The Renovation Project!!!

Oh my have we been busy lately!!! I realize that's it been over a month since my last post! Goodness gracious, all with good reason though! So a few weeks ago well, two to be exact, Chad and I bought a different home and well it's a fixer upper of sorts. But hey, the price was right and we are now one of the many people taking advantage of the foreclosures that are selling like crazy. Someones loss but our gain, sad isn't it! The house that we bought is a Queenanne Victorian built way back in 1866, if I remembered correctly. The house has four bedrooms and only one bathroom. Ugh! We don't plan to move until around the Fourth of July simply because we have soo much work to do on it. We really don't want to move in the house until everything is done. Some of the things that we need to do are as follows!

Take out a wall or two in the kitchen and expand it from 13x13 to 13x19

Rip out kitchen cabinets, ceiling and floor (try to decide on what kind of new cabinets to get!)

Order all new kitchen cabinets and flooring (not to mention finish the walls)

Take out everything in the bathroom, such as tub, sink, toilet and replace it with all new. Plus a new floor in the bathroom

Sand all of the hardwood floors and seal them

Make a final decision on the nasty paneling on the walls (convince Chad that the 70's called and said they want the paneling back)

Clean all of the Irish lace off the walls (Irish lace is the fancy term I use for cob webs)

Paint and paint some more and did I mention paint

Plant some pretty flowers outside

Put in new windows

Fix the siding on the outside

Have someone come fix the brick outside on the front of the house

I'm sure that we have lots of other things that I have forgotten, but hey that's a start!!!

So I'm sure your probably wonder what it looks like inside, unfortunately I have only taken a few! I really need to get in there and take some more before pictures. Below is a picture of the staircase that is all intact still! My favorite is part of the house besides the 9 foot ceilings!

This is the kitchen wall that we are taking out to expand it from 13 foot long to 19 foot long!

As you can see in the picture above the ugly cabinets that are going! Along with that ugly ceiling and window blinds! Well, I guess we have enough stuff to keep us busy for awhile! I can't wait for a nice weekend so that I can get outside and plant some flowers. I had a local interior boutique owner come over and get her opinion on what to do inside and out and she gave me tons of ideas and tips that I can't wait to get done! If only we had more time to work on the house, right now we have only been working on the weekends so not a lot is getting done. I am hoping that this weekend we can get it cleaned of Irish lace, finish ripping out the wall in the kitchen and get some flowers planted in the yard, if the weather cooperates. It's going to be a work in progress so you will need to check back frequently!!! Lisa

Classic Cars, Trucks and Tractors!

Last Friday Jacob and I took a rode trip while Kyle and Lindsey were at school! We went to Auburn, Indiana for an antique tractor show and then to a classic car and truck museum. I'm pretty sure Jacob had a blast, he was so excited to tell Kyle and Lindsey all about his day when we got home! I think Kyle and Lindsey were just a tad jealous that they did get to go! Of course while we were there I took lots of pictures, unfortunately I only had my 35mm lens so I always had to back up to get a whole tractor in the frame, not to mention that lens really only focus on one spot rather than the whole frame! Let me also say that Jacob was such a big boy while we were there, he walked around as if he know exactly where he was going and what he was looking for! It was incredibly cute, typical man I suppose he must have learned from the best! Get ready for picture overload! The picture below is one that makes me laugh, Jacob is caressing a $1,700 pedal tractor! I told him not to touch those tractors and what does he do, ever so gently caressing the steering wheel! Is that funny or what?!

Finally Jacob could sit on some tractors! The little tractor below looks just like on that Chad has! Much smaller of course and a different color!

Here is Jacob on a bigger tractor and he accidentally pushed the horn! It sure scared him at first, but then he thought it was funny!

This picture below is one that see and hear very often, just put a vvvrrrrooommm with that!

Then it was off to the classic car and truck museums! Just check out these fancy cars!

At the museum they had the original art room that car designers would have drawn out new cars. Below is Jacob drawing out his new car design! (Actually it was more like a tractor or truck design!)

Then we found this rather funny contraption! A pay-phone, he had to call collect because he didn't have any money! (Just joking of course the phone didn't really work!)

Below is Jacob actually posing for me! I tried almost all day to get him to look at me and stop and pose, then what do you know, he says "mommy take my picture!".

And finally one last picture for you! Through the eyes of a just turned three year old!

That last picture was actually taken by Jacob, not to worry I had the camera strapped around my neck! Of course I didn't realize until I got home and was going through all of our pictures from the day and the ones that Jacob took how the world looks to him! Poor little guy I felt really bad for him then, that picture above is what he seen most of the afternoon in the truck museum! No wonder he loved the phone booth and model truck displays so much, rather then the real trucks, he could actually see them! I will definitely have to remember that the next time we go some where. Overall though, I think he had a pretty good time, he still talks about it as if he wants to go back! Lisa

Birthday Celebrations!!!

