It's been one crazy week. With 3 trips to Boise in one week, a wedding, a cake... So busy I even forgot Nathan's therapy session! I've only done that one other time in the last 3 years. Yikes!
But we've made it through. The boys have one more school day, early release on Tuesday, and then we're ready for summer. If the weather ever warms up.
I'll be putting up a picture of Janelle's cake when I get home to my beloved computer. The photographer, after I got it all set up on the table, said (and I quote) "That is the best Mormon wedding cake I have ever seen!" It was so refreshing to do something other than white. With the bride's permission (I love my sister!!!!) I got use graduating colors of blue, a different one for each layer, and it turned out gorgeous. It got tons of compliments, and is by far my favorite cake.
Look for a little longer post and some pictures sometime in the next couple days!
Monday, May 31, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
Photo update!
I have been rather remiss at posting photos. And at taking photos. But here are some that I scrounged up from my camera.
Mark's birthday cake, as promised over 3 weeks ago. Design: idea from Oren. Cake: deliciously homemade.
A snow picture? Yes indeed! It was coming down nicely last Saturday as I was scrambling to get ready for our piano recital. I guess we all could have played our Christmas songs again... :-)
Mark's birthday cake, as promised over 3 weeks ago. Design: idea from Oren. Cake: deliciously homemade.
A snow picture? Yes indeed! It was coming down nicely last Saturday as I was scrambling to get ready for our piano recital. I guess we all could have played our Christmas songs again... :-)
Mark and I took the kids out for dinner and bowling Saturday night. Lots of loud music, yummy food, and kids hefting "heavy" bowling balls. Recipe for fun!
Although Daniel wasn't sure about the music blasting and balls crashing...
Nathan kept busy between turns eating all the french fries we had out for snacking and drinking all the soda - a treat they don't get a lot.
Oren was so funny throwing the ball down the lane. Then jumping up and down when the ball would bounce off the bumpers and knock down several pins. He did pretty well, actually, with those bumpers up.
Mark helped William with those ramp things. William would carry the ball over and Daddy would set it up. The he would count down and William would run and shove the ball down. This worked really well and by the end he had a decent score.
And of course, I had Mark take the camera a few times to prove that I was there. Like my mom, I am rarely in pictures. Against the rules to get in a position for a good face shot, since it would have meant standing in the lane, we settled for a "rear" view. I love that black is slimming!
And I was having fun with Daniel at church yesterday, while waiting for singing time to start. Consider these his 7 month pictures. (I know! 7 months!) Apparently I had the picture size set to more of a widescreen so they didn't take the way I thought they would. Still cute though!
Already a little reader.... Just like his momma.
Oren was so funny throwing the ball down the lane. Then jumping up and down when the ball would bounce off the bumpers and knock down several pins. He did pretty well, actually, with those bumpers up.
Mark helped William with those ramp things. William would carry the ball over and Daddy would set it up. The he would count down and William would run and shove the ball down. This worked really well and by the end he had a decent score.
And of course, I had Mark take the camera a few times to prove that I was there. Like my mom, I am rarely in pictures. Against the rules to get in a position for a good face shot, since it would have meant standing in the lane, we settled for a "rear" view. I love that black is slimming!
And I was having fun with Daniel at church yesterday, while waiting for singing time to start. Consider these his 7 month pictures. (I know! 7 months!) Apparently I had the picture size set to more of a widescreen so they didn't take the way I thought they would. Still cute though!
Already a little reader.... Just like his momma.
I would have taken a video of him army-crawling his way across the room and attempting to head out the door, but I was playing piano. He's fine being far away from me if it was his idea to crawl off, but heaven forbid if I walk away! :-)
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Tada!
Remember this dresser? I originally posted about it here. It started out with our family as a creamy white, then graduated to baby blue for William.
Now picture this dresser dingy, with stickers everywhere, and one entire drawer front missing all the paint. Not pretty. So I dragged it out to the garage where it sat for .... umm, a couple months.
In order to make Mark happier about all my upcoming wood projects, I promised to finish this one that I had started. 2 different stripping agents, 3 sheets of varying "grittiness" of sandpaper, 5 paintbrushes, a half dozen ragged towel bits, a can of stain, and 2 coats of polyacrylic (it's like polyurathane) later.....
