Bathroom

I have been looking forward to this post for the past 2 months. It means my bathroom is finished! Well, except for the door (kind of important to have a door in a bathroom).

BEFORE:
(Glad my Sister-in-law told me to do this, or I wouldn't have had any)
Our lovely pedestal sink
How on Earth did I ever part with this beauty?
Just a nasty shower. My camping mentality really helped me out with this one.



DURING:
Hannah stated, "I don't want an ugly bathroom" as Kevin and I destroyed our bathroom. It started last Friday, July 10.
I had my day planned... Get Grandma's b-day present, make the b-day cake, make a good dinner since my brother was coming over, poor guy eats military food all week. So when I got the text from Kevin at 10am that we were "demo-ing today" I was a little confused. What are we demo-ing? No reply... I was a little concerned. He finally replied... "the bathroom." Ok, I knew this was coming, but I didn't know so soon. So that weekend we spent our time ripping our bathroom to the studs. Bathtub, floor, drywall, linen closet... everything GONE!

The beginning. If only I knew what I know now. I seriously thought we could do this in one week. Yea, I feel like an idiot saying that now, but it's true.
Taking advantage of my brother coming over for dinner. He came with us to Lowe's and helped us get all the drywall, hardybacker (drywall for the bathtub area), and the bathtub. We got 10% off with his military discount.
I didn't realize how much trash you acquire while remodeling
We found this newspaper, along with a Toys R Us ad from 1989. Nintendos were on sale for $99 and a Sega was on sale for $199!

Starting to take form! We covered the walls with stuff to prevent the moisture from damaging the house and put the window in. Kevin did it all!
Got our bathtub in!

Walls started to go up!
I really wanted a tiled shower, so I did it myself! I'm crafty, I like to sew, how could tile be any different from making a quilt? Rachel (my sister-in-law) helped me pick out the tile and got me started.
I really LOVE how it turned out.
Since I wanted a tiled floor, I did that myself too. I don't think I would ever tile a floor again while pregnant. That part really sucked, but I love how it turned out.
Kevin did the baseboards and the molding around the door. The last step was the crown molding. Kevin got so frustrated trying to figure out the angles. So, for the first time ever... we paid someone to come over and do something to our house, $50 well worth it.

AFTER:
Now, I have a beautiful bathroom that I absolutely love! It took 6 weeks to get it functional and another 2 weeks to finish it (except the door)

First Day of School

Hannah and Gavin started pre-school this week. Hannah could hardly contain her excitement. We were counting down the days for two weeks. Finally, Monday, her first day of school arrived. That morning she couldn't eat her cereal, when I asked why she replied, "I'm too excited for school to eat!"
Gavin and I were going to take a mommy and me class because he barely misses the deadline to start pre-school. You have to turn 3 by the day the class starts. Yesterday we went to our class that my pregnant brain thought started at 11, but actually it started at 10. Luckily, I started talking to one of the girls at the front desk and asked about Gavin, she waived the age requirement and enrolled him for the Tuesday/Thursday class. I was so happy!
So, this morning Gavin woke up, I told him we had to get ready for school and he said, "I need to eat cereal." He was so excited. When we got out of the car he told me, "I won't be shy!"

It feels so good to drop my kids off at school. I love picking them up and hearing about the new things they learned and what their friends said. I can't believe Gavin is actually in school, he is such a big boy now.

Happy Birthday Kevin!

This weekend we have been celebrating Kevin's 28th birthday. On Friday we took the kids to the $2 Theater to see "Up". It was the first time we took them to the movies. Perfect idea for a really hot day.
That night Kevin had a hockey game at 9:50 pm. Usually, I don't go to his game if it's that late, but I wanted to surprise him with a little party. I gave the kids a really late nap and we were ready to party!
I made Kevin's favorite cupcakes. Yellow cake with chocolate pudding inside and chocolate frosting. While Kevin was playing his game the kids and I broke into the locker room and decorated it. Hannah and Gavin were totally into helping me. They did a really good job cutting the ribbon on the balloons, giving me tape, and spreading the balloons everywhere.
I think we surprised him!
Saturday, Kevin's actual birthday, we went to the LA Kings Fest. I don't know who loved it more, Kevin or Gavin? Gavin loved playing hockey with all the other kids.
Check out the smoke from the La Canada fire! Pretty scary.
We met Luc Robitaille. He is one of Kevin's favorite players. He was a really nice guy and took his time chatting with us. Kevin told him that we were thinking about naming our son after him. He was a little embarrassed, but flattered.
The kids got to meet Bailey, the King's mascot.
Gavin met a lot of "hockey guys"
All in all, we just had a lot of fun doing everything hockey.

