Now what?

2013 was a year of me disappearing on my blog. I have no excuses. I simply just stopped blogging. So, where does that leave this blog now?

Here. One of my resolutions is to blog in the year 2014. It might only be a simply picture upload from my phone, but I will blog. I want to be able to look back in December 2014 and see all the fun things we did that year.

Soccer Weekend #2 Alvin

Alvin's team (Smurfs) vs Grasshoppers
Lost

 Yes, they let his little bitty butt be goalie for a while. Granted, nothing came down to his end of the field, so he ended up playing with the net the majority of the time instead.

Soccer Weekend #2 Erin

Erin's Team (Hornets) vs Crush
Won 5-1

 As you can see, it was a very wet day. It rained the entire time we were at the fields.

Soccer Weekend #2 Emali

Emali's team (Buckeyes) vs Bears
Lost 5-2

Soccer Weekend #1 Revisited

Remember how I said there was a gas line rupture? Well, tonight we played Emali's game that was missed because of it.

She is playing on the team called "Buckeyes" this year. As always, she is loving soccer.

 Early in the game, she got hurt catching a ball wrong. She stayed and played the rest of the game, but she was hurting pretty bad by the end of it. Turns out, she sprained her wrist. No goalie for her for at least a week.

But that's fine, because she likes playing forward as well. Sadly, her team lost to the team she played for last year, the Arctic Foxes. 7-1. She was so angry.

Soccer Weekend #1

Ok. It's that time of year again, only this year I have all three kids in soccer! Today was definitely an interesting day on the fields. Erin and Alvin both were able to play their games, but Emali was not. Why? There was a high-pressure gas line rupture next to the driveway leading to the fields. Because of this, most of Emali's team wasn't able to make it in order to play. They have rescheduled her game for Thursday instead.

This is both Erin and Alvin's first year playing soccer. So far, they both seem to enjoy it immensely.

Alvin is playing on a team called "Smurfs". He is #4 and is just having an absolutely great time.

He spent a good majority of the game on the ground. Sitting there. Laying there. Picking grass. I can't fault him though. We had to be at the field at 8am in order to get pictures taken and his game wasn't until 10am. He was one tired little guy when his game started.

They played a team called "Minions" and lost. He doesn't care though. He's having a good time.

Next is Miss Erin. She is playing for a team called "Hornets". She has absolutely no clue what she's doing, but she's having a good time doing it!

Her team won against the Wolverines. I believe the score was 5-0.

I think I'm likely going to start splitting these posts up. One per kid. Otherwise, the posts will end up extremely long.

Cabinet Re-do

Yes, I know I disappeared for 4 months. I'm doubtful I will be able to catch up, so I'm not going to even promise that I will. If I do, then great. If I don't, nothing is lost. If do, however, the posts will coincide with the time period the event happened. So, you may have to scroll to older posts. Anyway,onwards.

I bought a wonderfully old cabinet on a local buy/sell site for $30. When I went to pick it up, I immediately saw it's potential.

Look at it. It's simply screaming to be made over. The nasty contact paper lining the shelves, the horrid black paint job, the outdated drawer pulls. All had to go. So, I got out my trusty power sander and spent the better part of two days sanding it. The paint came off in little rubber balls. I went through tons of sand paper because of it. This is what I was left with.

Gorgeous, right? All that detailing was being lost with the dark black paint. Now, while a few of my friends thought I should just stain it, I thought otherwise. This is the final result of my vision:

Do you see that? Simply B-E-A-U-tiful! I spray painted both the light blue and white. It took SEVERAL light coats, with 400 grit sanding in-between each coat. Then, using my trusty overhead projector, I painted on the silhouette of a peacock in bright blue. I then changed out the old outdated hardware with gunmetal pendant drop pulls. I love, love, love this. It brightens up my living room, without overpowering it.

Emali's Spring Concert

Monday was Emali's Spring Concert. This year, she did a duet with another flute player. She didn't tell us she was going to be doing this. It was quite a surprised to read in the program. I am so very proud of her.

NFCA Walk in the Wild 2013

Today was the 19th Annual Walk in the Wild for NF at the Pittsburgh Zoo. This was our second year doing this walk. Last year it was rainy and miserable. This year it was GORGEOUS weather for it. We also had custom team shirts printed this year.

Great Steps for NF walk

Today was the Great Steps for NF walk. It was the First Annual walk for this area. (There is a bigger walk in Pittsburgh. This one is MUCH closer and supports NF, Inc.). One of my FB friends was the head volunteer! While it was a small walk, it was still a great walk! Sadly, it was COLD! It actually was snowing while we were walking. Funny, because it was 84 two days ago. Oh well, such is the weather in April in Ohio.

Easter 2013

On Friday, we had our annual flashlight Easter egg hunt at my parents' house. The kids just love it. It's always cold, especially this year since Easter was so early. Doesn't stop the kids though!

All the grandkids. My three and my step-sister's two. 

Alvin looking for eggs.

Emali looking for eggs.

All their loot from Grammy and Grandpa!

Then, we head to this morning. Yay Easter! Unfortunately, Eric had to work, so he missed all the day's activities. *sadface*

Alvin with his Easter loot.

Erin with her Easter loot.

Emali with her Easter loot.

Then it was off to my parents' for Easter lunch. My Dad and Eric both were working. :(

Starting at the top and going clockwise: My Mom, Grandma J, Uncle Louie, Emali, Erin, Alvin, my Grandma.

This is my parents' cat, Viktor. He was begging. You'll see better in the second picture.

See. Viktor begging. Such a weird cat. 

Emali's Birthday

Just like Erin, we had a small get together for Emali's birthday. Today, she turned 12! TWELVE! I'm one year away from having a teenager. Can you believe it?

Emali is in to everything sports. She loves playing soccer and wants to add volleyball and basketball to the mix this year as well.

 Emali's dill pickle cupcakes. Yes, dill pickle cupcakes.

Hubby's New Toy

This post is mostly for my father-in-law. You can skip it if you want.

Today, Eric picked up his newest toy. He bought a 1971 Jeepster Commando. It's in rough shape, but it runs. He's absolutely over the moon happy with this thing. He's going to fix it up, paint it, and basically restore it. Until then, it's going to be his daily driver since he only works 2 miles from where we live.

THIS is what he wants it to look like when he's done.