Lasik days...

So after my surgery, I wasn't supposed to go to the beach, swim, wear make up for a week.... going out and about didn't really seem like that great of an idea(I look like I'm 12)...so I thought it was time to work on my latest idea...a HEADBOARD for our bed!!! Since we moved in 2.5 years ago, our 2 mattresses have been on the floor, so it was time. =) I don't even have a before just cause there was nothin to see. HA! i will show you step by step...(found my inspiration from hours of DIY headboard watching, google images, and reading articles and tips on different methods. here we go.

FIRST, cut my 1/4 plywood into the right size squares, then framed them with 2x2s all the way around. Don't worry I was wearing saftey goggles to use my new saw from dad to protect my new expensive eyes. =)

With the "help" of someone special, next I cut out the 2" foam. I ordered this online for pretty cheap instead of gettin it at Joanns for a lot.


next we cut out the batting...

Next important step, attach the wall mount pieces- totally sweet. I screwed those little square like blocks into a stud in the wall so the headboard just hangs on it like a picture.

cover with the brown material...aaannnd notice the brown walls in the background...bla

Now time to assemble! Screw top and bottom squares together using my handy dandy clamps, then attach it to the ones next to it...





Thank you Garrett and Ethan for your photography....and sydney handing me screws one at a time. HA! Stand er up and see what it looks like!

and then since the walls were brown, it was time to lighten up the room to match it all...so Susie helped me paint and Joe watched the kids and we knocked out the painting in 2 days! (we painted syd's room purple just for fun too- it was painted the hallway color when we moved in cause we weren't even pregnant with a girl so how would we know!?!)




Don't really know what's happening with her furniture in there...pay no attention. haha. ANYHOO, check out the finished product!!

Now if we had matching nightstands.....maybe we'll find some nice ones in 2.5 years. haha!

LASIK!

Here we are, two weeks later, reporting on the events of my lasik surgery. Conveniently, Heather and I were scheduled on the same day!...which makes for more fun on the car rides there (Elkhart, IN- hour drive) and all our follow up appointments. SERIOUSLY what a fabulous experience. MINUTES of a procedure, and I'm talking from the second you lay on the chair to when you sit up and they tell you to read the clock across the room. MINUTES. Sooooo great! And after that, they sent us home with lovely eye shields to wear overnight the first 5 days, and eye drops a few times a day for the following weeks. At my one week check I could already see 20/15. AND, she told me that she couldn't even SEE the spots on my eye that he worked on! totally healed!! Amazing I tell ya. And I would do it all over again because it was so easy- (but i don't have to cause I see perfectly now-hehe) I have two $500 off coupons for the next person who wants to go see Dr. Boling!! Here's what I have to document the experience.





Hands down the best part of course is being able to see my alarm clock in the middle of the night....I pretty much wore my contacts from the second I woke up to the second I went to bed. So it was the loooongest 3 glasses-wearing weeks ever before the surgery, but totally worth it! Ok gotta go, kids wakin up!!

In recent news

Well, since the summer seems to be flying by, I suppose I could find the time this evening to give my few readers an update. when it's not raining, you could usually find us here:

This really has been an usual summer...waaaayy too much rain ALL of May pretty much, June's temp wasn't quite there for us beach-goers, and July has been hit or miss with schedules and temps, but we still find the time when it works out. I'm pretty good at packin up for it in the morning, snacks, toys, towels, chair, drinks......and then we get there and stay for a few hours, pack everything back up, rinsing off toys and kids, brush sand before getting into car, come home, go straight to the back yard, the kids strip down and get hosed off, back inside, clothes then nap time, then I shower and get everything cleaned out and laundry started and then they wake up. haha. BUT it's totally worth it! seriously I love where we live. Have I said that before!?

Also, been workin on a few house projects....was reading Ryan's (schoonvelds) handyman magazine at the beach and came across a little do-it-yourselfer thing about making sawhorses out of some scraps of wood you have at home. So of course, I went home and looked around and decided that's just what we needed, so I spent one nap time cutting all the pieces, and another putting them together. check it!

