Longest home improvement project EVER!

OK...I'm embarrassed to admit that Gabe and I started giving my work out room a face lift in JANUARY! It's now May, and we put the finishing touches on the room this weekend. I guess it's easy to start a project and never get around to finishing it when it's not a room you cook in.
So here's the chronicle of our 5 month home gym creation.

In January this is what we started with:Where do I begin describing the things I hated about this room?
1. Oh, I have to start with the floor. Lovely leopard print vinyl tile anyone? We have some in our laundry room too. That's another project altogether. Which at this rate we will never get around to.
2. The two colors. I'm all for bright colors in my home. I have an orange dinning room after all, but these colors just don't do it for me one bit!
3. The electrical outlets...yes...they painted over them. Something that slowed down our project when we couldn't just replace the covers. Gabe had to put brand new plugs on as well.
4. Something you can't see in this picture. The horrible job they did painting. Want to see the ceiling for yourself?January-
So that's what we started with.
Gabe started the face lift by painting the ceiling.I painted the walls the color of my choice. My favorite color. Might not be the best choice for a small room but I enjoy it.

February-
A few weeks after painting was done, we made our decision about flooring. We decided the easiest thing to do was to just cover that "lovely" tile. So, we got some rubber gym tiles and Gabe installed them in no time.I know what you're thinking...we were thinking the same thing..."There's not much left to do now". It was 100% usable and we just sorta forgot about it.

April-
I decided I need a mirror in the room. After all, what's a gym without a mirror in which to stare at my growing muscles! So we took the huge mirror off the wall in our downstairs bathroom. No big deal, we're planning on re-doing that bathroom next month anyway. (Not sure how long that project will take to complete given the time frame on this one. I'll let you know when it gets started.) Anyway, we had some trouble figuring out what we wanted to do to frame the mirror and hang it. This little thing is what held us up for months:And here's the finished room:Oh, I forgot to mention the TV. It was my Valentine's day gift from my dear husband. Romantic huh? I tease!
Working out is about one of my least favorite things. But knowing I get to spend 30 minutes in a space I enjoy, makes it a little bit more tolerable. OK...a lot more tolerable.

Wish us luck as we rip out carpet in our dinning room and lay hard wood this summer. We've had the flooring in our downstairs closet for almost a year now. We'll probably need luck on our bathroom project too. Just those two projects this summer. Oh, I forgot...we have to paint the house. But I think we'll hire someone to do that. Good idea huh? We'd probably still be painting it in December!

BIG Bubbles

Levi loves bubbles. He loves to pop them. He loves to blow them. He likes to eat them. Yes, he'll put his face on the ground and pop them with his mouth. And he'll also stick the wand in his mouth when he's blowing them. He must be watched very closely when bubbles are out!
So when I saw this big bubble wand in the dollar bin at Target this morning, I knew we had to get it.
And it is a lot of fun!I love this shot Gabe took this morning. It's so cool that you can see the bubble popping in the middle. What a dramatic splash!

Our Garden

Since my friend Nickie was asking about our garden in a comment last month. I thought I should try a blog series on our family garden. From start to finish. Or in other words, from planting to preserving.
We have three raised beds in our front yard because we don't have much of a back yard. And the house faces south, so the front yard has the most hours of sun each day. I'm not the sort of gardener who starts things from seed indoors. Mostly because I'm lazy but also because we don't really have a good place to put them. None of our windows really get enough sunlight. So, we buy veggie starts for the most part. This year our garden has herbs, lettuce, spinach, green bush beans, and four tomato plants (heirloom, yellow, cherry and roma). We decided to put zucchini in a pot this year to see how that works. They take up so much room in the garden, we hope that putting them in a separate container will help save some space. We also planted sweet peas, snap peas, and carrots from seed.
Here's my helper digging and getting ready to plant some pea seeds a few weeks ago.And here he is helping me plant the seeds too.My goal is to keep updating the garden's progress but maybe also add some recipes we try. Three years ago we ate, canned or preserved everything that we harvested from our garden. The second piece of my goal is to also share that part of the process. So, stay tuned. We already have peas sprouting!

Oregon Trail Rally

Just to keep everything on the blog even, I wanted to get on here and show how I like, or would like to play.  This weekend is the Oregon Trail Rally, an event I have codriven in, volunteered at and spectated over the years.  This year I got to play spectator.  Above is the car owned by Dan Brown and Doug Heredos, here, Dan is driving through one of the stages held at Portland International Raceway.  This will be the second season for the guys in the new car.  Sounds like Friday got a little eventful when they lost brakes on the third stage!  Hopefully they do well the rest of the weekend.

