Toot your horn

Laney hates it when I call her clarinet a "horn", but for me, if you blow air into it and it makes a noise, calling it a horn works for me.  Yesterday, we found a saxophone for Faith to start band with this year.  Too excited to wait for lessons on Monday, we had to get it out and see how it sounded.  She actually does really well at it & not to feel left out, Laney decided to get her clarinet out (for the first time this summer!) and play along as well.  It's so fun to see them excited about instruments, but I'm also glad that the basement is nearly done and they can play downstairs in their rooms where the walls and ceiling are soundproofed!  A great investment indeed!

What does one do...?

What does one do in a space when new carpet is installed 

and no furniture is around?

Noah looked at the fresh vacuum marks and said, 

"Look Mom!  Shark teeth!"

It's not all work, no play!

After all the work this week, we were able to treat the kids with a trip to a Twins game.  We actually had it planned a while ago, when the Minneota KC's sponsored a trip for the Mass servers.  We knew we were going to be in our new place when they went, but also knew that the trip would be much easier for us now that we are only an hour from the Twin Cities.  AJ & Laney's tickets were covered and so we decided to bring the whole family & also met up with Jason's brother, John, at the game.  It was set to be a hot and humid day, but we were happy that our seats were in the shade & close to the top so we could feel the breeze.  I didn't get a picture of AJ, because he was sitting further down with his friends, but I did get a good one of Fr. Craig & the giant hot dog he got.  Noah was amazed...he loves hot dogs and had never seen a footlong hot dog before & thought it was neat that Father "found" a hot dog that big.

Jason was also in his first local parade for Lonsdale's Community Days.  He got to ride in the back of the truck with the also-new Assistant Principal.  They didn't have their "royalty waves" down, but they were both at least facing the right direction when I wanted to take a picture.

Just when I think I won't get any new opportunities to catch Noah sleeping in strange places or positions, he goes and surprises me.  Faith actually tucked him into this little spot after she wore him out playing together.

Week 4 - We've been busy!

Our renovation is really starting to get close to completion!  This week, we painted and the trim & doors were put up, along with most of the remaining electrical getting done.  It sure looks amazing as it comes together & we are so excited that we are close to being ready to move the rest of our stuff in!

 Let there be light!  It's not really easy to paint without light, especially when trying to carefully paint the top or at corners where 2 different colors meet.  I really hate that job, but really like how it looks when it's done.  Thankfully we had a lot of daylight from the windows.

 This view is from in the boys' room looking out.  The set on the left are closet doors.

 Not as easy to see, but the window frames are in & the recessed lighting.

 The kids are excited for their new bathroom.  They said they get the "nice" bathroom.  I think it's because they like the shower.  It reminds them of our last home.

 Laundry, closet, bathroom & storage area doors.  Our contractor saved us a bunch of money since he was able to give us a bunch of trim & doors he salvaged from another renovation.  We are more than happy with the results and even more excited with the cost!  (I must say though, doorknobs are not cheap when you need to buy 10 of them, and I can't say I've ever had to buy that many!)  For the most part, we are right on our budget, even after a few additions, but we saved money in other places.

(Much needed) Vacation

Last week, we spent time at a lake cabin with Jason's parents, his siblings and their families.  There were about 30 of us there for about 5 days of sun, fun, family & food.  It was a much needed break from the construction for us and time for the kids to spend with their cousins, swimming, fishing & tubing.  The weather couldn't have been better and even with all of the sun, we managed to prevent nasty sunburns.  The week went by way too fast, but we have memories to treasure as these kiddos grow & now the oldest cousin, Brooke, heads off to college in a couple weeks.  We had to pull a few of them out of the lake to get a picture.

Here is a much overdue updated family picture.  I am 7 months pregnant, mind you, and yes, 2 of our kids are now officially as tall or taller than me as this picture points out!

 

 We surprised Jason on his 42nd birthday with an ice cream cake.  It was also our last day, so we were busy packing up and then had yummy cake just before leaving.

Ready to paint!

It is the end of Week 3 and we are ready to start painting!

Weeks 2-3

We are over halfway to having our basement project finished!  We went on a little vacation last week, and while we were gone, this happened...

WALLS!!