Up not Down: Day 8

And so it begins, the wall are going up instead of coming down which is really exciting to see as things start to come together. Enjoy:

The kitchen & dining room-see the boarded up window & door

Wall of kitchen cabinets, sm bathroom behind

Just a different view of kitchen

Who said it was just for hauling kids around?

What the picture doesn't show you is the 4 doors and other lumbar that's stacked in the back.

The guy at Lowe's said it hauled more than his truck.

John Couldn't be more proud!

Princess Party

We had a belated Princess Birthday Party for McKenna. I had big plans for a big party, but I think the plans got bigger than me and I kind of let them go (Blaming the pregnancy and my lack of energy these days-lame I know). ...so Shelly saved the day when her and Maddie surprised McKenna with gifts for the makings of a fabulous party. McKenna was so excited-there were Princess party hats, cups & Plates, Princess wands, Princess ring suckers, pads of paper & cute lil rulers and of course cake. Not just any cake but Pumpkin Spice individual cakes with chocolate chips and Sprinkles, which were a big hit!


While the cakes were cooking and cooling the girls all went down and played on the trampoline and then raced around on the sport court on the bikes. I tell you what Keira may be small but holy cow she's quick and precise on the lil racer bikes. It was a good time had by all. Thanks Shelly and Grandma for throwing a party today, we all had a good time!

enjoying what was left of the shade

a hitch-hiker

Remodeling-Day 7

I talked with John last night and it was fun to hear the excitement in his voice about all the changes and progress that have been made. There have been a lot of good friends who have showed up to help him which has made it possible for things to be going so smoothly. They started framing the kitchen and the closets, removed windows and doors and cut and framed the new kitchen door in.

Scary wiring that was found...and will be replaced.

The sliding glass door and window to the left will be/have been removed.

place for a new kitchen door-burning the midnight oil

Where the old purple bathroom used to be-new kitchen wall

Pete riding his horse into the sunset

Labor Day

Hope everyone had a great Labor day! We had the Harris' Klan over for burgers and fun in the yard. We were a little nervous with the weather report that we'd be playing indoors but the sun came out right before the party began it was perfect! Had a great time, although didn't get to really chat with too many people, not nearly as many as I'd have liked but you know how it is with kids running around; feeding them, changing them and keeping an eye on them. It was good to see everyone's faces and their kids. Can't believe how much everyone changes and grows up so quickly.

I've mentioned a time or two the sleeping arrangements my girls go through with their beds. Well last night McKenna wanted to sleep in the crib and so I tried putting Tyler in the Toddler bed. It was a no-go with Tyler, she does really well at home and stays in bed but here...the only way to get McKenna out of the crib at that point was to allow her to fall asleep in my bed (we're all in the same room which has worked so far). Today at nap time Tyler asked to sleep on my bed and I let her lay on it for a few minutes but then put her in the crib and that was that. Tonight was a different story: Tyler wanted NOTHING to do with the crib. She cried and begged to sleep in my bed. I was so confused since she has NEVER slept with me, John or McKenna, always in a bed of her own. She tosses and turns all over the place and the the few times I have tried to get her to fall back to sleep with me she thinks it's a game and pokes at my eyes and giggles. Anyway this evening I've never seen her so adamant and mad. She's been getting a little more defiant and independent these days, but this was outrageous. She screamed, begged, pointed, cried trying to climb out of the crib, I couldn't believe she remembered McKenna slept there and what a fit she had. I did check in on her a few times and found she'd pooped. Twice in 10 minutes? Surprisingly McKenna was a champ and fell right asleep, sleeping through it all. She finally fell asleep after 30 minutes of all this...we'll have to see how things go tomorrow but I know I've learned a lesson through all this.

Here are a few fun pictures from the trip:

Peek-a-boo! The bride & the bridesmaid?

We Brought a lil Washington Weather with us!

Love the Rain & more so the puddles!

Progress

Power and order has been restored to the demolition sight so I got a fresh new batch of pictures tonight. For those who know what the house looked like before maybe these will blow your mind like it continues to do to mine.

The foreman

my pretty purple bathroom meets the kitchen

That's where the chimney used to be...that's what they found in it's place

Chimney patch job, not bad!

heard the house was a lil drafty, now I know why

I am happy to report that the boys did take the day off. It was a little torturous with all the things John wants to get done, instead he tended to the sick and afflicted...his poor Dad and his ailing back. The report being after John was done with him he was feeling 25 years old again.

