A day in the life

Just a little slice of life here in the Peterson household this morning. Owen is getting much better at playing with Play-Dough these days. He enjoyed smashing, tearing, and throwing it all around for a good half-hour or so today! (That's pretty incredible, for those that don't know.) In the video below, you can also see him spell his name (my favorite thing in the whole world right now is how he says, "w"), say "giraffe" (which he does remarkably well), name a few colors, and even practice using a "quiet" voice and a "loud" one.

He is SO MUCH FUN!

Finishing up (very soon!)

Just a quick post with some final pics after our marathon weekend of painting and tiling. Whew! We got it all done. And right now, as I type this, all the trim, doors, and cabinets are being unloaded and will go up over the next few days. YAY!!! The end is near!

(P.S. I will have to add the names of the paint colors later because I can't remember off-hand and the cans are downstairs where the guys are working...)

Bedroom

Bedroom (alternate angle)

Play Room

Bathroom (sorry for the terrible photo...
this was the best I could do.)

Tile in the kitchenette. (I never want to lay tile in this size area again!)
That is some HARD work! Kudos to Ryan for a job well done!

Tile from alternate angle (and no camera flash)

Mmmm...cake and ice cream!

 Papa Vern came to visit this afternoon and stayed for dinner, so I decided to take some chocolate cupcakes out of the freezer, and serve cake and ice cream for dessert. Obviously, this was a special (and unusual) treat for Owen, because he insisted on licking his bowl clean.

Guy Smiley

For the past couple of weeks or so, Owen has been flashing us the silliest, cheesiest grin – I think, because he knows it makes us laugh. Always the performer, he squints his eyes nearly closed, shows about every tooth in his mouth, and tilts his head back. I was lucky enough to capture it on film this morning.

How does this not crack you up???

Oh, and who doesn't love a baby in a hat? (Actually, this is a basket that some plush fruit [from IKEA] came in, but whatever.)

Basement update

Here are some updated photos of the basement project. Currently, we are finishing up the tile floor and painting (the two things we decided to do ourselves to save some money.) I will be SO GLAD when we are finished with that (hopefully by this weekend)!

Finished drywall, pre-paint and tile:
(P.S. We didn't end up using either of the paint swatches you see in these pics [too dark], as you'll see in photos a little further down.)

Mid-paint and tile:

Office (Paint: Behr – Antique Tin)

Kitchenette/Family Room (Paint: Sherwin-Williams – Argos; Porcelain Tile: Ibiza Bone from Lowe's)

The bathroom is also painted (Sherwin-Williams – Gateway Gray), but because there is no lighting set up in there yet, it's hard to get a good picture in there.

Now I'm off to go paint (the bedroom today) while Owen naps (which is how I've spent every naptime for the last week and a half). Then, all that's left is the toy/play room!

Tupperware party

While I was only half paying attention last evening, Owen managed to get out every-single-piece-of-tupperware (and other plastic containers) that I own and spread them out strategically around the house. I turned around, and this is what I found.

He had a lot of fun, apparently, and it entertained him for quite a while. I did not, however, has as much fun picking them all back up.

"Ah gone," he said.

Easter goodness

Ok, so it's been almost a week since Easter and I'm just getting around to posting about all our fun Easter activities. What can I say – it's been Busy (with a capital B!) around here with basement stuff this week. More on that to come...

Anyway, without further ado, here's what we were up to in the days and weeks leading up to Easter.

Fun with Peeps!
I personally don't like Peeps – those sugary marshmallow treats you see everywhere each Easter season – but they are awfully cute and I happened to come across a couple of fun, crafty ideas for them, so I couldn't resist.

I found the idea for these "Peeps Pops" here. We brought a bunch over to the first of several Easter Egg hunts with Owen and they were a big hit.

A basket of Peeps Pops!

Ryan tied all those ribbons. (He wanted to be sure that I mentioned that.)

And I found this printable Peeps Treat Topper here. I gave these out as small gifts to a few of my favorite "peeps!"

In case you can't read it, it says, "A little something special for one of my
favorite PEEPS."

Jelly Bean Bark
I found this super easy and fast recipe for a new, fun snack here. It was a big hit at the Peterson family Easter meal.

Crafty Cards
I bought Owen his first set of finger paints and we had so much fun coloring, gluing, and painting these cards for all his grandparents.

Easter Egg Hunts
Owen enjoyed four(!) different Easter egg hunts this year. And once he discovered that there was candy inside those eggs, he was stoked!