Five on Friday

1.  We closed on our house this week!!  So happy to have that all done and behind us.  Now we will get our last check and finish paying all the workers, and maybe even have a little left over.  Yay!



2.  Got to hang out a bit with Starla and Aron.  Me and Starla even had a lunch date at Chili's.  Yummy!

She totally spoils Marley

3.  Went out to lunch with Grams yesterday, which was a blast!  We went to a little diner in her town called the Lumber Inn.  I had the fish sandwich and she had a beef sandwich.  It was really good!

4.  On the way to her house there were cops EVERYWHERE!  And then I noticed on my way to Trader Joe's there was even more cops.  Called my Grams and she turned on the news to hear that Mr. President was in Waukesha, down the street from our old house at GE.  After leaving Trader Joe's I was headed home and realized that no one was driving on the other side on the freeway.  I went to get off the freeway and got stuck in traffic right next to the freeway.  Next thing you know, a million cops, and the President's Suburbans all come rolling down the freeway.  Kinda cool to see!  (And no I didn't get any pics, because I was on the phone with my mom complaining about being stuck in traffic.  Ha!)  But it looked like this...

5.  I'm not a big crafter or DIY'er but I saw arm knitting on a blog somewhere and decided I wanted to try it.  I found a tutorial on YouTube and spent 2 hours last night on it.  It turned out AMAZING!

Here's the video:

home tour: master bedroom

Our bedroom is on the opposite side of the house from the kid's bedrooms (and no we don't have kid's but we built them with the hopes they would be for our kids someday).  We decided to put the master bedroom behind the garage, because then that way we would hear if the garage door opened.  1. because my husband is always thinking someone is breaking in.  2. because if we ever had kids we wanted to make sure we could hear them coming and going.  3. because the dogs room is the mudroom and that way they would be closer to our room (yes, I do realize I sound like a freak when I want the dogs closer to me than our future children).  Although, I must say we bought the quietest garage door opener so we can't actually hear it from inside the house anyways!  And this way the master is also closer to the basement, which is again so we can keep a close eye on our kids (for in the future when we finish the basement), plus that's Mark's area of the house.  

We have the same furniture as we did in our old house.  But we were able to put the 42" TV in our room now, which will probably someday be hung on the wall.

I love that Marley is in all of these pics too :)

The comforter, sheets, and pillow were all new for this house.  We had a beautiful set in our old house, but Marley chewed a hole through it as a puppy so we needed something new.  The pillow is my favorite because it actually has sparkles in the material.  The bedside tables will eventually have to change.  We tried to buy a matching one to the one we already have, but they no longer make it, so we will have to find something new.  The lamp shade on Mark's side of the bed is actually broken, a door actually fell on top of it, so I will be looking for some new lights too.

The closet doesn't have a door yet, but it is ordered.

I love our huge closet!  At our old house we had to always switch out our clothes for the seasons, and in WI that is nearly impossible to do.  It's nice that everything finally fits in one place.  The guy that hung our closets hung everything wrong so the clothes on the top sit on the rack for the clothes on the bottom.  Not cool!

But at least we can still use them until they are fixed.

Things that still need to be done:

• paint door, trim and step for doggies
• curtains
• bedside tables
• lamps
• hang some photos on the wall
• art?
• fix closet racks
• door for closet

photos

I have been trying to learn how to use my hubby's fancy camera.  I'm currently reading a book called "Beyond Snapshots".

Beyond Snapshots

The pictures in the book are beautiful and it has made things make a little more sense, but I'm still working on it.  Marky Mark has helped a bit, and if I still can't figure it out, I might try and take a class.  Anyways, here's some pics of my girls from the last week...

home tour: master bathroom

We moved into our home a little over a month ago.  Things have been pretty crazy since moving in, so there hasn't been a ton of time to get things done around the house.  I am SLOWLY working on it. We are pretty much still trying to unpack boxes, so we know what we have, and get the necessities together, so we know what we need to buy.  We designed this home ourselves and plan on being here for a LONG time so we have plenty of time to get the house how we want it.  This house has been such a luxury after the horrible rental we were in.  Our last home was a foreclosure that we flipped and made a nice profit on, but that means it wasn't really ours while we were living in it.  We were constantly doing projects to sell it, not projects for us.  This house is all ours, and I am loving every single second of it, even if there are still a lot of things that need to be done.

