Our Favorite Holiday

Rob and I both love Halloween so much.  I just love to see the boys dressed up in their costumes- it is the cutest thing ever.  Rob is on trick-or-treating duty which he thinks is great.  He always comes back and tells me what a great time they all had.  I am pretty sure it is Rex's favorite holiday too.  He loves to ring doorbells and he gets candy for doing it instead of getting in trouble like he usually does.  Two words-  Awe.  Some.





Wyatt ended up in the stroller after two houses but he had a good time too.  I stayed home and made a jack-o-lantern pizza and handed out candy.  Rob said Rex opened a few people's door when they took too long to answer after he rang the doorbell.  Oh dear.  We will have to work on our Halloween etiquette for next year I suppose.  Last year, he went into people's houses, this year he opened their doors so maybe next year he will get it finally.  We had two little boys (I would guess they were about 2 years old) that were twins come to our door dressed as Mario and Luigi and they get my vote for best costume- they were adorable.  Besides my two boys of course.

The Pumpkin Patch

Our trip to the pumpkin patch falls into the "Better Late Than Never" category. I've been trying to go for the last three weekends with our whole family and it just never has worked out. Today is a beautiful day and I decided to just take the boys by myself. I loaded them up and took them to the farm of one of my favorites from our local farmers' market which turned out to be a great choice. For one thing, the lady could be mother-in-law's twin and I always get a kick out of seeing her. Anyhow, the boys had so much fun on their trip out to the farm to get pumpkins.









So they had a good time with the pumpkins, but they actually spent a majority of the time playing with the rocks in the driveway and with the cat (you can't see the cat in the second picture but it is in the tarp).





It turned out to be a lot of work, taking the two of them there by myself so we didn't stay all that long. It was just off a busy road and every time Wyatt heard or saw a big truck go by, he would take off towards the road so he could see it. Umm, I don't think so Wyatt. We got a nice big pumpkin, perfect for carving, as well as some smaller pumpkins and gourds and even some pumpkin butter (soooo yummy). Trips out to the country always make me want to live there and this time was even worse with the boys running around and loving it. We will stay put for now but I am sure it will always be something we are thinking about.

Cheating and Stealing

Our theme this past weekend seemed to be cheating and stealing. Not that we were actually doing that, it just felt like we were. We decided to get up early and go to Des Moines Saturday morning so that we could go out to breakfast, go to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore and Sears. Breakfast was great put the next two stops were awesome. The ReStore had an ad on craigslist for some carpet tile that we were interested in for the family room. I called and it turned out that they had a lot more carpet tile than just what was shown in the ad. When we got there, we discovered they had HUGE piles of new carpet tile for 37 cents/sq ft. SCORE. But there were two small problems- they were all different colors and styles (a few multiples of some but lots of singles) and they were commercial style, not residential (hard and dense versus soft and plush). We figured we could get enough tiles in similar colors to do the room so problem one was solved- hopefully it will look something like this.



Then Rob pointed out that Hot Wheels go a lot better on this type of carpet then something thicker so it made me feel better about that. We bought enough tiles to do the room plus about 10 extras for when some need replacing in the future- and with my two boys, that is a when and not an if. So it ended up only costing us a little over 100 bucks to carpet the room, plus spares. Feels like stealing but it is not. In fact, we are helping Habitat for Humanity so that makes even more awesome. I also picked up some banquet table legs (for only $7!) that I have been looking all over for to make this large piece of wood we have (I think it's an old door) into an extra table. I think I was more excited about that than the carpet tiles! Anyhow, then it was on to Sears. My dad bought Rob a cordless circular saw for his birthday that was really nice, but we ended up exchanging it for this air compressor/nail gun combo. Rob got the baseboard and some door trim up this weekend and he said it was so easy, it felt like he was cheating thanks to the nail gun.



Rob also finally busted out my birthday gift to him, a compound miter saw, to do the baseboard and build a step going from the house out into the family room.





I help a little, but mostly I just try to keep an eye on the boys. They need it. Here's what they do when you turn your back for a second.





Actually, I helped Rex into the monkey costume. It is from last year and we were checking to make sure it still fit. It does- yay! And then I was making a cake with Rex and watching Wyatt as he climbed onto the table. I don't think Rex ever tried that. Rex does some crazy things but I think Wyatt is even more of a daredevil. Oh dear. In related news, I colored my hair this week to cover up all the gray. Not that I have that much, but it certainly does seem to be coming in more and more over the past 3 years. Thanks boys.

Artistically Challenged

I am terrible at drawing and it seems Rex has inherited this from me. He likes to draw circles, jump ropes, snakes and even a plug and cord (this is what he says his drawings are- too funny!). What he lacks in drawing abilities, he certainly makes up for with his creativity and imagination. Here he is with a little of his artwork.



