The Seven Year Project???

Yes, seven years ago when I was pregnant with our first child we had a fear. If we didn't finish our basement, we never would. Mitch's parents didn't finish their basement until he was like 16. We both knew that money wouldn't go as far with another person under the roof so we set off the finish another living space. In the bathroom, due to cost restraints and no necessity (after all we had two bathrooms and only two people needing to use them in the house) we deferred the bathroom until a later date. So here it has sat for seven years: sheet rocked and painted, but missing the most vital bathroom parts. Mitch has been feeling especially crafty lately and decided that he "wanted" to tile the bathroom. Now with three more people and many family parties, the need is there. His friend Travis (yes, he is a professional, he actually built our house) has ?happily? agreed to teach him a few things. I'll keep you updated on the excitement.

Can It Really Be Over???

Well, we made it. Our cruise was very enjoyable. I could have done with less airplane time and more cruising, but you do what you must to get to the tropical islands. I am most excited that I have something new to blog about. Those of you who read my blog know that it is usually about my kids. I love bragging them up, but it is nice to have grown up time as well. The worst part was leaving Ellie. Every little kid I saw made me think of her and how much I should be home with her. My mothers said that she woke up every night asking for me. Talk about a heart breaker, but in the end we are all happy with the vacation outcome. The kids got some sleepovers and Mitch and I got some ALONE time. We visited three of the 100 islands that are included in the Bahamas. It was all I had imagined and more. The best part was walking barefoot in the sand. This is nothing like swimming at Glendale! No rocks, broken bottles, or driftwood to maneuver around. There was plenty of sunshine, sand and water as far as the eye could see. On our last night there was a huge moon that was shining on the sea as we were in the middle of no where, wow, it was literally breathtaking. I highly recommend a vacation to all of you who are burnt out. The biggest bummer was waking up to six inches of SNOW this morning. I guess it is back to the real world. Our "housekeeper" went a step further and included a pair of sunglasses on the funny towel creations.

So, what did you do???

We had two big activities planned. They were to go snorkeling and parasailing. I must admit that neither of them disappointed us. Mitch got a couple of shots of me in the water. We asked our friendly parasailing helpers to get some memorable shots. I felt good about the parasailing, once we were in the air, until a piece of metal began squeaking. The worst thought in your mind at 400 feet above the water, while strapped to a heavy metal bar and gigantic parachute is that you are going down. Mitch kept asking all weekend if a person could survive that fall. He questioned everywhere from the top deck of the cruise ship, to the height of our parasailing adventure. I told him to quit asking me. If we were going to fall I didn't want to know that it was going to kill me. There was three spots in the rope, when full extended, that it was starting to fray. I had my eye on it the whole time we were in the boat, but once in the air who knows what was going on down there.

Random Shots...

Overall we had a great time. Here a few more snapshots of our sightseeing, and of course our fancy dinner. Thanks Charee for letting me borrow the necklace. It matched perfectly. Mitch thought putting me in the stockade was hilarious (he wanted the picture by the cannons.) Hopefully we came back with enough memories to last the next ten years.

TAG!!

Fun Facts...
So I got tagged by Katie...the idea of the excercise is for you to know more about my husband. You know the old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words, or in this case a thousand laughs. Please remember we were awkward teenagers, too.

1. Where did you meet your husband? He was a friend of my brothers. We were only one year apart in school so I also new him from there. This is one of the first pictures we have together. I think that I might be like ten.

2. How long did you date before you got married? too long... we started dating when we were quite young in school.

3. How long have you been married? Next month will be ten years (our excuse to take a big vacation).4. What does he do to surprise you? He will randomly shave off all of his facial hair. One time he hadn't shaved for five years, I swear, and I came home from work to find a strange man in my kitchen. Scared the daylights out of me!!! He is currently clean shaven because he doesn't want his snorkel to leak on him on our trip.

5. Your favorite feature of his? Those baby blue eyes

6. What is his best quality? I always marvel at a man's strength. I don't know how they are so much stronger than women, but they just are.

