Our New House!!!

Okay, I know... I've been the worst blogger ever. My last post was about the circus, and that was back in August. Wow. Perhaps I went into a terrible blogging depression since I didn't win the circus tickets. Actually, that was probably my fault too, since I stopped entering to win-- since my husband told me that we weren't going to drive for 8 hours to see the circus, even if we did get free tickets.. Fiiiine..

But! We have exciting news that warrants a new beginning in our family blogging activity...

We bought a home!! Hoorayyyyy! We just recently bought a 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bathroom town house in Glendale, Arizona. It's excellent. In fact, you should come see it!

But in case you're busy today or this week, I'll include a couple pictures for your viewing pleasure.

The outside--- now, there was a HUGE hail storm like, a month before we moved in, so the master bedroom window was broken by that. And our HOA is going to replace it, but there are a TON of windows that need to be done in our complex, so they're trying to do the best they can. At least we don't have to replace it! So, we're the end unit-- and we have the absolute best neighbor ever. (The neighbor next to her--they're renters and, meh, I wouldn't mind if they moved out, but at least our next door neighbor is AWESOME.)

And here's our living room-- it's RED. We planned to paint it right away, but now that we've been seeing how time consuming our other projects are, we're liking the red more and more. (And as a side note- there's not actually a dot on the wall.. I think that may have been a reflection on the camera lens or something..) Now, I planned to add more pictures, but I usually add the pictures first and then type-- that way I don't have to keep reorganizing everything. Buuuut, I've forgotten how to blog, so I didn't do that, so I don't really want to go through the hassle of adding more right now. But I will soon! So now, on to our first real project:

Painting the kitchen cabinets!! They started out that old brown color...And here's Freddy hard at work! (I hate sanding, so guess who was Official Sander?)And now they're going to be crisp, clean, white! So, this was the first coat for the cabinet doors. After this we also painted the cabinetry inside and then also painted the attached dining room too (not white, it's more of a neutral beige).

It's all starting to come together, but it's also been a LOT of work. And there's still LOTS to do too.. And in all actuality, the house is in great condition. It's not like we're having to fix things so that it's live able. Not at all, it's all just our preferences and us wanting to make it feel more like home.

All in all, we're very pleased with our new home. We're learning a lot about home ownership-- all the little details sure make it exciting!

BARNUM'S FUNUNDRUM!

I hope no one reads this post.

Really.

Because if you read it, then you'll want to follow this link to Jessica and Mitch's blog and you'll want to enter into the BEST GIVEAWAY EVEEEERRRRRRRRR.

But don't. Because if you do, then it lowers the chances that I'll win. But the BEST GIVEAWAY EVEEEEERRRRRRRR is going on for four weeks, so if I win once and can't win again, then totally go ahead. And I'll hope you win too. :)

I so love the circus. Even when it means I have to convince my husband to drive to Utah to attend. :) So worth it.

Baby Shower Games!

I l-o-v-e, LOVE baby shower games. I know, some people are so not into them at all, but I can't wait for the day that I get to throw some one's baby shower... It's going to be SO fun (not to mention so, so cute)!
(Okay, first I needed to add on this picture of Nathan and Freddy, just because I think it's super cute and I forgot to add it to the last post.)
So the point of everyone coming to visit was to see Johanna, and to have her baby shower. She's due at the end of September and she's having a girl! Yay! It was so fun to choose out little girl clothes for her gift... Nathan doesn't wear any pink, ever. Hm. Anyway!
Now! First, we have my favorite game ever (of baby shower games, at least). (And just so you know, I was in charge of this game--because it's the best.) It's memory, you know, where you choose two numbers and hope that what's on the other side matches. So the other side of the cards is various words and phrases and each phrase has to do with babies, mothering, pregnancy, etc.

