Home Remodel and Pearl

From start to finish- Our master bath remodel January 2016- February 2016

Before

 The tear down

 The plans

 The framing

 The sheetrock 

 Shower bench

 Tiling

Walk in Closet

Vanity and Toilet

 Barn Door

 Shower

Pearl- 5 year old dog

The construction took two months and we only hired out the tiling and rough plumbing. With tons of help from family and friends we worked all day Saturdays straight and often into the night (poor William). We are thrilled to have the master bath almost completed- We still have to have the shower door installed and the medicine cabinet put in. 

The previous owner of the home came over and could not believe we were able to fit so much into such a small space. We could have never done that without my close friend's husband Brad!  We are so blessed to have so many good people in our lives. Thank you all for your help!!!!

As for the dog- I wanted one for me to keep me company while I work and everyone sleeps and Ben wanted one too so we got Pearl. At first Will was not too keen on the idea but he has since fallen for our cutie patootie Pearl dog. We adopted her from Hearts 4 Paws and she is 5 years old. 

Christmas and the New Year

It's journaling time again. Times are good. We have been blessed more than we could say with the generosity of family helping us update our home and with children who are growing and are pretty much our everything. Christmas was crazy busy. I am determined to start my christmas preparations in July this year so I can actually enjoy my holiday instead of rush too much. The new year has been full of tearing down walls in our bedroom and building back up a bathroom and closet--- more pics to come in our next blog post. So lets move on the kiddies:

Ben, Ben, Ben - what is one to say, I still wonder what he will grow up to be. He is so determined and very strong. He rarely cries and often can articulate the most complicated of topics. He is highly intuitive and very energetic. Needless to say sometimes I feel like a total failure raising such a spirited boy and some days I feel like a lucky mom- that I just get to sit back and watch greatness unfold.

James is adorable! He started primary this year and he is so friendly! He loves the friends in the class and he loves being called on to stand in front of the primary and participate. He has made the transition from nursery without a hitch. He is still right on his game with potty training. Rarely having an accident and he takes initiative to go himself now! He and Ben share a bed and James has proven to be the ultimate tease!!!! He is always giggling and always teasing and it makes Ben crazy sometimes!

Madison is a champion. She just switched from her crib to her toddler bed without a blink of an eye. I was so surprised. We lay her down and she goes right to sleep nap time or nightime!!! Totally the opposite of Ben who was weeks screaming behind his door before he taught himself to get in bed and stay in bed. Another thing about my little girl- I swear someone is going to report me to child protections services some day-- she ALWAYS has bruises on her face. She is classic for falling off of chairs. She loves to stand on them and doesn't really have the keeping both feet on the ground piece yet.

Will and I are a happy couple- we are watching as the life we have dreamed for is coming together. A beautiful home and beautiful children. We have worked hard and continue to work hard to see these promises fulfilled, we couldn't be more pleased with the blessings!

Well it's time to bid you adieu until another time. Keep the Faith and Love with all of your heart!

Love,

Summer

 The boys love harassing Maddy. 

Here she is with tape they put on her head and a kiss me sign on her back..

Halloween, Buying a house, etc...

So I just thought of something. What if they made a handbook. A handbook for moms. So we weren't so lost and our learning curve wasn't so horribly messy. Like my house for example. Nobody told me in a matter of three years I would go to well kept and clean to weevils eating off of popcorn kernels that have somehow made it to random hidden corners in my home. Or laundry than NEVER stops! It never stops. One load done and that accomplished feeling is there for like seconds before you trip over three other baskets that need attending to. I'm a mess! Any who, even though I went at it without a mother handbook - I have to admit I'm getting the hang of raising three small children and having some small semblance of a clean and organized home... Wish me luck on the next 18 years though... I don't know how long I can keep this up ;)

 Sprained my foot real good this week missing a step and trying to keep Madison from hitting payment cause I was holding her.... 

So the news- I'm going to lead with Will and I---- drum roll please........Tomorrow we sign on the home we have been living in Kaysville!!!! We are so excited and are going to be so poor! I'm all about having a charlie browns christmas in exchange for a house though-- so sunny days are here again!  We spent the last month redoing the kitchen - the landlords did some cost sharing to put in granite countertops and Will and I worked side by side late into the night for days on end to get our cabinets painted. I have never heard that guy groan and moan so much! But in the end he and I couldn't be happier with the results. Now all we have left is a little decorating and subway tile backsplash!

