Life Lately

 Here is what the boys have been up do lately....

Lots of bike rides...

 

Lots of silliness...

 

Lots of digging....

and lots of chill time... 

Home Ownership

 Home Ownership is fun, right?!

We recently discovered that the ducts in our garage are not insulated, which led to wet sheet-rock, which was starting to mold. Want to know how we discovered it? Well, my littlest left the bathroom sink faucet running (with the stopper plugged) and we noticed the leak in the garage. Nice, huh?!

We had 2 different companies come out and inspect the molding situation. Thankfully, only the sheet-rock was molded (none in the walls or support, etc.). 

Cue a weekend project - ripping out sheet-rock!

Next - after talking with a couple of companies, Nik will insulate our duct work. See the condensation on the ducts? 

And then we will eventually re-hang the sheet rock. Doesn't get more exciting than that, huh?

Hopefully  my next post will include my cute kids....or a school update... or maybe just more boring house updates....who knows....?!

Foyer Updates

Along with the stairway makeover (I shared with you a while back) we have also done some additional updates to our foyer area.

This is what it looked like when we bought the house....

 

I pulled down the mirror tile on the wall, patched, painted and then

hung a shelf and some hooks....

We replaced the floors and then the past month I have slowly been painting 

all the trim work, door and foyer closet door.

Here is a before pic (wood trim and an off-white door) and an in-progress picture:

 

 I do not have a picture of the closet door before - but it matched the wood trim.

Now it is updated to navy to match our other doors!

 

We still have to add some trim work to the bottom of the stairs, and switch the lighting, but I am very happy with the updates!

Jaxen's 8 Year Well Check

Jaxen and I headed to the doctor's office on Tuesday for his yearly well-check appointment. 

 

He is 4'4" and weighs 70.4 pounds. He is in the 73% for height and 86% for weight.

A healthy, growing boy!

The only concern the doctor had was the sores on Jaxen's legs. 

He is an allergic/sensitive (however you want to say it) kid. Meaning, basically anything that touches him (grass, trees, rocks) or bites him - his body has a negative reaction to it. None of the sores were infected, but they definitely do not look good. She gave us some more tips on how to keep the sores from appearing and how to take care of them. Doing all we can to get them under control before they get worse.  

 

 That's about it - she was pleased with how Jaxen is doing!

A Look Back

 Here is a look back at my boys first days of school....

Jaxen - 2015 - 3yr PreK

Jaxen - 2016 - PreK

Jaxen - 2017 - Kinder

Jaxen - 2018 - 1st Grade

 Jaxen - 2019 - 2nd Grade

 

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 Zane - 2018 - Kids Day Out

Zane - 2019 - 3yr PreK

 

21 days until they start the 2020-2021 school year!

Not Much Going On

I feel like there is not much going on...definitely not anything blog-worthy!

And no pictures. 

I go to work everyday and in the evening you will find me outside eating dinner, reading a book, playing with the kids or talking to neighbors. I try to keep up with the laundry and the last time each of my boys bathed and brushed their teeth - mom goals. Haha!

I'm trying to enjoy the last of the lazy days before school starts up.... in 27 days....but who's counting!

We signed Jaxen up for Flag Football this fall - and I think we are all looking forward to this new activity! I'll be sure to keep you posted once practices and games begin!

I'm still working on a few projects around the house - but it takes awhile, especially when I only work on them in small increments!

Overall, everyone is doing well - trying to stay healthy and hydrated!

Maybe I will have an exciting weekend to blog about...stay tuned!

Weekend Top Ten

Enjoy reading about our top 10 from the weekend….

1. Sleeping Boys

Is there anything sweeter than when your kids are sleeping? No. And when they are sleeping next to each other - it's pretty sweet too.


2. School Supply Shopping

Well, we did it. We finally bought school supplies. We took advantage of the Missouri Tax-Free weekend, and got almost everything they boys need to head back to school in a month. If they go back - still not convinced yet. So all things school related will stay in bags, in a closet with receipts. Just in case, you know?!


3. Park

Our friends Jim and Becky met up with us while we were shopping and offered to take our boys a park so Nik and I could finish up. So sweet of them!



4. Holding Hands

So Nik and I held hands while we shopped through places like Lowes :)


5. Thunderstorms

Sunday morning we had some pretty great thunderstorms. They caused us to miss church, but we enjoyed the slow pace that came with the rain and thunder.

6. Movies

Due to the thunderstorms, Nik rented he and Jaxen a movie to watch together,and one for him and I to watch. Too bad we both fell asleep Sunday night before we got the chance to watch ours! Lol.

7. Birthday Party

Zane was invited to a neighbor's birthday party Saturday and had a blast!

8. Outdoor Movie

Jaxen was invited to watch a movie outdoors at a friends house on Saturday night. He had a great time (although I told him he could not stay up late and watch the whole movie).

9. Water Fun

All day. Everyday. Pool, sprinkler, hoses, water tables - you will find this group of kiddos in some kind of water.

 

10. This right here says it all.

A Little Bit of Everything

Here is a little bit of everything for you today...

We had to quarantine our boys for a few days last week while we waited on the COVID test results of one of their friends. Thankfully, the test was negative! While Zane was quarantined, he would drag his chair to the end of the driveway and talk to his friends. That is cute and sad at the the same time. Doesn't that just sum up 2020 though?!

The minute the kids heard that their friends test was negative - they bolted! They missed their friends so bad! This is not a picture of that moment...although it could have been :) but this is a picture of Zane's trail...of clothing on another day. He ran in to change from his play clothes to his swim clothes and this is what I found...undies on one step, then shorts, shirt, socks and shoes at the top. Haha!

I don't get many quiet, sweet moments with Zane anymore - but when I do - I eat them up! We are not going to talk about my gray hair....We are going to talk about how Zane wanted me to play a game with him on his PJ Mask Watch and about that sweet hand on my face.

Zane was invited to hang out at the neighbors this weekend while they were having a family get-to-gather. It was so sweet of them to include him! It's hard to see, but Zane is at the little picnic table eating with 5 other kiddos, and living his best life!

Since Zane was occupied with his friends, I made the "big" kids a bubble pool. They had a great time playing in the bubbles and then hoping on their bikes (wet and bubbly) riding down the street. They even came up with a gang name The Wet Riders - haha! They no longer call themselves that though, because as one kid pointed out - they don't always want to be wet when they ride their bikes :)

Saturday morning our family hit the road to downtown KC and enjoyed the Farmers Market! We purchased a delicious cantaloupe, some asparagus, fresh corn, pita bread and candy from the local candy store (of course). We heard music from a very cool band and enjoyed all there was to see!

Nik brought the boys by one day to see me at work. They sat outside our office and enjoyed their huge donuts! Seriously...those things were big! That night I introduced Jaxen to Scrabble. I really enjoyed it and want to play again - I don't think he felt the same.

The past few days we have had the best weather. Cooler but still gorgeous days. I read an entire book on Saturday, mostly while sitting outside. We also cleaned up our garage (from our garage sale a few weekends ago), I mowed the grass and we got a few more house things accomplished this weekend!

These are the days I want to remember as my kids get older 💗

Stairway Makeover

I shared awhile back that I was painting our foyer stairs, 

well, here is the progress....

After ripping carpet out, pulling staples and nails and caulking/patching:

Painting the fronts of the steps:

1/2 done...

And finally, the end result...

I like them.
They look crisp and fresh.
But here is what I don't like - they always look dirty.
They show everything!
I didn't think through that.
When they were ugly old wood - you could not tell if they were dusty or dirty.
Now that they are a dark blue - you can see it all.

We may do something different in the long run...but for now we are happy with it!