My kitchen is finally done!

When Steve chose to work on a special project in Texas for 6 weeks this past winter the deal I made with him was that if he went we would get new counters. Months later it is finally done!! We got the granite and new sink installed, then Steve and I did the subway tile backsplash on our own.  I LOVE the way it turned out. I wouldn't change anything.

Here is a picture of the kitchen before we moved it, while the previous owners were still living in the house.

And here is it now.

When we first moved in we change the appliances, I painted the cabinets, and Steve tiled the floor. Since then not much has changed. Now we can sit back and relax because the whole thing is done. Here are a few more pictures:

When I re-painted the kitchen I decided to do the family room too. I was inspired by the wall color of the Dunphy's home in Modern Family =).  I like how it brightened up the room and gave it a crisp, clean, beachy look. Here are some pictures.

I wanted a cute saying that was perfect for parents of little boys. I applied the vinyl to the wall and put a frame around it.

We finally replaced the ugly wooden colored blinds for white ones. FYI- if you are looking for a great price on  wood blinds Walmart online is the place!

And that is my little HGTV post. =)

Family Tree Project

A few months ago while visiting my in-laws I saw a fantastic family tree that my mother-in-law's sister had made for her. I've wanted some sort of genealogy thing on my wall, but hadn't found any I liked.

Anyway, with a little help from Ruth- printing and cutting the leaves on her Cricut (thank you) here it is.

The only thing I don't love is Steve and my names. I couldn't print them out on the tree trunk like on the leaves, so I used my vinyl cutter...It works I guess. I decided to do acorns for our kids. Ruth had printed acorns with their names and birth years, but Luke destroyed those ones while I wasn't looking. So for now they just have their birth year.

Originally I thought I'd make one for my Mom and my Grandma, but after making this one there is no way. It was way more work then I thought it would be! =)

Twin Lakes 2012

Every summer for the past 31 years the Bonner clan has gone to Twin Lakes in Eastern Washington. There were 19 of us this year. We were lucky enough to score 3 cabins, so the accommodations were much better than usual. =) Carson had the time of his life. Luke is more of a hot tub kid, but warmed up to the lake towards the end of the trip. He hated his life jacket, so that didn't help. It was a great week full of the hot sun, water skiing, wake boarding, swimming, and fun with family.

(Warning: lots of pictures… You've got to check out the ones with Carson tubing though)

We all got Steve's Dad this water trampoline for his birthday. Funny thing is he never jumped on it... I wonder why??

Carson and his cousin Daniel made their own fishing poles. For some reason they didn't catch anything.

Big kids getting flipped

Awesome picture courtesy of Aunt Gail

He loved EVERY MINUTE OF IT!

Luke and Nathan 

Rebecca became the offical face painter. Carson asked her to make him an "army guy" several days in a row.

Collecting "diamonds" (white rocks) by the dock

Making giant bubbles 

Steve celebrated his 33rd Birthday while we were there

What can I say, the boy loves cake!

Luke 1 1/2 Year Update

A year and half old, I can’t believe it! Luke had his first Sunday in nursery last week and did great. He loved it, which we are thrilled aboutr. It took Carson months of screaming before he decided he liked it. Luke will also go to Kids Club at the gym. Thanks buddy! Luke is such a cuddlier. When you are holding him he loves to lay his little head down on your shoulder. I love it. He doesn’t have much hair up top, but has a little on the back. He likes to hold the back of his hair like a ponytail. Hopefully that one won’t last too long, but Carson holds his hair so maybe it’s just a Bonner-boy thing. 

Not much of a talker still. He says “Mom, Daddy, NO, doggy, bye-bye, and shoes“. I think once all our summer trips and activities are over I am going to have him tested for speech. Because of Carson’s speech delay there is a greater likely hood that Luke could have one too. Let’s hope he’ll start talking more soon! He is still taking two naps a day. Most 18 month olds are taking one long one, but he doesn't want to give up his morning nap yet. Hopefully it will be soon, because one long afternoon nap is a lot easier to schedule around then two shorter naps. 

Lukey is such an easy-going little toddler. He is very happy and loves to smile and wave at anyone (and anything.) He is a wanderer. He will take-off outside or in a store and never look back. We have to watch him like a hawk! He likes to copy whatever big brother does and thinks he can do all the big boy things that Carson can do. Luckily Luke was blessed with a little more common sense and doesn’t try as many death-defying things as Carson did at this stage. He loves the water and swimming. No fear I tell you.

Luke is an instigator. He likes playing the victim and getting others in trouble I’m afraid. My friend and I trade off for playgroups each week and she has a two-year-old daughter. Luke and Allie don’t get along very well. Luke will go up to her and touch her arm or poke her and she’ll freakout and push him and he will BURST (imagine being stabbed crying) into tears.  It’s all an act and he loves getting her riled up and loves being babied. Rascal!

Both my boys and baby and pet hungry. Luke LOVES animals, especially dogs. HE has no fear of dogs, which can be kind of scary. He loves playing ball with them. Speaking of balls this boy loves them! Carson wasn’t much into throwing and catching balls, but Luke can’t get enough. He loves throwing balls into the basket.

I love this boy. He is a joy and at such a fun stage. I’m a lucky Mama. 

Carson 3 1/2 Year Update

Carson is a kid now. It is weird getting used to. He is just getting taller and taller and more and more skinny. I can’t believe I have a big boy. Carson is the epitome of a boy. He likes to play hard and rough. He loves friends that will run and chase with him and play super hero and pretend karate fighting. You can only imagine how well he plays with little girls and kids who don’t like to play rough…Kids his age either think he is the funnest playmate or they stay away.

His vocabulary is growing every day. Vocab-wise he is right on target. Annunciation, not so much. He is around an early two-year-old level with annunciation. So it’s a double edged sward. He can say so much more, which means percentage wise we can understand a lot less. We are very proud of him though. He has been improving a lot. Friends of mine have made comments that they are able to understand him much more. He does get frustrated, but for the most part he is pretty patient with us trying to understand. He does a lot of mimicking and sound-effects to help us out. =)

Unfortunately one of his favorite things is T.V. and it is a constant struggle trying to limit it. It helps that we are so busy and always seem to be out doing things. His regular pre-school is out for the summer, but I have him in two 3-week sessions at the community center with a few of his friends. He loves that.

Carson is a good brother. He loves to have Luke around and loves to get him to laugh. We are still working on reminding Carson (sometimes by the use of timeout) that he can’t play too rough with Luke because he is so much smaller. Carson loves when the WHOLE family goes places together. Swimming still tops his favorite things list. He is quite amazing. He is a completely independent swimmer now. Jumping off the diving board and swimming to the wall, etc. He can swim down to the bottom of the shallow end and grab and toy. He is something else.

Life is full of joy and excitement with a 3, going on 4, year old!