Christmas and more

Christmas flew by this year, as it always does when combined with catering. Jessica and Jesse flew down for a few days to celebrate with us. The entire week was chaotic, and here's a quick summary:

1. Crazy, crazy rainfall and flooding prevented me from getting to the mall (or anywhere else for that matter!)

2. Thursday night was the Warr family Christmas party. We tried to do a White Elephant gift exchange this year to switch it up a bit. Kind of hard to do when no one will/can be quiet, but it was still fun. Glory be, Ava bought Ellie a new tutu!!!

3. Because of the rain all week, I still hadn't finished my shopping on Christmas Eve. Jessica and I went to Fashion Valley on Friday morning, and my car was hit by the biggest ditz (idiot) to have a driver's license. I kid you not....she rammed into the BACK of me then got out of her car and started yelling at me "Didn't you see me?!?! Why did you hit me?!?!?" It was really, really difficult for Jessica and I not to start screaming back. Wow. Stupidity is one of the worst genetic flaws to have. She didn't even apologize for ruining my car and my weekend. Anyway, my car had to be towed and we blocked a lot of traffic in front of Nordstrom for 2 hours while waiting for the tow truck. But we still went shopping! :)

4. Friday night we decorated pre-fab gingerbread houses with the girls.

5. Christmas day! Presents, a hike, dinner. Goes without saying that it sure was fun with the girls this year.

Christmas Stuff

Very excited to decorate

I threw almost all of the old xmas stuff away when we moved but they found a few strays

This is the cutest and bestest tree ever! :)

Hi Molly!

These are the gingerbread men that the girls made

"Mom, I'm really good at this."

Caught on camera: our dumb dog found a way in through the new fences that block him from his favorite place....our new grass.

Here's a slideshow of the past 10 days of our lives.

1. Ronnie decided to rip out the old chain link fence on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. It poured all weekend. We have a dog, so the new fence had to be finished on the same weekend.

2. Ronnie had to finish a bathroom to accommodate 17 Thanksgiving guests.

3. Ronnie had to put up a new wall around the new fireplace, texture and paint it.

4. My mom and I had to clean up the mess made by all of these last-minute projects. Sheesh.

5. I'm tired and I don't plan on making Thanksgiving dinner again for a very long time.

Big Sink, Little Buns

Couldn't resist sharing.....

Fireplace

This post is about the fireplace, a 5 month project. Here is a picture of our living room on the day we moved in. Wow. Ugly. Focus on the white painted bricks and the weird wood burning stove insert where there used to be a fireplace.

Many, many hours of labor went into the time between the above image and the below image. Way back in the summer Ronnie and my mom had to first remove the wood burning stove...no easy task. Then a few weeks ago Ronnie and his bro had to demo all of that brick on the wall and the bench. Ronnie slept for 13 hours straight the night they did that. In this picture they're removing the old fireplace insert that was too damaged to use.

Who is going to lift this out?!

A broken back and a gouge in my new floor brings us to this stageThe work between the above picture and the below picture is unknown. When Ronnie started cutting drywall to make the new insert fit, I left. Ellie and I went in the family room and watched Cake Boss. Next thing I know, Ronnie has a fire burning in our living room!

Here's Molly, "chillin' by the new fire" (her exact words)

Now, any ideas for a mantle or brick or stone work?

Halloween Weekend

Here are a few pictures from our weekend.

Pumpkin Patch

On Saturday we went to Oma's Dairy Farm & Pumpkin Patch with our friend Radana and Baby Natalie. Man, we live REALLY close to a dairy farm! (How did that happen?) Also, will someone tell me why it's 90 degrees in October, and we froze all summer long? It was SO hot but the kids had a good time. Ellie wrapped her little legs around me for a good portion of the day, or whenever there was an animal within 20 feet. Happy Fall everyone, and here's dreaming of some nice fall weather. Please, oh please, don't let it be 90 degrees on Thanksgiving Day.

