August 27, 2011
We decided to head up to Logan for the Aggie football scrimmage and Family Fun Day at the stadium. We ended up driving to Logan for lunch.
Let me explain.
When we got there, it was lunchtime. Two kids and frankly, two parents don't do well without a solid meal at noon. So we stopped at the best bakery ever, the Gristmill. Yummm and way, way, way better than the ever popular Great Harvest. With filled tummies, we then headed to the stadium. Pearl was beyond excited to be going to a football game with her Dad. Jeff was excited to see Turbin race down the sidelines, Cole was just happy to be out of the house (and car), and I was excited at the prospects of getting a family picture decked out in our Aggie gear.
I think Cole and I were the only ones who left happy.
We were an hour late and missed the entire scrimmage. In our defense, Aggie Family Fun Day lasted for three hours so we assumed at least an hour and a half would be actual scrimmage. Nope. Pearl freaked out when she figured out there would be no playing. It was traumatic. Not even a new game day tee-shirt and "A" tattoo could quell her whining. Jeff kept his disappointment to himself that he wasn't able to see the new quarterback or Turbin. He's fast. Really fast. And it was hot. Like triple digits hot. With no shade. We were all a bit grumpy with that.
But me? I was thrilled to see no one standing in the vicinity of the U-state logo. I knew we only had one shot, with Pearl's hysteria about missing the game. And cheerleaders. And Big Blue. Neither of whom were in attendance to begin with. We lugged over a garbage can, set the timer on the camera, and smiled. Not too shabby for four sweaty Aggie fans.
Oh, and Pearl did cheer up when Jeff took her down on the field to meet the football team. She threw some passes to a kid named Jefferson, told Coach Anderson that Cougars smell like poop and they suck (he laughed pretty good and said he wasn't sure if he should give her a high five or not), and got a pom-pom from another football player.
The drive to Logan for lunch was well worth it. Minus the sweat.
August 26, 2011
After attending a birthday party of one of Pearl's friends, I have come to the conclusion that it just might be worth forking over the money to pay a princess to do everything. Like...
Teaching the guests how to courtesy. And say, "excuse me" when someone bumps into you.
Reading your princess story. In this case Snow White.
Playing princess-themed games like "don't eat the apple" (the best part, getting candy with said game) and apple toss animal sounds.
Crowning the birthday girl.
Taking pictures with all the guests.
And making it magical for 13 little girls, while the moms sit back and do nothing.
August 25, 2011
We all got distracted this morning with books. Both of my kids love books. Pearl a little too much, as she will stay up way past bedtime reading in her bed or screaming at us to read her a story until we give in.
Cole loves any book with animals in it. You'd think he would know all their sounds by now, after all we tell him what the doggie, kitty, elephant, horse, cow, chickens, sheep, tigers, lions, bears, goats, turkeys, birds, bunny rabbits, fish, and pigs say about 300 bazillion times a day. He points at each picture and says, "that" over and over again. Unless of course the animal resembles a horse, then it says "neigh." He's also got down what a pig says and tries to snort at you. Doggies just stick out their tongues and go "hhhhhhh." And if you're lucky, Cole will do his best to make an elephant sound while raising his arm in the air like a trunk. But that's about it.
I was happy to hear Pearl wanted to read Cole his book this morning. For 10 seconds neither one of them were fighting, crying, or making a mess. Pearl said she could read it because it's "just animal sounds, Mom." What I'm really excited about though, is Pearl learning how to read this year in her early kindergarten program. That way she can take over some of the reading around this place!
August 24, 2011
Having a window office at work has its perks.
#1. There is this perceived higher social standing amongst your peers. It really boils down to the fact that you're either someone important or that you've been there a long time. In my case, I'm still a peon but have put in my dues I suppose with eight years.
#2. You can see what the weather is doing. This really comes in handy for surprise rain or snow storms.
#3. You get to watch things happening along the Jordan River. Arrests, medical emergencies, drunks wandering around, people walking their dogs, etc.
