New House, New Adventure

Wow – how life changes sometimes!  Just 4 short years ago we were able to move back to Michigan and were so happy to be closer to home.    It was tough to move and even tougher to leave our friends behind, but we knew that being closer to family was important.

We settled in, bought our log cabin (hubby had always wanted to live in a log cabin) and began our new adventure.  We made great new friends.  Watched our girls grow and become amazing young ladies.   I enjoyed were we were and what we were doing.  I loved my job at the school and the amazing people I worked with.  The girls both made wonderful friends that I hope they will have when they are little old ladies.

Now we start our new adventure.  With a new job Eric moved up north at the beginning of October and once again I became a single mom.  This time was harder – keeping up the house, putting it on the market, winter snow removal (this was a nightmare), and keeping up with all the kids activities.  It was was the longest 9 months of my life.  It was hard but we made it through.

The girls and I were able to move up the first of July!  It is wonderful to be a family again!  We have all the important stuff unpacked and organized.  Pictures are on the walls and we are settled.  We are just renting – so we have another move to look forward to (not) in a couple of years but we need to sell our house and get back on our feet for awhile before we can buy anything.

We live 30 min. from my mom and 30 min. from Eric’s mom so we can officially say we moved back home. Leaving our friends was just as hard this time (I doubt that will ever be easy) but we needed to be a family again.  We live out in the country so the girls are looking forward to school to meet new friends and start their new lives.  I will will hopefully find a job here soon so we can maintain 2 houses until ours sells.  Eric loves his new career and is thrilled to be enjoying this new adventure.

I don’t know that I am ready for Bailey to be in 6th grade – she is so grown up but is still my little girl.  I still think of Leah as my baby so thinking of her in 3rd grade next year is hard to visualize.  They are both so smart and kind.  I know they will have no problems making new friends.

I love how grown up my girls have become. 

Haunted Lighthouse

Here are a few quick pictures from our vistit to the Haunted Lightouse!

Back to School

Just like everyone else we started back to school the first week of September. What an exciting time. I am very pleased with the teachers both the girls got and think it will be a fun year. Here are a few quick pictures of the first day of school.

My Room is Done!

Wow - it sure has been a while since i posted -but it has been worth it! We finished moving my office/craft room this weekend and I think it turned out quite nice. I need curtains/blinds and some wall decorations (not that I have much wall to decorate - LOL) but it is wonderful. I plan on spending the rest of the day creating in my new space!

Would anyone like to see some pictures? Okay there are quite a few pictures but you will get a good feel for my whole room this way - It just makes me so happy I have to share the whole thing!

We will start just to the right of the doorway (the wall the girls painted) and work our way around. This is my paper and stamp storage. Uh Oh - look there is empty spaces - guess I need to do some more shopping - LOL!

Here is the left side of my desk - this will be my creative center - I can look out the window and reach all my inks, paints, stickles, pearls, tools and some of my embellishments.

This is the right side of my desk (yup another window - I LOVE IT!!!). Here is the home of my Cricut, computer accessories, cutting tools, die cutter etc. The shelf above my scanner is where I keep the special items that my friend Froggy (Dawn) has made for me!

The next two pictures are the shelves on the last wall of my room. These shelves hold everything else - LOL. There is so much storage it is wonderful. I want to get a few more decorative baskets and items for these shelves but it is a great start! Oh did I mention yet that Eric has made all the furniture in my office (desk, bench and shelving units)? Isn't he wonderful! He even has plans for more units. I love that he is so supportive of my addiction!

Remodel Update

Well ........

We didn't finish by Sunday the 13th when the girls came home - big surprise. But we have been chipping away on it each night and each weekend. The floor took over 28 hours to lay down - there were a lot of tricky areas but it looks really nice (all 4 rooms are 1 continuous floor). Eric finished the shelves in my new pantry yesterday and we got the door stained so it is going in tonight. He is going to make the bar tonight also - then major clean-up for the party on Saturday.

Here are a few more pictures (I will do before and after when I can) of what has been happening. I am so ready to finish this and stop living in CHAOS!! I will be so glad to be putting things away - things are still pretty messy around here bet will start getting better today now that I have places to start putting things.

Dining Room Before (will be my office very very soon)!

Dining Room (Office Now) After (there is still trim work to be done but it already looks so much better):



The girls got to help paint - they loved it!


Kitchen with very little counter top space before:

Love the new counter top space (will love it even more when i can clear it of - lol):

Day 2 - Really only day 2???

Well we are a good day behind where we wanted to be at this point - the electrical work yesterday afternoon took longer then anticipated. But we are still plugging away (no pun intended). We have made some progress - the drywall is now all up (still working on the mudding though - yuck), the old laminate is up, all the staples are out, the carpet on the backside of the fireplace (the new dining room) is up (and the staples from the pad are out - man I am never going to get away from staples -lol), the kitchen demolition is complete. Wow it sounds like a lot more then it looks like. Our new goal for tomorrow is to finish the mudding, get the new cabinets in, cut and install the new counter tops, make a new bar, run new electrical for the kitchen, install the NEW SINK (whoo hoo added bonus for me - that wasn't part of the original plan) and rip the carpet out of the front side of the fireplace. Hmmm seeing it in writing make it sound so much more ambitious that it did when we were coming up with the plan. Wish us good luck!

