Its Getting There

So, our backyard renovation is definitely on the way. We wanted to create more playing room for Ethan. First we wanted to tear out our broken hot tub that was never used, and cut the deck back a little. Then, we wanted to pour down some new cement where the old deck was and where the previous owner had put in a sandbox. The sandbox had become the neighborhood cat litter box, and so it smelled so bad.


The cement job came out so great. The owner was recommended by Shawna, it was her parents neighbor. I really love the brick accents. It adds such a nice detail, and doesn't prohibit the play area at all. We really wanted a cement layout that wouldn't hinder Ethan's bike riding or basketball playing. Then we had new steps put into the deck. Long ones that ran all across the deck and just make the backyard seem so much more open. I love it like this.


What we hope to do next, probably after tax season, is cement the remainder of the backyard, from the current end all the way down the drive way. Then we hope to relandscape the grass area, pushing it back over the current cement path that runs around it. A new grass area with a real, usable sprinkler system will really help pull everythign all together.

I'll put up pictures soon. I have the "before" pictures, but not the "after" pictures. Stay tuned!!

Oops, I Broke It Again!

Well, this is only the first time I've broken it, but this time, it really counts. I dropped our camera the other day, while it was open, directly on the zoom lens. It collapsed the lens, and that was it, we couldn't use our camera anymore. Now, I did this the DAY before we were planning on taking the picture for our Christmas card, AND 3 weeks before Christmas. So, we HAD to go out the next day and get a new one.

We decided to get a SONY Cybershot. We already had a Cybershot and were really, really happy with it. Plus, we already had 3 memory sticks to go with it, so we wanted to buy a camera that would use the same memory sticks.











Its 7.2 megapixels, more than I can imagine using, and it has a 2.5" LCD screen. Our old one had a 1.3" screen, and it was so hard to tell if photos came out clear with such a small screen. The nice thing is that with the turn menu in the upper right-hand corner, when you switch menu options, it tells you right on the screen which option situation its best for. Like a low-light setting, or far away setting. I like that. Its not the best camera out there, but it works for what I need to do. Plus, it was $40 off and it came with a free case. I like free. :)

A Toy Room!!!

We finally converted our third bedroom into a toy room!!! I am so excited. We finally have an area for ALL of Ethan's toys, that is NOT in the middle of my living room. I love it!!! I finally have my living room and my coffee table chest back!!!


(This is a picture from when we bought the house)





















(These pictures are from after we tore out the carpet and after Greg sprayed in insulation - that's what the white spots are from.)

We needed first to redo the floor. Dakota had started ripping up the carpet a couple of years ago, so we decided to replace that with hardwood floor. This guy came in and put in this beautiful harddwood floor - real wood, not laminate. And you can tell it is so durable. It makes the room beautiful. Then, we added a new coat of paint to the walls, basedboards, trim, ceiling, and bookcase.

We then went to IKEA for all of the storage. They really are great about that. We got this shelving unit in white, which is actually two units that we put together, and different size bins to fit all of his toys. We also bought this table and chair set for $13!!!! And the table and benches are all storage too. I have all of his Play-Doh tools in one bench, and his crayons and coloring books in the other bench. We also bought the road rug for him to play on and the two spacships to put all of his stuffed animals that he acutally plays with.












(The table here, and the chairs behind it are from a set that Greg's parents bought Ethan for his birthday.)










Its a great little room for Ethan and his little cousins to play. I wish it were bigger, though I wish our house were bigger in general, but I love it right now. Ethan does too.

Greg's New Toy

So, Greg got himself a new toy. He bought a pop-up tent trailer. We haven't done as much camping as we would like since Ethan's been born, and we are hoping that this will help. Greg does do a lot of camping in the winter, so this will definately help with that. It will be nice that we can keep the majority of our camping supplies in the trailer, and so we won't have to spend half a day packing up the camping supplies. And this also takes time out of setting up camp because we won't have to bring the the tent, roll out tarps and padding, bring out the sleeping bags, etc. Plus, it has lighting, and its own stove. Its great. I really think we'll go camping a lot more now that we have the tent trailer.

Happy Birthday Ethan!!

Today is Ethan's 3rd Birthday. Time goes by so fast. I can't believe he is already 3!!! I swear, it felt like I was just pregnant. And now I have a little boy. A big boy if you ask him. And he really does seem like one. Gone are the days of him being a baby. He's definitely a kid now. I have been truly blessed in that I've been able to stay home with him. It has really helped me to be involved in every part of him growing up. I know that Greg misses out on so much cause he has to be at work, and so often, so I really have been blessed. I haven't missed out on much of Ethan growing up.

He really is his own person now. He has his own little personality, his own little quirks. Its so cute to watch him. He wants to be more independent, and just thinks he is the man of the house. Its quite funny.

