This morning we woke up to a beautiful winter landscape. Our back yard is like a jungle... a snowy jungle!!! We have our work cut out for us this summer!

Dane and Bones are always giving us good photo ops. I couldn't resist sharing these.

Once again a bathtime photo. Clint says he is our little "orangutan baby"!

An update.

Happy Sunday everyone! I don't have any pictures right now, but I just thought I'd post a real quick update and then add pictures later when I have more time.

Clint and I are just working like crazy to get the old house ready for the renters. We decided since we have the time we would paint, scrub and seal the tile/grout in the bathroom, put some more gravel in the back, clean out the flower beds, etc. It's theirs as of April 1st, but they wont be arriving until the 7th or so. But, we want it all done this weekend so we can move on to other things. (It's not like we don't have any other projects in our life!!!)

Dane is doing really well and is getting settled in his new daycare and room. The ladies at daycare say that he is a real joy to have in the room and they really like him. (I'm sure they don't tell any parents, "your kid is a real brat and we don't want him in our room...") lol

Anyway, we are just getting going this morning and then we are headed out to work on all of our fun tasks! We are hoping next weekend we can use one day to head up to the front and do some horn hunting, or fishing, or something fun!

I'll try to post some pictures later. Take care everyone!

Sharing some pictures!

The last week has been pretty hectic, exciting, and productive. However, these projects and jobs always take ten times longer than you think they should! Yesterday, Clint decided to fix the washer hook-ups and the kitchen faucet. (all leaking) Needless to say, it didn't go easy. After 3 trips to Ace, a few naughty words, and a couple adult beverages, he got it done! I don't think he is going to try to be a plumber anytime soon!

These next pictures were from our last night in the old house. We didn't have a couch, TV, radio, magazine, nothing... Just a bed to sleep in and some other miscellaneous things. So, we sat around and looked at one another until bedtime. Luckily after moving all day we were pretty tired, so it wasn't a late night!

Bones really enjoyed the opportunity to relive his puppy days and crawl into our laps!

Dane and Grandpa taking a break from moving...

Dane and Dad having a good time.

With the tubes in Dane's ears we have to be so careful not to get water in them. He used to shower with me all the time, but now he takes more baths. The sink in our new house is much deeper, so we decided to utilize it the other day! As you can see, he had a good time.

The Director from the new daycare that Dane is attending wrote us a quick e-mail to let us know how Dane's first day was. She was super positive and sweet... She jokingly said that Dane is a "housewrecker". If it's on a shelf it has to come down! I don't really know what she is talking about!!! LOL

I was trying to bake some muffins yesterday, and Dane was playing in the kitchen with me. He grabbed the beater (without the beaters, after I was done) I wasn't too worried and just kept filling the muffin tin. I looked over, and here is what I saw...

I don't think we really give these guys enough credit. They are so smart! He drug the beater over to this phone jack and was trying to plug it in. He worked on it for a LONG TIME. Obviously it didn't work, but it just shows me how much he pays attention to what we do and wants to copy it!

I know that we have said it before... But we have a good pup. His patience is incredible and I think it is only going to get tested more as time goes on. Dane LOVES him and wants to be close. His new thing is crawling up and laying on Bones.

He loves his pup!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you...

Happy Birthday to Porter... Happy Birthday to you!!!

Today is Porter's first birthday! Dane (and the rest of us too!) send all of our love Porter's direction and want to wish him an incredible day!
Have fun, enjoy your birthday cake/cupcake/etc! We can't wait to see pictures!

We're back!

Not only are we moved into the new house, now we have Internet!

Our house is semi-organized chaos and we are loving it! Okay, not really... We can't shower cause the caulk in the bathtub is drying, we didn't have any curtains the first night, there are no doors in our house, and I flushed my sunglasses down the toilet!!! YAHOO! But, we got curtains in Dane and our bedroom, we got a stopper for the tub so we can take baths, Clint is painting Dane's door, and I figured out how to block the doorway so Dane will stay in the room with me for more than 5 seconds! (oh yeah and we got a snake for the toilet and unplugged it after my sunglasses incident!!!) Sounds like we are on the road to success!

