Random Photos Post

I've got to get some of these photos in the blog before they get deleted accidentally. So this post is all over the place.

This photo is an old one. Chris' friend sent it to him for his birthday today. Chris is 44 today. Happy Birthday to my old man! Can you pick him out? He thinks Zeke looks like him, but the eyes are different. 

(second from the left)

This sign appeared a week ago just half a mile from my house. It says Costco coming soon Fall 2014. I screamed out loud when I saw it. Literally. I'm so excited. The closest one to us is 20 min away, and also the busiest one in the valley. It sucks.

Our next door neighbor gave us 2 tickets to see the Utah Symphony's Pixar/Disney music. It was awesome. I decided to take Ella, because she's the one I need to spend more quality time with. And Tess and Kate got to go to the MoTab Christmas concert. Honestly though, I wish we could have all gone, it was that good.

We were the first 2 seats on the second tier, literally looking down on the musicians. They played clips of all the movies while the symphony played music from the shows scores. It was entertaining and great for kids.

This a carseat blanket and owl hat and booties I made for my niece. I thought it was so cute, and I'll probably never make another so I wanted a photo. Anna's having her first child in Feb. and to everyone's amazement, her father who is supposedly dying of stage 4 liver cancer at age 50, is STILL around 2 years after he was given 6months AND his liver is actually regenerating. We've said goodbye to him twice. He's been that close to death. (He was dead on FB for 6 hrs., some friend jumped the gun) I can't take it anymore. I told him I'm not saying goodbye again, if he's going to die, he needs to go quietly at night without any warning. Man, it's SO hard! His doctors told him they were going to make him a T shirt that says, "Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated." I'll say.

Melissa and Di, here's my couch. Sage green suede. Not my first choice, but couldn't pass up the deal. And Chris insisted our old couch with it's mismatching slipcovers was 'bush league'. I thought it was fine and was glad to have it back. He was embarrassed apparently. Go figure.

I forgot to put up a photo of this beautiful quilt my sister made me for Christmas. Isn't it gorgeous. It matches my kitchen valances. I love it. She made one for Tess too. Also beautiful. Thanks Brooke! 

Ok, this last one is crazy. A month ago, Luke asked this girl Kassey to the Winter formal. He was totally crushing on her then and she was crushing on him. Pretty much right after he asked her, she went cold. Like stopped talking to him, avoided him, told him not to text her. I won't go into the drama, but she did a 180*.

Yesterday, she handed him this 'schedule' for the dance. Look at it. It's NUTS! Talk about a control freak! First of all, SHE overrode his plans for the pre dance activity and told him they needed to go bowling, THEN she freaked out when he told her what he was going to wear and told him he couldn't, and then she made this schedule. He came home from school yesterday in the worst mood I've seen him in. He was so angry. He told her he accidentally dropped her schedule into hot lava, and that he wasn't totally helpless.

 He doesn't want to go, but he's already paid for the dance and the bowling. And he won't ditch her despite her behavior. It's going to be miserable. I hope it won't be, but the odds are not in his favor. Thing is, he really did 'like' her. Like like her, wanted a relationship with her. But she freaked out before he had a chance to go any further.

Girls are a thing to be avoided I keep telling him. Just wait till you're 20 and off your mission. *sigh*

Basement Project Officially Finished

We are done with the basement. Unless we win the lottery, it is as finished as it probably ever will be. Here's some photos:

Luke's room, all moved in, minus the christmas lights he strung all over the place yesterday... 

His bottle collection, that has no home. "No Luke, we are not putting up a shelf all the way around the room to display your millions of bottles. NO! "(Does anyone else have a habitual collector? I swear this kid has the 'collector gene'. At least the rocks are gone...)

His desk, notice the Japanese Sake bottles? (beneath the picture of Christ? I know. The irony.)

He now has a new supplier for his bottle obsession, his job. (We're just waiting for him to get pulled over and caught with 'open containers' in the back seat. He can't say we didn't warn him!)

Oh, and funny side story, the bar tender at Tsunami saves the cool bottles for Luke, he labels them, "Beibers bottles" LOL.

His itty bitty vanity. Did I tell you he'd still leave his crap out? Did I? ARGH! 

The basement post construction, but pre-clean up:

After clean up, and all sorted: Kids play room. All toys and art supplies outta my hair forever... check.

Family room. 

We moved the big TV down too, after this photo. I love not having the TV in my main living area. The kids watch so much less, just because it's 'outta sight, outta mind'. 

