Weekend fun

Friday The kids and I ran errands to prepare for our 3 day weekend with daddy. We had to get a truck load of sand and some boards for a very special birthday present.

Saturday we all headed down to the farm to start building a sandbox for Lance's birthday. Grandpa & Grandma Conway got Lance a scoop and dig for his birthday and our present to him was the sandbox. We all worked together and had everything assembled in no time.

We wanted his sandbox to be big enough to have others join in on the fun. It is 8'x8'. The kids loved unloading the truck. I bought Lance and Lexie lots of little sandbox toys to enjoy. They both lied the scoop and dig too! It was super cute to watch Lance teaching Lexie how to use it. The kids spent over 3 hours playing in the sandbox. It gave Andrew and I a chance to get tons done in the house! 

We completely gutted the bathroom, Andrew tore of the cheap linoleum in the kitchen, I painted even more, and we tore out ALL the plumbing in the house. 

Our weekend wasn't just all work though. We had a very special birthday to celebrate on Monday! Our little boy turned 5!!! Lance requested a strawberry cheesecake as his cake. Lexie and I stayed up late on Sunday night cooking Lances cake. 

Lance wanted to eat at his favorite restaurant, ShoGuns, for his birthday. Each time we have been there someone has had a birthday and we watch them come out with a silly fat head while singing. Lance was super excited for it to be his turn! He told everyone he met that he was now 5 years old. 

We had a wonderful weekend. We got tons done at the house, had loads of fun and celebrated our little boy's 5th birthday! God is so good to us! I could nt ask for more. 

Lance is 5!!!

Lance had been counting down the months, weeks and days till his birthday! I was secretly dreading it! When did my little boy turn into a big boy. It has happened way too fast!

To be honest as a teenager I never wanted kids. I wanted tons of animals lol. I remember times I would have arguments and they would end with me saying these words "I'm never having kids!" Haha. 

.........but when I had Lance that all changed. I had become a mom! Everything I had ever wanted changed and now all I ever want it for my kids to be happy and healthy. 

Lance is seriously crazy. The things he comes up with and does has me constantly saying "what are you thinking?". Lance is seriously into everything! If you open my freezer you will see prof of that. He mixed salt, pepper, food coloring, baking soda, toilet paper and water together and wanted to see what it would look like frozen. Well, it spilled in the freezer and now my freezer is stained a blueish purple color. This is the kind of crazy things my boy does. 

Lance is not afraid of ANYTHING!! He is truest fearless which scares the heck out of me. 

He loves to try and make new inventions. He glues, staples, and ties things together constantly. This little boy can tie some serious knots! 

Lance loves to help with everything. He can watch you do something for just a bit and then do the exact same thing. He can figure out anything! 

He is the best big brother! He can be pretty awnry with Lexie at times but no one else is aloud to mess with her. He helps Lexie whenever she needs and sometimes doesn't need. I love listening in on their conversations. They are too funny. I am so glad God gave us these two so close in age. Yes, it was a huge struggle at first but they are the best of friends and love each other so much.

I can not believe my little 7 pound 3 ounce baby has grown into a 47 pound 5 year old!! This does not seem possible! 

Lance, my prayer for you is that you always keep exploring and learning. I pray you never lose the curiosity to know why everything works and to create your own inventions. I pray for your future. I don't pray for success or money. I just pray you are truly happy and healthy. Most of all, I pray that one day you will come to have a personal relationship with Christ and know true happiness that is only found in Him! 

Daddy's trip up north

Thursday, daddy headed way up north above the Arctic Circle to work.

 He brought us back some silly Tshirts from Cold Foot, Alaska. He made sure to take tons of pictures for us.  We loved looking through his pictures.

Andrew said that is was still pretty cool up there and things hadn't started turning green yet. He was back Friday night just in time for a 3 day weekend! 

I'm a little jealous of his trip, but Hopefully this summer we can take a family trip up there. 

Creamer's Field

Creamer's Field in a migratory bird sanctuary. It is full of swans, sand hill cranes, geese and all kind of ducks. They have some awesome walking trails. Last night we met with some friends for a little stroll.

It is so pretty there!!! We enjoyed our walk and then headed to McDonald for ice cream!! Haley and Logan are quickly becoming best buddies with Lance and Lexie. 

Working on the farm

We've spent allot of time cleaning up all the junk and brush off the farm. It's kind of funny because now when we say we are going to the new house Lance will jump and get his "work clothes" (overalls) and "work boots" (John Deere boots) on. He loves working at the farm. 