Also, we got Dane in a new daycare. Not that the old one was bad... the people who watched Dane had great hearts! But, we had some concerns. Now we are in what we call "the Cadillac of daycare's"! It's SO NICE! The people are great and he seems to really like it. Of course we are so fortunate cause he is a pretty easygoing little guy!

Well, stay tuned for fun pictures and more updates! I just wanted to let everyone know that we are back in action!

Dane's video!

It's so cute how Dane mimicks a lot of the things we do these days... This was taken on his birthday and we were just messing around!

Dane's birthday celebration continues!!!

Dane got his birthay muffin yesterday... We decided to do a muffin instead of a cupcake... (he didn't know the difference) but we couldn't celebrate without the frosting, so we put some on the muffin and it was kind of a new fun experience for him! (we will post videos later!)

Here he is once he started eating it! At first he just played with the frosting.

Notice the piece flying through the air!
I don't think he could fit much more in his mouth!!!
Since I had to go to a work meeting, we didn't get a chance to open presents last night, so Dane got to open them tonight! He really did enjoy playing with all the wrapping, and then actually got to the goodies inside!

Here he is checking out his new rubber ducky! He can't wait for bathtime now! And look at all those new clothes! Thanks Nana and Grandpa!

Then he got to his gift from Sam, Shannon, Porter and the Bun!

There is so much excitement, where do I start?

He got some really cool blocks that he can stack and play with

What a great book with pop-up animals! Thanks Uncle Sam, Aunt Shannon, Porter, and Baby!

Thank you so much to everyone for all the calls, cards, and well wishes! Dane had a great 3 days, and we did too! We have such great family!

Moving...

First, some pictures of our move over the weekend. We did get a lot done and a bunch of the big stuff moved over. We feel like we are on schedule despite a little issue with the washer hookup in the house we are moving out of! Perry came over and helped out a ton, and Mom watched Dane so we got a lot done.

Here is the downstairs bedroom...

Here are the boys loading up the washer and drier in the SNOW! Aren't we lucky to get to move in snow!!!

Dane in his favorite position... Doesn't that look comfortable? and don't I look excited?

Here is a picture that I took yesterday on Dane's birthday. He was not feeling well (another cold) and was kind of cranky... So, I decided that it was time to pull out all the good comforting things in his life. So, he got his binky (which he really has only been using at night) and his lovey (thanks again Olivia for sharing such a great blanket!) It's amazing the difference the little things can make... Look how happy he is!
Feeling the love!!!

Yes, Dane turned one year old yesterday! He got to celebrate his birthday for 3 days! Wow, what a lucky kid. First, we got to celebrate with Grandma and Grandpa!

Here is Dane and his Dad opening his birthday card

Dane really enjoyed the pineapple upside down cake that Grandma made. Here he is eating a piece with a little ice cream. (his first taste of ice cream... yum!)

Here is Dane with his brand new dump truck... so much fun! Thank you so much Grandma and Grandpa!

We found Johnny Jump Up yesterday!

Yummy muffin recipe!!!

I tried this new recipe today... I figured that we are going to be moving so it will be hard to bake for the next couple of weeks. Clint says these are his new favorite! Of course I try to bake healthy, so they might not be up to par for everyone... and molasses is my new thing... so they are unique. But, in our mind unique is GOOD and we all really like them! (Dane too, however he LOVES these sweet potato muffins that I make. He ate one and half today before dinner. Needless to say, he didn't have much of an appetite at dinner! I will post that recipe later.)

Anyway, I thought I'd share the recipe. I got it from RecipeZaar and then made a few changes. They are so super moist.

Banana, Molasses, Oat muffins
1 cup flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup oats
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup ground flax
1/4 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup molasses
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana

1 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup low fat sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Set oven to 350 degrees F.
(The recipe said it would make 12 muffins, but when I made it I made 16.)

In a bowl sift together white and whole wheat flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, flax, and salt.
In another bowl beat the butter and molasses.
Add in eggs, beat until combined.
Add in bananas, sour cream and vanilla, carrot, and walnuts; beat until blended.
Add in the flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moistened.
Spoon the batter into prepared muffin tin.

I don't know how long I baked them. They are so moist that they took a while, maybe 25 minutes.

Cool for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

ENJOY!

Hope everyone's week was great!

