Something Good Inside!

We went to the house tonight in hopes to meet an installer
who was to measure all the windows for a blinds estimate.
They didn't show, but that's another story!
Anyway, the painters have been busy.
The kitchen cabinets are completely done and look
absolutely gorgeous. Here they are, under all that plastic:

Like the blue island in the middle?
Ha ha ha... It's the primer for the black paint!

They also had the trim either done or at least primed.
The fireplace looks even better now!

And here's a shot of the cubbie's. They look really nice now.

Tomorrow they are supposed to
start putting paint on the walls.
Oh, and they have painted all the ceilings.
I'm so excited to see all the color coming into our home.
I'll post some more photos this weekend after we go back.

Back Splash Picture...

My sister, Cynthia, found this photo on HGTV's website. It is very similar to how our back splash will look in the new house. Those darker tiles in the center will be the glass tiles I wrote about previously. I love how this looks and I can't wait to see it in our house!

Like Father, Like Daughter

It was a lazy Sunday at our house.
Jon Paul on his laptop and Bekah playing on the Nokia Tablet.
She loves to color on this thing.
First thing she asks on the weekend or
when Jon Paul gets home from work,
"Wanna color, Daddy!"
Thought this was worthy of a picture
and a place on the blog! Hope you enjoy!

Locks of Love, Part 2

Wow!
I've received more comments on the
previous post than any other post.
I feel so loved and encouraged!
So, in response to those comments,
here is a photo I took of Rachel this evening.
She put on this headband to wear to school
this morning and it just looked adorable!
I had to share it with you guys.
Hopefully soon I'll get some more of me on here.
But until then, enjoy this one of Rachel!

Locks of Love

Today was the day.
We've been talking about this for months.
This past winter, Rachel and I talked about
donating our hair to Locks of Love.
She was really interested in it and
we learned about why some kids (and adults)
don't have hair and need special wigs made for them.
If we were to grow our hair out, we could
get it cut and donate it to help someone who needs it.
So today, we cut out hair.
Here are the before shots (the first one is me!):

We had two great hair stylists, Holly and Tiffani.
Holly cut my hair and Tiffani cut Rachel's.
As you can see, they put our hair into two ponytails,
since we are both blessed with extra thick hair!
I was first and I was nervous.
I told Holly I wanted the minimum, ten inches, cut off.
As she started cutting the first ponytail off,
I could see that it was going to end up being a lot more.
She kept pulling at it and ended up cutting it...
really, really crooked.
The second ponytail went a lot better,
but the damage was done and one side of my hair
was significantly shorter than the other.
You can see this in the photo below.
Rachel was so excited about getting hers cut,
she kept asking, "Are you cutting it now? Is it gone?"
She's too funny.

Here is Rachel with her tails cut off!!!

After the cut, we were treated to the spa treatment.
We both got our hair washed.
Rachel had never had hers washed at a salon before.
She was so excited, but she was a little bit
too short for the sink/bowl...so Tiffani improvised:

Rachel loved having her hair washed.
She said the shampoo smelled like grape nerds.
Of course, she was sure to tell Tiffani NOT
to get any water in her eyes!
After our shampoo, the stylists got busy
shaping our new hairstyles.
Rachel was in one room and I was in another,
so it was a surprise for us to see what the other looked like.
So here ya go, the after shots:




Rachel loves, Loves, LOVES her new shorter hair.
She was so bubbly after she got it cut.
Tiffani even found some bobby pins with
jewels on them to set it off.
Talk about making her feel like a princess.
Rachel finished before I did,
so Tiffani asked if she could paint her nails.
Wow, she got the full treatment, manicure and all!!
Here she is showing off her nails and the back of her hair.


As for me, well...it's ok.
It is a WHOLE LOT shorter than I have EVER had it.
Holly did a great job evening it up,
but she had to cut quite a bit more off.
She was kind enough to tell me that
this hairstyle is really popular now!
Don't know if that made me feel any better or not.
It is cooler and that will be nice this summer.
And it will grow back out.
When we got home, Rebekah sai
me and Rachel looked like Granna!!
That's my mom, for those that don't know her by Granna.

We both had the required ten inches for Locks of Love.
My bag of hair is a little heavier than Rachel's bag.
But both bags will hopefully help
someone out there that needs some hair.
I feel good knowing we are helping others.
And I enjoyed doing this with Rachel.
There is just something about your kids...
you will do anything for them,
including cutting ALL your hair off!!

My Rebekah...

I took Rebekah to get her haircut yesterday. She did wonderful!! This was the first time she sat in the chair all by herself. Such a big girl. We got it cut short...both for summer and because she doesn't like her hair messed with (combing, brushing, ponytails, etc.)! I think she looks quite a bit older now.

I finally snapped a few photos of her....at one of her favorite new spots: playing on Rachel's computer. I guess now it is officially "Rachel and Rebekah's computer!" Yes, our children, ages 5.5 and 3 have their own computer. That's what you get when you have a computer programmer for a Daddy!!

Here are the photos, enjoy!

