Santa Pancakes

Whenever we get a chance to relax and just hang around the house, I like to break out all the fixings for breakfast...pancakes, french toast, sausage, bacon, hash browns and anything else the kids or Chris can dream of to eat. This is usually a Sunday morning feast for us, but for Christmas Eve I am going to make this part of our tradition with Santa Pancakes. It is a really cute way to serve the pancakes and get the kids to eat their fruit too, even if right now the little ones don't eat the whip cream or the cherry nose. For me it is the fun of making the funny faces and getting to see my whole family around the table, this is the only time I don't get overwhelmed with the noise because everyone is chewing.

House Update

Chris has been hard at work getting the plumbing roughed in so I figured I would take this time to update everyone on the house progress. Please have patience with me it has been six months and I think the last time I posted a picture the house was still getting walls. Now I can tell you that all the walls are up and the interior walls are up too.

Chris is building the staircase to the basement with my brother Justin and so far they are still up and functional.

In the midst of all the construction, Chris decided to add a bit more cement to the drive way, which has been a blessing with all the snow we have been getting, but this didn't go without a hitch. The day the cement truck came out (the second one I believe) we had not one but two city inspectors come to the house; courtesy of our neighbor's phone call. One was to look at the cement going down for the driveway (our on going fight over the property line) and the second one was to look at the height of our house (I guess the neighbor thinks it is too high), but both left without a qualm and told us the project was looking good.

Here is a shot to the trusses going up with the help of Chris's former high school buddy he reconnected with on facebook (Yeah social networking). Mike M. came down with his father's lull and we were able to get them up easier than imagined.

Not only did the lull help with the trusses going up but with the transportation of the over hang, which looked like the wing to a small plane when Chris built them.

Here is a shot of Chris riding in the basket to get the final piece of the trusses in place, which finished off the look of Chris's vision to the house.

One of the last pictures are of the house getting the windows in place, which drastically reduced the wind coming into the living addition in the back. The front of the house is taking shape and now we are focusing on the interior and getting that going.

The last picture is where the house sits right now on December 24, 2010 @ 3:20 in the afternoon and instead of getting ready to go to my folks house to celebrate Christmas Eve I am updating the blog. I also hear we are in for another whopping snow storm in a week...bigger than the 17 inches we got before. OMG...where will we put that snow. That will be a very interesting post if and when the snow comes. To Be Continued....

We Are Back!!!!

I have internet officially back at home. This is the first post since that day so many months ago. It is hard to believe that it has been six months and so much has been done. I don't even know where to start. I guess with the current house situation would be the best...right now as I type Chris and Tim are wrestling with getting the wirzbo on in the front of the house. For the past few weeks we have had to let the water drip, but now with the temperatures really dropping Chris figured it was time to get the heat on.

The front of the house is entirely up and lovely with all the windows (not looking forward to actually cleaning them), but it is a fabulous site. Chris is working hard getting the plumbing ready and this project is steaming ahead. It is hard to believe that we have been in this addition for almost a year already.

A short recap of the last months goes kind of like this...

Disney World in August with the kids and my parents...a very long drive (5 days down, 4 days back) & very very very HOT, but the kids loved it.

September was the start of school for Jasmine (Middle School), Nick (1st grade), Jayna (preschool) and myself (grad. school) so that meant a lot of changes to the schedule for everyone. Most days are crazy but the schedule is good for everyone too. Jayna is excited that she gets to ride the school bus with Nick next year.

Side Note: somewhere in there Tough Tony broke his collar bone horsing around upstairs with his big sister Jayna.

Halloween was the typical chaos around here. Jasmine was a devil (along with her horse @ the Halloween fun show at Windy Ridge Ranch), Nick was a jail bird, Jayna was a lovely ladyBUG, and Tony was a puppy dog. This was the first year that Tony really got into the spirit of getting candy but his little legs got worn out really fast; good thing we had the wagon.