Featuring a red oak stain and a gloss finish, I'm hoping it lasts longer than the painted surface did. Mark is suitable impressed, and since I spent the afternoon clearing lots of space in my garage, I plan on getting to the cutting tomorrow. Although I may steal some 2x4's from something else in there and make some sawhorses first. It would make things lots easier.
And yes, you're right. It is missing the thing on top that made it a changing table, as well as some trim from the front. I yanked it off since I don't use it as a changing table. Why should I when the living room floor or the couch works just as well? That was probably one of the most satisfying things about the whole project... ripping off that ridge part that I'd hated for 4 years!
I'm having so much fun!
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Grrrrr.....
You know the feeling when you have this list of stuff that you want to do really badly? But you can't because there is other junk in the way?
I hate it.
There's this dresser I have to finish before I can start my nightstands. And doggone it, it's taken me over a week to get the paint off it! Between the stipper not working very well, and the 4 very thick layers of paint colors, it's been rough going. You can't really sand off gummy residue... Plus I have to replace the backing because it got mineral spirits all over it and I'm just not going to put that in my children's room.
But there's finally light at the end of the tunnel! Even though my sander battery (it's cordless) has been slowly dying and not holding a charge, the rough sanding is finished. I'm mostly through with the medium sandpaper. The bigger screw holes have been filled and sanded down. I'm sanding by hand at this point - but vow to purchase an electric sander before starting my bookshelves because it's killing my hand!
I'm caught between wanting to hurry this up so I can start something else and wanting to make sure I take my time, doing all the steps, to make sure it is something I can be proud to put in my house. Either way, it will sure feel good when it's done!
I hate it.
There's this dresser I have to finish before I can start my nightstands. And doggone it, it's taken me over a week to get the paint off it! Between the stipper not working very well, and the 4 very thick layers of paint colors, it's been rough going. You can't really sand off gummy residue... Plus I have to replace the backing because it got mineral spirits all over it and I'm just not going to put that in my children's room.
But there's finally light at the end of the tunnel! Even though my sander battery (it's cordless) has been slowly dying and not holding a charge, the rough sanding is finished. I'm mostly through with the medium sandpaper. The bigger screw holes have been filled and sanded down. I'm sanding by hand at this point - but vow to purchase an electric sander before starting my bookshelves because it's killing my hand!
I'm caught between wanting to hurry this up so I can start something else and wanting to make sure I take my time, doing all the steps, to make sure it is something I can be proud to put in my house. Either way, it will sure feel good when it's done!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Just plain old busy...
There really isn't much of an excuse for why I haven't posted in a week and a half. I've read blogs, I just haven't had much energy left over to think about what to write! And there isn't much to report from having been so busy either, which is funny.
Let's see...
um....
(see what I mean?)
I've been refinishing a dresser this week. The boys pulled the paint off one entire drawer front so I just hauled it into the garage. We discovered it was real wood, and real pretty at that underneath the paint so I've been in the process of stripping it for a while. Thanks to 4 different paint colors on top of each other, very thick coats, the strippers aren't working very well. Gets most stuff off and the rest is sticky gooey residue that won't scrape and won't sand. So I'm still plugging away to get it all off. Will post a picture when it's finally sanded, stained, and finished!
A good friend of mine tipped me off about a new website... see my sidebar.... that is totally awesome! You too can build nice furniture if you have a saw and a drill! Stuff that looks nice and pricey, that you build yourself with seriously easy plans and well-drawn pictures as you go. Beds, tables, chairs, picnic tables, bookshelves, media centers, sawhorses, play kitchens, sandboxes, and she's working on plans for a raised playhouse and swingset kinda thing. I highly recommend you go check it out. She'll have to planning your DIY list in no time flat!
For instance, I'm putting together 2 nightstands, probably next week, for about $25-30 a piece in wood and hardware. This general style, in real wood, would be more like $100 a piece retail. Yikes! We're planning a loft bed and desk for Oren, who could use a more grown-up space since William is about ready for a twin bed. Also on the docket, a new dining room table, two long benches, and two end chairs! (And maybe a kid-sized picnic table squeezed in there too.)
Strangely, that's all I can recall about this last week. The DIY projects. I know there was lots of babysitting for my friend for her physical therapy sessions. I helped clean Amanda's huge (12-14ft) snake today. The boys played outside, and inside, and at the park. Daniel spins in circles while sitting up. I swept. Mark worked.