Our master bathroom was a compromise.  The whole house was my taste and my husband wanted one area of the house that was his taste.  His taste being brown.  He likes anything that is brown or tan, which is exactly what he wanted for this space.  He was also VERY insistent on a rain shower, whereas I wanted a tub.  In the end, his rain shower won and even though I didn't get my tub, I am really happy with the end result. 

When designing the vanity, I knew I wanted my own vanity if it was possible.  Marky Mark isn't the easiest to share with, he tends to be a bit messy (although he would say otherwise).  I wanted some sort of linen closet, but there wasn't space for an actual closet.  We were able to get a huge cabinet for in between our vanities to do the job.  I haven't even come close to filling that up yet!  The cabinets are dark espresso, the same color as our island in the kitchen, with granite countertops.

my vanity

Although my mom disagreed with my window choice, I am very happy with it.  The tiny window above the toilet.  I didn't want a big window because at our rental we had one and always had to open and close the blinds.  This way there is a little bit of natural light, but no one can see in our bathroom.    And the wall next to the toilet was a must.

This is the view when you first walk into the bathroom.  We decided to hang our towels on a rack, rather than on a bar, because it seems more practical...thank you Pinterest!

Next to shower is a really long, empty wall.  I will definitely need to put some art up there.  Currently, we have a shower curtain hanging.  This is a very old curtain that will be gone ASAP.  We will eventually have glass doors, but it wasn't a must for moving in.  We will get the glass doors eventually, but for now the curtain will do.  

This is our fancy shower!  We each wanted our own shower heads, and of course we had to have the rain shower.  Because of the rain shower, we did tile all the way up and on the ceiling.  The niche has the only glass tile in the shower.  I would have designed a white subway tile shower, or something white and beautiful, but the glass tile in the niche will have to do.  The floor has travertine tile.  At the last minute we decided to add floating seats, originally they were going to be built-ins.  I like these much better and they don't take up as much space.  

We had a situation with our water, it was ORANGE!  We finally got our water softener installed so we are still working on getting the orange out of the stone.

Even though this room isn't what I had imagined it to be, it still turned out beautiful.  I LOVE the rain shower and use it almost everyday.  I really enjoy getting ready in this bathroom every morning.

Things that still need to be done:

• caulk around the shower
• glass doors installed
• side splashes for granite
• paint trim
• paint door
• touch up crown on cabinet
• hang hand towel holder
• organize cabinets
• art (maybe some floating shelves)
• remove orange from floor

fun finds

I made a quick stop at TJ Maxx yesterday to do a little browsing and found two really fun items!

I wanted to find new salt and pepper shakers because the only ones we had go with our old dishes.  I wasn't desperately searching, but happened to find these, and they are perfect!  As you can see, the granite in the kitchen is black, white and gray, which these match, along with my white dishes.  They are roosters, which is perfect since Marky Mark works on a chicken farm!  And these fit VERY nicely on the little shelves in the kitchen that I have no idea what to do with.

Although this isn't a Boston Terrier, it's a bulldog, it looks a lot like our little Remi.  She is a Frenchie/Boston, we like to say she is "Froston".  Plus, how cute is he?!  For now he has a made a home on our mantel, but will probably find a nice place in my office at some point.  Maybe when I actually have some place to put things?!

Karmina in Chicago

This weekend was so much fun!!

We left Friday at around 1:30pm to head to Chicago, and arrived at our hotel around 3:30pm.  We read online that the Super 8 was a mile from where the concert was, and since we literally were only sleeping there, we decided to stay there.  Well, that was a HUGE mistake!  We got up to our room and it REEKED of air freshener.  We started looking around, and when I walked into the bathroom I realized that the toilet looked like it was straight out of a gas station bathroom, and the shower was barely big enough for me and had no light in it.  We decided we had to change rooms.  We got the next room and it still reeked but at least there was a tub shower.  Ha!

