Foyer Update

Guess what?

We finally purchased a light fixture to replace the fan in our entrance!

If you have not yet been in our house - let me explain....

When you open the front door you can either go upstairs (main living area) or downstairs (basement). 

If you choose to go up (and are really tall), there is a chance you could hit your head on the ceiling fan that is hanging there. 

Not really....I'm being a bit dramatic. But it feels that way! 

Take a look at it....

 

 

See what I mean?

 

Ok - it does not look that bad in the pictures.

 

But ever since we moved in, I have wanted to replace this. 

We finally found something that Nik and I both like - and we replaced it a few weeks ago. 

Take a look:

 

Nice, right? 

Just don't look at the walls mid-paint. I'll get there...eventually!

The next project we want to tackle is the vanity area of our bathroom. We are on the hunt for the right vanity. I also want to start painting all the trim work and doors (2) in our bedroom area. But I have no motivation - ha!

Three Things

Forgive my lack of blogging! I've been extra "cozy" here lately....enjoying the fire, warm blankets, backgammon and sleeping. But here are a few things about each of us to keep you in the loop.... 

Zane

1. Zane has recently been through an evaluation and qualified for speech therapy a few times a week. This is happening during the day, while he is at school. He is progressing so well and quickly! He officially has it for 1 year (which means he will continue while in Kindergarten) but his therapist thinks there is a good chance he will not need it going into next year. We will see. Although I know he needs to learn to say sounds correctly...no lie - I'm going to miss his cute little voice saying things wrong. 

2. Speaking of Kindergarten....Very soon I will be registering him - yikes! He is so big now! I probably need to stop calling him Zaney-boo. He really is growing up quickly and surprises me at the things he is learning/doing.

3. Zane will hear the rest of us spell words when we don't want him to know what we are talking about (normally something involving Jaxen and his friends). Recently he has learned to spell "yes". So now - when we ask him something he answers "Y-e-s". And every now and then, he will say something and randomly put letters in the middle of his sentence thinking he is spelling something. It is so funny!

 

Jaxen

1. Jaxen has been stepping up lately! Twice now, he has woken up early in the mornings for school and has cleaned his room (quietly, in the dark, with a flashlight). I am very proud of him. We have been talking more about responsibility and he is taking it seriously (in some areas, I should add!).

2. Jaxen had a teacher change this semester at school, and is doing really well with it! He was having a hard time there for a while with his old teacher - but things are looking up. He enjoys school for the most part - although, he will tell you all he wants to do is stay home and be cozy (gets it from his momma!)

3. Jaxen has started realizing that Nik works at night. Weird realization since Nik has worked nights for a few years now...but - Jaxen used to be in bed before Nik left. Now days, Nik is having to be at work earlier and Jaxen says good-bye to him each night. One night Jaxen and I had a good conversation about why his daddy works at night and Jaxen was so appreciative of what Nik does for our family that he wrote him a note telling him so!

 

Carla

1. I have recently gone back to work at my office, full-time. It is an adjustment from being at home in the mornings, or all day - but it is going well. I do enjoy not having my attention split between Zane and work. But I sure do miss the background noise of Zane playing with his dinosaurs!

2. This last week or so I have been in bed every night by 9:15pm! And I love it! I do not always go to sleep...but I am down for the night. Mostly. Depending on Zane. There are some nights I am asleep before he is! My bed is my happy place :)

3. I think I have decided that I want to do something fun for Valentines Day (for our whole family). It falls on a Sunday so we will all be together. Plus there is no football - haha! Not sure what exactly, but I'm gonna start coming up with ideas!

Nik

1. As I stated earlier, Nik is now going to work earlier in the evenings (he also gets off a bit earlier). He is training in a different area and once he is fully trained, he will be the "back-up" so his schedule will still vary from time to time. He leaves about the time the kids go to bed - so he does not miss out on too much family time.

2. Because I am working from my office each day - Nik's sleeping is a bit broken up again. He has been getting home earlier than normal...which helps in getting a bit more rest first thing. Also - Once Jaxen and I leave for school/work (I take Jaxen to school before work) - Zane normally crawls in bed with Nik and watches some TV or plays so Nik is able to sleep a bit longer. It help he does not have to be awake to do school drop-off. Then after Zane goes to school (12:30pm) Nik can catch a short nap before picking up from school (3:30pm). Then most evenings we hang out together as a family (unless Nik needs another quick nap before work).

3. I purchased Backgammon for Nik at Christmas and we are having a great time playing it! We can get a little competitive - but it is so fun! At first, we just played to learn the game and some strategies. Now - we have started keeping a score to see who can win the most games before the end of the month. Not sure what the prize will be....but we will think of something!

Hope you enjoyed reading a little about our family! I'll try to put some pics on the next post for ya :)

Funny Meme's

I am sharing a few things with you that have made me laugh recently:

2021

 2021 started with.... SNOW!

