Kid's Bedding

I can't believe that I haven't posted since June! Since getting a smartphone, I confess, I have been relying more on social media to share pictures and tell kiddy stories...

We invested in new bedding for the kid's rooms back in May. Here are the pics:

I wanted to stay away from light colors with the girls, but really, I think we want something brighter!

A Bit of Christmas

I'm not big into decorating.

I love decorations and the tasteful decorating of others, but it's a huge effort for me.

So, since it isn't a priority for me, we don't really have that many decorations.

Our 9 foot pre-lit Christmas tree is an especially huge pain to decorate. (Shawn wants to point out that I was the one who wanted the darn thing... I concede.) Last year, I let the kids decorate the bottom third of the tree and, eventually, Shawn did the other two thirds.

This year, since we will be opening presents with family, we decided that bringing out the big tree was a needless chore. So we just let the kids decorate the small tree.

That is, it was decorated at one point...

I got frustrated with all the ornament-playing at first but just gave up.  ;) Ella has also knocked down the tree once already...

We've also been painting ceramic ornaments. These ended up willy-nilly on the floor and are now piled below the tree.

Averi's been making some decorations in pre-school:

So cute!

Here is our mantel:

You can see our Christmas card holders and the advents that Mom made for me.

Next year, I'm really hoping to get a few more Christmas decorations. Eva is making us stockings this year and so I'd like to get stocking holders and do something like this:

(click on photo to go to post)

Curtain rod suspended between two stocking holders for multiple stockings!

I have a bazillion other Christmas ideas on Pinterest as well, of course.

This is what our table looks like when it is clean!  ;)

I have some garland above the cabinets, otherwise, that's it for Christmas this year!

RS Progressive Dinner

Wednesday evening, my Relief Society had its annual Progressive Dinner. It's kind of like a potluck that occurs in 3 different homes. Women bring the appetizers and desserts while the main course is provided. This year, the main course** was at my house.

**I did not cook the food provided. It was brought over!

The food was fabulous! Phyllo pastry-wrapped chicken, roasted red peppers and spinach was the entrée (which I obviously didn't eat, despite the word "pastry" in the description) and was served with orzo, carrots and asparagus. So delicious!

I got several compliments on my home, despite the fact our new couch hadn't arrived yet and I don't have any decorating blood in me. Our house is pretty bare bones and our very used furniture seriously needs to be retired...

I made sure Shawn heard that people were complimenting his paint job. ;)

More Painting

Shawn has been painting on the main floor again. To keep the kids out of the way, I've been taking them over to mom's. Hasn't been too bad.

How 'bout this crazy snow! Hard to believe we went to a barbeque last Sunday evening! Good thing I got some motorcycle practice in before the drifts piled up!

I got Avi to clap for her first time yesterday, though she hasn't done it since. Her cousin, Claire (a month older), is a professional clapper and so cute!

Avi can now also sit up from a lying position. She tries to pull herself up on everything and everyone. She's getting so big!

House Almost Finished

We've lived here for almost 3 months and the majority of outstanding problems have now been rectified! Our stairway chandelier works (they had forgotten to put in the bulbs!) and our shower has been completed! We still plan on sealing the grout so we won't be using it for a few days yet. Will celebrate by posting pic of ensuite shower! Heck, I'll post a slideshow of our new home. I'll clean one room at a time and go nuts with the camera.

Diana (my sister-in-law) and her family are moving to Calgary! Lake Chaparral to be precise which is like 5 minutes from our house. She promises us lake privileges ;)

Considering visiting Rexburg earlier than April 17. We would travel by car, Shawn would spend the weekend then return to Calgary leaving the kids and I for an extended visit. Shawn would come down with his mom for the originally planned weekend visit and then we'd all go back up together. It is absolutely understood that Wendy (stepmom) would be busy, busy, busy with work but dad says he'd love the time spent. They're always so worried about us being bored when they're gone but what do they think I do when Shawn's working? The only precaution necessary would be to put all precious breakables up! Maybe we could even arrange a visit to Nampa to see Eva. And my cousin, Melissa, has a harp concert in Utah we could attend. Shawn would miss us terribly but would survive. He's so excited to have some time to himself!

Shawn's considering taking a course in Richmond, BC at the end of March. He would achieve his Installer I certificate. It's a home theatre thing. He and his friend, Darryl, are hoping to start a business. Darryl does computer stuff, Shawn the HT. Not sure what the business will be exactly. Anyway, the courses look interesting and I'm excited for anything Shawn's excited for. We'll see what happens!

Trades Day and the Movies

The day has come. Today, all unresolved house issues are supposed to be resolved! There's already a snag of course. The electrician from the lighting company was here and didn't know anything about the stairway chandelier that has never worked. When we moved in, we were told that another one had been ordered and it would take 4-6 wks to come in. We called the lighting company and they had no record of the chandelier being reordered... I'm surprised this wasn't caught earlier as the warranty inspection guy came last month to check our issues and that was one of the things on the list... The electrician was very good with Taylor. He asked Taylor if he wanted to be an electrician when he grew up and Taylor replied, "OK!"

Update: The chandelier had been ordered and sent to Centrex. There was a miscommunication (or should I say no communication) between Centrex and the lighting place as to what the electrician was supposed to do while here (other than Taylor's light being fixed).

The drywaller was chatty. Lesson learned: Never change batteries in front of a 2-yr-old... He'll try to use screwdrivers to fix all electrical toys!

The hardwood guy couldn't fix the hardwood damaged by the builder before possession (due to fridge water line hookup) because they need a plumber to unhook the water line to move the fridge to fix the hardwood. That would've been helpful to know while the plumber had been here! Another thing to wait for, but not major.

The most important trade never made it of course: the tile guys. We still can't use our shower due to grout issues and a fractured tile, our jetted tub still has a gaping hole where the tile needs to be repaired and we still have several cracked tiles throughout the house. We've had several issues with this subcontractor and it's really frustrating.

We took Taylor and Averi to the cheap theatre for our first family movie! We went to a matinee of Enchanted. We had the entire theatre to ourselves which suited me perfectly! Daddy even bought popcorn! Taylor was spellbound for the majority of the show but towards the end started dancing up and down the aisle and in the front of the theatre to the music. It was so amusing! He also clapped along with the characters in one part. He was very well-behaved! Averi actually stayed awake for the whole thing which surprised me. I hope she sleeps well tonight!