Sweet Rachel

Last Friday, I wasn't feeling well. I had laid down that afternoon to rest before my monthly crop at my church. When I got up, Rachel had made me the sweetest cards, she even folded them up and put them in envelopes. Thought I would share them with you! Enjoy...

She drew this one which has a yellow rose and a yellow daisy, my favorites.
This one is me in bed, with a thermometer in my mouth. And my window with the moon and stars out.

Decisions...

Most of the brick is done! There is a little bit left to do around the front door, it will be completed after the door comes in and is installed.


Here are all the decisions that my sisters and I made!!

Carpet: Wonderland Tea Party

Hardwood Floors: Windsor Natural Walnut, 5" planks

Bathroom Counter Tops: Marble Creations' Venitian Sand

Kitchen Counter Tops: LG Hi-Macs Aztec Quartz

Floor Tile: 18" Tambo laid offset, in a brick pattern

Backsplash Tile: Daltile Mediterranean Ivory, laid in the 45, diamond pattern

Glass Accents on the Backsplash: Daltile Maracas Glass, Tortoise (scroll to the bottom to see this one, we're using the glossy glass)

Kitchen Cabinet Stain: BAC Classic Fruitwood from Sherwin Williams, you can see a patch of this in the picture above right next to the paint can lid.

And we will have NINE paint colors - our painter is going to love us! All of these colors are from Sherwin Williams if you want to go to their site and see the color.

1. Merry Pink - Rachel and Rebekah's rooms and bathroom
2. Wisteria - the purple accent color in Rachel's room
3. Impetuous - the green accent color in Rebekah's room and in the laundry room
4. Stolen Kiss - a deep red for the dining room and half bathroom
5. Pure White - trim color for the girl's rooms, bathroom, and laundry room
6. Dover White - trim color for the rest of the house
7. Color Match - the paint can lid in the photo above - most of the house
8. Color Match - 25% lighter, for Betty's room, her bathroom and the master bathroom and all the ceilings (except for the girls rooms)
9. Black Magic - for the small kitchen island, the cabinet in the breakfast area and the master bathroom.

The next decisions that need to be finalized are the lighting fixtures and appliances. Guess I'll be busy running around and making final decisions. I'll be sure to let you all know about everything we decide on! Oh, and here's a photo of that our fireplace mantle will look like!


This just in...the painters should start on Friday!!!!

Mother's Day...

I am proud do be a mother. I love my daughters. And even though they sometimes make me want to pull all my hair out, I wouldn't trade them for anything. I am blessed to have them in my life. Mother's Day this year was good. We didn't do anything special, we just were together as a family. And I did get to take a nap!! Rachel is at a wonderful age. She made me several wonderful cards for Mother's Day. Thought I would share them with you. If you can't read what she wrote, you can click on the picture to see a larger image. It's so precious.

This is a book she made for me. All of the pages are so sweet. She told me what some of the pictures were and I wrote it below each picture in the book. They are funny!







And Rebekah made this for me in her Mother's Day Out class. She told me about tracing her hands and gluing them on the paper.


I hope everyone else had a great Mother's Day!!

Cabinets!

We went to the house today and were so excited to see this:

WOW! We're going to have A LOT of cabinets!! I love it!!

Check this out, the photo below shows where my
oven will go and above it, a great place
for cookie sheets, stones, etc.

And here is where my cooktop will be,
and these side pull outs are for spices and such.

Here are the cabinets in our master bathroom. I LOVE THEM!
I think they are going to look great.
I'm planning on painting them black. Can't wait to see it finished.

Here is Betty's bathroom. We had a cabinet
made in the wall for her to keep her medicines in.

This is the girl's jack-n-jill bathroom. I'm glad they were
able to fit in some drawers in between their two sinks.

And last, this cabinet is over the potty in the
half bathroom. We have one of these over the
other three potties in the house.

So exciting! And, our builder told us today that we are
on schedule to the day!! Check back tomorrow for some
design decisions that my sisters, Cynthia and Michelle, and I made
this past Thursday. Fun times!! Thanks, sisters!!

Walls

We have walls in our new house!
The sheet rock has been installed.
It is really coming together.
Here are some pictures for your enjoyment!

Here is a new front shot. More brick is in.
This was taken last week.
Hopefully today we'll see the arches done on the front porch.
Here is a shot of the back of our house.
We're going to have a deck come off the covered patio area.

And here is a side shot and the garage entry.
The two windows on the side are in Rebekah's room.
I am standing at the fireplace, looking across the room
to where the kitchen will be. That doorway you see on
the left is our pantry. The arched doorway on the right
leads to the girl's and Betty's bedrooms.

Now I am standing by the pantry looking at the family room.
I am loving how great it looks, very open!!
The arched doorway on the right leads to the half bathroom
and the master bedroom suite.

Here, I am still standing near the pantry,
but looking at the breakfast area/office.

And here I am standing in the breakfast area, looking at the front entry and dining room. Again, I just love the arches, the openness and the trey ceilings.

I'll have more to post hopefully after our visit there today!