kirty'z view

Did I Mention...

2012-01-24T06:36:00.001-07:00

We're having a GIRL!!!

And we are so very excited! When we found out during the ultrasound back in November, Dallin said he knew all along. I don't know why it's taken so long to make an official announcement. I kinda just figured everyone knew.

Big thanks to my amazing sister for hooking us up with all kinds of cute and fun girl stuff. And to my parents for sending it out our way. They've saved us so much money... or really, our poor girl being stuck with boy stuff.

I can't wait to play dress up. There's just something different about girl stuff. Maybe it's just because I'm a girl.

We're expecting baby girl in the middle of April.

Hooray!

And congratulations to my baby brother and his wife who just had their first baby. A boy on January 21st. Mabin Call Lucas.

Ruffles and Lace and Baby Jesus

2012-01-16T17:45:00.001-07:00

I've been done with these projects for a while now, but thought I'd go ahead and post them anyway.

First, the duvet I made--Ruffles and Lace.

I bought 2 King size flat sheets and cut them to the size of the comforter. Then I measured, spaced, pinned, and sewed on rows of ribbon and lace, creating the ruffles as I went. It took a lot of pinning and a lot of patience. I even had to redo the last 3 rows because of some sewing machine problems. Not fun. But after the ruffles and lace were on it was easy to sew the 3 sides together. I used some iron on velcro to close the bottom of the duvet, but after several washings, the velcro is starting to come off. I may eventually sew on velcro or revert to buttons or ribbons. I've loved the end result though and my duvet makes me happy every time I see it.

The next project was one I finished just in time for the Christmas countdown. I want my kids to focus on the real meaning of Christmas-baby Jesus, as we count down the days. So, I've wanted a magnetic Nativity advent calendar, but have never been able to find one, or anything close to it that I liked so I decided to create one on my own.

I started with a frame I liked. It was a shadow box frame, so I had my husband carefully hammer out the glass. Then I used some magnetic paint I bought at Michaels craft store and I painted the back of the frame. The paint is really thick and had to be sanded down. But I liked the textured, wood like appearance it gives to the background. Then using acrylic paints I painted the background of a stable, which counts as my 1st day of the countdown. I know I have no skill or understanding of painting or art, but I was happy with the result of my painting. After painting, I used a spray on clear gloss to protect it.

Then I used some cardstock paper to make everything. I wanted to keep things simple looking. I found some animal pictures I liked online, printed them, and free-handed the redrawing of them. I'm sure it would be easy to have traced them as well if they were the right size. My pictures were small. I ended up using 1 Mary, 1 Joseph, 1 angel, 1 donkey, 1 cow, 2 shepherds, 3 sheep, 3 wiseman, 3 gifts, 1 camel, 5 stars, 1 manger, and 1 baby Jesus. That equals 24. After I cut and glued all my pieces together I had them laminated and cut again. Then I put a sticky magnet on the back of each one. I keep the pieces in a ziploc baggie.

The kids had fun taking turns picking out pieces to put up. The only rule was that baby Jesus had to be the last piece up on Christmas day.

My very own unique Nativity advent calendar.

Monster Pants

2012-01-14T21:40:00.002-07:00

It seems like Dallin's jeans never last very long. He's always getting holes in the knees. I'm sure it has to be a boy thing.

I have a hard time finding patches that look right, match or last. So to have a little fun, I've turned the holes into monsters. I've seen this done by others and figured Dallin would like it.

I used felt for the mouth parts and sewed the teeth to the mouth background. The rest had to be hand stitched because his little pant legs don't fit around the sewing machine.

After making Dallin's monster pants, I put him in some old holey church pants on Sunday since we didn't go to church because we were all sick. Dallin come up to me and said, "Mom, I know how we can fix these pants, we can turn it into Jesus or a temple."

I'm not sure I feel so good about that.

Christmas favorites and not so favorites

2011-12-26T20:43:00.000-07:00

Dallin's homemade bike trailer.

My top favorite Christmas moments:
Having Dallin tell the story of the Nativity on Christmas Eve.
Dallin teasing Robby with his new recording microphone. Dallin would call Robby stinky and such and then play the message for Robby, who would then chase him around the house.
The beautiful sacrament meeting at Church.
Dallin and Ezra unwrapping gifts.
Having tons of time with my awesome husband.

My not so favorite Christmas moment:
Eating all the chocolate out of my stocking plus some in a day and a half. Trust me, it was a lot of chocolate. I get sick when thinking about how many calories I consumed.
So, realizing that I have a serious addiction and problem with chocolate, I've come to a conclusion. My relationship with chocolate needs to end. Cold turkey. I have decided to quit chocolate for an entire year. Seriously.
Starting tomorrow. (well right now, but I've already eaten tons of chocolate today that today can't count)
I will not eat anything chocolate for an entire year.
I will be strong. I will resist. It will not control me.
I know you doubt me. Sometimes I doubt myself. But I plan to do this.
I'll let you know how it goes.