Now for the fun part - pictures of the progress!

Here is my HATED counter top from my bar!! Do you notice it is on the floor and no longer on the bar? WHOO HOO!!! That was the most satisfying thing for me - I wouldn't even let Eric help me take it off - he just laughed at me.

One last look at the configuration of the old kitchen - i will not miss it! I am so looking forward to having counter space - and not having to make cookies on the table in the dining room!

OH MY GOODNESS - WHAT WERE WE THINKING!!! Such a mess - it got to be pretty overwhelming looking at all this mess. We were wondering if we were in over our heads. Can we really get this done before the girls come home on Sunday? We will have to wait and see.
Okay we took some time and cleaned up the mess - we really needed too before we could rearrange the cabinets. It looks so much more manageable. And boy does the kitchen look so much better - I already have so much more counter space and we haven't even added the new cabinets! It also looks so much more open without that big cabinet sitting on my precious little counter space next to the sink. Eric had to bust it up with the sledge hammer to get it out - so it will not be going back!Look at my wonderful new pantry!! Lighted and everything! The door leaning against the wall will go in as soon as the mudding is done and we have it all painted. I can't wait! It is all going to look so different.

Well we went from being completely overwhelmed this afternoon to thinking this is going to be doable by tonight. There is still a TON of work to do and I'm still not sure it will be finished by the time the girls come home - but we are making progress!

The Work Begins!!

Well after our Mini-Vacation - Eric and I left the girls with the Grandparents and came back home to do some summer remodeling! I am finally getting my new floors and part of my new kitchen (have been waiting for 2 years now)! We don't have enough to get the new fridge or the new cabinets that I want but we are getting the floors, a pantry (FINALLY!) and new counter tops! We are also moving the dinning room to the back of the fireplace and making the old dining room into my craft room (then freeing up more space downstairs for a game area in the family room). I know - flooring, counter tops, framing, drywall, and electrical - a pretty big undertaking for 5 days - but hey we have always admitted to being crazy!!

How are we on our timeline? Okay I admit - we are already behind and I should be upstairs helping not updating my blog - but I have the lovely job of pulling out thousands and thousands of staples from the old flooring and my hands needed a break.

Here are some photos:

Here is Eric working on getting the old floor in the kitchen and dining room up - this was a mess - it was all stapled to the sub floor and we had to pry it out bit by bit (and of course the staples stayed in the sub floor so we get to pull them all out one by one).

Here is the old dining room with its original floor:

Here is what it looks like now - much better already!:

Here is the start of the pantry - we are closing off the doorway from the kitchen to the old dining room then Eric is adding the pantry where the old cabinet used to stand:

Here is a before photo of my kitchen - I can't wait to tear out that UGLY BAR!! I have hated the counter top since day one! That will be my the Highlight of the demo for me!!

I will have more updates tomorrow and more pictures!

Mackinac Island

We took a Mini-Vacation this year to Mackinac Island. What a fun and busy day! The girls got to go across the bridge for the first time ever, they were suitably impressed. Then the ferry boat ride to the island - we sat on the top deck and the girls loved it!

While on the island we visited the Fort - it was fun to learn about how people lived back in the 1800's. The climb to the Fort was long but well worth it! Check out these views!

We also visited one of the butterfly houses and of course I had to take some pictures of the butterflies! They were beautiful! These are a couple of the shots that don't need any zooming or adjustment for the light - amazing!

We even biked around the island (all 8.2 miles - next time we go remind me NOT to wear a skirt!). Eric rented us tandem bikes (he believes these were the same bikes he rented on his 6th grade field trip - yes they were that old!) - next time we are bringing our own bikes! But we made it!

Bailey's Birthday

Bailey is now officially one year older! She got to open presents from Leah first thing in the morning (after breakfast that is)! Then after dinner she got to open the rest of her presents from Mom and Dad! We were going to go Mini-Golfing but a big Tunderstorm came through (large hail and everything) so we ended up just staying home - but she still had a fun day!

Giddy Up!

Before we left for vacation we squeezed in some horse back riding. As I'm sure you can imagine the girls had a blast! We went with some friends and everyone got there own horse. Bailey really enjoyed doing everything herself and loved everything about the horses. Here she is getting ready for the ride.

Leah's horse was lead by one of the wranglers but she didn't mind! I was the last one in the group and all I heard most of the trip was Leah's giggles floating back to me. Her favorite part was when we trotted! She was laughing away when we started to trot and then all of a sudden she yells "Yeh Haw! I'm a REAL Cowgirl Now!!!" and then there was even more of her uncontrollable laughter! It made everyone laugh!

We had such a good time - the girls are already asking when we can go again!

Here is a picture of the group: Bailey is the one on the far left and Leah is right in the middle in the dark blue.

Summer Fun

The girls have started their summer classes this week. They have really enjoyed them! The week started with Bailey taking her first sewing class. She learned all the basics about sewing and using a sewing machine (her first time ever). She made a pillow case in this class!