After getting settled, and since I wanted to be at the hotel as little as possible, we decided to head to dinner at 4pm because we were starving.  We found a pub a couple minutes from where we were staying so we decided to try it out.  It was SO good!!  I got the fish sandwich, and although it wasn't the best fish sandwich I've ever had, it was really good and the tartar sauce was SO yummy!

After dinner we thought it would be fun to drive around and see if there was shopping or something to do.  Unfortunately, it was rush hour and it was snowing, so the roads were pretty dangerous.  We decided we would be safer in the creepy hotel.  Plus, we thought it would be a good idea to take a nap because we both had been up since 5am and the concert wasn't until10pm.

Around 9:30pm we headed out to "Uncommon Ground" which is the restaurant that the concert was at.  We made reservations for 9:45pm and got there right on time.  The restaurant is split into 3 sections, the bar is first, the regular restaurant, and the music room.  We walked into the music room, and there was Karmina, on stage doing soundcheck.  The music room had probably 30 people in it!  We got seated at second table closest to the stage!  It was amazing.  Karmina started their set right at 10pm.  Before we left for Chicago, I had written them on Facebook and requested two songs, and they did play one of the two.  They played some songs I knew, a few new ones, and a few covers.  It was so much fun!  I couldn't believe how amazing they sounded live.  They chatted in-between songs and were really funny and quirky.

After the concert, they were standing by their merchandise table to chat with people.  I got a chance to talk to Kamille, the brunette.  She was so sweet and asked my name and thanked me for coming.  I told her how much I love their music and that I would have flown out to LA to see them if they hadn't come to Chicago.  It was so awesome getting a chance to talk to her and she gave me a hug when we left.  Such an amazing experience!

Five on Friday- Weekend

This week has been very busy and has flown by!  I can't believe it's Friday already.  I have been anticipating it all week because...

1.  I get to see my all time FAVORITE duo TONIGHT!  I have LOVED Karmina for many years now.  They have such amazing music.  I always told Marky Mark that someday we would have to make a trip to LA to see them perform but we don't have to because we are headed to...

2.  Chicago!  It's not my favorite place in the world, but we still get to stay overnight in a hotel.  That makes it a mini-vaca.  I'm excited to get out of town for a night after all the craziness that has been going on lately.  I always feel refreshed after going away, even if it's for just one night.

3.  Saturday night, we are having our favorite couple over for dinner, Starla and Aron.  We are making Chicken Fajitas.  I'm sure it will be a good time :)

4.  Sunday, Grams is having a birthday lunch for Mikey and Aunt Pat.  Lunch at Grams is always a good time!

5.  Hopefully we will have a little time to get some stuff done around the house and relax!  Things have been so busy that there really hasn't been a lot of time to get things done or just hang out.  We will see...

and in anticipation for tonight... 

Have a good weekend!  I know I will ;)

"Spelling It Like It Is" by Tori Spelling

I read this book in THREE days!  It was crazy that I was able to get through it so quickly because I haven't been much of a bookworm in awhile.  I have loved all of Tori Spelling's book so I was really excited when it was finally my turn to get it from the library.  "Spelling It Like It Is" was such a good read!  Tori Spelling has always been one of my favorite people (I mean, I do own all of Beverly Hills 90210 on DVD after all), but unfortunately this book made me like her a little bit less.  I think the book is hilarious, in typical Tori fashion, but she can really be careless with her and her children's lives.   In this book, she goes over everything that has happened since "Tori and Dean" stopped airing.  That means this includes MANY moves, some business ventures, and the birth of her youngest, Finn.  She is such a good story teller, which makes this a must read!

setting up the nursery

Although the nursery was nowhere near done when we had our little visitor come stay for the week, we still had it to where we could use it.

Our good friends gave us their daughters crib!  It was such a blessing!  Their daughter was the last child I nannied for, so it was really special that they were able to give her crib to us.  I was so excited when Marky Mark put it together.  The room had sat pretty much empty since we moved in, so I was happy to see it finally coming together.

We put the cubbies in here, because I thought it would be good to use for organizing toys.  It did a pretty good job, but it could use some baskets for diapers and other supplies.  It was pretty convenient to just go in a grab a toy as needed.  Although, I'm not sure if a dresser might be a little more practical in the future.