Dallin's Birthday

2011-12-14T15:41:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I have a 5 year old now! Dallin's party was awesome at the Living Planet Aquarium. The sunken ship room was so fun. His shark cake and cupcakes fit in perfectly. I think he had a pretty good day. After his party we went to the Festival of Trees and then that night we saw the Muppet movie. Dallin loved the movie.

Thanks Esther for taking pictures!

Summer Cousin Fun- Part 2

2011-12-05T21:49:00.000-07:00

Some pictures to catch up on summer cousin fun. The Zoo. The water fountain at the park. Bridal Veil Falls.

My favorite moment at the Zoo this year- Seeing a Gorilla poo and then watching him eat it. Seriously happened. I was disgusted.

Spiderman!

2011-10-25T22:18:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago my kids were outside playing while I was making lunch inside the house. I asked Dallin where Ezra was and he told me Ezra was in the garage. I asked Dallin to tell Ezra to come inside and eat. Ezra wouldn't listen. After a few minutes of yelling and waiting, I decided to go get him myself. I found Ezra sitting in the garage playing with something. As I walked towards him Ezra lifted his hand and said, "Bee." -Which is what he calls any crawling, creeping, bug like thing. When I looked at his hand a little closer he held something big and black with lots of legs in between his thumb and index finger. I immediately thought it looked like the body of a black widow and I smacked his hand to get it out of his grasp. Ezra started crying from the shear shock that I smacked him so good. I picked him up and looked around for where the "bee" might have landed. There it was on a bag in the garage rolled over on its back with a huge red hourglass on its abdomen.

I freaked.

I ran inside with Ezra and called Dave who was teaching at BYU just to let him know what was going on and that he might have to run home to escort us to the hospital, since he had the car.

Ezra's hands were filthy from playing in the dirt before he ventured into the garage so I washed his hands thoroughly inspecting for any sign of a spider bite. I asked if he had any owies, but after recovering from the shock of me hitting his hand, he was happy and acted like nothing was wrong and began eating his lunch.

I called his pediatricians office to find out what I should do and what to look for. I was told that if he got bit he would have a red spot that would be very tender to the touch. And if I found one I was to rush him to the ER immediately.
I took off all of Ezra's clothes and inspected him just to make sure I wouldn't miss anything. He still seemed fine.

Then I decided I better go and catch the spider for proof, just in case. I grabbed a jar and when I caught the spider I realized he only had 4 legs!

Ezra must have had that spider in his fingers and pulled off 4 of his legs. I couldn't believe he could get away with that and the spider wouldn't have bit him.

To make a long story short, I never found any signs of him being bit. The spider is still in that jar and currently has 3 legs as one of the other legs was barely hanging on.
I am sure that it is a miracle that kid survived pulling of a black widow's legs without getting bit. Someone was definitely watching over my child.

--A week later, Ezra picked up a bee in our house and he got stung.

I am now trying to teach Ezra that even though mommy likes bugs and I pick them up more often than I should that there are certain bugs we do not pick up like spiders and bees.

Summer Cousin Fun- Part 1 Hiking

2011-10-08T10:17:00.003-06:00

I love that our kids are on a bridge with a sign posted "Bridge Not Safe"

My family and I that live in the Utah/Idaho area have started a tradition of a yearly family camping trip. This is our 3rd year in a row. And while I didn't get any pictures of our actually camping, I did get some of the hike we went on.

We didn't have a hiking backpack for Jordan. So Heidi and Jodie tried to manage him in an umbrella stroller. It was hilarious.

This is my new all time favorite video. Wish you could have seen this poor kid carried in the stroller in person. Even better.

Do your kids always have to have 2 rocks too? One for each hand. Can't manage a hike without them. See how happy those rocks make him! He'd scream his head off without them. Yet he'd throw them every couple of minutes. I hate that game.

Dave took part in the Jordan action for a while to give that kid a break from the stroller.

Camping with the family was a blast. Can't wait to do it again.

Major Catching Up

2011-10-07T09:17:00.001-06:00

Yep, major catching up is in order. I would probably have to make a new post every day for the rest of the month to catch up on what you have missed out on. Where to start? Summer fun with siblings and cousins. Zoo trips. Baby news. Bike trailers. Spiders. Birthday fun.

I guess I'll start with my favorite. Baby news. Just in case you didn't know, my usual excuse of absence from the blogging world is that we are expecting, --- baby #3 April 14th. We are so excited, crossing our fingers for a little girl, but I would be just as happy about a 3rd boy, because I love my boys so much as they are the best boys in the whole wide world. --I tell them that every day. And they have been so good to me, letting me nap, not complaining about all the chicken nuggets and mac and cheese they eat lately, watching lots of TV, helping me to exercise, and giving me lots of loves. My husband's been pretty awesome too, he always takes good care of me.