And! Each phrase has a corresponding candy to go with it for who ever gets it right! For example, (just some off the top of my head) "11 lb Babies"=Whoppers, "Teething"=Crunch, "Postpartum Tummy"=Jelly Belly! Get it? Ha! It's the BEST! This time, I had THIRTY different candies. SO fun (especially when people are actually paying attention, that way it doesn't take forever)! Then we played some other games... Like this one. You're blindfolded, and you have to use a big spoon to scoop up cotton balls off the floor, into a bowl. They're so light weight that most people think they're doing great but they don't have a single one in the bowl! Funny!Freddy finally got a few... ha! (Now, not all of these actually have any real usefulness when it comes to having a baby, but they sure are funny!)Then there's the one where everyone that comes gets a little necklace to wear. Throughout the shower you can't cross your legs (except this time, they were super strict and you couldn't cross anything) and you can't say the word "baby." I'll tell you who's really good at this game: Freddy. He always wins. You can probably see why...
This was right after Nacho (in the pink) took like 15 necklaces from someone else and then he was like, (totally making this up because I don't remember, but you'll get the point) "HAHAHA, OH MAN, SHE WAS LIKE 'CAN YOU CHECK ON THE BABY' AND I WAS LIKE, HAHA, 'WHAT DID YOU SAY? Give me your necklaces!'"

And right as he was putting this mass of necklaces on Freddy was like, "Oh man! :D Give me your necklaces!! You said it!!!!" (Because, remember? You can't say "baby" at all.) And what do you know, Freddy has like 40 necklaces around his neck. Then there's this game where you have to use one hand to take off as many clothespins off the line without dropping any. And this time there was a twist to it! As you took them off, you had to call out some sort of item for babies. (i.e. diapers, wipes, etc.) Last time I played this game, no joke, I got like three and then dropped one. But this time I got fifteen and I was in the lead by a LOT!!! But then I dropped one, and another one or two slipped... I didn't know that you can just stop any time and count all of them (I thought you had to go until you dropped one). And I also didn't know that you lost ALL of the ones you dropped. I thought that once you dropped one, you just count the rest-- but no... I lost all three of those. :-/ Bummer.

Oh! And then we played this impossible one where you mix a bunch of those tiny gold safety pins in with a bowl of raw rice. You have to try to pick out as many pins as you can in a certain amount of time-- blindfolded. Oh my gosh, I barely got ONE. That is haaaard.

And then we also played the one where you guess the amount of ____ (ribbon, string, whatever) it'll take to go around the pregnant belly. And everyone is always wayyyyy off? Well, I'm really good-- I was only off by about 1/4 inch. :D

Yeah, I love games. Baby shower or otherwise. :) Fun, fun, fun!

Phoenix Family Comes to Visit.

(I just wanted to point out that I really wanted to call this post Phoenix Phamily Phun. Heh. Still makes me laugh. But I didn't...)

Yay! So, Freddy's step sister came from Ecuador about a month ago (or so). His step brothers were finally both able to come from Phoenix to visit her (and us) (and bring their families too).

Here's all three boys with each of their boys. Cool how that happens.. all grown up. :)

So, (from left to right) (actually, like left to right and then zig-zag down to their kid too) Freddy with Nathan (9 months), Jose Ignacio (aka Nacho) with Gael (about 17 months), and Edison (aka Carlitos) with Javier (2 yrs, 6 months). (Also, they're all about nick names, so yeah..) And don't you love how distracted Nathan is by how squirmy the other kids are? Funny!And here's a big, family picture-- Back row: Gael, Nacho, Carlitos, Monica, Pepe, Freddy. Front row: Aileen, Nora, Patricia, Johanna, me, and Nathan.

And now a picture with just the girls... (and some kids..)

And then this is the next morning when Nacho, Nora, Aileen, and Gael had to go home...

They're so cute. If you look up at the family pictures-- they always (or well, often) coordinate their clothes and it's absolutely adorable. I'm always like, Dang, we should have done that. Agh. But yeah, they're super fun! And we love when they come visit (especially Nathan, because they bring KIDS)!

