Wednesday, May 30, 2012

It all started with an idea....

So, I finally feel organized enough to catch the blog up on what we have been up to. Last summertime-ish....well no it was before that. When my dad bought his house last March (check it out here if you can't remember) we had an idea. He was going to have an empty basement approximately the size of the square footage of our house.  We loved our home, but while the living area was awesome, the upstairs and bedrooms were going to get small quickly. We'd been there three years already and I was afraid that it would be difficult to ever purchase something bigger when the time came without doing something different than we were.....especially with me not working. Back to the idea. We would move into my dad's basement, save some money, and keep him company :).

Of course, my dad is a real DIY'er so we were going to do the whole basement ourselves.

Ahem, I had no idea how long this process was going to take. We wanted to get a start on saving some money so we moved in with my dad last October and found some awesome renters for our home. They really have been great. I wish they would stay forever. I thought the basement would take another month to do. Maybe two. Try more like 6. I don't know if I've ever felt so unorganized in all my life. I missed my stuff, decorating, my schedule, my stuff....

But I am grateful for the opportunity we've been given. There's still a ton of touch up and little projects to do. I'm guessing several more months of doing little things here and there.

Finally introducing a bit of the long awaited basement--


The front room (technically in the back of the house). This room is itty bitty but it looks nice.


The family room. Justin put together that built-in bookshelf

Justin tiled this fireplace and built the mantle. I have also just started that photo gallery wall which I'm pretty excited about. I just finished sewing all the pillows and curtains....first time doing those.

The kitchen- still so much more trim and paint that needs to be done, particularly on the upper cabinets and built-ins but it is a beautiful kitchen. A big thank you to my dad and Justin!


I totally don't want to buy more stools (they are expensive!) so I need to figure a way to cut these ones down to bar height instead of counter height.

The dining area. We just finished building this table. The top will be dark like the floor, the legs will be an off-white. I'm excited to see it done :)
The guest/Kambri's bathroom  






The master, not done decorating this one yet. Pay no attention to the haphazardly made bed done specifically for this photo, haha. The master bath is under construction still.
The gallery hallway to the master. We couldn't figure out what else to do with this space.
Kambri's Room
Just off of the stairs, you can see the door to the bathroom and craft room.
Ah my craft room. I'm still in the process of de-cluttering. They put some shelves in for me. This awesome armoire on the left has a table built in and when I'm done I can fold it all up and away from any small child's reach.
Close up of the shelves....and my new friend the chameleon's home. Hey, I totally needed a crafting buddy. However my first buddy Flynn Eugene had a terrible tongue accident...may he RIP...so my next buddy's on his way!
 
It has been such a long time coming down here, over a year now, but now that we are nearing the end I believe it has been worth it. Plus I get to see this cutie all day. 






Not going to lie we sometimes look like this


which usually leads to this
someone explain the angry ostrich move to me...?

But I'm told in the end it's worth it. And we love this area and the ward, so here's to the next few years!

Monday, March 26, 2012

Nursery

Oh how I love thee. No more entertaining my child with the same books for three hours of church time. I just drop her off and she wanders off to play with all the toys. Not even a glance back at me most of the time. And I get to enjoy Justin's lesson, and relief society, child-free... sweet :).


Sunday, February 19, 2012

'Doggie'

My mom was nice enough to take Kambri while Justin and I went to the Salt Lake Temple to do our first live endowment. Such an interesting experience!

She took Kambri out back to see the chickens...she likes to say 'balk balk' when the chickens cluck, but got distracted by a dog instead :)

Walking home from Church

This was a few weeks ago, walking home today would have been pretty chilly with all the fresh snow!

I couldn't help but take a few pictures, such a nice grandpa to take the baby for a walk after she threw a huge fit in relief society :)



Monday, January 30, 2012

Baby Curls

I was secretly hoping we'd get a bit of this, Justin had a mass of soft curls as a baby. My hair has always been straight with a few weird bumps if I let it air dry. It looks like Kambri got a mix....straight in the front, curly in the back.

I'm excited for it to get a bit longer. Too bad she hates when I do her hair, bah.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Giddy-Up

So we got Kambri a rocking horse for Christmas. I knew she would love one, as most kids do at this age. And RC Willeys had them on clearance for $24. Sweet.

Christmas morning came and she gave a big "Ooooh" when she saw it but that was about it. It's still a little tall for her to get on and off by herself and it made her nervous to be so high off the ground.

Fast forward a few weeks. The horse had a spot for batteries underneath and I decided to see what happened when they were inserted. Que loud old banjo man voice, moving horse lips and swishing tail. "We're goin ridin ridin ridin, Giddy Up little COWBOY. Get that pony trottin! There will be no stoppin! Cuz when we hit that trail we'll be tellin cowboy tales! and a hootin and a hollarin all day, YEE HAW!"

Kambri was terrified.

I mean like quivering, wide eyed, bursts of sobs, this horse might snatch her and run away into the night terrified. I wish I had videoed it. 

Luckily aunt Kali came over and started singing along and clapping and then all of a sudden that thing was awesome. Scary? Ha! She could handle it. She had learned the power of the on/off switch after all.






We've been ridin ever since. Giddy Up little cowgirl.

Sunday, January 01, 2012

New Calling

I was just called to be a cubscout leader. Having only one brother seven years younger than me means I have no idea what I'm doing... This should be fun!

Parenting

"Why yes Mom I am doing exactly what you told me not to. What was it again you threatened to do about it?"

Ahhh Kambri....a.k.a. little stinker.

First Hockey Game

Kambri went to her first Grizzlies game on New Years Eve.


She actually watched about 90% of the game. I was so impressed I had to take a few pictures.

She did hang on tightly to that book....just in case the game got dull.

"Mom, what's with the light in my face? I'm going to miss this play!" 


 Crazy how our kids surprise us.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Christmas

I hope everybody had a Merry Christmas! We sure did over here.

Check out what Santa left for Kambri:

Well, some of those were for the rest of us too :). and yes I decided to only decorate half the tree, that baby battle just sounded exhausting :p.

Kambri was so much fun Christmas morning! She gave out a big "Oooooo" as she laid eyes on all those fun presents.

She jumped right into the tent:


And then hopped on the rocking horse:


After a little help with the first present she turned into a pro present opener. There was awesome stuff waiting under that paper! She also got a little people fairy treehouse, a baby belle, and a Violet the dog that says her name, along with some new books. She has had so much fun. That tent was such a good idea! Kambri likes to hang out in there, along with some of her stuffed friends.


And just for fun, another cute picture of Kambri and Dextin....at Lowe's this time.




Bring on the new year!