Our Weekend Trip

We had to go to central CA this past weekend to deliver an ultrasound to a customer near Pismo Beach, so we decided to make a family vacation out of it. (Pretty cool side note: when Ronnie arrived at the doctor's office he discovered that my parents sold them all of the equipment in their practice, about 10-12 years ago. She loved my dad, and sought us out for another purchase after all this time.) True to form, we were supposed to leave at 3 a.m. on Friday, but ended up having to wait for FedEx and didn't get out of the office until 2 p.m. (Nothing has changed in all these years! Kids sitting in the car waiting to go on the business/vacation.) Needless to say we sat in LA traffic for about 4 hours. Smart thinking on my part......we brought our Nanny with us. :) Molly and Ellie are obsessed with hotels and pools. Poor Nanny had to go in the pool and it was FREEZING! Was it worth it, Emily?! :) The best part about this is that I didn't have to go with Ronnie on the install of the equipment. So glad those days are slowly making their way out of my life and into Ronnie's. Then on to Paso Robles for shopping, eating, a little wine tasting, more eating, swimming, more shopping, eating.

Family Room

Here are some After and Before pictures of the family room. It's still not done....we need an entertainment center, the black slider is on its way out, the lighting isn't done, shelving in the toy room, etc) but it sure looks WAY different than before!

(there used to be an extra kitchen in the little room behind the couch)

(there was a half wall jutting out hiding the wall where the large picture is hanging, the the wall where the large picture is hanging used to be a bathroom door.)

Yes, this was an extra kitchen/laundry area. WEIRD! We obviously tore out the kitchen, moved the laundry to the garage (boo), replaced the windows, removed the half wall on the left, and closed off the bathroom door opening into the family room (it now opens in the guest room so guests have a private bath.) We turned the old 'kitchen' into the toy room.

Yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck!!!! Hard to believe that it's the same place.

Ya-hoo!

Girl's bathroom.....One wall up, 2 more to go...and then the floor. Construction stinks, especially Construction-on-a-budget. :) Doesn't look half-bad for our first attempt, if I do say so myself. It will look even better when we grout it...fun times.

Ellie Marie

House Progress

Here are some random pictures of the past week. I will eventually put up before-and-after photos of our house, as we finish each room. By the way, there isn't actually one single room in our house that is completely done. Every room needs something...whether it is furniture, windows, major construction, boxes, electricity, etc. Sigh. But in the past week we've made a lot of progress...tearing new things apart and setting new things up, trying to start feeling at home. Right now we only have one working bathroom. :)

Here is our living room, as we started cleaning it out after the kitchen remodel.

This is 'the beach' and also the (temporary) bath...and my huge new restaurant size sink for catering.

Our kitchen....in various states of construction

Still need floors, lighting, something around the windows, a stove and an oven, etc...

Not sure when that will be, but at least we can function.

Labor Day Fun - We tore out the girls bathroom, down to the studs. Ya-hoo!

We didn't know that bathtubs are 60" and bathrooms are 59" so we had to enter through the girls bedroom. Yet more dry wall and dry wall dust. :(

Ellie playing inside the unfinished kitchen pantry. :)

That's chocolate, by the way.

Practicing in their new Halloween costumes.

Little Chef

'Little Chef' making hummus. (this is what she calls herself. She calls me 'Big Chef.')

French Polynesia

Feast your eyes....

(make this slide show full screen for full effect)

Family Togetherness

Billy and Ava hosted a family get-together this weekend. Fun times. I didn't get very many pictures, but here are a few of the extra-cute ones. Taco guys, pool, lots of cousins everywhere, and a really fun evening. I had to wake Molly and Ellie up at 9:14 this morning after they partied like rock stars last night.

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

Here they are! The first of the (many) before-and-after photos.

In case anyone has forgotten how UGLY the 80's were, our house is here to help you remember.

This is the dining room, or the Table Room, as Molly calls it

Next door to the right, sharing a wall with the dining room, is the "kitchen"

Does anyone feel sorry for me yet? I tried to do a catering job here two weeks ago, but after about one hour I packed up all of my stuff and headed over to my mom's kitchen. No counter space, rotting disposal and dish washer, very small sink.........kind of like a motor home.

I left early Saturday morning to go fabric shopping and this is what I came home to....

(I have the best husband in the world!)

AHHHHH!!!! It's a new house!

And today Jason worked late tonight to deal with the electrical and put in the new ceiling

I will continue putting up photos of the trees we've cleared, the drywall we hung in the garage, the second kitchen we tore out, several new windows we installed, the new plants we've planted, the many gallons of new paint, the stuff we've thrown away, the dry wall dust, and on and on.