Couch and Coast

So we’ve picked back up in being busy, but thankfully not too terribly busy!

We finally got the couch we bought, and we love, love, love it! It works nicely in our living room and looks so much better than our old one. We’ve done well with keeping people (especially kids) from eating or drinking on it. However, last night while we were making dinner Levi drew with blue pen all over it! We immediately started scrubbing with rubbing alcohol and Oxy-Clean. Thankfully we were able to get the stains out, and you really can’t tell he did it at all.

We also got a new gas grill this weekend and have used it twice! We are thrilled to have a nice grill that we can use year-round! We made Jucy Lucy’s the other night, and they were delicious! For those who aren’t familiar with that, it is two burger patties pinched together with cheese in the middle. So when you grill it, the cheese melts, and then when you bite into it you get a gooey yummy center to your burger!

We also made it to the coast this weekend and it was beautiful! We have had some great weather lately, and it shined through at the coast. It was about 65, no clouds, and very slight wind! Just wonderful! We went to the aquarium, Mo’s Chowder, and the beach. The kids had a blast, and it was nice to get away!

      

Levi has been out riding his bike lately, and he is really starting to catch on great! He actually wants to ride (instead of being scared). He can go around the whole loop out back by himself! I can’t wait until we take the training wheels off and he goes all by himself!

 

Hazel has been on and off sick lately, and just when she gets better from one thing I swear she gets sick with something else! She’s been a sweetie though, and I’m glad she can still be cute even when she feels like crap.

Well that’s all this week!

Finally Relaxation

Well we’ve had a far more relaxing last week or so. We’ve settled in with our new car, and we’re still loving it! We are waiting for our new couch, which arrives tomorrow! But mostly we’ve been just relaxing.

This one will be short and sweet as don’t have any news to share really. Life has been proceeding as normal around here. The photos below are from when we got Hazel and Levi new pjs. They were thrilled! Mostly Levi, but both ran around the house giggling and laughing once the pjs were on. It was adorable!

Well hope you are having a wonderful and relaxing time as well!

Birthday, Sick Kids, and a New Car!

So tons has happened around here lately, mostly great stuff too! It has been a whirlwind of a couple weeks, and I hope that since I have about one hour free to write this post, that means it might be cooling down a bit.

First off, Levi celebrated his fourth birthday this past week. I can hardly believe my little guy is four! On his birthday he had a friend come over and play on his train set. Then we went to McDonalds for dinner. He was thrilled! The Saturday following he had his party. All his cousins from in town came, and about four friends (and a couple of their siblings) showed up. Levi was in heaven! He had so much fun! We again went to McDonalds for his party, but I think that will be the last year we do that for him. It was just really loud. But as I said, he had fun, and that’s what matters.

Hazel on the other hand has been sick the last few days, and now that she is getting better, Levi is getting sick. Hazel, when she is sick, tends to want to cuddle and be held more. So this meant my home gets a bit neglected, and chores pile up. Thankfully my mom took both kids for about an hour yesterday so I could do some much needed cleaning. Hazel is on the mend, and I am very glad about that, she had a nasty cough, sore throat, and a fever. No fun for the Baze.

To get out the other day we went for a drive. We went about five miles north of Corvallis and took a road about ten miles long to a highway that headed south again, and then back home. It went through the foothills of the Coastal Range, and we saw some pretty scenery. You can see some of  those pictures coming up in my Oregon 365 blog. That website is: www.oregon365.blogspot.com. Right now I am doing roses for Valentines day, but after that I will start with some of the shots I took.

Well, we got our tax return, and we thrilled with how much we got. It was a lot more than we expected, so we are doing the smart thing with the extra money: paying off debt. We are paying off one credit card completely, and putting quite a bit towards our other one. We also went out and bought a new car. We have been needing to upgrade for a while because our tiny car wasn’t meeting our needs. We did a lot of research and looking and finally found one that we both loved. It is a 2001 Acura MDX and has all the bells and whistles. We got it for an internet special, so it was $3000 less than their list price on the lot, and $4000 below blue book value. Needless to say we got an amazing deal! With our down payment, we now owe less than what the car is worth, which is a first for Justin and I in married life (we have always owed more on the car than it was worth).

We also have made some other minor purchases with our return, including a new couch (it was much needed, we’ve only had garage sale items that we bought for $25), and a new shelf for the living room. We needed a new shelf because Levi tried climbing the old one, and since it was cheap wicker, it snapped into a bunch of pieces. I am please with how we spent our money, and we still have quite a lot in savings for the summer and such (summer is usually when we are really tight because we don’t have financial aide).

Well that’s all. Its a lot, I know! Hopefully we’ll calm down a bit!