While I can't draw, I do okay with some creative pursuits. I like crafts and scrapbooking and things usually turn out pretty good. Lately I have been trying to make a few wreaths after picking up the BH&G Holiday Crafts magazine. I made a Halloween wreath partially inspired by that magazine and this wreath.



For my first attempt at a wreath, I am very happy with it. I thought it would be easy to find a spider at the store but couldn't find one in the right size so ended up making my own. He had a tragic accident and lost half his legs but he has a nice home on our wreath on our front door now. Maybe there is hope for Rex after all!

What Haven't We Been Up To?!

It has been crazy around here for most of September and the first few days of October too. So last time I blogged Rob's parents had just been here and now my parents just visited us too. Here are Nana and Papa with the boys.





They spent 2 weeks in the midwest- some of it here with us and some of it sightseeing through Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. I feel like I can never say enough about how much we enjoy having our family visit- it is just the best times. Unfortunately I was sick for the first part of their visit but we did manage to have a yard sale during that time. (Oh yes, at least one of us was sick for about half the month of September. Ugh.) When they got back from their road trip though everyone was feeling good and we had a lot more fun then playing cards, going out and having fun with the boys. I also got my dad to help me on a little painting project Rob has been resistant to. I asked if I could take over the fourth bedroom for an office and if I could design it however I wanted. Rob agreed but he wasn't really into my idea of painting stripes on the wall. I was determined to do it though and finally got it done. Here it is.



I think the stripes came out really nice. Now I just have to get everything else in order in the room. We are still trying to finish up the family room project so most of our time is spent there. Rob had his own little painting project going on while I was busy striping the office.



The fireplace bump-out still needs to be painted and there is a good chance it will be the same color as the stripes in the office (the wall color in the two rooms are the same- Churchill Hotel Vanilla). Rob also hung the ceiling fan in the room. He is working on the threshold for the new exterior door right now and trying to get that door all sealed up just in case it ever decides to get cold around here (it has been in the 80's for several days- crazy!). I am sure it will be plenty cold so I am just enjoying the warm weather for as long as we can get it.

The boys are doing what they do best- being crazy and getting into things. Here are some of their greatest hits over the last few weeks.







Yeah, so they're doing just fine. Rex also started a soccer class a few weeks ago. The parents have to stay the whole time and work with them. It has been fun but Rex would rather just run around than try to learn anything. Rex is best at running and throwing the ball inbounds (the kid can throw a ball like nobody's business- I really should have gotten him into some toddler quarterback class). He also likes kicking the ball at the "goal".





I am setting a new goal to blog once a week, probably on the weekends, so that I can have a deadline to work at. I don't mean to neglect this but I just get so busy sometimes. Thanks to those of you for sticking with me and who keep reading!

Progress

Our family room project has been cruising right along and lots of work has been taking place. In my previous post, I had pictures of the spray foam insulation process and how it turned out. Once that was done, we were able to get the drywall (or drivewall as Rex calls it) hung.



Here's Rob working on it late last night to get ready for the guys to start the taping/mudding/finishing process today.



We had a crew of 4 guys over for a couple hours today doing some taping and mudding in the room. Rob tells me they'll be back tomorrow afternoon to sand and do some more mudding (floating? I'm not sure of all the drywall lingo) and then they'll be back one more time after that to spray the texture on the walls and ceiling. We are hopeful that we can get the painting done this weekend and have the room usable by the time my parents get here next Wednesday. There may still be some small things like trim work to do but that's no reason we can't get out there and start using our fabulous new family room, right?! I can't wait!

Speaking of visitors, Rob's parents were out for a few days recently to visit. We had so much fun, especially the boys and it would have been nice to see them for even longer. Rob and his dad were going to go to a sprint car race in Knoxville, IA but it was rained out. Booooo. Marge and I went out shopping one afternoon and that was really nice to have some girl time. Mostly though, we ate, hung out around the house and played with Rex and Wyatt.



Wyatt walks everywhere now- he is a walking machine. He was tottering around for a month or so and then finally one day, he was just all over it and totally stopped crawling. He loves to splash in the toilet (toilet latches installed- check), pull all my cookbooks off the shelves and throw his toys in our media console. He is learning some new words and knows now how to high five. And the chicks dig him.



Rex's latest thing is changing his clothes. Changing his clothes like 37 times a day like a junior high girl at summer camp. He just got a bunch of new clothes for winter (hello Labor Day sales!) and is busy wearing them ALL. He does pretty good though sometimes his pants are on backwards or he is wearing something that is way too hot for the current weather (note to Rex- although it is getting colder, your winter coat is not yet needed). This outfit today though cracked me up and I had to get a picture of it.