Demolition & Dinosaurs

Talking to John it sounds like the boys are having a great time, nothing but destruction and fast food. What more could a guy ask for? There are a couple of kids from the ward who come and help each day just because he's "learning a lot and likes doing it." I was very impressed and have to say my opinion of teenage boys went up. The main floor is now down to the wood, with the exception of the island holding the kitchen sink. I've heard about some of the things they have been finding in the walls and ceiling and am relieved to find that rats wasn't listed. They found an old Nalley's Chili bottle, which solidified John's belief that this house was destined for him. Pry the most interesting thing they found in the ceiling was an old English Text book from 1928. Craziness!

Living Room by Entry

Wallpaper under the nice paint job in the spare bedroom.

Spare bedroom-stairwell leading into the "scary basement"
John bought the appliances yesterday and found a great deal on a granite countertop. :) Today they started tearing down the chimney which is a lil nerve racking to me. We'll just hope it doesn't rain until they get the roof all patched up. Overall John was very pleased with the progress and how well things were "working out." He mentioned a few coincidence's that kind of struck him as very convenient. The biggest being that the places where the support walls are going to be just happen to have support beams in the right places in the basement. The 2nd is quite funny to me, but we have a couch John was planning on putting on the curb to give away. (It's actually one he took from someone who was throwing it away a few years ago.) Anyway he brought a saw in and set it next to the couch and what do you know, he found it to be the exact height level making it a great support and buying that ugly old couch a little more time before it's tossed out. For more than one reason I do believe someone is watching out for him.

As for the girls and I we are having a great time. The girls for the most part are getting along really quite well. This evening Maddie and McKenna played very cooperatively and nonviolently for a good 20 minutes I was both impressed and very proud. McKenna spent most of that time as Maddie's pet dog, or as Maddie's patient, but hey it works!

Earlier Today we ventured up to Ogden with Gregg, Shelly and their girls to the Dinosaur park. If it hadn't been for Susan's postings about her little boy and his love of dinosaurs I wouldn't have even remembered there were 3 different periods, not to mention ALL the Different Dinosaurs. There are a lot of different dinosaurs that look just like the Tyrannosaurus Rex and the Brontosaurus that are very different and found in different places in the world. As you can tell I learned a lot and wished I could've spent the time reading about them all but I was mostly chasing after kids. I was really excited to see the Dinosaur Bones, something nostalgic about Dinosaur Museums, although I remembered the skeletons being a lot taller. (I know I was a lot smaller back then) We walked in and McKenna looked up and immediately declared it "too scary". Tyler required me to carry her through the museum...not an easy task while pushing a 4 yr old in a stroller, but as soon as we got outside she was off and running. Towards the dinosaurs growling, roaring and holding her hands out in front of her in the Offensive position. She'd do it every time she saw a dinosaur I'd start laughing. I think the highlight was the park they had with Dinosaur slides and small statues to climb onto. For my girls they still ran to the swings and spent a good 5 minutes on those, always a favorite anytime, anywhere. Thanks for inviting us to go along Shelly and great idea Gregg!

This might be the last update with demo pictures for a while since I was told they cut wires that carried power to most of the house. Pictures on the rest will come...just need to figure out how to Download them.

Payne D-Day 8.27.08-House Renovations

I forgot I hadn't really mentioned the house projects we have going on and so in response to the many inquiries(Is that even the right word or spelling?)...It seems everytime I get pregnant reality sets in and we realize what we've been living in and my husband gets busy with house projects. My house really isn't that bad but with the idea of adding another child the space in our house is getting smaller and smaller. Or maybe that is because my other 2 are getting bigger and so are their toys. Regardless house projects become bigger as we try to provide a better way of living for each kid.