7. Does he have a nickname for you? No, we've never really had pet names for each other. I guess most often he refers to me as "honey."

8. What is his favorite food? That is a tough one. He loves to eat. I would guess pizza, but He also loves Mexican.

9. What is his favorite sport? Football

10. Where and when did you first kiss? After a football game, he had walked me to the grocery store, to use the pay phone, so I could call for a ride and he kissed me in the parking lot.

11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? I would guess date night (that is actually in the afternoon). We'll get a sitter during Ellie's nap and go catch a cheap matinee. It seems that our interests are not very a like after all these years. Or, maybe it is after all these kids. It is hard to pick up and do things for just the two of us. As a family we love off roding. Here he is holding Ellie at the top of the German dugway, and then all the kids garbed up on a trip to Bloomington.

12. Do you have any children? Yes, Hudson (6) Chevy (4) and Ellie (2).

13. Does he have any hidden talents? Yes, but most that he would never admit too. He is always looking for something new to learn. The last big project was making chainsaw bears.

14. How old is he? Barely a day over 21!!!

15. Who said I love you first? I don't remember, but I am sure it was me. I am a hopeless romantic.

16. What is his favorite music? You name it, he listens to it. A lot depends on were he is. During hunting season he seems to revert back to classic country. On a normal day is MP3 player will have rap, rock, metal, country and everything in between.

17. What do you admire most about him? The way he plays with the kids. He gets so giddy when they can't find him during hide-and-seek or when he outsmarts them during tag. I don't think most women play like men.

18. What is his favorite color? I always thought that it was forest green, but he once told me that it was blue. I must admit, I am not sure, but I don't think he is either. He never picks anything blue.

19. Will he read this? Unlikely, he thinks blogging is silly.

20. I tag.....Dawn, Steph and Jackie

Woo Hoo Look Who's Two!!

I can hardly believe that my baby is two. It just doesn't seem like it has been two years since we were blessed with this beautiful baby girl. Here are a few pictures of her "Curious George" birthday. She loves George a lot so I couldn't help but include him in our birthday plans. I was really excited with how good the cake turned out. I had a lot of doubts going in to the project. Ellie got a cell phone and a new bike. Our old bike has literally had the wheels "rode off" by all three of them. Hopefully, this one will get as much use. I'm not sure who taught her to talk on the cell phone while driving?

Not A Good Idea...

Note to self...When your child brings home a large flexible paper requesting you to GLUE 100 objects on it. Don't follow the directions. School has been in session for 100 days. Explanation for Hudson's stylish glasses. Hudson was sent home an assignment to make a poster for the 100 days. I was skeptical that gluing things on would stay, especially after the hour bus ride to school. I, however, helped him glue 100 pieces of red dyed rice to the paper, folded it as neatly as possible and then sending a baggy with extra grains just in case. Well, when he got to school most of the grains had fallen off. He couldn't find the bag with the extra pieces, I must have hidden it in the bottom of the backpack(yes it is always mom's fault even though they were right ther when I opened the backpack). He tried to glue the grains he could find back on. Without a complete 100 hundred count. What a mess, next time I will go against the instructions and let him stamp 100 pictures on it. I guess you have to live and learn.

Happy 24th Birthday?

For as long as I can remember, my mom has had her 24th birthday. Even now, that four of her children are older than that, she insists on staying the same age. When I made her birthday cake I had extra frosting, so I couldn't resist putting her "age" on the cake.

SUPERBOWL!!!

It has become tradition to enjoy the Superbowl at our house for the last several years. My family likes the idea of the big game on the big screen. We had a great time. All but one of my brothers was there, and all of the grand kids. They had so mush fun playing together. We enjoyed the preview to the new cartoon movie with the help of our "awesome" 3-D glasses. Thanks to Kori, I didn't know anything about that part. I think in this last picture we were putting the new couch to the test of how many people could really fit. I think one time I counted 18!! What a great way to enjoy a great football game.