moving on along

The bonus room is, that is. We did have slight hiccup though. Our contractor worked very hard on getting all the blemishes out of the concrete (meaning over 3 hours of sanding and buffing it to get rid of any old glue, etc.) prior to staining it. Well, no matter what he tried. The stain wouldn't take so we ended up with a floor that looked like, well, rusted.

Pretty, right?

Obviously, not the look we were going for so back to the drawing boards. I think S and I really would like hardwoods down there at some point, but the budget isn't going to allow that at this point in time. Also, in the essence of time, we really just needed to get the room finished so we went with a basic garage floor epoxy. To be honest, I wasn't really thrilled with the color selection offered but I think it's going to turn out better than I thought.

First coat of garage floor epoxy

A close-up of the new floor

S and I are now focusing on room color. Ok, really, I am, but S is obsessed with getting the furniture in and set-up. I keep telling him that we aren't doing a thing until all the painting is done, because truthfully, if we don't finish the wall color and trim before we start moving the new stuff in, then it probably won't ever get finished. With that said, I've started painting here and there trying to feel out the new color. I wanted something fresh and funky for a modern look and now I just have to make sure I can live with it. Ha!

Sneak peek

The color is light aqua and the picture doesn't quite get it right, but you get the drift. I've ordered a red area rug and am making large cushions for the futon with red accents for a fun twist. Now, I shall keep my fingers crossed that it all comes together.

Hopefully, I'll have a picture of a finished room by this weekend!

field trip!

W had his 1st school (mini) field trip on Monday to a local ice cream parlor that is within walking distance of his school. Lil'bit was sick so he got to tag along as well. At 9:30 am, because we all need ice cream at 9:30 in the morning, parents lined up with their children and walked to the store for ice cream.

To make it easy, students had the choice of four flavors: chocolate, vanilla, strawberry or Superman (which was a mixture of *bright* red, blue and yellow ice cream). W really didn't care about flavor as much as he did colors. He wanted "red" ice cream so he got strawberry. Of course, baby G had to have a cone as well so he got Superman.

W loved his ice cream until it started melting and from that point on asked me to clean it off which for him meant me totally dumping the ice cream and just giving him the cone to eat. G, on the other hand, wasn't about to lose any ice cream and tried to devour his cone.

Excited!

Yummy!

Class shot

"Don't even think about taking it away, mama!"

What a mess!

Ice cream is good.

the end is in sight...

of construction that is. The bonus room once finished will serve as a sewing room for me and a place for overnight guests to stay. Additionally, it will serve as media room down the road as the boys get bigger.

Background: Our bonus room flooded in November/December 2009. We had to rip out the carpeting and sheet rock which had begun to mildew in mold. Then, we decided to add extra insulation the the wall that connects to the outside of the house, which meant tearing out more sheetrock and redoing it. After that we decided to take out the drop tile ceiling which was oh so nasty due to the apparent rodent infestation that had been there at one time. As you can see, this turned into a bigger and bigger project which was being done by S and a part-time hired help. Since S was doing it in his free time (ha!) after a full time job, part time school, and 2 little boys, you can easily see why it drug out throughout 2010.

That's why we made the decision in December to find a contractor to finish it for us and we could not be more thrilled. We hired Natco Construction to work on the ductwork to make it more efficient, finish out the room, and to stain the concrete floor while we are at it. The guys at Natco construction are doing a fantastic job and we should be done sometime next week! WOOT! Here are some of pictures of the room under construction:

Removed the built-in bookcase and shelves. They were way too deep

to be efficient so we took them out in order to have a nice storage closet.

New ductwork to have heat and a/c in the room.

Patched up wall

View from stairwell.

View from the end of the room

View from other side

Additionally, we made a trip to Ikea in Atlanta for our 6th anniversary for a shopping excursion to help get the new room in order. We bought some bookcase systems, a futon bed for guests and a new table (sewing) for me. Since we will have exposed ductwork in the room, the room needed a more modern and contemporary feel to it so Ikea was the perfect fit. In order to make this happen, I had to get a trailer hitch put on our vehicle on Friday and borrow a trailer. We looked like country come to town rolling into Ikea on Saturday. The kids did well for the most part, but then the no nap meltdowns started occuring as we were trying to get our stuff loaded for checkout. We decided at that point to divide and conquer. Since we had filled out cart and still hadn't gotten the futon loaded, we decide to pay for what we had ready and take it and the boys to car. From there, I gave the kids their "special" snack and drink and pulled out the car DVD player which they hadn't used before and almost immediately we had happy campers. I stayed with them while S finished shopping for the futon.

