sanders family old blog

such a pretty girl...

"the hollywood tower hotel" was a scary ride in disneyworld that jasmine LOVED! she had to go on it by herself because van was too scared to go and i had to stay with him...didn't bother her a bit, i think she went like 3 times!
ron jon surf shop in cocoa beach, florida summer 2007
jasmine, jas, jasmeena leena, dj jazzy jazz, beautiful girl, sissy...take your pick, we're all about nicknames around here. so jasmine turned 11 on august 11th and just started her first year of middle school.
if any of you know anything about jasmine, you know she loves to read and would rather do that than pretty much anything. she was memorizing books and able to recite them word for word when she was 2 years old, and was reading at 4. (i'd like to take some credit for that, as i read to her everyday from the day that she was born) just to give you an idea...she read all 4 books in the twilight series in 1 week! she will read for hours on end.
she graduated from the "little pet shoppes" phase, and is now into "webkinz." i think she has like 38, and they're all registered online and have houses, and furniture and clothes...whoever thought that up was a genius. let's see...she loves the jonas brothers, miley cyrus, and watching the "twilight" trailer on her computer over and over and over...she's counting down the days til the premier. i told her i'd camp out with her to get a good place in line, we're getting excited:)
her and freddy love to kick the ball around...she's got a fierce kick, we need to get her in soccer soon. she's taking a.p. math, and a.p. science in school, and since they don't offer an a.p. english class at her school, we're looking into an accelerated reading/writing program since she wants to be an author someday. she's really loving her choir class in school, she sings soprano.
she loves her little brother, but teases him endlessly...drives me crazy. she bites her fingernails, is very good at doing her own hair (her pigtail do is my fave), and is already asking to wear make-up. that girl is 11 going on 16 (but then again, i used to say that when she was 3, so not much has changed)...she has always seemed much older than she is. i love her big brown eyes, beautiful smile, and her happy countenance.
jasmine amazes me- for one, she's fearless...the exact opposite of me when i was her age, it took me until i was an adult to learn that trait and i still don't have it down. she's very independent, and isn't afraid to stand up for herself. she recognizes when she sees others make bad choices, and has a strong desire to do what's right...i'm so proud of her for so many things. she makes friends very easily...people are drawn to her, i think it's because she radiates love and happiness. she's pretty dang funny and we laugh alot together, even more now that freddy is in our life...that dude is ALWAYS laughing! she loves being the center of attention (again, so unlike me), and has never had a problem in the shy department.
geez, i could go on and on...she's such a great girl, but i'll stop for now.
we love you jas!

van turned 5 back in june...just thought i'd document it now and write a little van update while i'm at it. his birthday was 2 days before our wedding, so things were a little hectic. but we made sure his day was special and all about him. the whole losee clan was here for the wedding, which actually turned out perfect...he thought everyone came just for his birthday! that made him feel special. so we had a little party for him at my sister maryanne's house where everyone was staying. he requested a superman cake and balloons...he got one of those huge water guns, a remote control car from g-ma and g-pa losee, an alvin and the chipmunks cd, clothes, the whac-a-mole game, and some money from g-ma toni and g-ma shade (thanks everyone!)

so about van...first of all, my FAVORITE thing that van does...randomly, and quite often, he'll say "mom?" (like he's going to ask me a question), and i'll say "what is it buddy?" and he'll say "i like you." it's the cutest thing...melts my heart. he's a very sweet boy, tender hearted, and very shy at first until he warms up to you. he loves "valilla" ice cream (but it makes him kinda "sirsty"), he thinks everything is "so awesome", and he's a very good looking kid:). he's a way picky eater and pretty much hates ALL fruits and vegetables...seriously. (and i've had him try most everything). but he does like pizza, so i puree spinach and put it in the pizza sauce, and other little tricks like putting applesauce in his cookies,and mixing 100% juice in his lemonade...just to make sure he gets his nutrients.
he loves to cook with me...mostly cookies, and bread (he loves raw bread dough) but he is seriously a profesh egg cracker...not so crazy about the slime that gets on his fingers afterwards or really anything that gets him dirty. (he's kind of a clean freak that way). and while i can pat myself on the back for teaching him good habits like all parents do (like washing his hands after he uses the bathroom, putting away his clothes in the appropriate drawers, putting his shoes in his closet after he wears them, etc.), he actually follows through with ALL of those things...he just really likes things to be in order. he even makes his bed every morning...now what 5 year old does that? ok, he does have some incentive... we made a rule that if he wants to play video games his bed has to be made first (and that kid is absolutely crazy about mario brothers), but hey- he does it.
he loves the water...the beach, the lake, the slip-n-slide, the wading pool, as long as it's wet he's there. he even taught himself how to doggy paddle. he loves to see how things "work", loves playing with dominoes and blocks, he can navigate himself around a computer better than i can, and he's a very smart boy.
he loves that i don't have to go to work anymore, because we get to spend so much time together. we talk often about how lucky we are to have freddy take care of us, and he recognizes how special that is. speaking of, he absolutely loves freddy! they instantly bonded when we first started dating, and are now inseparable. he's learning that things aren't "cute", they're "cool" (hey, he's been living with 2 girls for the last 4 years), and it's not o.k. to eat off of barbie plates (again, i don't see the big deal). but it certainly is nice to have a good man around the house for him to look up to.
our days are filled with exploring, making tents, reading, eating lunch in our secret hide-out, coloring, swimming, talking...i love it. we think of 10 "good dreams" before bed every night (so he won't have nightmares), he wants to stay 5 forever(so he doesn't get old like "ninety-free" and die), he still sleeps with g.g.(his blankie), he loves his sissy, and is just an all around great kid. i always tell him that he's my baby, and he says "i'm not a baby, babies are little" and i say "i know, but you're MY baby no matter how old you get"
love you baby!