And then here's Freddy and I (and I'm totally thinking about how I wish we were color coordinated. Agh.)

We love all of our extended family, of course--- but it was super fun for the Phoenix side to come visit because it's great to watch Nathan interact with all the other kids. He loves it! It's also cool because they bring, almost like, a young side to the family that's not always there, and that's neat to have around. Come back soon!

Beach Fun

We went to the beach again! And it was fun, of course! (And all the beach pictures are starting to all look the same, so yeah, enjoy.)Nathan didn't seem to mind the water, even though it was pretty cold, but there was one thing he did not like. He didn't like the way the sand moves under your feet when the wave washes it away... You know, how you kinda start to sink a little bit? Yeah, he's not a fan.This time Nathan wanted to be friends with the kids next to us. Mainly because they can WALK and that's COOL. (Also, one of the other kids really liked this turtle toy that Nathan was playing with--that's what he kept walking over to us for...)
And here we have Little N clapping for us...And waving at us... Every time he'd start crawling away from our area (usually to try to catch a seagull or pigeon) he'd get this look on his face like, Oh I'm outta here now!! Seee yaaa! :DAnd then we've got the boys playing...And Nathan with me... This time it was just the three of us-- which was way fun, but it also meant that Freddy and I couldn't actually go in the water together. It was just too cold for Nathan to stay in the water, but he loved playing on the sand with the other kiddos!

We do love the beach!

How to Catch a Nathan.

Let's see what happens when Tracy's trying to put Nathan down for a nap and Freddy comes in and lays down--- while eating a plum. Let's watch.

First, Freddy uses basic distraction techniques. Looks like he'll have to get a little more creative than that!Nathan is intrigued.

He goes for the bait! Hook, line, and sinker. :)

And then I got to play with the Catch of the Day.

Nathan's First Beach Trip.

After our Pioneer Day Overnighter (that we should have just skipped), we came home, chatted with our guests a little bit, made some beach snackies, and headed off to meet up with Freddy's family*. They originally wanted to go to Laguna Beach, which is gorgeous, but it's less gorgeous when you spend three hours** in the car getting there. But then we got there and we were glad to be there! :) Among things Nathan likes to fling around: sand.
Other things it can be used for: eating.
Among things Nathan doesn't like: not being able to play with all the other toys all around us that aren't ours.
The water was gorgeous! Cold, but gorgeous! And we almost got in the water because you know, you get used to it after a while---but we were actually at Aliso Beach and there are like, rocks galore in there. It made me wish I was wearing those swimming shoes that everyone had when they were like seven***. Freddy was willing to ignore the cold water, the rocks, AND the monsterous waves you had to get through before the water was nice--- I was not.
Afterward, the plan was to meet up with the rest of my family to have a bonfire, but that didn't go so well. And it's pretty much a topic we don't want to really bring up. :-/ Not the most successful beach day for them. But we did get to meet up with my grandparents that night, instead! Fun! And! We got to make s'mores, which I had been wanting really badly since we had that campout to go to (but we got there wayyy past when they were actually making s'mores, so I just still wanted them).

So yay for us finally getting to go to the beach!

*You're probably thinking, 'Wait, I thought Tracy's family was visiting?' Right. And wrong too. Yes, my sisters (and Mitch) were visiting us (yay!), but Freddy had family visiting from Ecuador that he hadn't seen in seven years. And while it may feel like seven years when the sisters are apart, it's not (thank goodness). And so obviously, we still needed to spend some time with his family too.
**Not exaggerating. Wish I was. But I'm totally not. Ugh.
***You know, the ones that are fine until they get wet-- and then they're SO awful because each foot weighs six pounds. And everytime you get out of the pool you have to wait for a gallon of water to pour out of each shoe. And then you walk-- slosh, slosh, slosh, slosh... Yeah, you know.

