Beautiful Boys

Some early morning shots of the boys, before breakfast even, up at my parents house. Danny was trying to climb up onto the rails like his big brother does. When he got frustrated and upset I couldn't resist snapping a picture of his alligator tears. Austin is such a good sport when it comes to my obsessive picture taking! I love how the last picture shows off his freckles.

So Handsome

Here are some pics I took of the boys the other day. Austin was being such a good little model but all Danny wanted to do was tackle Austin. Needless to say the shoot didn't last very long but I still got some shots that I really liked!

More Progress on the Stairs!

Here is the latest pic of the stairs! Bryce has been working so hard the last couple of days to get this done. I have always wanted to have a stairway with beadboard like this! I stenciled the Parisian Damask on the walls and painted all the non matching frames black.

Here is a close up of the stencil:

Now for some pictures of the more technical aspects. All the stairs have gaps between each other and the wall (I seriously wonder if the people who originally put it in were paying any attention at all!). So Bryce is going to trim out each stair as shown below to make it all look seamless.

The next creative, technical issue to fix is the banisters and the corresponding holes already drilled into the stairs. They are currently not to code (hahaha - imagine that!). We need to double the amount of banisters but where the holes are not drilled in to where we could just easily add another banister. Bryce thought of trying to plug the current holes but that would be big and obvious so he came up with this idea instead. Now we can drill where the holes should be!

It is all really starting to come together. Bryce has had to hand measure and cut each and everyone of these pieces and every step for the beadboard. It hasn't been easy but it is looking so good!

So Very Tweet

Here is a box I made to hold the "Sweet Surprises" that I will be giving away at each of my stamp club workshops! I took a chipboard box and covered it using the Delicate Dots designer paper. I edged the top with the Eyelet Border punch. For the inner edge I used the Scallop Border punch. I then used the same paper to cover the On Board So Tweet chipboard pieces. I used the Top Note Sizzix die to make the tweet label. I punched the corners with a Crop-a-dile and then added the bows at the corners with the White Taffeta ribbon. (all supplies are through Stampin' Up! except the box - I picked that up somewhere along the way and I don't remember where now!) Above is a sneak peek of what will be in the box this month :)

Valentine's Day

Valentine's day this year was very simple and sweet. I woke up to cinnamon rolls in bed (yummy!) and a bouquet of eleven roses from Bryce. Our very first date was on Valentine's day 11 years ago and so I get a rose for every year. I think soon he will just start buying me rose bushes! Austin also got me a rose and drew me a card with daffodils on it.
Bryce had to work so the boys and I kept busy at home. Austin and I made cookies and enjoyed eating them with hot cocoa. Luckily Bryce was not having a crazy night so we were able to meet up for dinner at our favorite local taqueria.
We had a real Valentine's date on Monday. We went out to dinner at Rosie's McCann's, an Irish pub in downtown Santa Cruz that has become one of our favorite spots. We did a little shopping at Borders and a little gourmet kitchen shop and then went to see the movie "Push", which we both really enjoyed! It is always such a treat when we get to go out and enjoy just being together!

One Year Anniversary!

One year ago today we bought our house. It has been a lot of work and some days it feels as though we have accomplished nothing. So to remind myself of how far we have come I put together some before and after shots of the progress we have made so far.

The Upper Retaining Wall
About 90 railroad ties later we were done!

The Lower Retaining Wall
We used logs left over from the trees that were cut down to create the lower wall.
The Driveway
Notice the quality of sunlight in the second pic? That is because we cut down enough trees to finally get some sunlight! We are currently stalled on the driveway until the weather dries out a bit and we can get 2 stumps removed.
The Staircase
Before it had paint overspray on one side and some sort of dark stain on the other, plus hundreds of nails and staples. We got all the nails and staples out, did a rough sand, patched all the holes from the nails and staples (hence the polka dot appearance). It is now waiting for the fine sanding and lacquering. We also got the walls painted. We will be adding beadboard along the side as well sometime in the future.
The Hallway Light Fixture
I don't miss that previous fixture at all!
The Hallway
I really can't believe what a difference the doors, trim and paint have made!

The Bathroom
We still have so much to do in the bathroom but as you can see it has already come a long way!

Hallway to the Bathroom
I put the handles on the cabinets all by myself! Whoo hoo!
We went to Home Depot today and picked out the crown molding and trims for the walls. My next big project is to get started sanding the kitchen cabinets which we will then trim out and paint white!

An Update for Mom

My mom has requested that I put up some pics of the improvements that we have been doing lately. So here they are. Keep in mind that all these projects are in mid stage and no where near done!

This is a little art/homework center that I carved out for Austin. It is right next to my craft desk so he can work on his projects while I work on mine! I got the tin buckets at Micheal's for only $1 each. They work great at keeping him organized!We got the new doors and trim up and painted! They look amazing but now all the walls look really bad! We also got the carpet laid down in the storage/laundry/craft/guest room.
And here is the bathroom. We got a shower enclosure put up! It is so much better than having plastic tacked up over the concrete board! We still have a ton of spackling, taping, sanding and texturing to do. Then we can paint the walls. I will also be painting the shelves and mirror (black)so they all match. This will be the project we are attacking this coming week.
This is just a really cute picture of Danny wrangling the cat.

Still playing with my phone

I love that my phone takes decent pictures now. I am having a lot of fun playing with it. The boys like it because they can see themselves on the outside display of the phone as I am taking a picture from the inside display. Here are some pictures from our walk to the mailbox today.

Lazy day

I have been so wonderfully lazy this morning. I got to sleep in til 9! I let Austin have a complete cartoon morning. Danny has been down for a nice, long nap. So I spent some time exploring craft blogs and sites. I wanted to share some of the fun things I found.
A lot of the links I found through a site called Creature Comforts. They have a great D.I.Y and Freebie section.

I love these glasses from Fishs Eddy! They are so whimsical and fun!

And these cards by Little Brown Pen. You can download the template here.
I think this is my life's motto . . .

D.I.Y Re purposed Paperback Apple Sculpture. Here is the tutorial
These are so beautiful! These are some of the wallpapers you can get from the MaryJane's Farm site. My dad picked up one of her magazines several years ago and brought it home because of some of the recipes. Well, I picked it up, looked at it and have been hooked ever since. She runs an organic farm up in Idaho (it is also a bed and breakfast - it is on my to do list to stay there someday). I just love everything about it!
Now I am off to sneak in a shower before Danny wakes up. Then I think the boys and I will put on our mud gear and go outside to enjoy the patches of sun we have shining through the clouds!

Actually Officer . . .

"Actually officer I'm pretty sure you can't arrest a baby for reckless driving. so . . we'll just be on our way"

HaHaHa - this one made me really laugh! Especially because Bryce had someone try to fight a ticket last week and the reasoning was that because he wasn't drunk he shouldn't get a speeding ticket!

A Walk with the Boys

The weather has been so beautiful! I know we really need the rain but I can't help loving the time we spend outside. The boys and I walked down to get the mail and I took my new cell phone (an LG enV, just in case you were wondering) to test out the camera feature. I must say I think they come out pretty decent. Danny walked the whole way, which is a first for him. Normally he makes it all the way down but wants me to carry him back up the hill. We took our time, letting him explore and pick up stick after stick! Austin was being an unhappy bug because he saw a tricycle that someone had abandoned when they moved (it was totally covered in blackberries in the front yard of a house that is for sale). He said it made him to sad to smile for the pictures.