Fun with Construction

They started the tile replacement project on Monday. On Monday they just came in and covered stuff with plastic so it wasn't too bad. But the last 2 days they were taking out all the tile and it has been super loud and dusty. Hopefully putting the tile back in will be a little quieter. We also haven't been able to turn on the heater because the intake vent is in the dust zone and would spray dust all over the house. So it is a good thing we live in California or it would be mighty chilly instead of just chilly. I'm hoping it doesn't really take 3 weeks to finish everything because not having a kitchen is already getting old. Plus I don't think I have enough clothes to last for 3 weeks without doing laundry. Here's our special plastic doorway to keep the dust out. There is a zipper in the middle that lets you in and out.

We can get in the fridge but everything else is totally covered.

Huge wall of plastic blocking off the living room. All of the furniture from the downstairs is in there.

Emily's Blessing Day

I went up to Utah with Mom and Dad last weekend for Emily's blessing day. I had to work while we were there but it was nice to see everyone and get out of town for awhile. Here are some pictures of the fam after church. The new and improved Higbee family! Now with 5 kids! Heather's kids are all the same age that we were when Ryan was born. I was Evan's age. I remember it was fun to have a new little baby around. Heather's kids really love Emily already. Little Lindsay has even learned to change her diaper. Hopefully they will help Heather out a bit so Heather doesn't go too crazy.

Grams and Grandpa with the new grandbaby.

The whole Stewart-Higbee group. Notice Jonathan has already untucked his shirt. His Grandma Higbee had just tucked it in before we started taking pictures.

Laurel, Lindsay and Evan. This is what Evan did when I said to smile. These kids crack me up.

Here's Dad about to throw Jonathan into the bushes. Jonathan doesn't look too upset about it though.

Pretty baby Emily. I tried to take one without the blanket in the way but she started fussing after this.

Random Pictures

Here are some random pictures that have been sitting on my camera for awhile.

My sister Megan's family came out to visit last week. It was great seeing them again. Here are Josh and Jane in Mom's bath. The kids did this several times during their visit. I'm not sure how Mom got the bubbles off. I didn't stick around for that part.

Here are Jane's toes with a pretty pink manicure. Kids toenails are so much easier to paint. Maybe because they don't mind if it isn't perfect. Jane is already a big OPI fan. Her mom's raising her right.

This is some seriously flattened broccoli from my disaster dinner about a month ago. I cooked the broccoli and then went to get the rice out of the rice maker only to find it had shut off sometime during cooking. I had to reheat the broccoli 20 minutes later when the rice really was done, and it wasn't pretty. I also forgot to pull it out of the microwave so it was vacuum sealed by the plastic wrap. These are more like broccoli wafers than real broccoli. Pretty much the only part of that dinner that turned out was the watermelon which I was only minimally involved with.

This is the bookcase in my room here. I am seriously going to miss it when I move. It is really deep so I can fit 2 rows of books on each shelf and it has doors that keep out all the dust. I hope my books are enjoying the good life because their next home will probably involve cardboard.

Here is my niece Ella with her piano. I think she is kind of outgrowing it but it was one of her favorite toys and she played with it every time she came over. She really likes music and likes to get down to her piano.

Two Time(r) Ideas

#1 If you set your alarm clock to the 24 hr setting instead of the 12 hr, you don't have to double check that you set your alarm for a.m. instead of p.m. so you don't wake up late.

#2 Even though setting a timer is initally more work, it is easier than doing crazy addition over and over again to make sure you aren't burning the cake.