Isaac's Room

Isaac turned nine on February 13th so I finished his room for his bday.

Before...

After...

He finally has baseboards and I re-did the trim around his doors.  I wanted to paint a little more creatively but time did not allow.  He's got chalkboard paint on his closet and that @#$% dull Pottery Barn comforter. 

I have yet to hang his new light and put the knobs on his dresser.  Hopefully I can add that color soon.

We got to see the Harlem Globetrotters thanks to Grandma. 

We haven't taken Isaac's 9 year bday pics yet. I will post them when we get to it.

It's a sickness, really

Here we go again.  The kids will be headed to the dungeon in the near future with any luck.  But they couldn't go down to this.

Not because I'm a bathroom snob, but because they would finish off whatever has lasted the first 34 years in this bathroom. 

We immediately took down the old fixtures when we moved in and replaced the toilet seat, all of which were wood.  Did I mention the previous owners had 4 BOYS?!   S-T-I-N-K

Among all the things they did right in our house, I don't think they put green board behind this shower insert.

I will have 4 teenagers at one time.  This layout is not condusive.


This is what I'd love


But, alas, I found two wall mount sinks for $20/each on ksl.

The floor...

I hope.

White tile for the rest?

Pics to come when this endeavor is finished.

Wish me continued luck in finding cheap (yet durable) materials.



Home Sweet Home

With wallpaper making a comeback with a vengeance I figured it would be easy to find what I wanted for the wall in our dining room.  First I couldn't find a wallpaper store, then I couldn't find anything under $150 a roll online (didn't even love the $150 ones), and then Jason caught wind of it and put his foot down.  I have yet to understand how it affects him one way or another, but I guess it saves me the trouble. 

So I painted instead.  Then we went to a couple antique stores in SLC and I found a buddy for my goose.  I paid $1 for the goose three months ago at D.I., $26 for the rabbit!

I went yard-saling with some neighborhood ladies couple weekends ago and found the sign for the girls' room.

Ahhhh.  Home whimsical home.

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

My kids this morning instead of attending Church.

Grab a snack.  This is going to be a long post.  In reading in the Book of Mormon I've been trying to impart the importance of journaling to my offspring, so I decided to "journal" in an attempt to make some good of the day.  And, my Aunt Louise cussed me out for not posting enough pictures of said offspring.  I'm also feeling guilty about sluffing Stake Conference.  

The Good: The girls are back in their room with new texture on the walls and ceiling, and new paint.

The Bad: Sans moulding.

The Ugly: Mae fell between the bed and the wall and shimmied under the bed as she wailed at 3:54 this morning.  She came to sleep with me which means that one or more body parts fall asleep, but not my entire being.

The Good: Sunroc had a $5 rebate on their awesome paint.

The Bad: It ended yesterday and I forgot to get the rest of it to finish the rest of the house after it's textured.

The Ugly: It's called "Solitaire"...as in solitary confinement?  Is it grey, is it purple, ugh?  It better look awesome when it's all done. 

The Good: I have a new pantry!   I knocked out a wall, framed the pantry and around the fridge. 

 I even moved an outlet, a light switch and a light fixture.

The door you see used to belong to a broom closet around the corner. 

The Bad: Don't tell a code inspector how low that outlet is now. 

We missed the era when that paint (yes it's paint, not paper) was awesome.

The Ugly: That big new fridge has been broken for 2 weeks.  The compressor that usually lasts longer than the hinges on the doors.  Gone. 

Sunroc and Home Depot have gotten 1/2 of our money this week.  McDonalds and local gas stations, the other.

And my kids look like hooligans.

*Refer back up to the last photo

The Good: She knows the meaning of  "potty", "toilet", and "bafroom", and has the most delicious booty you've ever seen in a pair of Elmo undies.  *we don't say "panties" it sounds so icky.*

The Bad: She will go when I take her, but not on her own.

The Ugly:  She's pooped this week at the library and Isaac's soccer game. 

More Good: Jason and his bro. Jeremy are awesome drywallers.

The  man and his mud.

I found this lenoleum under the carpet in the closet I was working on.  I like to call it "Walking on Sunshine"

The sunshine one gets from fried green tomatoes.  Thanks mom for planting this year since we couldn't!

Homemade bread.  When we were out painting baseboards yesterday, our self-proclaimed nosey neighbor brought us some homeade bread.  It goes swimmingly with our homemade apricot jam!  And I'm pretty sure it tastes better when you cut it on a cutting board that has sheetrock dust on it.

More Good: Jason re-hung the swing and now my kids don't feel nearly as abandoned.

The Bad: I missed pear picking.  Apparently it's not the same as any other kind of picking.  So when I went to see if they were ready I just found them all on the ground already.