The lucky little kid basically had 3 birthday parties. There was the one on Thanksgiving that we had with my family. We did a guitar pinata for him that he picked out himself. Then we sang "Happy Birthday" with his cousins giving him much support. And then he opened presents, and was so cute while doing it with his many comments of "ooh" and "aah", even for the clothes!!












We also had a mini celebration at school this last Friday. I made mini cupcakes for the class that they ate during snack time, and all of the kids sang "Happy Birthday" to him. It was real cute.

Then this past Saturday, we took Ethan on a little adventure for his birthday with my parents and Greg's parents. We took him on BART, for his first time, and he loved that. He loved looking at the other trains coming by, going under the tunnel, and looking over the edge and saying "We're gonna fall!!!" When we got into the city, we then get on a cable car and took that over to Pier 39. That was MY first time on a cable car, so that was fun to me. He did like the bell, but he did kind of get thrown around every once in a while.


When we got to Pier 39, we walked around a little. Ethan got to ride the big Merry-Go-Round. He had the whole thing to himself, and after much debate over which horse he wanted, he finally decided to sit in a SEAT!!! That kid. At least that went up and down too. After that, we walked over to the seals and watched them for a little. He really loved that. And there were quite a few out, barking so much.









We then had lunch and then went up the the Aquarium of the Bay. I had never been there before. But Ethan really loved it, which was great. He was so excited to run to each aquarium and see what was there. The bottom floor is one big tunnel aquarium. You know, one of those where the aquarium is all around you and the fish get to swim over you. That was a lot of fun. So many different fish to look at, including sharks and rays.









After the city, we went back to our house where some other people joined us for presents and more cake. "Happy Birthday" for a third time!! Lucky kid. He did get a karaoke machine that you plug into the TV and you can see yourself while you sing. He LOVED that. Not so much the singing, but loved seeing himself on the TV.


After all that, I don't even know if we'll do anything today, his actual birthday. Maybe I'll get a special dessert for him. One thing is for sure, next year, he's going to expect a 2-week birthday.

Thanksgiving

So, I know Thanksgiving was a week and a half ago....I've just been real busy this past week. :)

So, I hosted my first Thanksgiving this year. However, I did get lucky in that I only had about 20 of my family members, instead of the normal 35. I'm not sure 35 would fit so well in my house.

I spent a few days preping my house. I had to do a lot of cleaning. I generally keep my house up okay, but I really wanted to do some deep cleaning, you know clean the baseboards, the drapes, under the TV and couch (a sweep and then mop) and all of the other furniture. My Aunt Jodie did keep Ethan for me one day, and so that helped so much.

I also made little pumpkin center pieces. I used the mini pumpkins to make candleholders. And then I used larger pumpkins to do flower center pieces. I'm quite proud of them.

My family does do Thanksgiving potluck style every year which makes everything so much easier on the host. So I really only had to do the turkey and stuffing. So I know I lucked out again on that. I did my turkey (a 22 lb. turkey) with a herb butter under the skin. I think it made it so tender doing that, but it did make it hard to do the gravy cause there was so much fat in the roasting pan. I was very happy with my stuffing. I know its basic to do, but this was my first time and I didn't want to overcook it and make it really dry.

We also celebrated Ethan's birthday with my family on Thanksgiving. It was over a week early, but I wanted to do it then 1) since we had my family there already and 2) since Greg's parents were going to be here the following weekend and we already had so much planned. I made him a baseball cake. We had found A's hat candles at the A's game one time, so I made a baseball field for them to go on. My cousin Don Jr. had his birthday the next day. So I made him a fondant Raider helmet cupcake. (He's totally into the Raiders, not so much the A's.) Too bad the picture didn't come out so well. I was a little bummed about that, but it did look pretty cool.

Overall, I thought Thanksgiving went well. I was definitely tired at the end of the day, but I had a great time.

California Wildfires

I know they are pretty much all done with, but I think it would be rude of me not to mention the California wildfires for a moment.

The pictures have been quite incredible. The amount of land and houses destroyed by the numerous fires is just unbelievable. And the people who actually died in these fires is just heartbreaking. I know plenty of people who live in San Diego and so I had quite a few friends and sorority sisters affected by the wildfires. Fortunately, none of them or their families lost their homes, though so many others did. I did have a friend who's cousin is a firefighter in San Diego, and who was burned in efforts to stop one of the fires.

I could never imagine what the people of Southern California had to go through. The air quality was real bad. Which kind of reminds me of the Oakland Hills fires of years ago. We did have ash in the air, but I don't remember it being hard to breath or anything like that. I just hope those who were personally affected by these fires are able to recover and heal quickly. And God Bless the firefighters and all others who helped and assisted in controlling the fires.