#4. One time a bird flew into my office window. Scared the bejeebers out of me.
#5. You get the benefit of extra light and warmth, which comes in handy in the winter after a long holiday weekend when the heat gets turned off. This benefit sort of backfires on you in the summer though when the air conditioning has been off all weekend.
#6. The view definitely beats looking at the ugly, depressing, gray cubicle walls.
#7. You only have neighbors on two sides of you.
#8. I have a spare shelf to put junk on. I really should decorate it with plants or pictures but after awhile you can start to see how artsy piles of papers, reports, folders, and to-do lists can be.
#9. Everyone else wants it. Duh. (That was Jeff's reason... we both are lucky enough to claim office windows.)
#10. And finally, the best reason, I get to sneak a peek at my kids playing outside during recess. Prior to our office reconfiguration, I was directly above Cole's playground. I could always tell if it was my kid crying or someone else, which did have it's drawbacks when Cole was having a bad day and I had to keep working. But after the move, I now get to spy on Pearl in their new outdoor classroom. It's fun to watch them from afar when they have no clue they're being spied on. Their creative imaginations are fascinating... as is the social world of 4 and 5 year-olds.
August 23, 2011
Several weeks ago, my favorite, trusty black heels broke. Split clear through the entire length of the shoe, right under the ball of my foot. The only thing holding it together was the actual leather of the shoe. It was slightly traumatic. I've been too lazy, too frumpy, and too poor to go buy me a new pair of heels so I continued to clomp around at work with a broken shoe.
Jeff got tired of me complaining so he took me shoe shopping tonight. Pearl and Cole were also able to get Dad to buy them shoes... shocking that Jeff was the only one to walk away shoeless. I think he gets tired of me buying "cheap" shoes but hey, he wasn't complaining when I found these both on clearance. And the best part? It was buy one clearance shoe, get one free! Yes, that's right! FREE!!! A grand total of $17.04 for two pairs of new heels. Who cares if they are last fall's style? I got a free pair of shoes.
August 22, 2011
One of the quarks of having a 101 year-old house is not having a working doorbell. Well, let me clarify. A doorbell that is wired into the rest of the house so it's always ready to inform you of visitors. Plus, our house is solid concrete blocks which doesn't exactly lend itself well to drilling a quick hole to connect it to our electricity. So we've been stuck with buying battery-operated doorbells. And with only two choices of home improvement stores nearby, we just happen to have a doorbell that is on the save frequency as our neighbors. Which means every time their doorbell rings, so does ours. We replace the batteries or re-glue the actual doorbell every month, or so it seems. Half the time we don't even notice the batteries are dead. By the time we figured out our doorbell had once again died a few months ago, we decided eh, who needs one anyway.
Oh, but don't worry. If you do come to visit us, we will answer. Jeff replaced the doorbell tonight.
August 21, 2011
I guess Cole's legs are long enough to get him up and over the side of the tub now. He thought it was funny. Jeff and I weren't quite sure what to do when we saw him sitting in the tub, jammies soaking wet. But we were both pretty surprised.
August 20, 2011
We went to Cherry Hills today with Jeff's side of the family. It was a perfect day to hang out in the water. The sun was shining - a little too much though because Jeff, Pearl, and my niece and nephew all walked away with sunburns - the temperatures were hot, the crowds manageable, and the water nice and cool. We floated the lazy river, went down the rapids, played in the Pirate's cove, and ate lots and lots and lots of junk food. I'm pretty certain Cole ate nothing but Cheetos, Goldfish crackers, Gummy Bears, and about 12 Airheads all day. Oh and he did eat a half-piece of bread for lunch.
Back to the real food tomorrow.
August 19, 2011
Pearl and Cole were thrilled to see about 700 birds in our yard today.
Apparently they found the bird feeders.
