CARPET!!!

WOW!  So, carpet has been a long time coming in our house.  It was an incredibly long process, and I’m gonna make you relive it with me if you want to see the pics of the new stuff!  Or, I guess you could just scroll to the bottom to see the finished product… but where’s the fun in that?! :)

We started in July by going to Home Depot and picking out some carpet.  We scheduled a measurement (it took them 2 weeks to even get to our house to measure!!), and then they gave us a bid… which was considerably more than we had planned on!  So, we stalled… and talked (ad nauseum, according to Josh)… and decided to look at some different carpet.  So we were off to Lowe’s.  We found a good carpet that came with a premium pad for considerably less than what we found at Home Depot.  And they work with a local installer, which we liked.  So we ordered the carpet, it came mid/end of September, and we picked our first free weekend, which was last weekend!  We decided to remove the old carpet ourselves, since it would cost about $400 to have it removed, and we could do it ourselves and have the city pick it up for free.  So last week we packed up all of our extra stuff.  The house looked like this:

 And there’s a refresher on what our old, grey carpet looked like, too!  Then, Thursday evening, our wonderful friends and family came over and helped us move all of our furniture out.  Dad loaned us a box trailer (he just parked it in our driveway all weekend), and everything except for the TV in the bedroom went into it (or the garage).  We spent the next couple of days sleeping on air mattresses and having to go to the garage to get our clothes (made us think twice about what we needed, ‘cause nobody wanted to make a second trip for socks!).  It was funny, because we just kind of camped out in our bedroom, since it still had the TV…

Our camp… isn’t my family cute? :)

Saturday we ran to Walmart for carpet removal necessities (utility knives, duct tape, masks, goggles, gloves… of which we only used the knives and the tape, but oh well).  We got into a rhythm pretty quickly: I cut and rolled the carpet and pad in 3-4 foot strips, taped it, and carried it out to the garage.  Josh went around the perimeter of the room and used a hammer and prybar to take off the tack strips.  It was hard work, but not difficult!  We started in the blue room, since we use it the least…

It was kinda gross how much dirt was underneath the carpet and pad… a look at our dirt pile in the living room… 

We did the two front bedrooms, then the living room, and left our bedroom for last, since the TV was still hooked up, and that was about the only good way to keep Laney from running amok in the house!  Our bedroom started to look a little rough by the time we wanted to get started on it…

About the time we were done with all of the rooms besides our’s, it was time for a nap for the girls, so we set them up in their room on a comforter, and we took a break for lunch so they could fall asleep without the pounding hammer.  They looked pretty cute in there… I am so blessed to have such flexible sleepers!

After lunch, Josh & I tackled the bedroom, and finally finished, after about 6 hours of work.  We were left with this pile of carpet in the garage:

And a house with floors like this:

We lived on those floors, with air mattresses and camp chairs, all day Sunday, which was kind of a rough day.  We just couldn’t find anything, and the floors were cold and dirty, and we’d been sleeping on air mattresses since Thursday night… everyone was a little cranky!  But we made it through to Monday morning, when the girls and I headed out and Josh stayed home to watch.  I must admit, I was pretty jealous that he got to stay home, I really wanted to.  But, he did send me some pics throughout the day, and I was quite excited to see progress being made!

Pad first… we got a pad with a moisture barrier, since our house is just on a concrete slab…

And then I was so excited to see actual carpet laid out!!

Shortly after I got home around 5:30, the carpet was all finished!  So I immediately ran around and took pictures of all of the rooms… So excited!!

Love how tiny Audrey looks in this one!

So, anyway, Monday night we had all of those same wonderful friends & family came over to help us move all of our furniture back into our house!  We’ve spent the last week organizing and unpacking all the stuff we packed, and our house finally looks back to normal! 

We absolutely LOVE it!!

Fall Fundraising!

So, obviously this is several weeks late… but we haven’t had time to stop and think lately, so better late than never! 

And I know I owe everyone a carpet update… but we also haven’t had time to stop and put our house back in order!  So, coming soon, I promise.  In the meantime… a look back!  It’s a long look, but there’s a really funny story at the end, so stick with me…

In September, we had two major fundraisers for two organizations that are very important to us!  The first was our church’s annual fish fry.  This is the 9th year we’ve been doing it, and it is a tremendous amount of work, but it is really fun and we enjoy doing it!  I am not very good at stopping to take pictures, so the pics are kind of random, but here’s a few good ones…

Hate that this one is blurry (I was learning to use a new lens), but it gives you an idea of how many people show up to help during the day!  People showed up before noon, and stayed until 9… it’s a long day!

