getting it done: carpet!

The past two days, while it did this outside:

We did this inside:

Whew. 
It's in. What I've been longing for and saving for and painting walls and ceilings for the past two years.  
No more stringy, wrinkly, stained shag carpet that hides fish hooks and sewing needles and nails!  (Funny thing, the installer actually found several more pins and needles as he was ripping out the old stuff.)

The kids had the time of their lives climbing around on our furniture all piled in the kitchen.
"Look, Eh-wie, Mom made us our very own playground!"
"Wow, Nikus, me wike it too!"

I spent the day trapped in the kitchen.  I now have a sparkly clean kitchen and a very fully belly.  

Last night Nicholas was feeling a bit concerned about losing the old carpet (he also cried when we traded in our Mazda for the van...) and I wondered how he was going to do today.
As soon as the installer showed up, though, Nicholas was immediately distracted by his own intense desires to tell every person we meet every single detail of his little life.

"Hi. Did you know I have a big bed in my room? My room is upstairs, but Mom and Dad said we can't put new carpet in there. I got the bed from Jonah and Nathan. I go to school. My teacher gives me beanie babies when I finish reading my letter books. I like the colors fire red and orange best. My friend's name is Luke and he was here yesterday and we played with my airplane that I got from Grammer and Papa when it was my three birthday!  I'm four now. But Eh-wie is two and she still wears diapers cause she's a baby."

We have an over-sharer, that's for sure.

The good thing is, it made him forget to be sad about that nasty carpet being hauled away, and he's just as happy about the new stuff as we are.

getting it done: wall shelf

I've been antsy lately. It must be the Spring thaw getting to me.  

Kent's been feeling it too.  He talks about wanting a vacation pretty much every day. (Instead of his usual every-other-day or just-on-Sundays)  

Maybe it's because it's been a year since we went on our trip to Mexico with some of our favorite people ever.  And we really like vacations, especially with friends.

Or maybe it really is just because it's Spring. (Huzzah!)

Whatever the reason, we've been in Project Mode at our house.  After two years of living here and leaving everything pretty much the same as it was when we moved in, we're finally changing and creating.

The first project was the garage, which I'll show you later.

Today I'm going to show you what we finished yesterday:  the wall shelf.

 For the past two years, our walls have been pretty bare.  In most of the house, they still are.
But not in the living room anymore!  

I put this shelf together quickly and easily.  I bought a 6'x5" pre-primed board from Home Depot and four wall brackets to go with it.  A fast layer of paint, some anchors and screws, and, voila! Wall shelf.

I bought all the frames (silver and white) from IKEA.  The "Love is Spoken Here" print I got from The Painted Arrow.

 I went with pictures either black and white or just softly colored.  Assorted family images, a picture of our house in Texas, and my favorite group shot, from our visit to the little zoo near Kent's parents' house:

And I don't know what is going on with my pictures here, but no matter how much I lighten them up they keep uploading to blogger so...beige.  
My walls are not this dark in person.
My computer genius husband can't even figure this out, so just imagine them less dark, okay?

And finally, a whole-room look, from a few days ago 
Before I had the pictures printed, but also before my living room got Sunday-messy. (The Sunday Mess isn't just us, right??)

the days they were born

The morning before Nicholas was born, I was feeling big, uncomfortable, and just plain tired of waiting for him to come.  Kent and I went shopping for a new microwave (we were using a free one that was from the 80's) and I convinced him to buy me some new earrings, as a little pick-me-up, a token of maybe-I-am-still-pretty.

A few hours later, my water broke, we went to the hospital, and Nicholas arrived.  I was still wearing those earrings.

It was completely by accident, but I loved the fact that they were the earrings I wore the day he was born.

Ever since then, I wear them whenever I'm feeling particularly close to Nicholas or just want a sweet little reminder of the day I became a mother.

I decided to make it a tradition of sorts, so before Ellie was born, we went out together and found a new set of earrings,

the earrings I wore the day that Ellie was born.  I kept them in my hospital go-bag and made sure to put them on as we drove to the hospital that October morning.

I just can't help but smile when I'm getting ready for the day and see these pairs of earrings in my box.  
A simple way to help me remember the wonder of being a mother.
As they get a little older, I will tell them about these earrings, and I hope they will be glad when they see me wearing them.

the queen of pout

She's got it down. Along with some serious bedhead.

We went to IKEA on Wednesday with Alicia, and in the nightstand and dressers section Ellie went into full-pout as she hid behind a red dresser.  Arms folded, lips out in the most adorable little kissy face, head down. She would not break the pout to tell us what was wrong (and honestly, I hardly even ask anymore.) 
But the moment Alicia poked her in the belly Pillsbury dough-boy style, Ellie popped up with a huge grin, laughed, and said
"She got mine belly!" 
And ran off giggling.

Like I said, the pout comes out so often I don't even bother to ask anymore.
If all else fails, I can always bribe her with chocolate. Or cottage cheese.

you got it, kid

We're maybe more than a little excited about what's coming in a couple of weeks.

today

She started off the morning with a tea party and a big bowl of cottage cheese.
Wasn't enough.  She ate out of the carton.
She could eat cottage cheese until she died, if I'd let her.

