My New Paradise!

    Well here's my second post in one week but I just couldn't wait to share in my excitement.  The carpet layers were here a little after 9 a.m. and were done before 2 p.m. which I thought was quite fast.  Having it done that early gave us plenty of time to put everything back in it's place, or a different place depending on how we were feeling.  So now on to a few before and after photos.  And in case you can't totally tell what color the carpet is, it's a flecked grey and I LOVE IT!!

Here's the storage room literally stuffed full of all the furniture from the basement.

It's like an episode of hoarders or something.

And here's the empty basement.

One of the bedrooms.  Isaac and Carter's to be specific.

And the other room, Mark's.

And now looking from the little hall way.

What do you think, maybe I should have gone with pink carpet.  Thankfully this is just the pad.

TA DA!  The stairs have never looked better.

Looking down from the stairs.  The carpet goes so perfectly with the grey tile and black mantle.

Yes!  Finally the same color carpet clear through to the bedrooms.

Mark and McClane enjoying the empty basement.

Mark's room with carpet.

Carter and Isaac's room with carpet.

Now looking down fromt he top of the stairs.

The first thing you see when you walk down the stairs with the furniture in place.

The furniture and desk all put back but not in the exact same spots.

Some day I'll have the furniture I really want but for now this will have to do.  I'm just going to enjoy this carpet for now!!

She Did IT AGAIN!!

  I decided to post a day earlier then I normally do for a couple reasons which I'll share in a minute but first let me tell you that our Kayli has done it again, she got straight A's for the second term and is on her way to having her own cell phone.  I'm so happy she's finally taking this motivation and running with it.

   And in case you missed it on facebook here's a current photo of our little climber/trouble maker, McClane.  (And our nearly naked 4 year old, Brock, too, who can also be classified as a trouble maker.)

   And now the reason I'm posting a day earlier then my normal schedule, well it's because my computer is scheduled to be down for the majority of tomorrow.  And why, you might ask, is my computer going to be down for all of tomorrow?!  Because I'm getting NEW CARPET in my basement!  Can you read my EXCITEMENT?!!!  After nearly 7 painful years with the horrific burgundy carpet it's finally gone and new carpet is on the way.  For the majority of the week Greg's been home ripping out the old carpet and doing a few chores in preparation for the new carpet.  He took the whole week off (which I LOVE) and he's painted the ceiling, fixed a few holes and gouges in the wall and chair rail, painted the sides of the stairs and generally just been my cute handy man all week.  Today was suppose to be the big day for the carpet but there was a small delay with the delivery truck so it's officially tomorrow and you know I'll have before and after photos for you just as soon as my computer is back up and running.  You may already see in the photo with McClane on the basketball the one bedroom with just the concrete floor.  And the concrete floor is why there's a basketball in the basement, it's been the new "playground" for basketball dribbling and ultimate ping pong.  I can't wait to have everything back to normal and new carpet to vacuum!!  (You might think I'm kidding about the vacuuming but I'm actually quite serious, I'm a little twisted.)
  Stay tuned because I just might blog again before next Saturday in all my excitement!!

He's Four!

   Brock had his fourth birthday earlier this week.  He still wasn't sure what that meant.  I think he was hoping for a more Christmas morning effect.  He did get to go to a movie with a few of his brothers.  We saw "The Adventures of Tin Tin" which wasn't quite Brock's kind of movie but he mostly stayed in his seat or near it.  Brock did get his traditional balloons and they were orange, his favorite color.  And of course we had cake and ice cream after dinner and Grandma, Grandpa and Auntie Kristin came up to celebrate with him.  Here are a few pictures of the event.

Nothing like a Texas donut to start the birthday off right.

Birthday cards and money from both Grandparents.  Cha Ching goes Brock's savings account!  Thank you grandma's and grandpas!

And no birthday is complete without a gift under a blanket.

Brock's first bike WITH pedals and a brake.  We're hoping those training wheels won't be necessary for long.

And here's his simple birthday cake.  He just wanted to blow out the candles and after one bad attempt we had success.  And don't mind the evil baby in the background with a firm grip on brothers new bike.

  And just for fun let me add this photo of one cute squishy baby face.

