While the boys went camping...

The girls went shopping!!

After we tearfully bid farewell to the men of the house to brave the evening in the wilderness for the Fathers and Sons campout, Savannah and I decided to make the most of our man-free weekend---or rather, 16 hours. It is pest control season. We dried our eyes and headed to the mall. It was high time I instructed her in the ways of all things girly.

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Our first stop-- Victoria's Secret. The fragrance side of course. I had some perfume to exchange from Valentine's Day. I was a tad nervous the store wouldn't let me make an exchange because it has been so long, but decided to wait until I selected my items to worry about it. We then proceeded to smell everything that sprayed in the store and tried on multiple lipsticks before settling on two. The exchange went smoothly, and even though my driver's license was at home underneath the copier -- (blast that birth certificate application!), they still let me make the transaction. Victory!

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Our next stop was the shoe store. Payless Shoe Source to be exact. It drives Kyle bonkers that I shop there, so I usually go when he is out of town so when he comes back, he is so focused on how much he missed me that making a few, er um...several shoe purchases at the store is quickly forgiven with a good, welcome home smooch. In his perfect world I would settle on a pair or two of really nice, high quality shoes instead of my closet-full of bargain buys. While I see his point, I actually think my shoes are of decent quality. And if I can get them for under ten bucks, it's not a bad thing if I change my mind about them in 6 or 9 months. (I don't usually do that) The irony in all of this is that Kyle owns more pairs of shoes than I do. But we'll save that discussion for another day.

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As predicted Payless was still having their famous BOGO (Buy one get one half price) sale and I bee-lined for the toddler section. Savannah is in dire need of some Sunday shoes, as both pair that fit (she is a 4 WIDE) are two different shades of pink. She likes that, loves it in fact, but not every dress she owns has pink in it. Last Sunday Kyle cleverly selected a light pink bow to match her light pink shoes, even though her dress was black and white, so he made it work. My early morning meetings are paying off!

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I have been trying to wean Savannah off her hot pink sparkly shoes she is so determined to live in, but for a while that's all she wore ( since when does a 15 month old CARE about what shoes she wears? I had to put this behavior to a halt because I am determined to be able to dress my daughter until she is at least 27.) Thankfully, she has finally discovered the comfort and practicality of sneakers. We found some ADORABLE white ones ($5 pre BOGO) and some pink ones to grow into ($8 pre Bogo---I wish they had them in my size). We then found exact replicas of her sparkly ones that just happened to be her size (Also $5 pre Bogo). This was not a coincidence. The last time I saw these shoes was on clearance back in December before Christmas, I swear I snatched the last pair. This was meant to be. The pair she owns currently is no longer church acceptable since she wore them running through the mud last week, so it is completely justifiable purchasing replacements. I then found some black dress shoes for her to grow into, white sandals she can wear with virtually every dress and outfit, (no white dress shoes fit her fat feet unfortunately, but it's summer so we'll let her bare those toes) and of course I couldn't stop while I was still hot--- I found some awesome pink pool sandals.... I know, I know.... I just couldn't hold back. She just better not have a growth spurt in the next 2 weeks or I am going to feel ridiculous. As fast as infants grow, it is ridiculous anyway, but I'm hoping they'll at least take us through the summer.

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And then of course it was my turn. Fortunately Savannah has the right shopping DNA in her and still had some patience left (I handed her some Dora Jelly shoes to examine) to allow me to search. I quickly found 2 pairs of comfortable and cute sneakers...

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So that added up to a total of 8 shoes. The damage? Including tax was 78 bucks and some change. Not bad for a shoe glutton....As you can see, I am clearly enjoying all the benefits that come from having a girl. Happy camping, boys!

Entryway

And finally we are at the entryway. We installed a new front door which lets in more light and painted the walls and ceiling--- notice the nice section next to the new front door where Cade has chipped off the paint. It gives it an antiqueish effect, don't you think?. Thinking back to our old door I recall being terrified of Cade sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night because the door did not have a dead bolt.

I promise I won't post anymore boring before and after pictures. I am really doing this for selfish purposes. I like to see that I've accomplished something in the last several months and being able to visualize those accomplishments is gratifying.

Cade's and Savvy's rooms

In Cade's room I stripped wallpaper and painted it Heavenly Blue and replaced the window treatments. In Savannah's I just sewed some curtains to go over portions of the shelving so it wasn't so overwhelmingly shelvy (if that's a word.) It was pretty difficult trying to transform the library into a nursery, but it finally came together I think.