Friday Crafting on Tuesday

I've been catching up with blogging and gotten a little out of order. So! Back* to while my sisters were visiting (yay!)---

Jessica and Mitch went to Disneyland for the day, Sarah was off with friends, and Freddy was working. So, that left Emily and I with a whole day all to ourselves (plus Nathan)! We decided that we would do a special Friday craft together... We wanted to make these hanging storage boxes.

Back a few steps-- Both Freddy and I had driven to my grandparents the night before for the Girls' Craft Night/Everything-Else-with-Everyone-Else Night and it was super late when we finally finished. We decided, instead, to drive back together and pick up the second car the next day. So, first we had to drive out to Duarte with Freddy to pick up the other car (otherwise our day would have been pretty uneventful).

Okay, back where we were--- The storage boxes have Plexiglass in the bottom, for extra support, so we had to get that from Home Depot. Then, we had to go to Jo-ann's, of course... Basically by the time we got home, we didn't even have time to even start the actual craft before Freddy and I were leaving for the Pioneer Day Overnighter (the one we really should have just skipped). Emily was able to cut up the Plexiglass and I think she started cutting fabric, but I'm not sure what else she was able to finish.

SO! I've been gradually working on them since everyone went home and I finally finished them yesterday!

I doubt anyone is really interested in making their own set, but if you are you can use the instructions that I followed, linked above-- and I'll just add a few comments that made it easier for me.
First of all, you need a yard of fabric for each box, and almost TWO yards of interfacing. I had to put my project on hold for a few days because I'd run out of it-- originally I got 4 yards, like the tutorial says, and I went back to get another 4 later. So, total I got 8 yards, but I ended up with a little over a yard left over, so maybe 7 yards would do it.The hardest thing was trying to get the Plexiglass to fit in the bottom. Em and I bought a big piece of Plexiglass and just cut it up to several 8x10 pieces. That's what size they're supposed to be, but I had an awful time getting them to fit. I was really worried that it would tear through. So! One thing I did was I took the pieces outside and used the sidewalk to sand down my corners so that they were rounded. That made it much easier and I wasn't so concerned that the sharp corners would rip my fabric. After I got the glass to fit, it was pretty smooth sailing from there (with a few interruptions from Nathan, of course).

Emily got to choose nice and pretty fabrics and I automatically had to choose kid-ish fabrics, by default. I still like them, but I liked Em's choices, too.

You can't really see the fabric used with the one with green stripes-- the light green one.. and that's really unfortunate because that's my very favorite fabric!

And there you have it. Now all I need to do is get a curtain rod to hang them... and decide where to hang them...

It feels nice to finally have a project done (except for the things I just mentioned). Although I do wish that I could have been able to do the project with Emily, like it was supposed to be. Unfortunately, time flies by twice as fast when you have sisters visiting... Too, too fast. :(

Guess that can only mean one thing: time for us to start planning our trip to Utah! ;-)

*I feel like that transition should have, like, that-- hazy, swirly picture and the twinkling sound, like when people on (cheesy) TV shows are dreaming...

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

On Friday, we went to Mormon Night at the Arrowhead Credit Union Park for a 66ers game. They're the local minor league baseball team-- but I was super impressed... It was way cool because it was a much smaller stadium, so our $6 tickets were right behind home plate instead of in the nose bleed section. Super!Best thing ever: taking babies to ball games! Bernie, the mascot (and I have no idea what he is...), chose Nathan to get the little foam finger (except it was for like your whole hand) because he was so cute! :) Saaaweet! And I know we would have been on the jumbotron thing, but we were in a section where the camera couldn't get to us... Bummer.
But Nathan got to take a picture with Bernie! And then Nathan looked up at Bernie's face and got this look of sheer terror on his face... lol..

We had a lot of fun at the game! Friday nights at the ball park mean 50 cent hot dogs and quesadillas too! It was a blast to watch the game (even though we lost like, 6-1, I think..)

Then afterward we rented When in Rome, went home, and enjoyed a movie night. What a fun date night!