I asked her if she wanted oatmeal for breakfast instead, but she said,
"Um, no thanks. Me just eat Mackey Cheese."  (No idea why she calls it that.)

She's definitely my child.

Nicholas laid on the couch (see his head in the back left?) and told me that he was just too tired. And his legs hurt and so I can't come over to eat breakfast. I think I need some apple juice. or a brownie.

We watched the sun come up over the mountains.  
Ellie waved. "Good morning, Sun! Mom, the sun popped out!"

I'd already been up for a while. I went to the store to buy a few groceries before the kids woke up 
and seriously. That's the way to shop.  I don't think I'll ever be going with the children again.
Of course, that means I have to actually wake up before them... we'll see how well this plan actually goes.

I have the parts to a new wall shelf also sitting over there on my couch.  A long white plank (leaning against the wall) with lots of layered white and silver frames.  


Nicholas is learning the letter R in preschool. He came home with this paper:

 That robot looks a whole lot like an Android, does it not?  
The Andersens learn what's what from a young age.

Our playgroup hosted a Pinterest Lunch Party--where everyone had to bring something they'd pinned but never made--I have about a bazillion of those.  It was fantastic. We had a huge group there, with so.much.food.

I made Copycat Hawaiian Sweet Rolls and they were amazing. 
If anyone tries to make them, though, keep in mind that pineapple juice needs to be heated or else the acid in them kills the yeast (but if it's too hot it will kill it too...so heat it then let it cool to yeast-water temperature.) and this recipe does benefit from a teaspoon or so of salt added.  

At the lunch, Ellie had her typical big-group shyness/cling-to-mom-as-if-her-life-is-in-danger issues, so I got to be attached at the hip to a darling curly-haired sweetie
(As my mom points out, at least I never have to wonder where she is!)
and Nicholas jumped right in to play with his "very best friend" Bryce.

After preschool/naptime/my daily dose of peace and quiet,
we went out.

 We laid on a blanket in the front yard and gazed at the blue spring sky
while the sun warmed us.

My chocolate-faced, post-nap wild-haired Ellie used me as a pillow

 and Nicholas shielded his eyes from the sun.
Sun, it's been too long since we saw you.  How about you stick around for a while?

We raced, had jumping contests, learned how to gallop, blew bubbles with our neighbors, and made stone soup.
Came inside to find Kent had made dinner for us (he's fantastic. And he's mine.)
I called and ordered our carpet (HOORAY.)
Cub scouts planning meeting, 
home, bedtime.

I tucked my sweet boy into bed and he said, 
"Mom, I love Dad 5 ways and I love you 10 ways.  And I don't like Dad zero ways and I don't like you zero ways!"

I'll take that to mean he had a pretty good day.

Nicholas speaks

1. We’ve been teaching Nick about how Mom should have privacy when she’s in the shower (or using the bathroom, getting dressed, basically all the times I should be alone but never am…) One morning Ellie barged into the bathroom while I was showering, and soon Nicholas came up and knocked on the door:  

“Is Ellie in there??”

“Yep.”

“But Mom, didn’t you forget about your PUBERTY?!” (privacy)

2. I noticed Nicholas’s underwear on the floor in the bathroom. He’d been going commando for several hours.  When we asked him why, he said, “I was just trying to be comfy!”

3. Standing on one leg: “I’m just being like a mango.” (flamingo)

4. I walked into the kitchen to find him laying flat on his back on the floor.  “Mom, I’m a tile!”

5. “If only I had three legs that would be awesome!”

6. “Do butterflies cough when they are freezing?” (I have always--my entire life--coughed when I am cold. Nicholas has inherited this bizarre trait from me.)

7. Ellie was crying in the car. “If only we had a cow, then we could put milk on her….  We’re gonna need a bigger car.”

8. Nicholas shouts with glee: “Who wants abomination?!”

I said, “Who wants peace and quiet?”

Nicholas: “We don’t have any of that here.”

9. He asked me what was in the lime juice bottle. I told him. "What, Mom? LYING juice??"

10. "Why is it called a library? Is it because lots of people lie there?" (We've been teaching him about honesty lately...can you tell?)

And a few new Ellie Speaks now that she's a talker:

1. I pulled her out of the tub and wrapped her in a towel, then turned her to the mirror so she could see herself wrapped like a baby. The towel's tag was hanging down and covering one of her eyes. She said, "Hm. Ellie pirate." So matter-of-fact.

2. The two of them were fighting in the car. Because they both wanted to sing. But of course they can't sing at the same time. So they fought. Finally Nicholas finished his "song" and declared "Okay, Ellie, hit it!" She looked puzzled, then said, "ummm, Hi-yah!" and threw her fist in the air.

3. "Tummy hurts. Bum noise. Funny! Me all better!"

4. I needed to change her diaper. She was throwing a fit about that (time to potty train, I think!), so I told her we were going to go get ice cream. While crying she declared, "Me don't like ice cream. Me only like Sarah!"