My Models

I have taken as many pictures as my two memory cards can hold, so I have been trying to back up my pictures so I can clear out my cards to take more pictures.  As I have been clearing them, I was amused by all the things that had been used as a model, when there were no willing models to be found.  Sorry about the formatting on the pictures.  I had this beautiful symmetrical plan in mind, but I am now giving up!

The Kitchen

While my family was out of town, I painted my kitchen.  This was my first solo painting project.

When we moved into our house, most of our house was painted off white.  There were a few spots that had some lovely gold and mauve wallpaper.  The wallpaper was the first thing to go, and in the process, we ripped all the paint off the master bathroom walls.  Two years later, we finally finished the master bathroom.

The Kitchen had some stenciling, and one year during Christmas, while we were putting up our decorations, we decided to paint over the stencils.  We found some paint in the garage, that was the same off-white color and painted over the stenciling.  When the paint dried, we realized that first, the paint did NOT cover the stencils, and second, the paint was not the same color as our walls.

We now have two rooms that are no longer off white.  Someday, I plan to eradicate all off-white paint from my house.  For now, I hope you will enjoy the before and after pictures of my new kitchen.

Before

I just noticed the blue from the filtered evening sunlight coming over the wall in this picture.  Hubby has noticed that in the evening, that color matches our new kitchen walls.  You can also see our test patches on the wall.  Our final color is the lighter blue.

After

These pictures were taken before I put the pantry door back on.  I also still need to paint the trim white.

I could not move the fridge, so I had to wait for Hubby to come and move it for me so I could paint the wall behind the fridge.  That wall is still waiting to be painted.  Hopefully, it won't take me two years this time.

I really love my new kitchen.  I got the gift certificate for the paint a year and a half ago.  I am learning that two years is my typical timeline for starting a project.  I debated for a long time about whether I should paint my master bedroom, or the kitchen.  I am so glad I went with the kitchen.  I love it!

Subbing for an Angel

A few weeks ago, I was talking to my mom, and she mentioned to me that she was going to go into the hospital later that day because she was feeling tired, and she was little worried about her heart.  I didn't think too much about it.  I was sure she would go in, and be fine and be back out in no time at all.

I got a call later that afternoon from my sister.  She let me know that after running some tests, the doctors decided that at the very least, my mom needed a pacemaker, and there could be other complications as well.  I think it surprised us all.  My mom is the glue that holds not only our family, but many in her neighborhood together.  She is very charitable and service oriented, and is constantly doing for others.  As my sister put it, she is "an angel to so many."  As we dealt with the shock of worrying for my mom, we also dealt with the fact that we needed to pick up the slack.

One of the many things my mom does, is she watches my sister's kids so my sister can go to work.  I decided to watch my niece and nephew for a while.  My six year old nephew is autistic, and he mouths everything.  When I have young kids who are at the mouthing stage, I am very careful to keep my floors clean, and free from anything that would hurt them.  I haven't had a mouther in years.  Now, not only was I going to have a mouther, but one who could reach, or climb to, most surfaces in my house.  I was a little stressed about getting my house clean enough.

The first day that I was scheduled to watch the kids, my seven year old niece came over in the morning, and then my dad brought my nephew after lunch when he came home from school.  In the morning, Makenzie and my niece were playing, and getting into things as I was frantically trying to clean my house.  I ended up getting after them, and I told them that this would be a good day to make LESS work for me, not more work.  As I started cleaning again, they began whispering.  They finished their breakfast, and then they went into the kitchen, and washed all the breakfast dishes, and wiped off the counter.

Then, they grabbed some buckets, and went out and picked the tomatoes and cucumbers.  They came inside and made my bed, and cleaned up Makenzie's room.  As I finished vacuuming another part of the house, they pulled out the broom, dustpan, buckets and mops, and  swept and mopped the kitchen floor.  Then after lunch, they folded some of the laundry.

I was amazed with the breakfast dishes, and even more amazed that they continued to work so hard through the entire morning.  It was all my nieces idea, and I thought it was such a thoughtful thing to do.  After they finished working, they played together so well, and they worked hard to include everyone.

I watched my niece and nephew for 4 days, and then my sister's husband was able to work from home to watch the kids for a few weeks.  I have a new appreciation for what my mom and sister do.  I had fun watching them, but my nephew has to be watched every second.  It was sure fun getting to play with him for those 4 days though.  I can't wait to be with his perfect body someday, and be able to talk to him, and find out all the things that go on in that little head.

My mom did end up getting a pacemaker, and with the tests, the doctor said that her heart looked very healthy in every other way.  She is still going like mad.  She does have to keep her arm in a sling so the scar tissue can build up around the pacemaker.  I'm very glad that things worked out the way they did!  Many prayers were answered.

