See See's 11th birthday party

The theme this year was The Dark Side. See See dressed up as Darth Vader, but her name was Darth Marse. 

We had 5 of her friends attend and as they came in they were registered for Storm Trooper Boot Camp. They received their Star Wars name and ID badge and headed off to consume some snacks before their rigorous training. 

To test their hand/eye coordination, they painted on tiles. They then each took a turn on the obstacle course under the direction of the storm trooper trainer, Darth Marse. First they had to throw 3 mini Death Stars into the planet toss. Then they had to successfully navigate through the dark tunnel. Next was hitting all the Jedi while missing the tie fighter. Then hitting a balloon with a light saber 10 times. Last, but not least, was traversing the lasers to steal the droid with the rebel base plans.

We had cake, a photo shoot, and instead of presents all for her, See See wanted a Galaxy gift exchange. After all of the scheduled activities, a rousing game of balloon volleyball entertained everyone until it was time to go home. Everyone had a great time!

Whole30 Experience

Our first Whole30 experience is behind us. We're in the reintroduction phase now, but Steve, Eliza and I finished our 30 day experiment strong. We all saw great results. Better sleep, less anxiety, clearer skin, more energy, the list goes on and on. Plus as an added benefit we all lost some weight and inches. Eliza and I had to buy new pants as our old ones were too big! We plan on continuing to eat this way most of the time. It's just so tasty! 

Here are the before and after pics. 

Eliza lost 16lbs and 11 inches in 30 days

Steve lost 10lbs and 14.25 inches in 30 days

I lost 20.2lbs and 11 inches in 30 days

We'll update again in another 30 days! :)

Hallway remodel May 2015

Our summer of remodeling projects continues. This month was the hallway. The last of the popcorn ceiling has finally been removed. Steven is so relieved. Well, he did leave some in our closet as a reminder of what it was, but no one sees that on a regualr basis. :)

First this time, the before and after shots. We used Burnt Almond on the walls, painted the linen closet door white, installed new carpet and light fixture. And when I say we, I mean Steven installed and painted while I chose colors and fixtures based on the kitchen colors and the carpet he'd already bought years ago. We all know I had the harder job. *wink, wink*

Yet again I forgot to take a true before picture. I had already cleared all the pics off the wall and emptied the "showcase" on the right when he asked, "Did you take a before picture?" Doh!

 The popcorn ceiling slowly disappearing. I think he was overflowing with joy at this part.

 All I can say is YUCK! 30 years of collected dirt does not look pretty!

 We found old markings from where we measured the kids once a long time ago, back when Ethan was shorter than Bekah!

 Prepped for painting. At this point all the popcorn has been removed, the holes have been patched and the walls and ceiling have been retextured.

 After painting, before carpet

 All done! Nice and clean!

We have a few ideas on what's going to go back on the walls, but for right now we're enjoying the clean feel of it.