get there. Michelle and I packed up and when we got home- SURPRISE! There was a HUGE tent popped up in my living room. (It was crazy windy outside (50mph winds) and was supposed to be storming that night- thus the indoor setup.) And I mean it was HUGE! It literally took up my whole living room. Bryan had even set up a little mini bedroom for us at the back of the tent. Here's a few pics to give you an idea of how big this thing was:

(I was standing in the entry of the tent to get this pic.)Michelle LOVED it! She did NOT love being spied on through the window of the tent though! Lol!

It was so much fun! We ate hot dogs, played a few games, jumped on the air bed (Michelle only, of course), and planned a future outdoor camping trip! I can't wait!

On a different note- Michelle has started to notice that "Mommy's tummy getting big!" She took the bubble wrap out of an old shipping box and stuffed it up her shirt so she could look like Mommy too!

Silly little girl!

A Hard Day

It was a hard day at Grandma's house on Sunday. Well, it was a hard day for Michelle.

You can't see it very well from these pictures, but Michelle got beat up! The sad part is that she beat herself up. The whole left side of her face was a shade of blue, red, or purple by the time we left!

She started the day out by slamming her eye against the corner of my parents center table in the living room. Thus the black eye, and bloody mark in the corner of her eye. She then proceeded to smash her fingers in the silverware drawer. I have to admit she had a little help with this one though. I was getting a spoon and didn't see her standing under me trying to keep the drawer open, so when I pushed it shut her fingers were still holding onto the inside of the drawer. Sorry baby girl! After that she tripped over herself and fell in the corner of the wall. Causing a long, straight, bruise right down the middle of her cheek. Poor kid!

At this point Bryan and I decided that enough was enough and that we should call it a day and head home. Grandpa, however, was smart enough to take Michelle outside to calm her down and distract her from all of her owies. Once we got outside she had a great time! She went on a walk with Clayton...

(This picture was taken and edited by Jessica Renea. Pretty amazing huh? I love it!)

Found lady bugs, and air planes, and generally had an awesome time.

This is Michelle's "I'm excited" pose. (I'll have to see if Jess can edit this pic too so it's not so grainy.)We ended the day on a great note and since then Michelle keeps asking to go back to "Graw's house". She has obviously forgotten about her hard day!

If you give a Randi a Tax Return

Bryan and I recently got our tax return back. I told him about all of my projects and why it made sense for us to use our tax return to get them done. He responded with a story very similar to If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.

If you give a Randi a tax return she'll want to buy chair rail and paint. She’ll want some frames to go along with it. If you give her some frames she’ll see that the rest of her house needs paint and pictures too. She’ll want to go to Home Depot to get some supplies. You’ll have to drive her. When she gets more paint and a few pictures she’ll see that we need nice entry tables to match them. If you give her nice entry tables she’ll want a mat for the front door to accent the new table. She’ll see that the mat is pretty and she’ll want a door to go along with it. She’ll like the nice wood on the door and that will make her think of a new bed frame. She’ll want the big sleigh bed with the curving footboard. If you give her the curving footboard bed she’ll need a mattress to go with it. She’ll want to jump on it. While jumping she’ll notice the fan is too old and plain. She’ll want to replace them all. She’ll ask you to go back to home depot and buy her some. If you buy her some fans she’ll want you to install them. While installing the fans the red, blue, and white wires will remind her of flowers. She’ll decide she needs pretty flowers out in the front yard. If you get her the pretty flowers she’ll want you to rip out the old trees so it doesn’t block their sunlight. After you rip out the tress she’ll notice some spiders in the grass. She’ll want you to call the exterminator to come out to keep them away. After the exterminator is done she’ll feel safe and lie down on the carpet to relax. She’ll notice that the carpet no longer matches the new paint and frames. She’ll want to replace them as well. While shopping she’ll find the most wonderful carpet but it won’t match the new paint and frames you just put up. And because it doesn’t match, she’ll ask you for some new paint, and frames to go along with it. At the end of the day you will add up all the costs. Randi will see the total and decide she needs another tax return.

I loved this story! Mainly because it is 100% true! I've already got our whole tax return spent, and I'm starting to plan for any bonuses that Bryan may get in the near future! I love my husband for being so patient with me, and for helping me realize, in a very comical way, how crazy I'm being with my new projects!