After we finished our front porch John decided to tackle the residing of our home. He's got about 1/2 of it done and it's looking really nice. It wasn't his choice of the type of siding but I think it looks pretty good, now all we need to do is pick a color for the house. When we first moved into the house 4-1/2 years ago we had grand plans of remodeling and getting things done in a year or two. Well one of the last things on our list is our main floor. Kitchen, main room, guest bedroom it all needs to be done. This last week when my Parents came out my Mom stayed with me a few extra days as we tried to quickly pack up my kitchen, all the toys and everything on the main floor so that demolition can begin. Once the furniture disappeared the kids were thrilled with the wide open space and had a ball with the scooter and running around. The TV on the floor was also a big hit. We got the almost the last of it boxed yesterday afternoon and then my Mom, the kids and I headed off to the airport to escape the impending disaster.

According to McKenna we didn't get to the airport fast enough, all day she would ask if it was time to go to the airport, she even asked to take her nap early in hopes of making the day go by faster. When the plane took off and up in the air she cheered at the top of her lungs with a lot of "woo-hoo's" for about 2-3 minutes. It was hilarious!

Here I am in Kaysville Utah for the next 2-4 weeks. The girls have gotten along with their cousins beautifully, although they are ages 3-4 so there are a few squabbles but today was a fun day full of lots of love. As soon as everyone woke up there were hugs for everyone. I talked to John today and heard a few of the teenage boys from the Young Men's were over for demolition. There was one injury when one of the boys jumped to kick a door in, he hit his head on the low ceiling...go figure. John's Dad is flying in late this evening to spend a week with John trying to get things done. Here's a few pictures from Today.
I do have the task of designing or figureing out where my drawers and stuff go on my island so if anyone has any suggestions, pictures, websites please let me know!

Birthday Cake

It's a few days late, but it's really never too late for ice cream and cake. Tonight we broke out McKenna's birthday cake. Thanks Lori for loaning me the pan and giving me the idea for our giant cupcake ice cream cake. I think I assembled it too soon as the cake was a lil frozen and hard to cut through, but it was still yummy, especially on this hot evening.

We always take advantage of visitors :) and with the boys in town James and my Dad helped us move our furniture out to prepare for demolition next week. My Dad also helped put up siding on Thursday...so things are moving right along.

Happy Birthday McKenna

Most parents says it every year and like them I can't believe 4 years has gone by. Even the last year has seem to fly by in a whirlwind...well most days anyway. :) Thursday, August 24th was McKenna's 4th birthday and what a fun day it was! Looking at her pictures as a baby I can't believe how much she has grown and how far she has come. Her vocabulary continues to grow, her understanding and ability to understand things such as rules and concepts has gotten better over the summer. She's even eating peaches, something different from her usual foods. She's really a sweet girl and such a good sister and mother to Tyler. She's very excited about her new baby boy that is growing in Mommy's tummy, and continues to point to her own tummy when she is playing the "Mommy" Role. McKenna is a sweet girl who knows what she wants, when she wants it and isn't going to settle for anything less, something we think will serve her well as she gets older.

I tried to start out with a birthday song that morning, but was quickly hushed by McKenna with a "no singing," despite her excitement the day before of her upcoming special day. I think it may have something to do with my singing voice or maybe she doesn't know how to "deal" with directed attention. We continued on with our usual morning routine but you could see she was excited and she understood this year what a birthday was, something to do with presents, cake and ice cream. :) The day was a lot of fun for her as her Grandma & Grandpa Harris surprised her that morning bringing with them balloons. As the day continued she randomly got a present here and there and special "birthday" girl privileges.

Birthday outfit

We decided to give her 'big' present to her at lunch as she had been asking for it all week-a Princess Scooter. The look on her face was priceless! She knew it was coming but to actually get it...her reaction is why as parents we spend the $$ for the gifts. Good girl!

That evening we had a very small but exciting evening at Chuck-E-Cheese, which I have decided is just a Casino for kids, so many lights and loud noises. Tyler even had a ball going down the slide too many times to count and remember. After playing games for a while we had pizza and then opened gifts. Her face lit up when she opened gifts that contained a pair of red shoes in one and a dress in another. Her grandmother's have her pegged. She was insistent that she put those on right away and wore them over her clothes for the remainder of the evening. (I'll post pictures later after I get them from my Mom).

I'm pretty sure the day was a happy one for Mckenna, that night as I checked on her after she'd fallen asleep, she looked up at me with sleep still in her eyes and asked "where's the mouse?" and something a bout cheese and then declared she wasn't scared.

We Love you McKenna and we're so happy to have you in our Family!