Tile Master for HIRE

I can't say enough how proud I am of my husband! He tried something new and was extremely successful. I think that he missed his calling as a master craftsman! Here is an up close and personal view of our new mantle and tiled fireplace!

If you remember, the old fireplace had cream painted brick and now it is freshly tiled!
OOOPS, I forgot to shop vac the inside of the fireplace.
The old mantle was also cream painted wood and now it is stained.

Congrats Ro, you did an amazing job!

Home Improvement Updates

It all started out with a grand idea to get rid of the brick on the front of the fireplace which led to a new mantle and then when that project was complete, I decided I didn't like the wall color anymore. So, we now have what looks like a brand new living room and we are so excited with the outcome.

The new mantle.

No more brick fireplace. Roland did an AMAZING job with the tile.

It used to be a light sage green, but now it is a bolder and darker green.
I need to order a roman shade for the front window and the room will be complete!

I just realized that I never took an up close shot of the fireplace so I will take one tonight and upload it tomorrow!

Fireplace Update

These are not the best pictures because I took them quick this morning with my phone. The mantle is about 90% done and all we have left on the fireplace itself is to grout it. I vow to have this project done by the end of this weekend because I have a couple of other little things I want to do this weekend before Thanksgiving.

Funny Seth Story

This morning on the way to drop Seth off he says to me...

Seth: "Mommy, when Rocky goes to doggie heaven can we get a turkey?"

Me: "We are going to have turkey next week buddy, it's Thanksgiving."

Seth: "No, can we get a pet turkey?"

Me: "Why do you want a pet turkey Seth?"

Seth: "So he can waddle around the house."

Me: "Sorry buddy we are not going to be able to get a pet turkey."

Seth: "Well, then how about a cat?"

Me: "Nope, totally out of the question, Mommy doesn't like cats, they scare her."

Seth: "OK, Mom."

Such innocence, I love out conversations!

Leah's ENT Appt

Today Leah went to the ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat Doctor) after over a month of having chronic ear infections and trying 4 different antibiotics. The doctor has decided to put tubes in her ears. By having this procedure done it should alleviate the pressure and uncomfortableness in her ears so that she can continue to be the happy-go-lucky baby that she is. We go for her outpatient procedure on Dec 2nd.

"Seriously Mom, what are you putting on me NOW!"

Thank You Sweet Family!

Last night we were invited for "Chili Night" at our friends The Sweets. Let's see, there were four babies, three toddlers and six adults. The kids had us out numbered! We all had so much fun and the kids were so cute. They were playing Cinderella and dress up. YES, the boys LOVED playing dress up. We laughed hysterically!

It looks as if the boys are fighting over dancing with Annabelle. NOPE, they were fighting over who got to dance with Seth. SO funny!

Leah got into the dress up action as well!

Happy 4 Week Birthday to our beautiful god daughter Lindsey!

Progress as of Sunday Morning!

Roland has been working EXTREMELY hard to finish this fireplace and it is turning out amazing! As of Sunday morning the mantle was up and all the tile was up. By Sunday afternoon (no pics sorry) I had the mantle stained.

Tonight Roland is going to tackle the grout and I would like to get a coat of poly on the mantle. I'd like to wrap up this project by the end of the week! Pics to come!

Leah's 1st Babbling Words!

Look at These Faces

I am SOOOOO LUCKY!

Starting Table Foods

We are slowly introducing table foods to Leah. Saturday we tried cutting up a banana into small pieces and givng it to her. SHE LOVED IT! So at the luncheon on Sunday she plowed through the puffs I gave her in 10 seconds flat so we tried giving her a roll to chew on. SHE LOVED IT! Can you see a pattern forming?

Happy Baptism Lindsey!

It is now official, we are the proud godparents of Miss Lindsey Marie Castana! Yesterday couldn't have been a more perfect day to have a 3 week old baby baptised. The sun was out, it was a warm November day and everything went perfectly. Plus, I got to put Leah in tights and a dress which is my favorite thing to do, she looked so stinking cute!

Daddy and his girl!

It feels like just yesterday that we were up on that alter with Leah and now she is a big girl!

When we met we were families of three and now we are a huge group of 8!