Yeah, I'm lucky, I know. I have the best family ever and am so excited to make it even better with our next little addition!

Tomorrow-summer cousin fun!

Summer Happenings

2011-07-18T21:10:00.010-06:00

Eating apples while watching the rain.

Showing off my flesh wound. Totally tripped while running and my knees ate it hard.

Baseball buddies.

Love this one with the turkey. Ezra was not happy.

Totally looks like Dallin's trying to choke Ezra.

Eating fresh picked peas!

Train ride at the zoo.

Robby and Mikey at the zoo.

So cute. Cousins holding hands.

And here are a few pics of my most recent projects. Done by me.

I totally put in this new faucet by myself. And it wasn't easy.

And I installed these fans all by myself too!

And they were a breeze to put in.

Haha! Sorry it had to be said. It's totally my mom's kind of humor. You can blame her. I do.

And I helped with these. We put up 3 of them. Could have done it by myself, but I thought I better let my husband do something around the house to feel important.

Bad Attitude Fixed

2011-07-06T21:15:00.002-06:00

Today started off great. 6 miles in 52 minutes. My best ever.

I got a nap today. I'm sure that helped.

Then great news. I got a call from the Living Planet Aquarium. I won the grand prize from the drawing I entered at the Freedom Festival. A birthday party for 30 at the Aquarium! I don't know who's more excited me or Dallin. Now I can't wait for his birthday too. I never win anything!

Hooray for a better day!

Perfectly Good Day Ruined by a Perfectly Bad Attitude

2011-07-05T21:08:00.002-06:00

Have you ever had one of those days, where everything was good and normal, nothing extraordinary, nothing amazing, but nothing horrible and yet your attitude for the day was off?

That's how my day was. Unexplainably grumpy, irritable, frustrated, rotten, and negative.

Nothing to ruin the day really, except I did step on the scale this morning and it was my clean house day... thank goodness, because it really needed it. And while I normally feel a sense of accomplishment at the end of a clean house day, today I don't. I think it has something to do with all the other to dos I have waiting and begging to be done.

I'm so glad to have this day mostly over. The kids are in bed, well one's screaming his head off, but at least he's in bed. And there's an amazing thunderstorm. I love a good thunderstorm. I find it funny that thunderstorms seem to lift my spirits and make me happy. Someday I'll have a nice huge porch to sit on and enjoy the sight, sounds, and smells of a good thunderstorm. Til then I sit close to my open window and try to soak it in...

Hoping it will wash away this mood I'm in and bring a much happier tomorrow.

Aging with my Dave

2011-06-16T00:48:00.003-06:00

I love my Dave. My Dave is absolutely perfect for me. And today is my perfect Dave's birthday.

He has an aging complex though. And while I think he needs to get over it because aging is something that is going to happen every day for the rest of his life, I also think that he is more and more handsome every year.

So grateful to have my Dave. Grateful to have a man that works hard and loves his work. Grateful to have a man that helps around the house. Grateful to have a man willing to train for a half marathon with me and takes on all the hills while pushing the kids in the stroller.

You know you've got a good relationship when you can agree on almost everything. You know you've got a good relationship when you can respect each other's point of view in any disagreement.

And you definitely know it's love when you can laugh about having to help each other maintain those randomly stray long hairs creeping up in unusual places more and more frequently with every passing year.

There's no one else I'd rather grow old with.

Love you Dave! Happy Birthday.

Questions

2011-06-08T23:14:00.003-06:00

Today Dallin randomly asked, while we were out jogging, "How does the baby get out of the mommy's tummy?"

Isn't there an age limit with these kinds of questions? How do you respond to that without scaring the kid or inspiring more questions? How often do you try to ignore your kids' questions?

Like Mother Like Daughter

2011-06-06T21:55:00.005-06:00

I decided I don't need to apologize for taking so long to post. I'm a mom and as such I am busy. Busy with my kids, with motherly duties, taking care of myself and just having fun. All of which are perfectly good reasons for my lack of posting, therefore, no need to apologize.

What better reason to return though, than to say:

Happy Birthday Mom!

Isn't modern technology great...That I can just blog to tell my mom Happy Birthday. That's better than a text for sure. Especially since I am not much of the texting kind. But I will apologize for being most likely, the only child who does not send a birthday card in the mail. I have an issue with birthday cards. I love receiving them, don't get me wrong. Keep sending them. They make me laugh and it's just pleasant to be thought of and loved enough to receive a physical card in the mail. But I'm not the sentimental type. And unless it's something super duper special, where do all those cards end up in a week? The trash. So I figure why spend money on something that is thrown away anyway. Why not just say it in a phone call or email or some other way. Then there's no trash and in a way you're saving the environment.

