Spring Is Here, For a While

Living in Central Ohio you never know what the weather will be like from day to day. Heck, you can have the heat and the AC on in the same day around here. It was a long, cold winter. Right now we are having an early Spring and loving it! Temps have been in the 50's and 60's and the kids are loving being able to play outside. Heck, we adults are too. This weekend we took full advantage. It's cool in the mornings so we worked inside. In the afternoon, we played outside. On Saturday, I cleaned out my front flower bed. Shea played. Will took a nap. Shawn started a fire in the pit. He had winter debris to burn. Shea just loves watching the fire. First thing she always asks for is, "can we eat over the fire"? Lucky for her, I had laid out hamburgers and we did just that, grilled over the fire. YUMM!!! We did red smokey's, hamburgers and of course, S'mores!! I did do some healthy roasted veggies too.


Shawn and Shea were running around the yard playing hide-n-seek and tag. Shawn thought it was funny to run up the tree while playing tag. No fear, Shea climbed after him.

In the tree!

This is Shea sitting in her chair, eating the dinner that Daddy make over the fire. She loves it!



Mid-afternoon Will woke up to something new. A fire in the pit? Hunh? I've never seen this before. Can you tell by the look on his face?

Wednesday it was so nice out that I decided the kids needed to make the inaugural trip to the zoo for the Spring. What a great day we had. The animals were loving the weather too. The Flamingo's and Kangaroo's who both normally just stand there were having a ball. Shea thoroughly enjoyed every animal and walking around the zoo. Will did great, but, he was more into trying to destroy his stroller seat than looking at the animals. We were all tired by the end of the trip but can not wait to go back. We love our zoo pass!

We hope that you are out enjoying this spectacular Spring weather. Our wish is for a long Spring. I hope that comes true. Maybe that should be Shea or I's birthday wish!

More Finishing Touches

We were busy this weekend, we were able to put more finishing touches in the kitchen and still be out enjoying some Spring weather! This week Shawn installed the track lighting in the kitchen area. WOW, did that make a lot of light. We loved it. Area's that were dark with the work lights up are now bright. I saw areas to clean, that is for sure.

Track lighting

Shawn had to wait until Saturday to install the ceiling fan above the table area. He had to get back up in the attic to do a little work on the box up there for the fan. He did so and then installed the fan. We really like it. It is quiet when it runs. A neat feature is you can have two of the lights on or all four. We didn't know that until we started pulling on the chain. See what playing with new toys gets you??!

Ceiling Fan

Saturday morning we also installed the back splashes that go on the counter tops. This really helped finish the look of the counter. They went in with little trouble, thank goodness!! Plus, Will cooperated and let me help. Hooray! After they finished drying, I was able to put things on the counter tops as I wanted them. Yesterday I even went to Target and finished getting a few items, bread box, canisters, paper towel holder. It's coming together nicely!!

Happy Birthday to me! This is an early birthday present. My parents bought this for me and Shawn put it together on Sunday and then I filled it up. This is my pantry. It really is a nice piece of furniture and we both really liked it. It has more room inside than I anticipated, so glad. Plus, I get to enjoy it a week early!!!

Birthday cabinet!

This is a picture of how the back splashes came out. Love it!!!

The next steps toward completion of the project is to tile the bar and figure out what we are doing for a bar top, find bar stools and then trim around the door, window, baseboard and cabinet foot boards. We really just love our "new" space!!!

Half way to one!

Happy six months old, Will. You are half way through your first year of life. That is hard to believe!! You have learned so much in these first six months. You can almost sit up on your own, love to eat your food, smile, laugh and talking. It is just amazing how quickly you are learning things. You are just adorable! We are all so lucky to have you in our lives. You brighten up our lives.

Will at six months!

Showing off his summer hat and glasses. He's ready!

Recently, Will had his first really bad virus. Poor guy fought the congestion for a little over two weeks. We are very happy that he is over it, with an occasional coughing fit. In that time he also started teething. He is learning how to bit my shoulder, little stinker! It's sad to see his toothless grin going by the way side. Now you can see his gums are changing and teeth are up there ready to descend. Poor guy chews on everything. Shea is learning that the hard way.