Lindsey was a perfect little girl. She slept all through mass and didn't make a sound when the water was dumped on her!

Roland and is newest god daughter. He is now the proud god father of two beautiful girls; his niece Lexy who is in 3rd grade and Miss Lindsey!

After the mass Kristen and Lee used the caterer that we hired for Leah's baptism and had a luncheon downstairs in the church. It was delicious! Thank you so much for a wonderful and memorable day. We love you all!

Surprise!

The weekend was FULL of parties. Surprise parties, baptism parties and home parties. We basically partied our way through the weekend and Roland tiled in between!

Saturday night Rod surprised Jen with a surprise dinner with all of her closest friends. It was so much fun to get together, talk and eat. We followed it up with a few drinks at the Paddock Club. My Mom, Tom and Justin were supposed to come over and watch the kids, but my Mom got really sick so Tom and Justin watched the kids on their own. Both walked in the door with a look of shear panic on their faces and they both asked if Leah was due to poop in the evening because they were scared to death to have to change a dirty diaper. I checked my phone continuously during dinner and only got one text from Justin at about 7:30pm that read, "What channel is Noggin for the love of god!" I was dying laughing! In the end they did a fantastic job with the kids and we really appreciated the evening out!
We felt really old as we left the bar at about 9:45pm because we all needed to relieve our sitters!

Imagination Movers

Well, it was a mad dash to get fed and to SYR by 6pm last night but we were successful and the kids had a BLAST! Actually, the adults had a pretty rocking time too! It was such an energy packed show that had us singing and dancing right along with the kids.

We had GREAT seats too! We were in the balcony about 4 rows back in the center!

We didn't tell Seth where we were going until we got to SYR. He was shocked!

It's pretty sad that I know the lyrics as well if not better than Seth!

Mover Rich came into the audience and Seth got the shake his hand!

Thank you to Sue and Dad for taking care of Leah for us so that we could take Seth. We really appreciate it!

Happy Birthday Jen!

Happy Birthday to one of the BEST people in my life!

Happy 8 Month Birthday (A day late)

Sorry Leah with the excitement of the Imagination Movers show yesterday I forgot all about your 8 month mark! So Happy Belated 8 Month Birthday! Where has the time gone? I can not believe that you are 8 months old! Life can't get much better right now. You are fully mobile, you love to smile, laugh and have fun! You have just started to hold your own bottle, but I still like to feed you when I'm not busy getting ready for work. We are always on the go and you just go with the flow. Thank you for being the wonderful little girl that you are! We LOVE you!

Hip Hip Hooray!

Way to go Yankees!

Check ME Out!

This is Leah's new favorite thing to do!

1st School Pictures!

Check out our little man in his 1st school pictures!

Here We Go AGAIN!

Just when I get my house all clean, decorated and organized my husband gets bored and LOOKS for projects to mess it all up. I know it will be beautiful when it is done, but it is the messy part now that I detest. Plus, trying to keep the kids away will be a challenge.

Roland is going to tile the front of the fireplace as well as on the floor in the front of it. He also told me today that he is building a new mantle too! AHHHH the mess!

The Weekend in Pictures!

Starting on Friday morning the visions of candy and fun were swirling around Seth's head!

Seth had a Halloween party at Pam's and Leah had Halloween treats at Pat's!
Friday night we got dressed and headed to Mall-o-ween. I'm not so sure if we will ever brave it again as there were so many people in that mall it was scary. I think that the mall was at max capacity! The kids had a blast and it was GREAT people watching though!
Sophia was so cute to point out that she, Maya and Leah were all dressed as insects! PRICELESS!
Grandma Charlton was working at the mall so we got to see her too!
Such a big kid!
After naps on Saturday we were back in costume and off to visit. Our first stop was at Grandpa and Nana's house!
Our second stop was at Poppy and Grandma's House!
OK, so now I'm the big kid!
Leah's first taste of REAL sugar!
Back to our house for some food, handing out candy and then on to trick-o-treating!
Next Halloween there will be no need for strollers for these two!
Happy 1st Halloween Miss Lindsey!
THE END! Let the Thanksgiving planning begin!

PS~ We have to apologize to Papa Charlton for forgetting to come and visit him. We got so busy that we never made it over. We promise you will be our first stop next year!