It looks a lot like Christmas

Aaron and I went to a Christmas party this weekend and had a great time! It was on the same night as the Big 12 championship (boo-hoo Tigers), so they set up large screens in every room so we could watch the game. Who can beat good food, good friends, and football?!?!

Did I mention there were CHOCOLATE desserts??

This morning, a cold front moved into mid-Missouri. At around 5AM, we heard a CRACK--BANG. I knew immediately our sick tree in the backyard fell. I checked that we had power and knew we were okay...I knew the tree needed to come down, but we were hoping to have someone do it because it was close to the house and the way it would fall might hit the power line to our house. Luckily, it fell such that it didn't do any real damage. The second picture is with Donovan so you can get a feel for how GINORMOUS the tree is. Anyone have a chainsaw we can borrow this weekend? :)

Bathroom renovation-almost done! And Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was at my house this year. Mom brought a big table so we could all fit around it. We had a delicous brunch and then the boys worked on the bathroom until Thanksgiving dinner. The pictures are from the brunch.



The boys pretty much finished the bathroom this weekend. Aaron and I need to re-mud the walls and sand them. Then we need to paint. We also need to finish the pipes for the double vanity. We're pretty much done! HOORAY! I'll put up more pictures when we're done!

28!

So I turned 28 last week. I had a wonderful birthday! Donovan gave me a birthday card that he and Daddy made themselves. It brought me to tears. It had a drawing of all three of us and he wrote "We are a happy family" on it. So sweet!

On Tuesday night Aaron told me we were going out and I needed to dress up, but wouldn't tell me where we were going. He had arranged for a babysitter and everything. We went to a really nice local restaurant. It was great! We had appetizers and drinks and felt like adults.




Then on Wednesday (my actual birthday) my Mom, stepfather Rick and brother Mat came up to Columbia. We went to another local restaurant and had an excellent dinner. After dinner, we came home and had cake, which was also quite good. Overall, really fun!

Another weekend...

...come and gone!
Friday, I went to a concert with Kristen. Dierks Bentley. I had never heard of him before, but she got free tickets. I'm always up for a free concert!

Saturday was football! Mizzou versus Texas A&M. What a great game! We had a blast!

Sunday we had church, lunch, then spent more money at Lowe's than I've ever spent before (except for the purchase of my house and Aaron's car). But, we got pretty much everything for the bathroom! Aaron's spending today (Monday) working on the bathroom so when Mom and Rick get here this weekend we can install the new bathtub/surround and vanity. It'll be so nice to have a sink in the bathroom again!

I'll post more pictures of the bathroom when we get them!

Bathroom rennovation, part one

On Sunday, we began our bathroom/laundry room demolition. It was my first time ripping down dry wall. What a workout! I woke up Monday morning with swollen fingers and sore triceps from swinging that hammer. We got the laundry room demolished on Sunday. On Monday, the workers came to move the toilet, move the washer/drier hookups, move the baseboard heater and set up for a double vanity.


These last three pictures are how the bathroom currently looks. I really don't think you get the full effect of how HORRIBLE it is. It's like going potty in an outhouse! There are several LARGE holes in the floor, through which bugs are now entering the house! We've temporarily put wood over the holes to try and block the bugs. The floor is partially vinyl flooring and partially wood.

In addition to that, the toilet is now in what was the hallway between our bedroom and the laundry room--basically the toilet is right next to our bedroom. Ugh.

One minor difficulty encountered: the washer/drier won't fit through the bathroom door. We ended up lifting them over the toilet into place-BUT, if they ever break, they're STUCK. So, we're going to save money and get a bigger door put in. Also, we didn't think about the window-basically, it can't be where it is right now because it's halfway in the "laundry closet". We've got to save money to have that moved too.

The work that has to be done this weekend includes: buying all the stuff from Lowe's (including new shower/surround, new flooring, new vanity, new linen closet, etc, etc, etc) a bunch of work under the house putting up insulation around the new pipes, ripping up the old flooring, and Aaron's going to start putting up dry wall behind the washer/drier.

It's a mess now, but can't wait until it's done! Should be done the weekend after Thanksgiving. Everyone start planning your visits for then!

Heidi's Wedding

Yet another weekend, yet another wedding. This one was a friend that Aaron had worked with at Boyce and Bynum, who turned into my buddy--Heidi Jo! We had a great time. Donovan behaved very well and ran some of his cars on Jamie's head during the reception. He also took a bunch of pictures (see the close-up of Donovan and I--he took that). He used both our camera and the cameras that were on the tables for us to use (he used them a lot--sorry about the silly pictures Heidi!). We ended up leaving the reception a little early. Donovan and I were tired. We went home and watched the end of the stomping of Colorado by Mizzou. GO MISSOURI!

Trick-or-Treating, Donovan style

Yesterday was Halloween. Donovan was SO PUMPED to go Trick-or-Treating. He was so excited, he forgot his lines. He forgot to say "trick or treat" when people opened the door.

Luckily, no one asked for a trick. He had one prepared too. His new favorite joke: Knock-knock. Who's there? The interrupting cow. The interrupting cow--MOO!!. This actually isn't one of paw-paw's jokes (he's the one teaching Donovan all his jokes). This is actually a Dad joke.

Every Halloween, I get a little reminiscent of childhood. I would trick or treat with the neighbors, the Hatchmans. Those memories are some of the best memories I have. The past several Halloweens, Mrs H has emailed me to say hi. So funny how someone can have such an impact on a child's life. Makes me think of what impact I'm having on the lives of the children in my life. I know I impact Donovan--good and bad. I've already started saving for his psychiatry bills because of the things I've done that I had no idea impacted him. But, I'd also like to think I impact other children in my life (for the good, of course). One book I really enjoyed reading was The Five Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell. I think I'll have to continue to read the book at each stage of Donovan's life.

Now on to November (already)...which should be busy for us! Bathroom remodel, my birthday (28, not 27), Thanksgiving at our house....and who knows what else?!

Pumpkin carving

We carved our pumpkins last night. I did the Nemo pumpkin and the spider pumpkin. Aaron did the Shrek pumpkin and the mummy/vampire pumpkin. Aaron's definitely the artist in the family. He's much more patient and thorough. I just want to get it done as quickly as possible. Oh well, I think they all look great! Donovan's pumped for trick-or-treating, and we should have great weather!

Kristen's wedding...and senility.

Donovan and I went to a friend's wedding this weekend. I couldn't resist sharing the picture.

Every time I go to a wedding, I get all emotional. The weirdest part is, I can tell you exactly what was said at this weekend's wedding. I can't remember what was said at our wedding. Of course, it has been six years ago. I still can't believe it's been that long ago.

That reminds me. Aaron mentioned last night how he'll be turning 30 in May. I said, "No you're not. I'm only 26, about to turn 27. You can't be turning 30. You're only 28." Then Aaron kindly reminded me I'm about to turn 28. Senility is already setting in.

Halloween Party!

Aaron, Donovan and I went to a Halloween party this weekend. Aaron (and his friends) dressed as the Insane Clown Posse. Donovan was Darth Vader (Dark Vader in his words). And I was Miss Teen South Carolina (the beauty queen that couldn't answer the question during the pageant)-the picture of me is with our friend dressed as Dog the Bounty Hunter. We had a blast!

Spooky Gingerbread

Donovan and I tried our hands at Haunted Gingerbread house making. I think it turned out well. Donovan still (sometimes) claims he wants to be an architect. I think he may have a chance at decorating, at the least.

I broke down...

and started a blog. As if I don't have enough to do already. I was really inspired by my step-sister's blog.