No TV upstairs... check.

Place to hang all those Mormon Ads that were collecting dust... check.

Zeke's train table corner, also legos, blocks and marble works. No more messes in his room.... check.

The view from a different angle. Furnace room visible.... check. Ugly (but comfy!) couches... check. 

All exercise crap downstairs... check.

We had a giant piece of carpet that we got from Chris' sister, and when we rolled it out, it fit almost perfectly. Add a little extra pad from Luke's room to the TV floor area, and voila! Unfinished, yet perfectly usable space!

My house seems so much less cluttered now that all the toys and the TV/Wii are downstairs. I can walk into Zeke's room without stepping on legos. The library is not littered with Wii games and controllers. The girls art supplies are not all over my kitchen bar, and the dress ups are not strewn about Ella and Kate's room anymore. 

Ah. Bliss. I'm a happy homemaker! 

Paint fumes reduce IQ

Tess and Kate were invited to go to CA with my parents last week, to visit my sister in LA. They were both *SO* excited about it-- but mostly, they were excited about the plane ride, since neither of them can remember flying when they were under 2 yo. That's pretty much when we stop taking our kids on planes-- when we have to pay for their own seat...

Anyway, as you can see below, they went to Disneyland-- for TWO days. My sister, who is Martha Stewart on speed, made these shirts for them, so they matched their cousins. Adorable? Yes. 

They also went to the Aquarium, the Zoo, and the beach. Grandma came home pooped. Thanks Brooke! Best Auntie ever!

They loved the roller coasters... Grandma? Not so much.

While they were gone, I worked feverishly to get Tess' room (Luke's old room) repainted and fixed up. The previous homeowners had done a horrific job, the ceiling was splotchy, the moldings weren't taped, and two walls were a sapphire blue, almost purple color. Atrocious. Tess picked out a blue/green color, and we hoped it wouldn't be too loud.

The first day, I removed every light/plug plate, the ceiling fan blades, the blinds, and taped and primed the blue walls. 

The second day, I painted the ceiling flat white.

The third day, I painted the 2 white walls

The fourth day I painted the 2 blue walls and I was *supposed* to be done.

*Deep breath*

Alas, I didn't like the stark white walls-- but I didn't want the whole room that blue. 

What to do? What to do? 

AHA! Mix the paint of course. I'm a genius! 

 So, in true DIY style, I just started pouring paint. Randomly. 

I poured the last 1/4 can of white into a 1/2 full can of blue. Mix mix mix. Stir stir stir. 

Hmmmm.... looks the same. 

*Looking around...*

 Oh! Here's another can of white. Huh...I don't remember getting 2 cans... but what the heck, let's give it go. 

*Pouring blue into empty white, adding equal amount of new white* Mix mix mix. Stir stir stir. 

Hmmm... this looks a little funny. Not *quite* the same blue... 

What the?! Wait A MINUTE! This isn't a new can of white! It's a can of barely tan that we painted in Luke's room!  But how can one tell when the name is 'Mosquito Pass' and the paint blob on the lid LOOKS WHITE!? 

Ah yes. Now I remember. Painting Luke's room was hard, because this paint was almost the same color as the moldings/ceiling. And we painted at night. With insufficient lighting. And we had to do it again the next day when the light of the sun revealed all the places we'd missed...

CRAP. 

CRAP.

CRAP.

Now I have one can of slightly less the original blue paint, one can of light blue but with a tannish undertone, and one can of flat white. 

Well, how about if I just mix some flat white with.... say this less than blue can? 

Sure. Why not?  Mix mix mix. Stir stir stir. 

And voila! Now I have a lighter, if not more tan, shade of blue for one of the white walls. Maybe both. Oh wait, I already took the tape off that wall. Well forget it then. I'm not re-taping too. One wall will just have to stay white. 

Do I need a new roller? Nah. I'll just use this one with the dark blue on it. The new paint will cover it. 

Roll roll roll. 

Hmmm. 

Light blue with dark blue edge marks. 

CRAP. 

CRAP.

CRAP.

Now I have to run to the paint store for another roller. And I should probably have this paint professionally shaken while I'm at. 

*Drive to the paint store, find my supplies, ask the nice boy to please mix my paint for me, go to find my wallet to pay... *

CRAP.

CRAP.

CRAP.

I left my wallet home. 

Can you see where this is going? It was all down hill from here folks. 