Last Sunday on February 28th Jacob and I celebrated our birthdays together! How exciting is that, I get to celebrate my birthday with such a sweet little guy! I have to admit, he was the best birthday present I have ever and probably will ever get! He was actually due on the 27th, but he wanted to make it easier on mommy to remember his birthday and came on the 28th instead. (I admit it's kinda nice that I only have to remember the year he was born!) So, for our birthday we had a nice quite evening with family and of course my favorite cake! Ha! Ha! As you will see in the picture below, Jacob isn't all about the cake, he wants to open his presents!!! Can't say that I blame him, I would too!

Then he realized that we wanted him to blow out the candles!

He wasn't quite sure about the whole candle thing! I love his expression below "really I have to blow all of these candles out before I can have my toy back!?"! Ha! Ha!

OK, lets get this picture thing over, I want cake he wants to play with his new toys!

And so, that is exactly what we did! Jacob is such a funny little guy, he kept saying that he was going to be five and that I was going to be sixteen! Umm, not sure if I would ever want to be sixteen again! Jacob actually turned 3 years old this year and I turned, well lets just say I'm few years older than him! Ha! I'm sure your wonder what I got for my birthday! Well, I got a Lego beach house, is that funny or what! Yep, I finally got my dream beach house, well except it isn't pink like I wanted! Lego company if you are reading this, please bring back the pink and white beach house that I had when I was younger! Black and yellow just are not my beach colors! I did also get some new stainless steal kitchen aid pots and pans, only because my other red kitchen aid one's are really wore out. (Now I just need to find a really good cookbook!) Jacob and I did have a wonderful birthday this year and we are so blessed to be able to celebrate our birthdays together every year!!! Happy third birthday to my sweet Jacob, mommy loves you!!! Lisa

Purdue Engineering

Last Saturday I took Kyle down to Purdue for a free Day of Discovery Open House event hosted by some Engineering students. Once we got there I found a really nice parking spot or so I thought! Kyle had mentioned to me that the door on the dumpster that I had parked next to had a huge P on it for Purdue, isn't that cool! Of course I didn't think anything of parking in front of the dumpster. So Kyle and I got out and walked across the street to the Civil Engineering building for a fun morning. Once we got there, they had a few stations set up for the kids to make their way through and learn lots of different things. The first thing that Kyle did was make a space ship to fly to the moon like Neil Armstrong, a Purdue graduate. The picture below shows what they used to launch the rockets from, unfortunately you can't see the pictures of the planets in front!

Then we went to go do some electrical engineering. Kyle had to put all of his pieces together on the circuit board to make sound. Kyle really liked doing this project so now I should find one of those box kits somewhere for him. Or have Chad make him one, he's good at that stuff.Then he went to design a helmet that wouldn't splatter the brains (water balloon) on the thumb tacks (road). This one was fun, they had to take into consideration the amount of materials used and think about the cost of using them in the design process. The first one, not so good! The brain went splat!Then on the second one Kyle thought he had it, but Yikes! He didn't! Another big splat! The Styrofoam plates and cotton balls didn't hold up! Then on the last one he did aluminum foil, cotton and I think one or two foam peices. Below, you can see him dropping his helmet and brain on the road!

And then Ta-Da! It survived!

And the last activity that Kyle got to do was to construct a roller coaster and then use different weighted balls (marble, wooden and plastic) to see which one uses more potential energy. Of course he also found out that he had to make sure his track was just right so the ball (roller coaster seat) didn't fly off the tracks!

It definitely took time to get the loops just right!

Kyle enjoyed this activity as well, he said he can do the same thing at home with his Hot Wheels track. I liked the fact that all of the things that Kyle did we can recreate at home in a very similar way. I'm sure Lindsey would enjoy doing some of these activities! When Kyle and I were all done we walked across the street to our van so we could leave and go shopping. When we got back my van was gone! Like completely gone! "Oh my gosh, my van has been towed" I told Kyle. Now were is it! Of course I had no clue what to do, but rest assured the people that had it towed, because it was in front of the dumpster, gave me a card of where I could find it. So I called the towing company and asked if my van was there and they said it was. She also said that they were getting ready to close until Monday! What, no I need my van! So she was nice enough to wait about a half an hour after closing for me to come and get it. I had to wait on someone to come pick us up and take us across town. Of course that cost me $49 for her to wait and a grand total of $200 (of course it had to be all cash to) completely waisted! So I got my van and then went shopping, stopped by the library down there to finish some homework and by that time it was kinda late so I asked Kyle if he wanted to stop at Culver's to eat before we head home. So we did and you will never believe what I seen as I pulled in the parking lot! Oh my gosh! The same exact towing truck that was at the lot where my van was! What are the odds! And then when we went inside I seen the guy and girl that I had just given my money to! I did make a comment to the guy as he walked up to refill his drink when Kyle and I were filling ours. "Hey your the guy that towed my van!" He looked at me like lady be quite! Ha! I thought it was funny, he didn't! I think he was embarrassed! I must admit the guy could have at least taken the girl out for some steak instead of a burger and fries with the money I just gave them Geesh! So over all it was a day full of many learning experiences! Of course, I believe it's safe to say that I have become Kyle's role model of what NOT to do when you get your license! Ha! Ha! Lisa

Valentines Day 2010!

