Count down to the big bash begins!

I can't believe Sunday is almost here, I think having all the kitchen crap going on kept me from stressing about the trio's birthday party. Until now...we have a lot to get done tomorrow!

We did go with the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme, here are some pics of some of the decorations and stuff.

The balloons!

Table centerpieces, banner, confetti, stickers, wall decorations and plates.

Mickey ears, blow thingys and beach balls!

Had to throw this is...how long we have waited to have Xander not be able to climb the gate and get in the kitchen anymore....Hahaha thwarted!

Done done done...I don't want to remodel another kitchen anytime soon!

Today was another hot one, I think it got up to 97. Did I go out and enjoy it, after all I bitch just as much as the next person about Oregon's 8 months of rain, no, I stayed inside with our little window AC unit going full blast LOL.
At dinner tonight Xander and Hayden were being so cute, we hear all this laughing, look over and see them both dipping their fingers in some honey mustard sauce and then Xan would put his finger in Hayden's mouth and she would put her finger in his.
Now that the kitchen is done, except for getting my husband to put the ladder, paint and other junk away, here are some pics detailing the upgrades. Larry really did a nice job, and I am really liking the new paint job, the granite is amazing...though never having it before I am afraid any little thing will ruin it somehow.

Before...

Still messy, but after...

Cabinets above the stove and fridge. He made the shelves roll out more like drawers. He also

used internal hinges on everything which makes the outside look cleaner.

Upper cabinet

He built in little lights, they work off the same switch that turns the light above the sink on and off.

Lower cabinets, they all have the shelf/drawer feature too.

Drawer space.

Cabinets and little drawer like areas under the sink.

He had some dead space so he did this vertical pegboard drawer.

Large cabinet for pots and pans.

Juice....Pops

It hit 95 here today, we stayed inside and did our best to stay cool. It was too hot to cook dinner so we ordered some pizza, or "hot pizza" as Lily likes to say. After dinner we gave the kids their very first popsicles....what a fun mess. They didn't know what to do with them, every single one of them tried to eat the stick end first. I didn't think they would have any issues at all after the way they demolished those ice cream cones at the beach but I was wrong. Lily and Xander preferred to rub theirs back and forth on their trays until they were more melty and then they would lick the juice LOL. Needless to say it got messy and the trio got a nice cooling bath afterwards.
We got the second coat of paint on the kitchen tonight and should be able to get everything put back in there and back in order tomorrow...I am so ready.
Not a day too soon as now we really need to switch gears and make sure everything is ready for the kids 2nd Birthday party THIS Sunday...OMG!

Some pics of the popsicle fun....
Xan and his art work

Hayden did the best at not being a total slob :)

Lily kept saying "juice....pops"

She used to be our cleanest kid, she hated getting messy...I miss that, so do my floors and walls LOL


In other news... I was watching TV with DH when a DQ commercial came on about the new Pecan Pie Blizzard. My mouth literally dropped open and I looked at Jason and just said "go now." I regret to inform you it was perhaps the worst Blizzard I have ever had. I took maybe 6 bites and I am sure the rest will be sitting in my freezer until I am tired of looking at it and throw it out. I LOVE pecan pie, but this was not even close and WAY too salty. Bummer :(

A break was needed!

Right after waking up from their naps today Lily was on a mission to go swing. She wouldn't stop saying it and then she would cry and cry. So even though we still have to finish painting the 2nd coat in the kitchen we took the kiddos to the park. It was a beautiful day...actually it is supposed to be in the low 90's most of the week and weekend! Great weather for their party! We spent a good 2 hours playing then had a little picnic dinner there and headed home. I think it was a nice break for all of us. The kitchen is done except for a little more paint and clean up. We got all the boxes unpacked and everything put back away. I love all the new space we have, though the cabinets went from looking full to looking almost empty LOL

Pics from the park...

Xander right to the play equipment and up to the slide.

The girls....right to the swings of course :)

They did eventually stop swinging and play on the toys.

Xander made a couple new friends, 5 1/2 year old twins Matthew and Molly...they were cute kids.

Lily Bug ready for dinner :)

Kitchen paint job... we did pick up new paint, you can see how minty that other one was.

Happy 4th!!!

Sorry to say we had a pretty lame 4th this year. I love that we are doing the kitchen remodel but we have been stuck in the house for the last 3 days, and will be tomorrow too. It's worth it but I feel lame, we didn't even put the kids in their 4th of July shirts. Now fireworks are going off like crazy and it makes me feel worse. We did make more progress on the kitchen, it is looking like everything except maybe painting the walls will be done tomorrow!

We had Larry make cabinets to go over the fridge and stove, also mounted the microwave there too so that will free up more counter space!

On the baby baking front. Today marks 14 weeks, I am still not up but 3 or so lbs. Haven't felt any movement yet, hopefully that will be coming soon. We are having some name trouble, we thought we had both our boy and girl name picked. Since we are not finding out what we are having we will need one of each ready. The boy name is still set, but the girl name is now back up in the air. It's funny with the triplets we had 3 sets of names picked by 15 weeks, strange how much harder it is this time to name one baby LOL.

My 14 week pics....I admit I was sucking in a tad in the first one :)

One of the trio playing around. I can not believe their 2nd Birthday party is just 1 week away!

Day 2 of the kitchen remodel

Got a lot done today, but it looks like we won't have a sink until Monday...that sucks!
I am so happy with the cabinets, our friend Larry (whom we often refer to as Lardini because he is really good at what he does) made these cabinets by hand, they have so many awesome features that I will detail once everything is done. We just gave him a couple pages out of a kitchen magazine and said something like this...the man is good. We knew that though, he is the same guy that put in all our tile, remodeled the laundry room and turned the half ass remodel of the garage into a real bedroom. I don't think he wants to hear from us about any more projects for awhile LOL. Some pics of today's progress.

Upper cabinets in. We don't really like how the paint came out, we were looking for more of a gray/green ish so I think we will be buying some new stuff.

Bottom cabinets, we added a little L shape cabinet that wasn't there before, makes room for a little bar off the end.

1st piece of granite in....man are the slabs heavy, I don't know how Jason and Larry did it.

2nd piece, so nice to only have one seam to deal with. They are not glued or whatever yet, that will be tomorrow morning.

Almost done!

Still can't get a pic that does it justice.

It's like camping...sort of.

Today was day 1 of the kitchen remodel, as of 10 am this morning we no longer have cabinets, counters, a sink or a dishwasher. Hopefully the new cabinets and counters will be in tomorrow but still no sink for another day. It's been like camping out, it is crazy how much you take counter space and a sink for granted LOL. The kitchen is just a disaster zone so the kiddos are eating in their highchairs in the living room for the next couple of days. They had their first ever Happy Meals today...they enjoyed it but were told they would not be getting these often.

Before pic

Getting started

Xander grabbed his hammer and put on his Dad's shoes...he was so upset that he couldn't help.

Quick look at the new granite! I will try to get a better pic, it is a pretty gray with green and lots of flecks...I think it is going to be hard to capture it in a picture.

End of day 1.

The first Happy Meal :)

We also tore out the rose bushes that used to be infront of the living room window. They were very pretty but didn't bloom until they hit like 7-8ft tall and were totally blocking the window and touching the roof. Jason dug them out and a buddy of his took them so at least they went to a good home. Now to pick some new flowers that will stay only waist high.

Our other flower bed needs some new flowers too....gotta go perennials this time since we obviously don't have a green thumb between us, maybe something that you just plant once and it keeps coming back will fare better.