I can't decide if it is so wrong, or so wrong it actually works. But you can't go wrong with a straw fedora so he gets points for that and being bold enough to pull off the hat. I think he is going to be pretty into his clothes when he gets older which I think is just funny and I totally support it. It's always important to look your best. He already tells strangers in the grocery store about his shoes, shirt or something he is wearing. I've also already got him brainwashed that we don't ever go out of the house in our pajamas because it drives me crazy when people do that! It seems the apple hasn't fallen too far from the tree.

Well, I have to get up for bootcamp class in exactly 6 hours so that doesn't look too promising. Oops. It has been kind of a disappointment for me. In addition to not getting the results I was expecting, a lot of the people go to the same church and the class ends up having a very high school vibe to it. If you go to that particular church (which we tried and did not care for) then you are part of the cool kids and if not, then you just aren't cool like they are. I didn't mind so much at first but that aspect is starting to annoy me and really wear on me after 3 months. I think I'll start going to the gym again after this bootcamp session is over at the end of the month. It has been a good experience and I know I am a lot stronger than I probably have ever been so I wouldn't say it was a waste of time- but I wouldn't go back either. One more life lesson learned. I am not a bootcamper, at least not for 5 days a week anyhow!

Family Room Project Update

Last week, our bike-shop-to-family-room project was looking like this-



Lots of mess everywhere and not totally closed off yet. There is the big issue of closing off the room from the garage but there were tons of little places all around the perimeter of the room at the ceiling that needed to be sealed off too. Last Friday we got the word that the guys we hired to do our spray foam insulation would be there on Monday. I asked Rob, "Like 10 days Monday or like 3 days Monday?" Turns out it was like 3 days Monday. Rob worked so hard all weekend and I pitched in too as much as I could. I pounded nails, cut sheets of OSB with the circular saw and even had some really good ideas on how to seal off the tricky ceiling areas. We finally finished a little after 2:00 a.m. last night- here it is all cleaned up and ready for some foam.



It hasn't been that empty or clean in 4 1/2 years! The guys showed up about 15 minutes early (we were still not quite ready) and got to work while Rob and I finished off the last couple items. Here is one of the guys spraying the ceiling.



And here it is once he was all done.



I can't believe how much brighter it is in there now with the white foam instead of all the wood walls! Wow. It has me so excited to get this project done so we can start using the space. A friend of ours, the one that totally bailed us out with shingling the roof last fall, is going to be drywalling for us, probably even this week! I have been busy trying to pick out paint colors but we are all over the place with that. It is our usual tug-of-war between something more Pottery Barn contemporary style and something more IKEA modern style. Hopefully we can choose a color soon and start enjoying our room as soon as possible!

4.5 Years and 2054 Miles Later

Nanette shared a little news with me last week that they are moving to Portland, Oregon and it got me thinking, "What would I say about my experience moving to a new state?" It has been exactly 4 1/2 years since Rob and I left California for Iowa and really, what hasn't changed about our lives? New jobs, new house, new kids- I think our XTerra is the only constant we have besides each other! Some of my thoughts about the move were positive but others weren't so much. So for Nanette's benefit and anyone else contemplating/recently making a big move (and I know there are a few of you!), here are my thoughts on the matter.

Starting with the glass half full... The Positives.

1. Quality of Life- I do enjoy the clean air, Midwestern people, no traffic, and very low crime. The best part is being able to stay home with the boys while they are young. The way they eat, I will certainly have to work when they go to school to be able to feed them, but I love my time home with them for now. Schools are another big part of this that we haven't really gotten into yet but a future positive, nonetheless.

2. Cost of Living- Depending on where you are moving from and to, this may be on the negatives list but for us it was a positive. Affordable housing and goods are also a big part of why I get to stay home with the boys.

3. Four Seasons- The period of time when we get snow could be shortened up a little and you wouldn't hear me complain, but I do love having four distinct seasons. A white Christmas just feels so much more... Christmasy. Spring and summer are so much better after a snowy winter, seeing the white melt away and the green take over. And a crisp fall day with the leaves turning bright colors- I don't know if it gets any better than that.

And now, The Negatives...

1. Missing Family and Friends- Without a doubt, this is the toughest part of moving to a new state. It wasn't so bad when it was just Rob and I because we had the money and ability to fly back to California often. Then Rex came along and it got more expensive and challenging and now there is Wyatt and it just seems impossible. He hates driving more than about 30 minutes in the car and I can't imagine him on a plane for 3 1/2 hours. For now, we have to rely on people coming to see us. We miss seeing everyone anytime we wanted and having the kids away from grandparents/aunts/uncles/cousins is about as bad as it gets. And then It really hit me how tough it is not to have any family to help once Wyatt came along. When it was just me and Rex during the day, it was fine to take him all around town on errands and he just didn't wear me out like the two of them do. I can't imagine what it would be like to have more than two kids! Not having grandparents nearby + more than 1 kid = REALLY HARD.

