Spring Break: Day 2

On Wednesday we went to McCormick Park in Scottsdale.  If you haven't been, it is a great park.  They have a train theme going on.  The play structures are awesome because they are huge.  The kids don't get bored.  There is also plenty of space to play soccer and just run around.  Oh, and their favorite part is the little western town complete with the jail and a stagecoach.  They take turns chasing and arresting each other.  

We met the boys' cousins there:  Maddy (15), Ally (12), Brody (7) and Andy (5).  They love playing with each other and we don't seem to get together enough.  Missy and Owen joined us, too. 

Waiting at the train station.

 Ally, Ryan and Aunt Carrie

Andy and Brody

 Ally, Aunt Carrie and Maddy (our favorite babysitter)

Thanks for taking the photo, Missy!

Riding the stage coach

Spring Break FUN!

Ah, our first Spring Break.  With Logan in preschool Monday through Thurday, we are limited in what we can do during the day.  So I tried to pack in a bunch of fun this week.  Today we met with our friends Missy and Owen at the zoo.  If you weren't there, you were the only one.  I've never seen it so packed.  People were polite and well behaved, there were just too many of them.  We opted to leave early and headed over to Papago Park in Tempe.  The boys had fun playing after lunch.  It was a beautiful day.  The warm weather is just around the corner. 

Logan's cheeks were so red!  He spent at least 30 minutes chasing the birds.  They weren't too scared though.  They stayed just a couple feet ahead of him.

Baby B

I love the moms from Logan's preschool.  This is the brand new little sister of a girl in Logan's class.  What a beautiful baby!

Little piggies! 

Of course, I had to shoot the purple shoes.  ;)

Logan's new 'do

One day while the boys were coloring, Ryan took the scissors to his hair.  Of course he's the one do it.  While I was fixing his hair, I decided to give him a mohawk.  It looks really cute.  And Logan begged me to give him one, too.  We finally got around to it yesterday.  I just love it.  I think it suits him.  With jeans, cowboy boots and a mohawk, he's totally his own person.

I just LOVE this kid!  :)

Our new kitchen

Jason and I starting remodeling the kitchen last November.  Do you remember what it looked like?  1984 Fabulous.  I did like the painted faux bricks but overall the kitchen was really dark.  The countertops were stained and just gross.  They made me so mad.  One section near the sink (you know, the part that I used most) would snag my shirts and tear holes in them.  I lost so many shirts that way.  And I can't believe I didn't rip down that valance over the window.  Ick.  Apparently I never looked up.  Anyway, here are some "before" photos.

We replaced our old, stained formica with granite countertops.  We found a smokin' deal on them.  The color is Indian Emerald Green but they are almost black.  The granite has a lot of crystals that reflect the light and you can see all the way down into them.  It's really cool. 

Then Jason and his dad, Tom, refinished and painted the cabinets white.  Off white, really. There was a whole lot of sanding, painting, sanding and more painting.  They sprayed all of the cabinets so they have a professional finish.  They also added the bead board to the back of the cabinets.  To finish it off, Jason also added a some crown molding to the top of the cabinets as well as the bottom of the upper cabinets.  The under cabinet lighting also lights up the work surface when I'm cooking (or baking cookies).

We even talked my dad into forging all the door and drawer pulls for us.  I love the custom, handmade hardware. 

 After the cabinets and countertops were finished, we had a really hard time deciding on a back splash.  We spent more than one date night discussing options at Lowes and Home Depot.  Finally, we decided to put it off until after Christmas.  In January, I saw a beautiful kitchen in Martha Stewart's magazine with a simple subway tile backsplash.  The photo inspired our choice.  Simple but classy.  It blends in with the rest of the colors and doesn't scream for attention.  I am really happy with our choice.

This was the last update in the kitchen.  I saw something similar on Pinterest (my new favorite thing- it's so inspiring!) and just had to make one for our house.  I had already been hanging the kids' art projects on this wall.  After all, I think it's important to display art in the home.  But the scotch tape didn't look all that nice.  This project fixed that right up.  We just finished hanging it on Sunday.

We are so happy with our new kitchen.  We may switch to black appliances at some point but we need a new roof first.  It will have to wait. 

Fun family photo session

I had the best time with this family at their photo shoot.  The kids were so fun- I think they get it from their parents.  :)

He loves his mama so much.  It gives me hope.  :)

NASCAR

Jason got tickets to NASCAR from work.  Not just any tickets, we were in the suite.  We had access to the rooftop grandstands which was my favorite spot.  I wasn't too excited intially as I am not a NASCAR fan.  But Jason and I had the best time hanging out together.  I didn't take my camera so these are from Jason's phone. 

The view from the roof top grandstands.

Yes, we walked up the stairs.  Once.  (My legs were already sore from cycle class the day before.)  Suite pass holders were allowed elevator access.  We made sure to utilize it from then on.

I couldn't believe how many vehicles- especially RV's- were there.  The NASCAR drivers are very blessed to have such a huge, dedicated group of fans.  The energy was awesome!