Pre-kids, Jeff and I were really good about filling up the bird feeders. But when you don't have to worry about feeding kids, you can feed birds. Thousands of birds. It provided hours of entertainment for us too, watching them fight over the little bird feeder and flutter around the trees and our windows. We've always had two feeders. A small one by our back bedroom window (Pearl and Cole gave me a new one this year for Mother's Day) and this ceramic one by our bench. I love this bird feeder. It's so unique. My parents got it for Christmas one year and they never had mature enough trees to hold it (it's quite heavy). So I did them a favor, sparing the bird feeder from a life of sitting on the back porch without bird friends, and took it home with me.
And while I can't compete with our neighbors who dump a bag or two of birdseed (and peanuts to satisfy the blue jays) on their back porch every day, I think our little feathered friends were quite pleased to finally find some food.
August 18, 2011
Hell has not frozen over. Yet.
Although I was given the eye of death from Jeff when he turned the corner and saw Cole is this.
In my defense, I promised my coworker Celsa I'd put Cole in this shirt at least once and get a picture. She bought it for me the day she found out we were having a boy. And Cole had spilled dinner all over his USU tee-shirt moments before. Needless to say, we did not leave the house tonight. Jeff drew the line at any chance of being seen wearing the wrong school colors.
August 17, 2011
What would you do with an hour of time kid and husband free?
When Jeff offered to take both dwarfs to the store tonight, so I could have a break, I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself. I thought it might be a trick at first so I'd say yes to some new purchase that involves four wheels or Aggie tickets of some kind, or perhaps a ploy to get me to clean the house or do laundry.
But it wasn't. Jeff was honest-to-goodness just being a wonderful husband. Lucky for him, I felt like I should spend my free time doing something productive. So I mopped. And vacuumed. And put away that last load of laundry that's just been sitting in my room for almost a week now. Oh, and cleaned off the kitchen counters.
It's amazing how refreshed I felt after cleaning. I think it's mostly because I could actually clean instead of picking up mess after mess after mess while trying to clean. And knowing that it might actually stay clean for a few minutes because the kids were gone. I should try this more often.
August 16, 2011
I am the "nana" lady.
Every morning I pack a banana for Cole to eat when we get to school. I'm always worried that my kids are going to starve, especially if they haven't' eaten much for breakfast. But now it's more of a habit than a survival tactic. If I forget to grab his banana, Cole points at the counter and screams "NANA!!!" until I grab one.
It's become such a habit, that as soon as we walk into daycare all the mobile babies and toddlers swarm around my legs shouting "Nana!" the instant they see me. It's really quite funny. I knew once you had kids you'd loose your identity... you become "so-in-so's mom" instead of being known by your real name.... but this is more than I bargained for. So we open up my lunchbox and each take turns eating a bit or two of the banana. And who says you can't buy friendship? Even if it's with a banana.
I fear the day we run out of bananas.
August 15, 2011
We're still going strong on F.H.E.
Since Pearl has been learning a new verse about Samuel the Lamanite in one of the primary songs (Book of Mormon Stories), we decided to have an entire F.H.E. on Samuel the Lamanite. Pearl wasn't too sure of my plans at first, so Jeff was Samuel. He hopped up on the "city wall" (he was supposed to wear the robe for costuming effects) and started telling us, "Repent! Repent you naughty Nephites! Repent!" Not entirely accurate with the language in the scriptures, but it was perfect to get Pearl excited about trying to hit him with stones (paper balls) and arrows (straws). She laughed and giggled and then insisted we all have a turn as Samuel. Pearl took her preaching very seriously, shouting at us to repent, come to Jesus Christ, and repent some more. Meanwhile, Cole ignored all spiritual activities until the Aggie Blue Mint ice cream came out for our treat. Meh... I've learned to not have too high of expectations for F.H.E. Jeff said we'd already had more family home evenings than he ever did as a kid and when we asked Pearl if she liked it when we had F.H.E.s, she said yep. Good enough for me.
August 14, 2011
I know the idea of food groups are a bit outdated now, what with the new MyPlate movement and all. But if we could have a sixth food group at our house, it would be Popsicles. Of every kind too... fudge bars, Twin Pops, and some new finds for us, Air Head Popsicles. Which are awesome because they're chewy and come in white so Cole doesn't get covered in red or blue stickiness... just stickiness. Seriously, we go through a minimum of 6-8 of these frozen treats every day. Cole and Pearl love them. And Jeff and I aren't complaining too much about having two pip-squeak sized excuses to keep buying them. Summer can't last long enough.
