Memorial Weekend Fun

This year we stayed home over Memorial Weekend since hubby was running.  We knew it was going to be HOT on Sunday, so we set up the pool on Saturday morning to let the water start warming up for the heat on Sunday.  After the big race on Sunday, we came home, the boys put their swim trunks on, and the rest was history! 























Can you tell they were having fun even though the water was FREEZING?!?  I was laughing so hard it was hard to take pictures!  The neighbors were enjoying the show too!

Have you been out playing in the water?

Running a 1/2 Marathon!

Okay, so it wasn’t me. I didn’t run.  Not even close.  Everything about the title of this post is the exact opposite of me.  I did a perfect job of standing on the bleachers, clapping, and cheering for all of the people crazy enough to run in the HOT weather we had Sunday morning.  Oh, and I brought my camera.  Of course I didn’t practice on all of the other runners first, and it was BUSY when hubby came running in, but I was able to snap a few pictures to document that he really did run his very first 1/2 Marathon.  Did you notice I said first?  I kinda think he likes this running business and may continue on.  Can you say FULL Marathon??  I think there just may be one in his future.  I’m not sure, just guessing.

Waiting for Daddy!  When hubby ran by, Anthony had his arm hanging out waiting for a high five.  Too bad hubby was super focused on the big screen and the timer and missed it…


Here he comes!  He’s in the blue shirt, right in the center.  There was a pretty good crowd and lots of runners coming in with him. 




Hubby will want you all to know that according to his heart rate monitor (that he started as he crossed the starting line), he came in at 1:59:41 – just a few seconds faster than the clock at the finish line.  He was wearing a chip timer on his shoe that will give his official time, but it has not been posted online yet.  His goal was to beat 2 hours, and we are going to say that he did it!  There was also a big screen (upper right corner of the photo below) that would show the runners coming in.  Initially it was off in the distance a bit, so us spectators could see who was coming.  Eventually, when the runners were coming in more steady, the camera stream was pretty much exactly what we were seeing.


Right after the race – doing some quick hydration!


I’m proud of you!

Anyone else crazy enough to think about running like this?

The drywall is up!

The drywall arrived this week on Wednesday, and the guys showed up on Thursday to hang it!  It is crazy to see the basement starting to take shape after so many years (8.5!)of such a wide open space.  Handy hubby has spent so much time down there these last few months that it really feels strange to him too.

These pictures are from Thursday, after the drywall guys left.  Notice the “stilts” over on the right leaning against the wall?  We both really wanted to give them a try, but decided we better not!



The wall straight ahead is where the wet bar will be!



There will be built-in cabinets on both sides of the fireplace – TV on the right, shelving on the left.



Inside the bathroom – on the right is the shower that will eventually be installed and that is a closet
on the left.  We need as much storage in the basement as we can get!



This is the new spare bedroom.  We have had the air-to-air exchanger turned off during this dusty process, and since we are looking at a 90 degree day this weekend (and want the A/C on!), hubby spent some quality time sucking up the dust.  Ahhh, cool air for us!



The cat box has been in the basement for awhile, but is temporarily relocated back upstairs while the drywall guys are working.  This is the door at the top of the stairs to the basement.  The kitty door is currently locked, and they are not impressed!  Especially when we are all down there without them!



We ventured out in the pouring rain this morning to order the stone for the fireplace, pick up some more paint swatches (I need help making a decision!) and to attempt to order the doors for the basement. 

Who wants to come over and help me make a decision with all of these paint swatches???

It’s time for DRYWALL!

The drywall is here!!!  Can you tell I’m excited?!?  It would have been nice if the delivery had not been quite so early this morning, but that’s okay, we’ll take it!

Here’s the basement a few days ago, all ready for the delivery -




The drywall is here!  With this truck and a few guys, it still took over an hour for them unload it all into our basement.


It’s here!!!  There are nearly 70 sheets of fun waiting for a team of some other guys to hang tomorrow.  I am going to come home from work to an entirely different basement!




I’m pretty sure that the time has come for me to go pick out some paint colors.  I’m thinking you’ll find me surrounded by paint swatches this weekend! 

We are changing up the style in the basement (from the rest of our house) so we are open to some fun ideas! 

Any color suggestions?

A little faucet replacement…

We have been working super hard on the basement, as posted here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.  The drywall is coming this week, so we are anticipating some more big changes (at least visually!) to be happening soon!

Since handy hubby has so much free time on his hands these days (haha), it was just our luck when the faucet on our laundry room sink broke this week.  I didn’t see it, but apparently there was a bit of a water fountain when it happened… This led to hubby taking a night off from working in the basement to replace the laundry room faucet.