So to make up for being a slacker of a(environmentally friendly) daughter, I thought I would share a few memories I have of my amazing, beautimous mother, and how her kooky ways have influenced me and my poor, poor children.

*beautimous is my mother's word, which i occasionally find myself using

When I think of my childhood, there are 4 main descriptions I would give of my mother. Singing. Cleaning. Hard Working. Faithful.

My mother is a singer. Regardless of whether or not she should be, my mother would sing and sing and sing. She would wake us up in the morning singing obnoxious, shrilling songs. She would sing hymns, nursery rhymes or oldies as she worked around the house or lamented about the lack of love or help she was receiving from us kids. She would also make up the silliest, nonsensical songs about us kids or what she was doing. Some songs I will always associate with mom: Love at Home, My Bonnie lies over the ocean, Brand New Key by Melanie, Rise and Shine, and a few others.

So now I must admit, regardless of whether I should be or not, I am a singer. I sing all the time to my children. I rock them to sleep while singing. I make up ridiculous songs and sing to them. I sing to try to make them happy. I sing to keep them calm. I have of yet to wake them by singing, and don't know that I could be that cruel first thing in the morning, but I am sure of one thing: there will be plenty of singing in this house, because of my mother.

My mother is a cleaning machine. The only time I saw a mess that lasted in our house for more than a few hours or days was in my own bedroom, much to the chagrin of my mother and room sharing sister. I don't believe my mother is capable of going to bed at night if there are dishes in the sink or toys not put away, or crumbs on the floor. My mother has been known to vacuum at 6 in the morning. I've never seen my parents bed unmade. I've never seen a pile of clean laundry needing to be folded last more than 2 seconds after coming out of the dryer or off the line. She is the mother of all moms when it comes to cleaning.

And while I'm sure her cleaning skills have not rubbed off on me as much as she or I would like, she is the cleaning mother I try to be. I may be able to sleep comfortably with loads of laundry waiting to be folded and piles of dishes needing washing, but usually it's the first thing I tackle in the morning. And I have been known to be quite cranky when my house is not as clean or tidy as I would like. I even carry on my mom's tradition of a 'clean house day,' the one day of the week dedicated to getting the house entirely clean.

As her cleaning methods would suggest, I've never met a mom as hard working as my mom. She's the kind with a never ending to do list, prioritized, with hardly a moment for rest. Always weeding, scrubbing, cooking, cleaning, serving, chauffering, organizing and doing something. I believe I spent a few hours beside mom in most of her to dos while growing up. As such, I also believe I owe my mom for teaching me how to cook and garden, can food, clean, and write up my very own to dos and all those hard working skills every mom should have.

Lastly, I remember seeing my mom reading her scriptures in the wee morning hours and walking in on her while kneeling in prayer. Family scripture study, family prayer, and family home evening were not always the most successful events in our house, but they were consistent. Mom was and is a rock when it comes to things spiritual. There has never been any doubt as to mom's faith and testimony.

So, Thanks Mom, for all that you are and all that you did and for rubbing off on me, even in some of those kooky ways. Love you!

Laundry Blessings

2011-04-16T14:35:00.003-06:00

I hate folding laundry.

And there I sat, folding 4 loads of laundry.

My mind wandered to what I could be doing with my time, what I was going to do for fun as my reward for folding so much laundry, and why wasn't Dave helping?

Then as I was folding, I started to pay attention to how many shirts I would have to hang up and how many I would have to iron. It was a lot.

So I thought, at least I'm lucky to be able to afford so many changes of clothing.

Then I looked at my exercise clothing pile, lucky I can exercise and have clean clothes to do it in as often as I want.

Most of my boys clothes' were given to us from loving family and friends.

The bed sheets and pillow cases I was folding were a result of having family come to visit and stay with us for a few days.

I even went so far as to be grateful to fold my son's underwear, because it meant that he was potty trained.

I guess there's nothing like folding loads of laundry to help count your blessings.

Great.

Now how am I ever going to hate folding laundry again?

Funny Boy

2011-03-15T10:47:00.005-06:00

Does anyone else see something wrong with this picture? Obviously Ezra didn't think he had a long enough bath and decided to hop back in with Dallin.

We took a cabin trip last month. It was nice to have some down time all together. Ezra loved the oreos. He really liked licking them. Most people lick the cream filling. He licked the chocolate.

Ezra didn't like the snow too much.

But Dallin did.

Ezra got some percussion instruments for Christmas. He is definitely going to be Daddy's little percussionist. (Dallin is the singer.) So yesterday while listening to some Keith Urban we played our instruments and marched in circles around the house in our own little parade. The boys loved it.