Bottom (left-right): Leslie, Jennifer, Emily and Elliott, Rachel, Patty, LinDee
Top (left-right): Stefanie, Maureen, Jamie S., me, Jamie R., Riley, Riley's mom (see I told you I didn't know everyone), Kali
August 13, 2011
When my friend Carri died two years ago, I knew I couldn't wait until another funeral to see "my girls." The girls I grew up with, the girls in my Young Women's group. So I planned a reunion. It was a lot of fun and we vowed to make it an annual tradition. But life happens and last year about nine of us were either pregnant or had just had new babies so my planning sort of flopped. And when one of the girls asked me if we were getting together this year, I said YES! We turned it into a reunion for anyone - youth and leaders - who had belonged to the North Logan 6th Ward.... young men included. We missed everyone who couldn't make it or who we didn't know how to find. I'll admit when a couple of girls walked in, I had no clue who they were! I'm either "that" old or had graduated before they got into YW. I'm going with the non-old-geezer excuse.
It was wonderful. Our amazing leader, Patty Jones (Carri's mom) is dying of cancer. I'm hoping she makes it to next year's reunion but if not, I am so grateful to have gotten to see her smile, hear her contagious laugh, and feel her love for each of us one more time. She has been a hero to all of us, literally saving some of us. All my girls mean so much to me. They know me for who I really am. They were there in a part of my life that I will never forget, when I was trying to figure out who I was, and they loved me for just being me. They changed my life. I just wish they all knew how much I mean that.
And for everyone who missed the reunion next year, 2012 will be even more wonderful so you better be there!
August 12, 2011
It's ironic that I deliberately ignored my children today to read a book. And not just any book. A book about living while dying. A book about leaving a legacy for your children because you know you aren't going to be around to love them, teach them, guide them, or for them to even remember who you are. A book about achieving your childhood dreams, winning the "parent lottery," and overcoming all those "brick walls" in your life.
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.
If you haven't read it, go get it. It only took me a couple of hours to read and that was in between taking the kids outside in the hopes of relieving boredom, screaming, and whining, and making lunch at the peak of starvation (How is that possible when all they did was eat from the moment they woke up?). It's an amazing legacy of a man dying of pancreatic cancer who gives his last lecture to students, faculty, friends, and his children. A tradition for professors to give a "last lecture" at Carnegie Mellon University in which anything goes, Randy Pausch beautifully weaves a lifetime of stories, experiences, trials, and lessons learned into a moving legacy of what life is and should be about. By the end of the book, I of course was crying at the thought of leaving my own family and wondering what I would tell them if I knew I was dying. I wondered if people truly live their lives like Randy. If they really have childhood dreams and if they really achieve them. If they could pinpoint those impressionable moments and people in their lives that changed them forever, shaped who they were. I'm not sure I could even list my own childhood dreams but I know I want to be the kind of mom that allows her kids to dream big. I want to be the kind of mom that shows tough love, that teaches her kids how to be kind, overcome obstacles, and to be a good human being. A kind of mom who leaves a legacy of love, respect, determination, hard work, sacrifice, and creativity.
I've got a long ways to go. A long ways. But if reading this book brings me one step closer, then hopefully ignoring my kids and housekeeping for a couple of hours was worth it. Although in my defense, I did make it up to Pearl and Cole by taking them to the pool that afternoon.
August 8, 2011
It was a bittersweet day.
We sold the Audi. Afterward, Jeff said he was kind of sad he didn't get to take it out for a spin one last time. We weren't really expecting to make the sell tonight.
But...