Hmmmm...I wonder how many people will be getting pillow cases for Christmas this year? She really enjoyed sewing so we will be signing up for the next class in July where she will learn to make pajama pants! She already has plans to make me 5 or 6 new pairs of jammie pants since mine are getting "old and are too wintery". I can't wait!!

Today was Leah's turn - a Wilton Cupcake Decorating class! Leah was in heaven - cupcakes are her all time FAVORITE food! This class taught her how to turn a cupcake into a Bee, a Butterfly, a Ladybug and a just plain fun one. She loved learning how to use decorating bags, piping frosting, rolling and shaping fondant and now wants to decorate cupcakes for everyone!

Her are her lovey creations! Look at that smile! Below is a close up of her hard work! What an ARTIST! Can we say future Pastry Chef????

Bailey lucked out - because class enrollment was small, they allowed her to participate too. She had just as much fun as Leah learning how to make fun cupcakes.

A close up of her hard work!

The summer is sure starting out fun. I wonder if I can keep up!

AWWWWWW.....

I was looking for Leah this afternoon and this is what i found...adorable isn't it?

First Tooth

Leah is so excited! She finally lost her first tooth! We just wanted to share!

What a week!

No one can ever say that life around the Bell household isn't interesting! We started the week excited for the last week of school. The girls were looking forward to all the fun activities planned, I was looking forward to sharing a few more days with my class (then some free time when they were finished) and Eric was looking forward to his weekend camping trip with the guys. Well, that was Monday morning...... by Monday evening the week had already changed.

We ended up in the ER with Leah Monday night. She was doing well when I picked her up from her friends house after school, a little hoarse but they had played outside for over 2 1/2 hours and I figured, 2 girls outside yelling and having fun - she will be fine tomorrow. The girls and I headed out to finish getting a few last minute additions to our teacher gifts and all was going well. It was muggy evening and the girls just wanted to go home and have dinner - but I had 1 more stop to make so off we headed to one more store. Leah started complaining about being cold and put her sweater on as we got out of the car. I felt her (just in case cause it was NOT cold out) but she felt fine so we finished our shopping. Now both girls are complaining about just wanting to be finished and going home. On the way home Leah still said she was cold and started to look not quite right. Well we get in the house and Leah heads to the bathroom right away (before I could even get out of the car). I grab the bags and walk inside. As I walk past the bathroom I hear a whimpering noise. I open the door and poor little Leah is on the floor bright red (mind you she was normal color when she got out of the car) and laying on the floor whimpering. I run in and she is burning up. I grab the thermometer and it reads 106.5! After a quick check that the thermometer wasn't broken off to the ER we head. Well after lots of tests and a few tense hours, we come away with a shot of antibiotics, a kidney infection and to follow up with the pediatrician the next morning first thing. So off to the pediatrician we head the next morning and spend the day there doing some more tests. To top off her kidney infection it turns out that Leah has pneumonia too. She has had no symptoms has not even been coughing (which is in itself unusual for her) or any lack of energy. Needless to say - she missed her entire last week of school and so did I. She is pretty bummed that she didn't get to say goodbye to her friends or do any of the fun last week of school activities.


Bailey also had a "fun" week this past week. Thankfully she was not sick, but we did have to do another sleep study for her. So Wednesday night, off we head to Grand Rapids for Baileys test. It is never easy to sleep in a hospital - but it had to be done. Here is a picture of her with everything connected:

Then first Thursday morning back to home we head so Bailey doesn't miss her last day of school. She got to show off her picture and all the wax and goo in her hair (since there wasn't time to stop home and shower first).

The good news about Wed. night is that the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup! Whoo Hoo!

Now school is out, but we had to cancel all our play dates for the week - to give Leah time to recover and heal. Hopefully next week we can get together with everyone we canceled on this week.

Eric headed out Friday afternoon for his annual camping trip with the guys. He was looking forward to trip and some "guy" time. This year they headed over by Lansing. Well, like I said at the beginning of the post - what a week! Since things just weren't going our way this week - now it was Eric's turn. The forecast for the weekend? Rain and Thunderstorms! Oh well, they will still have a great time - they have plenty of beer to protect them from the wetness. As the storms start rolling across the state, they are pretty severe. One band is even producing tornado warnings and guess where it is headed? Just north of Lansing - right where the guys are camping. So I call Eric and give them the heads up - time to make sure the tents are staked down good and things are under cover. We both figured they would just get some good thunderstorms and lots of wind. About 9pm the phone rings and it is Eric's cell phone - hmm why would he call me on his guys weekend? The storm did hit - and there was lots of rain and wind. In fact there was a tornado that touched down about five miles from where they were camping! The guys are all okay but there was damage to the campground and the surrounding area. Eric is sharing a tent with his brother and another friend - their tent was blown over and is now soaking wet inside. Good thing his brother brought his tent just in case, so they do have a dry place to sleep.

I am hoping for a quiet end to the week! Leah has her last soccer game of the season today, she won't be playing but we are going to go and cheer for her team. Then I think we will lay low the rest of the day.

Here is to a boring, uneventful week next week!