New house, older Tate!

Our driveway during construction

Jeremy standing in the "hole"

Annnnnd how it looks as of last week. This is the basement (garage, mud room, storage) and the main floor (kitchen, dining room, Great room, bedroom, bath and bonus room)

We are hand-staining EACH individual cedar shake!

But we have lots of help!

Our shed is the unfortunate victim of our indecisiveness picking an exterior house color!

The boys loove this dirt hill. Luckily, that won't always be there!!

Tate is actually crying in this pic but what can I say, I'm mean.

As expected, this summer has been extremely busy! We are doing owner-builder on our home which I love because, hello, complete control but at the same time it's a huge time and stress commitment. Things are going well though overall. We broke ground a little over 5 weeks ago and are moving right along. Excavation, foundation, water proofing, well, septic, basement heating and plumbing, and now my personal favorite, the framing!! We've got two little helpers who are always willing to help!
Other things going on:
Tate turned 2 June 10th! Poor little guy got some "low key" parties to say the least! He'll survive. We also have done a little bike riding with the boys.

Jack is riding a two wheeler sans training wheels although I seem to only have scooter pics?

Safety first.

Whenever we would sing to Tate, he would get shy and cover his eyes. Priceless.

Don't worry, tutorial to come on this fab cake!!;)

Who says dress-up is only for girls?? Thanks grandma and grandpa for Bumble Bee!
Two separate family get-togethers = More Presents.
Thanks everyone!!!

May!

Lots going on this month! We finally got our approval from the bank for the owner-builder loan and are hopefully breaking ground next week! Can't believe it's finally here!! We have been so busy finalizing bids, re-doing schedules, budgets etc. It's going to be a busy summer, but good!
We are enjoying living here at my parents house, the boys love the huge yard and swingset and are outdoors constantly! Loving the sunshine!
On another note, can't believe I'm turning 30 this month! Life just flies by too fast.
Tate is CONSUMED by anything "Transformers". His first word when he wakes in the morning is "bobots" (what he calls them) because he either wants to watch the cartoon or locate his toys. He wears his Transformer shoes all around the house and cries when we have to take off his Transformer shirt to put on PJs. He's obsessed.
Jack and Tate are both in swimming. Tate's class is a mom-and-tot class and his best friend Elle is in the class. He hates when I actually try to teach him anything swimming related but LOVES to play in the water. Jack is in the Pre-1 class and has been there for several months. I'm hoping he'll move up to Pre-2 this next session although I think with the house we're taking the summer off!

Moving..

We have been working and planning for about 3 years now towards the goal of building our little dream house after we found the PERFECT lot in the PERFECT neighborhood with PERFECT neighbors (You know who you ;) ;) Love you all!)
We are trying to do owner-builder which has been proving to be rather difficult since the banks want you to give up your first born to get a loan (We'll miss you Jack!;))
Seriously though after talking with banks we were humbled yet AGAIN and have to decided to live with my parents while we build instead of rent while we build. So, we moved out of our townhouse this weekend and into my parents house. I thought because the townhouse was only 1100 sq. ft. or so it would be a rather easy task. But I was wrong. I forgot how much work moving is!! Most of our possessions are now BACK in storage and will stay that way while we build our house.
I am soo excited to be building this year though! We are still hoping everything will work out... after last year we definitely know that life will throw at you whatever it wants and doesn't even take into consideration YOUR plans?!?!
We are doing good. Feeling really blessed to have such wonderful and helpful family and friends who have helped us immensely in so many ways recently.
Today was sunny and beautiful and the boys are ready to play outside 24/7!! They LOVE grandmas huge yard, deck, trampoline, etc.
We are so ready for summer!!

Mexico!!