We did get 47 of these bad boys. It's definitely the biggest wad of cash I've ever held in my hands. Even if it was for just a day until it got taken to the bank. But it wasn't Jeff and I who were the most excited with the cash - which is going to pay off the 4 wheeler and fix the garage roof. Pearl saw the stack of bills sitting on the kitchen table and came running in to tell me she now had "lots of dollars to go to the cafeteria with!" I tried explaining that they weren't $1 bills but $100 bills so we couldn't use them in the vending machines. She was a bit disappointed. Then she started to play "banker" and counted all the money into piles of seven $100 bills. She counted over and over and over again, stacking and re-stacking. She even told Jeff he couldn't have the money because she was the banker and in charge of the money. Too bad we all don't get to play banker like this every day.
August 10, 2011
A typical work retreat might entail some strategic planning, forced teamwork activities, and formal announcements of upcoming changes and projects. Or in other words, more stress. But not in my program. With 16 women on staff and no males, we decided to have a day of true de-stressing and pampering. Morning yoga at the park to make me remember all those muscles I never use, a delicious Greek lunch, ice cream run to Coldstone, and an afternoon at the spa getting a pedicure. That's 160 piggy-toes polished, shined, and painted a variety of pinks, reds, golds, blues, and purples.
August 9, 2011
The drought at Bear Lake is officially over.
The beaches have disappeared.
Water is pretty much up the our lawn.
It's amazing. The last time I remember the lake being high was right after I graduated from high school. There is one advantage of the lake rising more than eight feet in a single spring (to a total expected to peak 5921 feet), it will hopefully drown out all the willows and weeds that have taken over. Last year, we had to 4-wheel out to the lake. It was way, way, way out there. Ridiculously far if you had to walk. But this year, our lawn is swamping and we have a scant amount of sand to play on. And share with the neighbors, but that's a story for another day.
Since the beach is now underwater, there are no seashells to be found. While this is upsetting to Pearl, Cole was more than happy to find all the rocks scattered on the beach. He collected quite a pile of them and had fun burying them in the sand and then throwing them.
August 8, 2011
I could sense some boredom this afternoon. Having little beach to play on because of the high water this year had sort of put a damper on our beach going spirits. Besides, one can only take so much snacking, movie watching, and chasing three bored kids for so long. So I gave the family two options.
Option 1. Go to North Beach where there is actually sand to play on. And no mucky weeds and willows. Pearl and Ruby voted for the beach.
Option 2. Go to the Paris Ice Caves. Somewhere new to everyone but myself and Jeff, cool, in the mountains, and a long enough drive to get Cole and Pearl to take a nap. All the adults voted for the ice caves.
Still no one moved. So I pretty much told everyone to get in the cars, we're going to the ice caves. Ruby was less than excited about this plan. Mean Aunt Jenny simply turned off the movie - which got me a serious look of death - and told her we were going. It was going to be an adventure.
We drove through some bumpy roads, met up with a bunch of cattle who weren't too happy we were taking a drive down their road, and enjoyed walking around the ice caves. Pearl, who was the most willing to change plans by not going to the beach was a chicken once we got there. And Ruby who did not want to go at all, was more than thrilled with what we saw. There was still snow and ice in the caves and it was a nice change of temperature from the beach. We walked around looking at all the wild flowers, yelled our names to hear the echos, looked for cool rocks (and pee cliffs for the boys), took lots of pictures, and had a great time.
I think next time I'll skip the two options all together and just tell everyone what we're doing.
August 7, 2011
Jeff and I were able to sneak away for a few hours today to go on a ride. Yesterday, Jeff and my Dad traversed all over the mountains, looking for new trails to take. I'm glad they had so much fun because Jeff took me on a new trail which was beautiful. The trail went right up to the "pee" cliff and a "psychedelic" tree. Followed by the most fun mud puddles I've ever raced through.
Let me explain.
First, the pee cliff. Last year Jeff and my youngest brother, Kurtis, took a seven hour ride (not intentional) all over the mountains, coasting on fumes all the way back to the property. Like all over. After seven hours, they inevitably had to pee. And as boys are better equipped for a spontaneous pee, they happened to tinkle off a cliff. Yep, a cliff. I don't get it. On our ride today, Jeff peed off that same cliff for good humor. I was jealous because I'd been holding it forever and knew I had to continue to hold it over bumps, rocks, and several steep climbs until we got back to the trailer. Yeah, I barely made it.