2. Food- I miss a good bean and cheese burrito and In-N-Out burgers (my mouth honestly started watering when I looked at their website just now!), Rob misses George's shish kebab and we both miss Teriyaki Don just to name a few. We try to recreate these things but it is never the same. Of course we have new favorite things and places here, but we still miss the old favorites.

3. Making New Friends is Tough- It just takes time to build up a group of friends- I mean, it took me 30 years to know all the people I do in California! I'm sure once the kids get involved in more activities and school, we will be meeting a lot more people which will make it easier. And there aren't too many people our ages with young kids so either we have friends our age with older kids, or younger friends with kids the same ages as ours.

After 4 1/2 years, I still think we made the right decision by moving to Iowa. The pros outweigh the cons and if we felt any differently, we would be back at the Penske truck rental to pack it all up and move back to the Golden State.

Good luck with the move Nanette and Brent, we hope you love your new home and we can't wait to visit you in Portland!!

August Already?

Warning- Completely random, stream-of-consciousness post below. Was going to fix it up a little better but ran out of time!

I can't believe it is August 1st already! Rob's birthday is in just a few days and I am totally not prepared. I'm thinking about tools so he can keep working on projects around the house- is that more a present for me or for him though? I will have to keep working on ideas I guess. My dad gets here for a visit on Wednesday so I have been busy thinking about that and what I need to do to get the house ready. He booked his flight so long ago and it felt like it was so far off- I can't believe it is time already. One good thing about time going so quickly is that it has to cool down sometime, right? It has been so hot for a month now and it doesn't even cool down at night. I've got a few things planned while my dad is here and one is to paint some stripes on one wall of our office. Rob doesn't really approve because he is concerned that they will not be perfectly straight and he is a little cuckoo like that. It'll be close enough for me though so I'm going ahead with it. Hopefully I will have the stripes done and have the office ready for photos in the next week or two. It is definitely a catch-all kind of place right now and needs some help. I just saw the internet service guy go by so I better wrap this up. Time to find out why our service is so sketchy lately! Here's a picture of the boys from this morning though that I thought was adorable.

Hotter Than A Firecracker

Wow, has it been hot, humid and nasty here for the last few weeks. It gets that way here in the summer of course but it doesn't usually last this long. Rex and I went to the pool a few weeks ago and I really wish we could go every day. We both had so much fun!





We went during the "toddler time" hours which are exactly the same as Wyatt's nap time so Rob stayed home with Wyatt. It would be nice if we could all go one of these days.

The big thing around our house right now is the family room project. There was some framing to do for the bump-out which will have an electric fireplace with a mantel and tv above it. I think Rob is just about done with that and ready to move on to some wiring next. Here is how it is looking so far.



We will have an electrician come in to finish up the wiring and tie it in to the panel but Rob can run the wire in the room to keep the project going for now since the electrician is backed up at the moment. He also put the housing units in for the six can lights we are doing and the thing that the ceiling fan will attach to. Then we get some insulation and walls up and paint and flooring... It will still be a while but it is nice to be working on the project again and finishing up what we started last fall.

The boys are doing great. Wyatt just started clapping today which is so adorable. He keeps adding new words to his vocabulary all the time- the latest is "cheese" which is probably one of his top 3 favorite foods. Wyatt is taking some steps around the house by himself now but he still crawls if he is in a hurry. I don't have video yet of him on his own (I've been too busy just watching him and having fun) but here he is cruising around with his little car.



Rex is 3 now and it seems he can go from cute and sweet to pain in the rear in nanoseconds. He melts down for the littlest thing, everything is "I do it" and he just doesn't want to listen to me and Rob. I had a feeling 3 year olds should be feared more than 2 year olds and it looks like I was right. He is so cute though and he just wants to help a lot of times so we try to find ways for him to be involved and "help". Here he is from a few days ago, wanting to cook lunch for us.



It seems that balsamic vinegar by the tablespoon is on the menu. Hmm, maybe mommy needs to make lunch after all. The boys find a new way to make messes/destroy things all the time. Need your clean laundry dumped all over the floor and then rolled over? Done.



Maybe you need a nightlight taken apart and unplugged? They've got that covered too.



And finally, if you need diapers, or anything really, taken out of the dresser and tossed around the room, Wyatt is the guy for the job.



They are a lot of fun and crack me up all the time. I guess that is about it for us for now- hopefully it won't be so long before my next posting!