The Number 5

 

 

Still one of my favorite pictures of him with his adoring big sisters.

 

This is another favorite...I may have a lot of favorite pictures. lol.

 

 

Of course we can forget his very first pictures. I'm amazed when I look back at the pictures of our BIG babies--he's half growed up here.

 

 

I guess this would have to be my favorite of our little group of three. Hospital pictures are never the most flattering, but you have to admit this is at least sweet.

 

 

He's looking so grown up these days and just as handsome and sweet as ever!

 

 

His birthday requests this year were very easy to honor. Red and donkeys. I couldn't find a lot of donkey décor although I did think about checking with Hillary, chances are she had lots of leftovers from her cancelled coronation party. We asked Kaderick what made him want donkeys and he said, "It was just totally random. I like being random."

 His cake requests were as follows:

Homemade

Round, because flat is boring

Vanilla with chocolate frosting

Donkeys dancing on the top

 

 

As it turns out, the donkey wasn't random at all....he was quite important in the Christmas story and we learned about that as well.

 

 

 

His food list was the one that really blew us, but we stayed true to tradition and honored it 100%

We had popcorn chicken, plain rice with garlic, soft pretzels, fried egg whites, and honey greek yogurt.

 

 

He's actually eating his cake here, not sleeping.

 

 

Kaderick was so stinking adorable opening his gifts. And so thankful and sweet too. Here he is with all his gifts. One of the things we got him was a little puppy who eats treats and then has to go "potty." Grandma asked him what the puppy was named and when she didn't quite understand, Kaderick replied, "Pax, Grandma! Pax with an X!"

 

 

 

  The last event of the day involved animal baths and allowing them to come in for cuddles under the Christmas tree. Of course momma took advantage of the camera opportunity. Don't let the photo fool you, they aren't always so sweet.

 

Kaderick will be having oral surgery again in January. He has been the unfortunate recipient of terrible teeth--they believe because of his mastocytosis. We brush them several times a day and he still has problems. He just came off of antibiotics and we hope this will get him through the holidays without pain or infection. He has to go to Children's in Boise for the surgery as because of the masto he is prone to reactions and will have to be put all the way under for the extraction. Please help us pray that everything will go smoothly until and including the surgery.

 

Merry Kitchen to Me!

 

When we bought our house a little over two and a half years ago, the kitchen looked like this. Good bones, but stuck in the 70's and kinda looking like it had a bad case of gout.

 

 

Within a few months, it looked like this, a vast improvement, but still morphing.

 

 

Today, it looks like the photo below. Merry Kitchen to Me!

Now, let me say that while I completely love the end result, I was content in all three stages. In fact, I was a little surprised when the hubby began working on my kitchen again a few weeks ago. He's worked so hard on our home and I know that there have been some days when he really enjoyed it, but I also know there have been some days when it tried even his patience. The super amazing thing is that we've done probably 99.9% of the work ourselves and don't owe even one penny on the improvements we have made! THAT is a most WONDERFUL Dave Ramsey-ish feeling!

 

 

Here's another before and after picture with the "after" one still showing the old countertops and backsplashes. I  can visualize things pretty well, but even I am a little shocked at what a huge difference the new counters and subway tile backsplashes made. I absolutely LOVE the bright white tile in contrast with the dark gray countertop.

I took these pictures at night and obviously I should have waited for daylight. I kinda like the warn glow at night too though.

 

If you look closely, you'll see a new sink. I mean, like really new...new from the box...straight off the shelves at Home Depot. It doesn't drip either...not even if your forget to move the handle all the way to the left and chant a nursery rhyme backwards. It also doesn't leak, which means that there are no buckets or rags under the sink. In fact, the wood under the sink has been replaced and fresh paint has been applied. Woot Woo!

 

 

The appliances were also all gradually replaced with "new to us" (Craigslist) appliances. This we've found was a HUGE savings if you are willing to invest some elbow grease and lysol.

 

 

Gah! The stainless, the punched tin, the white subway tile, the cabinet hardware, and the faux granite countertops. Isn't it just like Santa?? Someone just may have seen momma kissing him.

 

This picture I took special because I love the little windowsill hubby made me. I never had one here before, and I am a huge supporter of windowsills. Smile. I also kinda like the little camper coffee mug sitting on this sill. It's high dollar...BIG SPLURGE from the Dollar Tree. Haha!

 

 

The view looking through the little "Mercantile" window from the dining room to the kitchen is a little different now days as well.

 

Here are my two sweet little girls mixing up a fresh batch of laundry soap one school day afternoon.



 

Kalli enjoys the kitchen just about as much as I do, I believe. She's a huge help to me these days. All my children are. I don't know what I'd do without them.

 

 

Peppermint Cheesecake. Yep, Kalli made it.

 

Saturday, Rick took a couple of Loomis trucks downtown to channel 7's big annual charity event. He had a couple of armored guards there with the truck as people came through and made donations. All the kids loved getting to see the inside of an armored truck and the company got some great publication too. Plus, the preacher got to be on TV. He wasn't preaching on it though, he saved that for today. Oh, nevermind. It's a pretty neat event and the causes are good charities like the Boise Rescue Mission and many other local missions.

 

 

The "It's Real" potato truck was also part of the event as well as all Albertsons and FredMeyer stores and many other local businesses.

 

 

About once a year, sometime close to Christmas, Rick takes me on a date to Olive Garden. We hardly ever eat out. Most of our trips to the garden only involve going out in the back yard, so this is special. Usually we get Gorgonzola Steak and Tiramisu. This year, we skipped the Tiramisu because we were full, but it was a super fun, photoless date followed up with coffee. The kiddos at home made gingerbread men while we were gone and had the mess all cleaned up and jammies on when we got home. I'm telling you....having big kids is the BOMB! There was a tiny baby at the booth next to us and I didn't even get a bit of that fever. Wink, wink.

PS, Aren't those gingerbread men darling though!!??

 

And there we are all matchy matchy. Rick and I bought those sweaters for $2.50 each on our anniversary last year at Macy's store closing sale. They have been borderline ugly, and gotten a lot of fun use. And no, Rick doesn't have one. lol