Second, that psychedelic tree. Near the pee cliff, there was this huge, dead tree right in the middle of a small clearing. It was pretty interesting to look at. I'm guessing it got zapped by lightning. Anyway, my Dad took a picture of it on his phone and when he showed it to me, the colors were all messed up. It was actually purple in the picture and the really weird thing about it, was none of the other pictures on his phone were messed up. Weird.
Third, the mud puddles. The most awesome fun I think I've had on a 4 wheeler. Seriously. The picture doesn't do them justice. Plus, this was the last of the mud puddles and is mostly just mud, no puddles. We hit the first one, the biggest one, and I'll admit I stopped and hesitated a bit. I'm not as daring as Jeff and get nervous at the thought of having to go up on two wheels to get over something and tipping over. After watching Jeff drive through it and knowing I'd have to give it a bit of gas to get out of it (it was kind of deep and you had to climb up a bit out of it), I had two thoughts go through my head.... "I can't do this. I'm going to get stuck or tip over...." and then.... "Just gun it as fast as you can. It might be fun." I'm glad I went with my second thought. I came cruising through the first puddle, crazy-drivered my way through the second, and then flipped mud everywhere coming through the third. Jeff looked at me in shock as I spun back around to do it all over again, laughing the entire time. Later he told me he was just hoping I'd follow him close enough that he could spray me but then when I zoomed back for more, that it was HOT! Apparently the way to turn my husband on is to have 500 horsepower between my legs and mud all over me :)
August 6, 2011
As tradition has it, the women and children headed to the Raspberry Days craft fair this morning while the boys, well, one went on a bike ride, two went 4-wheeling, and one was left behind to babysit the puppies and take a nap. Pearl was the only one in our little family who found anything she just had to have. She suckered me into buying her an "I spy" sort of book that had fairies in it and this little string puppet dog. Which she lovingly named Maddox Aggie, after my brother's dog (which is her favorite) and of course her favorite university.
Three things to remember for next year:
1. Never leave my mom and sister alone to shop. From now on, they must be accompanied by one of three hot, bored, and whiny children. That way they will know when it's time to leave!
2. Come early or late to avoid the mass of people and heat. At least this year we got smart and packed water and snacks for the kids.
3. Buy a double stroller and park as far away from the climbing wall and bouncy houses as possible. This will avoid whining and tantrums from all three kids.
August 5, 2011
It doesn't matter that we are mere feet from a beach, lake, kiddie pool, ATV trails, trailer full of snacks, and a weekend of fun during Raspberry Days. Nope. The first thing Cole finds is the broom.
The kids has a slight obsession with cleaning supplies. Vacuums. Mops. Cans of dust spray. And of course, brooms. Jeff even took his saw to one of my brooms and made it "Fern sized" so he would stop poking everyone in the eyes or knocking stuff off the tables.
Unfortunately, I highly doubt this obsession has anything to do with cleanliness. He is a boy after all and any stick-like object instantly becomes a weapon or car or whatever else little boys imagine up so they can push it around and whack their sisters with.
August 4, 2011
This weekend is the International Festival in our town. Performers from all over the world come for three days of dancing, food, and shopping. I love seeing all the different countries' traditional costumes, dances, and musical instruments. The food smells amazing and the vendors show off their amazing talents with art, pottery, handmade goods, and much more. My favorite vendors are the ones with the brightly colored, silky, gorgeous fabrics and wrap-arounds. I have two that I love, even if I can't remember how to tie them in all the funky ways the vendors show you. The colors and patterns in the fabric are beautiful and capture the feel of the entire weekend event.