Jeremy and I had such a fun time on our trip! Can you tell, it's taken this long to come out of the depression from being back in the snow!;) (Kidding..kind of)
We didn't take the kids on this trip which definitely made for a more relaxing time.. of course, we spent most of the trip saying how much the kids would love it.. so we promised to bring them back. I know, big of us..to agree to go again, haha!!
Jeremy and I spent the first few days of the trip in Cancun just the 2 of us. The beach was beautiful, I realized I had never been to a beach that the sun doesn't set on. Both mornings I tried to make it up in time to watch the sun rise over the Caribbean, but it never happened.
In the first 24 hours of the trip, Jeremy lost his hat (left on plane), sunglasses (swept away by a wave), and swim trunks (OK that was my fault, I hung them over the railing on a windy day..)
We ate. A LOT. The more lime, cheese and cilantro my meal has, the better
We met up with two of my closest friends from college Becky and Mica and their husbands- Josh and Neil. (Mica and Neil came a day after Becky and Josh)
Most of these pics are out of order but you get the idea.

Mica Becky and I playing in the waves!

The beautiful villa we stayed in! Can be yours for only 1.2 mil!

Friends.

Jeremy had never been snorkeling before. This is one of what seems like hundreds of murky photos he took:) The turtles were huge though and just off the shore!

Becky on her 30th birthday!

Our first day in Playa del Carmen. Our new favorite place!! Go there instead of Cancun!

The pool and ocean at the first place we stayed, on our way to Playa del Carmen.

We learned a few lessons:
Don't rent a car in a foreign country. (OK unless you are Mica and Neil)
Don't eat at any restaurant right next to where the cruise ships unload. $16 nachos with fake cheese..really?!
Check your pockets for your cell phone at all times.
There's no shame in SPF75 sunblock.
Keep looking, you'll find "it" cheaper!
Don't trust pictures from the internet for your lodging..second place- GORGEOUS, first place-not so much...

All in all though, so fun..we cant wait to go back someday!

Spring!!

I know, everyone is sick of the Christmas pics! Hello, it's March! I get it!!
I plan on getting some pics up of Mexico and the boys up in the next few days. Life has been good, loving this sun..loving my family..loving life!
Will post more soon!

Not my strong suit..

Blogging, that is. We had a great Christmas, spent with our family!


The story of the chair:
This chair was given to my dad for Christmas in 1954. My dad was 4 years old and his grandfather has refinished the chair for him. The original age is unknown. Recently, my dad was cleaning out my grandma's storage unit and came across the parts and pieces for this chair. The pieces were extremely worn and faded, almost looked like firewood scraps. My dad was not sure if all the pieces were there but after some digging found everything. He refinished the chair to it's original stain color (when he received it) and re-upholstered the seat in the closest fabric he could find. He even braved JoAnn's all by himself to do it. :)
So this Christmas, Jack was 4 and so my dad thought it only appropiate he should pass the chair on to Jack as his grandfather had to him. Jack calls it his "special chair" and he is right!!

Transformers, they can't get enough!

Jack was NOT excited to get pajamas on Christmas Eve. He didn't even fake liking them. On the way to Grandma's Christmas morning he said " I sure hope Grandma doesn't get me pajamas!" What a pill!

Getting ready to go!

Jeremy and I are off for a week in Cancun. We are SOOO ready and so excited. We didnt do our annual vacation last year so it has been over 2 years since we've had any kind of vacation. We are going with friends sans kids! Now when I get back I will have so much catching up to do!

Travel Blanket!

I made a travel blanket for my friend and boss Valerie since she is
1. Extremely hard to shop for
2. One who travels ALL THE TIME.

I had no idea what I was doing so I kind of made it up as I went along. I knew it had to be able to fold up small but also be warm and stylish!
So I attached some Amy Butler home dec fabric to fleece simply by folding up the fleece and securing it with a blanket stitch. (Of course I had to put her initials in the corner!:))
Then when I was done with the blanket, I thought "I wonder if I should have put some ties on it?"
to keep it wrapped tight. Then I thought, "What if she just has her purse with her, then she'd have to have this blanket tucked under her arm all the time??"
So, I came up with this:
It's own traveling case, looks kind of like a purse itself! Fun project!

