Our Latest Project

We really needed to find a way to minimize dirt tracked in AND a place for STUFF.  Matt cut out all the pieces and put them together.  I painted, sanded and poly'ed.  Turned out well--has definitely cut down on the dirt--and is our first step in revitalizing our basement.  

She Said... He Did What?

I wanted a narrow shelf for our landing to hold our "Big Kid" books.  I'm thinking one day project like the shelf pictured above.  (We had some nice boards that were already painted.)  Matt got to work--total project took about a week as I had to stain, sand, polyurethane in my two hours off a day.

Fits perfectly in the hallway, matches the woodwork, and even is cut out for our gigantic baseboards.  (We eventually will pull up this lovely carpet!!)  SOMETIMES husbands have good ideas AND he did it all with old boards out of the garage!

The Electrical Work is Done...But

 the holes still remain.  I don't think we're going to get to them any time soon--esp. with all the Christmas decorations up!  We stuffed plastic bags into the outside wall holes to stop some air flow!

 Pretty cute right??

Thanks to the Eilers and Clarks!

 We sincerely appreciate the use of your tree and lights--it turned out beautifully!                     

5% of our weekly food budget goes to...

Triscuits--this is Matt's late night (7:30!!!) snack.  He goes through a box every two days (on average)!  At least we're spending our money on healthy snacks :)  

Friends and Family

 Our Thanksgiving was filled with friends and family.  Liam Chan came down from South Bend--and even liked our dog!

We got to see almost all our family including Great Grandparents!  It is a blessing to be so close to family!

REAL Snow!

 On the day before Thanksgiving Ana, Mitike, and I drove up to Notre Dame (South Bend, IN) to pick up Liam Chan.  Of course, the only place it was snowing in the entire state was where we were going.  It was actually pretty heavy (lake effect) snows.  In the end it resulted in about 8 inches of snow.  The roads were fairly slick and in some places you couldn't see the lines on the roads--so it was your best guess.  First time driving in snow for 12 years--no problems!  Just glad we got back safely!