Almost There!!

The wall is almost done! After what has seemed like forever we have FINALLY got all the pictures ordered and framed. First we ordered some pictures too big and then when we reordered they were on the wrong paper, but the third times a charm!! With all the pictures framed and ready to go we had to figure out how we were going to organize them all. So Alex, my mom, and I measured the wall and taped it out on the ground and began placing pictures. Once we got going we realized we were going to have to move the couch to the other wall and put the pictures all around the window so they would all fit! We had to rearrange everything a couple times to get it just right but it is finally done and we are quite happy with the way it turned out! Next we have to hang them all! YIKES!!!

 Checking our measurements

The finishing touches

Exhausted...

but SO proud of OUR WALL!!!

Grandma Dorothy helped

Celebrating!!!

MEANWHILE...

The men slept!

Mowgli's New Do!

For those of you who don't know we got our dog Mowgli from the pound when he was just a puppy. He is the cutest sweetest dog with this beautiful golden fur. Over the years he has gained a little weight and it keeps him warm, especially in the summer. I always feel bad for him when it is hot because he has so much fur and is constantly panting as if he can't quite get cool. So this summer we decided to shave him! No one knew what to expect but he turned out quite cute! Hopefully his haircut will help him stay cool! Keep in mind he was afraid of the camera so I did the best I could with the pictures. Typical Mowgli. But here he is the new and improved Mowgli!! 

Before...

And After

Giving Goose the lip

I love the stripe! It is so dark now

His head looks funny because it is still furry

I gotta love those faces!!

I'll Do It Myself!

For the past couple of weeks  the mat underneath my family room rug has been sticking out. Every time I walked past it I thought I need to fix that. I knew the couch would have to be moved  so I asked Scott to ask Ben to help him fix the mat. Well I kept asking and of course he never did it. I couldn't stand it any longer so I decided to do it myself. Actually Vanessa helped me but we did it. Together we pulled the couch of the carpet (when we moved the couch Maddie found her DS she thought she lost) and rolled the giant rug  back, only to find that the mat underneath was cut into 3 parts and the part not under the couch had shifted. Using duck tap we tapped all 3 parts together so it wouldn't move again, rolled the rug back up and this time with the help of Steph and Maddie put the couch back into place. Maddie thought it was funny watching us try to move everything and got out the camera to take pictures, that is why it is going on the blog.

 The discovering of the spilt mat

Rolling back the carpet

Maddie got creative with her pictures, birds eye view!

Taping the mats together

Unrolling the carpet

Like mother like daughter

Team work

Planning our attack

The final touch

Happy Mothers Day!

I want to wish my mom a Happy Mothers Day and let her know how much I love and appreciate her!! She is my best friend and I love her so much. She is the type of mom that will do anything and everything for you, no matter what! The hours in my day I get to spend with my mom, is what I look forward to the most. I am grateful for her example of how to be a wonderful mother, wife, and friend. My mom is always there for me whether I think I need her or not and I know she always will be. I hope one day I will be able to be half of the women she is! You are the best mom in the whole world! I LOVE YOU MOM!! 

Love ~

  Vanessa 

Minne's Funkadelic Madness!

So this past Wednesday night Ben, Alex, Me, and my friend Katie Baker went to Minne's Funkadelic Madness at Disneyland. Basically it is a giant scavenger hunt around the park for Disney employees and their family and friends. Ben's cousins work at Disneyland and invited us to come. Stephanie was supposed to come and be our fourth member(because there were 4 players to a team) but she decided she didn't want to go. So at the last minute I invited Katie. We picked up Alex from work around seven and then headed down there. We met up with Ben's cousins and got all checked in. The first part of the night we had to answer 50 different trivia questions about Disney. It was really hard because we didn't know anything. After the questions we got our first clue. With each clue we had to figure out a question or something and then run to a place in the park to get the answer and then run back to the center of the park to turn in that answer and get our next clue. We had to do that ten times in 2 hours. Did I mention the whole time you are tide together!! Yes, every team was roped together which made it quite a bit harder to move around. Well our team completed all 10 clues with 15 minutes to spare. We were pretty proud! For a second we thought we could actually win  but there was no chance. There were about 300 teams of 4 and people were taking it very serious. People had books on Disney A-Z trivia, head lamps and matching outfits. haha It was quite entertaining. We ended up getting pretty into, if you know Alex you get what I mean. :) Overall it was a very fun night and I'm so glad that Ben's cousins invited us!!

 

This is my attempt to document the event! I was bummed because my battery died like half way through the night, so here is what I got.

Katie and Ben on the tram!

Me and Alex

Katie and Ben were hungry so they bought these sandwiches that were huge. They were 3 layers thick!

Alex and Ben and all his cousins! Alex just had to get her kettle corn, which we all ate!

Our team

The sea of people!

This trivia question were on this big screen and we answered them on a scantron. It was serious business

Ben is turning in our first clue. You can see we are all roped together

Working on one of the clues

This is the last picture we took. I'm doing charades for ones of the clues.

GO HART TIMES 4!

It all started when Alex was 5 years old and went with Jill Meldrum when she was a Hart cheerleader to a day camp for little girls called  "spirit day. " That's when she decided she wanted to be a Hart cheerleader. She tried out in 2000 and cheered for 2 years after that Stephanie tried out in 2002 and cheered for 2 years and Vanessa tried out in 2005 and cheered for 2 years. Now here we are today and Madeline tried out and is now officially a Hart cheerleader. She had clinic last week and then tryouts were on Wednesday. Thanks to her sisters and our great friend Lindsay (who of course was a Hart cheerleader) Maddie was very prepared. She had all her tumbling tricks and just a great natural ability for cheer. We are so proud of her and I know that it will be an awesome experience for her. My girls learned so much during their cheerleading years about hard work, teamwork and dedication. Its hard to believe that my baby will be in high school, time is going too fast.We all had so much fun getting her ready, thanks for being such good big sisters, you are great examples for Madeline and you all make me proud. Thank you Lindsay, you gave her added confidence, and thanks Kandie (Alex's mother in law) for being so sweet about the whole process. Congratulations to Madeline who worked so hard, danced so cute and made us all proud. GO HART!!!!

Alex made this shirt for tryouts! Isn't it cute!

Getting ready for tryouts!

Alex and Lindsay did her hair

Shielding her eyes from the hairspray

Practicing her cheer faces

Alex fixing some loose jewels

Me and my baby

Alex, Maddie and Lindsay

Maddie and Kandie

Our little Hart Cheerleader

Practicing her cheers

They tried out in groups of 3. Her shirt was so cute

Maddie waiting for her turn

Vanessa passing the torch

Whispering a few last minute words of encouragement

Right before she went in, the face says it all 

After tryouts! 

She ran straight to Lindsay

So sweet!! 

She was so relieved and just glad it was over