Today is Friday woo hoo!!! Unfortunately, what that means is that we are about to start moving... not so exciting. But, it's just another one of those things that we have to get done and then hopefully things will settle down a little... (Yeah right!!!) I think our goal is to get a bunch of the "nonessential" stuff moved this weekend and then next week we will move our bed and the rest of the stuff. Dane is going to get to spend some good Grandma time, she is sweet enough to watch him for us since it will be pretty tough to have him underfoot. Then I think we are going to "celebrate" his birthday on Sunday since Monday Clint has to work during the day and then I have to work in the evening, so it will be hard to do it on Monday. Can you believe he is going to be a year old??? Wow, sometimes it seems like forever ago that I was waddling around wondering when I was going to have him... other times it seems like just yesterday!

The weather has been great, but just decided to turn. It's about 8 degrees this morning with some snow on the ground. Let's just hope it stays frozen for the move and doesn't thaw out halfway and get all muddy!

Not too much exciting picture wise, just a few of the little guy eating dinner last night. Salmon, veggies, and grapes! He is a good eater (never guess that from the pictures!!!) and he loved the salmon that Nana and grandpa brought! Dane also loves avocados and dried cranberries and could live off of them! But, we have to switch it up sometimes!

He wanted to hold the camera... bad idea!!!!

Ready to move in!!!

Woo hoo! We are ready to move in... There are a few touch-ups and a little more cleaning (a couple ceiling fans and cupboards to wipe down, but besides that we are ready to go next weekend!!!

I did take one "after" picture... but our batteries were dying in the camera and we didn't have any new ones. I will post more as soon as I get a chance.

The "before" picture!

This is our kitchen now! We are so pleased with how it turned out. You always are wondering how it will end up when you are working on it! We do have a couple light fixtures to replace as well, but that we can do after we are living there!

Another angle

After lunch Dane was so good... He just played in the living room by himself for over an hour. I had time to put a second coat of paint on all the cupboards! (he has another tooth coming in, hence the drool wetting his front!!!) Here he is raiding the diaper bag!
This house also has stairs! Oh the joy!!! Dane loves the stairs and goes up and then comes down... over and over again! He has learned how to do it pretty well, but coming down he sometimes gets all tangled and I have to help him! But, he sure enjoys it!

Brock came over and helped out for a little while. He was a great helper for Clint!Here we are after a long day! All tuckered out!
I'm sorry I haven't been great about updating lately, but we are going pretty hard. Between work, Dane, trying to get the one house set up to move out of, and all the work on the new house, there isn't a whole lot of extra time! But, things are going really well and Clint and I are having a really good time. Dane is so much fun as well. He is consistently saying mama and dada. Not with total intent, but he is really starting to get the idea. He also has started to assert his little will... and is quite stubborn! (I think he gets that from Grandpa Fred! lol)
Dane is probably not to far from walking. He started letting go of us and balancing for a moment before he realizes what he is doing and falls! No steps all by himself yet, but he walks around everything like crazy! I'm actually not in too much of a hurry. I chase him enough as it is, but right now I can beat him there... If he's running too I may not be so lucky!!!
Well, we are ready to hit another week! Tomorrow it is work for us and Dane goes to see the ladies at daycare. Clint is switching to days though, so that is super nice. We will get to eat dinner together and such!
We hope everyone has a great week!

Not done yet...

This morning I had a great post ready to go. It had pictures and fun comments! Then I pushed the wrong button and it all disappeared. I should have taken it as an omen when the photos didn't load the first time! (it didn't even save a copy like it usually does) Oh well, here I go again. Dane is taking a nap so I better type quick!
Besides running a few errands this weekend (grocery shopping, etc.) we spent the whole weekend at the new house. It is really coming along, however it's never as quick as we want!

We figure it is going to take one more weekend and then it will be ready for all of our stuff! We may be able to start moving a few things next weekend, but the majority will be going in a couple weeks. By now it seems like we should be really good at moving... We do it enough!

We took a few pictures to share, so here they are!

We are still working on the blasted bathroom! However, all the wallpaper is gone! (I know I said that last week, but it is still exciting to me... please don't remind me about the other bathroom I must do at a later date...)