He is our funny little boy. He loves to throw things and then say "uh-oh mom!"

The boys also got a Doctor's Kit for Christmas. They love giving each other shots. Ezra will even say "ow" when he gets one.

He's in such a fun stage. Stinkerish, but fun.

We also found out this last month that Ezra has 'bad' teeth. They're soft. He has to get 3 fillings the end of this month. They plan on sedating him and he can't eat or drink before. Let's just say I'm not looking forward to this. I hope he doesn't fight it. If he did, we'd have to postpone the appointment and set up another when he could be knocked out for the procedure. Goodness, let's hope he cooperates!

boys are fun

2011-02-08T08:44:00.007-07:00

isn't this one of the saddest pictures you ever saw? this happened a few weeks ago while having strep. the worst part is that he did it while helping his mom to clean up a few things.

Last night at 10pm my husband and I started watching a movie together. I happened to happily drift off while resting my head on my honey's chest. I don't know that Dave realized how quick I fell asleep because he kept talking and asking questions about the movie. Luckily, we've seen this one before, so I pretended that I wasn't sleeping and answered all of his questions, I think. Because I was partly in lala land.

I've decided it must be a sign of old age though. Falling asleep at 10pm while watching a movie. I'm the kind of person who no matter how tired I am can stay up for hours because of a movie we're watching. Besides, 10pm is pretty early for me and my honey.

I have to say that despite the few half waking moments of questions and answers, that was some of the best sleep I've gotten in a long time, not that I've had a hard time sleeping lately, because I haven't. There's just something about squeezing on a couch in a perfect cuddling formation with your honey and resting.

Yesterday was Family Home Evening. It was a lot fun. Nothing extraordinary, actually quite plain. But it was perfect, happy, and fun. We played games, sang Do As I'm Doing, read scripture stories, took turns making up stories about honesty, chased each other in circles, played hide and seek, and ate leftovers (pizza, fries, stuffed peppers, veggie salad, rice, and fruit salad). We had ice cream sandwiches for dessert.

I also managed to clean most of the house yesterday, except for the bathroom-which I plan on tackling today, while enjoying a fun, play-filled day with my children. I love when I can turn on dance music and we dance like maniacs while I clean. The boys are really good at picking up so that I can vacuum. They love it when I vacuum. They sit on the couch and watch. Or they get their 'vacuum' out and help.

Ezra loves it, that Dallin will now call his name and ask him to come and play with him. It's so cute to hear Dallin call, "Ezra, Ezra" and Ezra takes off wondering what Dallin has in store for them in their room.

I'm so ready for another fun filled day with my boys. All 3 of them.

Valentine's Decor

2011-02-04T23:21:00.007-07:00

I've finally decided to make some simple Valentine decorations, since I have... none. I figure my family won't know that I love them this year without them.

First, a simple heart garland.

And some fun pom-pom flowers.

Dallin really liked the pom-pom idea, he had to have his very own.

Now we can finally, really love each other.

Love Birds

2011-01-29T14:25:00.004-07:00

Studio 5 on KSL had $5 craft challenge.

This is what I came up with.

I painted some foam board and mod podged my love birds and nest with eggs.

It's supposed to be representative of me and Dave.

This one's Dave. He's the Song bird.

This would be me, the love bird. Only because I'm not a very good song bird.

And no, the number of eggs in the nest has nothing to do with any kind of children fortune telling. It just seemed to look right. And no, I'm not pregnant either. Don't you love the speckles on the eggs?

crazy lazy days

2011-01-22T19:44:00.008-07:00

Proof of our lazy days. Dallin sleeping in the bathroom under his towel.

We've had some very crazy lazy days. Mostly coughing, tv, red and sore noses, coughing, screaming, movies, fevers, exhaustion, coughing, up all night, dry heaving, empty tissue boxes, and coughing kind of days. So ready for a calm lazy day or a little more pleasant adventurous day.

Highlights you've missed out on these last few months of no posts:

Ezra's walking!

And he's lost the pacifier. Hooray!

Dallin's already asked if he's still 4. And he had an awesome birthday party at Pirate Island Pizza with Grandparents, Cousins, and Aunt and Uncles.

Want to know what his cake was this year? Check it out here. Here's a preview.

Gingerbread house made and never eaten.

Awesome Christmas in Bear Lake...Lots of tubing!

Car packed, ready for Bear Lake. Dave has some mad packing skills.

Fun New Years in Sandy...I think I might give up playing Mafia for good. They always think it's me.

New Year's Resolutions already made and broken.

Projects galore lined up for the year. My current project, you ask?

A Duvet.

My duvet inspiration comes from this one.

It's from anthropologie.