Here is the old one, in her broken glory….Sorry, Delta, but this was not a high quality faucet!




A quick trip to purchase a new one, and we had a new faucet.  Hubby found a much higher quality Kohler faucet on sale (someone else’s special order “oops”) and within no time, the faucet was back in business!



Sorry for the fuzzy after pic.  This was the best pic I took of it, so this is what you get!

Once again, handy hubby saved the day!

Will we actually grow a tomato?

On Mother’s Day the boys helped me plant flowers.  When we went to the nursery, I decided to also pick up my very first vegetable plant.  Given that the oak trees keep our backyard pretty shady, I decided to pick up a tomato plant to plant in a pot that I could set out in the sun.  On the way home we took a bet – Will we actually grow a tomato that I will eat?  Handy hubby says there is not a chance, so now it’s my goal to prove him wrong.  If you know me, you know that my thumbs are far from green and that the odds really are in his favor.  Especially after our neighbor offered to help keep an eye on it :)

I am going to do my best to help this little guy grow!



The plant has definitely grown this week and is even starting to flower!



I’m afraid this pot is too small - It’s the biggest one I have and I am hoping to not have to buy another one.

What do you think?

Trip to the Minnesota Zoo

I have always enjoyed going to the zoo. There is something about going to see all of the animals that makes me feel like I am at home…Ha ha!  In all seriousness, I love trying to capture photos of kids and animals, so a day at the zoo is always the perfect place to be!  More recently I have not had much time (or motivation) to take many pictures. We have been so busy, and I really enjoyed a day at the zoo with lots of opportunities for fun photo moments. The funny thing is, hubby took most of these photos!  At least I get to enjoy them, and now so do you!

Here are a few pictures of our trip:



This bear put on quite the show swimming against the glass right in front of us!!







Our little reader checking the map to see where we should go next -





Looks like he must have just woken up from a nap!  Stretch….!



A sign that you are in MN – a goose soaring overhead!









We had a perfect day at the MN Zoo!

Mother’s Day is Bittersweet

Today is a day all about Mom’s.  It’s a day for children to make their Mom’s breakfast.  It’s a day for children to help their Mom’s with chores.  It’s the day that Mom’s get to pick what the family is going to do (my family is going to buy flowers and plant them with me!).  Mom’s LOVE to be spoiled, right?!?



Not only is it a day (or weekend) for my boys to spoil me, but I also see it as a day where I get to celebrate being a Mom.  You all know there are so many great experiences that come with becoming a parent: cleaning up toys, washing the endless mounds of laundry, watching sports in the rain, getting woke up in the middle of the night for random reasons, etc.  All of the joys of parenthood :)

Mother’s Day also reminds me of so many things.  It reminds me of the challenges we had to even become parents.  It reminds me that we have been waiting over two years to become parents again.  It reminds me that somewhere, Anthony’s birthmom is thinking about him, and wondering about the life he is living.  It reminds me that while we wait for a birthmom to choose our family, we are also waiting for a birthmom to make a decision that will also impact her for the rest of her life.  It reminds me that there are parts of our lives that we cannot control.  Mother’s Day is always bittersweet.

Today we are thinking about all of our Mom’s. My Mom is in Wisconsin, spending the day with my Grandma, hubby’s Mom is in Seattle visiting his sister, and hubby’s step-mom is in Iowa, 4 hours away. We are thinking about our Mom’s and hoping they all have a great day!

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you!

Ready for Insulation

I think it’s safe to say that the basement has not been this clean since we moved in!  Last weekend the basement was prepped and now the insulation is going in.  Who knew that insulation smelled so bad?!?  I sure didn’t!

Future family room:


Bar and play area:


Bar area, hallway, bathroom and bedroom:


Another week, and we are hoping for drywall!

Running the BIG one!

Last weekend we were in Iowa visiting some family.  My hubby signed up to run with some of his family - they were all running either a 5K or a 10K race (except for me, of course, because I REALLY dislike running!).  We signed the kids up for the kids race too, which was a pretty short race (200 meters).  Anthony had a blast and thought he was hot stuff wearing an official number on his shirt.

Here he is with his older cousins, ready to run!



Ready for the big race…



Ready, Set, Go!





While his cousins led the pack, Anthony proudly brought up the rear!



He gave it his all!



After the race, the kids all went back up to the registration table to get their medals.  Anthony’s cousins were quick to say, “I got first!” and “I got second!”.  I was such a proud Mom when Anthony enthusiastically yelled, “I got last!”  He truly had a blast running with in his first race and was THRILLED to have run.  He was not at all concerned about getting last.



This little guy knows how to make his Momma proud.