Time Saving

A couple of weeks ago, my husband took all the kids out of state.  While he was gone, I painted the kitchen (I do have pictures.  I will put them up here when I get my good computer back).  I am loving my new kitchen.  I have worked very hard to keep it clean since I repainted it.  My husband even asked me the other day about my new "keep the house clean" kick I am on.  Well, inevitably, things had to fall apart sometime.  The end of this week was hectic, and I had lots of goals.  The kitchen cleaning was pushed to the back burner.  Today, I tackled the kitchen to get it caught it back up.  (I've decided that this definitely isn't my favorite activity for Fast Sunday).  I am amazed at how much harder it is to clean a kitchen that is a day old (or two days old) messy.   Food is cemented onto dishes and countertops.  Unique smells seem to pop up.  The dishes that need to be handwashed seem to take over the kitchen.  I never enjoy doing dishes, but I would estimate that cleaning a day old kitchen takes twice as long, and it is much harder.  I would imagine many things in life are easier if we just tackle them right from the beginning, and they probably take much less time too.  My dad has a saying.  "If you hate to do something, don't make yourself do it twice." Basic meaning- Do it right the first time, so you don't have to do it again.  I think the same principle applies to procrastination.  Get the job done when you should, and then it won't be hanging over your head.  There are also so many jobs, mainly household cleaning jobs, that seem to get bigger and bigger as I put them off.  I'm enjoying the time, and the clean house, that comes with not procrastinating.  We'll see how long I can keep this up!

Being Productive is Over-rated

Our decent computer bit the dust last week, and it needs to be rebuilt.  My sweet hubby dragged our ancient computer out of the garage, and set it up so we could have access to the Internet, but unfortunately, that is all I have access too.  I have taken a ton of pictures lately, with the intent of blogging, but they will all have to wait.

Last month, I visited my sister with my kids.  My husband stayed home alone for several days.  As I drove home, I started thinking about how nice it would be to have some time where I stayed home alone, and my husband took off with the kids.  Of course, as a mom, I don't get vacations.  Even when my husband takes time off work, it is for us to take vacations as a family.

We currently have two cars.  (I know it seems like I am heading off on all kinds of tangents, but bear with me.  I am heading somewhere with all of this.)  We have a van that we bought used in 2001.  It is barely hanging in there for us.  Hubby used to take the bus to work every morning, but he got sick of the horrible commute, and decided to buy an old missionary car with some stock he sold.

This month, Hubby's family had their annual reunion.  Once we decided to go, we had to figure out a way to get there.  I didn't feel like our van was a reliable choice for the 12+ hour drive, and our little car only fits 5 of the 6 of us in it.  I arranged to borrow my parent's van for the trip, but then, driving home from my sister's house, I came up with a brilliant plan.

I asked my husband how he would feel about taking the kids for the week, and letting me stay home.  ALONE!  He really loves our family time, and it has been a long time since we have seen his family, but he recognized that I would really appreciate some time to be by myself.  He also really owes me.  Last year, he left me for a week to go spend some time with his brothers at Six Flags.  So, my very brave husband drove 12 hours in our good car with 4 kids, and let me stay home.

So, what did I do for my week of alone time?  I worked my butt off!  I spent the week cleaning.  Our house hadn't been thoroughly cleaned since we put in our yard.  There was a very thick layer of dust covering everything.  I organized the kids bedrooms, and I even braved my fears, and painted my kitchen.  It was a very productive week.

For the first few days, I had the time of my life!  I listened to my music.  Ate what I wanted.  Slept when I wanted.  And I didn't hear a whiny "Mo- ooom" once.  It was a lot of fun.  But by day 3, I was done.  I missed my husband, and my kids!  My house was much too quiet, and there was no one to hug me!  I continued to get a lot done, but my life felt very empty. 

My family was supposed to get home last night.  They got a late start, and then the "good" car that they were driving started acting up.  I got a call from hubby a few hours ago, and he let me know that every time he stops the car, he has to have someone jump the battery in order to get the car to start again.  He has to stop one more time to get gas, and it is 2 in the morning.  We are both a little worried about him finding someone to help him jump start the car in the tiny towns he will pass.

Hopefully, my family will be back together again in the next few hours. 

Dinner in the Canyons

We have lived here for 5 years, and we finally took our kids up to the canyons for the first time last week. Hubby has a co-worker, who invited several friends up for a cook-out. We roasted hot dogs over the fire, and hubby and the kids went cave exploring. The kids had a blast, and they ask to go back every day. Unfortunately, Allen was at a scout camp when we went, so he didn't get to enjoy the fun. We'll have to take him sometime soon.

I took several pictures while we were up in the canyons, but I just realized that I didn't take a single picture of the things we were doing. That is definitely something I need to work on. Pictures are great, but they tell the story about what is going on. I need to get more "story" in my picures.

The campsite that my hubby's co-worker picked was right next to this very fast river. I'm not gonna lie, I was a little afraid for my kids safety. (In her defense, I think it was the last campsite left in the area.) They were well behaved though, and they didn't try to go past the boundaries we gave them.

Many of my favorite memories involve having dinner in the canyons with my family. I need to work harder to create those kinds of memories with my family. Thanks Mo for inviting us. It was great to finally make it to the canyons, and to meet all of you.

My Niece

I went and recruited my niece for a little photography practice. She was very willing!!

I had a really tough time whittling down the pictures. There were so many great ones. As I look through my favorites, I realized that they are all close-ups of her cute face. We did get some pictures with her dancing around, but she was so fast, that many of them were just a blur. Thanks for letting me use your kids, Nae.

By the way, if anyone has any critiques on these, or any of my photos, I would LOVE to hear them. Hopefully there are some things I am doing right, but I am sure there are many things I am doing wrong. Helpful hints are always welcome. :)