Another Addition For The Gameroom

So Mike was looking on Craiglist for any adds on pinball machines that were for sale. He ended up finding one add of his old pinball machine Sinbad. He got really excited because the price was pretty good, so he contacted the guy to see if he would take $100 less if Mike was to come pick it up this weekend. He agreed, so yesterday after Church we all made a trip out to Zimmerman, MN. It is about an hour away from Woodbury. Me and the boys ended up taking naps on the way up there and when we pulled into their drive way Mike wanted to make sure it was the right house so he was going to knock on the door before we all got out of the truck. When he was getting out the door, the license plate cover on one of their cars read "I'd rather be playing pinball!" I said I think we are at the right place. He still wanted to make sure it was OK for the the boys to come in so he went up to the door by himself. It was the right place and we all got out of the truck. The boys were so excited but we told them that their little twin girls were sleeping so we had to be quiet. He showed us to his basement and Mike walked right up to Sinbad, but I looked around the room and his whole basement was filled with pinball machines! All I said was "Wow!" Than Mike turned around and saw all the pinball machines too. It was Mike's fantasy place! The boys were pretty excited too and Jeff let them play a few of the pinball machines. Jeff actually had another pinball machine that Mike would love to get called the Theatre of Magic and when he saw that he got really excited again. He tested out Sinbad and everything worked great. Jeff and Mike got everything ready to go and they loaded it up on the truck. Mike even mentioned to him about wanting a Theatre of Magic and Jeff said to contact him when he is ready to buy. Mike says to me on the way home, we can fill up our basement with this many pinball machines! I said he could get his Theatre of Magic game and that was it! Three pinball machines and Ms. Pacman is plenty! We stopped at Justin's house to look at his basement because he got his carpet installed and his big screen for his theatre room installed and put together Callie's play area. It all looked great! He than followed us home so he could help Mike carry in Sinbad. They put it together and for some reason it wouldn't work. Mike had a worried look on his face and couldn't figure it out. He called Jeff for some help and he said to take a look at all the connections. They couldn't find anything. After one more close look Mike finally saw a connection that had completed fallen out. He connected it back and it was working again! All four of us played it for an hour. It was pretty fun! Mike put the boys to bed and went right back to playing. He ended up playing for awhile last night and got the highest score of 421000+. He even called this morning to see if I beat his high score. I haven't even turned it on yet! :) Below is pics of Sinbad. Jon's 6th birthday party should be a lot of fun with the new games! We might be in trouble too! Too many games! :)

Jon's Basketball Camp Through SCVAA

This Saturday was Jon's second week at Basketball Camp. We signed him up through St. Croix Valley Athletic Association instead of Woodbury because through this league he will be able to play with his classmates or at least with kids from his own school. There are three of his classmates in his group, Ethan, Colin and Mitchell. They keep all of the Lake Elmo kids together so it was nice to have kids there he knew. He really enjoys playing basketball and he is actually pretty good at dribbling and shooting. They provide the smaller balls and lower the hoops so it was easier for them to shoot. Since it was "Camp Style" there were 7 stations set up. His first station was working on their shooting technique. The next one was dribbling, 3rd was shooting a layup. 4th was defense, can't remember the 5th. 6th was passing and the 7th was rebounding. I couldn't get pictures from every station since it went around the whole gym but I took a lot while he was warming up and at the stations that were close by. We hope to take Jon to a basketball game weather it be Highschool or the Gophers so he can see how it is suppose to be played. There are a couple games this week for Stillwater Varsity Boys vs. Woodbury tomorrow night and Friday night against Mounds View. Both are away games so we will see. Below are some pictures of Jon at camp. Enjoy!

Warming up before camp begins


Practicing his dribble


Somemore shooting


Pretty good if he is looking up already and not at the ball!


At his first station. Nice form!


Another good shot!

Update On The Basement

So this weekend Mike was really busy. He was actually suppose to go Ice Fishing with his buddy but it ended up falling through and he stayed home. I was pretty glad that he was home because he got most of the basement painted and he put in the tile. Now we just need to grout, finish painting, build the harth in front of the fireplace and pick out the stone for the fireplace. The carpet should be coming in the couple of weeks so we hope to get that installed soon too. Oh, I guess Mike still have to install the doors and trim too before the carpet comes. It is all looking really nice downstairs so far. After the carpet is installed he will than put in the counter and cabinets. We already picked those out from IKEA. Hopefully everything will be done by Jon's 6th birthday party! Below are some updated pics. Enjoy!

Outside Lolo & Lola's room looking into main living area

Looking down the hallway (future area of our gameroom!)