Here's a sneak peak:

You'll have to check back for the finished project...But maybe wait a few months with the way things are going round here.

Finally 4

2010-12-04T15:29:00.005-07:00

Dallin is finally 4 years old today. I say finally because he's been asking if he's still 3 or when he turns 4 for the last 6 months. I'm not kidding either. There's been maybe a total of 10 days the last six months that he hasn't asked about turning 4. I'm so glad it's finally here. I can't believe how much he's changed in looks and how he's grown.

He's my little sweetheart that's for sure.

Great Things

2010-11-26T07:53:00.006-07:00

Today I am officially 30. Last night while lying in bed, Dave asked if I was scared. I told him I was more excited. When he asked why, I told him because I knew that great things are going to happen. I believe it too. Life is great at 20, it could only be better at 30.

For instance, my sweet, amazing husband woke up at 5am this morning. Not to go stand in line at the stores for black friday. Nope. He did it to go on a walk with me in the bitter, freezing cold. I love that he is willing to do those kind of ridiculous things just for me. Our faces might have frozen, and he may have hated it, but I loved every moment of that 14 degree weather. It's exactly how I wanted to start my 30th year. A quiet walk in the dark, early morning with the man that I love and want to spend forever with.

You know it's love when he's willing to do that.

See, great things already happening at five in the morning and I'm just barely 30. That just means there must be more to come.

The Queen

2010-11-18T07:41:00.005-07:00

It seems like all the news lately has been focused on Prince William and Kate's engagement. A commoner becoming a Queen. A fairytale kind of wedding for Kate. I have to admit that I caught myself feeling a little envious. How awesome it would be to become a Queen. Kate is so lucky, right?

Finally, I realized I was being ridiculous! Look at me, look at what I've got! I am a Queen! I have an amazingly handsome and most wonderful, loving husband. I have two absolutely adorable, princely sons. I am completely happy with who I am and where I am. I have nothing to complain about and everything to be grateful for.

Shame on me for being jealous.

I am Queen Kirty and I couldn't be any happier with who I am and all that I've been blessed with. I am creating and experiencing my very own fairy tale and happily ever after.

My Next 30 Years

2010-11-15T22:38:00.009-07:00

I turn 30 this month. 30 is a number that I suppose brings a lot of pondering and reminiscing to many. For some it brings a lot of worry and stress. I'm not so worried or stressed, for 2 reasons: first, I don't think 30 is old and second, I'm not afraid of getting old. As a matter of fact, I look forward to getting old. Not to the creaky bones and the lack of energy. But I definitely think there is beauty and wisdom in age. There are also more and better memories with every passing year. Bring on the grey hair, bring on the wrinkles, they don't bother me. No, I'm not worried or stressed about the oncoming physical changes.

I'm more reminiscent of past years and excited about what the future years will promise. My last decade of life was full of many accomplishments. I earned an Associates from Ricks College, served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Baltic Countries of Latvia and Estonia whilst learning and speaking Russian, married the man of my dreams, graduated from BYU with a Bachelors in Biology Composite Teaching, taught 8th grade integrated science and honors biology, gave birth to 2 adorable baby boys, won a couple of state fair cooking contests, ran a couple of half marathons, and many other things.

I just hope my next 30 years will be just as, or even more meaningful. I'm sure I have plenty more things to accomplish and more memories to make.

So, I've made a list, what most would call I presume, their bucket list.

Here's mine. But I call it...

My Next 30 Years

complete a marathon
adopt a teenager/be a foster mom to teens
make a quilt
write a book
return to the Baltics
go on a cruise
serve a mission with my husband
tour Jerusalem
go to New York
make a piece of furniture
perform in a play
paint a picture
complete a triathlon
learn to play the guitar
go to England
see a Broadway musical
watch an opera

These are obviously in no particular order. I also have an addendum to the list. It is of my most probably impossible but would love to list:

tour all 50 states
hike the entire Appalachian trail

What do you think, doable in the next 30 years? I hope so.

Classic Moment

2010-11-01T10:31:00.004-06:00

We went to a family halloween party on Friday. It was a blast. Towards the end of the evening, Dave put his ipod on a table and took off to play a game. I knew Dave would forget about his ipod. He has a reoccurring problem of misplacing it. I decide to pick it up for him and wait for the moment when he finally notices and panics.

We start to get the boys in the car.

Dave finally realizes that his ipod is missing. "Great. Well you better go find it." I have my fun and then let him know that I have it. And then I say something like, "It's a good thing I'm around to look after you." I'm smiling and loving this moment. I sure showed him. It couldn't get any better.

Dave and I start to get in the car. I'm getting ready to shut my door. Then I hear my sweet sister in law, Esther yell, "Kirty! Kirty!"

"Yea?"

"Is this your purse?"