Wow, am I late for posting about Valentines day or what! All with good reason though, we have been soo busy lately, with school and everything else live brings! Chad and I celebrated our Valentines day last Friday night, by going out to eat just the two of us! How romantic! We ended up eating at Texas Roadhouse for dinner and to our surprise we got a table as soon as we walked in the door, that was at five o'clock! We did very well beating the crowds, when we left at around six thirty, the wait was pretty long! Let me just tell you this, wow did I eat and eat! I admit it was definitely nice to go out just Chad and I for a change. Although it was quite different only cutting up my own food, I guess that's because I am so used to cutting up other little peoples food along with my own! I have admit I did given Chad a really sweet Valentines day gift that he is sure not to forget for a while! Ha! Ha! Let's just say I got him a little something sweet! After we were done eating we went to the jewelry store to go and look at some rings, I really wanted a plain rose gold band for my anniversary ring. That was until I seen some really pretty rings with diamonds in them! So I decided to get one with ten little diamonds in it and Chad got a new Tungsten gold ring! Actually, Chads ring has the rose gold on it! Is that funny or what, I really wanted rose gold and he got it instead! Ha! These were a Valentines/early anniversary gift, how exciting! Overall Chad and I had a wonderful evening out together, just the two of us! I know I was really excited about it, my excitement was comparable to our first date about twelve years ago! Hopefully we can make plans to go out more often!!! Lisa

First Snow of 2010!

Earlier this week we had our first big snow fall of 2010, with about 8 inches of snow! The kids got out of school early on Thursday and didn't have school at all on Friday! On Thursday when the kids got home from school we went outside to go play in the snow and then on Friday they couldn't wait to go back outside to play! I have been practicing a lot with my camera settings so it was fun to take pictures of them out in the snow. Here are some of the pictures that I took! Below is one of my favorites that I took of Kyle! Thank goodness he knows not to throw snow at the paparazzi! Ha! Ha! He throw it at his sister instead!

And here is one of my favorites of Lindsey!

And Jacob walking in the snow, he was trying soo hard not to fall and get his hands "dirty" with snow!

Then I got some really cute pictures of Jacob, he loved eating the snow and still talks about it all the time! He is always saying "I eat the snow outside!" and starts laughing! It's too cute!

Jacob was having a blast outside until he fell in the snow! Poor little guy, he was saying "hold me, I don't like it"!

I'm pretty sure Jacob was thinking to himself "seriously mom put that stinkin camera down and get me out of this cold wet dirty stuff!" Not to worry, I did pick him up and took him inside and got all of his winter gear off and told him he could stand at the door and watch. I went back out to take a few more of Kyle and Lindsey (don't worry he could see us the whole time) and as I went to go back inside this below is what I found Jacob doing, licking the window!That little guy just cracks me up, I couldn't help but take a few pictures of him doing that, it was hysterical! We are definitely enjoying all this snow that we have, I don't think its going anywhere for a while! I do have some more pictures to add on here so be looking for them!!!    Lisa

Christmas 2009

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas last week, I know we sure did, it's so hard to believe its all over and that it's now 2010! In a way I am so glad the holiday's are now over so I can start to lose some of the weight that I sure gained from all the yummy food I devoured! It seems that we have been so busy the past few weeks, thankfully things are starting slow down for us! I finally got around to downloading the pictures from Christmas, I thought I would share a few with you! Below Lindsey is frosting a yummy cake for all of us to eat!!!

Below, is Kyle drooling, I mean watching Lindsey frost the cake!

Here is Jacob and I! (he is so silly!)

And here is Jacob, Lindsey and I making some yummy treats! 

In case you were wondering what we were making it is a very easy yummy recipe! Take two Ritz brand crackers and put peanut butter on one side than add the other cracker on top so that you have a peanut butter cracker sandwich. Next dip it in some melted chocolate (white or milk chocolate which ever you prefer, both are yummy!). Then just lay your chocolate covered peanut butter cracker on wax paper to harden. Once Chocolate is harden eat and enjoy! We ended up dipping some peanuts in the chocolate too! Oh my was that yummy, OK I guess anything with chocolate on it is yummy! After all the baking and eating it was time to open presents! Below is the biggest boy helping out the littlest boy! Ha! Ha!

Again daddy helping open up something for the little ones!

 Below is Kyle opening open of his presents!

Chad playing toys with Jacob.

Here is Jacob trying to play the new Wii, it was hysterical to watch him!

And finally one last picture! Merry Christmas!!!

Wow, talk about picture overload! Ha! Ha! I must say 2009 was quite a busy year for us! We had lots and lots of good times this past year along with one rather hard time, but we survived and thank God for all of our soo many blessings! I think the year ended on a very good note for us and can't wait to see whats ahead for 2010!!! Happy New Year everyone!!!