My Current Obsession

I admit it... I'm in lust. I can't get over it! I NEED these jars!

I see them every where! I'll see one in someone's craft room full of ribbons. So cute! Then I'll see another one on a entry way table with little crafty things in it. Beautiful! Or in a scrapbook room with buttons and beads. Love it! You just can't go wrong with these jars. I must have them!
So I've had these gift cards to William-Sonoma for... well about 5 years now! lol, I've been hording them for when I got into a house and could buy something really cool! So last night I decided that enough was enough and I was going to fulfill my secret desire and buy all three of these wonderful jars! I went on-line put them in my basket, went to check out, and then... Bryan walked in. He's so stinking logical sometimes that it really kills me! He looked at my basket, then looked at the total. "Don't we NEED a few thing for the kitchen first?" he asked. "But I NEED these!" was my reply. "If you think you need those more then we need a mixer (our last one broke) or a knife sharpener, or some good pots and pans (ours are still the cheap ones we bought when we first got married), or even some bread or muffin pans... well then I guess go ahead." ...jerk... So I emptied my basket, added a knife storage block, and this little beauty:
It's the new 9 speed hand mixer from Cuisinart. Comes with a storage container and everything... Yeah, I know. It's just not the same as my jars. Oh well... I'll just keep lusting them from afar.

A Great Weekend

This weekend was such a great one! Bryan scheduled to take Friday off so that he could stay home and get stuff done around the house. Mainly the fence (see previous post). So I decided to take advantage of him having a long weekend and planned a fun date for us! I arranged for Bryan's mom to come babysit on Thursday night while I led Bryan on a "catch me if you can" scavenger hunt! As soon as Bryan walked in the door I handed him his first clue and walked out the door. He had no idea what was going on or why his mom was at our house! I gave him a different task to complete with each clue. After he finished his first couple tasks he figured out that he was supposed to meet me at Applebees! While he was doing these tasks I was busy at Target getting him a special prize. He finished WAY earlier then I expected (20 minutes early) and actually beat me there! It was ok though cuz I still had a few tricks up my sleeve.

Bryan was super excited about the date and we had a great time while we were at dinner. But, like I said, he had to complete a task before he could get his next clue. At the resturaunt he had to announce to the waitress that he was having "the best night ever!" which earned him the musical card I got him. He had to stand up and dance to the music in order to get the prize that went along with it.

He was such a good sport! He even got a few claps and whistles while he was dancing! After dinner he had to stand up and shout that he "had to pee like a race horse" and run to the bathroom. This one was the hardest one for Bryan to do. By this time he was laughing so hard he couldn't really "shout" anything. While he was in the bathroom I cleaned up our stuff, left him his last clue, and snuck out. (We had already paid.) That clue led him to the theater where we saw Just Go With It.

It was a cute movie. A little predictable, but still cute. After the movie Bryan had officially caught me and we headed home. We got home around 9:20, just in time to give Michelle kisses and hugs right before bed. It was a wonderful night, and a great start to our long weekend together. Thanks Grandma Lynne for babysitting all night!

The rest of the weekend was full of finishing projects and spending time with family. I finally got around to making those curtains I was talking about (also see previous post). It was a lot easier then I thought it was going to be.

And they didn't turn out too bad, if I don't say so myself! I still want to get some blinds for behind them, and I need some ribbon or matching cloth to tie them back when they're open. For now, though, they'll do! I like them about a million times better then those black, sheer, ugly ones!

Bryan also got his big project done! We now have a beautiful and a bit more sturdy fence! Thanks a million to Ben, who came and helped us get it done! We're probably going to have to replace a few more posts at some point in the future, but our neighbors were a little worried about money and we didn't want to make Ben do too much work. Plus, the fence is pretty stable as it is- it even held up against that huge storm and all the wind we've had last night and this morning!

We also washed cars, cleaned out our "storage" room, and got all the old empty boxes broken down. It was a super productive weekend! Saturday was full of family visits! We started out having a pretty lazy morning.

Then we headed down to my parents house and picked up some super yummy Mom's Famous Breakfast Potatoes! Mmm!