it might not be so funny to anyone else, but we think it's hilarious that van says "chew" when he's saying the number two. so we pretended that we wanted to hear him count so we could get it on camera (i usually don't get that excited when my 5 year old counts to 5). so he says it twice...at the beginning when he's counting, and at the end of the clip when we ask him how many months jasmine has been gone (try to get past the little "show" he puts on, knowing he's got a camera on him). again, mostly funny just to us...but the clip is pretty entertaining in itself.

we drove out to see fredgie's sister robyn and her cute family in Iowa for the labor day weekend...it was so fun! robyn and tyler were the perfect hosts, we just showed up and they totally spoiled us! we went to a cubs game, a cute little farmers market, hung out at the lake, chilled at their beautiful home...it was perfect. and robyn was like a gourmet cook, i seriously gained like 5 pounds porkin out on all her good food! the weather was perfect, and the kids really loved playing with their cousins too. thanks again guys! (oh yeah tyler, i still need your cookie recipe!)

i think he has an unfair height advantage


cute cousins!

ha ha just kidding, we really just got this 4runner. we got in a very minor accident a few months back that ended up totaling our car, which was fine because i wanted a new car anyway... so we found this 4runner that we both loved and got a way good deal on!

so fredg works about 10 mins from home and gets to come home for lunch. i love it because i get to fix him lunch, and we talk and chill for a bit. but today i was in a groove working on grouting the tile in the bathroom...so he made himself a pb&j and just did his thing, played some video games with van, then gave me a quick kiss goodbye and went off to work.
so he calls me like 10 mins later and tells me that he got to work and was walking inside and looked down and thought...hmmm, that's funny- i don't remember putting on a white shirt today. he had taken his shirt off when he came home for lunch and forgot to put it back on and was walking into work with just his garment top on! if i hadn't been so busy working on the bathroom, i for sure would've noticed that...silly boy:)

before...


this is for all you out there that would love to have a nice looking backsplash, but don't have 1. all the many supplies you need to do a tiling job 2. an expensive tile cutter 3. the know how
so here's how i did mine, you can use any modifications you'd like (my way of doing it was pretty ghetto, so i'm sure however you go about it- it'll work too)

first, i went to home depot and bought 10 sheets (99 cents a piece) of 12x12 LAMINATE tile and cut them (with scissors) into 9 4x4 squares. (you can do yours bigger or smaller depending on your preference and the pattern you choose). then i backed each of the tiles with craft foam from the dollar store to make them thick like real tiles. you can go online to get some ideas for patterns, but i just used my hot glue gun to temporarily stick them...that way i was able to try out different patterns until i found one that i liked (i also cut some of the squares into triangles for part of my pattern)
i didn't have a "spacer" so i used my ghetto straw, but you can get spacers at home depot. you'll also need some "liquid nails" (a glue that when it sets up, it's as strong as nails) to adhere them to the wall. it takes a full day for the glue to set up, so i also put a dab of hot glue on each tile to help it stick while it was setting up. so putting the tiles up took me a full 8 hours, then i let it set up overnight. the next morning i grouted it just like they were regular tiles.
so there you have it...anyone can do it! don't look too close at the pictures though, it was my first job:) we actually have a tile cutter, but i wanted to try out my idea to see if it would work/look good. honestly, you can't even tell that the tiles are laminate...even close up. let me know if any of you try it, i'd like to see how it turns out!

freddy bought this little "fixer-upper" last year as a re-po. he had 2 roomates and like most dudes, they just didn't bother with decorating and such. he planned on letting his wife fix it up (little did he know, i was right around the corner). so i got to work as soon as we got engaged...it was fun








we went shopping for our bedroom set and fell in love with this one...although, fredgie didn't see anything wrong with the way it was before

i'm so glad i took the 'before' pictures because it makes the 'after' pictures look so much better! we really had a good time fixing up our first little house together...

i'm like bill murray in what about bob when he's tied to the mast of that boat and he's all, i'm saaaaailing! i sail. i'm a sailor...AHOY!! so yeah, i blog. i did it on my first try. well, i just let the computer do the work really".

to be honest, i've been somewhat of an anti-blogger until now. i thought...don't these housewives have more important things to be doing? like maybe raising their kids? (i admit i had a bad attitude) i think i was just jealous because at the time, i was working full time and couldn't fathom finding an extra spare second to do something like that. so now that my life has changed a bit, and i have a little more time on my hands it's sounding kinda fun. plus my mother-in-law had a very good point (which was actually the reason i decided to do it)...we're really writing our family history every time we post a picture or a story...this stuff will be priceless a little later down the road. also, i love doing crafty/decorating/home improvement jobs and such, and people keep bugging me to start a blog so i can post all my ideas. my husband called me bob vila the other day after i finished doing the backsplash (not sure i like being compared to a husky guy with a full beard), i wonder if he'd like to roll over and kiss bob vila in the morning? maybe 'martha stewart' would have fit the comparison a little better:)

so if you scroll down a bit, i posted the story of how i met my hubby and some slideshows of our latest pictures and such. but as far as what's going on right now...we're settling into married life quite nicely. my husband works for an awesome company writing software for hospitals, and i get to stay home with my 5 year old while my 11 year old goes to middle school. holy crap! i have a child in middle school...i'm getting old. van is really old enough to go to kindergarten, but since i had to send him to daycare for the last 3 years, i really want him home with me this year...he'll be starting preschool soon. we're hoping to expand our little family right away (this 35 year old body aint gettin' any younger) in the meantime, i'm getting used to this staying at home business...it's so nice to have a good man taking care of me.
i got some requests to see the "before and after" pictures of the bachelor pad, so they'll be coming soon...