The kids have so much fun being outside at their new house.

Growing up

It seems every time I turn around the kids have learned something new and need me less and less. I am seriously loving these ages and wish we could stay in these moments forever. 

Lexie is becoming more independent. She walks in the store all by herself (except Walmart. Walmart is always way too busy). She washes her hair by herself. Puts away her clothes on the hangers and in the correct drawers. She is determined to do everything without me. 

Lately her newest thing has been playing mommy. She uses a super cute mommy voice and she says things like "I'm going to go grocery shopping" as she has her little purse on her shoulder. Lexie has never really gotten into playing baby dolls so much. I think with Lance we gave him a doll to try to teach him about Lexie's arrival and how to be gentle. With Lexie we haven't had to that so she just picked out what she likes and she loves animals. She has tons of stuffed animals that she cares for, sleeps with and drags everywhere. 

The kids are growing up and getting sooo big! Lexie is now wearing 5T bottoms and some 5T tops and dresses. She wears a size 9.5 and 10 shoes. How is it possible that my 3 year old is this big? 

Lance wears 5 slim pants. 5T are too short and if it is a 5 regular they fall off his hips. His shirts need to be longer so I've been buying size 6. He wears a size 12 in shoes now. 

Lance's birthday is now less than a week away!!!!! 

I love the conversations that the kids an I have. They always keep me laughing and wondering "where did that come from"

Lance told me that he wants a piñata at his birthday party

He said "how about instead of candy we fill it with good treats like carrots!" I said "Or maybe apples and bananas!"  He them says "I know the best tray of all, bbq chicken!!! That would be awesome!"

Pulling up to Lowes and Lexie starts asking "do I get to walk in the store?" I said "not this time, Sis." She then starts begging "please mom! I wanna trust people. I'm growing up! I won't touch things!" 

It's actually nice not caring her everywhere. My back has enjoyed the break. She still loves me to hold and cuddle her so it's all good. 

I am cherishing each moment with my little ones. They are growing way to fast!!! Thank you, God, for these amazing little blessings!!!

Enjoying each moment

We have been so busy lately with the new house. It is just over 30 miles to the new house from where we live now. We have been making lots of trips to Lowes and back down to the house. I have made sure to take some time just to enjoy the kids. They LOVE being out at the farm or just outside.

Each night when they take a bath this is what the tub looks like when they are done. 

They are so filthy at the end of each day. I'd say it's a sure sign of a fun day.

Lance found an old skateboard at the new house so he has been trying it out. He's getting pretty good at it.

I always make sure he has plenty of protection on. He takes some rough falls, but he always jumps back up and gets back on. 

Lexie loves her new bike. She prefers to take a hike or run though. 

How cute is this picture of Lance helping her get her protection gear on?

Friday was pretty windy outside so we decided it was a good day to visit the museum. The museum is part of the University of Alaska Fairbanks and is located on top of a huge hill. I love the view from up there.

We always have so much fun at the museum! 

Saturday we had tons of fun. Our town always has so much going on. 

First we visited the Farmer's Market. I had no idea it would be so huge. There was a lady who had her pottery wheel there making things. We all loved watching her! We were admiring some of her work when Lance dropped a lid to one of the pots. So we ended up buying the pot. They did give me a discount so I only had to pay $65.

It reminded me of the time when I was a kid, probably Lances age, and we all went with my grandma Yount to a flea market. I wasn't watching where I was going and knocked over an ugly Indian portrait. My grandma had to pay $100 for it! 

After Farmer's market we went just down the road to the fish and game fun day. They had a huge fishing pond set up. 

If you caught a trout with a tag on it then you won a new fishing pole. The fish weren't biting though. 

One of the kids favorite things at the fun day was the state troopers airplane. They got to crawl inside and the trooper showed them how everything worked.

We had a super fun day but the best part was Saturday night when we got to pick up daddy. He had been gone since Monday to a gold mine in Japan Hills. We are super glad to have him back home!

Sunday we spent the whole day hanging out with daddy. We even did a little fishing at the creak by our house. It was filled with fish but we couldn't get any to bite. We had lots of fun anyway. 

That's what's up lately. Just enjoying all the sunshine, beautiful weather, family, and getting some work done on the farm.

God is good.....All the time! 

My do it yourself Ombré walls

I came across this picture of ombré walls on Pinterest and was instantly in love! I knew it would be perfect for Lexie's room.

