Brothers

I just love this picture of the boys walking next to the American River (and the local fish hatchery). They held hands for a little while, and then...

..."wait, 'Ex-der!"

To Every Thing, Turn, Turn, Turn ...

As we discussed the Word of Wisdom in Relief Society on Sunday (I realize that phrase didn't mean a lot to you non-Mormon folks, so let me translate: "During a lesson on health during women's group on Sunday..."), someone mentioned that we should eat foods that are in season. Right on cue, a voice from the back called, "Well, it is Girl Scout cookie season!"

We all had a good laugh... but I had the last laugh when I went home to this:

"Samoas" and a CFDC! (I won't say how many boxes cookies I polished off....)

Happy Girl Scout Cookie Season, everyone!

Hard to Believe It's the Same Room!

We've been very busy with home projects 'round these parts lately, some more successful than others. (When I've recovered sufficiently, I'll give you the run down on what I am dubbing the "New Floor Fiasco.") In the meantime, you can see part of our new floors in our updated family room, which I am extremely excited about!

Here's how the room looked when we moved in. Note the off-white carpet (which was also in the dining room). You can imagine how it looked after a year of abuse by four kids...


Here's Jay gleefully removing the beast of a fireplace:


And here's the final product (well, if you don't count baseboards and a desk chair...shhhh!):

(a little more straight-on shot)

Other side, with our DVD locker and a Bea-in-motion

We are so happy with it. I call it "cozy modern." (I love naming things. I always thought naming lipstick colors would be the greatest job in the world, but naming kids and decorating styles is pretty fun, too.) Anyway, I know the look isn't everyone's style, but we love it! I love having bright colors throughout the house. They really cheer me up.

The details: It's a little hard to see in the picture, but the side walls are light blue, and the fireplace is a beautiful mosaic glass tile from Modwalls called "White Linen." The fireplace walls are the same Aurora Orange we used in the upstairs hall and for the polka dots in the stairwell. The floors are stained concrete, 2 shades of gray and a metallic blue epoxy. I can't tell you who did the work because I've taken a vow to never speak the company's name again... (told you it was a fiasco!)

Next up, I'll show you what we used that corrugated metal for!

Our Ar-tee-st

Two of Natalie's art pieces from school were recently selected to be in a district-wide kid's art show at the local community center. There were only about 25 pieces in the show (per grade), so to have two selected was pretty exciting!

Here she is with her vase of flowers:

And here's a closeup of her snowglobe picture:



Way to go, Natters! Watch out, or I might commission you to paint a mural for our hallway... (free of charge, of course).

Holy Cow!

Usually I like my birthday, but I've been a little leary about 35...

...the inferno on top of my cake didn't really help the situation, either.

But, the cake was yummy!!

And, Jay and I went on a date Friday night (shopping and dinner sans kids), which was heavenly. And then Jay helped me hold on to my youth with my awesome birthday present:

Kit Kittredge!

Now when the girls ask me to play dolls with them, I don't have to use Mr. Pricklepants. (not that he isn't adorable in his own way....)

Baron Von Shush in the house!

So ... anyone else have a birthday (as in age, not celebration) they were a little less than enthusiastic about? What did you do about it? Mope around in a maroon bathrobe for a week? Eat your weight in apple pie? Become slightly obsessed with toys intended for 8 year olds?

Way Back in October ...

Jay and I decided to tackle the outside of our house in October ... not exactly the best time of the year for painting outside, but Jay and I haven't really been known for doing things logically when it comes to home improvement/decorating. We sort of fly by the seat of our pants. (Not unlike the rest of our lives. I used to be a planner, I swear. I don't know what happened to me. I blame Jay.)

Here's the before:

And a closer picture, so you can see the shingles, or "shake," in all their awesomeness:

The house was built in 1978, but I'm sure most of the updates were done in the early 80's. (Love the 70's vibe ... the 80's, not so much.) Lot's of gold fixtures. And the plants in front were just too much for Jay and I ... green thumbs we are not. So, we went to work! Now, there is still much to be done, especially in the landscaping department, but it's a start.

The after:

(Please ignore the dying trees and the trampled on plants.)

We are so happy with how it turned out! Much more modern, but still appropriate for the neighborhood.