Below is a shot of Antoine L'Estage, last years Rally America champion.  As you can see, racing went well past dark, giving you a chance to see just how much these guys use their brakes.

Happy Mother's Day!

This is my kind of Mother's Day breakfast.
Gabe and Levi got donuts and coffee this morning. And flowers too.

I tried to sleep in, and was completely unsuccessful at doing so. Guess for the rest of my life, my body will just be conditioned to wake up at 6:30am. Even on the rare day I actually get a chance to sleep later.

The boys were also going to make me a nice dinner. But I took the car, which also happened to have Levi's car seat in it, to see a movie with my mom and sisters this afternoon. So, they were left stranded at home and couldn't go to the store to get any groceries. We ended up here for Mother's day dinner instead.

On this Mother's day, and every day, I am very grateful to have this wonderful child in my life! Stories before bed are definitely the highlight of my day!

Bike Repair Shop

I think what I'm loving most about playing with Levi right now is just watching what he comes up with. Everything is a toy. Everything can have an unusual purpose. Everything must be explored.
And I'm amazed at the things he does naturally.
For example, he loves this "bue" hammer. (He just started saying blue this week. And that's what it sounds like. He also started saying "poo" and "hoe" this week. Translations: poop and hole. Although thankfully he's not using the two words together.)And this is naturally what he does with it. I swear he's never seen his dad working on his car or bike. So how does the kid come up with the idea to use the hammer to "fix" the seat on his bike?And he couldn't take off riding his bike without the hammer. It had to go everywhere with him this morning. He tried to put it on the front of his bike but it wouldn't stay on while he rode. But he was thrilled when I suggested he ride with it in his pocket!It's crazy what this kid comes up with!

This is why...

I teach.

And boy did I need a reminder today!

It's Friday. It's spring. Only 20 days left.

When a couple kids make my day difficult, it's hard to remember the ones I enjoy spending my day with.

Gabe was told by his boss Wednesday afternoon, that he'd be spending the rest of the week in Canada. He gets home tomorrow afternoon.

Our district is cutting another 120 teaching positions this year...should find out next week if I still have a job next year.

Just feel like there are a lot of things out of my control right now and a lot that has me worried.

I needed this poem a girl in my second period class wrote and gave me today. I'm sure she wrote it because Tuesday was teacher appreciation day. She had no idea I really needed this reminder today.

A love for history

A passion for teaching

A heart for students

Memories you make

Thoughts you create

Dreams you inspire

Places we wish to go

Things we want to overcome

Actions we hope to do

Thanks to you

The day must end

The trimester is almost done

The year is close to the finish line

I will never forget

I will always remember you!

And I should probably also include the funny reasons why I teach. I don't get a lot of this mushy stuff often, but I do get a fair share of funny random stories and crazy statements.

Like the kid who walked into 5th period on Wednesday and announced that he was still hungry because "All I had for breakfast was a rice crispy treat and a piece of ham."

We have a beaver!

I'm a little late in finally getting around to posting this story.
We were notified several weeks ago by the neighbor behind us, that we have a family of beavers living in our creek. He took Gabe down to the creek and showed him the damage the beavers are causing and their "cute" little den. The neighbor says he's seen them, but we've only seen evidence of their existence. Here it is...I was sorta putting off this post, hoping that Gabe would be able to get a shot of the actual beaver(s), but he just hasn't had the time. Maybe I'll update if he finally gets around to it.

After doing a little research (thanks to our friend Carley for recommending this source) here's what Gabe did to solve our little problem...And so far it's worked. He covered about 6 trees (you can see one they started in on in the background of the photo) and we haven't found any more evidence that they've been after more trees on our property.
Here's to hoping they've moved on to better tasting trees somewhere else!
Oh, the joys of home ownership. I never really did expect we'd be forced to deal with beavers. We can cross that one off the list!

My Idea of "Play"

I was told by a friend last weekend (a friend that will remain nameless so she will not incur the wrath of Levi's grandmas) that I should include some pictures of what I consider "play". In other words...not just pictures of the cutest kid on the planet. That got me thinking. There are a lot of things I enjoy in addition to spending time playing with my boys. And really, I don't do those things nearly enough. I don't get out my paints and pictures enough. I don't open up my Kindle enough. I don't sit outside and soak up the sun enough. (Actually, I'll do this in a heartbeat when we get some sunshine). I don't get pedicures and massages enough! And I don't bake nearly enough! Mostly because if I bake it...I eat it.

