We're in!

We are finally in our house! It was only a few days before Christmas but at least we made it before Christmas. We don't have the internet at our house or I would have put some pictures with this post. I love my house so much! I am so excited to finally be in a place of our own that we will hopefully be in forever. Once we figure how to get the internet without a phone line I'll definatly get some pics posted.

Rylie's reading

I knew Rylie was doing really good in school but I had no idea she was learning to read until last night. She never has homework in kindergarten, but last night she had some. We sat down to do it and in her backpack she had this little book. Usually if I ask her to do something that has to do with learning or see if she can read something she always tells me no. So I asked her to read this book expecting her to tell me no or not be able to and she read it perfectly. It was only one of those I am Sam books but I was so surprised she was learning to read this soon. I thought here in Idaho they didn't start reading until 1st grade. She is just so shy that I always thought it would hinder her learning and she would always be a little behind until she came out of her shell. (She refuses to speak to her teacher.) Needless to say I am so proud of her. She is always surprising me and I should give her more credit than I do.

Quiz

I admit that I really liked the Twilight series but I am not one of those people who is obsessed with it. I found this quiz on my friends blog and decided to try it to see who I am. I pretty much figured I would be an Esme before I even took the quiz. I wanted Porter to take the quiz but he is anti anything that has to do with Twilight. I still might trick him into answering to see who he is.
Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

Sewing Stockings

I am not a seamstress or anything close to it. I've sewn pillowcases and blankets but they don't require a lot of skill to make. I've sewn one dress for Rylie when she was 1. I thought it turned out pretty good it was dark purple satin with cap sleeves and a cute little sash and bow. She wore it to church once and someone asked me if it was homemade. You don't usually ask someone if something is homemade unless it really looks homemade. Needless to say, it must have looked like crap or she wouldn't have asked if I had made it. So I gave up sewing because I don't have a talent for it or the time to practice for it to become a talent. However, I have been searching for cute stockings ever since Porter and I have been married and haven't found a single one that I have liked that was in my price range. My sister had some really cute stockings that she made herself so I decided to give sewing a second chance and try to make some for my family. She gave me the pattern and I went to the fabric store and found so many cute fabrics. I don't know why I didn't think of this years ago. It wasn't as hard as I thought but I am my own worst critic so I'm not sure that they turned out as cute as my sisters but at least I tried. I experimented on Porter's and my stockings first, and now that I know how to make a basic one I think I can have a lot more fun making the girls stockings. I still have to sew my name on my stocking, which I have found is one of the hardest parts of making the stocking. I doubt I'll have all the stockings done before Christmas but hopefully by next Christmas they will all be done.

More house pics

The girls decided that they wanted a pink bedroom but I didn't want the whole bedroom pink. Their whole bedroom was pink in our house on the island and it was such an eyesore. I have the hardest time picking the right pink color. It always ends up more fluorescent than I want. The pink this time was really bright but the painter glazed it with brown and I think it turned out pretty good. The girls room is based around the quilts I got them, so their room will have pinks and brown and blue in it.

This is just a portion of the master shower. It's still not finished but I really like the tile.

This is our carpet, it actually is darker than it looks in the picture. Our mantle isn't done and the baseboard still has to go up but this is basically what our living room will look like.

Here is a really dark picture of our cabinets all done. I guess I forgot to turn on the lights when I took this. The hardware has been put on since this picture and the counter tops still have to be put on. I love my cabinets especially after living in places that hardly had any cabinet space. These ones are really functional and I have so much space.

This is our hallway, the banister I think is getting done this weekend. You can kind of see the glazing on the walls in this picture. Most things are getting done this weekend. The plumbers will be here Monday and our appliances will be delivered next Saturday. I can only hope that we will be able to move in the week before Christmas.

Almost Finished!

Our house is almost finished. Hopefully if all goes well we will be in our house in a couple of weeks. I haven't got a good picture of the front of our house because there is always a truck or trailor or something parked in the driveway or right in front of the house. Today the carpet is going in. The tile still isn't done but all there is left to do is a little bit in our shower and the grout. The cabinet guys should be finishing up tomorrow along with the electrician. Then we should just have the countertops and the plumbing and a few odds and ends. Actually a lot of odds and ends but hopefully we will be in before Christmas. I'm pretty sure my in-laws can't wait to get their house back to themselves. I know I can't wait to have all my own stuff back again. The painter just finished glazing the walls today and I love it. I was so afraid that all the stuff I picked out wouldn't go together but I was rather surprised to see that so far it does. I'm definatly not one of those girls who is good at the home decorating stuff. I'm not crafty or good at color schemes or anything like that. I just picked out stuff that I liked and hoped that it went together. It's a good thing that this is our last house and I never have to do that stuff again.

California

One week ago my mom and dad, my girls and me went to visit my sister in Hanford, California. It was fun except for the all the driving we had to do. The girls did pretty good for the most part. We logged in over a couple thousand miles with only a few meltdowns. I usually get pretty carsick, but I didn't do too bad especially for being squished in between two car seats. My big body definatly wasn't made for that kind of traveling. The girls were pretty excited to see their cousins and they had a fun time while we were there.

While we were there we mostly just hung out and visited but we did go to the Sequoia National Park. That was fun to see but I did expect the trees to be a lot bigger. They still were plenty big but I just imagined different. The girls enjoyed it but were more impressed that they might see a bear than with the trees. Rylie was obsessed with finding a bear. When we stopped for a picnic that's all she talked about. The trees have a different bark on them that kind of looks like it has fur and Rylie told her cousin Lannah that it was bear hair. Then Rylie said "Lannah, I have some bad news, there is a bear in the bushes." She also went around saying "I think I smell a bear." The park was a lot of fun but Rylie and the other kids were definatly more entertaining. The kids outside of the Visitors Center.
Rylie and Brynlie in front of one of the big trees.