Finished Sunroom

 

 

 

 

This Fall we began to transform the sunroom into more of a family room or whatever. A storm in May blew off part of the roof so that had to be replaced and the skylights, which leaked, were taken out. We put in carpet, painted and put up curtains (with the help of my parents) and got some new furniture to help organize it. We used to have wicker in there and crappy flooring and the 6 sliding doors had blue blinds that were in BAD shape from having 3 little ones around here for the last 8 years that we have lived here. The mission style furniture was an EL CHEAPO Target clearance and the cubical things and pantry cabinet were from IKEA. It was nice getting rid of the wicker stuff and we completley gutted the room and got rid of a lot of junk.

Anna is our little tornado and I am hoping that this system will help her learn to clean up her toys better. She loves to play with the dollhouse and kitchen out there and I am hoping she is going to keep the room clean. Her other favorite part that we have always had out there is her dress-up corner. Barry and the boys enjoy playing pool or air hockey on the game table that my parents got the boys a few years ago.It is so nice to finally have it all finished!

The carpet and drapes have really helped keep the room warmer. There is no airconditioning out there, but my dream is to do that someday. It seems expensive and difficult to do and this house is getting small for us. We desperately need 4 bedrooms before the boys kill each other! There is a gas heater, though, and that warms the room up in the winter quickly.

Christmas Day at Sid's

Christmas Day afternoon we went to my parents' house and my sister and her boyfriend and family came. We had a nice dinner, opened gifts and played.

Christmas Eve and Morn

We went to Barry's parents Christmas Eve morning. His sisters and all the kids came and we had the traditional lobster/crab/shrimp feast. YuM. We stayed all day and went to church. Brandon got UP at 5:58 AM in hopes that SANTA had come. Of course, he did. The boys got to open their gifts THAT early and Anna waited to wake up at 8:00. YEAH. They were all excited. My parents and Grandma came over for brunch that morning.

Wedding

Saturday the kids were all in a wedding at our parents' church. The pastor was getting married and he asked Logan to be an usher. That led to the other kids being in it, too. In fact, all kids in their church were in it. There ended up being 21 ring bearers and flower girls. They paraded down the aisle and it was very nice. Brandon wore a suit and Anna was to wear a Christmas dress. Logan was to wear black pants and a tie/shirt. My boys had never owned suits before since our church is casual, so they looked quite spiffy! We took some pics before and after. We didn't see Logan much at all, but were told that he did a good job as an usher.

Christmas at Grandma Weber's

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Funny Snowglobe

My friend, Shannon, made a snow globe of her kids, so I did one, too. Scroll down to the bottom of the blog to see the Schmidt kiddos snow globe style.

More Programs

Last night we had Logan's Show Choir Christmas Concert. NO pics of that since they didn't turn out. The director kept blocking him. You just never know where to sit! Today the kids all sang during church time and then this afternoon for the entire Christmas Program. It was a hoot, as usual. The kids have a ton of choreography and Anna is a bit young for the group. She is so funny to watch. Very INTO her dancing and quite loud at times. Then other times she is playing with her outfit or something. You just never know what she might do. Logan sang in a little group and it sounded so nice. Brandon had some solo parts and it was so nice to hear him sing. He voice is so much lower than Logan's.

B-Ray's Program

Brandon's Christmas Program was last night. He was Rudolph in much of the program and had to wear the antlers and blinking light for a nose. He did a great job. He is such a ham! His teacher even commented on his wonderful stage presence. Always smily! At his last school, he was Melton the Snowman and the kids called him Melton forever. Then last year he was a Wolf in the spring and the kids called him Wolfy, so I am pretty sure they will call him Rudolph for a long time now.

Asian tree, lazy day

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon around the fire, playing LIFE (Brandon beat Barry, LJ and I), and decorating trees. Brandon and Anna ran around playing Santa Claus. It was so funny. I doubt Anna will ever have a tummy that big! We decorated the basement tree and Anna put the ornaments on her Asian Tree. I haven't found any new ornaments this year to add to it. Hobby Lobby had some last year and a place in St.Louis had a bunch one year, too. Brandon is still needing to do his soccer tree, too. Hopefully tonight we will decorate the real tree. We have a few trees around here, but I love all the lights and decorations this time of year.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

We went to my Grandma's today and as we were leaving my Dad drove downtown. Mr. and Mrs. Claus were on the street corner waving, so we stopped by to tell them what was on the kids' lists. Logan didn't really want to. Anna asked for a trampoline....good luck with that one, sweetie! Brandon asked for a Zero Micro gravity car or something like that. Mrs. Claus had quite a spunk to her and asked if Logan was teetering toward the naughty list. She gave him a real talking to about his attitude and behavior. Pretty funny !

