Day 59

Today is painting day, YEAH!!

Unfortunately, our room was hastily painted with only one coat of Cancun Blue nearly four years ago before we moved in, as I was days from delivering our first child. With the help of many friends and family, most of our bland, beige house was painted. Since then, I have been wanting to paint a couple of more coats to even it out. Move out the bedroom set and hey, let's paint! Coat two is now complete and we will see in a couple of hours if we need coat three.

Day 58

I was trying to figure out a picture for today and since it's late, my creative juices started flowing. I thought I would try out one of my settings on my camera and chose the illustration mode. My subject is the bottle of wine I added to my chicken piccata and then we finished it with dinner. One thing I learned is I need to pull out the tripod as with this setting, it does take a while for the camera to do it's thing.

Day 57

Winter just won't give up the ghost this year. This is the scene we awoke to this morning. Notice the trash cans sitting up at the end of the drive way as today is also trash and recycling day. Hopefully the trash will get pick up tomorrow or later today as the snow is not supposed to stick around.

Day 56

It only took nearly 17 months for Aaron's name to appear and stake his claim on the house. Since Aaron was born, one of my projects has been to get the letters for the wall. There isn't much in the way of wall decoration besides what my dear friend painted four years ago.

Day 55

This is what happens while mom is cooking dinner and notices the three year old is awfully quiet. He decides to head downstairs and undo all of mom's work on her two beaded necklaces. The small orange beaded necklace just needed a clasp and the red and turquoise one was midway through the design and stringing stage. I guess I'll be redoing them both. Oh well, such is life with little ones.

Day 54

Here is what my bedroom looks like sans bedroom furniture. The is also the first time in our our married life that we have slept on the floor. It's also kinda funny that the bedspread that is currently on our bed is the one we registered for at JCPenny's ten years ago. Can we say update??

Day 53

Today was the last day of the Seattle Home Show, so we made the rounds to see the latest and greatest available for the home. Honestly, the only thing super tempting was buying a condo in Mexico, but really, where is that extra $$ coming from?

Day 52

One of the Christmas gifts we received this year was tickets to a Baby Loves Disco event. Today was the day we chose to go and the boys had a great time. It took place at one of the night clubs in downtown Seattle. They took one of the rooms and turned it into a play room with blocks, bumbo seats, balls and various toys. There was music and dancing in the other room along with snacks and drink boxes galore. It was a fun day out as a family.

Day 51

I wanted to go shopping today as Baby Gap Outlet was having a sale. Okay, the sale wasn't all that great as I've gotten better deals at the Baby Gap store. One of the best things according to my three year old is the riding toys they have at the outlet mall. It's the best entertainment for 50 cents.

Day 50

Tonight during bath time, Andy grabbed my shower cap and put it on his head. He is such a silly kid and can make me laugh in the midst of a stressful week with his dad out of town.

Day 49

Mike and I found a new bed this past weekend and decided if we are to purchase a new one, then we need to sell what we currently have. Our bedroom set was one of the first pieces of furniture we bought together right before we were married. It has survived ten years, four moves and two children. Unfortunately, it doesn't fit our current house and I haven't been able to use the mirror on the dresser for almost four years. Today I spent some major time and energy cleaning up our room to attempt to take pictures to put up on craigslist. I thought I would use the picture with my little helper.

Day 48

I love the King County library system. It is so easy to get online, request a book and have it delivered to your local library branch. One of the books I have been patiently waiting for is Multiple Bles8ings by Jon & Kate Gosselin and Beth Carson. I am a fan of the show Jon & Kate Plus 8 and wanted to read this book since it is about their lives before the show, mainly when she was pregnant with the sextuplets and life shortly after.

Even if you aren't a fan of the show, this book is more about the great awesome God we serve. It is the Gosselin's testimony of how God has brought them through the struggles and joy of marriage and family. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down, so most of my day today was coffee and reading this book. Oh, you will also need Kleenex, too.