Bar and Fridge area

Fireplace

Playroom

Glucose Update

I received a call from my doctor's office today and talked to one of the nurses. Since my first result was a fail they are going to refer me to the Diabeties Center at United just to be safe and make sure nothing can happen later on. So, I will be getting a call from them to set up an appoinment and meet with them. They are going to look over the results and talk to me about it. So I guess I am not in the clear yet. The nurse told me I would hear from them in about a week. Wish me luck!

3 Hour Glucose Test

Well, I had my 3 hour glucose test yesterday morning. I had to be at the clinic at 8 am so Mike went to work late so he could take Jon to his bus stop and drive Nicholas to school. I brought my book I have been reading to keep me busy. I had to fast the night before by not eating anything after 10pm. When I got there I checked in and they brought me to the lab area right away. They drew blood from me and said that I would get poked 4 times today. She tested the blood right away before I had to drink the sugar pop. I had a 103 and I had to be in the middle 90's. So, I had already failed my first test. She said that if I failed another one I would be referred to a Diabetes Center. I was allowed to take the sugar pop and wait an hour. After the first hour she drew blood from me again and I was at 109. I had to be below 180, so I passed that one. I was SO thankful! Next one was at 105 and the last one was 76 I think. So I ended up passing the test. I was so worried in the beginning that I was going to fail again. I am just thankful I passed! Next update is I go in on March 5th and after that I go in every 2 weeks! I can't believe that! I go in every 2 weeks already! This is going by so fast! Stayed tuned!

OTHER UPDATES-----------------------------------------------

My parents are out of town so my sister Missy is going to help me start painting the baby's room on Friday. Since Nicholas' room was painted Timberwolves colors we are going to have to prime the room firat and than paint it pink and green. I am still debating on if I should paint the opposite walls one color and the other opposite walls the other color. I was also thinking maybe painting two walls touching eachother one color and the other two walls the other color. Does that make sense? Any way, I am excited to get that done. Plus we still need to move all of Nicholas' clothes into his new bedroom he is sharing with Jon. Mike need to buy another hanging rod for the closet and build nooks on the walls for his folding clothes. So hopefully in the next couple weeks he can get that done. I know he still needs to get stuff done for downstairs, so hopefully we can work on these projects together. We plan on painting the basement on Thursday, but I have to check with my doctor first to make sure I can paint. I can't remember if it is OK for me to paint or not. I plan on calling them today. After the paint is done, I think Mike plans on putting in the doors and putting down the tile. We are still waiting on getting a phone call from Home Depot to let us know what the final amount will be for installing the carpet, so that will be the next step after that. Once the carpet is installed we can finally put the basement together. We plan on buying a couple things for the playroom and of course we plan on picking up our Valentine's Day gifts! I can't wait to see it all finished! Once we are done painting I will update with more pics. Stay tuned!

2nd Coat and Texture & More Updates

Jose came on Friday to put on the second coat of mud and returned on Saturday to finish the job with the texture. We are so thankful that they did such a great job and did it so fast. If anyone would like thier info, emial me and I can give you his number. They were all so nice and very easy to work with. After they were done on Saturday I asked Jose when we could start painting and he said to wait until Monday. We ran our fireplace all night last night and that helped dry out the walls, so this morning Mike and I went to Home Depot to get primer and our paint color for the basement. As I am updating this, Mike and Lolo are priming the whole basement. Mike had bought a professional paint spayer so they should be done in a couple hours. They are hoping tonight that the primer will be dry so they can start on the color. If not they are going to do it Monday after work. Of course while we were at Home Depot in their paint department I decided to look at paint colors again for the baby's room. I decided I was going to pick out two colors and paint two walls one color and the other two walls the other color. Thanks Trinity for the ideas! I wanted to do something simple and not do a lot of taping, so that is why I decided to not put any stripes on the wall. So I brought the wall pictures that I bought from Target and I picked out a shade darker than the pink in the picture and matched the green on the other painting. So those are my two colors. Pink and green. That way I won't hear Mike complain too much about the room being too pink! :) I didn't get the paint yet, but next week, my sister Missy said she will help me paint the room while Lolo and Lola are in New York and Florida. So hopefully it will all turn out. We will have to prime first because right now the room is painted Timberwolves colors. so wish us luck next week! Below are some pictures of the basement again after the 2nd coat and texture was done. I LOVE the way the texture looks! can't wait to see color on it!


Outside Lolo and Lola's room looking into main living area

Fridge & Bar Area

Outside Lolo & Lola's room looking down the hallway

The playroom

A closeup of what the texture looks like on all the walls and ceiling.