Now that the holidays are in full swing, it is hard to believe that 2010 is almost over and I got to blog only half of the year. Just also to let everyone know that the updated videos of the house project and other interesting videos can be found on our flip share site...

flipshare.com

user name: jessicacarvelli@yahoo.com

password: (contact me for info)

A Month Really?

It is hard to believe that I have been without a computer for a month already and for that this blog is behind and for that I want to apologize to all my readers for the fall behind. Yes to all the two readers I havce out there. lol

I have a computer full of pictures to upload and updates to tell and I am not sure when it will happen. I am hoping for sure by the end of August because I have to have the computer back for school.

So right now all we have to do to fill up our time (besides building the house) is watching the HOURS of Deadliest Catch we have on DVD. So here is a glimpse of what is up here at the Carvelli house.

1. The roof trusses are up and hopefully ready for shingles this weekend
2. Nick has his buttons and elastics on his teeth (underbite fix)
3. Disney or Bust in 35 days (I may not survive)
4. Waiting on job applications (not sure if I am ready for a job)
5. Kids are getting older!!!!!

Tony's Shoe Fetish

If Tony's antics haven't left you laughing on the floor yet well take a look at his latest stunts. He is MY boy!!!!! He loves shoes and not just anyone's shoes but Jayna's shoes. He is becoming quite a fashion bug and with his growing independents, he wants to be free like the kids when they fly outside to play. He has discovered that flip flops and sandals do the job but don't protect your feet as well as shoes. His vans do just fine but he has too much trouble with the Velcro.

Recently Jayna got "mud" boots with my parents and I was able to get Nick a pair from Target when they clearance them out. I guess Tony felt a bit left out so he went about it by himself to make his own "mud" boots, and bless his little heart pink is his color. Jayna has let her little brother use her snow boots for his own with the promise that she would get Kai Lan boots next year and a pink snowmobiling helmet too.

He is proud of his boots and that he can get them on ALL BY HIMSELF and argues now if we try to make him wear other shoes. I really don't care if he wears them because it makes him happy but I am not quite sure about Chris letting him wear them out in public.

Summer Fun Begins

Here is the first corn shuck of the year. The kids started off the summer festivities with the corn shuck and only then did I discover I was out of propane so inside it went. My friend Jessica came over with her son Isaac and it is amazing how the company changes my kids. It is almost like they never say other kids or it could be the thrill of not having to play with their siblings. Anyway it is nice to see Nick being kind to another human being.

Nick is already looking forward to picking strawberries and Jayna keeps asking when the water is going to be warm enough to go swimming at the beach. I think I am going to be busy busy busy.

Jasmine is staying busy as always with her horses and this is Lily that she got to ride once before getting her beloved Captain back. Summer also marks a break for Jasmine in her horse riding lessons. Most kids take the break when it is snowing out NOPE for Jasmine she takes the break to spend some time with the farmers, but I know she misses her horses.

Lasik

Okay by now you all know that Chris got Lasik, but what you don't know is that he really got them so he can snowmobile better. SO THERE CHRIS...the truth is out. That is the only reason I told him it was a selfish thing to do and that he did it on a whim (he told me after he made the appointment), but I got him back with these wonderful pictures of him at his worst.

Here are his sleepy glasses he got to wear to stop him from rubbing his eyes while sleeping...they lasted one night.

And here are the forever drops that he gets to put into his eyes, probably for the rest of his life.

I am not sure what he expected from the procedure and I knew that he was nervous before going in but after a few weeks I know that he is happy, but getting through the weekend was harder for him getting use to the adjustments his eyes would have to go through.

I wasn't sure how it would go and bit nervous for him because who really goes through elective surgery? It is your eyes now, okay I understand that thousands of people do it and it is all good but scary. Now I am left with a husband with BEAUTIFUL green eyes!!!! Can you see Chris's head swelling? Got to love him though and he is happy with his purchase. What is next for Chris to buy?