What we did: Removed all the bushes and most of the the concrete border, planted grass seed, removed all the shake off the sides of the house (I swear everytime we removed shake, we would find more ... it was multiplying!), repainted the trim from teal to a dark gray, replaced the shake with wood that we stained & varnished, added a ceiling to the entryway, added pendant lights, and replaced the carriage lights with lights Jay made himself. We also removed the "decorative inserts" on the garage windows. Oh, and we replaced the house windows back in July.

I think my favorite part is the new ceiling in the entryway:


Before we added the ceiling, it was just an exposed white roof with no lighting. I felt bad for anyone coming up to our door at night... it was a little dark and scary! Jay found the new ceiling lights at a garage sale in our neighborhood for 15 CENTS each. Awesome! All he had to do was lengthen them.

So, that's what we've been up to. We have a few other improvements that are in process (one of which includes those sheets of corrogated metal you can see leaning against our entryway wall). I'm excited to get them done and show them to you!


Some more pictures, if you are interested:

So much for posting again before Christmas!

The Christmas tree and decorations are all gone (hmmm, except outside), and my home is feeling ready for some serious deep cleaning and organization. But before I get to that (way before), I wanted to share just a few Christmas pictures. We had a wonderful, low-key Christmas. We missed family who couldn't make it for various reasons, but besides that, everything was perfect.

(Except, why do I stress out making homemade cinnamon rolls every Christmas eve to be ready for Christmas morning, when my kids barely touch them? What in the world is wrong with those kids, anyway?!?)

I got all crafty pre-Christmas ... I made a runner and some banners that matched the lime green we already have downstairs...

(You'll have to forgive the quality of some of these pictures... the ones I take from my phone do not turn out very well.)

...and matching pillows:

Christmas morning, Cal was the first to wake up. I was worried that the kids would wake up before Jay got home from work and that I would have to try to contain them upstairs, but luckily we were all still sleeping when he got home. Ok, not all of us. I was too excited to sleep!

Cal got an early start on his stocking... too bad the item he's excitedly pointing at was actually for Dexter.

Dexter, checking the stocking toe:

I opened my stocking to find ...

...Mr. Pricklepants!! He now holds a place of honor on my desk, right next to my Dwight Bobblehead.

Bea and Natalie finally woke up ... well, Natalie did at least. :)

The highlights of the morning were watching the the kids open their main presents, the ones I've been excited to watch them open for months:

Buzz Lightyear's for the boys:

(even Bea was excited!)

And American Girl dolls for the girls:

Natalie with "Julie," the doll from 1974

Bea with "Molly," the doll from 1944.

The girls have been saving money to buy the dolls themselves, so they were pretty excited when they opened the joint present from Papa, Grandma, and us. I have to say, I was pretty excited, too. The dolls are adorable, and I have been caught brushing their hair a time or two, encouraging the girls to dress them in this outfit or that one. :) I guess some things bring out the kid in me. (And whenever Jay gives me a hard time, I just point to the Wii....)

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and a very happy New Year. I won't even bother posting about our New Year's celebration, because there was none. I was asleep by 10:00! I guess that's what happens when you're approaching *gulp* 35.

Tradition, Tradition!

Before December made its official appearance (but after Calvin's birthday), we headed up the hill to go on our annual Christmas tree hunting expedition. This year, we were greeted with quite a bit of snow, but luckily we were prepared. Well, some of us were prepared. I'm still sporting the same holey sneakers I've had for years, but that is a subject for another time.

Sunshine and snow!

Unfortunately for Jay, he's taught the kids how to aim well.

Cal refused to wear a hat, but his mop top kept him warm.

Finally, we found a tree!

The tree is now up in our room, festooned with white lights and a jumble of family ornaments. The kids all participated in hanging the ornaments this year, which was slightly stressful but fun nevertheless. So far no one has knocked down the tree (even Pippin!) but there have been a few broken ornaments and a half eaten candy cane. Cal hasn't picked up on the fact that if you're going to steal a candy cane and don't want to get caught, it's best to wipe all the sticky red stuff off your face before your mama sees it. :)

I have a bunch of crafty things to share, as well as pictures of our latest home project, so stay tuned! I'm going to try to get to them before Christmas. :)