Friday, April 2, 2010

Spring Break + Spring Cleaning = no real break (and a really organized house)

First off we'd like to dedicate this blog post to Kelli, she gets a MAJOR shout out for basically being a genius and miracle worker! Without her help the craft area/office/Keith's closet merge could have been a marital disaster; instead we are beyond excited to share this small space. In fact, we may just spend this evening sitting in our respective spaces staring at each other and call it a date! Kelli, we love you and we are amazed at your skills (including, but not limited to, moving heavy furniture like 7 times---you should totally try out for American Gladiators or something! This fat pregnant girl was not so helpful in that process!).



I wish we had taken a before and after picture! This was Keith's world and that was perfect (golf posters, golf gear, his closet of clothes, and our "office"), just down the hall was Meghan's world which was also perfect (cute, chaotic, crafty and our "catch all" room) ...until we found out a baby would be joining us in this house and suddenly Meghan's world was going to be turned into the baby's world and my crafts were homeless! The original plan was to relocate to the basement. But the reality is that I might as well never craft again! There was no way I would venture down to the dark cold spaces (far away from a sleeping baby!) to get my creative juices flowing! A compromise was made. We could share the office. The only glitch: Keith and Meghan have very different organization styles. Keith likes nice neat piles---chaos contained, Meghan likes to see everything at once, spread out, that way I won't miss anything---chaos at it's finest! My mom had a grand idea to use an armoir to conceal some of the creativity. So we bought and built the armoir (as much as we hate build it yourself furniture, we are a pretty awesome team, and it totally saves money). Great! But the only problem was I had no idea how it would all fit and how to make the room look good too! I tend to be the kind of person who goes out to buy new storage baskets and cutesy things that I think will help me stay organized but it actually just adds to the mess. We had things plastered to the walls and bins of things to get to later...not looking good. Enter Kelli. We now have a spot for everything and even some room to spare! Keith and I are now in the process of deciding what are the essentials to keep in the office portion of the room (how long are you supposed to hold on to important documents anyway???).




We also FINALLY completed the basement cleanse! Oh man, how many weekends have we started and then procrastinated this project??? It's surprisingly difficult to let go of wedding gifts that have lived in the basement for 4+ years and we have NEVER used. But with my nesting in full gear we got rid of massive amounts of crap that we have no clue where it came from and why we have held on to it for so long, some of it has even made several moves with us---CRAZY. We might be hoarders. So here it is. Notice there is actually a floor in our storage space! And we will actually be able to find things we do use. AMAZING! We even have room for more stuff (and I'm confident in our ability to accumulate it!). This was a major undertaking to say the least. We spent many hours revisiting pictures and letters from dear friends and family, we made piles and piles of trash, give aways, and keepers, and we some how made room for the important things and said farewell to the rest. I feel like doing laundry is going to be a little more pleasurable in an open organized space. Well, probably not, it's still laundry.





The BEST part of our spring break was preparing for baby Ross! All this organizing did in fact have a purpose beyond the fact it really just had to be done! My mom was here for a few days to help me pick out fabric which she magically turned into crib bumpers and a crib skirt (curtains are also in the works!---yes, she is amazing!). She was also the driving force behind getting our butts in gear and not just waiting until today to get started on all this organizing. We obviously have a long way to go before the room really is ready for a baby (and lucky for us the baby isn't supposed to be here for another 4 months) but it feels like we are getting closer. Today while Kelli and I got crafty, Keith built our crib!!!! Isn't it beautiful? He did a great job! I'm so happy to have real baby furniture in the house and can't help but sorta wish the baby was coming a little sooner. Now with this crib all set it's really sinking in.



We are having a baby!!!




and it will sleep right here!


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Saturday, March 27, 2010

The babies

Aslan
Our first born. Obviously pondering something deep. Very smart---just like his dad.

Tipsy
Our second born. Loving the sunshine we were lucky enough to get today (takes after her mom).


Baby Ross
Our soon to be third born (or first born, depending on how much you like our cats).
The newest addition to our family. We think it might just be the cutest one yet! Welcome to the blog baby...go ahead and get used to the fame :) We can't wait to meet you in person!!!!!



Monday, February 15, 2010

Upward bball & cheer

Time for another Upward game! This time it was a 2 for 1...
Alli was cheerleading for Jeter's game!

