Baseboards

Phil worked yesterday from 7 AM until 8 PM last night putting up baseboards. We decided to re-baseboard (is that a word?) the whole house. The baseboards that were in the house were just the really short standard ones. We got a great deal buying these tall ones in a pack. Phil also finished Zachary's room and the computer room. We put shorter baseboards in there. You can see them in the pictures. He cut out all the baseboards, painted them (2 coats) and nailed them up. He then caulked and touched up painted. It was very laboreous. He finished the living room, family room, the hall downstairs, the laundry room and the bathroom downstairs. Monday, he is going to do Kaylin's room and the hall upstairs. Don't they look great!?

Family Room- a work in progress

For some reason we didn't take a lot of before/after of the family room. Before the walls were painted this yucky seafoam green color (as seen below) which we painted over with the "perisian teepee" color. There was a multicolored brick with a white splash on the fireplace which we painted over with a dark brown. If you can look past Jared's cuteness, you can see what the fireplace used to look like...

After:

I then painted the mirror over the fireplace the same color (it was a light sage green before). I think that once we replace the green carpet, it'll make the room better, but for now, the green carpet has to stay. Maybe once we're done potty-training two boys, we'll replace it. Also, notice the awesome new tall baseboards that Phil did yesterday! It all looks awesome. Now, does anyone have any suggestions on how to decorate the mantel and what colors?

Multipurpose room

Before:

After:

This is the multipurpose room. It is essentially the computer room, piano room, and playroom. The room didn't have closet doors so I got these super cute curtains and hung them (again, it was Jeri that hung them! Have I mentioned how much we love our neighbors!?) I love being able to keep the toys contained and put away. I teach piano lessons so it's nice to be able to have a seperate room to do that. We painted the walls the same color as the living room, "brown teepee." One of these days we'll put something on the walls. I think I'm going to frame our college diplomas by the computer desk.

The Kids' bathroom

Before: The bathroom was light pink with grape border, half was ripped off the wall too. It was precious looking! Reese, Jeri's daughter, said that she wanted to help me take off the wallpaper so one night (about a month ago) we started stripping the wallpaper border. It took about an hour and a half and then it was ready to be painted. Oh and we'll tile all the floors...eventually!After:

I LOVED how this bathroom turned out. I painted it a color called "soft denim" (a blue/gray) and it's adorable. We (Jeri) installed the towel hook that you see and screwed in the kids' towel hooks into the wall. I also bought the same awesome hookless shower curtain (with a washable liner!) as I did in the purple bathroom downstairs. I love it! I also love how the light shows through the shower curtain so that I can always keep it closed! Oh and one more thing, if you see in the corner of the first picture, Phil installed a new faucet. I wanted to give a shout out to him and say thanks. The other one was really ghetto.

Sunday activities

Sundays for kids are a little rough. They get bored and then turn into wild animals. Here's what we did today...

-We made a scripture reading chart and put it on our fridge. We made a family goal to read the Book of Mormon everyday for the rest of the year.
-Zachary and Kaylin played on the Friend Magazine site for lds.org. They love doing the puzzles and coloring pages. Zachary also got to play his new favorite "ABCs" game aka www.starfall.com.
-The kids painted pictures and Kaylin and I did a little reading lesson. I bought the book "How to teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons" and we've been going through them daily. She loves it.
-We (Phil and I included) did somersaults in the family room, headstands, played airplane and did races with the kids (we held their legs while they raced with their hands).
-Jared just sat in his little bouncer and looked adorable.

I'm exhausted. We did get some church things in the day too (besides actually going to church). We read out of The Friend and Phil and I are going to study a pamphlet my parents sent us all about Eve. I love Sundays.

Just Dance

So while we were in Yuba City we decided to try out a new Wii game (which we have since bought because it was so darn fun!). Here's a little sample of our Saturday night.

A couple of things I noticed...
a) we were all supposed to all be dancing in sync...
b) Phil is an intense dancer. If I didn't hear the music, I would've thought he was trying to hurt someone!
c) I rocked it with Melissa to get first and second place.
d) Kaylin is the cutest thing in the world. (See the second video). She can sure shake it!

Enjoy the videos!

To Grandmother's house we go

This last weekend we had the chance to go and visit Grandma and Grandpa Walker and family. David, Phil's brother, was giving his farewell talk on Sunday before he reported to the MTC in Provo. He's going to the Ogden, UT Mission. We are so proud of him and are excited for him! Two of my sisters are living in the Ogden Mission boundaries, so who knows, he might just run into them.

Anyways, we had a great time. We just love the drive there because it is so beautiful through the mountains. We stopped and snapped this picture when Phil and I were changing places (I get car sick so I have to drive through the mountains).

When we got to Grandma's, we quickly said hi and hit the pool. The kids LOVED it. The older two were in the pool for 6 HOURS! We had to take Zachary out a couple of times because he was shivering and his lips were blue. Every time we took him out though, he screamed to go back in. What a character!

Aunt Melissa was very kind to feed Jared while Mommy relaxed in the sun. Melanie is baking in the sun. She tans so nicely--it's not fair!
Uncle Dave, Nikita and our good friend Jeremy all enjoying the day. It was Dave's last day in the pool.

Uncle Shane and Auntie Emilee. Jared wasn't into taking pictures I guess.

Dave and the kids.

Towel hooks

I made these towel hooks with the help of Jeri and my sister Heather (we went to Hobby Lobby together). They are now screwed in the wall in the bathroom so they all know who's towel is who. Aren't they SOOOOoooooo cute? I'm almost done with the bathroom. I'm dragging my feet because it's the last room to do. So I'll post pictures when I get it all done.

Buddy likes food

Little Jared has been loving his food. He loves pretty much everything you put in his mouth. He is such a happy baby. He's got a cute laugh and is so fun to interact with. He loves to just sit and watch the kids play. Kaylin has started to pick him up and carry him to different parts of the room. He just goes with it and never fusses. I'm so grateful he's easy, but I'm starting to worry that it might be the calm before the storm. We'll see if he's this sweet when he starts to crawl.

The Many Faces of Zachary

Just thought these were funny pictures. And yes, in case you are wondering, his hair is hardly ever brushed.
I just love this little boy. He is such a sweetie pie.

Love the jammas and goggles.

The V thing

We were at the mall last weekend and Kaylin kept begging to go on the "V"thing. I couldn't figure out what she meant so she showed me. We caved and let her go on the jumping thing. She had a blast. We were trying to get her to flip but she just kept saying, "I can't do it." She had a great 5 minutes of fun!

Our family pictures

We ended up ordering the first one. I'm still mad no one told me about my one bang hanging out and Phil doesn't like his legs and well, Kaylin's problem is pretty apparent. We're all taking one for the team. Zachary looks cute and so does Jared even though he's not really looking.

Walker Family pictures

Phil's brother Dave is leaving on his mission next week to Ogden, UT. We decided to take one last family picture of the whole Walker clan.