HomeComing

Kevin and Kahlen attended RiverSide High School's Homecoming this past weekend. Kevin and Kahlen met Ariel and Jessica at Malibu this summer. They are very sweet girls. They had a great time. It was fun to see them get dressed up and go to a school dance.

Back to School

It's back to school time. The boys have been back in school for a little over two weeks. I was able to get the older boys to somewhat cooperate for the"first day of school" photo on the front porch. Kevin and Kahlen really did not want to do it. I had to beg.

For me this year is bitter sweet. Kevin is a Senior. I REALLY can't believe it! I don't know where the time has gone.

I wasn't that excited for school to begin this year. I guess because I know after this year our family will begin to change. Kevin will leave for college and then Kahlen the next year. Don't get me wrong, I want Kevin to grow up and have the natural progression of leaving the "NEST" as I do each of them. It's just change I guess, and he's my first baby.

I want his Senior year to be the best!

I want this year to be great for each of them.

They are all in the full swing of school, homework and sports.

Kevin-Senior

Kahlen-Junior

Nikolas-Freshman

Jakob-Sixth Grade

Erik-Second Grade

The one thing I have learned through these years is that you should cherish each moment and really enjoy your child. Make the most of every day through the good and bad. It goes so quickly. Sometimes it feels like this or that stage will never end, but it does. And before you know your child has grown up and you're wondering if you've taught them everything they need to know before they go out into this world.

I believe God has allowed us to have children to give us a glimpse of the Love He has for us.

It's such a blessing to be a parent. I wouldn't trade it for anything!!!

Swimming at Aunt Michelle's

This past weekend we headed for Eastern Washington to surprise my sister on her Birthday and spend some time with my family. We had a great time celebrating with her. The Boys had a great time in the sun and pool!

JAKOB

Kahlen and Nikolas doing tricks

Kevin and his famous Cannonball!!

Buddy swimming with Erik

My favorite!

Nikolas with a SMILE

Peonies From our Garden

This is from our garden in June, my favorite flower, the peony. They are beautiful and smell incredible.

FINISHED!!!

Here is the finished product. I am so happy about how it turned out. Thank you to my husband who is so handy at home projects. He did all the wood trim for me and put the top on. He does such a nice job when he does a project. I did all the painting.

I broke down the cost of doing this kitchen island ourselves.

Here is the breakdown:

1. Finished Remnant Quartz Piece $220
2. Trim $90
3. Paint $21.97
4. Cabinet Hardware $53
5. Antiquing Medium $2.09

For a grand total of: $387.06

For what it's worth, I believe anyone can do this.

Kitchen Island

Here are some pictures of the progress of the kitchen island. It's been a lot of fun!

All that's left to do is antique it, baseboards and hardware.

PhotoBucket

Photobucket is a great tool for editing your pictures and it's free!

Have fun!!!

Making a Picture Look Old

I came across a website that you can convert a picture to make it look old. I thought this was such a cool website so I thought I would share.

Record Heat

Yesterday the Puget Sound was affected by record heat, 103 officially at SeaTac. Here it was 106, so we headed to the river with our friends to keep cool. The boys had a great time keeping cool along with Lucy.

Kitchen Island

David is so talented when it comes to doing home projects, he amazes me. When I come up with an idea for decorating our home he has always been able to do the project with perfection. My idea for a long time has been to make our kitchen island look like a separate piece of furniture from the rest of our kitchen cabinets. Well back in June I found a remnant piece of quartz for the top of our island. It was already finished, the perfect size and most importantly the perfect price. I had already been thinking about colors for the island. Originally I wanted the Pottery Barn color Jalapeno pepper (a green color). But when I found the remnant it didn't go with the jalapeno green. So, I decided to go with a different color that would compliment the quartz piece. The color I went with is Linden Blue which matches a pottery piece I absolutely love in my home. I am antiquing the island with an antiquing medium that I ended up having to order because no one carries it. The island is all painted now and David is going to put the top on today. I will antique it this coming week. Here are some before and during pictures of the process. I will post more pictures when the island is finished.

Happy Birthday Erik!

Erik has been waiting a long time to do this! He has three brothers that have Summer Birthdays before him. His "Day" was finally here!

Birthday Cards

Erik and his good friend Chris

Erik riding his Ripstick

Wearing his new Lebron James jersey