I read lots of different ways to do ombré walls and I kind of took bits and pieces from each method and made up my own. One thing all these methods had in common was they used 5 different gallons of paint, I decided that was way too expensive with allot of wasted paint. I used these three colors. Then mixed colors to create the in between colors. 

Our walls are 8 foot (96 inches) so I measured off three 32" sections and started from there. I painted each section then let it dry completely. 

To make the colors blend together I just mixed the two colors (light pink with medium pink then medium pink with dark pink) that I was blending together, used my roller in a W pattern along the lines then used a cheap sponge ( I used one for washing your car) to pat where I just painted. 

This picture it wasn't completely dry yet. The more it drys though the more I love it!

This was much cheaper than buying 5 gallons of paint and having tons leftover. I do have a little of each left over but that will come in handy for some other projects I have in mind. I am super happy with the results!! Lexie loves it too!!!

Painting!

Thursday the fun began. The kids and I went to Lowes and purchased 10 gallons of paint. This is just enough to get me started on the bedrooms. We started on mine and Andrew's bedroom since it is the biggest. I love painting but loathe doing the ceilings. My neck was so sore from looking up. Lance couldn't wait to help so I let him give it a whirl. 

The roller was just a touch too heavy for him to hold up at high. 

Thursday I got the ceilings done and Friday we started on the walls. The kids loved helping mommy!!! 

Lexie mainly stood in one area with the paint brush. Lance went to town and got allot done. I was super impressed with how good he did. He stuck with and wasn't messy at all!!! He even painted me this elephant!

I am super glad to have the blue walls and blue ceilings covered up!!! 

Our room is light grey and will have dark grey and teal accents. This big mirror was left in the house so I sanded it and painted it to hang in our room. 

I even ordered our comforter set already!!! I got a smokin' deal on Mother's Day that I couldn't pass up!!

Today the kids are going to be playing with some friends while I finish up their rooms. Even though we had 3 painters the job went pretty slow. I'm ready to get in there and get stuff done with no interruptions!! I love letting the kids help though and including them in everything, but I'm ready to move on to the next project. 

Thursday's thoughts

So much is going on. Lots of moments happening that I don't want to forget plus lots to look forward. This post is all over the place.

Use to when I would cook we would have plenty of leftovers for Andrew to take for lunch the next day. Now there is barely any left. It all gets eaten up. Just another sign of how big my kids are now. 

Up until the last week Lexie has always set in the seat in the grocery cart. She is now constantly asking me "please mom, I want to walk by myself mom. Don't hold my hand!" She has done really good staying with me in the store. Lance has been out of the cart for a good while since Lexie took his spot. I was pretty nervous about having two walking with me, but so far it has went pretty smoothe. Lexie does get easily distracted so I have to make sure to keep an eye on her since she likes to stop and check things out. Each time has gotten better. Today we was in and out of the store in no time!

Both my sisters have had birthdays this week!!! Julie's was the 5th and Sarah's is today. I wish I could be with them to celebrate. We will be sure to go for pedicures in July when I visit.

Lance is a big help at the house. Last night we went out to the farm to do some work before painting can start. Andrew textured the drywall

while Lance and I cleaned up the yard a little and Lexie slept in the car.  We made a little fire burning some brush. Lance was pretty cute running around with the spraying keeping the fire under control. 

Andrew got me a couple strawberry plants for Mother's Day. I was super excited to get them planted.

Our friends Joe and Sarah in Southeast Missouri found out they are having a girl due in September. I am soooo excited!!! This will be the first girl born in Joe's family is several generations. I have a feeling she is going to be super spoiled. 

Our friends, Nate & Rebecca in Cordova Alaska just found out they are having twins due in November. This will be #5 and #6 for them!!!! 

My dad has been a fishing fool lately. It seems every day I am getting text with pictures of his catch for that day. Check out this picture with y nephew Hunter.

Andrew said he should be called Fisher instead of Hunter. 

I am counting down the days till my parents arrive! Just 21 new days!! 

Lately When Lance is referring about me me to Andrew he will say "your wife". I have heard him telling Andrew "your wife's parents will come soon" or "your wife took us the store today". It's kind of strange. 

Painting starts on the house THIS WEEKEND!!!! 

Lexie's dance recital in May 31st!!! I can't wait!! Lance's 5th birthday party is also May 31st!!! 

Me heart is so full of joy. It's such an exciting time for our family. God is so good to us!