But I finished. It's not ideal, but it's 'close enough'. My Dad and brothers are shuddering at that last. Dang perfectionists. I'M SICK OF PAINTING! It's good enough! 

Here's the finished results, after I put everything back together, hung the drapes and moved all the furniture in. I literally did it ALL MYSELF. Just me. I'm freaking awesome I'd say. Chris was pretty burned out from the mad dash to finish Luke's room, so I didn't dare ask for help. And it turns out, I didn't need it. Just went to bed every night with an un-healthy dose of Ibuprofen for the tennis elbow and aching back. But it was all worth it. BECAUSE IT'S DONE! 

Feast your eyes!

Light blue wall

Dark blue wall. 

Tess loves it. It's done. That's all that matters. I'm never painting again. Beige walls and ceilings in 90% of my house will just have to do. 

*I need a Coke*

Luke's IN--

Luke is spending his first night down in his new room tonight. His hammock chair is bolted to the ceiling, and he's slowly moving all his crap downstairs. There are still some odds and ends to finish up (then I'll take and post photos), but everything works and he won't have to come up to use the bathroom. It's strange sitting here on the couch and hearing his music wafting up through the floor...

Next project, get the basement construction crap cleared out, and roll out our free roll of carpet, move the 'ugly' couches down, and set up a little TV room for the kids. It'll be nice to have the TV downstairs. I hate having it up here in the main living area. I dislike hearing the TV on. I like silence. Whenever possible.

Kate and Tess went to California this week with my parents, to stay with my sister. They were so excited-- mostly for the plane ride, a first (that they can remember) for them both. They were even more excited to do that than to go to Disneyland! LOL. I told them they would be disappointed. Flying sucks.

While they're gone, my goal is to get Tess' room (Luke's old room) painted and her stuff moved over. I don't like to paint. I'm not looking forward to it, but I'm determined to get started bright and early tomorrow.

On a sad note: Chris' dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer today. He spent all day at the hospital with him. His dad is relieved to finally know what is wrong, and why he's in constant pain. Chris thinks he's ready to go. Even though he's been so miserable for the last few months, losing him will still be a blow. He's 82. His poor Mom is worn out from care taking. She wants to come live with us when he goes. Luke may not get much time to spend in 'his' room. And we'll have to install some sort of chair lift on the stairs... the kids will love that!

Projects. Lots of them.

Pinterest has been a bad wonderful addition to my life. It inspires me, shows me how much I could be doing, and takes up a lot of my free time. Mostly, it just takes up my time, as I rarely get around to actually doing any of the cool stuff I find there. But there are the exceptions. Here's my Pinterest projects that I've done since, oh, maybe last October. Some of them I did for Christmas and just never posted them. 

Up-cycled sweater bag. I love these. I think I'm addicted. I have another wool sweater just waiting for its turn to become a cute bag. 

Before felting:

After:

Cute bag, but wait, there's more!

I had so much sweater left over in the sleeves, so I made these little owls, 'cuz, you know, owls are 'IN' right now! 

But then I still had half the sleeve left, so I made THESE:

Fingerless gloves. I love them. When I'd get in the cold car, I'd just roll down that cuff to keep my hand from touching the cold steering wheel! Ok. I'm a geek. Whatever.

This is the turtle that was all my sweet Kate wanted for Christmas. It took me forever, mostly because I kept screwing it up and so I unpicked it like 5 times. But it's pretty cute. 

His little vest, attaches to his shell, so he can go...

Comando! The beret was an addition Kate wanted. Because he's french. Obviously. 

Then I made this Totoro for my brother, his kids. Notice who's bed it's on?

Side note: I must not be Japanese enough, because I don't get anime. At all.  

Then I begged a piece of cork board off my father and put it up behind my desk, so I could fill it with crap, all my stuff that must be remembered and will only be so if it is right in front of my face most of the day. 

I taught the girls how to cross stitch, and Kate made me this:

(collective Awwww!)

This is my attempt at a cheap meaningful wedding gift. You know, not just another mixing bowl set. I found it on Pinterest, but didn't have the right kind of software, so I spent the next TWO HOURS trying to make it work on my Pages layout. It was HARD. But, now I just have to switch the name of the bride and groom for the next wedding, and voila! Wedding gift in 2 min. 

(Notice the second couple down? My little Mormon touch.)