Here's chubalicious Shae (our cute little niece)!

 And here's another cute baby face who's more bowl then face in this photo.

He's determined to get every last drop of ice cream.

And here's two cute Kmetzsch boys to finish up this post.

  I'm hoping to have some very exciting stuff to share next weekend so stay tuned.  Until then have a great week.

Just a Couple of Things

    I'll start with our newest basketball wonder, Isaac!  He had his first game last Saturday at 8 a.m. and it was his first time playing on a basketball team and it was also his first time playing with this team.  We hadn't gotten the notice about any pratices up until then and so he hadn't met his coach or his fellow players and apparently he didn't need to, the kid is a natural!  He made the first three baskets of the game and several after that.  He pretty much made every shot he attempted.  Now he may not dribble all the time but he moves a ton and thankfully when you're only in third grade you don't get called for traveling or most other things and they only play 4 against 4.  He played again on Tuesday night and was just as successful at shooting.  Now with a little practice he just may be one of the star players.

This is a shot of him before the game sharing his basketball with a fellow player.  (He's a nice boy too!)

   And not to just single out one but let me add another child to our "Amazing" list.  Kayli is a CHAMPION!  That's right, she won the Iron Chef competition at her middle school with her 3 other teammates.  I don't know all of what they cooked up but I do know Kayli's contribution was home made ice cream and thankfully it all came together despite last minute notice on her part.  Let's just say the night before the competition her dad was a little frustrated with her.  Here she is wearing her award apron.

  

And last and least really, I found the cutest chair while checking out a new little boutique in American Fork.  It's a perfect addition to my basement and some day it will have a spot of it's own.  For now I'm using it as a desk chair until this basement can be worked on a little more.  Greg is actually working on shelves in the storage room and if HIS plan works my work out equipment can go in there making the basement a little more 'homey'.  And if MY plan works I'll be getting new carpet in the very near future, if I can decide on the right color.  Yellow and white walls with black and white accent colors...  any suggestions on a carpet color that is both a good match and would be forgiving with six busy kids?  Feel free to make any comments on this before I choose all on my own and make a choice I might regret.
   Here's the chair I bought just so you can get an idea of what my taste is.

Happy 2012!

    Well it's here, 2012 and we've survived the first several days of it.  I'm sad to say I didn't take many photos, in fact I only have one on my phone that I took on New Years day but Brock took about 25 with my phone the other day and I saved a few for your viewing pleasure.  He's quite the Photog.  I erased the blurry ones but here are a few of my favorites....

McClane hanging out behind bars to keep him safely away from the working treadmill.

Sad, locked away 'Twain'.

A self taken photo of our sneaky little 3 year old Photog.

A shot of the paraphernalia allowed in their 'prison'.

A close up of Brock.

And a super close up of Brock's mouth.

And another shot of sweet baby 'Twain'.

  So here are the two photos of our New Years activities.  Unfortunately I didn't take any photos New Years Eve with our friends over to celebrate with us.  I was too busy playing several games of "Pit/Spoons" and enjoying visiting with our great friends and neighbors.  Really it was just a great excuse to make several treats I've had a hankering for, namely my Grandma's Jello Cheesecake and slush in addition to several other tasty concotions shared by the neighbors and us.  The kids had fun but were a little disgusted with the early and short firework display our neighbor had and they were also a little bummed when the neighbors left a little before midnight but the kids still managed to make a ruckus all on their own as the clock struck midnight and I had my house clean and in order shortly thereafter so the new year could start out right.

   We also had a fun get together with some of Greg's relatives New Years Day/Night that was also fun and I'm proud to say I was on the winning team of our riotous game of Family Fued thanks to Craig and Torie Samuelson (Greg's cousins) who brought the game and ran the "show".  Team 2 ROCKS!!  Here are my two photos of our New Years.

The boys were thrilled to end the year 2011 with these Texas bad boys!



And here's the only photo I got of our New Years Day/Night celebration.  I was trying to get a shot of  McClane chasing the dog.

Hope you all have had a great New Year so far and here's to praying this entire year is one of joy, laughter and a million bucks!!  (One can always DREAM!)