Paint

The girls wanted their rooms painted, so...we painted them. Here are the colors they picked.

Anisa wanted a dark plum-y purple. She picked a color called Kimono Violet. It's a little more purple than I thought she wanted, but we both really like it. We only did one wall in her room since it's so dark. The other walls are a really, really soft yellowy green color. It actually looks pretty together.







Sara just wanted purple, a pretty purple. So, this is what she found. We only did 2 walls in her room. Her other 2 walls are a really, really soft green, but she wants them white. We'll see.










Travis isn't happy about either color. He's more of an Antique White paint guy. The girls are happy, tho, and that's what matters. They are both getting new queen sized beds too, that's why their rooms are such disasters. :)

FINALLY, an update

Ok, everyone, I know, I know! It's been a while since I last posted here. I've been MOVING! :) And I've come to the conclusion that moving stinks. I'm so unorganized right now and I hate it. The house is a total disaster, but I did get most of the boxes out of here in less than a week. The boxes that are left, might be staying for a while.....in the basement. :)

So, anyway, since I still have tons of work to do, I'm posting mainly pictures for those of you who haven't seen them....

Anisa's graduation....
Seniors..... Anisa and Aaron in the senior tire.













GRADUATION!













Tossing their caps.













The kids, almost adults. :)













The Graduate with her mommy and daddy.













We did take a little time out to play while since we've gotten to VA. Poor Travis had to go to stinky work, but I got to take the girls to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. We had a good time. It was really hot, but it wasn't SUPER crowded and we went on all the fun rides, sometimes twice! :) Busch Gardens gives military families free tickets, so we went for FREE! THANKS Busch! :)

So far, we really like Virginia (not enough to stay here forever, we'll be back WEST COAST!). Right now it's so beautiful with all the trees and different shades of green. The rolling hills. The birds singing. Travis picked a good house. As soon as we get it all organized, it will be much better. The neighbors are really nice and it's close to the bus stop and freeways. Shopping is CRAZY GREAT! :) Ah, I love being back near shopping. I'll try to keep updating my blog a little more now that we're getting settled in. And soon I'll post pics of the house and neighborhood. Come to visit us anytime!! :)

My little baby

Yesterday Sara turned 15 years old. Wow, I can't believe it. 15 years ago, my Grampa drove me to the Bess Kaiser Hospital in Portland (which is now Adidas headquarters), along with Grandma and Big sis Anisa. We met Travis at the hospital since he was at work, a couple of miles down the road from the hospital. As I was in labor, I got to watch float planes and boats on the Willamette River out of my room window. 4 hours after labor started, Sara made her grand debut into our world. Hey, Viv and Ranee, remember?? They were her very first visitors. Oh, by the way, she rode home in Baby, the van, that we had just bought when we found out we were having another baby. :)

15 isn't my favorite age. I have a theory. Kids lose their minds in about 6th grade and don't recover them until about graduation! :) Luckily, Sara is a pretty good girl. She makes us laugh and only argues a little bit (well, compared to some kids). She likes clothes, hair and make-up. She likes playing guitar (and plays her violin still, if forced to). She listens to music constantly and likes to talk on her phone. We love you Sara!!! :)

Isn't She Grand? Like 200Grand!

You all know I have a crazy kind of love for my van. Baby is my dream rig. I know, it's weird. Who would love a Ford Aerostar this way, but I do. I can't help it. I had a little Ford Festiva before her and when we found out we were having another baby, I REALLY wanted a van. I REALLY wanted the extended Dodge Caravan. We test drove them, loved them and wanted one. One day Travis was looking at the classifieds in the Oregonian and saw that Coliseum Ford in Portland had Aerostars on sale. I told him I'd go drive one, but I wanted a Caravan. Well, we came home that day with a brand new Aerostar. She has been from Port Angeles, WA to San Diego, CA, Astoria, OR to Sturgeon Bay, WI and will be heading out to VA in a month. We have taken several family trips in our little van. 200,000 miles of trips! I hope to post one day that she just went over 300,000. Hey, I could happen! :)

Well, I finally did it

I've been thinking about cutting my hair and I finally just did it. Both girls had their hair cut yesterday and I was talking to Jen (the stylist) about getting mine done. I told her I wanted to do it, but was nervous since I HATE doing anything to my hair. She said, what about just a layered bob kind of style. I told her I have to be able to put it into a ponytail. When she got done with the girls she still had lots of time before her next client came in. I asked if she wanted to cut my hair and she said SURE! :) And here is the result. I really like it. I did actually blow it dry today. It feel so good and soft and healthy. The last REAL haircut I had was probably, well, I can't even remember. I think I had my hair whacked off after Sara was born, but that was 15 years ago. I just don't really care about hair. At least she got it thicker feeling and healthy, tho. I DO like that. :)

Prom 2009

Well, last night was SB High school Prom 2009. Sara and her pal, Lena, had their make-up professionally done downtown for fun (and free). They came back to the house to start doing hair and getting ready to go out to dinner with a group of friends. Anisa was in there doing her hair too.....3 girls and a boy (Aaron) doing hair, nails, make-up. There was hairspray flying, straightening and curling irons warming, brushes swooshing and nail polish fumes! Sara ended up doing her own hair, Lena's curls and Anisa's poof.



Then it was time to get dressed. Anisa and Aaron went to dinner in regular clothes so they didn't spill on their beautiful clothes. They went out by themselves and met up with friends later at the prom.















Sara and Lena got into their dresses. Sara ordered special silver Puma high tops for prom. Her family doesn't particularly like them, but she does, so I guess that's all that matters. We thought since she was wearing a princess dress, she should wear fancier shoes but she swears she can't walk in any heels. She's a crazy girl. Lena's mom came over, we took pictures and off they went to dinner and then to prom.












Anisa and Aaron came back after dinner to get all prettied up. Check out Aaron's tie. I made that. :) They couldn't find the perfect green to match Anisa's dress, so we got some fabric, a pattern and there ya go! A tie! Anisa made her flower hair clip. Aaron made Anisa's necklace. Lots of crafty people around here!













They took off in style. They left in the Cavalier, but picked up the truck to actually head over to prom in. I don't exactly know how Anisa got into that thing with her dress on, but she did it. Maybe Aaron picked her up and threw her in. :)









Here are my beautiful girls after prom. Since they left the house at different times, I had to snag them after prom. They were exhausted, but had had a good time. We stayed up for a few hours telling stories. Anisa headed to a friend's house to spend the night and Sara and I finally got to bed around 3:30 a.m. It was a fun night for everyone. :)

Oops, I forgot to tell you..

I was going to tell you all that we woke up to this on Tues. April 21. Yep, that's right, it's snow. Travis is very happy he's not here because this disgusts him. He hates that winter in WI started Nov. 30 and is still happening. He likes snow every once in a while, but generally, he can do without it. I like it. This snow melted pretty quickly since it was warm (about 44) that day. Today is supposed to be warm. So far, it's 47 at my house. By tomorrow, we're supposed to see temps into the 70s. Prom is Saturday, so I just hope the weather is good that day. The weathermen are calling for thundershowers. That will not be good since the girls have long, flowing gowns. I'll keep you posted!