The ugly: The project behind the swing that we can't finish without a bobcat.  A dog run that was very well made and very unneccesary.

The Good: My kids love school.

They all got great teachers and are making friends so now it's just Mae and Me in the morning.  We should start a radio show.

Georgia got to go to kindergarten at school instead of homeschool.

The Bad: It was- open the playdough and see ya' mom!

The Ugly: Note the refrigerator pictures once more.  One of those yellow papers magneted to the front lists the school schedule.  While tearing down walls Wednesday last (the second day of kindergarten), I watched the clock intently for 11:30 so I could pick up George on time.  Then I realized at 11:15 that she got out at 11:05!  Then I realized  it was Wednesday, which is early out day so Jorge had been sitting in the office waiting for me since 10:50.

The Ugliest of all:  I've been late to get her twice in two weeks.  I suck.

The Good: Chloe had her 2nd Birthday on September 9th.  Commemorated with a bath and a party.

The Bad: She hadn't had a bath since we moved in two months ago.

The Ugly: She peed on the plastic in the dining room and we had to clean the plastic and the floor.  Ick.

The Good:  I get to do flowers for a really cool couple next weekend.  I did a bouquet for pictures this week.

There is no bad or ugly in this situation!

The Good: Finished my first Half Marathon in 2:36!  No resuscitation or iv fluid required!

Apparently my kids are singing barbershop and Jason is beat boxing.

Everyone was at the finish to cheer me on!  Last time George had to use the can and they missed it.

The Bad: I've only been running once since my race.  If I'm going to make a habit of it I should really make a habit of it.

The Ugly: Which, it turns out is VERY good.  My running pants sagged as I ran.  I spent a good portion of the race tugging them back up :) 

Phew!

The New Joint

We got the house everyone was rooting for, still feels like a dream!

I love it more every day!  I haven't even had time to step out and enjoy a meal on the deck, but that time is 'a comin!

These are, of course, "before" pictures.  The wallpaper is already down, hooray!  Thanks mostly to Isaac, Liv, and Liv's buddies, Penina and Kallysta.

Liv said, "I do not like their fish," when we saw the house the first time.

3, yes 3 family rooms in this house. I guess if we get sick of our family we'll just choose a different "family" room to be in. 

Front room, 2 views

Got to keep telling myself that these fruit (pear, cherry, and apricot) trees are a blessing.  Just ask the troops!  Georgia kept trying to get out of the action.  It took more work to keep her going than it did to pick the 809,983,290,321 apricots.  And there are still more on the tree!

My kids look like hoodlems, and will continue to do so, I fear, until school begins.

P.S. That's my mil, Helen and beautiful Naloni, you all know them, and the big guy is Cousin Dakota.  He deserves his own post.

And getting me through it all, blessed nectar of the gods.

House Hunters

Heaven forbid we have to continue looking for a house.  But this one fell through. .  .

Our mortgage guy has a sign in his office that says, "No Reason, Just Rules."  This place has our offer on it (for the asking price), as well as one even higher and it will be forclosed upon on the 12th of next month.   NO REASON.

Heaven seems on our side because Jason and I were ready to build.  EEEK!  The Good Lord knew I'd be lonely when my children and husband left me because of my bad attitude.  So it was this or that.

I'm no hippy, but I am fundamentally opposed to subdividing open land, especially when there are so many houses on the market.  HOWEVER, have you seen these houses?  After about the 70th one, my realtor's down to $5.00/hr and it leaves me wondering if I'm not normal for expecting to be able to stand up straight in my laundry room and guest bath, or for preferring not to have my guests walk into the basement of our house because there's no front entrance. 

But if it's between commuting to my marriage and building a house on some corn farmer's field, the farmer's going to get the raw end. 

So today, in a last ditch effort to rule out every home on the MLS in Utah County, we found these two gems.  Either one would make me giddy! 

Which would you choose?

The "woman" in Me

While we were visiting the lushness of the Northwest Jason had the privelege of meeting with a very talented artist and his "woman" (who was quite a piece of work I hear).

She did not like the fact that he called me his "girl". But, as Jason explained, most of the Indian folk he hangs with call their wives "the old woman", or thier "woman". He finds that slightly distasteful. (I think it was because I was a child bride and he totally robbed the cradle so he will always think of me as a girl and not the 50 year-old-woman he's always accusing me of behaving like).

ANYWAY, (and as I write is seems completely off the subject, but it sounded good at the time)... whenever I am annoyed, nervous, sad, disturbed in any way (it's all good, don't worry), I play the fussy wife, woman, girl, however you refer to the female one is married to, and this is what I do...

And, organize the girl's closet.

Sorry, I don't hire out during my "spells", I have to hold out for them the rest of the time, hoping something will go haywire and I'll organize away.