A bunch of randomness.

Ok I'm posting lots of pics. So I'm going to power through here. Let's start with getting rid of our old washer and dryer that did not really work. Oh yeah..check out those ancient tired old work horses.

And here they go...off to be recycled.

Special thanks to Chad who helped Joel pick them up from the store. And special thanks to Brad & Steve Unger (pictured here). They were in the middle of working on a car and came over to help Joel get these bad boys down into our basement. Not an easy feat. You know you have great friends when they are willing to drop whatever they're doing to come and help. We love our friends..and not just because they are awesomely helpful!

Hello beauties!!! I LOVE THEM SOO MUCH!! I never thought I would have brand new washer & dryer. I figured we'd get something used or handed down. But we found these for such an awesome price. And we decided to make the investment. I'm sure the moms/wives can understand how much easier these make my life. This is how I put it to Joel. "I finally have the tools to get the job done right and WAY faster." And he said "Now you're speaking my language, I can understand you needing new tools." Haha!

Alright..it's hard to tell in this pic. But there are some foliage and trees blocking my view into my own front yard. So silly. And ever since we bought the house I have been wanting to hack them down. 

Ahem...so muscle man hacked them down for me. And now I can see!! And our front yard looks that much bigger!

 And you'd think I'd be doing something useful while the hubs is hard at work. Um...no...not really.

 This is Jake and I having fun while looking out the window watching Daddy chop the mini forest.

This Mommy/Kai photoshoot was when daddy was working on the stairs. (Hence the earmuffs) 

 Here they are watching daddy safely from a distance.

 Jake has a thing with noses. Probably because we make a beeping sound every time he grabs it.

 Haha! I love this pic!

 So here's a pic of the stairs BEFORE:

and AFTER:

Aren't they luscious!! Good job Joel!! My mans gotz da skillz!

 I have been slack about decorations b/c I didn't want to start putting holes in my beautiful walls. But I found these sweet "command strips" (forgot to include a pic)...and they make no holes. So once we finally received our family photos in the mail (took 4 months...are you kidding me!). We started putting them up.

What do you think? Like my grandma frames that I bought at the thrift store? Gives them a little character.

Ok..so here is something that had been driving both of us a little nutso. Always a pile of shoes at the entrance b/c we have no storage or place to put them. We don't even have a coatrack. Or an entry closet. So....

Ikea saves the day again. Joel thinks it's hideous...but I don't care. I can't see a mess of shoes and it fills that weird space in the entry. I am coming up with ideas to spruce it up in the future. 

Check it out: 

(starting from the bottom)

Kai-2 pair of boots/1 pair of shoes

Amy - 3 pairs of sneakers (I like that word)

Joel - 2 pairs of shoes

They all fit in that tiny thing that's only 7.5 inches deep. I was so excited when I found it at Ikea b/c it would actually fit in our tiny.. miniscule entry spot. 

Still working on the decorating theme. This is the first piece to go up in the boys room. Kai likes it.

 But he keeps saying "But Mama I do want to grow up. I want to be big like Daddy."

 An idea that I stole from pinterest was to buy some spice racks and use them as shelving in the boys room. Here is poor Joel trying to get them up while managing both boys. As I snicker and just take pictures. Man I sound like the most unhelpful wife. (Mua-ah-ah...yeah..that was an evil laugh)

 Kai helping Daddy.

 See! Aren't they cute? I still need to unpack all of their boxes of books, which will not all fit on these 3 shelves. But at least some will be out. Maybe I'll just put their favorites there for now.

Haha! I'm so sneaky! Poor Joel. We were having a movie night (that's the only date types we have since the Jakester was born)..and this is what usually happens. But I pretend that he's awake and we're having a good ole time. Haha! Poor hardworking man.

Ok a couple more random shots. Kai having fun at Costco.

Here we were watching Kai have his very 1st swimming lesson. So cute to watch!

Christmas tree time! It was Joel's turn to pick out a tree this year. Usually I go for the Douglas fir's and I like my ladies BIG & FAT! Which is probably ironic seeing as I'm a stick figure. But Joel likes the sparser looking ones. So I believe we got a Noble fir this year. Kai helping saw it down.

