Happy Birthday to Meg!

Since I'm a poser on Meg's blog I get to say
Happy Birthday!

http://jimmieandkasey.blogspot.com/2008/04/happy-birthday-meg.html

Here are a few pictures I took of the girls the other day. Q moves out of the frame faster than I can take the picture. Yes, this is her pose. She's showing off all that hair. Words I heard her say were "Yeah" and "No." Meg reports she also said "cracker" the other day! She IS a bottomless pit when it comes to food.

When I asked Reese if she wanted me to take her picture, she said, "No." All I had to say was, "That's okay, I'll just take pictures of your cute little sister." She ran over to couch, climbed up and carefully posed herself for her photo shoot - totally not kidding - cracking me up! Her parents had better watch this little model in training!

Baby Steps

Update: There have been two more baby steps completed, but nothing photo-worthy.We took a few weeks off while Meg's mom was in town. Aaron did remove the very last piece of 2 x 4 that was standing in the way. I think we have a date for May 7th to install the new fan and finish framing in the door. Life is just busy.

We didn't get quite as much done the other night as we'd hoped, partly because we had to make yet another trip to Lowe's. The kid that helped us assured us the 36" door measurement included the frame - he was wrong and we were one inch wider than we could fit in the 36" space, so we swapped for a 32" door. Meg was hoping to have the bathroom lights wired and working before her Mom came to visit this weekend, but our extra trip to Lowes and struggle with the vent fan kind of sucked up the entire evening. Although we didn't get as far as connecting the new vent/light fixture, we DID finally get the old one removed, which was quite a feat. It's now covered with plastic to keep the nasty insulation from coming into the house. We did get some initial framing done and nailed in one side of the door frame.

Meg takes a seat and imagines how wonderfully spacious her new bathroom will be!
And here's the beginning of a new view from the master bath. Isn't that a cute door? Meg's getting pretty excited about being able to have the door closed and no light on when Aaron gets ready for work each morning. ;) Hopefully next week we'll be able to finish framing in the door and hang some sheetrock!! After grandma leaves town, of course!Guest posted by Kasey

Adventures in Remodeling - Master Bath Edition

Before you get too excited, this isn't Meg. This is Kasey guest-blogging for Meg.

This past week began the overhaul of Meg and Aaron's master bathroom. Still in the demolition stage, but showing lots of progress and potential already. This project started out as an "I want to tile my bathroom" idea. It didn't take much discussion and math to figure out that before we went to the trouble of tiling, we should rip out a wall and add a door to maximize the utility and square footage of the bathroom. Fun!

We started this project after 3 hours of painting at my house (not pictured), so we were pretty wiped out by the time we called it a day.Meg's hammer was no match for the cabinet above the toilet. She needed a bigger hammer, anyway!

Meg's removing drywall which is essentially glued to the framing near the shower. Notice the wires still hanging from the ceiling and coming up from the floor.

Meg conquered her fear of things that slither and bite and went underneath her house for the very first time! Not only did she crawl down there, she found the appropriate wire and identified where to drill the new hole to pull the wire up through a different wall to it's new gang box. That was definitely the highlight of the day in terms of accomplishing things that were intimidating! Thanks to Aaron for tackling the drilling-above-your-head portion of this activity.

Meg, is that electrical tape on your lap??

Tah dah! Wires are re-routed and most of the studs have been removed. Next step is pulling the wires up into the attic and back down (it was too hot that day!) and pulling down the giant studs that were over the old doorway.Next week, look for a new door to be framed in, a new vent fan/light and hopefully, some sheetrock!

Quincy is a GIRLS Name

For those of you who don't know.

I Guess We're Living Amish....

No, we didn't get swept up in a tornado.

We didn't float away in the flood.

I didn't decide that I hate all my friends

I didn't set up a private blog and "forget" to invite you.
Here's your monthly update.

Apparently, Reese has mastered the art of smoking licorice ropes. Pixie sticks are next.






You'll never get a sour face from Q if she's being fed....even if it's a lemon.

Easter at the willardson's!

Meg: Hey! I thought we were going to watch Lamb of God.

Aaron: Uh, Yeah...we decided to play Rock Band instead....Some of the songs say Jesus in them. That counts.

Here's the latest from the W house:

By the way...we still need a cool name for our blog (thank you, scott for your many suggestions, I think we'll pass)

By the way again... The winner of the great date idea contest forever ago is scotty for is Make Your Own Ice Cream Flavor Date.

Honerable Mention goes to Kasey and Jimmie for bringing Rock Band into our lives, and supporting our habit on a weekly basis.

Anyway, here's what's new-

We took an overnighter to Oklahoma City and enjoyed a no-kid weekend.(thank you Emily and Kasey!) It was a blast! Downtown Oklahoma City has a riverwalk that is really cool. We went to to the temple, had a quiet yummy dinner, listened to all the free cable we could stand (project runway marathon...how could we resist?!). It was WONDERFUL!

The 1979 classic gold and frosted glass light fixture in my bathroom is FINALLY GONE! No electrical shocks this time either.

The popcorn ceiling in my master bathroom is gone...and pretty soon the WALL will be gone too. (kudos to my home- improvement-junkie friends who support my habits, and encourage wild remodeling ideas)

I started teaching preschool and have four little learners in my group. It's going great, and Reese is thriving in her little class.

Quincy says, "Yeah" in response to any question you ask her. Super-cute!

Reese has discovered Band-Aids (a mother can only hold off for so long)

Aaron got a rockin' haircut at midnight by his knockout resident beautician. (I think I deserve a raise for the crazy hours he has me working :o)

Easter 2008

U2 in 3D

It's always good for your self esteem when you walk into the theater and some high school kid says, 'Wow. I feel really young all of a sudden.'

My response: 'Hey man, I'm not that old.'

And the fifty-somethings behind me said, 'Hey, we were U2 fans before you were born, buddy!'

U2 is 3D is highly recommended by me. Sadly, I was not caught on film in Chicago, taking my top off and throwing it to Bono on the stage. But I swear he pointed right to me as he said, 'I'll wipe your tears away.'