Dad gave me a circular saw when i was home in June so I had to have something to break it out for. gotta test my skilz on something that doesn't really matter ya know...cause I have bigger projects comin up...hehe stay tuned for that!

Also, I'm getting Lasik on Monday. Couldn't be more pumped about it. I have TERRIBLE eyes, have been in my glasses for almost 3 weeks now due to the surgery and getting the most accurate measurements. I want to CHUCK THEM out the window on the way home from the doc on Monday. So annoying, SO SO annoying. I have lost them more times than I can count in the last 3 weeks, take them off to do something and can't see to the counter to find them again. Lame. or like tonight, I was upstairs washing my face in the bathroom and put them on my head. OOOh, lost! Cause I couldn't see far enough into the mirror to see them on my head. sheeesh. Dr. Boling in Elkhart, IN is doing the surgery. Ryan and his bro went there 10 years ago for theirs and have loved it ever since. They both see 20/15. He's a great guy and has a great practice. REEEAAALLY looking forward to it....it will be like going from regular tv to high def! cant' even wait (HEATHER AND RICHARD- you're next!!)

Update on the kids....
Ethan-



Ethan is hilarious. He loves sword fights, action figures, cars and trucks, digging in the sand, and using his manners. He will sometimes remind me to say thank you to him. haha. What a stud. He is going to tear up preschool this fall. Loves being around kids but also seems to be ok with his own imaginative play by himself. He loves playing with Hunter- probably because Hunter loves sword fights and action figures too. Still workin on putting the pants and undies on BEFORE exiting the bathroom...hope to have that nailed down before school starts. yikes! Love his brother and sister, gives them both hugs and kisses often. =)

Garrett:



Oh man...G doesn't. stop. talking......ever. And when he's not talking, he's singing some song with nonsense words, or trying to talk to Sydney with his own jiberish. He is totally Mr. Social. I'd say he doesn't' really have any favorite activities, he just wants to do whatever you're doing. Ethan says 'I love Buzz.' Garrett says 'I love Woody!' Ethan says 'I love Lightning McQueen.' Garrett says ' I love Mader!' but ethan's serious and G doesn't' really care. haha. He's growing like a weed, he's probably at least an inch taller than Ethan and a few pounds heavier. Loves to talk to random workers in the stores and tell them the most random things...usually starting with 'Excuse me, Sir.....' When he doesn't get his way he slumps his arms and shoulders way down and snuffs out his nose a few times...and then looks up to see if you saw him do it. hahahaa.. NICE TRY BUDDY. He knows all his letters, upper and lower case, numbers too, he loves reading, and it just KILLS him when we ask Ethan questions that he wants to answer soooo bad (which of course we do on purpose cause Ethan needs to learn the stuff and G needs to learn to SHUTTY) haha. He will love preschool too because we think he is like a little sponge right now, always asking what we're doing, at home and in the car while we're out. Smart lil guy.

AND the Syd:





Ok why is it that i have a MILLION pictures of just sydney. dangit. Anyhoo, she might be the end of me. I can't take the shrill screams. Talk about drama! this kid....WHEW. one minute she's happy as can be, makin my heart melt cause she's soo dang cute and funny, and then the next I want to put her in a sound proof room for an hour. MAN she can scream. And she doesn't seem to like the car right now. unfortunate. She loves babies, eating, saying new words, shoes, strollers, snacks, and following the boys around. Can't really sit still, she is so BUSY! but she is stinkin cute, and Ryan taught her this: "who's a cute baby!?" and she says "MEE!!" and points to herself. now is that a good thing!??! we might be seeing some long term effects on that one. haa. I LOVE that she's learning to talk, I'd say she's like a whole YEAR ahead of the boys with her vocabulary. She says lots of things very clearly, and the other stuff you can figure out by asking her questions. she understands so much. I'm really looking forward to having time with just her this year when the boys are gone...hopefully we'll get some potty training in here soon too. Then we'll be rid of diapers- been buyin those for almost 4 years!!! It's time.