Other than spending my furlough days (Thursday and Friday) playing with Levi, I made the most delicious chocolate chip cookies.

I think Levi likes my idea of play too...

I gave him two chocolate chips while I was making the cookies and he thought they were the greatest thing ever! I don't think we've ever given him chocolate. Boy, did he love that cookie!
(This picture is for Levi's grandmas.)

Happy Easter!

We started our Easter celebration Saturday with a trip to the zoo's Rabbit Romp. It was a beautiful day and it was busy! They had "egg" hunts for the kids every 20 minutes. It was a little disappointing because all they did is throw out candy on the lawn. Here's Gabe and Levi planning out their strategy for grabbing candy.
Yesterday, we went to church with Grandma and Grandpa G. Then we spent the afternoon at their house. Enjoying time playing with family and eating a big dinner. We also had a real egg hunt.

Here's Levi checking out what he got in his Easter basket. Looks like he got caught red handed doesn't it?
Verdict on Levi's first bite of peeps...
apparently not yummy. He spit the bite out and gave the rest of his peep bunny to Grandpa.Happy Easter!

Is this how you play in a sandbox?

You're suppose to fling all the sand out right?
Well, that's what Levi thinks.
I've given up telling him to keep the sand in the box. Decided it's a battle I'm not going to fight. After all, it's not like it's going to hurt him. It will probably just mean he'll run out of sand to play with. Although sometimes the flinging sand does end up in his hair and in his face. Which he doesn't like very much. I guess that means he'll learn his lesson eventually...maybe.

Earth Day

In honor of Earth Day, the West family will be making another commitment to change the way we live. It's getting more and more difficult for us to find small things we can do to live in a more "earth friendly" way. We already recycle, compost, grow our own vegetables, and use our cloth grocery bags. I wish I could say we're willing to make some more drastic changes but really...we just aren't....not yet anyway. I wish I could say we're willing to do something like this family. I read the Sunset article about them months ago and felt pretty inspired by what they are doing. But for now, we'll just continue to take little steps in that direction.

The commitment we're making this year is to buy in bulk. There is so much waste in packaging. Not just after you buy it, but also in the manufacturing of the packaging. We will need to invest in some new glass jars (and probably some smaller reusable bags) but the bulk isle at New Seasons is awesome! We can get everything we need package free! Including shampoo, soap, and laundry detergent.

Hope you took some time today to love the earth a little more!

Packy's Party

Levi and I took Grandpa and Grandma G to the zoo yesterday to celebrate Packy's 49th birthday. Gabe's chasing a golf ball through the woods with his dad (and his dad's friends). So it's been a Mommy and Levi weekend.

Warning: this post may have way too many pictures in it. I had a hard time deciding which ones to post!

Here's the big birthday boy.Levi wearing his elephant ears to celebrate!I love this one of Levi and his grandparents. He's more interested in looking at the big elephant puppet then his mommy behind the camera.There was even cake to celebrate Packy's big day.
Here's the big cake for humans to enjoy.And here's the cake for Packy. They fed it to him at 2pm but we couldn't stay and watch him enjoy it. We had to get home for nap time.Levi did like his bites of birthday cake!It was a fun day!
Happy Birthday Packy!

Duplo Airplane

Levi loves building things with his Legos. Mostly he just makes towers and train cars for his Lego elephant to ride on. But what Levi really loves is when his daddy makes him things. He'll carry around this silly cow for days. Getting upset anytime a piece falls off and he can't get it put back together himself. Levi was thrilled when his daddy made this airplane. He was carrying the cow in one hand and the airplane in the other for days. The next step is for Levi to figure out how to put these creations back together himself. Because mommy isn't very good at figuring out what pieces go where. And Levi knows if mommy doesn't put it together the same way daddy does!

Dinosaurs Attack!

We've finally had some nice spring weather the last few days. Really that just means we've had some dry days. Levi has enjoyed riding his "bike" and playing in his sandbox. And also helping Mommy and Daddy rake the dead moss out of the lawn. He thinks he's helping any way. The rain should be back tomorrow. On the bright side, it will provide a nice drink for all the grass seed Gabe laid down today where the moss use to be.

Dirt don't hurt

and neither does a little tumble in the back yard.