While we were there Michelle and I hung out and played with Graw (that's how Michelle currently says Grandma), Pa, Jess, and Clayton. Bryan went to get his hair cut and bought a game for his new PSP. Oh yeah, that was his prize from our date night! Then we left my parents house and headed for a game night at Bryan's parents house. It was Kyle's Birthday (Bryan's step brother) so we celebrated with a game of Wits and Wagers, spice cake, and ice cream!

Sunday was General Conference so we didn't 'go' to church. Needless to say, there was a lot of this going on.

The weekend really flew by, but it was a really great one! We should definitely try to have more weekends like it!

Projects!

I've been told that once you move into a house of your own you will find there to be an endless list of "Projects" to be done. I always assumed that this was because people just had too much spare time and came up with these crazy "I have to do" kinda projects for themselves. Unfortunately I have fallen into this category of people. And since I am now a "never-ending projects/ huge to-do list" person, I am declaring that it isn't because we have too much spare time. Trust me, I don't... if I did these projects would be getting done, not sitting on my to-do list! So I thought I would share a few projects I have on my list and then give updates as I finish each one. (Keep in mind that it could be a while before each gets done!) The first thing that needs to be done is to replace/fix our back fence! I guess the people who live next door to us don't mind that their fence is falling over into our yard....

And to make it worse- here's how they try to "fix" a fence...

Yep, that's a belt up there at the top holding the fence together. An old piece of left over tile stacked there on top of that rubber lid trying to cover up a gaping hole... classy. So I spoke to Bryan and he spoke to the neighbors. At first I was ready to get the HOA involved and open up a can of "WHAT NOW?!" but then Bryan came home and told me that our neighbors are just a single mom and her young son. Neither of whom know how to fix a fence and have been a little overwhelmed the past few weeks. SO, being the nice understanding an oh-so-handy people we are- we called Ben! Ben says it should be an easy fix and has graciously offered to come over and help us get everything fixed the right way! Just in case you don't know who Ben is, he's my amazing brother-in-law who recently built his son a queen size bed! It's freaking amazing!

My next little project will be replacing the UGLY black sheer curtains in my kitchen. They were here when we moved in and our HOA requires that every window has a covering. Due to those rules... they have stayed up.

With much help and inspiration from my sister Jessica I have decided that they will no longer uglify my kitchen! I went with Jess to Joann's and picked out some Super Cute fabric.

Now all I have to do is pull out my handy-dandy sewing machine, take a few measurements, and turn another "to-do" into an "all done!"

Once the curtains have gone up I'm going to do something about this...

That's my one and only Kitchen wall. Right now it has some weird Shakespeare quote on it. I'm not even sure what it means. Needless to say, it's got to go! But I don't want to leave my wall blank.... any ideas?

Then there's this little issue.

This is my bowling ally hallway. I'm pretty sure it's like a million feet long and only three feet wide. So there's no room for any shelves or tables. And there aren't any doors (with the exception of my bedroom door here at the end) to break it up. I've decided that I'm going to do a picture wall on one side, and I'd like to add some chair rail. I'm also hoping some color will take away the "I'm walking down a hall of a mental hospital" feeling. I'm just not sure how to balance it all out. If I do a picture wall on one side I can't really leave the other side blank. Then again if I put stuff up on the other side it might look too busy and cluttered. Remember it's only 3 feet wide. I don't want people's heads to spin every time they walk down the hall. Plus, Bryan and I are battling about this project. He's a little overwhelmed by it, and I just want to get it started!

This next one isn't so much of a project as a "needs to be replaced". This is my front door.
Simple enough. Didn't really bother me when we first moved in. However, if you notice the placement of the peep hole... that's about six inches over my head! And there aren't any windows around the door for me to peek through either! I really didn't think this was a big deal until I was alone in the house with Michelle and I heard someone rattling my door knob and couldn't look out to see who it was. I gotta tell ya, it's kinda freaky. So I'm hoping Bryan will buy me a new door with a big fat window in it for mothers day/my birthday/Christmas.

And then, of course, there's still a lot of organizing, re-organizing, moving around and general unpacking that needs to be done. Michelle tries to help as much as she can.

Like I said... she's a big helper!