Museum

It would appear that Daniel is picking his nose, and some other kid is sniffing the cow's butt. But at least Tommy and I look good.

Yesterday we bought passes to the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History in honor of Daniel's birthday. It was a pretty good deal if you ask me. $95 for the year, and each visit Tommy and I can bring Daniel and two guests. So if you ever want to go, just let me know!

Bathroom Remodel

When Tommy and I were looking for a house earlier this year I started to think we may never find what we were looking for. We expanded our search area just a bit and found this house listed online. After looking at the pictures online, we knew this was our house. Visiting the house with our realtors was conformation that this was the house for us. At about 30 years old, the previous owners took stellar care of the house, making many upgrades to increase it's value and energy efficiency. Granite counters, CFLs, stainless steel appliances, low-e windows, brand new roof.
But the hall bathroom had received no love since the house was build over 30 years ago. It was in relatively good shape, just very dated, and plain.

BEFORE:














This is what it looked like when we visited before we made an offer. No storage except for the awkward thing over the toilet.



















The previous owners had a thing for toilet paper storage. The wallpaper wasn't too offensive, just way too blah. And what's the point of two mirrors like that? It's not like you can see the back of your head.

I forgot to get a picture of the light fixture before; it was probably the worst part. It was similar to what's in the master bath. It provided poor lighting and was kinda odd.






DURING













This was under the wallpaper.




















AFTER




















We bought something to store towels and various sundry bathroom items in to hang over the toilet.



















We also bought a new vanity since the top of the other one was a very dated color and the wood on the base was cracked. And don't knock the m&ms over the potty. Daniel gets one each time he goes, and he's learning his colors too!



















Tommy removed the mirror and medicine cabinet and replaced it with this one. He also installed a new light fixture. I hope to find some fake lemons and limes at a decent price to put in that empty basket.



















We used the yellow paint we originally bought for the kitchen, but hated in there. I think it looks great in the bathroom, and if we ever get tired of the yellow/green combo, yellow/blue also looks great together.














I made some artwork for the wall, it's not quite what I want, but I hope to fix it just how I want within the next month. The colors look better than this picture shows.

Overall, I am very pleased with how it came out. I am so blessed to have a husband who can use tools and stick with a job until it's finished. The white and yellow are so bright, clean and fresh!

Two

Daniel turns two on Tuesday. We celebrated with some friends yesterday at our house. I do believe a great time was had by all.
The kids and Tommy played outside in the pool and on the slip & slide. Well, some of them did, some were too afraid of the water, and others the grass in the water. We also enjoyed cake (ummy as Daniel calls it).
We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends here. God has taught us much about himself through these families and their presence in our lives.


















































We gave Daniel a tool set but we made him wait to open all the pieces until his friends were gone so it didn't get strewn about (and so he wouldn't have to share). Daniel was so excited about his tools when I mentioned getting ready for bed, he started to throw a fit. So I told him he could take one tool to bed with him. He choose the drill.





Tonight he's sleeping with the hammer.


You can see more photos over at facebook.

Code

Daniel has been talking so much the past few weeks, often repeating things after hearing them only once. I thought I'd share some of his words:

Daniel says~ What it Means

baper~breakfast
ciril~ cereal
bobby/bubby~ zebra
Dada~ Granddad
Bina~ banana or Nana
teddy 'n bear~ teddy bear
bane~ blankey
Bamaw~ Grandma
Bampaw~ Grandpa
raf~ giraffe
Dan-o~ Daniel
Dan-o see yat~ let me see that
peas~ please
mean up~ clean up
dit down~ get down from there
ear~ come sit here
song~ sing to me, or turn the music back up
potty~ I need to pee or I am bored and don't want to sit here doing this anymore
quwar~ car
pone~ phone

There are plenty more; I could go on and on!

Beach 2

Beach

While we were packing for our trip to Houston, I told Daniel about our plans to go to the beach at Galveston with his Nana and Granddad (aka Bena and Dada). He went to his room and pulled out his swimsuit and kept saying "Swim, beach."
On Friday my dad graciously let us use his hotel points for a free stay at a hotel in Galveston; they came out to meet us on Sunday. Daniel fell asleep on the way down, and when we arrived he woke up and said "Beach?"

He really liked being in the water, but didn't want to be held, so we stuck close to the shore even though I would have loved to bob in the waves for a while.


After a hot day on the beach, Daniel was ready for a big drink of water!

Cake, Mama, Cake

This past weekend we went to Houston to visit my parents, and celebrate Daniel's birthday early with them. Mom made Daniel a cake, with farm animals traipsing through a plowed snowy field.
I was pretty impressed that he actually blew out the candles himself. He also called the cow a cow, instead of Moo. My boy is growing up!

Two for the Babies

I recently finished two baby quilts for two good friends. The first one was for Katie who had her first girl after having 3 boys. Born July 28th, Joan Annette was 9lbs 10ozs.





Though I appreciate my lovely model, I regret not getting any better pictures of this quilt.













Hopefully I will get to meet Joan soon!













The next is for my friend Erin who doesn't yet know what she is having and is due in 2 weeks.


The neutral colors came out pretty well, but I prefer to work with a more specific palate.
















I love the versatility of the half square triangle and really enjoyed this pattern.













I used minimal stitch in the ditch quilting and I love how the pattern shows through to the back, this also left for an even softer and fluffier quilt.