Easter and Renovations

I know, it's been a while! Life has been busy, I don't always remember to take pictures, and when I do... well, let's just say, my subject isn't always cooperative (I get a lot of 'Mom, get out of my way' looks). I'm sure Rachel can sympathize with this, but it seems like for every picture that makes it on the blog, I have 10 to 15 that I delete. Give or take. 

That being said, enjoy these pictures!

This is one of my favorites lately! He is looking
right at me, and his expression is perfect. 

 Just playing outside... we've been doing so much of that lately. The weather is mostly good, a few cool days, a few windy days, but we get outside almost every day regardless. He begs for it most days; "sshooe" and "jacket" he knows and repeats until I put them on and we go "ouside" (the 'T' is silent). :)

Easter

My family came the day before Easter to celebrate birthdays and Easter and just be together. 
Aunt Abby took this fun collage of pictures while Eli made faces to her iPhone camera (he can see himself in the screen while he makes faces),

Playing outside, hunting for eggs. Eli couldn't care less about finding silly eggs in the grass, that is, until he figured out there were things to eat inside! 

Easter Sunday

This is his face when he sees a pretty girl he likes
at church. She's blond and has a beautiful smile,
and is way too old for him (I think she's 14)!

Sitting outside with Dad,
greeting people coming into church.

Laundry Room Project 

Last week and weekend we (and by 'we' I mean mostly Josh) replaced all the plumbing under the house, tore out the carpet and replaced the floor in the laundry room, painted the laundry room, changed out all the electrical outlets and covers in the laundry room, and moved the washer and dryer to a different wall (meaning, moving the plumbing, electric, and vent for both). And the majority of this was done in 2 days. My husband is an amazingly hard worker. Joseph (our friendly 18 year old neighbor who has worked with Josh on numerous occasions) helped on the plumbing day, staying for dinner and helping until after 9:00 that night. I think they made somewhere around 46 trips to the hardware/plumbing store. Or 6. Something like that. 

This is the manifold system... thing... that my genius
husband made. Apparently they can be $200 to buy.
 Also, he put in a whole-house water filter.

Eli wanted to help so badly, but mostly ended up
getting into things he shouldn't. Like paint.

"I'm sorry, I can't hear you with my eyes closed."

This is the 'finished' pantry/laundry room (we still have some minor things to do, shelves above the washer and dryer, etc). I love the blue! It's vibrant and perfect, I think the color actually makes the room feel bigger. It's bold, but not overwhelming because there are quite a few things on the walls to give balance and cover some of the brightness. 

My pantry shelve are on the right, and
the extra fridge/freezer is on the left.

I think it's hard to get good pictures of rooms, unless they are huge, and this room is not. :) I am so happy with the way it turned out!

More playing outside! Today I just followed him around the yard, exploring, picking through the dirt, and occasionally trying to get him to look at me.

What a cute face!