Day 47

This morning after breakfast, I was finishing up my coffee and reading a couple of chapters of my book, so I wasn't paying that much attention to what the boys were doing. I headed down the hall to the restroom and discovered the array of books flowing down the hall. No surprise there, but then I noticed the little creative nook. Andy had taken his pillow and quilt and made himself a little reading spot. I was wishing I was little again, so I could go cuddle up and read in that special little spot.

Day 46

Today after church, the boys and I dropped Mike off at the airport for another week of travel. With Mike out of town, my Sunday afternoon naps seem to go by the way side, but alas, I found a way. I put Aaron down for his nap, plugged Andy into the iPod to play while he wears his patch and I crawled into my warm, flannel sheeted bed. After my restful nap, I woke up to find that Andy had dumped out his Valentine cards all over his bed to find the perfect piece of candy. You will also notice my boy loves his quilts.

Day 45

Here are my silly boys taking turns at what our family calls, the zurbert. It's where you basically do raspberries on the tummy. It was so sweet that the boys were taking turns and having a great time. I'm really glad I was able to get it on camera. Happy Valentine's Day!

Ah, the day of love....

Day 44

Instead of the changing of the guards, it's the changing of the closets. Aaron is getting too big for some of his current clothing, so I thought I would just go ahead and trade out the 12-18 month items for the 18-24 month clothes. He is a little longer torso than Andy, so the bigger shirts fit him great right now, but the pants are still a bit long. I was also a bit amazed and embarrassed at the amount of clothing in the bigger size. Aaron can now probably go a full week plus and I won't have to do laundry save the pajama's.

Day 43

My funny picture of the day. Aaron wearing his brother's Cars' underwear. I was trying to get Andy dressed for the day, a feat in itself most days, and Aaron was helping himself to big brother's clothes. Okay, so he had a little help from mom, but the giggles from the boys made my day.

Day 42

One of the requirements of Andy's preschool is the monthly parent education class we attend. For the month of February, the class was on gender differences of boys and girls. Anyone remember Kindergarten Cop?? I was really concerned the class was going to be politically correct, but there were some interesting points about raising boys and girls. We did receive a bibliography of books for references, so who knows what information may lie in that list.

Day 41

I would rather be here than where I am now. It is day 3 of the stomach bug and everyone has it, including dear old mom. Mike stayed home from work today which was a huge blessing for me. I have been able to rest as I was the last one to get sick. Luckily it only lasts 24 hours, so here's hoping the sun will come out tomorrow.

Day 40

Day two of the bug....So why not, I took over 300 pictures in Oahu. On Sunday afternoon, I was standing out on the lanai and noticed a lone sea turtle right in front of our hotel. It was the only sea turtle I saw the entire time in Hawaii too.

Day 39

The stomach bug has hit the Sorensen family, so I decided a picture from Hawaii was a better choice. The rock formations were so amazing and I loved hearing the water crash against them.

Day 38

Today was one of those rare days that happens as often as snow in Seattle (minus this past winter), purchasing of quilting fabric. My mother-in-law had received notification of a fabric sale at one of the local warehouses of Kona Bay fabrics. Most of the bolts were six yards so you had to really like it. The prices were pretty good for print fabric, so my MIL and I split a couple of bolts of six yards and another bolt nine yards long. The red and white fabric on the bottom was the ONLY bolt of that fabric and I had several ladies mourning their loss of finding it after me. I don't have any plans as of yet, but I'm sure inspiration will come in due time.

Day 37

One of my favorite television shows as Valentine cards. What could be better? Maybe working in corporate America so I could actually pass them out? Or not, the stay at home gig is a way better job any day.

Day 36

Meet Baby Bear from the preschool. He came to stay with us a couple of days because Andy is star of the week. Today I snapped this picture of Andy so I would have record of Baby Bear's visit to our house. I also spent the day at preschool in the back room to fulfill my part of days worked this month at the preschool. Andy was so excited to not only have baby bear for the week, but to have mom in his class with him. His friend, Monkey, had to share Andy, but I think all turned out fine.

