The Kitchen

Since we moved in our home, I have wanted to change practically everything in it. Being first time home buyers our eyes our bigger than our budget. So walls that once wore wallpaper have been bare since right after we moved in. This past week Brandon was out of town and I took this opportunity to tackle the Kitchen. I am in love with the green I chose for our wall.

The next three pictures are what the kitchen looked like at the beginning of the week.





The next few pictures are what it looks like now.


I still have the cabinet doors to paint.

This what my clean laundry looks like after a week of ignoring. Makes a great laundry basket right.

I AM TICKED!!!!

I don't even know what to write I am so ticked. I stayed up to almost one in the morning to watch the Phoenix SUNS lose. I don't know what I am more ticked about. That I stayed up way past my bed time and my girls will have a grouchy mom or that the SUNS lost. I think for next years playoffs Brandon needs to transfer to AZ. That way we won't be staying up til one in the morning to see the game. Until next year.

Square Foot Garden!

Yes! We did it. Brandon and I after weeks of collecting all the ingredients for soil, building boxes, and growing seeds have finally finished our Square Foot Gardens. I am convinced that the soil used for the garden is what Adam and Eve had to work with in the Garden of Eden. It smells and feels wonderful. I am so excited to watch the plants grow. I will keep you updated.

Pink Eye!!!!

I always remember the kids in Elementary school that were sent home because of pink eye. I thought those kids were so lucky. Big deal your eye is pink. Well this last week our home has been filled with germs from all different areas. Camden started with the pink eye, cold and cough, earache, and hand, foot, and mouth disease (not the cow hooves and mouth disease). I then got pink eye, cold and cough, sore throat, and earache. Thankfully I did not contract H, F, M disease. Brooklyn now has started with pink eye but of course hers is much worse than mine or Camden's. So I am not looking forward to the next wave of illness to hit Brooklyn. Can't wait to see what Brandon contracts.

Zoo Trip with the Colemans

This past week we were able to take a day off and spend it at our zoo with family. It is a very large zoo so we were not able to see the whole zoo. On their map we noticed they had a Sonora Desert exhibit. Among the main attractions listed on the map are reptiles, roadrunners, and cacti. Oh wow, I was so disappointed we were not able to make it over to see the cacti. Yipppeee! Very exciting. Here are some fun pictures on this outing.

These three were my favorite exhibit. They are so adorable.

Jordan and Madison are so cute. I am so thankful they love being around us even though they are both embarking on the teenage years. I hope they will always enjoy being with us.

Brooklyn had a lot of fun at the zoo. She loves being around her cousins.

Ethan was very serious about imitating a Gorilla. He told us how much he loves Gorillas. He can talk a lot. Brandon tried to out talk him but was not able to succeed.

Gillian thinks it is fun to turn away when I have the camera. I usually catch her when I call her name.

These two girls have so much fun with one another.

This is them not having a lot of fun with one another.

Ethan really wanted to show me how he would hatch out of the large egg. He has an amazing imagination.

The Wedding Singer Musical

I can remember this one summer when my friends and I would go to the dollar theater to watch wedding singer. We went sometimes three times a week because we had to take friends that had not seen it. We would then proceed to dance in the theater at the end of the movie. Lots of good memories with this movie.

Well for my birthday present Brandon bought us tickets to go see "The Wedding Singer Musical." Thanks to Tiffaney and Todd for watching our girls over night we were able to make it a whole evening of fun.

The dancing and singing was great! I did not get up and dance at the end. I think I would have embarrassed Brandon too much. But like the movie I will forever have good memories of going and seeing the play. Thanks Brandon!

Easter

I hope everyone had a great Easter. Everyone in our ward looked adorable. The boys all seemed to be sporting green this Easter. As always any color goes for the girls and they all looked so cute. Here are few pictures of my girls.


Brooklyn is a very gentle sister.

These were obviously taken after church. Camden has food plastered all over her.



I may have to do a fun photo shoot with the girls in their dresses. I am sure Brooklyn would love it. She pranced around the whole day.

A family of beautiful redheads.

Why do people even open their mouths in public? For those that know me well know I come from a large family of beautiful redheads. So no big deal for me when Camden's hair was looking red. Here is a conversation I had with a lady the other day in a store.

Lady: I love the color of her hair!

Me: Thanks! I do too.

Lady: Well, she probably won't like it when she is older.

Me (thinking): Why won't she like her hair when she is older?

Me: Well, she comes from a large family with many redheads. I don't think it will ever be a problem for her.

Lady: Well, it is not obnoxious red. It is just brownish red.

Me (thinking): What!!! What is obnoxious red? She obviously can't pay me a compliment without insulting me.

Me: Well she comes from a family with many bright beautiful redheads so again I don't think it will be a problem? (Exiting the store quickly before I say anything more.)

My beautiful Camden.

My beautiful family.

My beautiful niece Gillian.

That's no golf course! That's our yard!

Thanks to my mom helping with the reseeding in the fall we have a beautiful spring lawn. Brandon, me, and my mom worked hours to reseed front yard and lay down new seed in the backyard. I would say it looks very pretty. We also have our bulbs in full bloom. I love spring!

Soccer Girl!!

Brooklyn is ready to embark on her soccer career. Watch out, she looks tough in her pink soccer gear.

My Science Project

My newest project around the house is growing plants from seed. I am already obsessed with my cute little seedlings. I will really be addicted if they take when transplanted in the ground. It is so fascinating to watch them grow. Here are a few pictures of the progress so far.

Do you know your neighbors?

Thanks to a friend, I now know who my neighbors are. Here is a website to find out who lives around you.
http://www.familywatchdog.us/

What is it?

I saw this strange looking bird's nest in one of our trees confused as to why I have not noticed it. Then I realized that is no bird's nest that is an animal. Can you identify?

Springtime!

I love springtime bulbs. It is so fun to watch these plants come up year after year after a cold winter.

Ravioli!!!!

Brandon and I lately have been trying to keep a very tight budget. So I have been trying not to go to the grocery store more than once a week. Today, I had nothing I could just pull out of the cupboards or the fridge to make dinner quickly just raw ingredients. I pulled out my trusty Better Homes and Garden cookbook and found a recipe for homemade pasta. Never made it, always wanted to but thought it would be too hard without a pasta maker. Well it was very hard but a great workout. I decided I would use some ground turkey to make some stuffed ravioli. They are not the prettiest looking ravioli but it was delicious.

Looks real healthy, right? Next time I will plan to make more of a healthy dish when I have more ingredients to play with.

This is what happens when I am too involved with dinner.

http://www.bhg.com/recipes/recipedetail.jsp?recipeId=R090780

Table for cooking times:
Bow ties, large or tiny 2-3 min
Fettuccine 1.5-2 min
Lasagna 2-3 min
Linguine 1.5-2 min
Noodles 1.5-2 min
Ravioli 7-9 min
Tortellini 7-9 min

Update on Easter Dresses

I can stop feeling sorry for myself or the girls that they will not be wearing those beautiful dresses from Gymboree. I went by the store the other day and right on the tag it read "Dry Clean Only." That is a disaster waiting to happen. I think I will purchase dresses made from the fabric of our lives.