Monday, May 20, 2013

Play Date with a BFF

Jentry has an adorable friend named Kennedy.  They first met at Noah's Ark Daycare in Lincoln and will both turn five in June.  Since we moved to Sutton, Jentry and Kennedy have remained close friends and are now pen pals.  I have been promising Jentry that I would arrange a trip to Lincoln when Kennedy could play for the day.  Finally, after months of planning, we made it all happen.  Saturday morning Jentry and I drove to Lincoln and picked up Kennedy at her home.  Jentry jumped out of the car, ran to the front door and rang the doorbell.  Kennedy came to the door and they gave each other the biggest hug two little girls could possibly give.  They had not seen each other for over a year and were still BFFs!  It literally brought tears to my eyes and made the entire trip worth every minute.

First stop on the day of fun....Red Robin!  They both selected the mac 'n' cheese kid's meal with chocolate milk.  Great choice girls!


After lunch, they both got to pick out a balloon.  Unfortunately, Kennedy's balloon popped as we were getting in the car.  I felt so bad, but she said, "That's OK, we have lots more balloons at home."  What a sweetie!



Next stop, The Lincoln Children's Museum:
They made pizza...

Drove the ambulance...

Fixed tires...

Stood in awe of the Lincoln log tower...

Performed on stage...

Shrank into tiny little dolls...

Flew airplanes...

Suited up for space... 

Volleyed the ball...

Passed the skin...

All the all-time favorite...Cashiered the groceries!

They spent nearly five hours together and still hated to say goodbye.  We will definitely have to do it again someday.  

After taking Kennedy home, I distracted Jentry by shopping for new clothes.  She insisted on me taking her picture with Abe at the mall.  She cracks me up!


After shopping till I literally was about to drop, we grabbed some grub and headed to John and Jan's condo for a little mommy daughter sleep over.  Jentry had so much fun sleeping in the same bed as me.  Oh the little things.  

On Sunday we attended a lovely baby shower for my friend CeCe and Jentry had a blast with the ladies.  It was such and fun, girly weekend.   We must do more of these!

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Preschool Diploma

Today is Jentry's last day of Preschool!  I can not believe how quickly the days have past.

Yesterday evening, we celebrated with a picnic in the park.  The class stood on the stage and said the Pledge of Allegiance and then sang four, adorable songs.  Jentry was so excited for me to see what they have been vigorously practicing.  She has been very secretive about the song choices, as she didn't want to spoil the surprise.  She did awesome and I was so proud of her.  She definitely nailed all of the words and the actions too.  She just loves to preform.



Before presenting them with their diplomas, Ms. Peterson read each child's name and what they wanted to be when they grow up.  When she got to Jentry's name, she said, "Jentry Stenger wants to be a mommy."  Everyone in the crowd went aww.  I was doing really well up until this point and then I started to tear up.  I could not have been more proud of my little girl, even though she was one of the only children that chose a career that does not provide any monetary income.  Hope she marries well....  Ha!
  


Along with the decadent diplomas, each child received a magnetic fishing game.  Jentry was so excited to pose for a picture with her friend Avery.

We enjoyed a wonderful picnic meal on a gorgeous spring evening in the park.  The preschool program at Sutton Public Schools is called Beginning Early Education or the BEEs program and for dessert the local bakery created these adorable, buzzin' BEE cupcakes.

It was so fun to celebrate an amazing milestone in my baby's life.  She has grown so much in the last nine months; emotionally, mentally and physically.  I am truly trying to savor every minute, because they are all moving entirely too quickly.

Jentry on her first day of preschool:

 Jentry on her last day of preschool:
She looks so much smarter...and taller too!

Friday, May 10, 2013

Basement Finish

I was going to wait until we had our new bedroom furniture and decor in place before posting pictures of the basement, however I have come to the realization that the decor and final touches are a never ending task. So, without further ado....


Steps leading down from the kitchen and the back door on the bottom right.

Second set of steps leading down with door to guest bedroom on the bottom right.

Before:

After:
 Bottom of stairs looking into the guest bedroom.

Guest bedroom, which my mother already refers to as "her room."

Bathroom, which utilizes my grandparents' old, art deco, beveled mirror.  It hung in their pink and black tiled bathroom on the farm.  For some reason, I loved that tiny little space and now I have a piece of it in my home. 

Walk-in shower and storage.  As you can see by the towel, it has already been put to use by Nathan.  He moved in the very day it had running water.  I guess sharing one bathroom with two girls just wasn't ideal.


Bottom of the stairs looking at the laundry room door.  The bathroom entrance is on the left and the commons room entrance is on the right.  We decided to leave the old brick chimney exposed because I thought it was so beautiful and Nathan thought it would provide more hallway space.  It's so nice when we think alike.   

Laundry room

I would eventually like to add a counter and some cupboard space, however it is totally functional for now.  I no longer feel like I'm going to the dungeon to wash a load of clothes, which is a huge improvement.

Commons room, because we are not quite sure what to call it.  Jentry has a toy area so she calls it her room.  The ledge was an old storage area for canned goods.

Commons room

Before:

 After:
Master bedroom.  I can't wait for the new furniture to arrive!

Nice big closet!  It is actually small compared to my closet/room in Lincoln, however compared to the tiny box upstairs it is a wardrobe palace!

Master bedroom looking at doorway lending to the commons room.

Before:

 After:
Man Cave looking north with door to storage closet on the back right.  I didn't think he really needed the entire room for a cave.  Thankfully, he agreed and allowed me a little space on the end.

Before:

After: 
Man cave looking south.

Beautiful Handsome bar built by my talented husband.

We also wanted to leave some of the neat brick wall exposed in the man cave.  Nathan and his cousin Brady come up with this cool idea to display Nathan's Memorial Stadium canvas art.  They framed it out and had the electrician light it up.  It turned out better than I had imagined.

There will be lots of movie watchin' in this cool space all summer long!  Jentry and I might even be able to sneak in a princess movie while Nathan is away.

Jentry helping paint the man cave, accent wall "Navaho Red."  She was a great helper!

We started the basement finish in July of 2012 and it was completed in April.  It was a much longer and more expensive project than we had anticipated, however it was so worth it.  Jentry had a wonderful time watching the transformation and helping out whenever she was able.

Unfortunately, doubling your square footage also includes doubling your cleaning, but we are absolutely loving our new living space.