"Yes, Yes it is."

Dave and I laughed about it the whole way home.

Madsen Bucket Bikes

2010-10-15T10:31:00.006-06:00

I have wanted a Madsen Bucket Bike for a long time. Can't you just see me and the boys riding around town in our bucket bike. It would be heavenly. I have no doubt. Madsen has come out with their model for 2011 and is hosting a give away. Honestly, who wouldn't want to have their very own bucket bike. Guaranteed fun times for all. Check it out...click on the picture.

See, that's totally me and my two boys. And if you're lucky I might let you try it out too, or even give your kid a ride. But only if your worthy. And your kid's not a brat. And as long as he's not sticky or doesn't ruin my beautiful bike.

Now, if only I had one. Feel free to send me money towards Kirty's Madsen Bucket Bike fund.

Popcorn, PJs, Pippi, and poop

2010-10-12T19:48:00.003-06:00

Nothing's better than being in PJs, eating popcorn, and watching Pippi. I'm so glad I've introduced Dallin to Pippi. He loves it. I love it. Who couldn't love that red haired, freckled face girl? Dave's never seen the movie. He's been trying to figure out why I like Pippi so much.

So I ask what's not to like about Pippi?

The girl has unbelievable strength, she can lift a horse.

She has a talking horse and a pet monkey, named Mr. Nielson.

She throws pancakes and ice cream.

She's nice to orphans.

Her dad's a pirate.

She has pirate gold.

She can do anything because she believes she can and she always comes out on top. (Such optimism!)

She's happy with who she is and has her own sense of style, long stockings, crazy pigtails, and all.

She's happy, loves life, and knows how to have a crazy fun time.

Sounds good to me.

I think we could all use a little more Pippi in our lives.

I, for one am entirely too uptight about many things. I've been working on being a little more relaxed about some things.

Did you know I'm somewhat of a germ freak. I have a hard time eating or drinking after anyone but my husband or kids (or just one of my sisters, don't ask me, I don't know why that is). I avoid public restrooms at all costs. I have a hard time with potlucks and I wash my hands so often that they're often very dry and cracked.

Yesterday I was pulling laundry out of the dryer and dropped a rag into the toilet. I made a big fuss about it and wasn't able to pull it out. Dave had to do it. I told myself I would have pulled it out if it had been in the upstairs toilet which my family uses, but since it was in the down stairs toilet, used only by Dave's clients I couldn't touch it. (I refuse to even clean that toilet.)((This really emphasizes my offer to clean toilets over watching children. See here.))

Yet I find it interesting that I've picked up my kid's poop with my bare hands and put it in the toilet.

Speaking of poop...Also yesterday, my 3 y.o. next door neighbor was running around outside with Dallin. He comes up to me and says, "I have to go poop. Can I go poop in your house?" To which I responded, "No, you can go poop in your own house." Then he asks again if he can poop in my house. I was not about to give in. I try to avoid wiping other kids butts as much as possible. Besides we were outside and he lives 10 feet away.

It really made me laugh that he asked about going poop. I loved the specificity of 'poop' instead of asking about using the bathroom or potty.

It made me smile.

I bet your smiling now too.

Ha!

one's enough

2010-10-06T22:36:00.005-06:00

One year ago today our family was blessed with a little boy with one dimple. And trust me, one's enough. That one dimple will melt your heart in seconds.

Here's how we celebrated.

Presents.

Waffles for breakfast.

Balloons.

Cupcakes.

Bath.

Swinging.

Singing.

Sparkle Please

2010-10-05T22:03:00.010-06:00

Dave and I haven't had a romantic getaway since we've had children. That'll be 4 years in December. It's been a long time.

Luckily, Dave was able to score some tickets to see Tuacahn's Tarzan, Monday night in St. George. And Jimmy and Esther were amazing and willing to take our kids to let us make the trip on our own. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Dave and I thought we'd be smart and book a room at a hotel in advance.

When we got to St. George, we went to check in at the hotel. After checking in and checking on our room we were both completely disappointed. It looked nothing like the picture online. It smelled weird, the sofa was run down and gross and the whole room was a big let down. We decided to try to get our money back and go somewhere else.

When we went back to the front desk, the girl wanted to know why we didn't want to stay. There were several people checking in at the same time and Dave and I are too nice to be completely honest and bash the hotel in front of other customers. She had us check out another room, still not quite what we were expecting. Then she continued to question why we were so disappointed. She wanted to know what was different between the pictures online and the actual room. Finally I said, "The pictures online sparkled. There was no sparkle in that room."

She finally dropped the question and helped us get our money back.

There was no way we were going to spend a romantic evening in that hotel. So Dave and I checked out a Bed and Breakfast place I had seen online. Seven Wives Inn. It was perfect. Quaint, charming, and romantic. We booked the Sarah suite.

