Burke Lake Ghost Train

We rode the Ghost Train at Burke Lake this weekend for the first time. We tried last year but it was rained out on the day we could go. It was fun and a nice easy family outing on a gorgeous fall day. Many kids were wearing their costumes so I'll have to remember that for next year.

Not sure what Charlotte is doing in this picture but she was SUPER pumped about the train ride and squealed with delight the whole time.

I think I should start saying everyone look away from the camera and maybe they'll look my direction for once?! Geesh.

AJ took his carousel ride very seriously. Charlotte wanted to be down on one of the small animals with AJ instead of riding a big horse which was sweet. They had a moonbounce too but I didn't get any pictures. It's hard to believe that it's only one week til Halloween. I'm excited to see the kids in their costumes!

More renovation work starts this week - tiling of the foyer and powder room. We've also decided on a carpenter for the built-ins around the fireplace and he'll get started on Nov 1st! Hooray! I'll post before and after pics soon.

Happy 60th Birthday, Memme!

Yesterday was my mom's 60th birthday. Doesn't she look amazing?! I hope I look and feel this good at 60. I took the kids down to Va Beach last weekend and we visited a local pumpkin patch. The kids had a blast and they adore their Memme! Happy Birthday, Mom. We love you!

Sweet siblings

A sweet picture of my cutiepatooties. We're so blessed!

Lunch date with Missy

Missy wanted to take Charlotte on a special date for her 4th birthday. Last Wednesday, we arranged for Missy to pick Charlotte up from school so they could have their lunch date. Charlotte was so excited! Charlotte got to choose the lunch location and can you guess what she chose? You got it - Noodles & Co for mac n'cheese and chocolate milk. The girl knows a good thing and doesn't stray from it. Missy brought this hat and tutu for Charlotte to wear. The hat was from Missy's warrior dash the weekend prior and the tutu was a gift. Missy met me at the doctor's office after their lunch because AJ had an ear check-up. We did the handoff in the parking lot so I took a quick picture. Charlotte was all smiles in the backseat of Missy's car in this outfit. She told everyone at the doctor's office that she had a special lunch with her Aunt Missy. They even had ice cream for dessert! Thanks, Aunt Missy.

Spartanfest

See, I told you they love Chick-fil-a. They were stalking this poor cow the entire time we were at Spartanfest. I love fall because there are fun activities every weekend. Spartanfest raises money for WSHS which is Dave's alma mater. Everyone was calling my kids "future Spartans" but they'll be Bruins at LBSS. It's still good to support other local schools.

Both kids conked on on the way home. AJ fell asleep with a lollipop in his mouth!

Eat more chikin'

While running errands in Woodbridge one morning a couple weeks ago, I treated the kids (and me!) to lunch at Chick-fil-a. It's their favorite lunch spot second to Noodles & Co. Charlotte was home sick from school but she doesn't look too sick here! I'll miss these days when she's in school full time. Fortunately, Kindergarten next year is half day in our district.

AJ 17-20 months

These pictures were taken yesterday and AJ is now 20 months old! I need to do some updating on his recent developments mainly for my own records. Feel free to skip reading the boring details.

The past three months have been a whirlwind with moving and doing renovations. The renovations are ongoing but we're nearing the end. In this time, AJ has developed leaps in bounds. At around 17 months, he started talkng in 2-3 word sentences. He now has a full vocabulary and can basically say anything. He talks in full sentences and it's amazing. He talks more like a two year old than a one-and-a-half year old. He still says "nah" instead of yes but we all know what he means. Charlotte is a good translator at times. It's pretty cool that she understands him better than we do most of the time. He loves singing songs now and his current #1 favorite is Baa Baa Black Sheep. He requests it at Stroller Strides all the time as soon as we start singing another song. We sing all the time and it helps that Charlotte likes it too. He also loves prayer time. At dinner, he is often the one to remind us to say grace. He puts his hands together while we're saying prayers and says a loud "AAAA-men" at the end. It's super cute. At church the other week, I carried him up to communion. As we were walking to our seats, AJ loudly announced "I say AMEN" and gave everyone a big smile.

He's a typical rough and tumble little boy. During car rides he wants to see trucks, diggers, pumpkins, and firetrucks. There is a gas station on our way home that puts out tons of seasonal decorations. The kids love to look at them during the stoplight time and AJ gets mad if there is another vehicle in the way.

In true sibling fashion, AJ wants to do and say everything Charlotte does. This includes playing with baby dolls, coloring, art projects, haircuts, and going to school. He knows how to push her buttons and really irritate her at times. For the most part, Charlotte handles it well and is very patient with him. They are already great playmates. I love watching them together. I sometimes wonder what it was like with just Charlotte. She must have been so bored with just me all the time!

Okay, he's waking up from his nap so that's all for now.

Family Room renovation (part 1)

Here are some more "before" shots that I took during the home inspection so you can see where we removed a wall between the living room and family room. Above is the former living room which is to your immediate left after you walk into the front door. It had a nice large window but ugly old blue carpet. The doorway leads into the family room at the rear of the house.

