Demolition.

Demolition bathroom style has begun! YEAH!  The master bathroom is finally about to be tackled.  I can't tell you how very excited I am for this moment!

Of course there are always surprises, one of our first two are, one wall isn't a wall at all it was just drywall glued to the outside wall, and the longest wall in the basement was studded, but all crooked.  No wonder the walls looked so crazy.

Currently, the long wall is being studded.  I'm aiming for that to be finished by this weekend, so we can start getting the drywall up. We shall see how it comes along.  We only have weekends to work on this so it is a several week/month project since we also have 2 children to chase around in the middle of putting up new walls. 

Elijah has really enjoyed getting to see power tools in action, and he even helped us rip out some of the old drywall.  He loves to help and get his hands dirty whenever he can.  His big job this past weekend, was walking around the bathroom floor and picking up all the pokies(screws) and putting them in a bucket so no one stepped on them.  Daddy cut out the old gas line and so Elijah got to see some big spark flying and man was that cool for him.  I'm excited for this to be a good family project since Elijah loves to watch and help whenever he can.

Fun in the Snow

Running around, falling down, giggling, and laughing.  This is what all our snow days looked like.  Elijah had so much fun going out and playing the snow.  Daddy would be outside shoveling and Elijah couldn't get out the door fast enough to join him and play.  Red in the cheeks and he still would refuse to come in.  We had chili for lunch one day and a pot roast another. Two good hearty meals that I can't resist when it snows or gets really chilly!  Being in Kansas this year, I learned about a lovely new treat.  Snow Ice Cream!  Why have we never heard of this in MI?  All those years with huge snow storms and we never got to enjoy this wonderful treat.  Elijah lovingly called it snow cream and it will be our new family tradition.  Athaiah also enjoyed this, although her poor fingers were red by the time she was done because she insisted on eating it herself-which involves just her fingers.  I'm posting the recipe I used below for all those that haven't heard of this before...aka my MI friends and family!

Snow Cream:
1 gal fresh snow
2 c milk
1 c sugar
1 TBSP vanilla

Mix the milk, sugar, and vanilla together until the sugar is all dissolved.  Then pour over top of the snow and mix well.  We topped ours with some sprinkles because who can resist fun colored sprinkles.

Precious Times

My babies are getting big so fast.  I'm not sure I can keep up! In a good way, of course.  I have found myself a lot less connected to media recently(which I'm not going to complain about), because I'm thoroughly enjoying all the time I'm getting to spend with them.  They love to laugh and giggle at each other and they have become best friends.  Athaiah is always trying to crawl all over Elijah and love on him(of which he isn't always fond of, and other times welcomes it with a tackle).  Athaiah is trying to repeat every sound you make.  She is a smiley, happy baby just like her brother.  She is crawling all over the place and is soo fast.  Something we are so not used to in this house!  She is busy constantly, and doesn't know how to sit still.  As daddy says, she must take after her mommy. She also has started pulling up on things and bear crawling-I think our little pumpkin may just be walking by the time she is 1 year old.  
Elijah repeats everything you say and is trying to say small sentences now.  We can finally understand most of what he says which is amazing and so much fun.  Now we can enjoy conversations with each other and talk about all kinds of different things.  He has recently discovered a love of tractors, he got one for his birthday, and has become so crazy about them, with some of his extra birthday money we had to run out and get some more.  He sings and dances around the house and is mommy's big helper still, and he loves it.  He will start crying if I tell him he can't help with something(usually because I'm using the stove or something hot).
If nothing these past couple weeks have really hit me hard as to how fast time really does go.  The dishes can wait, but spending time with your children really is priceless and is worth so much more.  With my knee bugging me, once I'm down I stay down for awhile which has really helped me live in the moment with my kiddos.  It makes the phone just ring because I can't get to it fast enough.  It makes the chores wait because well that is a lot of walking to sweep and mop! The extra needed time with the children is amazing and I wouldn't trade it for the world.  I love hearing the giggles as we get into tickle fights, and play cars on the floor.  I love the snuggle time when they both crawl into my lap and want me to read to them. Life could not be better! I'm writing this just to remind myself and those around me, to stop and slow down.  Life really can wait.  Spend time with those you love and I mean really spend time with them.  Put down the technology, you will find something so much greater. 
If I'm slow on posting I will apologize to you, but it just hasn't been too much of a priority lately.  I do have some good new recipes and crafts I would love to post about-hopefully sooner rather than later.