The basement is coming along!

Now that more walls are up it's starting to actually look like something. We had our first and second inspections and the third and last one does not take place until you are done. Yay! There were no problems with either inspection so nothing was or is holding Chris back from working away to his heart's content. It's really hard to get good before and after shots since when walls go up, the places I stand to take my pictures sometimes no longer exists. So these shots will have to do.

I couldn't use the flash for the first couple because Chris was mudding and sanding walls while I was taking pictures and the drywall dust really made for a bad picture with the flash.

The first picture is looking into the family room area from the bottom of the stairs. The second looks into the family room and you can see the door into the office.

Looking the opposite way from the bottom of the stairs is more of the family room area. It's a big open space and this is the spot where the weight bench and my elliptical will end up.

This is the office. Directly above is the living room and a bay window and this basement wall follows the same outline as the bay. Along the opposite wall is the kids' computer. Since I took these pictures Chris has finished the walls and I believe they are all primed and ready for paint! I should be able to start painting the family room in the next couple of weeks, but I can start in the office as soon as we pick some colors.

In the office there is a little nook where we have bookshelves at the moment. I'd like that area to stay with shelves but I don't know if I want to keep the ones we have or build something that will suit the area better.

Katie's room has not changed much so I didn't take any pictures and the bathroom was the same when I took the pictures but Chris has since framed in the back wall, so there is a bit of progress being made there as well. We have had 2 plumbers both say they would like to do the job of running the water lines etc., but neither have been able to actually find the time to do the job. Hopefully we'll find someone soon who can do it.

This last picture is my laundry room. To the left are the washer, dryer and deep freezer. The furnace is also over there. On the right will be built in shelving and storage. Things like clothes that don't fit the girls yet, or the out of season clothes, sleeping bags, spare blankets etc. will all have a place on the shelves I have planned out in my mind. There will also be one or 2 closet bars for hanging laundry or storing winter coats etc. There is currently one on the left you can see with a bunch of jackets on it, but that spot is temporary until I get my shelves. Chris is going to drywall in the laundry room as well, but I'm not sure if we will bother with mudding etc since it's just a utility room.

Beth's Birthday

Beth turned 7 on March 15th! We didn't know what to get her that she would love for more than a week. We also didn't know when we were going to have the time to go buy whatever it was she would want. So a few days before her birthday I asked her if she would like a new outfit, a hair cut and to get her ears pierced. Her eyes lit right up when I mentioned the ears!

So Saturday morning we all went out for brunch and then went to the mall for the ear piercing. It was one of the malls we don't normally go to, but there was the annual baby crawl going on and a friend of mine had a table selling her adorable homemade soft sole slippers, so we had to check it out. You can check out her slippers too if you like. Beware....they are incredibly adorable. Her table looked fantastic and she sold quite a few pair and handed out tons of business cards. The mall was packed, but luckily the store where they do the piercing was pretty empty.

Beth was so excited and could not wait to get her earrings. She spent a while picking out the studs she would get and finally decided on her birthstone. Then we paid, and I swear as soon as the debit machine spit out the Approved receipt, the tears started. Beth was so scared of it hurting and she kept saying over and over "I don't want it to hurt!" There was never a "I don't want my ears pierced" so we kept working at getting those studs in. As she cried the ladies convinced her to let them put the guns over her earlobes so she could see how it felt before the earrings went in. Then I told her we would count to three together (the ladies nodded to each other that they would shoot on 2) and we started to count. One, two, CLICK and it was done! There were a few more tears but that ended pretty quickly as we distracted her with picking out some new headbands, lol.

After the ear piercing we had a Girl Guide event to attend and we were cutting it close on time so we had to wait for another day for the outfit. In fact she's still waiting and be unusually patient about it all. After our event we headed to a local restaurant to pick out her ice cream birthday cake. There were tons of cute cakes with all sorts of pictures iced on them, and what does my 7 year old pick? An old lady cake. No offense to any older ladies who read my blog, but honestly, does this cake look like one a 7 year old would choose?

I suppose they all taste the same, and she was happy, so that's all that matters, right?

Happy Birthday Bethie!!

Theory of Evolution

by Beth

We used to be monkeys. That's why we are hairy people. Then one day a monkey drank a potion and turned into a scientist.