Bathroom redo

So back in April the bathroom cabinet that hangs behind the toilet fell off the wall. One of my daughters was standing on the toilet getting something out of it and boom it fell right off. Maybe its screws had become loose over time, we don't know, but off it went. The cabinet broke and the wood floor got a big scrape but luckily my daughter wasn't hurt. Since we had to replace the cabinet we decided to go ahead and make some other changes as well. First off Scott painted the ceiling white. It had been the wall color. Then he painted the walls with a satin finish since they had been flat paint. Flat paint in the bathroom just doesn't work, it shows lots of water streaks. This picture was taken after the ceiling was painted but before the walls were. Notice the nice white area above the toilet where the cabinet had been.
Finally in July Scott took down the old mirror and attempted to hang up a new one. He found a stud in the wall and started hammering. Unfortunately it wasn't a stud, it was a water pipe and we hit is bullseye. Hissing immediately started in the wall so we cut into the wall and yep water was squirting out. We quickly turned off the water. The next day the plumber came and fixed up the hole which cost more than the new cabinet and mirror cost combinned.

Here is a closeup of the pipe.

When the plumber came he had to cut a larger hole in the wall to fix the damaged pipe. Then Scott had a new project of patching the hole and repainting.

Finally 3 months after the cabinet fell we had a new one installed and a new mirror too. Unfortunately the very next day the oven died. We have been using the stovetop only for 3 weeks now. Just one more week until the new oven arrives. I can't wait to make some cookies.

Squinkies

The newest craze with little girls is Squinkies. They are tiny plastic animals that come in balls. My girls saw them on a commercial while watching Nickelodeon or the Disney channel and just could not stop talking about them. We looked for them at Target where they were sold out. But their nice dad took them to Toysrus and they found some there. They each bought them with their own money. Melissa is paying me week by week as she earns money. But they were so so happy to get them.
Here is a closeup on the cute creatures. You get 16 for $10.00. What a rip off.

Melissa was so proud of hers that she lined them up by her bed which is very cute.

Now they are asking for squinkie houses because they are just too small to fit in the dollhouses we have and yes they do make squinkie houses. I guess we know what they'll be getting for Christmas. Don't you just love commercials?

Today I am thankful that

*We finally ordered a new range--our oven died 3 weeks ago--I want to bake cookies and pizza and rolls

*Nathan loves his new car shoes--he will hardly take them off at bedtime

*Scott and I have been taking exercise walks together each day--I love walking

Photos from Seaside

At the beginning of August we took a trip to Seaside, Oregon for a couple of days. Although it was overcast and only in the 60's while we were there we still had alot of fun. I posted some pictures on facebook of our trip and have attached a link to them below.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2074160&id=1315728240&l=cf09793517

more fun friend reunions

This week I left my 5 kids with my mom and went to visit my BYU roommate. The last time I saw her was 10 years ago and since we now live just an hour from each other it was definately time. Plus she had twins a few months ago and even I can't resist twin babies. Her older son had me laughing the whole visit. Here he is posing with his water guns and superhero cape.
The twins are a boy and girl. I got to feed the girl her bottle.

Here are my roommate and I. Thanks for the great visit.

Also this month my good friend from Arizona called and told me she was in town visiting relatives. She wanted to stop by with her family for a short visit. We hadn't seen them since we moved 4 years ago. Her daughter and Emily hopped off to play together like the past 4 years apart hadn't even happened.

And of course her mom and I had a great visit, catching up on each others lives and wishing we lived close enough to take morning walks together again. Thanks for the surprise visit.

Today I am thankful that

*summer weather has returned (the kids are having so much fun out in our blowup pool)

*the garage sale I helped with is over, it was so hot sitting out on the driveway today

*we have yummy watermelon to eat

Mini Golf

I have always loved playing minigolf and in each place we live I try to visit the local course. That is until the last 7 years. I guess I've just been too busy having babies and raising kids. So this visit was long overdue. The only mini-golf place around was 40 minutes away. I thought it would be fun to take the whole family. It wasn't...next time we'll say 6 and older only. Melissa would not play and just kept asking when we could go home meanwhile Nathan ran all over the course hitting balls that weren't his (to his sisters dismay) and climbing on things that weren't meant to climb on. Here is the gang minus me.
Holly's wish to visit the Effial tower finally came true.

Nathan tried his hardest to climb under the tower.
Here is Nathan in hot pursuit of someone else's ball.
Nathan thought climbing up the many ball hills was fun.
Emily happy to pose for a picture.

Today I am thankful that

*Our bathroom project is finally done--pictures to come shortly

*Our stovetop works even if the oven doesn't

*My kids love playing with their Moulton cousins and we live close enough to play with them often

Two Birthdays

Last week Megan and I each celebrated our birthdays. Megan had four friends over for her party. After playing some indoor games we ate brownies (I'm always so happy when my kids pick something easy like brownies for their birthday treat) and then we headed outside to enjoy some water games. Doesn't she look like a glowing 6 year old?
Here are all the friends together in the pool. It was 80 degrees--perfect for some water fun outside.

A few days after Megan's birthday it was my birthday. We had a fun playdate with our Texas friends who now live nearby. Nathan ran around with their daughter at the park and it was so fun to see them copying each other.

I love fruit pizza. Last year I made it for my birthday and this year I made it again. It is just such a yummy treat in the summer. The flowers are from my visiting teacher (she brought me homemade oreos too). The little cupcake container is a garage sale find that I pull out on each of our birthdays.
My parents volunteered to tend our kids on my birthday so Scott and I could take a date. We walked on the trail along Lake Sammamish (something I have always wanted to do) and then ate dinner at Mongolian Grill. This is the view of the lake from the neighborhood we parked in while we walked on the trail. This photo was taken a lot higher up in the neighborhood than we parked, fortunately. That would have been a very long steep walk to the lake trail had we parked where the photo was taken.

Today I'm thankful that:

We had fun playing badminton as a family in the backyard last night

Scott has a week off of work

My birthday Lilys are opening up new blooms each day