My first real home improvement project

I have not loved the builder grade cabinets in our bathrooms upstairs so I decided to paint them.  Brian was a little hesitant as always, but I was willing to do it all by myself.  So I started with the kids bathroom just to see how it would look.  I got a kit called Rustoleum cabinet restoration in espresso and it was great.  It has everything you need to prepare the cabinets and to paint them except brushes and I had those.  So we started off and it only took a few day and the results we amazing.  I forgot to take a picture with the cabinet doors on so you will have to imagine.  I smile everytime I go by their bathroom.  Brian has now agreed that I can do our bathroom!  I can't wait for those pictures!

Before

 After

Valentine's Day at school

I found out 2 days before Valentine's day that the kids were going to have parties at school and needed to bring Valentine's without candy.  To me Valentine's day is all about the candy so it was hard for me to think of what to do and my question is how did we live before the internet and Pintrest!  So I got these free printables for Star Wars ones and printed and punched holes and gave glow sticks.  Piper wanted to give crazy straw so I made a template that said, "Have a Strawesome Valentine's day!"  They turned out great!  Christian's party was a little crazy so no pictures and Piper's class just handed them out.  I was a little proud of myself!

Valentine's Day at home

This year I tried to make Valentine's day special.  The kids got up and we had heart shaped pancakes and bacon, which never happens on a school day.  They got a heart shaped brownie in their lunch and special note from daddy.  Then dinner was on the fancy plates and glasses and Piper even made place cards for everyone.  We had a fun strawberry and sprite drink, with french bread pizza, and strawberries.  I made chocolate cheesecake after a request from my Valentine and my daughter and homemade brownies for my son.  The kids want to have the drink all the time now!  It tastes like a Sonic Strawberry Limeade-we miss Sonic!

Christian's Pinewood derby

Christian joined boy scouts this year and has gotten to do a lot of fun activities.  He got to do a pinewood derby this year and it is amazing how into it some of these dads get.  One of the dads did a lot of research on how to make your car go really fast and win so the troop spent weeks leading up getting their cars ready.  So Christian's car got 2 in his age group-the dad with all the research was on the one that beat him and he go 7th over all, which is kids from 1st grade to 5th grade.

 We were up at 6:30 to get to his first basketball game so he was a little tired!

Nana and Papa visit

 Brian's dad and stepmom came to visit in January just for 2 days.  The kids got to stay home from school and hang out with Nana and Papa. They played ball together, had a dance party, watched a movie, and Papa taught them a new card game called golf.  My kids love to play it and it helps with math skills too.  They brought some Christmas presents which included a make a doll kit for Piper and Nana and Piper had fun making the doll together.  Papa and Nana got to be a part of their first basketball games and Christian's pine wood derby.  Then we went downtown and just gave a quick tour of DC before they had to go home.  We enjoyed their short visit and can't wait for them to come back for a long one.

The golf card game

White House

Christian's boy scout troop has a great leaders that love to go on field trips.  They planned a tour of the White House in January.  So we got up really early on a Saturday and headed into DC.  We all had to get background checks and go through 2 security points to get in the White House.  It is funny because Brian years ago remembers driving down the street in front of the White House where now there are gates and guards.  The White House was really pretty and interesting that you see so many of these rooms on the news when he is doing briefings and interviews.  It was way more tasteful than Buckingham Palace, which I got to tour in 1994.  According to one of the secret service said now if you thought this was hard to get into try and get into Buckingham now.  The kids liked doing a few of the games in the room like finding all the eagles.  I really want to go at Christmas time so that is a project to go then.  You can't take pictures inside, but here are few outside.

 The Boys scouts

We went to Starbucks after with a few other couples and this was a plaque of  the founder of the boy scouts.

Going to Kansas

So the kids had a four day weekend for Martin Luther King Jr. weekend and Brian has a lot of miles on a partner for United that will expire in a year or so... so me and the kids got tickets to go to Kansas for the long weekend.  We left Thursday afternoon and finally got there Thursday night after a delay in Chicago.  We had to change gates 2 times and walk the length of O'Hare a couple of times.  It was the first time the kids had been on a non direct flight and I don't think they want to do it again.  We made it to my parent's house!  We went to Salina to have lunch with Joyce a family friend and pick up my niece for the weekend.  My brothers came down later to spend the weekend with us.  The kids had a great time see Grandma and Papa's new house that they are renovating, playing at the creek, feeding animals, and just having fun with their cousins.  My mom made donuts with the kids and fixed them what they called the best dinner ever-Cheetos, strawberries with sugar to dip them in, mac and cheese, with little smokies.  I am usually a big picture taker at family events, but Piper ended up with a fever the last day and the whole way home on the plane so didn't get a lot of pictures in.  We had a lot of fun and can't wait to go back again!

 Love the rolling backpack and I could stack all of our carry ons.  After going through Chicago from one end to the other the kids got tired of carrying their backpacks.

 My parents new house

 We were going to see if the bald eagles were home and started to walk down to the creek and didn't get very far because they were digging in the road.

 The playhouse they built from things they found