Sunny Days in AZ: April 2009

Just a quick post to say how esctatic I am that my family is coming tomorrow! We are getting the new house as put away, clean and ready as possible! The pool is up to 83 degrees...yee haw!!!I will have a ton of pictures to post and blog about in a week. My sister, Ryan, Kiara and Vera will be here as well as my parents. They are staying in a rental house for the week...but hopefully up at our new place at the pool for a lot of the time! My parents stay for a few more days at the end of the week, which is awesome. We have the girls that weekend, so they will get some 1-on-1 time. We also have them on Sunday (special request) since all the family is here...and a few days during the week...so there should be plenty of time with them anyway...it's the first time that Kyndall and Megan will meet Vera! I'm excited for that, and also to see her again - and see her walk! And then of course, Kiara...she's just a cutie period...and is very excited to come. She will be going to ride a horse during the week here...somehow that was promised for this trip by her dad, I think. She can't stop talking about that! And the Cubs game we are going to on Monday night (my family plans trips to see us based on when the Cubbies are playing the D-Backs in AZ!).

Everyone pray for a safe flight tomorrow for them all...and a great week! I'll leave you with a few pictures of the cuties I get to play with all week! =)

Okay, so I know it's been FOREVER since my last blog...but I promise I had a good reason! My mom came about two weeks ago and stayed for about five days to help us get a jump start on all the cleaning, painting, and remodeling that we planned doing to the new house. We are now well on our way to being in the house permanently - finally! We plan on being all the way in by this weekend...so we have been sooooo super busy split between two houses for the last 2-3 weeks...and now have another few crazy days ahead, but with a definite light at the end of the tunnel! Whew! I guess all the work and busyness got to us because the girls came down with a nasty bug on Sunday and started puking their guts out (literally...it wasn't pretty...Kyndall slept on the bathroom floor with a comforter and a pillow!). Bobby got a version of the bug by Monday morning, and so the three of them were down and out the whole day yesterday. I felt a little funky...but no where near the puking (and other stuff!) that they were all doing. Luckily, it was a quick recovery...they all feel almost 100% normal...girls back to school and Bobby and I back to packing and working on the new house.

My Dad has been asking for pictures of all the updates for a while now (sorry Dad!) since he didn't get to make the trip out with Mom. She, by the way, was a rock star and helped us out soooo much with cleaning and painting! We couldn't be where we are without her help! Thanks Mom! Anyway...thought it would be fun to post a few before and after pictures...mostly of the kitchen and few rooms that now have paint. The kitchen is our big project. Bobby and I decided to paint the cabinets black and add silver/nickel hardware...change out the countertop (not done yet) and then also add a mosaic tile backsplash above the countertops (not done yet either). The cabinets have been a HUGE project...all done by Bobby. He worked his butt off on these and all his worked paid off big time...they look AMAZING! I was the painting foreman...and took care of all the painting projects (with a lot of help from the girls and Mom!). It's amazing how different the kitchen and family area look already with a change of cabinets and paint color! We are so happy with it so far. I can't wait for the countertops to come in and then lastly the mosaic tile! These last two things should be done by the end of April.

The theme of the kitchen, by the way, is a classic black with an accent of kiwi/lime green. No idea where the idea came from, I just started running with it at some point and bought green slip chair covers for the eat-in kitchen area, which will just make the kitchen so amazing (on top of the hot cabinets, countertops, and mosaic tile!). We are so pleased with everything so far...and also so impatient for it all to finally come together like we have been imagining in our heads for months now!

Here are some before and after pics...then also follow the link to all the house pictures that are on my Facebook page.

Kitchen - Before

Kitchen - After - AMAZING!

Close up of the corner cabinets - love it!

Our inspiration - green and black

Finished paint and lighting in the kitchen. Imagine the picture below with a round glass table and four of the green covered chairs!

Finished colors in the family room (and cleaned carpets!) - open from the kitchen

Bobby and I's room - Posh Red (love this color). Also, this is Bobby's new desk for work that we got off of Craigslist...cute eh?

Lots more pictures here -

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=70309&id=511058149&l=19a16c5d91

We also just went to a fiesta birthday party for my good friend, Jen's kids - Addie and Abe. Addie turned 3 and Abe will be 1 soon! It was so much fun packed with everything a fiesta should have - sombreros, Mexican food, pinata...and even mustaches! It was so fun...we each got a fun mustache and sombrero to fully embody the fiesta spirit! There are a few pics below and then several more linked below them too.

The Marins living up to their Spanish name!

Birthday girl Addie - loving the icing on her sombrero hat birthday cake!

Jen and her birthday boy Abe - he's so stinkin' cute!

Birthday girl looking stylish

Jen and I and our sombreros

The HOT Mexican Man - the girls and I LOVE this picture and Bobby hates that I am posting this...I think there will be payback for this at some point!