Just plain busy!
Let's see...
um....
(see what I mean?)
I've been refinishing a dresser this week. The boys pulled the paint off one entire drawer front so I just hauled it into the garage. We discovered it was real wood, and real pretty at that underneath the paint so I've been in the process of stripping it for a while. Thanks to 4 different paint colors on top of each other, very thick coats, the strippers aren't working very well. Gets most stuff off and the rest is sticky gooey residue that won't scrape and won't sand. So I'm still plugging away to get it all off. Will post a picture when it's finally sanded, stained, and finished!
A good friend of mine tipped me off about a new website... see my sidebar.... that is totally awesome! You too can build nice furniture if you have a saw and a drill! Stuff that looks nice and pricey, that you build yourself with seriously easy plans and well-drawn pictures as you go. Beds, tables, chairs, picnic tables, bookshelves, media centers, sawhorses, play kitchens, sandboxes, and she's working on plans for a raised playhouse and swingset kinda thing. I highly recommend you go check it out. She'll have to planning your DIY list in no time flat!
For instance, I'm putting together 2 nightstands, probably next week, for about $25-30 a piece in wood and hardware. This general style, in real wood, would be more like $100 a piece retail. Yikes! We're planning a loft bed and desk for Oren, who could use a more grown-up space since William is about ready for a twin bed. Also on the docket, a new dining room table, two long benches, and two end chairs! (And maybe a kid-sized picnic table squeezed in there too.)
Strangely, that's all I can recall about this last week. The DIY projects. I know there was lots of babysitting for my friend for her physical therapy sessions. I helped clean Amanda's huge (12-14ft) snake today. The boys played outside, and inside, and at the park. Daniel spins in circles while sitting up. I swept. Mark worked.
Just plain busy!
Monday, May 3, 2010
The Long and Skinny of it...
is that Daniel is just that. Long and Skinny!
We had his 6 month appointment today. A whopping 14lbs 3oz. Oren and William were just the same... skinny minnies. He crawls out of his pants all the time, cracks us up!
We also have an appointment for Oren on Thursday. We'll be talking to the doctor about seeing a developmental specialist to see if he may have an underlying condition besides the ADHD. Something like Aspergers. It's along the same lines as autism but not as severe. He just has several things that have been going on since kindergarted that may point in that direction, and if my suspicions are correct, he'll get the help he needs at school. An IEP would be a good thing for him. We'll see what happens.
And Mark had a birthday this weekend! He had the most yummiest cake I have ever made, according to all who ate it. His parents came over as a suprise, and helped us clean up the boys's rooms and switch some beds around. Oren is in with Daniel now since Daniel's waking has been upsetting William pretty bad at night. And Nathan and William share now since they go to bed together just fine as long as they don't turn on the light. This won't keep rooms any cleaner, but will let Oren go to bed earlier and hopefully keep William from screaming at Daniel at 2 am... Anyway, I'll post a picture of his birthday cake when I'm not so tired and don't have a screaming infant who just got shots, and all the fun that comes with having little ones.
We had his 6 month appointment today. A whopping 14lbs 3oz. Oren and William were just the same... skinny minnies. He crawls out of his pants all the time, cracks us up!
We also have an appointment for Oren on Thursday. We'll be talking to the doctor about seeing a developmental specialist to see if he may have an underlying condition besides the ADHD. Something like Aspergers. It's along the same lines as autism but not as severe. He just has several things that have been going on since kindergarted that may point in that direction, and if my suspicions are correct, he'll get the help he needs at school. An IEP would be a good thing for him. We'll see what happens.
And Mark had a birthday this weekend! He had the most yummiest cake I have ever made, according to all who ate it. His parents came over as a suprise, and helped us clean up the boys's rooms and switch some beds around. Oren is in with Daniel now since Daniel's waking has been upsetting William pretty bad at night. And Nathan and William share now since they go to bed together just fine as long as they don't turn on the light. This won't keep rooms any cleaner, but will let Oren go to bed earlier and hopefully keep William from screaming at Daniel at 2 am... Anyway, I'll post a picture of his birthday cake when I'm not so tired and don't have a screaming infant who just got shots, and all the fun that comes with having little ones.
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