We went out to try and get some work done this morning between hail and rain showers. My job was pulling massive weeds in the front yard, Gabe was in the back yard with Levi planting the blueberries and raspberries we bought this morning. Levi likes to play in the lower part of the yard, but you have to go down these terrible wooden steps to get down there. Levi slipped on the big bottom step and ended up doing a face plant into the gravel. Poor guy! He doesn't have any battle wounds. Just ended up a little muddy. (I know the focus is off in this picture but getting pictures with Levi's face in focus is getting harder and harder. What toddler wants to hold still for a picture?) Also, please ignore the snot running out of my child's nose. There were some tears flowing after this tumble. Plus, he caught something either at the zoo in Nashville or on the way home. He's been sick and crabby all week. In fact, he's woken up coughing 3 times during his nap today. And it sounds bad. It makes my chest hurt just listening to him. If it doesn't sound better tomorrow, he'll be on his way to visit the doctor on Monday.

Can't believe how fast this week flew by! Hoping the next ten go by just as fast.

Nashville

The rest of our visit we spent playing in Nashville. We spent several mornings at parks.Ryan and Gabe went here for a tour. Since we were in music city, we also stopped by the one place Gabe couldn't miss on this first visit to Nashville.
We made a trip to the zoo.
Had a great time watching the animals. And Gabe got a chance to play with that new lens he bought a while back. These gibbons were so loud we could hear them all the way across the zoo! We had to come back and see what all the fuss was about.
Of course the boys had a ride on the carousel.And one little boy was not happy when the ride came to an end.But the best part of the trip had to be the evenings spent together with family. Cousins all together and after dinner stories. And of course, playing games once all three kids were in bed. Good times and great memories!

Biggest Fan

It's crazy how much Levi loves his cousin Sawyer.
Where ever Sawyer went, Levi wanted to go. What ever Sawyer did, Levi wanted to do it too.
What ever Sawyer ate, Levi was willing to try.
Levi is Sawyer's biggest fan.

Sawyer was pretty patient with having Levi under foot all the time. Here they are playing a little b-ball in the back yard. Both sporting their Vanderbilt shirts and balls. (Ryan works there...the reason for the move to Nashville). Sawyer did have to draw the line at hugs and kisses from Levi.

Pretty sure Levi is going to miss playing with his big boy cousin!

The Smokies & Chattanooga

We're back...all in one piece. It's 8:30am and it's already been a long morning. Hopefully the little guy can transition back to west coast time quickly. We've already unpacked and done 2 loads of laundry. Guess that's what happens when we're up before the sun.

We had a great time visiting the Morrisons in Nashville. It was so nice to see them and watch Levi enjoy being with his big cousins.
We started our vacation off with a trip to the "mountains". Spent the weekend in a log cabin outside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We enjoyed the views, played games and relaxed in the hot tub. Ryan, Gabe, Savannah and Sawyer went into Pigeon Forge to ride go-carts one afternoon. We also did some hiking in the park. We hiked out to Arch Rock...and Laurel Falls.On the return trip to Nashville, we drove down through Chattanooga and took a trip up Lookout Mt. on the incline railway. Just happens to be the steepest passenger railway in the world. Here's Levi enjoying the ride (I think).And the Morrisons enjoying the view from the top.

Levi's Ready to Go!

All week we've been getting ready to go to Nashville to visit Heather, Ryan, Savannah and Sawyer for spring break.  Levi sure seems like he's ready to go since he was climbing in the bags as soon as Heidi got them out.  It'll be interesting to see how he does on the flight back there.  It was a year ago almost exactly that he was last on a plane when we went to visit them in St. Louis.  I'm sure we'll have a decent flight out there and a fabulous time once we're there.

-Gabe

Dump Truck

If feels like spring is never going to get here. We haven't had any clear sunny spring days yet. I'm hoping they come soon. Even though the sun hasn't made much of an appearance yet, we have had some breaks in the rain. Giving us a chance to play outside a little. Levi loves to gather up all the pine cones in the backyard and load up his dump truck. Then of course, he loves to dump them out.
Try not to notice the amount of moss that's in our lawn. Actually, we don't really have much of a lawn right now. The moss completely took over during the winter. Well, as soon as the sun finally does make an appearance you know what we'll be doing outside. Levi will get to play, while Mommy and Daddy do some much needed yard work!

Cheeseburger

With a drumstick on top.
Doesn't that look delicious?
Levi thinks so.
Well, at least he likes to pretend to eat all his play food. It's really silly to watch. He even makes chewing noises now when he pretends to eat it. Why not since Mommy and Daddy do when ever he offers us a bite?

We're all very excited around here today. It's Gabe's big 32! Big birthday celebration for Gabe, my sister Tricia and her fiance Travis later this afternoon. They all have birthdays this week. After cake and presents, Gabe and I are going out to dinner without the little guy. Hope it's a fun day for my special guy! I'll give the complete rundown tomorrow. Or maybe the birthday boy should.