DIY Bathroom #1

I've always hated the vanity tops in both of our bathrooms (the kind that have the drop in sink and are impossible to clean)...so Mike and I finally decided awhile ago that we were going to replace them (YAY!)  I figured while we're at it, we might as well repaint as well! 

It took awhile for me to finally settle on the vanity tops that I wanted, and then I needed help figuring out a paint color that would go with our existing tile.  Then I watched A LOT of do-it-yourself videos on the internet about how to install a vanity top and how to install a new faucet (two things I've never done before...or even WATCHED someone do before), and figured it's something I could probably handle (I also said a lot of prayers!)  Sunday night I got the bathroom painted, and Monday night I installed the vanity top & faucet...well sort of...the p-trap was long enough so I had to wait until Wednesday to get an extension for it to be able to finish the installation.  Who said girls aren't handy!?  Here's a before and after look at our little bathroom with the new paint, vanity top and faucet!

                                                                    

Next on my list - bathroom #2: paint, vanity top, faucets and floors!  I'm still trying to decided if we should try the floors on our own or get professional help!  I'll post pictures of that when we get it finished.  Projects (like this) are to me what sports are to Mike...and we both think the other person is crazy! :)


It takes half your life before you discover life is a do-it-yourself project.  ~Napoleon Hill

Who's Who!?

We get told ALL the time, by people who know us and many who don't, that Xavier has a little mini-me.  They certainly do have many similarities, but both have their own look as well.  See if you can guess which pictures are of Xavier & which ones are of Easton! :)

 

 

 

Some pictures are certainly more obvious than others, and Easton has started developing a little more of his own look as he gets older.  One thing is certain though - they are deffinitely brothers!!!



Not double trouble, but twice blessed. ~Author Unknown

 

Teeth - finally!

Easton has been in absolutely no hurry to get any teeth - when we were at his 9 month check-up I asked the doctor, "What's the latest you've ever seen a baby get teeth?"  She calmed my fear when she said she's seen kids get their first tooth as late as 12 or 13 months.

On Monday, August 20, the boys and I enjoyed one last big fun day together before school started by checking out new books at the library, having pizza for lunch, going to school with Mama and playing on the playground.  While at school one of my friends stopped to say, "Hi" and was asking if he had any teeth.  I told her he didn't, but felt in there anyway (which I had been doing almost daily for a month because I just KNEW he had to be popping one through sooner or later!) and was a little surprised when I felt a sharp little, razor-like, tiny little baby tooth just starting to poke through!  The day had arrived!  Easton was 9 months 2 weeks 2 days old and had popped through his first tooth - finally!  I was beginning to wonder if we were going to need to get him fitted for dentures!

Yesterday he popped tooth #2 through (10 months 1 week 5 days old)!  I'm sure Papa will be excited to give him a steak next time we see him...after all, he has 2 teeth to chew it with now! ;)  I think it's pretty hilarious that Papa needs to be surpervised almost as closely as his grandchildren sometimes, and I'm confident that 98% of his antics are just to get a rise out of Gramma & the moms so he can have a good laugh at all of us with his signature laugh!  Works everytime too!  :)

Other than a dimple in a cute little chin,
What's more adorable than a toothless grin?
~Azu "Betty" Espezia

My Little Gerber Baby!

I recently decided to enter Easton in the Gerber Generation Photo Search 2012.  I know I might be biased, but I think my boys are the most adorable kids in the entire universe! :)  Unfortunately, the child has to be 48 months or younger to be entered in the contest, so Xavier's too old by a few months (I HATE the fact that he's already too old for something! :(  He is growing up WAY too fast!!!)

Starting on Tuesday (Sept. 4) everyone can vote for their favorite new Gerber baby!  The winner of the public voting will receive a $10,000 college scholarship. A panel of judges will also be selecting a grand prize winner, who will receive $50,000 and be featured in their latest advertisement campaign. 

Voting takes place daily from 9/4/12 - 9/24/12.  Here's a look at Easton's mug shot for the contest:

Back to the grindstone...

We have one week under our belts so far and have already experienced our first early release of the year, and have another early release called for tomorrow already (both due to the heat).  I'm not going to lie - it is one of the simple pleasures that I absolutely love about being a teacher! :)  After all, who wouldn't love getting to spend more time with their wonderful hubby and fabulous boys!?  IT'S GOING TO BE A GREAT YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.  ~Henry B Adams

Summer Lovin' 2012

Another summer has already coming to an end all too quickly!  Mike and I enjoy our summers with our boys immensely and try to take advantage of the precious time together as much as we possibly can.  Here are some of the highlights from Summer 2012:

Family reunion at Ft. Robinson, NE

Swimming at the Pirate Swimming Pool in the hotel in Sioux Falls (Easton's 1st time swimming!)

Visiting Aunt Summer & Chase in Iowa (Easton's 1st time at the beach!)

Reading books from the Bookmobile

Visiting Scott & Adie in North Dakota

Playing at home

T-ball



4th of July

Reptile Gardens

Helicopter ride with Papa Gary!

Eating finger foods (or trying to anyway!)

Mike and Scott turn 30!

Xavier learned to tie his shoes (and earned the toy he'd been promised if he learned to tie his shoes this summer)

Going to the drive-in 

JWF Memorial Bean Bag Tournament

It always saddens me to see summer come to an end and have to start spending so much time away from my boys again.  I tell Mike that we must be doing something beneficial in the schools though otherwise we would have won the lottery by now (not winning the lotter is God's way of keeping us in our jobs)!

And because summertime is so wonderful, it deserves two quotes!

"Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language."  ~Henry James

"Summertime is always the best of what might be."  ~Charles Bowden

All tied up

Daddy showed Xavier how to tie his shoes this summer and he's been practicing and practicing because he was told he could pick out a toy and we would buy it for him when he learned how to tie his shoes. On August 13, 2012, he was able to tie his shoes without any help or guidance from anyone!  He was SO proud of himself, and we were extremely proud of him too!  He then informed us that he is "the best-est tie-er in the whole wide world."  Tying our shoes - check!  Next on our list of things to learn...modesty!?

Xavier with the toy he picked out after learning how to tie his shoes.

A gentle heart is tied with an easy thread. ~George Herbert