Laney insisted on bringing her “purple puppy,” complete with pink ribbon leash.  It was pretty funny!

Eventually she got tired of carrying the puppy around, so she tied it to the trailer underneath the tent and told it to “Stay.”  Her puppy is very good at stay, and she stopped by several times to remind her to stay!  Too cute, but one FILTHY dog by the end of the night!

My dad, doing his thing!

The youth are always in charge of the games- mostly keeping the younger kids busy so that the grown ups can enjoy the Silent Auction and the Live Auction.  Laney certainly enjoyed the play-doh, painting, bounce house… she was one busy little girl!

One of the youth, helping a painter!

These girls were too cute… they moved in a pack!  One minute they were all coloring, the next they were all at the play-doh table.  Guess that mentality starts young!  This is after the rain started, and we had to move the play-doh and coloring tables inside.  All things considered, though, the rain didn’t bother us much!

So, that was the Fish Fry… always a good time, and a pretty good success- we raised over $5,000, despite having 200 fewer people (threats of ugly storms and an evening MU football game hurt our attendance). 

The weekend after the Fish Fry, we headed to Southern Illinois for the Galatia Stride & Ride.  This is an MDA fundraiser that the Price family helps put on every year, and it is a MAJOR undertaking, and a really good time!  We’ve only been two years now, but we love it!

A big part of the fundraising comes from a Silent Auction that is HUGE, and has a little bit of everything in it!

These two are the reason the Price family is so involved… my two cousins, Beau and Gabe, who both have MD. 

Beau and his Momma, Jenny:

A lovely family photo, courtesy of Charlie!  I was just trying to take a picture of Mom, Dad & Ruth and Charlie had to help.  Really, it’s kind of a telling picture of our family! :)

A random line-em-up-and-shoot-em shot…

Beau, holding Audrey…

My dad, doing his thing again! :)

One of the funniest things the whole day was watching Sam and some of the other too cool boy cousins play with Laney.  Just goes to show you that no one is too cool to have fun with a 3 year old!

And I have to say THANK YOU to Maggie, who played with Laney for a good portion of the day.  We really had a good time… except for one little incident, probably one of my more humiliating mommy moments…

So, they have a bunch of games for kids, which Laney and Maggie had been exploring all day.  Josh and I were watching one of the games, when I suddenly heard “MOOOOMMMMY” from a voice I knew was my little girl.  So, I turned around, and there is Laney, in the middle of the field full of kids’ games, with her shorts around her ankles.  She was pulling at her underwear, so I went running, thinking she had to go to the bathroom or had gone in her pants and was about to take them off.  Right as I got to her, another mom came up to me and asked “Did you see what happened?” I said no, ‘cause I hadn’t, and the mom said “Well, I guess she had to go to the bathroom because she just pulled her pants down, squatted and peed right there.  But she peed all over her shorts, so that’s why she was taking them off.”  Yeah, I was mortified… my daughter PEED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PARK SURROUNDED BY PEOPLE!!!  Oh, the humiliation… needless to say, I rushed Laney to the bathroom for a change of clothes and a nice, long discussion about asking someone where the bathroom is if you have to go, and never, NEVER peeing in the middle of a park full of people. 

Besides that one incident, we really had a great time.  We bought some fun stuff in the silent and live auction (including a handmade Saluki corn hole game that Josh wanted), and totally enjoyed spending the day with the IL family.

So, there’s the quick update on the craziness of the last two weekends of September!  I promise a carpet update will be coming as soon as the house is unpacked and straightened enough for an “after” picture!

Happy 3rd Birthday!

I can’t believe my little girl turns three today! At 9:55, three years ago, this was happening!

Now my little girl has gone from this:

To this:

Followed by this:

And now THIS!

Can’t believe she is so big! We’re celebrating this morning with cinnamon rolls, some new coloring books, and her birthday dress to wear to church!

Happy birthday, sweet girl. Can’t wait to continue to watch you grow!

3rd Birthday Party!

She doesn’t turn 3 for a couple more days, but we decided to celebrate Laney’s 3rd birthday over Labor Day weekend, when all of the family was in town!  We kept it pretty low key, with the birthday girl picking hot dogs (again) for the meal, and a chocolate princess cake!  We really had just about everyone at the party, missing just Jess & Aunt Shell… with two little girls and two babies, plus lots of grown ups, it was quite the party! 