Just one more.....

I know...a record number of posts.

I don't do Black Friday Deals ever. I stay home with the kids and Barry always has to work. Yesterday Brandon said at the last minute how he hated to ask for something for Christmas because he knew it was expensive. Well, I would say that $134 for a LEGO thing was expensive. I would NEVER pay that for something with a zillion pieces. However, because of http://www.fishingfordeals.com/, I saw that Walmart had it for only $50. HO HO HO! Since it was sold out online, Barry quick ran in and got it. NO lines, no wait....in and out and self checkout! Wooo hooo.

So......don't forget to check out the CATCH OF THE DAY from www.fishingfordeals.com

Riding the Polar Express!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

A few months ago after Anna and I rode the "Little Engine that Could Train", I purchased tickets for the Polar Express. They sold like hotcakes and sold out fast. Logan said he didn't want to go, so it was just the four of us. They did a nice mix of the book and story. Brandon was ooohing and ahhhing over the hot chocolate dancers in red. What ARE WE going to do with that boy!?!? It was a nice evening of caroling, watching the dancers, riding the train and of course...seeing Santa. Brandon felt a little old for this trip, but the dancers made up for it. The train was packed and HOT. We really didn't need the hot chocolate, but it went with the story and the movie. FUN!

No school today equals fun day

The kids didn't have school yesterday, so after Logan was done setting up trees for the Boy Scouts, we picked up Justin for a play date. Anna and Justin enjoyed being in the sunroom playing "restaurant". I have been working on putting up decorations and trees while the kids have been home.

Thanksgiving

We have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. 2008 has been a very busy and blessed year. We are lucky to have family living close to us and they all remained pretty healthy this year. Barry's dad continues to maintain good health and my parents and Grandma Weber are doing fine, too.

We spent Thanksgiving at my parents' house here in town. The boys enjoyed being outside and taking the traditional walk in the woods after finding just the perfect walking stick. I took pictures of my sister and her boyfriend since they are planning to get engaged soon. My parents also decided to do some pictures. They all turned out pretty darn good. My mom is like Brandon and is always photogenic...unlike ME!

Back from Chicago and to reality

I was only home a couple days from Marco Island before heading to Chicago for Barry's work conference. We were gone Nov 20-23. I actually got tired of shopping while Barry was at meetings. It was so nice to have uninterrupted dinner conversation with Barry for days on end. What a nice treat. We celebrated our 16th anniversary while we were there. Boy was it cold the first night. I think my body was in shock from just leaving Florida. Thanks to the parents and friends who helped with the Schmidt trio while we were away.

On Friday, in Chicago, I met up with Karyn from Lifelink. We had a nice visit and talked for a long time. On Saturday we had to go to a Christmas dinner for the Credit Union League. It wasn't as painful as I thought it would be and my hubby sure looked handsome!

Time to go home!

I am anxious to see Barry and the kids, but I do hate leaving this beautiful place. We fly out at 5:30 tonight, so I will get home around 10:30 to my house. Our 3rd annual Marco Great Escape was a wonderful as always. Thank you to Bill and Jo for allowing us to once again enjoy their slice of paradise! It is so nice being able to get away and relax and shop and just be with the gals! I will go home to some more unpacking of our house that was left just as the remodeling was coming to an end. However...I am only home 2 full days and head out from Thursday to Sunday for a work trip with Barry. I am sure that the kids won't like that, but since it involves sleepovers at my parents, they will be ok with that for sure! I just wish the trips were spaced out a little bit! Sorry, mom!

Another day in Paradise

Today we took a break from frying in the sun and went shopping. It was still another HOT day here. Feels great, though. We are having a blast here! We shopped ALL day and had lunch at PF CHANGS....yum! Stein Mart was awesome. They will ship any items to your home for only $12! That is why the last picture seems bare...LOL! They are losing money on all of us, but it was well worth it. We shipped a TON of stuff that would have cost a fortune next door to them at the UPS place! I did some Christmas shopping today, too, and got some teacher gifts and my sister's gifts done!

I wish Lifelink Adoption knew the friendships that have been formed because of our trip to China. It is amazing.
Heidi...still miss you here. We really thought you might still show up! Seriously!

Usually I buy some things for the kids here, but so far....nope. Nothing. Not one single thing!

Tomorrow it is only supposed to be 70...I know...you all don't feel sorry for us. We are heading to find some awesome seashells.