Friendly duck and some Quinnisms

Daddy took kiddos to a new park while I was on a shoot.  Quinn made friends with some of the local inhabitants, from what I hear.  We should call her Quinny Do-Little, I reckon.

And now some recent Quinnisms:---------------------------
me: Come here, (pulling her close to me).  I need some cuddles.
Q: Then go get Beck. 

On non-school mornings she gets free reign over what she wears, though I have been working with her on checking the weather and finding something appropriate with the temperature--otherwise she's in leggings, legwarmers, tutu, long-sleeve shirt, cardigan and a vest in 80 degree weather or a tank-top dress and flipflops when it's 50.  So....she has learned how to either check the weather on my phone or step outside the back door before getting dressed.  Yesterday Beck and I were finishing up breakfast and she was doing a weather check. 

Q: It's pretty warm out.  I think I'll wear leggings and a short-sleeved shirt and some heavy artillery. 

She just cannot leave that cat alone.

Bet you can guess the nature of that scratch across her cheek and the one next to her eye.....

Happy 4th Birthday of being our house!!

Me and my loves in front of our Home Sweet Home!

4 years ago last week we signed the papers on our house.  That was a bit of a scary moment--not only were we buying our first house, but it was A MESS.  Boy did we have our work cut out for us!

If you haven't heard our house story, here it is.

When Quinn was a few months old we started looking for a house to buy.  A family friend was our realtor and she and I headed out to look at houses.  We had a few requirements--no pool, in an older neighborhood with lots of trees, a good-sized yard, and a room that could be our playroom someday.  So off we went.  We stopped by one house in our first few days.  It was a foreclosure and nasty and in horrible shape.  Matt and I decided we DID NOT want a fixer-up house.  We had a 4 month-old baby, we were both working full-time and we definitely needed something move-in ready.  Well, the bank had other ideas.  Since Matt was working contract we had a horrible time getting a loan, and when we finally did, it wasn't the amount we had in mind.  So we had to re-evaluate the houses we were looking at and started shopping in a different price range.  And those were not the types of houses we had in mind--most of them were in similar neighborhoods to our rent house and were small with no yard or trees.   We finally decided that if we really wanted an older house in an established neighborhood with a yard, we'd have to reconsider the foreclosure.  All our parents took a look at it with us and we got serious about figuring out the "have-to's" that would need repaired before we could move in.  Things like replacing the rotting drywall over the stairs, putting a entry door on the garage, repairing the AC, etc.  So we spent all of May and June working on the house.  We'd work all day, come home and drop Quinn off with grandparents then work at the house until 1 am or so.  Weekends we spent every minute we had painting, drywalling, tiling, cleaning, etc.  Our family was awesome and helped with all sorts of stuff.  Mike pretty much painted the entire house.  Lots of our friends came over and helped with projects such as painting or tile or ripping out carpet.  And finally by early July the place was livable.  We had friends come to visit July 4th weekend and Matt was literally installing a toilet in the guest bathroom hours before their arrival.  Since we moved in, we've done tons more fix ups, and my dad and Matt tackle a major project every time he visits.  And yikes, there are still many more "must-do's" on the list--like replacing ALL of the plumbing.  But thankfully most of the house jobs we do these days are of the more fun variety and are wants, not needs.

So you've come a long way, little house of ours!
We love our house--we love the location with woods so close around us.  We spend huge amounts of time out in our backyard.  We still love our floor plan and all of the little customizations we've done to make it a home over the years.  And lo and behold, Beckyboo was even born here!  So here's to a great 4 years together, and many more!  And we promise to re-side and paint you sometime real soon.  ;)

Here are some pictures of our house when we bought it.
Check out that yucky front door.....
 

Quinn and Daddy cutting flooring for the bathrooms.

 

 

Ewww, look at that mantle...It HAD to go.

Dog-pee floor getting bleached for several days.....

 

 

 

There were crazy half-finished paint jobs all over the house.  I can't believe we lived with the wetbar painted like that for 3 years!  No more...now we have our little office!