PREGNANCY UPDATE--------------------------------
I go in on Tuesday morning for my 3 hour glucose test. Wish me luck! I hope I pass this time!

I picked out the Baby's Bedding

So I went to Target a couple weeks ago and picked out some bedding for the Baby. I didn't want butterflies or princess stuff so I ended up picking out this cute Lady Bug Collection. I only bought two blankets and two fitted crib sheets, and a security blanket. I could have bought the 3 piece set, but we never used the crib padding or dust ruffle for the boys so I thought it would have been a waste of money. Below are the two blankets that they had in the collection. They are both really soft.


Here is what the fitted crib sheets look like. They didn't have two different patterns so I bought 2 of these.


Here is the security blanket that I bought


I just saw these on the internet and told myself I was going to buy them to put on the walls. I have to go to Target today anyways to buy my niece Bella a birthday present.


Here is the 3 piece set I could have bought

So, now my question to you guys is what color should we paint the room? I have no idea! When we went to Home Depot last night we stopped to look at paint colors and I had not idea what to even look at. I asked Mike for help and all he said was, "This is all you. I am still working on the basement." Nice answer, huh?! I told him that I wasn't going to pick it out by myself so we just left. He said I would have to wait until April when the basement was done. I don't think so! :) I think now that I saw the wall pictures it will help me out. Once I see them in person I may have a better idea of what colors I can choose from. Any ideas from you would be great too! I need help on this one and I'm not getting it from my husband! I still love you Hunny!

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

We didn't do anything special last night besides have dinner together as a family at home. I made Lasagna and Cheese Bread for dinner, something that was easy to make. Mike surprised me with an early Valentine's Day gift on Wed night when he came home from work. He gave me a wonderful card, and at the end he wrote, "Your gift will come when the basement is done....Ms. PacMan." He ended up getting the family two video games. Well, the one with Ms. PacMan actually has 9 games on it! Than he also got a pinball machine, one of his favorites, Pinbot. Below is a picture of Pinbot.

The other games that are on Ms. PacMan are Galaga, Donkey Kong, Burger Time, Jr. PacMan, Centipede, Frogger & Dig Dug. He can't remember the last game, but there is one more. When we told the boys they were so excited and Nicholas keeps on asking us when I am going to get my present. Unfortunately we want to wait until there is carpet downstairs so it will be awhile before we go to pick them up. These will be great additions to downstairs! Mike has always had some type of arcade game in the house. When I first met him he had a pinball machine called Sinbad. Everytime I went over to his house in Crystal he was downstairs playing that game and drinking Premium Beer. Usually his buddy Kris Larson was with him too! :) Than when we moved into our house in Oakdale we had bought Golden Tee and a fighter airplane game and Dig Dug. Than we had kids and we had to sell them all. Now that the boys are older, I'm sure we will always have at least one arcade game in the house. I know that I don't want to sell Ms. PacMan! That is one of my favorites! :) So, we hope to have everything done for Jon's birthday in March. I think we will be able to do it!

First coat of mud

Below are pictures of the basment with the tape and first coat of mud. It is looking really good. Mike and I are very excited to get this done. We went to Home Depot last night to look at carpet and some tile to put around the fireplace, bar area and under the fridge. We found some really nice carpet on special for $1.49/sq. ft. Mike is planning on putting in the order today. We think we found the tile too, but might wait on that for alittle bit. Unless we need to have it in before the carpet people come. We already picked out our paint color too. Actually Jon picked it out and we both liked it. It is called Warm Terra Cotta from Behr's Midtone & Deep collection. We brought all the samples together and thought they all looked good together. Can't wait! We still need to pick out some type of stone to put around the fireplace. We will probably have to go back to Fireside for that. We didn't see any at home Depot. Jose will be coming later today to put the second coat of mud on. Hopefully he will be back on Sunday to finish up the job with the texturizing of the ceiling and walls. Than after that Mike can get the painting done! :)


In front of Lolo & Lola's room looking into the main living area


Fridge/Bar area


Standing outside Lolo & Lola's room looking down the hallway


In the hallway looking into the playroom


Picture of the fireplace

Update on Pregnancy and Basement

Prgnancy Update------------------------------------

Well this morning I had my 27 weeks check-up and had to take the 1 hour glucose test. Before I saw my Dr. I drank the orange sugar drink and did some lab work. After that they put me in a room. My Dr. did a pelvic exam and we even set a date for the c-sec already. When she was saying all of this it seems like the time has flown by. So, the Baby's birthdate is set for Friday May 9th! Can you believe it! I already know when her birthday is going to be! When we were done my Dr. said to me, see you in a couple weeks! I said 2 weeks already?! She had to double check herself and said well, this time you can go 3 weeks, but than after that it is every 2 weeks! Time is definately flying by with this pregnancy! After I saw her I sat in the waiting room and read my book. The Lab tech called my name and she took some blood for the glucose test. Well I failed the test :( I had to be below 140 and I had a 142. So what that means is that I have to go back in and do a 3 hour glucose test! I have to be in by 8am and I have to stay at the clinic the whole time and I can't eat or drink anything! So, I made the appointment for Tuesday. That was the only date available. So wish me luck!