Christmas was SO great this year! Will blog soon...

The Happiest Christmas Tree

Saturday was Jack's end-of-the-semester preschool performance. Since he attends a performing arts preschool, he has been learning to dance. As you can tell, he's got the "the gift"!;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8rf85WWm5Q

I promised myself that this year I wasn't going to make anything but of course, I never keep those kind of promises. We are enjoying the Holidays though! Jack and Tate are just SO excited, I love it!
On Sunday night, we googled the top Christmas movies of all time and the #1 movie is The Christmas Story ("you'll shoot your eye out", you know, that one). So we did a little instant play from our true love, Netflix. Jeremy had never seen it!? Aaand he's never seen Home Alone!? So we have some catching up to do.
I don't think I ever blogged about Jack's birthday but he turned FOUR on November 24th. Can't believe it! He got a BB gun per Jeremy's request and a big Optimus Prime per his request, among waay too much other stuff that he got spoiled with from everyone! We just did a family party this year since I've adopted the big-party-only-every-other-year thing. :)
I think this weekend it's up to the cabin and enjoying the 12"+ inches of snow we've received in the last 24 hours!

December..

Jeremy has the day off today so we are going Christmas shopping and to dinner and a movie. We are doing a baby-sitting swap with our good friends who are going Christmas shopping tomorrow. So far, I have had Jack or Tate with me every time I am Christmas shopping and I'm tired of trying to find sneaky ways to hide things in the cart!
We have the tree out but no decorations on it yet or the rest of the house. I am wanting the house to be completely clean before I decorate but here I am blogging instead of cleaning!
Things that have been happening:
We celebrated my grandmas 92nd birthday yesterday.
The boys have been getting excited for Christmas, especially Jack! So fun to have them "understand" the whole Santa thing and the magic of it all.
Had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with SO much calorie-laden foods:)
Went snow-machining that weeekend at the cabin with the fam. So fun!
Been sewing and digital scrapping, trying to get gifts ready.
Dealing with USPS, FedEX, multiple customer-services, etc. Tis the Season!

PICTURES

Jeremy has been complaining about my lack of pictures, so here they are, in reverse chronological order (since that's the way blogger likes to do things) I usually don't have the corresponding pictures when I post something or the patience to download them..
But here's our recent pics:

Me holding baby Reagan!

Jack had so much fun bringing his cousin up to spend the night at the cabin!

Jack always asks to take my picture, but I usually have to bend down to get into the picture frame..

Tate enjoying some powdered donuts..

Halloween '09: Jeremy went as Tiger Woods

I went as octomom, Tara was Amy Winehouse, too funny! She was even drunk just for the effect! (Just Kidding)

Jack was Optimus Prime..

Tate was an adorable little dragon. We went to baby Elle's birthday/Halloween party. It was so much fun!!

Jack LOVES to hunt for Sprouse Grouse. (Or, as he calls them, "Moose Grouse")

That time of year again...

So I have been horrible at blogging.
What has been happening?
The boys got pinkeye, then colds.
I got their cold.
Drank 4 gallons of orange juice, collectively. (Tropicana only in this household)
Stayed the night at the cabin.
Had a niece born.
Booked my Mexico tickets.
Looked at about 2,000 condo rental options in Cancun.
Made a christmas present.
Designed a CD cover (for church, don't get too excited)
Got a bedroom set and it finally forced me to organize my room.
Went to a beautiful wedding in Whittier.
Found creative ways to not go crazy while avoiding the below zero temperatures outside.
Looking forward to Thanksgiving. (I'm making cranberry salad and sweet potato souffle, my two faves!)

Love November already!

My niece was born via C-Section yesterday, what a great day! Welcome to the world baby Reagan!! She is SO precious!! Check out pics on Heidi's blog.:)

BUSY week!!