Since he has been eating solid foods and is over his virus, he is sleeping a little better at night. Thank goodness!!! He's really getting into a routine and he doesn't like it extremely messed up. This is yet another difference between he and Shea. It is just amazing that two kids can come from the same gene pool, same environment and be so different.

Will playing with his tools.

We have also had a couple of nice early Spring days where the kids can play outside. Will likes being out in the great outdoors, as long as the wind stays off of his face. He is not a fan of that wind. He looks at everything outside. Loves to go on walks, swing on the swing set, watch the birds fly and of course watch the kids run and play. I'm sure he's contemplating how he is going to join them in playing. That is coming soon, buddy.

Will and Grandma Godsey

As you can see, he is a ham when he sees a camera. He's a smiley, giggly guy. We are glad that he is a happy baby. It is heart warming that when he sees us that he just gets this big smile and jumps up. Makes you smile. He loves it when Shea comes home from school or Daddy comes home from work. He even....likes Chief!

We look forward to the next six months!!

Oohh Lala it's water!

Signs of Spring are continuing to pop up! The past three days have been warmer here and Shea is taking full advantage of this and being outside more. On Saturday, the temps were 70 with a strong March breeze but it felt good!! The kids and I walked up to our lodge here at Choctaw Lake. It was the annual Spring Craft Show. We went for the sole purpose of seeing the Easter Bunny, Shea was so excited! Both kids did get their picture taken with him and it turned out pretty good.

Shea and Chief playing together outside.

DIVA!

While we were off doing that, Shawn had run into London to get a part for our garbage disposal. He needed this to finish the plumbing on the sink and then I could get running water!!!! Well, not so fast! They don't make a part for this disposal and by the time he did find a place that carried it, he could have just bought a new one. Into Columbus he went to Home Depot. He came home with a new garbage disposal, so pretty. After this little set back he was ready to install it and finish plumbing. The lines were all ran to the refrigerator and there seemed to be NO leaks!!! It makes ice and water comes out just fine, wheww... Now he can put the dishwasher in it's place.

The dishwasher went in and it took a while for the two of us to get it set. Poor Shawn is now fighting this cold/virus that the kids and I have had. On top of not feeling well he had to do this work. More fitting into tight spaces to drill holes and run plumbing. But...Look how great it turned out!

TA DA!!

The sink, faucet and dishwasher are in and WORKING! I HAVE RUNNING WATER!! That's right, my bathroom is back to just being a bathroom and not a make-shift kitchen when needed. We still have to take the handle off of the dishwasher and paint it black but those types of small things will come last.



I just love the faucet. It pulls out, instead of having a separate spray hose. Next to the faucet is this cool soap dispenser. Love it! The only flaw of the sink and faucet is that I am constantly wiping up water spots. It looks so pretty when all clean and shiny.

Shawn also aligned the cabinet drawers. Sunday evening I filled up the bottom cabinets and the drawers. Lots of totes were emptied! That felt so good. I just love having everything in this beautiful kitchen all in and working. Thanks Shawn!!!

Before Shea's birthday party we'd (mostly me) like to get the back splashes on, storage cabinet in place and the lighting fixtures up. The island and then trim will be what is left. That seems like nothing compared to what has already been done. Come on over if you're in the area and have a bite!

Two Cute!

These kids of ours are "two cute"!! They have been playing so nicely together the last couple of days. Will lights up when he sees Shea. He squeals and wants to pull her hair. He loves to watch her play, sing and dance. He loves it when she and I sing along with American Idol. For some reason he finds it comical. Good thing he's too young to know that the singers on tv might be a tad bit better than his family. Oh well! We have fun!

Tonight while I was doing dishes (still in the bathroom) these two were playing with the exersaucer. While Shea still has to learn gentle with Will, he has a great time and only cries a little now and then. Poor Chief can't get with in hand reach of Will or he's getting pulled upon. Chief, as most of you know, doesn't mind. He licks him and moves on. Oh poor puppy, wait another month or two when he's even more mobile.

Here are the kids posing tonight. Shea is still in the phase of goofy smiles and having her chin to the sky when you photograph her. Took a while but we did get a decent shot!

Shea almost 5 yrs and Will 5 1/2 months.