At night we met my brother, Grayson, and his fiance', Jayde, for dinner in Huntington Beach. We went to one of our favorite restaurants, Duke's.
We love their Hula Pie!
We enjoyed walking down the pier since it was only 80 degrees there compared to the 104 at home.
When we got home, the kids gave Kevin their birthday cards. They really loved making it a special day for their daddy. It was just a fun-filled family weekend!

The End of Boot Camp at 27 Weeks

I've enjoyed teaching my boot camp classes since January. There have been days when I didn't want to do it, as with any other job and working out, but once I got started I ALWAYS loved it. With the growing belly it is quite hard to do "burpies" or squat jumps, let alone any ab work at all (I did my last sit-up the end of May).

I wanted to document how big I was when I taught my last class... So here I am at 27 1/2 weeks, after teaching my last class... I'm so sad! At least I'll still do personal training, I can just sit there and tell other people how to work out.

Hopefully, I'll be ready to start teaching again the end of January or February. That seems so far away.

The Virgos

We spent this weekend with my family. Justin is getting ready to leave on his mission and it was Kairistiona's 18th Birthday today, Jayde's (Grayson's fiance') on the 25th, and Kevin's on the 29.
I made my ice cream cake... it was a hit. It is the perfect combination of ice cream and cake.
Happy Birthday Kairisti, Jayde, and Kevin!

Discovery Cube

After grouting the tile floor I decided that I wanted to take a shower, put make-up on, and wear normal clothes. I needed to get out of the house, the kids needed to get out of the house, and Kevin needed a break from working on the house. I decided to kid nap him and take him to the Discovery Cube Science Center.
They have a "Science of Hockey" exhibit and every time we drive past it we always talk about how we need to go there... we finally made it!
We all had a great time. Gavin was in heaven (and Kevin).

(Gavin's shot is 11 MPH... He's got a lot of work to do)

Kevin wanted a turn too...
Hannah had a good time. It was nice to spend some one on one time with her while Gavin and Daddy explored all the hockey stuff.

(Hannah could climb to the top all by herself... with a spotter)

Kevin was a little worried about me trying the bed of nails, but it looked so cool.
The Dinosaur exhibit was fun. The kids liked putting the dinosaur skeleton puzzle together and riding the "rhino dinosaur." Gavin calls it a triceratops now.
We all had a good time at the museum.

Surpise Birthday Party in Oregon

Thursday morning I left EARLY with the kids and drove up to Oregon. It was my Grandpa's 80th birthday and my dad wanted to surprise him with a visit. Unfortunately, Kevin was not able to go, so I made the trip solo.
My grandparents are caretakers of a church camp during the summer months. Basically, they retired and now work half the year. The camp is just outside of Ashland, Oregon. It is absolutely beautiful!
When we arrived my Grandpa was surprised to see us, but he quickly hid his excitement because he's a manly man. We had a nice dinner with him and my mom made his favorite carrot cake (from scratch... it's is sooo good!)

(blowing out his candles with Gavin)

My family and I camped at a nearby campground since my grandparent's camp was hosting a girls camp. It was 47 degrees in the morning. It was so dang cold!

Friday we drove up to my other Grandma's house (my dad's mom). She lives about 100 miles north of the California boarder. My kids loved running all over her property. We went to the pasture and picked blackberries. Blackberry season isn't quite at it's peak, but we were able to get enough berries to make a cobbler. Picking blackberries was one of Hannah and Gavin's favorite things they did in Oregon.(I didn't get a picture of the cobbler)

(the ultimate flower crown)

Saturday we spent the day with my Grandpa back at the camp. The kids went out on the canoes, we had dinner, a campfire, and s'mores. The kids and I were able to stay in the nurses cabin with a bathroom and heater.
Sunday I left the camp at 8:30 and drove ALL the way home with the kids. I have no complaints about the drive. The kids were wonderful. We had a little quarrel about the DVD player, but we made it home safely and sanely.
I told the kids at 4:00 we would stop at the gas station and they could pick whatever two treats they wanted. Hannah got a popsicle and skittles, Gavin got cheetos and skittles.