There were dead mice in the ovens and live wasps in the range hood.  And more dead and alive roaches than I care to mention.

After a little paint......

 

 

The dining room (playroom)

 

 our bedroom

And our bathroom....complete with crazy wallpaper.  Both bathrooms had awful wallpaper we had to peel off.  

 

 

 And outside....tree stumps to dig out, trees that have since been taken down, fences repaired, and lots more plants these days!

And the bright blue half-bath downstairs.....

Out front would flood and needed lots of work and landscaping that Uncle Brady helped us with.  

The slippery-as-ice front stoop that Matt has replaced with slate.

Around Here...

Beck LOVES bubbles. 
 

 

In other news, Quinn gave the cat a haircut and Beck decided to start eating at again and has broken the 20 pound mark at 21.3 this week!

More lettuce field.

Germany Day 1

Our first day in Germany began bright and early on Friday morning (to us sometime in the middle of the night on Thursday...US Central time). 

Megan greeted us as we walked through customs with a great sign and hugs!  Totally did not get pictures of this....we were kinda in a daze, I guess!  German customs are amazing--took all of 10 minutes. 

Uncle Matt (have to call him that so as to not get confused with all the Matt-ness) was waiting outside the airport with the Wohnmobile--a 9 passenger van that totally rocked.  It had plastic floors, tons of room, huge windows and was PERFECT for our travels.  Good find, Matt and Megan!  It was also a diesel, which Quinn was thrilled to hear.  When we were at Neuschwanstein and were parking it the man at the parking booth charged us the "Wohnmoble" fee--which means a camper.  Not technically true, and if my German was better I'd have challenged him, but nontheless it led to a great name for our van for the week.  The Wohnmobile. 

We drove from Frankfort to Heidelberg, stopping along the way to use the bathroom at a gas station.  It was a pay bathroom and we needed change, which was interesting, because we didn't even know what the coin values were since it was our first hour in Europe.  Then we had to figure out the whole system of getting through the turnstyles into the bathroom....it was an adventure for sure......

We dropped off our stuff at the Sutton's apartment and went to an office on Post to get our temporary ID's for the week.  Then we grabbed a bite at a cute little cafe in Heidelberg.  Most of us got Toast Hawaii--which is bread with ham and pineapple slices and then a big piece of cheese broiled over the top.  It is pretty terrific.  We also bought chocolate bars at the little bakery inside the cafe.  Then we walked the Hauptstrasse, trying to keep ourselves awake.  It was in the 30's, so a nice and chilly greeting for us!

One of our first "needs" was a Starbucks with some caffiene.  Totally American, I know, but we NEEDED that caffiene to stay awake--we were all dragging, after having slept virtually not at all on the flight over.  See--Mike is even falling asleep in this picture!  :)  One thing we learned in Germany is that they don't do coffee or drinks to go.  If you are going to have coffee you sit and enjoy it wherever you are.  In a glass mug/coffee cup with a pastry on the side.  I definitely love the slower pace and the whole "coffee break" idea! 

 

Loading up in the Wohnmobile...Megan borrowed a carseat for Beck and purchased a pack and play and a stroller online (from a craigslist type site) so it was great to have everything we needed for him!

He had fallen and whacked his head on the coffee table at their apartment.  See the nice red goose egg?

Our faithful driver for the week--Uncle Matt.  He was a great driver and totally knew his way around Heidelberg.  He was a whiz with the Wohnmobile.  There were MANY times we were literally an inch away from a wall, another car, etc., and he never hit a thing!  I think I have pictures of some of the close calls....so stay tuned!

 

Friday afternoon we went to the commissary on post and got some groceries.  We ended up making waffles and eggs at the apartment so we could all shower and go to bed early.  Here's some of the breakfast-for-dinner making action.....

 

And meanwhile in Texas....here's Quinn's photoshoot of Rispin, her cheetah. 

And here he is showing off his "Urban Cowboy" side.