a beautiful day

i woke up this morning to three smiling faces,
a sweet handmade card,

and a bag of the best coffee beans in the world.
this was followed by a super yummy breakfast of french toast, fruit and bacon.
and two of the best lattes ever (made with my 18 year old cappucino maker!).

all prepared by my dear husband and kids.
can't think of a better present!
i am so thankful for each day i spend as a wife and mother.
each day is such a treasured gift.

 

back to work

today was jake's first day going back to work after staying at home to help with the arrival of julia.
except for a late start - it was really a pretty good day.
and though we are all a little tired around here,
i am feeling very content and my heart is full with love for our growing family.
(i'm sure the Christmas season is making me a little extra sentimental too!)

i thought i would post a couple of pictures of jake and ben from last week.
they made a list of projects they wanted to accomplish while jake was home,
and most of them have been crossed off.
it was really good for ben to have some "guy time".

#4 - repairing and hanging the bird  feeder

how i love them both so much!
and did i mention ben grew at least six inches and packed on a couple of pounds while i was in the hospital?
can't believe how different he seems lately -
growing-up way too fast!

11.19.2005

six years...

  

happy anniversary jacob!

i'm the luckiest girl in the world.

always.

grouted

one of these days i'll blog about something else...
maybe my sewing, decorating or etsy shop - you know the things i dream about doing.  :)
but for now our life is still revolving around the bath/shower project.

last night jake put in a LONG evening and got the grouting all done.

we chose a light grey grout, and we were a little nervous how dark it looked going on.

but today, after it's been drying, it looks just like we were hoping it would.

still loving the blue glass!

we are super happy with the results!

now - caulking, drying and clean-up.

we originally thought we'd be showering tomorrow evening, but after further reading it looks like waiting 10 days for the grout + sealer we used is the recommended dry time. 
and after all the time, money and hard work that's gone into it we've decided to wait the extra time.
october 14th!  that's circled on all my calendars.

the last tile

was installed yesterday.
all by my very own husband.

they look AMAZING!
and i can't wait to finish the rest of the bathroom renovation,
but we've decided to finish up the shower/tub project, clean-up,
remove the icky carpet and call that good for now.
with baby coming in about 8 weeks and having already used a month of time on this project, we think it will be best to wait until january to tackle the rest of the bathroom.
we've got plenty of other things to do on the "before baby gets here" list. 

so the remaining plan...
grout tonight.
seal tomorrow.
SHOWER on wednesday!!!
this week is looking good so far.

and we just had our 32 week baby appointment this morning.
everything is still looking great.
we are really looking forward to meeting our little girl... but hope she waits another 8 weeks before arriving.

go fly a kite

one of ben's birthday presents was a kite - perfect when you live in kansas!
so last thursday, being a good windy day that it was, the three of us ate dinner early so we could run over to the playground at a nearby school and give the kite at try.

ben was really excited!

but he quickly decided it was most fun to let dad run around trying to keep the kite in the air while he chased (and stepped on) the streamers.

 hope you are enjoying the weekend!

hunting, fishing & tiling

that pretty much sums up our weekend.
saturday morning was spent out at "daddy's office".

it was national hunting and fishing day.

each year there is a morning of activities for families followed by a hot dog lunch.

there was great weather this year and we had a wonderful time.

such a good time we all came home and took a nap.

and yesterday, my professional handyman was busy all day in the bathroom.

look how much he accomplished!

i love the way it's looking!

and for his first tile project - i think he's doing an excellent job.

he is quite the perfectionist, and it shows.

we hope to be back to bathing at home again soon.

letters

When I think about Jake and me, and what I treasure, I immediately think of our letters.  Letters we wrote to each other over the course of a summer.  We hadn't even been dating for a year when Jake left for an internship in Alaska.  It was the longest summer of my life!

 Alaska is a big place, and he was in a remote area with limited access to a telephone or computer.  So we stayed in touch the old-fashioned way with letters - handwritten on paper and mailed with a stamp on an addressed envelope.  I looked forward to the mail delivery each day, but it wasn't until we got married that I realized how much I treasured those letters.  They are a part of our history together.  We often wrote about our daily happenings (not too exciting) but we also shared dreams and hopes for the future.  

I also have to tell you that Jake had always planned to head to the wilderness and live a very isolated life.  You know - at one with nature, hunting and gathering, survival skills, etc.  Kind of like Jeremiah Johnson.  :)  So when he boarded that plane in Kansas City with his wilderness gear and his guitar, I was a little nervous he might just stay in Alaska.  But he didn't.  He actually decided that civilization wasn't so bad - in small amounts of course.  I was so happy that my mountain man returned home to Kansas.

  

Fast forward seven years and here we are - celebrating five years of marriage.

It's been full of excitement, love, and change.

I am blessed to have such a wonderful husband.
 Happy anniversary!

I love you Jake!

apple cake for breakfast

Did I mention how awesome my husband is? Well, he is.
He stayed up really late last night and made Apple Cake. 
He was flipping through the Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book - the classic red and white checkered one - and said Apple Cake sounded great for breakfast. So he made it.

With apples from his parents' apple tree that we brought home from our visit over the weekend.

It was great for breakfast.  And an afternoon snack during nap time.

And since he was on a roll, he made his famous pizza this evening. 
He's been perfecting it for quite a while.
I can't seem to get it down so Dad makes the pizza in our house, but I help by prepping all the toppings.

yellow pepper(from our garden) and onion

 

mushrooms and black olives

Jake makes the BEST almost-homemade crust using 2 boxes of Jiffy Pizza Crust.

It's baked for a bit on a round ceramic pizza stone thing I got years ago - I think it's from Pampered Chef.

He brushes on a little melted butter with garlic and herbs.
Then tops it with leftover spaghetti sauce, pepperoni, onion, yellow pepper, mushrooms, black olives and lots of shredded cheese.  YUM!!!  It goes back in the often and cooks for a little longer.

Then it's time to eat!  With parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes of course.

 

Long ago, Jake used to amaze me by cooking or grilling food that included things like salmon, shrimp, and steak, but now family pizza night is just about as good (or better).

I'm a lucky girl and I love eating apple cake for breakfast and homemade pizza for dinner.
With my two favorite guys.  One of them bakes the apple cake and makes the pizza.
One of them is only about 3 feet tall, and he wears the coolest shirts.

 

And likes to ring the doorbell.
Mom usually gives him a cookie.  Dad makes silly faces.

The best kind of evening.