My mom knit this gorgeous blanket!  This was definitely my favorite Christmas present this year!  It matched the green chevron sheets for the crib.  Our little visitor used it while she was here :)

I LOVE Scentsy! I had always loved these warmers and was so bummed when they stopped making them.  My mom, Grams and I went to a craft fair and there was a lady that was selling some of the older warmers for much cheaper than they originally cost.  Luckily, this was one of them, so we snatched it up!  I was too worried to put wax in it, so I just put it out for decoration.

I really wanted to get the Cloud B nightlight, but at $50 there was no way I was going to spend that much money on it!  I was so excited to see that Walmart sold an off brand for only $20!  This is the one that plays music and lights up.  I thought it was important to get a nightlight, because a lot of foster kids will even ask to sleep with the light on because they are scared.  Little girl LOVED this!  She would turn it on every time before nap and bedtime.  I had it set to run for 30 min and it worked awesome!

I picked a lime green paint for the nursery.  I wanted something neutral since we are open to either gender, but I thought that yellow was too girly for a boy.  Green was my favorite color when I was little (lime green still being one of my favs), so I thought it was a safe choice.  I love how it turned out, although I don't know that everyone agrees with me (ahem...my husband).  I was going to make it gray and green but since we have a lot of gray in the rest of the house, I'm thinking of adding some black in.  Originally I wanted a black and white nursery with lime green accents, but I don't know how great that will look with brown furniture (I was originally going to buy white furniture).

Anyways, that's how the nursery looks for now.  I have a lot of things I would love to add...

• curtains and rod
• dresser (?)
• baskets for cubbies
• rocking chair
• art
• shelves for decorations or pictures
• more crib sheets
• better toy organization
• fun rug (?)

And there are still a few things that need to be finished in the room...

• paint the trim
• paint the door
• closet doors installed!!
• shorten the blinds (they are too long and WAY too heavy) and cords (dangerous)
• closets hung correctly (a lot of our closets were installed incorrectly)
• dimmer

respite care

I just dropped off the baby this morning.   The baby we had in our home for the last 7 days.  On the same day that we are getting our foster license.  Things are moving so quickly around here, I feel like my head is spinning.  To say we are feeling a little overwhelmed right now would be an understatement.  I don't know how things got so crazy around here.

We went into foster-to-adopt wanting to adopt and start our family.  We talked to a friend of a friend that had gone through with it.  With the new house in the works, we knew it was something we wanted to do eventually, but really when the house was done.  The friend said we should get started right away because it would take a full year to get through the program.  Well here we are 4 months later and we are done.  Not quite what we were expecting.  All I know is we are not ready for this...yet.

We did respite care for the last 7 days.  That is when a foster family can't watch their foster child for whatever reason, for example, travel; and so they find another foster family who is able to watch the child for that short amount of time.  Basically 24-7 babysitting.  I think we got in a little over our heads.

Don't get me wrong, the baby that came to stay with us was amazing!  She was so smart and beautiful.  You would never guess she was in foster care, she adapted so well.  She came into our home, terrified of our dogs, and left with them as her best friends.  I think she will probably be looking for her "goggies" for awhile.  She learned to throw the ball for them, let them give her kisses, growl and bark like them.  Basically, it was the sweetest and most adorable thing I had ever seen.  If only I could show the pictures of this wonderful relationship.  But I can't because she is in foster care.

I think the experience was exactly what we needed, even though it was hard.  We needed a test run of some sort and this was the best way to start.  What we learned is that we want to start our own family...sometime.  But as first time parents, I'm not sure if this is for us.  A lot of "when we have kids..." came up.  But isn't this how we are supposed to "have" kids?  I'm not so sure anymore.

Our "baby" that came and went so quickly.  I have to say the most difficult part of the week was dropping her off today.  I thought for sure I'd be excited to have my house back to normal, which I do...kind of.  I dropped her off at daycare and they took her away so quickly, I didn't really even get to say goodbye.  She cried when she left me.  And I cried when I left her.  It's a strange feeling knowing I will never see her again.