Jaxen tried his hand at the snowblower. He did pretty good! Hopefully by next winter, he might can do this chore by himself :)

It really only snowed for 1 day, but it took awhile for the snow to melt. Until it did - the boys and their friends had fun playing football, building forts and having snow ball fights!

I took my mom back to the airport on January 2. I was sad to see her go. We had so much fun just hanging out. We played games, talked, read, watched movies and TV...it was relaxing! 

We also celebrated Nik's birthday with dinner out for Philly Cheesesteaks, then home for cake before he had to go to work. I don't like birthday's to fall on 'normal' days - it makes it hard to celebrate that person all day - but we did our best. I hope Nik knows how loved he is and how glad we are to have him!

The boys had a late Christmas present come in - look at the excitement on their faces for a Dallas Cowboy blanket and "baby" dinosaurs!

Do you know what is a bummer? When you wear your new sweater and you don't see anyone to show it off to! Haha! So you take a pic of yourself and send it to your co-workers :)

The boys started school on Wednesday - since Zane only has afternoon school, he and I are trying to get back to our morning "normal" (me working while he plays). We have had a few rough times...but overall, he is doing well. This was him on Friday, during one of my work zoom calls.

I have been trying to do a little deep cleaning. This past weekend, I tackled our oven. Look at the transformation on the oven door! I did a self-clean on the inside but it needs a bit more work still.

Nothing better than snuggling on the couch watching football!

Christmas Recap - Part 2

FYI - a part of my Christmas Tree lights went out on Christmas Eve. What a bummer!

 

Christmas morning started out around 7am with these cuties plowing their way through the "barrier"!

 

The boys received a laser tag set from Santa and don't you know....the big boys had to be in on the action too!

 

After Santa gifts and stockings I made breakfast (cinnamon rolls and a breakfast casserole - that took forever to cook!). While we were waiting for breakfast Jaxen read the Christmas Story from Luke 2 and then we opened a few more gits before breakfast.

 

I did not get many pictures - but we had a wonderful time, taking it slow and enjoying gifting and receiving :)

 

The rest of the day we hung out, napped, watched TV and continued playing games!


 

Please note the dinosaurs on the table playing cards with us. Courtesy of Zane!



 

We had a wonderful lunch - and the best day!

The following day we said good-bye to Rusty and Diane and snapped a few pics before we headed out to church.

 

I love this pic with my mom!

 

And that's a wrap of our 2020 Christmas!

Christmas Recap - Part 1

It's been a bit since I have been on this blog! Honestly I really 'unplugged' the last few weeks - just taking it easy and I'm so glad I did. And except for detoxing from all the sugar I ate, I'm feeling good :)

Here is a recap of our Christmas...hang in there, it's long!

Jaxen wanted to "practice" his Uno skills before Bebe arrived so we played a few games...just to get warmed up! And honestly, he did not play that many games with us this year. He was more interested in friends and technology - go figure! Nik and I however, were playing a lot of Skip-Bo before Christmas. And he was beating me. Bad. But we had fun playing cards by the fire!

 

Zane was so ready and excited for Christmas! He was counting down and would ask Jaxen everyday how many more days until Christmas. The boys put on Santa hats one afternoon as we walked our neighborhood, passing out Christmas Cards. I am not sure how long they will do these things with me, but I'm gonna soak it up while they do!


 

Thursday (Christmas Eve-Eve) finally rolled around and I was so excited to be picking my mom up from the airport! That evening, I took this picture as proof to my sister that mom had made it. And yes, we were already playing Skip-Bo! I needed her to beat Nik for me.

 

Christmas Eve was so much fun! First, my mom and I took the boys to Bass Pro Shop to have a picture with Santa taken. I had no idea what to expect (since it was 2020) - they got their picture with Santa taken (behind a glass and wearing masks), but it is still cute. I would show you...but it's packed away. I forgot to take a pic of the pic. They did not have all the fun toys out and their normal Winter Wonderland, but we had a good time getting out and exploring their store.

 

We had some more visitors before lunch - Rusty and Diane came to spend a few days with us too! We had Mexican food for lunch and that afternoon Diane did craft time with the boys (and my mom and I)! We painted (with stencils) on wooden ornaments and I love how they turned out. We all had so much fun doing this!

 

We ate appetizers for Christmas Eve dinner and then the boys were allowed to open one gift - actually Diane was so excited she wanted them to open their gifts!

 

And then guess what we did? Yup - played cards. We roped Rusty and Diane into our addiction of card playing :)

 

After a few games (and lots of concentration)....

 

It was time for the boys to have a little fun with the Santa gifts (laser tag)!

After some play time we got things ready for the next day....

Stay tuned for our Christmas Recap - Part 2!