----> yep, that's Cade taking a nap. I do have a picture somewhere without him in the bed, but you get the general idea. :-)

This is my kind of traffic jam!

Where was I? I just got an e-mail from my dear friend Liz about an overturned tractor trailer that spilled my all-time favorite treat all over the roadway.....

Living Room

Now....

<----- then. We turned the entertainment center into a closet. We don't have a TV anyway, so it suits our needs pretty well. The only other differences were minor-- we painted this room from a dingy yellow to a creamy white, changed up the window treatments, and the drawer fixtures on all the built-in drawers.

The Office

THEN: I liked the previous owners idea of a bulletin board above the desk, but didn't like the color so I covered it with a black and white floral fabric. The wood in the office was a very low grade oak, so I painted all of it. The desk black, the shelves and banister white. At first I thought it was a mistake because it took me so long to finish. My sis Rebecca helped me with the built-ins--- I can't remember how many coats of paint it took! And the banister.... wow. That thing was partially painted for several months. I finally was in a painting groove and found the perfect brush to do it.

Kitchen

BEFORE: too country lace valance window treatments, old oak cabinets contrasted with a modern fridge and and Five star range, an old fashioned chandelier, no upper cabinets, bright white walls, and butcher block counter tops. Now-- maple cabinetry, Dill pickle walls, granite counter tops and upper cabinets to completment the modern appliances, and french country drapes.

Master Bedroom

The only change we've made to this room is the paint color. We went from a bright white to a caramel tan. We love having two closets with built in organizers. A light turns on automatically when you open them. Almost two years later and I still don't have a bedroom set. I suppose it's not that important after all. Thanks to a friend inthe ward, I got some night stands for a screaming deal at Lowes (26$). It has allowed me to get by without a set for now....if I buy one now it'll just get wrecked in the move, right? Or having one will help me sell the house....hmmmm....

Back Porch

THEN (their furniture)

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NOW (our furniture)

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Nothing new. I just scrubbed down the wood. We got some hand-me-down furniture from some friends and Kyle's parents got him a grill for his graduation gift. We love our back porch in the spring!

The Bathroom

THEN: To match the sky blue 80s wall theme, the previous homeowners left a sky blue shower curtain along with sky blue window treatments to complement a very 80s wallpaper border with pink and peach butterflies. Now: I stripped the wallpaper border, painted the walls the same color as our bedroom, installed a round shower curtain rod (kyle did this) , replaced the shower curtain, took down all the wall ornaments, changed the knob fixtures, and gave the shelving a fresh coat of white paint.

Our House

I've been absent from the blogging world for quite some time now, or any other world for that matter. We've been finishing all those little projects we've been meaning to get to for ever and ever. You see,charming little cape cod cottage is up on the market. Well, not officially. We just stuck a sign out front about a week ago. So, this is just an update of what we've been up to the last 2 years...

BEFORE: June 2006

AFTER: May 2008 (Actually, this picture is no longer current. Kyle put up the cute little red shutters today to match the door.)

Geneva, Illinois Relief Society Video

My wife spent some time putting this video together, so I thought I would post it. She took all the pictures herself and then edited the video as well.

Is it just me...

Several months ago I was in the kitchen with Savannah, she was in her high chair eating lunch and I was unloading the dishwasher. She let out a grunt/shriek/yell/howl which caught my attention. I looked up at her and she laughed, thinking it was pretty hilarious that she got my attention. A moment later, her head was turned just at the perfect angle that I gasped.

Skinny neck, square head with bulging cheeks, a tuft of hair sticking up....

The profile was strangely familiar and then it hit me! There before me was a real-life version of Lil from Rugrats!!! I hadn't seen the show since my babysitting days nearly 10 years ago. We didn't have cable growing up, so whenver I had the opportunity to babysit, I would turn on Nickelodeon after all the kids were in bed and enjoy a good round of Rugrats. I know, what 15-year-old in her right mind would desire to watch kid cartoons? I guess the kind deprived of Nickelodeon! It was such a luxury to me! Anyhow, although it had been ten years, it could not be mistaken. For the next several weeks I tried capturing the angle again to prove the vision of Lil I had seen to no avail. Several times since I have caught glimpses of Lil in my daughter and it makes me chuckle. Recently I was scrolling through some pics Kyle took and came across this one of Savannah. It's closer than I ever got of capturing the "Lil Look." Maybe I'm nuts, but I think if a caricature artist were to draw our little Savvy, it would look something like this: