Doug and I pulled all the pieces out of their boxes, set up the scene and then I started singing Christmas songs.
It was much more fun taking them OUT of all their boxes and styrofoam than putting them back.
THANKS MOM!!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Christmas in June
Last year, right before Christmas, I had an idea for a gift my mom could get us over time. For holidays and birthdays she has been buying the china set my little brother and his wife want, so I thought that would be a great idea for the Willow Tree Nativity Set. My mom called on Thursday and told me a package was coming for us on Monday. Of course I can't stand waiting so I tried online searching for companies that are in LaCrosse Wisconsin (that's where it was coming from) - there are 4500 companies registered in WI. FINE! I had to wait. When I got home yesterday there was a large box for me to rip open.
County Fair
We ended our week with a trip to the county fair with a couple friends. I made a few goat friends while we were there. 
They had a classic car show, rides, games, animals…all the normal stuff you’d find at a fair. 
After walking around for a while we sat and ate a late dinner and shared stories. 
Before we left, we watched a hypnotist; their shows are always pretty funny since they have audience members acting like weirdoes.
OH, the first thing we saw when we got to the fair was someone getting arrested. It was free to get in, so I can imagine the craziness that could/would happen. There were officers all over the place.
They had a classic car show, rides, games, animals…all the normal stuff you’d find at a fair. After walking around for a while we sat and ate a late dinner and shared stories. Before we left, we watched a hypnotist; their shows are always pretty funny since they have audience members acting like weirdoes.OH, the first thing we saw when we got to the fair was someone getting arrested. It was free to get in, so I can imagine the craziness that could/would happen. There were officers all over the place.
Chris and Athina
On Friday evening, Chris and Athina were married. Congrats you guys!! We ALMOST drove to their hotel to decorate before they got there. The hotel didn’t offer a honeymoon package, so we were going to do it ourselves. The front desk was really nice and willing to let us into their room to decorate, but it wasn’t going to work out. It would have been about 200+ miles round trip and the time to decorate; it was already 8pm and Doug had to work the next day.
Company Bowling Party
We met Doug’s coworkers for an evening of bowling, prizes and food. I did fairly well for our first game, but not so well after that. It’s too hard on my hands/wrists since I spend all day typing at work. Doug won a set of power tools during their raffle.
The bowling alley has red pins that cycle through the games. If you got a red pin as the head pin and bowled a strike you would get a free game. I got 5 chances to win a free game and got one. Doug didn’t get any red head pins; we figured they knew he could throw strikes so they didn’t want to give him free games all night.
Here are some of the guys trying to mess up each other’s games. 
The bowling alley has red pins that cycle through the games. If you got a red pin as the head pin and bowled a strike you would get a free game. I got 5 chances to win a free game and got one. Doug didn’t get any red head pins; we figured they knew he could throw strikes so they didn’t want to give him free games all night.Here are some of the guys trying to mess up each other’s games.
Tomato and a Flower
We have our first red tomato! I know, I know, try to contain your excitement. LOL The tomato in the picture below has already been eaten and there's another one ready, so we technically have a second red tomato.
This flower is really weird because this cactus has been sad looking for years and out of nowhere it got a random brown fuzzy thing on it. I thought it was finally dying since it was growing an ugly brown thing. Nope! A pretty, yellow flower bloomed, but the flower only lived for a day or two.
This flower is really weird because this cactus has been sad looking for years and out of nowhere it got a random brown fuzzy thing on it. I thought it was finally dying since it was growing an ugly brown thing. Nope! A pretty, yellow flower bloomed, but the flower only lived for a day or two.
Funny Menu, Cool Drawer and Stains
I went to dinner with a couple girlfriends a few weeks back and forgot about the picture I took of the menu. Do you want the cheese, chicken, beef, or cheese quesadilla? I think I’ll have cheese, no wait….cheese. Oh, I can’t decide. How about cheese? 
This is the coolest drawer. I took Doug to Lowe’s to see what I was trying to describe and took a picture of it. It has two sections; when you pull the drawer open, you can slide the upper portion back. SO NEAT! I think I would want a little more room between the layers though; the top layer is so close that it would probably be hard to keep everything underneath stacked nicely.
Here are the colors we’ve been staring at for our entertainment center. We were trying to figure out which of the 4 tiles we wanted and then decided we wanted the lower left color, but with more red in it to match the kitchen and existing furniture better. The color of the china hutch (which is the color under the 4 tiles) is perfect, so I pulled a shelf out to take to the cabinet maker. 
This is the coolest drawer. I took Doug to Lowe’s to see what I was trying to describe and took a picture of it. It has two sections; when you pull the drawer open, you can slide the upper portion back. SO NEAT! I think I would want a little more room between the layers though; the top layer is so close that it would probably be hard to keep everything underneath stacked nicely.Here are the colors we’ve been staring at for our entertainment center. We were trying to figure out which of the 4 tiles we wanted and then decided we wanted the lower left color, but with more red in it to match the kitchen and existing furniture better. The color of the china hutch (which is the color under the 4 tiles) is perfect, so I pulled a shelf out to take to the cabinet maker.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Patio Cover is Done!