Mommy & Jake watching the action.

Grandpa, Joel & Kai taking the tree down to the car.

 Merry Christmas from the Huber's!!!!

We are IN!!!!

So we are finally IN!!! We moved in last Sunday with the help of our in-laws. And it has been an amazing week here so far. It still feels weird to finally be in here. I keep thinking that I'm going to wake up. I just keep praying over & over again throughout my days "Oh thank you Lord for your many blessings." We feel soooo blessed and so honored to receive such blessings. 

Ok so I'm going to rewind a little. Here are several shots of the railing/banister that Joel built. I took several angles of it so you could get the feel of where it is. 

 We hope to stain the railing, the post & beams, the open shelving and the doors soonish. And as you can see in this picture we have not finished putting hardwood on the stairs. All in good time. It's just not at the top of the list right now. Poor Joel..the never ending list. 

Brandon (Joel's brother)..randomly called on our move in day and asked if he could help. What a good brother! He came over and started installing the baseboards & door trim.

And so the brothers worked together and they got most of them installed.

Check it out! Cloud White with a semi gloss finish (boards)..surrounded by Cloud White walls & dark hardwood floors...mmmmmmm!! (Oh and notice the brand new light switches...it's the little things that pull everything together)

Here's Brandon's handy-work in the boys room. (p.s. I absolutely love seeing my boys clothes all hanging up neatly..displayed nicely where I can see it all....a.k.a..you know you're a mom when you get excited about a kids closet) 

Here's the view from their bedroom to ours. I cannot even express how amazing it is to be steps away from them. Especially since Jake does not sleep through the night still. 

Haha...oh what a depressing pic this is. This is our "Master bedroom." I finally brought our side tables up so at least it feels a little homier. Joel will eventually be making our sconces for the wall (where those silver plates are). And look at our awesome window covering right now...a blue blanket. I really don't mind for now. It keeps the sunlight at bay when I'm trying to sleep. But this room does need some TLC.. it's just on the back burner.

So after we moved in our stuff and Joel & Brandon finished most of the boarding. We took a little break, had some yummy supper that my mother-in-law sent over. (Split Pea Soup with homemade buns) Thanks Momma H.!! And then I got to bust out the celebration dessert! Oh my goodness..if you live in Canada..you must try it. Sooo delicious! Kinda pricey but oh so worth it!!

 This week Joel has been doing a bunch of little jobs to help the place feel more like home. So here are a bunch of before and afters of when Joel put on the hardware/pulls on the cabinets. (Which I bought ages ago and have been dreaming about finally seeing them in my kitchen)

Look at it! Love it soo much!! (Everytime I pull on them I want to giggle and dance and sing all at the same time..but then Joel would probably want to kill me)

 Joel got the entry light installed. We can actually see going up the stairs now. 

 I ordered some sweet vintage style bulbs from Amazon to go in our pendants.

 Aren't they just the coolest pendants you've ever seen!! Scored these at Ikea believe-it-or-not. They came with an ugly glass piece that I conveniently "forgot" to attach. I refused to put in plain bulbs and opted for some vintage ones...and bada-boom...awesome industrial pendants with a vintage flare!!

 Oh and here is a random shot that I thought I would include. This is the view from our dining room onto our going-to-rip-out-deck. I forgot to get a before picture. But imagine if you will, piles upon piles of garbage, bits of steel, a rolled up old carpet from one of the bedrooms, saw dust in muddy gooiness everywhere, and chunks of flooring scattered about. Now maybe you can appreciate this picture. I took advantage of Jake's naptime to tackle that disaster and now we don't have to be staring at a depressing site when we're sitting down for any type of meal. 

The Kitchen as it stands now. Joel is currently working on building the forms for our concrete countertops.  I AM SO EXCITED!!!!

Here's my view from the kitchen into the living & dining..to the entrance and then to the hallway. It's a great view!

 And here is a little something to brighten your day. A little scrunched nosed smile, twinkly eyes and a Peruvian hat. What more could you want? Take it & go! And may you be blessed by it!