Sewing in my new room

The first room that had anything put in it upstairs (as soon as the carpets were in) was my sewing room - followed closely by Sabrina hanging some clothes in her new closet.  My visiting teaching companion had a baby girl at the end of March and Ryan's niece had a baby girl in February, so I just HAD to sew for them!

I bought the shirts for Laureen's girls at Carters and had some fabric to match them already.  Stacy had some colored tulle, so I was able to make them extra girly.  Its a onesie dress for the baby and a ruffled tunic length shirt for the big sister.

For Missy's baby, I went with a plain white onesie and some red fabric, since that is one of her favorite colors.  Sabrina loom knitted the matching hat.  (Leo wouldn't let me take a photo without him in it.)

Certificate of Completion

The city of Boise has issued us a Certificate of Completion on our addition. That means we're done, right? Nope. But we're close. Really close.

And can I tell you how beautiful the view is from that front bedroom right now with the pear and plum trees in full bloom! Stunning.

Because one major construction project just isn't enough...

During a snow/rain storm in January, a leak in our roof made itself manifest. A small, steady stream of water started running down the inside of our door. The walls got wet, the ceiling got wet, the floors got wet. Our homeowners insurance covers the damage to the inside of our house. Not to the outside because there was no visible damage to any shingles. The leak was not caused by our addition.

The contractor who is doing our upstairs is doing the repair work for us. The kitchen table is in the front room, on top of some vinyl tablecloths. Some hardwood needs replacing and then the entire floor will be sanded and refinished. Some sub-floor needs replacing. The insulation was replaced. A microbial solution was sprayed on the interior of the wall cavities. (It was really stinky!) The sliding door will be changed to an atrium door (the insurance isn't covering this, I'm paying for it). Since we've recently gained a lot of experience in painting, we'll be painting these walls and ceiling, too.

Both the upstairs and downstairs should be completed at the same time. Perhaps before my birthday!

Totally 80s

When we were in Utah a few weeks back, Ryan's little sister hosted the annual Gibby Family "Fish In Love Under The Sea Dance". This year's theme was "Totally 80s". We've never attended before, but knew that Heather and Trever dress to the theme each year, so I decided we'd do the same.

Doesn't Heather look totally awesome in those acid washed jeans and a side pony tail?

Ryan scoured the Internet to find a picture of what he'd like to wear and we found this one of Huey Lewis sporting a purple suit.

That began my quest of finding a purple suit for Ryan. And I found one. And I bought it.

For my costume, I rummaged through my friend's closet who actually has clothes that she wore during the 80s. This is a shirt that she sewed herself and wore when singing with her family - with the original big belt that buckles in the back! D.I. helped me with the pants and shoes.

We had sunglasses with neon ear pieces to dance to "I Wear My Sunglasses at Night". We had plastic guitars and had an "Air Guitar Contest". Those Biddulph men were the big winners with their in-sync choreography!

My boys weren't keen on dancing, but when the air guitar contest started, they decided they could participate with style. The rest of the night, they walked around playing on their guitars. Two and a half weeks later and Leo still walks around making music with his air guitar anytime he finds it.

Overheard at Church

Here are a couple of quotes from church today:

During Sacrament Meeting
"Dad, when I'm a missionary, I'm going to take all my Legos with me. So my Legos can serve a mission, too." -Roderic

Sabrina gave an awesome talk on Honoring your Parents. She used the POTATO method of planning a talk that I had conveniently shared with my Sunday School class (which she is a member of) last week. I did not advise the counselor in the bishopric that I had prepared my class to give talks in Sacrament Meeting, he was inspired - two of my students gave talks today. Bethany said the first thing that came to her mind when Brother Larson asked her to speak was "Potato".

In Sunday School
"Are you going to draw the picture today?" My class asks this one every week. The picture is of the Plan of Salvation, you know, the one with circles and lines. Pretty much every week, the manual (Preparing for Exaltation) suggests drawing or showing it during the lesson.

In Relief Society
"Next year we'll be canning chocolate, if they take our suggestion." -Sister Kelley, encouraging the sisters to sign up to work at the cannery this year.

"You don't have to attend every argument that you're invited to." -Sister Habben

What I missed hearing firsthand in Primary
"I want to choose the left." -Hyrum's reply when his teacher asked if he would choose the right.

They're caving in on us!

OK, so the walls aren't falling down, they are being put up. After months of being able to stand at the top of the stairs and see everywhere in our addition, it is different to go up and have the view blocked by some pesky walls. We have a plastic wall at our front door, where the stairwell connects with the house - to keep the dust out during this phase of the job. So now when we want to go upstairs, we go out through the garage and then in the front door of our house, instead of going into the garage and up the stairs.

The new entry to the upstairs.

Leo next to the former entry in the garage.

The sheet rockers came today and hung the drywall on the ceilings and walls for the addition. They worked hard and fast - they are almost done with the upstairs, just 3 small sections remain and then the stairs and garage (then the mud and tape the whole thing). Then we put on a sealer coat and they put on the texture, and then we prime and paint!

Stairway.

Family Room

Shower

Sewing Room

Bedroom 2 (Bedroom 1 looks almost the exact same as bedroom 2, so it doesn't get its own picture, yet.)

Ryan's sister, Heather, has helped us a lot with choosing paint colors to put up there. Here are the colors we're going with:


We'll be renting a paint sprayer to get the job done nicer (and faster).

Wanting to be big...

Leo gargles after brushing his teeth. every. night.

I guess it's one of those things he's learned because he has older brothers...