Jeter it out there somewhere---they move so fast it's hard to catch a good picture!

Quincy is the other cheerleader---according to her, pom poms are called upwards! Too cute!











I thought this was so sweet, Jeter was watching Alli cheer!


Quincy doing her own little cheer...she doesn't really like the extra attention. sorry it's sideways.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

January

Caught cuddling...A rare but sweet moment between siblings. Just a few hours prior...our other cat: Rece
Who spent the afternoon at our house to avoid basketball boredom.


We found a teeny tiny worm on a raspberry...this became the primary source of entertainment (for both of us). His name was Wormy and he was played with to death (poor little guy!).



Rece did such a great job with the cats! When he was younger he chased them and picked them up and, rightly so, they are now TERRIFIED of him (and all small humans)! But now that he is 4 and very mature, he was VERY helpful...he fed the cats (a lot), he brushed the cats (a lot), and he drove them crazy with the lazer light (the perfect amount).

notice Tipsy is cautious in allowing him to pet her



Also in January I got to celebrate my friend Trish.





And watch some awesome 6 and 7 year olds play basketball and cheerlead...while entertaining Quincy. A little preparation for parenthood :)


I even got to watch some ice skating with Kelli and Bernie!





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Sunday, January 17, 2010

Happy New Year...our belated Christmas card

That's right... Keith said "no more cats!" so I guess it's time for a baby!?!
We are super excited to announce that by the end of July we will joining the PARENTHOOD club! We feel extremely blessed and a little overwhelmed with this responsibility, but trust that our friends and family who've gone before us will help us along the journey. Baby Ross, we love you so much already and are looking forward to meeting you this summer!



Sunday, January 10, 2010

Time to catch up...

So apparently I'm not so good at keeping up on multiple websites...as I got more into Facebook this fall, the less time I spent on the blog---sorry Mom! So here I am to play catch up, working my way backward from New year to mid fall. Enjoy :)



Here we are celebrating the new year at the van Anrooys... thanks Keith for really enhancing this photo!


And thanks Jon for always making picture taking so enjoyable for Ingrid!





Now we are back at Christmas.

We spent Christmas Eve and Day at Bernies house. The kids were pure entertainment! One minute Quincy is pretending to be a doll in the doll bed...




The next moment she is shooting with a toy gun!
The next she is a dancing princess!



(Steph this is the tutu you made for Quincy...I think she likes it, how about you?)



Rece was the king of dress up, as always, he probably changed 10 times during the course of opening gifts. Here he is pretending to sleep with Uncle Keith.



We also spent some time with the Williams after Christmas, but I don't have any pictures from that week.


But I do have this picture from Thanksgiving with the Williams. We spent the day at my Aunt and Uncles house in Seattle with my Grandpa Dave and cousin Karrin and her family.





This winter Marissa GRADUATED from nursing school!!! I had the pleasure of "Pinning" her at the ceremony. My mom has a funny picture from that moment...can you send that to me mom? Congratulations Riss! We are so proud of you and know you will pass your exam with flying colors and land the perfect job! You deserve it after all your hard work. I would let you be my nurse any day :)






Earlier in the fall I enjoyed the annual girls weekend. This year we went back to CDA and it was a blast! Here we were enjoying Taylor dancing to Robert Vaughn :)


And here she is...the dancing queen!!! We love you Tay!



Some cute pregos who rallied for a late night!


All dolled up and ready for some Bonsi Bistro



Some fabulous ladies!










Enjoying the super fancy Shirley Temples









There was one frigid weekend early in the fall, which happened to be the day I watched Marissa complete another half marathon---she is a champ!





Well, there you have it. I'll try to be more on top of things in 2010...perhaps I'll take more pictures, and have other fun and exciting things to share...stay tuned :)

















Sunday, September 13, 2009

Growing up in Lewiston = a love of rodeos

I always wanted to be a rodeo princess when I grew up (I think teaching is pretty close to that!), so I was thrilled when I got to go with Bernie and the Schuerman crew to the Spokane fair & rodeo last night, and we had a blast! It was the kids' (and Kelli's) first rodeo and I think it was a success. Rece, who IS a cowboy (hence the outfit and recent cowboy birthday party), told me that he "will do what the cowboys do, but with two hands cause he's 4".




The rodeo was a great way to end a fun and full, first week of first grade!