Kaveri Gene is 12

Kaveri*6th grade*12 yrs old

mother faints of sadness and shock

😅😅

Kirstin made Kaveri's special cake.

A chocolate smores cake with toasted marshmallow frosting.

Yummy!

We celebrated her birthday at home 

and then Kirstin took her to the mall

for some special birthday shopping.

They had so much fun !👗

She came home and we did a fashion show.

She lit up with each change of clothes,

it was really sweet.

Part of me can't believe she is 12 but 

the other part of me feels like she is older.

She is mature for her age. All of 

her friends call her the mother of the group.

This year she has been enjoying helping more with dinner.

She loves to organize.

She goes to her besties house and cleans

her room and organizes her toys,

just like i did when i was her age🤣

She has been working really hard in school.

She loves bringing home all of her grades 

and seeing the hard work pay off!

She packs her school lunch every night.

She is in 6th grade and has NEVER eaten a school lunch.

It cracks me up but she says the food is disgusting

 and the cafeteria line is a "hot mess."

This year a boy asked her to be his girlfriend and

she replied "don't come at me with that nonsense!"

She loves cute pillows and has about 10 on her bed.

Every morning she makes her bed and neatly 

puts each pillow in a certain order. 

It makes me smile every time I look at it :)

I just love watching her grow into her own skin.

She is still goofy,loves to sing and dance,

 loves to wrestle, and plays 

school,home,store,waitress,barbies etc.

Although now the barbies are in high school

and it's all very dramatic🤣🤣

I get the play by play from her and her bestie.

💜Happy Birthday Kaveri, we love you so much💜

The NEW Gameroom-Before and After!

Derek has been wanting to make this room

for the kids for at least 2 years.

Its in the basement and is 10 x 11 feet.

We listed a ton of stuff on craigslist and made about 2K+.

Every time we sold something

 he would go out and purchase

materials.

With the help of our family friend Larry,

they raised the existing plumbing and electrical a 

few inches up in the ceiling.

They also the existing light fixture, added an additional light, and added

all new wires for outlets.

Then they rerouted the large dishwasher and sink disposal pipes.

Derek tore out the large built in that covered one wall.

Behind part of the built in was a brick wall

that was the original coal chute to the house.

He applied a non toxic paint stripper but there was

4 layers of paint, maybe more. 

He spent an entire week working day and night on scraping 

the bricks.

It paid off! It's so pretty 😍

Then he sealed the room from moisture.

The wall frames, ceiling, and dry wall came next.

Then a new door frame and door .

That was followed by installing recessed dimming light fixtures 

and new electrical outlets.

He finished up with paint, installing the floors, and trim.

It's AMAZING 🙌🙌🙌

The kids love it!!!

They have all slept down there (except Gabriella) staying up all night 

watching movies and playing video games. 

Kirstin hangs out down there every night after work.

We got a new game system and smart t.v. 

Everyone is happy and I'm so 

thankful that my bearded man is so handy and hardworking!

Derek was determined to get it done by winter break and 

it was!

While Derek worked on that part of the basement

 I worked on the other side.

Scraped the walls and painted them charcoal grey.

Then me and the girls organized the pantry and

 I completely organized 

 all of my Etsy shop contents that are stored 

on shelves throughout the basement.

It has really helped cut down the time it takes me to find

the items i sell, so it's a win!

It's not pretty. There's no ceiling. It's unfinished and concrete.

*BUT* it makes a huge difference to me!

We are hoping to paint the rest of the basement eventually

or maybe we could come up with 10 grand + to officially finish

 the rest of the basement. lol

Another project checked off our to-do list✔🙌

Happy Hanukkah 2018

Hanukkah was super early this year. I think it started 

right around December first.

The last 3 years we have gotten sick during Hanukkah,

but not this year! 

We had some really great dreidel nights and 

plenty of family fun time!

She has been seriously working on

her eye open smile  🤣🤣

Serenading his sister with his new ukulele 💘

Stay tuned for pictures of the kids big Hanukkah gift.

🕎Don't forget to be a shining light for others🕎