August 3, 2011
Pearl often asks if we can go the "straight" way home (on the side roads) instead of the "fast way" on the freeway. Well, this morning I promised her that we'd take the straight way home. Little did I know how dumb this promise was going to be. Less than a mile away from home we hit a road block. Sure, I'd seen a sign way, way, way down the road that said "Road Closed" but I ignored it. I just figured the refineries were up to something and that I'd be able to get through the single four-way stop that would get us home. Uh, nope. I had to turn around and drive all the way back. Then I figured, well we can just go around the road block instead of getting on the freeway. No time lost and we'll enjoy the slight change in plans. Mistake number two. Apparently every single intersection and street that would have taken us from one side of the freeway to the other was under construction. What was supposed to be a leisurely ride home turned into a 45 minute, frustrating, scream-ladened (Cole was not pleased to be in the car more than double the normal time it takes to get home) drive to nowhere. Every road I turned on had "Road Closed" or "Detour" signs on them. I was less than pleased and will never let Pearl talk me into going the straight way home again.
August 2, 2011
We had a surprise today... Pearl got to move up to the Kindergarten class. Apparently, Ms. Penny decided Pearl was more than ready to be in there and was tired of Pearl's friend Audrey asking when her "Pearlie" was coming to their class. Even though she's been asking every day since her test with Ms. Penny a few months ago, it was kind of a shock. Pearl was way excited but really sad that she wouldn't get to see Ms. Megan anymore. Ms. Megan is awesome! She is a great preschool teacher.... she has a lesson every day with a theme, book, treat, and art project. When Ms. Sara left, I was really worried about how Pearl would adjust to a new teacher. But Ms. Megan happily welcomed Pearl into her arms and the two have become fast friends, chatting all during recess because Pearl was one of only two girls in her class. I admit, I'm probably more upset about the pleasant news than Pearl was. I get just as attached to my kids' daycare providers as they do.
August 1, 2011
I made a list of house projects... things Jeff and I have said "we should do" for over seven years. Things that we always talk about but never prioritize then wonder why they've never gotten done and what we spent our "house" money on. Things like:
- Build a sitting wall next to the patio
- Fix the garage roof (it leaks bad)
- Put in a sprinkler system
- Actually build a covered patio (to then put the sitting wall next to)
- Fix the sunroom (either expand our living space or redo the walls, put in a door, and build a wood deck out the back)
- Landscape the corner flower bed (I did tell Jeff I wanted this one... even drew a plan on the back of our house projects list)
- Landscape the flower bed along our side fence
- Build a "man" shed
- Get rid of the ugly pine tree in the back yard
- Put in curbing around the playground and sandbox
- Redo the bathroom (I can dream, can't I?)
- Paint the bedrooms
- Build shelves in our scary downstairs storage room
- Build a closet in the garage so we have somewhere to put our vacuum
- Dig out the two massive tree stumps in the back yard
- Fix Pearl's closet
- Build shutters for all the windows
- And the last one I added after taking this picture, install a railing on the front porch
It doesn't matter that I lack the skills to finish 15 of the 18 projects. Let's get serious, the three that I possible have a chance of knowing how to do involve landscaping and/or painting and Jeff is the one with the green thumb and painter's arm around here.
So yeah, I'm thinking that unless we have some volunteers drop by with tools in hand, my dream list is going to be posted on the cupboard door for at least another seven years.
July 31, 2011Pearl is full of humor. Takes after her father.
She informed us tonight, with one hand in the air and one on her hip in a very matter of fact tone of voice, and I quote, "If we have three kids, me and Dad are moving out."
Uh, first of all where did she get the idea that we would have another kid?
And second of all, where in the world did she come up with this? We hadn't been talking about anything kid-related before she randomly told us this. Although I did lecture Jeff about how being careful about what he talked about in front of her. He often threaten and teases that if I get pregnant, he's moving out because our house isn't big enough for one more person. When we asked her where she and dad would be moving to, she replied, "The park. In a tent."
What else could we do but laugh.
July 30, 2011
Someone remind me that the next time I decide to change Cole's outfit because it's dirty, to not do so before he has lunch. With black beans no less.
Or at least put him in something other than white.
August 27, 2011