Petkus finished the patio cover Friday afternoon and Doug and Matt got our citrus trees planted in the ground.
It's so nice to check off 2 more projects from our To Do list. I really hope our trees don't kick off all their fruit because of the shock to their system being in the ground now.
I was moving dirt over to our soon-to-be garden area and Kevin stopped by to see the patio cover. Then after he took the wood from the tractor work (I am SO grateful he took that wood to throw out for us!! It has been such a nuisance), I decided to sit outside with a thermometer to check the difference under the patio cover and out in the sun. Under the patio cover the temperature was 76 degrees, but sitting out in the sun was about 82 degrees, but it got up to 90 degrees. That's a pretty big difference from 76 to 82 degrees. I also kept stepping, barefoot, on the cement in the sun and under the patio cover; even at 2pm it was cool to the touch under the patio cover. It seems like such a simple thing, but it's amazing to have shade in our backyard!
This is underneath to show the solid and open lattice:
From upstairs:
Look! It's 2pm and we have shade! AND the wood is GONE! (it was leaning against that fence for a couple months!)
There were landscapers fixing the grass at the neighbors house; I asked them about the grass and house they were working on. They had to come back and re-sod the yard because the owner told them not to turn the sprinklers on because they had a plumbing leak. Who the heck plants new grass and doesn't water it?? What a waste! Anyways, we chatted about the new patio cover and the permit and neighbor signatures needed for improvements; then about an hour later one guy hops up on the fence to look into our backyard and says how much he likes our backyard and then said, "If I were your neighbor, I wouldn't sign for an improvement because I'd be jealous of your yard." Then he hopped off the fence and kept on working. I was cracking up!
P.S. After Kevin took the wood away, there was the biggest black widow I've ever seen. I, of course, sprayed it with Raid. It kept moving, so I kept spraying and spraying. Then I found a fairly long stick and poked at it. After 5 minutes I went back to see it it was still there and sprayed it again and again. It wouldn't stop moving. AND, I even took a picture of it! How brave am I????!!!!! Okay, not very brave....I can't put the picture on the blog because I'll freak out if I see it.
It's so nice to check off 2 more projects from our To Do list. I really hope our trees don't kick off all their fruit because of the shock to their system being in the ground now.I was moving dirt over to our soon-to-be garden area and Kevin stopped by to see the patio cover. Then after he took the wood from the tractor work (I am SO grateful he took that wood to throw out for us!! It has been such a nuisance), I decided to sit outside with a thermometer to check the difference under the patio cover and out in the sun. Under the patio cover the temperature was 76 degrees, but sitting out in the sun was about 82 degrees, but it got up to 90 degrees. That's a pretty big difference from 76 to 82 degrees. I also kept stepping, barefoot, on the cement in the sun and under the patio cover; even at 2pm it was cool to the touch under the patio cover. It seems like such a simple thing, but it's amazing to have shade in our backyard!
This is underneath to show the solid and open lattice:From upstairs:Look! It's 2pm and we have shade! AND the wood is GONE! (it was leaning against that fence for a couple months!)There were landscapers fixing the grass at the neighbors house; I asked them about the grass and house they were working on. They had to come back and re-sod the yard because the owner told them not to turn the sprinklers on because they had a plumbing leak. Who the heck plants new grass and doesn't water it?? What a waste! Anyways, we chatted about the new patio cover and the permit and neighbor signatures needed for improvements; then about an hour later one guy hops up on the fence to look into our backyard and says how much he likes our backyard and then said, "If I were your neighbor, I wouldn't sign for an improvement because I'd be jealous of your yard." Then he hopped off the fence and kept on working. I was cracking up!P.S. After Kevin took the wood away, there was the biggest black widow I've ever seen. I, of course, sprayed it with Raid. It kept moving, so I kept spraying and spraying. Then I found a fairly long stick and poked at it. After 5 minutes I went back to see it it was still there and sprayed it again and again. It wouldn't stop moving. AND, I even took a picture of it! How brave am I????!!!!! Okay, not very brave....I can't put the picture on the blog because I'll freak out if I see it.
Rivercats Game
Our friend, Peter, called and invited us to a Rivercats game. We had fun, but once the sun went down it got so cold.
Oh my heck! They had the Nestle Quik Bunny and a Chocolate Milk Drink run a race. I thought it was really fun because my family has been drinking Nestle Quik for longer than I can remember. I don't think I've ever lived without a container of it in a cupboard. Look Justin...the bunny is REAL! LOL!
