MERRY CHRISTMAS!

One of the best pics for the Christmas card. It took a lot of pics to get a decent one.

Christmas morning ready to open gifts.

Alexis did get her DS that she has been asking for. She loves the Mario Cart game.

Nolen with a semi that will hold a lot of hot wheel cars. Now if we can train him to put them up when he is finished.

Snow fun!

Right after church on Sunday, we went out to enjoy the snow.

Pete pulling the kids behind the 4 wheeler. And yes I did take a sled ride as well.

I thought the crab apple tree looked beautiful with it full of berries & snow.

A few photos that didn't make the card.

It was a very quick photo shoot, but I did get enough good pictures to make a Christmas card. Nolen was going on no nap and Alexis was still mad that I didn't buy the $100 stuffed giraffe that she saw in town.

Here are some out takes. Enjoy!

I think the eyes say it all!

Balloon Wars

1-2-3-4-I declare a balloon war!

Sunday afternoon fun with balloons. Even grandpa got in on the fun.

Alexis taking Nolen down. I wonder how long it will be until the tables are turned?

OH YES WE DID!

Pete & I decided to let loose and dress up this year for a costume party. Pete even painted a pair of boots gold to complete the look.

Alexis & Bentley all dressed up & ready to hit the streets for candy.

My cute cowboy ready to trick or treat.

Pete liked my wig & tried it out. Traffic was really giving him the looks as they drove by.

A Few More Halloween Pics

Best Friends Forever!

These photos were taken by my friend Leslie and I just had to share them.

Two pretty girls in a Monster truck.

SO ADORABLE!

Alexis helping Maddy walk.

Birthday/Halloween Party

Our annual Halloween party was a great success this year. We always have it early in October so we can also celebrate Pete's birthday. If I counted everyone, there were 71 in attendance. Seems to get bigger & better every year. The weather was wonderful and we didn't freeze like last year.

Group photo of most of the kids. Finn didn't want in the photo, but we got him to walk in front of the group just as the picture was taken. Pete got in on the fun by being one of the scavenger hunt clues & trying to out run all the kids. He finally got tackled by them.

The craft projects this year was putting Halloween stickers on a haunted house and stamping on bags. Aden dressed up as Mario. Guess he took off his mustache before I got the photo.

Maddy made a cute skeleton and Kaden was a Transformer. We also had 3 adorable matching skeletons. I was teasing Maddy & Nolen that they had 3 cuties to pick from. The Anderson trio had a blast using their walkers on the concrete. They could really make them go!

Bentley & Alexis all dressed up and had a blast like always.

Nolen had his outfit on for probably 3 minutes, so I had to get a photo fast. Notice the lovely purple crocs on his feet. LOL It was just too hot to be dressed up.

Adding some color around here

Finally bought & planted some flowers around the new addition. The plants that are around the house don't have much color, so I bought some that would provide some color around here.

Alexis talked me into buying 4 rubber stepping stones that actually look like flat rocks. I put them between the flowers on the south end & thought they looked great. If you look close you can see them, but they blend in with the little rock pretty good.

Since I moved the computer & bookshelf out of the back door area, I had room for something I always wanted. A bench with storage inside! Now we can sit on the bench & put on our shoes instead of the step that leads out of the living room. Perfect place for those hats & gloves this winter. Alexis is checking out the storage.

They both try the bench out. Alexis raised her hand for some reason & Nolen had to follow.

Oh and you might wonder what we are going to do with the extra bricks that are sitting in the front yard. Well we are working on a project that will use a lot of them & hope to finish it soon. Pictures to follow when we finish. I promise the house photos will end soon!

Project is 99% complete now!

We added matching rock around the new addition last weekend. Now I need to pick out some bushes/shrubs to plant. Most are on sale now, so I'd better go see what is left.

Since you have to walk through the kids old room (now my office) to get to the new rooms, we decided to rip up some carpet & add a strip of laminate flooring that matches the kitchen. I think it turned out great and I won't have to worry about the carpet getting worn & dirty. Oh and you can hear the kids coming from their room. No sneaking up on us. HA HA!

The kids old room is now my office & I'm so happy for all the space I have now. I even took over the closet in this room & gave Pete our whole other closet. Mine is larger! Got an office with a view now.

Two windows were taken out of the bedrooms for the new bedrooms. I decided rather than trying to fill in the hole, just put in bookshelves instead. I made the right decision & I love them. Pete just put them in today. This is the one in our bedroom.

Bookshelf in the office. It has a lot more stuff on the shelves now since this photo has been taken. Shelves are a little under 5 inches wide, so only small things will go on them, but it was better than trying to paint a wall to match.

So our project is almost completely finished. I need to put in landscaping shrubs and the guttering will be made & put up soon. What will I do next year? Already got that covered. We will have to re-tile around the tub in our bathroom and then the walls will probably get a fresh coat of paint. All of the rooms have been painted since we moved in except for our bedroom & bathroom. This house really needed an updating since it was stuck in the 1980's. We always thought we would build a house and make it just how we wanted it. Don't think that will happen cause we are so happy with this house. So a little work here & there seems to be better than starting from scratch. Though I always wanted a kitchen with an island, I will settle for a smaller one and maybe Pete will take me to an island. LOL LOL LOL!

Step 17, 18, 19 & 20...trim, heaters, carpet & THE MOVE IN!

After waiting an extra week, the heaters went in this week. Most of the trim and baseboards were put up. While I was enjoying my first day back at work....lol....the carpet was installed. I was so happy to see the rooms finished. Alexis & Nolen were jumping around in their rooms. I started to move their stuff in as soon as I got home. I realized last night that the curtains were way too long, so I had to cut them off. Going to hem them tomorrow & make pillows out of the extra material.

Nolen is trying out his big boy bed. I hope he doesn't fall out. I shoved it up against the wall and will probably have to put a rail up cause he really tosses while he sleeps.

The very first thing Alexis put in her room was this VERY soft circle rug.

Alexis doing some twirling in her room. Lots of pink I know, but she loves it.

We still have a few minor things to do. Gutters need to be added to the new part, closet shelves need to be put up, and a few things need to be hung on the walls. We are extending our laminate flooring from the kitchen through the kids old room leading to the new part. This will make a nice walkway that won't show wear like carpet will. Pete is going to install the laminate flooring. My goal was to get the kids in the rooms before school started, and boy was it close, but mission accomplished!

Step 16...paint & stain doors

Since my last post, I have been working on doors. I have been dreading these doors & now I know why. Alexis' room door is white on the inside & stained on the outside to match the outside of Nolen's. These pictures show me working on this door & I'm trying not to get white paint on the stained side. Her closet door is white inside & out. Nolen's room door & bi-fold closet door are both stained. Had to do the staining inside the house due to the heat & humidity outside. So I have been smelling some mighty fine fumes lately.

As of today, I almost have all the doors finished. I need to put one more coat on half of Nolen's closet door and I also need to put one more coat of paint on Alexis' closet door. I don't think the first coat of paint covered it well. Our workers put up most of the trim & base boards today. The base board heat will be put in on Monday and the carpet will soon follow. I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Bought shelving for Alexis' closet yesterday for Pete to put up.

The outside is almost finished. We need to put the guttering on the new part. It's hard to see the south end of the house from the road with the tall corn. Notice the extra sand we had left over. The kids have claimed it & play in it almost daily. With Nolen, the sand seems to be always flying.