So, here is Clint working in the bathroom. He spackled and then put on some texture. He did a really nice job and it actually turned out great! I will post before and after pictures after next weekend when we have the house semi-finished!

Here is Dane in his "baby jail". We couldn't let him roam and get into the kitchen and bathrooms where we were working cause they are a mess with a million baby hazards. He didn't understand this (obviously) and wanted to see us and be part of the action. He would play for a little while and then would decide he wanted out NOW! Then we would put him in the pack, and he spent a fair amount of time in there.

Clint getting ready to texture... I love the mask!

Here are Dane and I taping in preparation for painting the kitchen... He would get a little antsy in the pack cause we weren't moving around enough... However then he would settle down and babble at us or sleep... You do have to be careful because he is watching and waiting for an opportunity and what ever you get close to he will grab!!! (light fixture by our head... he grabbed that like 20 times!)

Not only do you have to watch our for him grabbing things... you also have to remember that he is back there so you give yourself more space to walk through doors, turn around, back up, etc... As you can see, Daddy got a little too close to a freshly painted wall!!! I do have to say "thank-you" to my awesome sis once again for that pack. It has been worth it's weight in gold.

On Saturday, Clint and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary!! Woo hoo! I use the word "celebrated" loosely cause we worked on the house all day! But we enjoy having projects and we work well together. (except when he doesn't listen to me... lol) There is something so rewarding about working on a house like this and seeing the positive progress. We did go through the Hardee's drive through for dinner though, so I can't say that I had to cook!

Speaking of dinner, one last story before I sign off... So yesterday we worked at the house ALL DAY LONG! We didn't really stop for lunch, we just grabbed a snack and kept on rolling. Well, I had put some of my favorite stew in the crock pot before we left, so I knew that we would have a nice hot meal when we got home... Yummy! Well, we walk through the door, and Clint starts getting out some other fixings to go with the stew while I take care of Dane. All the sudden I realize that the house does not smell all yummy and delicious... Hmmm. I say to Clint "holy crap I'm having a moment..." and I walk over and look into the crock pot to see all of my delicious stew fixings just as I left them. RAW. See I had wanted to make Dane some toast in the morning and I had to unplug the crock pot. Guess I didn't remember to plug it back in. Good thing we had some leftover homemade chili in the fridge!

This morning when I asked Clint what he wanted for dinner tonight, he said "preferably something cooked!" Ha ha!

We are ready for carpet!

Well, despite a 24 hour flu that has caught every one of us (except Dane... so far) We are ready for carpet. Most of the paint is up, except for some touch ups and some trim. The one bathroom is wallpaper free. Holy crap I hate wallpaper! There is some new sub-floor in the bathroom and the toilets and washer and drier have been moved out! It was a whirlwind 5 days of work and it's amazing how much we got done. But, I think you always expect to get more done!!! Isn't that the way.
We can't thank Clint's parents enough. They have been instrumental in getting this much done. My mom and Perry were also phenomenal... Helping out with Dane and bringing us juice and sprite when we are all sick... :( Everyone was really great!

Here are some pictures of all of our work!!

Everyone getting ready to start! This was our test wall for our first color we chose. Then we actually decided to lighten it up a little. So the walls are a caramel or ivory and the trim is all ivory. We think it turned out really sharp.

As I said we have some work to do around the corners and ceiling, but here it is waiting for carpet. The pictures make it look a little orange, but it actually is a really nice caramel color.

Here is Bill and Clint removing our 1970's (ish) vintage washer and drier. They weighed about a ton and a half I think... Good thing these boys are tough!

Here are Sheri and I at the beginning of our wallpaper removing party! Look how energetic and enthusiastic I am...

Do you see how much fun I'm having now? There was like 3 layers of paper (vinyl paper). In places they had painted over it, and in others they had patched holes with plaster right over the top as well. Needless to say it was a NIGHTMARE! But, we all took a turn and my awesome hubby got up really early one morning and went over and finished it up! He rocks!

Tomorrow Clint and I return to work and Bill and Sheri are headed back to Oregon. It has been a great weekend and hopefully everyone will be feeling 100 % soon... This week will be another busy one, I'm sure it will fly by. Take care everyone and stay posted for the pictures of our new casa with carpet and vinyl! woo hoo!