2 Pea's Blog Challenge

Okay, this is the first time I've joined a Blog Challenge, so here goes! This is from 2 Peas in a Bucket.

Challenge: What kinds of things stop you from creating?

1. I'm 35 weeks pregnant, and just too tired after the kids are in bed.
2. We are installing laminate downstairs and trying to get as much done as possible before I give birth.
3. 2 words: Declan and Teagan ('nuf said)
4. Message boards taunting me, I waste most 'spare' time I have reading message boards.... looking for inspiriation ironically.

Flooring, flooring, flooring... and a surprise!

There was a ScrapJazz crop at my local scrapbook store on Saturday. I was afraid that if I could go, that it would be late. Well, as Saturday progressed with the flooring installation, I decided not to bring it up. My friend Cheri called around 5:30 and said I'd better get my hiney over there..... they had a surprise (several actually) for me. So, of course, off I went. The girls had planned a baby shower for me, and unfortunately several of them had already left. Oh my goodness, I was beyond touched, and sooooo appreciate the thoughtfulness of my friends! I got some clothes, blankets, a beautiful hand crochet blanket, shoes, bibs - and CAKE! I know the pictures are little, I'll see if I can get them emailed to me instead.

So, back to the flooring..... yeah..... ummmmm. Well, laminate flooring is sold like it's so easy to install, even a caveman can do it. It really is a lot more work than they let on. After the tile demolition, we were hoping that everything else would go quickly and smoothly. I'm pretty sure that we (Greg) have a system down now, but we had quite the learning curve. We would lay 8 pieces down, ruin the last one, tear out 5 of them, and ruin 3 of those. We were fearing we didn't order enough for all the screw ups. As the weekend progressed though, we made headway and although we won't be done for another weekend or so, it's definitely looking better!

And then lastly, here are some photos of the kiddos 'riding' the brooms like horses. I got them these cute red felt cowboy hats at Wally. It was all Teagan's idea, and they ran all over the place saying "YeeHaw!" I think Teagan rode her horse backward half the time, but she didn't care. These kids are just plain silly.

Give a girl a pink convertable and see what happens...

So I saw this little pink convertable on Craigs List, and we decided to use the $$ from Teagan's birthday to get it for her. She thinks it's pretty cool (but she's pretty sure it originally came from Pinnacle Peak Nissan because of the stickers/pin striping all over it - we're working on taking some of those off.....). Declan likes it too, and isn't too embarrassed to be seen in a pink car. It has a remote control, so I can 'drive' for her. I think her favorite part is getting in and out 1,000,000 times a day....... she is just a little bit of a ham. ETA: Teagan is going to ask for chrome spinners for Christmas!

I also finished 'altering' my ATG tape gun. What is an ATG tape gun you ask? Well, take a lookey here

And then take a lookey here to see mine ~ blinged out!


It was red when I got it, but that just wouldn't do. It needed to match the rest of my scrapping tools, and looks cute in my scrap tote. Anywhoooo, I've got to get scrappin so I can use this baby.

The current status of our version of Extreme Makeover - Home Edition; cement through out the family room, kitchen, laundry room, walkway to front door and entry. We decided I couldn't go without use of the washer and dryer, so Greg moved them back for me. The refrigerator and stove are in the family room.

I need to get busy painting the walls behind where the stove is going to go, and some baseboards. We are planning on putting down the underlayment and laminate this weekend. May the force be with us....... Just wish Nana was here to keep the kids busy!

High fevers & concrete floors & snotty noses, OH MY!

Oh. My. Goodness.

Where to start? Teagan got some sort of hideous virus, and she was down and out for like 10 days. I could not break this poor childs fever, she was miserable, and we felt so bad for her.

We've been wanting to redo the flooring downstairs for many, many months. We bought the laminate and new baseboards, numerous cool tools and lots of supplies to get the job done. While I was 'croppin' at a new scrapbook store called Green Tangerine in Rocklin, Greg started to break out the tile in the kitchen and tear out the carpet. We ended up renting a tile stripper and Greg spent the entire day on the 4th doing this:

Needless to say, the air quality in our house was crap. Oh, and did I mention that Otis completely broke out in hives. Yeah, there truly never is a dull moment at this house....

My scrap spot.....

I was very fortunate to redo my space at Christmas time. Previously I scrapped on a table and couldn't figure out why my back/neck always ended up sore. Then I realized it was because I like to stand while I scrap. So off to Ikea we went.....

The table is height adjustable, which is perfect for me! I desperately needed a bookcase to store my supplies in a relatively small space, and of course it had to look good. I cut about 1/4" off the Cropper Hopper vertical paper storage and they fit perfectly into the Expedit bookcase. The baskets are cool too, because I have quite a bit in the them, they hide the mess.

I love the shelf above my worksurface. Greg installed a few undercabinet lights on the underside. He also hung the way cute overhead light. My barstool height chair was the bargain of the century, I got it in the AS-IS dept for $26 (it was filthy). Nothing a little bit of Tide couldn't take care of. Greg says I smiled the whole way home!

I have all of my ribbon in jars, which means that if I see them, I'll use them. In the altered colander are some odds and ends, I love to dig through it when I'm looking for something. Just above my workspace is a bar with hanging metal baskets, I think this is my favorite part, just is soooo cool!

It was a lot of fun organizing all of my things, and I really wish I had more time to actually scrap in it! Heck, I just wish I had more time......

Posting 2 times in 1 day?!

Here are some more from our trip to Monterey!

Bart and Declan

Rip tide waves across from our Hotel in Seaside, we could barely keep the Bean out of the surf!

Bean in her swimsuit (don't ask what Declan is doing in the background ~ we have no idea how he has his feet like that...)

Hey, who took this picture?!

Today I thought I would post some pictures of the kids in the pool we bought for Teagan's birthday. They swam in it almost everyday for a week, then it got too hot for me to sit out there and watch them..... (that whole pregnant in the summer thing is really catching up with me!).

Speaking of which, I am 31 weeks as of yesterday. I likely won't go the full 40 weeks, so that means that we could have a new rugrat around these parts as soon as 6 or so weeks. Good Lord! I really need to get my act together.......

Anyhoooooo...... here are some swim photos