I don't know if you ever watched the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, but there was an episode where Will and Carlton went to Vegas and Carlton gambled their money away. They entered a dance contest to win money to get home. The song they danced to was "Get on it" and the dance was hysterical (it's on youtube.com if you want to see it). The guys that come out to smooth the dirt during the game danced to that song with the same dance. I was cracking up and dancing with them:
It was law enforcement night so there was a helicopter flyover, an airplane flyover, and when Dinger tried to steal a base, the CHP chipmunk chased him down:
Oh my heck! They had the Nestle Quik Bunny and a Chocolate Milk Drink run a race. I thought it was really fun because my family has been drinking Nestle Quik for longer than I can remember. I don't think I've ever lived without a container of it in a cupboard. Look Justin...the bunny is REAL! LOL!I don't know if you ever watched the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, but there was an episode where Will and Carlton went to Vegas and Carlton gambled their money away. They entered a dance contest to win money to get home. The song they danced to was "Get on it" and the dance was hysterical (it's on youtube.com if you want to see it). The guys that come out to smooth the dirt during the game danced to that song with the same dance. I was cracking up and dancing with them:It was law enforcement night so there was a helicopter flyover, an airplane flyover, and when Dinger tried to steal a base, the CHP chipmunk chased him down:
Patio Cover Day 1
Day one began a little later than expected, but they made great progress.
I didn't quite expect this outside of our bedroom window:
I didn't quite expect this outside of our bedroom window:
Patio Cover Prep
I got a call on Tuesday that Petkus Brothers had room to build our patio cover on Thursday and Friday. So, we had to move the table and chairs, unhook the BBQ, and I decided to power wash the concrete. It was all clean and ready to go. Of course, during the cleaning we came across spiders. I grabbed my trusty Raid and sprayed along the house. Then I saw little green critters hopping around - they were baby grasshoppers - some died because I didn't see them before I sprayed them with Raid. Here's one I was trying to catch: (it's in the middle of the photo)
We're ready to go! Bring on the patio cover!
We're ready to go! Bring on the patio cover!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Party Time
It was a fun evening and it was great to see Doug's siblings all together again; the last time they were all together was almost 3 years ago. It was really nice to get to know a few of them better; especially since a couple were staying with us.
Everyone was at our house when Doug's parents arrived. We had Sheri and Denise hide in the bedroom and while Doug's mom was taking photos of her kids, Denise and Sheri came out and stood in line for photos and then they asked Ellen to come join them for a photo. As she looked up to walk over to be in the photo she saw Denise; it was so great to see the excitement in her face. Then Doug told her to stand on the other side for the photo and she looked over and saw Sheri and was so surprised again. I'm so happy her birthday was memorable and she was able to have her children all together again.
Friday ended up being such a windy day! The Weather Channel said our winds were 23mph; so much for eating and playing outside. After photos, everyone grabbed food and found a place to sit and chat. The wind died down a little bit, so the kids were able to go outside and play. I bought sidewalk chalk, bubbles, cups and ping pong balls for games. We also had a few other random toys that the kids had fun with; I think they were toys from Easter baskets my mom got Doug and me.
The ping pong balls and cups with water in them lasted a little while and the chalk and bubbles ended up being mixed together. Oh, we also had a tomato sacrificed for the party. 
I still haven't cleaned the screen door or the concrete outside.
The ping pong balls and cups with water in them lasted a little while and the chalk and bubbles ended up being mixed together. Oh, we also had a tomato sacrificed for the party. I still haven't cleaned the screen door or the concrete outside.Party Prep
It was finally time for the long awaited surprise party for Doug's mom. It ended up being a semi-surprise party because Doug's brother Mark flew out early and she knew they were coming up to our house for dinner, but what she didn't know what all of her kids were in town to surprise her.
Here is a photo of the mess of stuff we took upstairs. Although I don't think I should have to child proof my home because other people are bringing kids over, I live in reality and things happen; we bought a baby gate too.
Here are the cupcakes I was making. I tried 2 different ways to see which would work better:
As you can see below, the upright cones overflowed instead of rising up and the upside down cones lifted and tipped over as they baked. I kept opening the oven to straighten the cones, but they wouldn't stay.
Doug's sisters, Denise and Sheri, were staying with us for the weekend and Denise helped me decorate our cones.
One of the cones look like a bite was taken out; we were trimming the extra cake and a chunk came off one, so we decided to leave it with a "bite" in it for Doug.
Here is a photo of the mess of stuff we took upstairs. Although I don't think I should have to child proof my home because other people are bringing kids over, I live in reality and things happen; we bought a baby gate too.
Here are the cupcakes I was making. I tried 2 different ways to see which would work better:As you can see below, the upright cones overflowed instead of rising up and the upside down cones lifted and tipped over as they baked. I kept opening the oven to straighten the cones, but they wouldn't stay.Doug's sisters, Denise and Sheri, were staying with us for the weekend and Denise helped me decorate our cones.
One of the cones look like a bite was taken out; we were trimming the extra cake and a chunk came off one, so we decided to leave it with a "bite" in it for Doug.
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