It's my Birthday and I'll cry if I want to!

So today I celebrate ME!  

With Happy Tears

Its my birthday and I am super excited for this one.  The day starts out just lovely with my little girl giving me such a BIG hug and many many kisses!  How can a day be bad when it starts like this?

Well I dug out some of my archived photos of me as a little girl.  It makes me giggle when I see my old car seat and I just love bringing back all the memories I have of spending time at my Grandmothers farm.  Like holding kittens after chasing them down, and picking tomatoes from Grandmas Garden.  Something that my daughter loves to do as well. :)

My mom and I 

I think I still have those barrettes for my hair (or my daughters hair now)
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But somewhere along the way I grew up, finished High School, and fell in love with an incredible person. Ryan and I hit it off right away and have been practically inseparable ever since.  What am amazing 3 1/2 years.   

And of course during those few years together we were Blessed with the arrival of our Daughter Katelyn!! We cant possibly imagine life without her incredible spirit and curiosity.

Our latest family picture at the Beach this June.

I am so Blessed to have such wonderful family to share my life with. My friends are still very dear to my heart and I continue to find new things to celebrate as yet another year passes me by.  I look at my Grandmother who has spent many many years living life and I can only wish that when I hit her age and I equally as Blessed as she has been.  my birthday wish this year is that time although fun to experience each min,  it needs to last longer.  

Wishing everyone out there a tremendous birthday or unbirthday whichever one you choose to celebrate Today!

My sweet little girl is growing up!

  So last year around this time I took pictures of Katelyn in her Eagles Cheerleader outfit, of course I am a Green Bay Packers Fan but I got the Eagles to please her Daddy Ryan.  She was so adorable and I just loved how sweet she smiled and how she gave her Eagles Cheerleader teddy bear kisses!  Melt my heart! 

Now she is one year older and the outfit barely fits her but I love the comparison of these 6 pictures.  She has changed so much over this past year and I cant begin to imagine what the next year will bring.

Melt my heart over again, I just love these two pictures!

Project Completion!

 

So my Parents & Sister are finally Home!! Yippee.

They had a great time and they were very happy to be home again, especially since they wanted to see their new kitchen. Mom is pointing to the quote she spotted almost right away. Daddy didnt say much but I know he like everything, he is just not used to change. 

And for those who are interested I actually hand painted the wall quote since 1.) I didnt have time to order one and make sure it arrived on time, and 2.) I think it adds a personal touch since I love to paint.

Katelyn is so thrilled to have everyone home again. She missed them dearly.

I found this awesome frame and thought it just had to be part of Mom's new kitchen, although it does still require a Grandparents picture, but I am sure I can fill it quickly. :)

Katelyn and I were busy taking her 2 yr old photos so that we could fill frames in the new kitchen as well as get ready for her upcoming birthday.  I love the way Mom's corner cupboard turned out.  Its so simple and functional and just lovely to look at. She had great pieces to choose from and unfortunately I had to leave some things out but I am sure I will find places for them around the house someday.  

I love this soap dispenser  and I love the storage shelves without water bottles too numerous to count. Moms cookbooks to large to fit on the corner cupboard fit really nice here also. 

Below the table is already full of gifts from Euorpe! A swiss girls outfit for Katelyn, it makes me think of the movie Heidi.  Aunt Jess brought Katelyn a T-shirt with a lovely windmill on it and my parents gave her chocolate eggs filled with a surprise toy inside. 

Phase three

so I can finally say that..... I am still no where near done! but here is my progress from today I got the patched wall sanded down and painted. The cabinet doors are painted and I started to hang them back up, and finally the corner cabinet is painted.

I feel tired. Katelyn is becoming more restless as we are spending more time at Mimi's house without someone to actually play with her. Casper is just not as fun when he hides from her. :) So Katelyn got to help paint a little bit before her nap and she was tickled pink.
I even got to hang curtains on one of the windows, last night I finished swing them and I hope my mom likes the new look. I can't wait to go back tomorrow to finish hanging the rest of the curtains, finish putting on the lower cabinets and then clean the place up so I can decorate. That's my favorite part.

So this will be the last posting until Tues night when I have completely finished. Till then enjoy using your imagination. Nn

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Phase two

So today I woke up extra early to hit the yard sales. It was a beautiful day and I was super excited to get some great finds. Pampered chef baking dish $3 Madagascar movie for Katelyn $1 just to name a few. Then of course I headed to moms house to start phase 2 of my painting project. I needed to start the trim painting since the walls are done except for the one which got its first patch job today as well.
So of course Katelyn is crazy hyper today and at first I didn't think I would get anything done until I mentioned coloring and from that point on she was busy making pictures for casper. Every now and then I would check on her and to my surprise she stayed content for the longest time, then all went quiet and the mom in me got really nervous. And Yes my fear turned to reality when I found her with a marker, black of course, all over her arm and legs. Then I found it on the chair as well. SORRY MOM. After that I took away every single marker I could find and hide them out of katelyns reach. Back to painting I went until another moment of silence And Yes she had found a marker, black permanent this time, and it was being used to paint her fingernails. Needless to say Katelyn got a shower at Mimi's house.

So now onto the real reason you have tuned in today.... The paint. I am glad to say that I almost finished the trim in one day. Trust me I am tired. Only the corner cupboard and one last bit of trim on the patched wall to go. After that comes the clean up and decorating. Yippee!

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Phase One Painting

so today I was planning on getting started on the painting at my parents house. needless to say I had Katelyn along so I didn't expected to get much done but I thought I could at least get something done. and to my surprise Katelyn was a gem. Of course she didn't take a nap and I tried twice to get her down for one but no luck. But even without a nap she was a great help we got the first coat done except for the very top of the walls because I didn't have a ladder tall enough to reach. so I guess tomorrow I will have to come up with a new game plan since I already finished my to do list for tomorrow. Yea for things going smoothly.

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parents renovation project

so last night was day one of my project to update my parents kitchen. my cousin Dawn came over to help me caulk the wallpaper seams and now it is ready for the first coat of paint. don't worry I will continue to post updates as the project progresses.

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Meet the Good Family

I am so excited to share this great family! I have known Andrea and Kurt for a long time, Andrea's parents are great friends of mine and my parents.  We grew up together at church and share many great memories together.  I am thrilled that she contacted me for their family portraits with Kurts family.  Turns out my parents know the Good family very well also, so meeting the rest of the family was like meeting long lost friends.

The Good Homestead was a wonderful place for photos,  so much charm and personality. It made their pictures special and uniquely them.  I had such a wonderful time and I hope you enjoy this wonderful family!