Shea is counting down the days until she turns the BIG five! She's planning her party, the theme, and games for all to play. Yes, all to be clear. No matter your age, you will be invited to play! Last weekend she even asked Uncle Justin if he would like to dress up like a ballerina for her party- after all, she is! Ah, that was a priceless moment.

Shea bug

The other day while Will was napping, I took the opportunity to shower real quick. When I went in to get him, I showed him the toy on his bed. He loved it. I got out his bumbo, placed it in his bed, and let him play while I finished getting ready to go get Shea from school. He was able to hit the button and make the star go around in a circle and hit the ball so the clam open its mouth. When I came into his room with camera in hand....He had no trouble giving me lots of smiles! He does so whenever he sees a camera.

Will playing in his bed.

This is the first photo when I walked in and took his picture. I just love the ornery look he gave me. Mom, I'm having fun. Even with the cold/congestion we've all been fighting, he's still such a sweet little guy.

He just loves to be ornery....we could be in trouble! We thought Shea was ornery, watch out!

I hope the pictures have made you smile and brightened up your day. They sure are loving the warmer temps, we took a short walk today. Will just doesn't like the wind in his face and it was pretty windy this afternoon. I also had to dig the dead frog out of the fish pond. I'm concerned, I didn't see the fish today. Those stinking birds better have left them alone...I have the sinking feeling we'll be heading to Pet Smart later this Spring. I'll let you know!

Have a great evening!

I'm So Excited!

Wahoo this was a productive weekend!! We packed a lot into this past weekend but it was an exciting one. Friday night there wasn't a lot of excitement. Shawn had to clean the garage up so we could move around in it. His brother, Justin, was coming over this weekend to start working on his car that is here at our house. The transmission went out in it.

Saturday the excitement began! With the counter tops being all set up it was time to move in the new appliances. I can't tell you how excited we were, it was like Christmas morning. It took Shawn a couple of hours but he installed the new oven. After we stood there admiring how much we loved the look of it sitting there by the cabinets it was time to clean the dust off of it and figure out how to use it! I quickly whipped out the manual and did as the instructions said. I then decided that I was going to make Shawn his favorite meal for dinner, since he's worked so hard at building this beautiful kitchen for us. I made lasagna. We always love this meal but this time there was something different. We were both completely amazed at how different this oven cooked it. Everything was evenly cooked through out. We loved it!!!

Isn't she beautiful??!!!

I had to keep the cook top locked over the weekend, someone (who will remain anonymous) wanted to keep pressing the buttons! However, on Sunday when I went to cook breakfast, I had to figure out how to unlock it and that took a bit. No fear, I did achieve the goal and the egg sandwich was divine!

View of the island with the stove in.

Late Saturday night Shawn and Justin went to install the new refrigerator so it could set over night and get cold. Let's just say this was no easy task! We had measured several times and new it was a tight fit but that it would work. They had to squeeze the refrigerator together in the back but were able to get it in it's place. Sunday I spent a few hours cleaning it up and polishing the stainless steal. It's loaded with our stuff and in use! YEA!!!!! We love having the stove, refrigerator and microwave in the kitchen and all with in reach. It's taking me a bit to get used to that. We haven't purchased our new microwave yet, I just cleaned up our old one for now...since I can reach it (it was on top of the old refrigerator). Speaking of the old appliances, they are out of the living room. No more cooking in there! We have a real working kitchen now!

Refrigerator is installed!!!

The other thing that I am very excited about is the spice rack. This is something I really wanted. Shawn put the drawers in for it this weekend and I filled it up. I love it! No more opening a cabinet door and putting your hands in front of you to catch the flying spices. Now they are nice and neatly placed in the drawer. Plus, now that they are not in a tote, I can find them and use them again. I did so and made roasted veggies wraps for dinner on Sunday. Yummy!

Spice Drawer.

Last night Shawn had Justin help him put the sink in before he headed back into Columbus. Shawn was able to get the caulking done around it. Now we are just waiting for it to set up so he can do the plumbing. I'll have running water in the kitchen later this week. Now that really makes me excited. The dishwasher is up here, just waiting to be installed. Plus, the ice maker is waiting on the water too. Ah...it won't be long now. I am going to love cooking all sorts of goodies in this kitchen... Come on over!!!