This is the project I've been drooling over for many months. I bought the supplies 2 months ago. I printed out the numbers 1 month ago. I stained the board 2 different colors (the back is much darker) 2 weeks ago. Drew on the lines/numbers 1 week ago. Finally got around to adding the hand prints and labels just a few days ago. I LOVE it. I used baby books  and my Mom's growth chart that I made her 10 years back to fill in the missing info. I don't know why the camera picked up that varnish around the 5 like that, but you can't see it normally.

Then I had each of the kids put their hand on it. Ella's is in pink-- hard to see, but they match their color marker, so I can easily see each child's progress through the years. For instance, here you can see that Luke was the same height at age 7, that his sisters hit at age 6. *snicker* 

And lastly, Chris' little reading nook. His little desk is tucked away in the tiny alcove, and was so bare it felt like we'd shoved him in a corner. So I put up the photos our 'family photographer- Jordi' took back in 2005 that I had originally made for Chris' office at school, because he was commuting to Cedar City on the weekends and was horribly lonely. I like the way it turned out. (Photos mounted on to foam core and cut to varying sizes, stuck to the wall w/ double stick tape)

Projects for the 'well-medicated'

As proof positive that my drugs are in fact returning me to my 'normal'--  I'm back in 'project mode'. 

Here's what I've been up to the last week: 

I recovered my kitchen chairs from the nasty tan chenille, that was all stained and gross, to this 'pleather', which is way easier to clean up, and ties my black and brown cabinet theme together. 

I found this 100% wool sweater vest at the DI, and decided to try an 'upcycling' project I saw on Pinterest. I love the way it turned out, felted wool is the coolest! This will be Kate's birthday present, as she is so contented, she doesn't even want anything. It's the perfect size for a scripture bag, which is another thing she got for Christmas- a bible to match her baptism Book of Mormon. 

Here's a brief tutorial, or you can look on my pinterest page for the original instructions, which were in Japanese btw, so I just had to go by her photo's. So you start w/ a wool sweater (or vest) and felt it. Basically, just washing it in hot, w/ a cold rinse. You can google 'felting wool' and find better instructions. It's pretty easy though. So once it's felted, it won't unravel, so you cut off the sleeves and neck, like so:

Fold it in half the other way, so the handles are lined up opposite, notice the seam going up the middle of the bag now, and not the sides,  and stitch up the bottom:

 Fold the corners and pinch together, sew a triangle on each end, and cut off the top. You don't have to do this, but it gives the bag a flat bottom.

Turn right side out, and you have an awesome bag! If you use an adult size sweater, the bag will be much larger, but not as big as the original sweater, as felting shrinks the wool considerably. Notice the seam from the sweater going up the middle of the bag? That's because you folded it in half the other way.

Next comes the flower embellishments. Mine aren't nearly as artistic as the Japanese ladies, must be because I'm only half Japanese? Anyways, I still liked the way they turned out. I just rolled my scraps and stitched them into circle 'roses'. I had very little scraps, as this was a vest originally, so you'll have more to work with if you use a sweater. 

BTW, the second hand stores are full of wool sweaters that people have unintentionally partially felted by washing them in hot water. You may even find one that's already been felted! You'll know it, because it will be misshapen, and obviously smaller than it was originally. I've ruined one or two of Chris' sweaters this way. Wish I'd have saved them now... but no matter, the DI is full of them. I got this child's size vest for $4. 

Yesterday I made this hat for myself. I look TERRIBLE in hats, so I'm not modeling it, but I still have bad hair days and just want to wear a hat, so, ridiculous looking or not, I occasionally wear one.
Today I'm started on Dave's second hat, since the first one was too small. I felt really bad sending him home w/ a too small hat. He was such a great sport though, he kept wearing it perched on top of his head like gnome hat. He wouldn't hear of leaving it. Hilarious.

 Oh, and this is the afghan I made my SIL Leslie. It was my hardest project, not because it was hard, but because it was so boring to make. The same pattern over and over again, times 3, because I kept finding mistakes and had to unpick it SEVERAL times! Ugh. I like projects that take no more than 2 hours. I get too bored and end up leaving big projects sitting undone, which then drives me insane because I have unfinished projects mocking me... I'm still a little crazy as you can no doubt tell... 

Anyways, I'm still in my pajamas, and it's noon, and I haven't showered for two days, but I've been busy nonetheless. I have had zero desire to leave the house in this frigid 19* weather, and Zeke and Chris are sick, Zeke keeps wiping his snotty nose all over me, so showering seems unnecessary... maybe I'm not all the way back to normal....