anyways, we love our kids, they are all very different and are each a blessing. Parenting has stretched me so much and definitely makes my weaknesses known. I have a long way to go. Hopefully we can communicate that to our kids and they will see as they grow up that we are on the same journey of being Christ followers in need of the same grace. Just tryin to enjoy every stage because it really does go quickly! The weather looks great for the weekend, we might try to hit up the beach while Ry's home. Lookin forward to some great family time. =)

hilarious

Venetian!

Seriously....I've been off the blog scene for a month. The time flies!

Anyhoo, in recent activity....the Venetian Festival was here again, a yearly event in St. Joseph. Like a carnival I'd say, crappy (but oh so delicious) food around every corner, lemonade stands, LOOOTTTS of people, and the fairgrounds down by the pier, topped off of course with amazing fireworks Saturday night- usually better than 4th of July. Let me tell you- we've lived here for 4+ years now and I have YET to walk down and be IN with the Venentians- don't even know what that means. But we were there! Joe and Susie went along on Friday night and the kids rode some of the rides. We ate a funnel cake and an elephant ear. Verdict= funnel cake won the first night, and the elephant ear was better than the FunCake the second night. Probably just depends on who's making it- since there were about 15 funnel cake vendors.

As for the rides! the boys loved them...which was to be expected. And I was actually expecting more of a melt down when the tickets ran out, but maybe they were over-stimulated enough and ready to go home. HA! I know I was!!





And after going back Saturday evening without the kids- I am SO thankful that we went Friday night, way less people and no lines for the rides...and 1/10th the teenyboppers roaming around without their parents. haa. We've been busy with lots of things the last few weeks...August is just around the corner, then after Labor day the boys will start preschool! OH MAN! We better live it up the next 6 weeks- it's gonna go fast!

New game

Garrett says "Hey Ethan, let's do that thing with our eyes"...and this is what they were talking about. ?? HA! notice how everything ends with wrestling. boys.... =)

I'm still here!

Hello long lost readers....

Well, since I've returned home from Georgia a week ago already (wow)....I've basically been tryin to get caught up on life from being gone for 6 days. All of life has consumed my every free minute and I feel like the days are flying by and there are still many things left on my list. Last weekend was our yearly Twins Club Garage Sale, and since I'm the treasurer, that brings along lots of behind the scenes work for the club, but it's all pretty fun cause I like that sort of stuff...so I'm just now getting to the end of my duties for the sale. I feel like just typing a huge ****SIGH****, and I don't really think you guys want to read a detailed list of events of my week, so I'll just highlight with a few pictures and stories of my last few days. =)

We had ONE great day for the swimming pool last week when I got home, but then it was SALE SALE SALE, 70's and RAIN RAIN RAIN. BOO. So here are the kiddies from last week livin the dream in the back yard. They've asked everyday if they can swim again. Think it's time for some lessons in a REAL pool!





Then there was a trip out to Sister Lakes Elementary school for Rachel's last day of teaching these 1st graders....so fun. We brought them suckers to celebrate. The day also included a private lesson on the smart board after the kids went out to recess. =) Preschool HERE WE COME!






Then yesterday a trip to the "purple park" with Grandpa. This is one of his favorites to take them to- tucked back into a nice neighborhood and never anyone there. =) Plus, it has this sweet backhoe thing so he can teach them his mad engineering skillz. So fun.







And last but not least, I got to do some hair again today on the beautiful Ashley. She was pretty pumped about it, and for good reason. She looks awesome! just in time for her to tear up DC with her 8th grade class....who are leaving in about 3 hours (2:30am) for a fast and furious weekend getaway! Can't wait to hear how it goes. She's a freshman in the fall already. And as tall as me. what is the world coming to. SIGH, what a great girl, she's one of my favorites. =)