Before

After

After subway tile

As for Ben-- growing up fast and still in never ending motion. He is Curious George on steroids. Always into things- not trying to make trouble but somehow trouble always finds him! He is doing great in his Spanish immersion preschool, on his violin and with his site words and other homework we give him everyday.... smart as a whip he is. He is so excited for the holidays that a week and a half before Thanksgiving he asked if he could write up his Christmas wish list and send it to the north pole.... needless to say for sure Santa's going to give him priority this year cause he will have lots of time to plan--- now if we only had a chimney for Santa to shimmy down (that was Ben's main concern last Christmas "how will santa get our presents to us? we don't have a chimney")

This was Ben's Birthday cake request! He wouldn't let me put a toy superman on top! 

I had to make it out of fondant!

James finally picked up talking and he does not stop!!! He talks and talks and makes us repeat everything he says! He will ask me permission to turn into a Tiger than run around the house making tiger sounds and clawing at Ben and then come back and ask me permission to be a dog. This process repeats itself over and over for hours on end! He loves hugs. The minute he gets hurt in any way he runs to me and says "cuddles!!!"

Madison is DARLING! She is my little girl. She is independent and driven and determined and thoughtful and so cute. She plays by herself reading and building towers with blocks (I still haven't got around to getting this girl dolls yet -- She is destined for tomboyhood if I don't intervene soon ;)  She refuses to sit in high chairs so she eats all of her meals standing up and about once or twice a day she takes a tumble off of them-- this girl has more bruises than her brothers ever did. But even with all the falls she keeps on getting up!  She and James argue and fight over toys and Ben dotes on her all the time- his hugs are a little rough but she seems to take them well.

Well I've written enough to fill a few journal pages so I will bid you adue until next time :)

All my love,

Summer

Below are our Halloween Outfits this year

The show must go on

I don't want to miss out on a minute of my children right now. Maybe I'm through a tough parenting spot or something but my kids are just soooo cute right now. They say and do things that make me just melt all of the time!

Ben for example has become one of my favorite people to conversate with. His conversations are fascinating and fact filled. He doesn't miss a beat. His memory is better than mine-- for example we were talking Big Hero six and he told me the bad guys name was Callaghan and the stuff that protected him during the explosion were mini bots and so on and so on. The details this kid can recall are fabulous... Speaking of details we had our first birds and bees type conversation. We talked about keeping our private parts covered and he told me that I didn't keep mine covered... Then referred to six months ago when I had been breast feeding Maddie. He said "Mom sometimes I saw your milking parts and I did not laugh..." He was very proud of his accomplishments. He is so fun to talk to right now.

Ben in his Spanish immersion preschool class

James is talking more clearly and more often and Will and I couldn't be more thrilled. He says things like "I like it mommy!" Acutally he says that phrase a lot. He seems to like just about everything. His shoes, his toys, some food... and etc... Today he took off out the door with his brother and turned to me and said "Bye Summer" He is also almost tototally potty trained. I am not going to jinx myself and say he is totally potty trained because then he will start having accidents again- but for now he is doing spectacularly.  He also had birthday recently and we made a car cake. James made one of the cars and was so cute to point it out to everyone. He is three years old now. He plays and bickers with Madison all the time now- it is so cute the way they steal each others toys. If one has it the other has to be screaming about not having it.

The car James made is closest to him

James and co. had their faces painted on his birthday

Speaking of Madison, what a treat it is to have a little girl. The other day she dressed herself for the first time. As I was going to put pants on her she hooped up a ran over and grabed a tutu and bumpkins and handed them to me. It was so cute! Ben took his first shot at giving her a haircut last week and now she has bangs. And Maddy has a multitude of teeth coming in right now-- I count six in total. Its made for some crazy nights-- but not anything a little tyelnol hasn't fixed.

As for Will and I we are hoping to buy the house we are renting this next month. I hope I hope I hope it works out. Will is still liking his job and still waiting for a promotion. I'm still up late working. I usually get to bed about 1 am... We can't complain. We are so happy to be together and that our life seems to be coming together slowly but surely.

Stay tuned for another episode another day~

Love,

Summer


Ps we have been busy the last few weekends Will put together a small shed for the boys bikes(not pictured), cut down two trees in our back yard, and fixed up the shed in our back yard and helped Tyler cut down trees in Dad Clarke's yard- -see below

Ben and James burning the rest of the two trees we cut down in our back yard

This is Will on the roof cutting dads tall tree and then the next day helping Tyler get the branches to land in the right places... 

 We were the peanut gallery, Ben kept saying "cut to the left dad! Cut to the left!