Day 35

I spent my Wednesday uploading photos of our trip to Hawaii to our smugmug website. So it just seemed a little fitting to take a photo of my computer. I must confess, the photos are uploaded but I haven't had time to put on captions or edit them.

Day 34

My baby is turning into a little boy. Aaron received a few puzzles for Christmas and has developed an interest in them. I'm just amazed at how well his attempts are without too much fussing or frustration.

Day 33

I took this picture of Aaron just chilling on the pillow, reading a book while his brother kept jumping over him. Andy was playing super hero and uses his apron as a cape. It was fun to see how this picture turned out as I took it on my iPhone.

Day 32

Today is one of the greatest excuses to eat high fat, high salt foods and get together with your friends to celebrate one of America's greatest games. Super Bowl Sunday!!!!

While the parents watched the game, the kiddos watched a movie or two....Here are a few of our kiddos enjoying the movie. The younger ones were smart enough to hang out with mom and dad where the food was located.

Kudos to my friend Dana for the picture. I didn't take any pictures that day and she saved my blog. Thank you Dana!!

Day 31

Today was a beautiful, sunny, clear day in the Pacific Northwest, so we headed to the park. Mom didn't take the camera out of the car, so no pictures of the boys at the park. On the way home, we needed to make a stop for a couple of items at Target. Instead of the whole family piling out of the car, I sent dad into the store to get Valentine's for Andy's class and this is what he came out with. Honestly, I just had to laugh. Bless his heart for trying.

Day 30

What can I say? It's laundry day. We got home around 1 am this morning after an hour delay in Honolulu and then we stopped by grandma and grandpa's to pick up the boys. Luckily, most of the laundry will just go back into the closet and drawers for the next time the weather warms up which will be around May sometime.

Day 29

After two days of clouds, this is view we were granted our last day. We threw on our bathing suits for one more dip in the ocean and swimming pool and then packed up for home. Mike and I had a great time just the two of us, but I sure miss my boys.

Day 28

This evening, Mike and I were able to attend our first luau. The food was pretty good, especially the slow cooked pork. The luau was more than just a show and dinner. It was a journey through the South Pacific islands and a part of their culture. We had a fun time, but unfortunately, most of my pictures were out of focus or I had issues with the lightning. Oh well.

Day 27

Today we rented a car and drove around the island of Oahu. We stopped at various beaches on our trip and by far, my favorite place we stopped was Sunset Beach. The sand was so soft and your feet literally just sank as you walked. The weather was coming in from the east and Sunset Beach was on the north side of the island. The gray clouds pretty much tell the story of the day, but it was nice to drive around and see the beauty God created.

Day 26

Today we went on a tour of Pearl Harbor and the Arizona Memorial. It was very humbling to be there and to see where the ships were docked and what happened on December 7, 1941. I chose to do something a little different than the shot of the memorial. This picture was taken from the memorial of one of the sections of the ship that stands out of water. The one thing that really surprised me was the fact that today, after 67 years, there is still oil leaking from the ship. So my picture today is of the oil slick that is leaking from the USS Arizona.

Day 25

Day one in Oahu. Mike and I will be celebrating our tenth wedding anniversary this year in June, but decided to take our trip to Hawaii a few months early. It was cheaper to cash in our miles in January than any other time of the year. This is a picture of the sunset from the balcony of our hotel room in Waikiki.

Day 24

Tonight Mike and I went to his company's holiday party at a local winery. Fortunately, I felt better today so we were able to go, but unfortunately, I was heavily medicated on cold medicine that I wasn't able to enjoy a glass of wine.

Day 23

Mike has been gone all week and while I was praying for him to stay healthy, I forgot to pray for me and yup, I caught the boys' cold. I was supposed to have a spa party tonight, but instead it's Kleenex and NyQuil for me. I also have to thank my mother-in-law for bringing over the medicine for me.