Here is the view of the family room from the kitchen. The lady in red is our realtor, Dave at the table behind her, and the home inspector dude on the right. We liked that the family room was directly off the kitchen but it was small.

This is the doorway from the former living room to family room.

And voila, the wall is gone. This is the living room with six new recessed lights and shiny new hardwoods to match the exisitng hardwoods in the family room. Do you like our paint sampling on the wall? We had a hard time picking the right color. We wanted a nice gray but not too cold. We settled on "popular gray" and love it.

Our painter, Gus, hard at work with AJ inspecting. Let me tell you, it is not fun to have contractors working on your house with little kids around. Fortunately, we're done with the bulk of it now.

Facing the back of the house with painting done. We were finally able to take the plastic off our couches and have a place to sit. How about that TV and stand, eh? The next step of the process is building custom bookcases/cabinets and a mantle around the fireplace. We're planning to mount a TV over the fireplace.

View from the kitchen into the family room. We now have a 48 foot span from the kitchen corner to the far corner (near the big window) of the house. It makes the house feel so much bigger and open. We're really glad we did it (and by "we", we mean WE paid our contractors!). It was a load bearing wall so there is beam running across the room under the drywall along with new duct work. How do you like my window treatments? Can we say $2.88 for temporary shades from Home Depot? They even come with two handy dandy clips for raising them during the day. Brillaint! I titled this post "part 1" because I'll have to post more once we have the built-ins done and furniture purchased. For now, the kids love all the room to run and play.

Jackson's 4th Birthday

Jack had his big 4th birthday party at Z Pizza a few weeks ago. Such a cool place for a party especially since they serve GF pizza. The kids (and adults) got a tour of the kitchen and watched the dough being made. They have a serious mixer!
Then all the kids got their own pizza dough to top. Charlotte chose sauce, cheese and ham.
All the kids happily ate their masterpieces.

And check out the amazing cake Megan made! The Z Pizza owner wanted to put a picture of it on their website. It was GF and delicious! Happy 4th birthday, Jack!

Yes, we now own a lawn mower!

You know you live in suburbia when...you own a lawn mower. Dave was pretty excited to buy a new red Toro. I'm sure the novelty will wear off quickly!
AJ is obsessed with lawn mowers so it's a big deal when Daddy mows the lawn.

Just like Daddy!

Charlotte wanted a turn too. Look at those baby wearing skills while mowing the lawn. Now that's multi-tasking!

Our big backyard

We bought this house for two main reasons - the big kitchen addition and the big fenced-in backyard. It was surprisingly hard to find a decent sized FLAT backyard in the Springfield/Burke area. The kids couldn't be happier playing back there. Charlotte and AJ love picnic lunches too so they can just eat and keep on playing. Unfortunately, cold nasty weather is on it's way. I'm hoping for a few more nice fall weeks.

A better view of the backyard from the patio. The patio is just off the kitchen so I can see the whole backyard from the kitchen. I can be cooking or cleaning in the kitchen and still be able to keep an eye on the kids especially when the windows are open. Brilliant! We love all the shade and privacy. There is lots of landscaping to be done though. We've already taken down several trees. We'll hopefully get a new swingset next spring and maybe even a trampoline!

AJ and his lawn mower.

Ready for winter

Brrrr, it was cold today. I'm glad I picked up these hats for $1 each at the consignment sale last week.

Uncle Brian and dining room/playroom

Uncle Brian came over for dinner on Sunday. We had yummy filets! AJ and Charlotte we're beyond thrilled to see him. The ritual seems to be wrestle time after dinner. Uncle Brian always happily plays along.

One happy Charlotte. These pictures were taken in the dining room which has been freshly painted. Until I get my grandmother's dining room set up here, it's the playroom for now.

This was the dining room before. I'm not a big fan of red. I took this picture during our home inspection so this is the previous owner's furnishings.

Kitchen Backsplash

Before backsplash

After backsplash - we love it.

Close-up of the backsplash. It's a natural stone mosaic pattern. It coordinates perfectly with the silestone counters and our cabinets. It's like it was made for our kitchen!

Master Bathroom Remodel

Here you go folks - the first of our renovation project pictures. The first three pictures are my only "before" photos during demo. I wish I had taken some better ones but no big deal. You can see it was just a small bathroom with one sink and dated yellow tile. Yuck! Our dream was to add another sink with an updated modern look.

A few pictures during the process. Our tile guy did a great job but since he works alone, it went slow. Fortunately, he had four weeks while we weren't living in the house. The last few weeks after move-in, we all used the kids' bathroom.

Here is the view from the master bedroom where we added a small wall and door frame. Prior to this, the area was just dead unusable space between the bathroom (to the left) and the walk-in closet (to the right). I know it's hard to visualize from this picture.

The finished product! We love it. Double sink vanity, new ceramic tile floor, wainscott tile walls with slate tile accent stripe, and fully tiled shower. It all came together just as we had envisioned but it wasn't easy picking everything out.

Close-up of the slate accent which is one of our favorite parts!