With all that said, we then rolled out of Ikea and headed to Steak 'n Shake. We didn't have a romantic or fancy dinner with just the 2 of us for our anniversary, but it was perfect the way it was. We came to Ikea, we conquered Ikea and then we got milkshakes. As we sat there with our 2 babies, I couldn't help but think about the all the changes we had experienced since our wedding day. Here's a few pictures:

On February 26th, 2005, we became a husband and wife, but on February 26, 2011, we were a family of four. It was as it should be.

Hats, hats, hats (sung to the tune of Girls, Girls, Girls)

We are quickly approaching my little guy's 2nd birthday. Where did the time go?!! I can't help but look at him and think he's one of the cutest things ever. (His brother is the other cutest little thing.) But, Lord, is he a handful! S and I often say G just goes from room to room looking for things to get into. You can not leave this one alone for a second. But, he can be so sweet too. He'll lay a kiss on you in a heartbeat and wrap his little arms around your neck in a tight hug. My mama's heart just melts when he does that. He is a daddy's boy for sure, but at night when he wakes up and is scared, all he wants is his mama to hold and snuggle into. I'm okay with that.

Little G is also my hat and shoe boy. W would rather be barefoot and only grudgingly wears hats. Little brother loves to accessorize! Don't get me wrong. He is all boy, but he gets the biggest kick out of wearing hats and wearing his "shuesh". Evidence below:

Little has also been known to sleep with his shoes on.

(Backstory: The other night apparently I didn't notice that he still had on

his "shuesh" when I laid him down. I did try to take them off when I went to check on him

and realized he had them on, but he wasn't having any of that.)

So you can see, he can be a bit of a diva too!

my funny Valentines

A boy's story is the best that is ever told.
-- Charles Dickens

Happy Valentine's Day!

Circus FAIL

I am probably the only mother who was not in a hurry to take the boys to the circus. Don't get me wrong I love the circus. I also felt like lil'G would love it as well, but dear, sweet, lovable W is very much susceptible to sensory overload. He always has been. He's never liked loud noises. He loves firetrucks but won't get near them. He was well over 3 before he would try inflatable bouncies or slides, because he didn't like the noise. He was overwhelmed by the crowd on the Quad before the UA/Penn State game. He loves, and I do mean *loves*, the Zoo and the animals, but if they even hint of coming up, he moves as far away as he can as fast as he can.

You can see why I wasn't in a hurry to take him to the circus. But also, I wanted him to love it when I did take him.

So, when I heard that they march the Circus elephants from the train to the Civic center, I thought that, perhaps, this would be something they would both love. Last Tuesday, despite the rain and cold, we went to see the elephants in a much more demurred setting and we had a ton of fun!

Where are they?

Snacks make the time go past.

And, the Cheetos make us look like clowns.

Here they come!

And, there they go!

After seeing the elephants, all W could talk about was going to the Circus. Oh my! I had my hesitations, but after scoring free tickets for the boys and getting discounted tickets for us, we were going to the circus!

I prepped W will all day regarding the noise and the crowds. He was prepared and so excited.

So excited to go in!

Enjoying the pre-show

See the clowns!

And we lasted all of 45 minutes - 25 minutes pre-show and 20 minutes into the show before asking me non-stop if we could go home. When the clowns juggled fire, we had our first mini-meltdown. S took him out to buy popcorn hoping to get him to calm down, but when they started walking back to our seats, W melted into the floor crying togo home. S got him to me and there I sat trying to calm him down.

Lil'bit, on the other hand, sat in his seat with the jumbo tub of popcorn (aka pop-pop as he called it), eating it as fast as he could, and yelling "YAY" every five minutes.

We had several more attempts to calm big boy down, including me walking him around the entire arena and culminating with him sitting close to me with my hands covering his eyes and ears. When the fire and cannons shot off signaling the men walking the hamster cages, the crying and hysterics reached epic proportions and I waved the white flag because I knew there would be no calming down and enjoyment after that.

With all of that said, I still have hopes of W one day loving the Circus. Perhaps, we will try again in a couple of years... or thirty.

January Ice Storm Photos

We had an ice storm in January, and I caught some cute pics of the kids. Since we didn't have a computer, I couldn't get them up. As the old adage goes, better late than never, right?

Look at all this ice!

Mama said not to throw the ice,

but apparently, I don't listen too well.

We had fun sledding with daddy.

My little snow bunny coming back for another sled ride.

The magnolia had the most amazing ice leaves.

Ice leaves are crunchy.

Lil'G thinks they are scrumptious too.