So my sisters baby shower is this weekend and I have been so busy getting ready. Sewing presents, planning menus, figuring out and shopping for decorations etc. Jeremy said "You know you re psycho with this baby shower right?" to which I replied "Yep". We are hosting a luncheon for probably 30+ women so we have a lot of cooking to do as well! We are making soups and MAKING bread bowls so hopefully it all turns out!!?
Will post pics in a couple of days!! My little niece is due in 2 1/2 weeks!! SO excited for you Heidi!!

Project: Dining Room

So in our townhouse, things are a little cramped. Not like we were when we were trying to fit everything in 2 bedrooms, but still. So, storage is always an issue, and what else do I need to store, but sewing stuff?? Fabric, patterns, threads, embroidery supplies, scissors and so on..

We have had these 2 wall cabinets in storage since we first moved out of our house. They were from a home that I worked on, and were ordered the wrong height. They are gorgeous cherry, high-end cabinets that were missing one thing. Glass in the doors. So I decided I really wanted to do antique-looking glass. I called several different places to get a quote on "seeded glass", and guess what price I was given?? Over $500 dollars! Ouch.
So Jeremy suggested (what else?) fabric.
The result??







Not too shabby!!

Tate..

Isn't he so cute?!

Hellooo, winter.

It turned cold here. Yesterday was literally in the forties. 2 weeks ago, I said I was ready for fall. But NOT winter, good grief! Jeremy has the day off and took Jack down to the Kenai for a good ol day of fishing in the frigid cold. I'm SO glad I'm not going!;) Tate and I are keeping the fort down.

This morning I woke up and had to sew something that I thought of while lying in bed last night. I am in love with all the applique that my embroidery machine does, like it waay more than embroidery even! And I didn't even know my machine could do that when I bought it!
Tate has had a little rash around his mouth for like a month now and I FINALLY took him in to the pediatrician yesterday. He was diagnosed with "rash around his mouth". Helpful. But we also got an appt. with an allergist because the kid is always scratching at his sides and tummy like he itches. Soo, he may be allergic to something in the laundry detergent, but I've used several and they all seem to cause itchiness. Once we get it narrowed down, hopefully he'll feel a little better. He may be a 40 year old someday who's still using Dreft detergent? (Which by the way, I'm switching to starting today. Hopefully it helps!)

Another onesie project!

LOVE, LOVE these big buttons made by Dill. This button is 1 3/4" wide- HUGE!! So fun and easy!! I just cut out 3 circles, 2 leaves, used a fabric spray adhesive to attach them and then sewed a swirl on top to secure. (Love the shabby, frayed look- and it's so easy!) Lastly, hand-stitched on this BIG button for such a fun look!
Jeremy's going moose hunting again this weekend, and I'm decorating for fall, I think!! The leaves are changing here and it's looking gorgeous out! Have a great weekend everyone!

It's cooooming...

For some reason I really like Halloween even though the day itself really is not that fun?! I swear, it's not even that fun for kids anymore is it? At least, it doesn't seem to be the same as when I was growing up. Course that could be because I'm 29, instead of 5. Hmm. Anyways, made this little shirt for Tate today to kick off the season for me. I got my wonderful shipment in from Kidsblanks.com- wholesale onesie site that has thick, high quality onesies. Got some gorgeous chocolate browns and white. I've tried embroidering on the cheap Gerber ones and they jus't can't take it. Anyways, the minimum order was $100 so you better believe I've got myself a stash now!!
Looks like the housework is going to be suffering.
We took family pictures last night, can't wait to see how they turn out!!
Also: A while ago I changed my blog and somehow lost my links on the side. If you used to be on there and are now not, it's because I don't have it! Please give me the link again!;)

More stuff that occupies too much time..

My SIL Stephanie had a baby on Wednesday, 09-09-09. (One of the pluses of C-Section baby- you can pick the day!)
Welcome Jason Mathews Bowen. No pics of the little guy yet, hopefully I'll get some today! We're on our way to the hospital to drop off these burp cloths, receiving blanket and little hat I made! I seriously just LOVE to sew when I can be creative!