So it's hard for me because I have a part of me that wants to help these kids, but I don't think I have it in me.  And I'm not mad at myself for it.  This just wasn't my thing.  Not that I don't love kids, and don't want some of my own eventually, because I so desperately do.  I did the nanny thing, and I did the babysitting thing.  I don't want to do that anymore.  And if we are being honest, that's exactly what that felt like, and really what it was, if you think about it.  

My passion for fostering is with dogs.  I don't know if that makes me a horrible person, that I would rather save dogs than kids.  But I can't help it.  It's just how I feel.  I know how to care for dogs, I mean after all, I do have 3 of them (and another that will always be in heart, my Luna).  I know how to train them and work with them.  It's what I love to do.

I will miss our "baby" and will miss our time together.  I keep hoping that she will remember us, which she probably won't because she is so young.  All I can hope for her is that she loves her life, and I hope we were a part in that.  I hope that she gets the life she deserves, and she deserves the world.

We will see how the next few months go.  We have a few months to decide what we want to do.  I just know this is how I feel right now, but it wasn't too long ago that I felt different.  Only time will tell.

Adalai and Wyatt's visit

After Christmas, my niece and nephew, Adalai and Wyatt, got to stay with us a few days.  I wanted to make sure they had a fun time at our house so we planned a lot of fun stuff to do.  It also helped that they had a ton of Christmas presents here to play with.

On Thursday, the day after Christmas, we decided to hit up Discovery World in Milwaukee because I had never been there before and they love it!  I've always wanted to take the kids there and they were finally old enough (6 and 8) where they could really appreciate it.

on a submarine

looking out the 'scope

on a pirate ship

lifting 300 lbs!

laying on a bed of nails!

just hanging out

 After we were all exhausted from playing at Discovery World, we headed home.  Adalai took a nap in the car to recharge for Grandpa Jeff and MaryLu stopping by for dinner and opening presents!  We decided after having to make dinner on Christmas, we would take the easy way out and get take out.  The kids asked for Buffalo Wild Wings so that's what we had and it was SO good, like always!  We opened presents after dinner, and played some of the games they received.  We had a blast!  Haven't laughed that hard in awhile!

Headbanz

duck face

fibber

 We played "Headbanz" first.  This is where you put a picture on your headband and have to ask questions to figure out what the picture is.  Even though this game is for kids, it is NOT easy!!  Although it is in our house when you are surrounded by glass.  Kids figured out really quickly to check their reflections, which the adults couldn't see as easily.  So after some cheating... we decided to try "Fibber", which is exactly what it sounds like.  If you are caught fibbing you have to add a nose to your glasses, kind of like Pinocchio.  It was hilarious!  The kids really enjoyed it!

Friday morning, Adalai asked if we could all go to Zumba!  I, of course, loved this idea.  Wyatt wasn't so sure it was for boys, but there ended up being a lot of kids at the class.  Adalai made it through the whole hour, like a champ, and Wyatt joined in a bit at the end.  Adalai got applauded and told she is the Zumba Champion!  She was so excited!  After Zumba, we hung around the house until the Soos's came over for dinner.  We have a tradition of decorating gingerbread houses every year, so this time Adalai and Wyatt got to join in on the fun!

they turned out great!

After dinner, we played some games with Hanna and Lilien.  The kids had a lot of fun!   And then after they left, it was time to Zumba again.  Grandpa Jeff and MaryLu got them the Zumba kids WII game.  Uncle Mark even got in on the action.

 On Saturday, we headed to Kenosha to the Jelly Belly Factory.  It's a free tour, where you take a train around their warehouse and learn about how the candy is made.  It was OK, but the kids really enjoyed it, and that's what really matters.  Plus, at the end of the tour, you get a free sample pack!  We let the kids each make a bag of their favorite flavors to take home with them. 

Saturday night, we took the kids to church with us.  They went to play with kids their age, and seemed to really enjoy it!  When we got home, we just hung out and let them watch a movie in bed.  Sunday morning they headed to Doms!

We had so much fun with them, and I missed them so much when they left!  Can't wait for their next visit!