The chocolate princess cake… bonus that it came with toys!

Cousin Kael was vibing on the hot dogs!  He’s quite an eater!

Speaking of cousins… you can always count on them to be pesty!  At least in the Price family…

Laney playing with Mally!

When it was time to light the candles and sing, I just had to crack up because my outgoing, vivacious, talkative little girl hid her face behind her hands!  Guess being the center of attention is a little scarier than she expected!

But she was definitely smiling behind those hands!

And she was happy to blow out the candles, although she had trouble getting them out… Aunt Ruthie had to help!

And who doesn’t love licking the icing off of the candles?!

Charlie, hanging on Mom… as per usual!

The girls loved eating together at Laney’s table.  And Laney was THRILLED with the bright pink, strawberry ice cream… good choice, Daddy!

Kael was excited to try some cake & ice cream, too!

After cake and ice cream, it was time for presents!  Laney was quite excited about them, obviously.  As everyone came in, she would take their present and put it on the cedar chest and pet them all.  It was pretty cute!  But she was very patient (for a 2 year old) about waiting to open them. 

Checking out a new bag!

So, for every bag that had clothes, she took the clothes and just tossed them to the side.  Guess clothes aren’t her favorite present! :)

When Josh & I asked her what she wanted a couple of weeks ago, she said (like every little girl) that she wanted a horsey.  While we didn’t think Isa would appreciate a friend in the backyard, we still found a horsey for Miss Laney!

It sure seemed like she liked it!

Another big hit in the present department: Uncle Charlie’s gift!  She was definitely a fan!  

And who says birthday presents are just for the birthday girl?  Truman had just as much fun! :)

Anyway, it was a really good time, a birthday party spent hanging out with family, eating good food and telling stories.  It’s hard to believe that my little girl is turning 3!  She seems like such a big girl!  We’ve made it through the “terrible twos.”  Although, I’ll be honest, the twos haven’t been so terrible… but the closer she’s gotten to three, the worse it’s been!  I’m thinking that 3 is going to be a lot harder than 2.  She’s totally a fit thrower… man, that girl can scream.  And, she is seriously stubborn (might have gotten that from both sides!) so when she decides she’s throwing a fit, it lasts a long time!  I just keep telling myself that if we can stay consistent and teach her right from wrong, then that stubbornness and persistence will turn out to be admirable traits!  If we all survive long enough to see it! :)

Louisville… mostly the zoo!

Because who doesn’t love the zoo?! 

We had a little Looten family adventure last weekend to Louisville, KY.  While we were there, we played around some, mostly by going to the Louisville Zoo.  This zoo was massive!  We needed about 2 days to get around to everything.  But we did our best, putting an emphasis on the “giraffes and penguins” because that’s what Laney said she wanted to see the most! 

To start, though, we found these guys, who look totally prehistoric:

Laney was amazed- they are a lot bigger than Anias! (Grandma De & Grandpa Don’s turtle)

And there was even one for her to ride on! :)

One of my favorite things about the zoo, there are always lots of pretty flowers and cool plants!

Outside the reptile house we found this very realistic looking lizard!  Laney was scared to go up to it because she wasn’t convinced it was pretend!  But she eventually hopped on…

Daddy and his girls in the sprinkler… it was REALLY HOT!This guy was taking a nap when we first got to his cage.  Then, all of a sudden, he sat up and stared at something for awhile.  So glad I happened to be standing there!  Big cats are SO cool!

Like I said, Laney wanted to see the giraffes… and they did not disappoint!  They are such cool animals, it’s amazing to me that their bodies even work with a neck that long!  God is amazing…

This rhino was right next to the giraffes, and Laney was fascinated.  They are so huge!  And it’s priceless to hear a 2 year old say “rhinoceros” ! :)

Other than the zoo, I don’t have many pictures.  We were too busy running around! :)  We did see downtown Louisville, which was very cool.  And we went to the riverfront and walked around for awhile, too.  We found a huge fountain at the intersection of a sidewalk with the street.  Laney was hot (and cranky) so we let her play in it. 

She was just at the edge, not getting too wet…

…when all of a sudden the wind or the fountain shifted or something and she was suddenly DRENCHED!

It was pretty funny, except that we were headed home after that!  Those shorts were still damp when we got home, 8 hours later!

Anyway, it actually was a fun trip, even though it was a little short.  It was fun to explore a new place just the four of us, somewhere none of us had ever been.  We definitely hope to go back someday… :)