Basement Update-------------------------------------

Below are some pictures I took after the sheetrock was hung. They did a great job and right now there are 2 guys doing the tapping and mudding. I think they are pretty close to finishing the first coat, but I will take pictures again after they are done. Looks SO different now that the sheetrock is up! I'm getting excited!


Looking from Lolo and Lola's room into the main living area


In the hallway looking at the playroom


In the playroom looking down the hallway


We added 3 lights on the stairs since it is so dark


The fridge will go on the left, the bar area in the middle and our built in shelves

Finishing Our Basement

Well, Daddy and Lolo have been working hard on framing up our basement and doing all the eletrical work downstairs. Daddy also added a gas fireplace with the help of Uncle Tom. They have been working on it for awhile and were finally done Monday night with everything just in time for the sheetrockers to come in and sheetrock. They were here all day yesterday from 8am to about 4pm. They finishished putting up the sheetrock all in one day! There was only two guys doing it! Below are pictures of Lolo and Daddy framing work and today Mommy is going to take pictures of the sheetrock and post them up later. Good work Daddy and Lolo! Thanks to Auntie Trinity who gave us the name of the sheetrockers! They did her upstairs in her house in Minneapolis! Today the tapers and mudders are coming to finish up the work. Than they will be doing a knockdown ceiling and textured walls. We are all so excited to have our basement finished!



The playroom. Right when you walk down the stairs


The main living area


The hallway to the playroom


Another picture of the main living area.


Another one


Bar area. There will be a fridge, counter with sink and shelves


Stay tuned for more pics of the project!

Jon's 1st Lost Tooth!

Jon finally lost his first tooth last night! He told me in late January that he had a loose tooth and he was so anxious as to when it would fall out. Well, it finally happened yesterday. We had Faith Formation in the morning and went to church right after. During church he turns to me and says, "Mom, look at how loose my tooth is now!" I felt it and I told him to quit playing with it until we got home! I didn't want it to fall out in church and have Mike miss the event it was that close to coming out! After church we came home had lunch and after lunch Jon showed his Dad. We were sitting around watching TV before we had to leave to go to Auntie Tesa's house for the Superbowl and Mike asked Jon if we should tie string around his tooth. Jon agreed. Only thing was that we didn't have any string. So Mike tried to pull it out and he couldn't get a hold of the tooth. He tried a few times, and Jon started to get scared. Mike told him that if he didn't do it, that Uncle Paul would hold him down and pull it out! Little did Jon know, Uncle Paul is in Utah, but it gave Mike a few more times to try. Of course during this whole time I had the video camera on so I could get it all on tape. Well, I had thought we had given up so I stopped tapping and a few seconds later, Jon was touching his tooth and POP! It came out! I just turned off the video camera two seconds earlier so I missed his first reaction on tape! It was funny! His facial expression was great! He looked so surprised it fell out and that he did it himself. First thing he said was, "COOOOOOOL!" Of course I turned the camera back as quick as I could, but I had missed the moment. The tooth fairy ended up giving him $3 for his tooth. He came running into my room this morning saying, "Mom, look what the Tooth Fairy left me!" He couldn't wait to tell his Teacher and Classmates at school today. Below are some pics of the proud boy!

Doing My Own Hair

The other day I was in the kitchen and looking for Jon. I asked Nicholas where he was and he told me he was upstairs. So I started to call for him to see where he was. I got no response from him. A few minutes later he comes downstairs with his hair all done. He had fixed his hair all by himself! He looked so proud of himself and he loves wearing it this way! I asked him what he used and he said some of Daddy's stuff and the Spiker Gel that we get from Kid's Hair. So of course I had to take a few pictures. While I was doing that, Nicholas of course wanted to fix his own hair too and went upstairs to do just that. It was very cute! I had to take pictures of them! Below are the pics. Enjoy!

Jon did his own hair! He loves styling it in a mohawk!


Don't I look handsome?


Mom. look at me?! I did my hair too!


Cheese!


My two handsome boys!