We went to dinner and then to Tuacahn for the show. Of course it had been raining all day long, not just a light drizzle or sprinkle, but the thundering, lightning, stormy kind of rain. Tuacahn is an outdoor theater. Luckily it had stopped just in time for the show. But then it started again after about 20 minutes. So they stopped the show. Waited. And started again. After a few more minutes, the rain was relentless and the show was canceled. At least we got to see part of it.

I have to say that if we had ended up not seeing the show and sticking the night out in that first hotel I would have been completely miserable and upset.

However, just staying at the Seven Wives Inn made the whole trip worth it.

It was lovely.

Antiques.

History.

Simplicity.

Delicious Breakfast.

And a jacuzzi tub in a 1927 Model T Ford.

It was perfect...And it Sparkled!!!

So here's to Sparkle, getaways, and Esther and Jimmy for watching the kids.

More excitement for tomorrow, EZRA's 1st Birthday!

The Fridge Monster

2010-09-18T11:56:00.002-06:00

Most people accept the reality of the Washing Machine Monster who loves to eat socks and accounts for the hundreds of missing socks around the world.

Well, I'm beginning to believe I have another monster on my hands.

The Fridge Monster.

Last week I cooked up a whole bunch of extra pancakes to throw in the freezer for Dallin, who wants a pancake practically everyday for breakfast. I even remember pulling one or two pancakes out of the freezer after putting them in there. Now they're missing no where to be found and no one knows the whereabouts. Then just yesterday I started to get things together for dinner, I was making pizza and went to get the yeast for the dough. Gone. Nowhere. I even cleaned out my entire fridge, throwing away loads of old, moldy leftovers. Yeast is completely gone. And I'm not just out of yeast and forgot to get some more. I bought a brand new jar a few weeks ago and used it to make some rolls. But now it's gone. And again no one knows of its whereabouts.

This leaves me with one conclusion.

The Fridge Monster is alive and well and eating my food and not giving it back.

Needless to say, we ended up buying pizza last night.

Extraordinary Moments

2010-08-30T21:32:00.008-06:00

I have a 3 year old son. His name is Dallin. And in some ways he's your ordinary 3 y.o. boy. For instance, he loves to swing, he loves playing with bubbles, he loves to boss his younger brother, and he loves to whine.

Other times he's a little more extraordinary. Like the other day when he walked into the kitchen and said, "Mom, I'm gonna do the dishes."

He then had me pull a stool up to the sink, grabbed the scrubber, turned on the water and started scrubbing. He did this for a few minutes. Then he wanted me to grab the sprayer for him. I did, knowing and anticipating a change of clothes in the making. He obliged and cutely, accidentally, sprayed himself really good. He stopped washing, changed his clothes and then went back to doing the dishes. He sat at that sink and washed dishes for at least 15 minutes.

It was so worth the water and mess he left everywhere.

After he decided he was done with the dishes, he walked into the living room, to find me folding laundry. He then started folding laundry with me and even helped to put the laundry away.

He did all of this on his own, without any prompting or asking on my part.

I love those extraordinary moments. They may be few and far between, but worth every second.

This is Dallin just getting started.

The dishes he lovingly washed for 15 minutes.

This is my oh so cute, extraordinary Dallin and the first time he wrote his own name.

Lots of Fun!

2010-08-24T22:19:00.009-06:00

My sister, Heidi, came for a few days with her kids. We had lots of fun! We went to BYU's Dinosaur museum and Bean museum. We watched movies, played games, ate at Fuddruckers, and had lots of fun.

She even watched my kids so that Dave and I could celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary. We went to The Girl, the Grouch, and the Goat at the Hale Center Theater in Orem. We enjoyed it and laughed a lot.

We brought home Krispy Kreme doughnuts as a thank you and because they just taste good. (I liked their special lemon cake doughnut.)

Then she left.

And what do you think happened after she left? I'll tell you.

I broke the passenger side view mirror off the car while backing out of the garage to take Dallin to a primary activity he didn't even end up staying for.

And my back started hurting(it's better now though).

Then I realized I had library books a week overdue.

Then I was jogging and twisted my ankle.

I think my sister needs to come back so I can have lots of fun again.

Side story about twisting my ankle: After resting at the side of the road for a few minutes, I was able to get up and walk the rest of the way home. I had the boys with me in the double jogging stroller. Dallin asked if I was okay and if my ankle hurt real bad. I told him I was okay even though it hurt. Then Dallin asked, "Do you want me to push the stroller? I can push it if you want." As my heart was melting, I told him that I could manage, but thank you anyway. To which he responded, "Are you sure?" I love, love, love how my little boy takes such good care of me.

Besides some crummy things happening here and there, I've also managed to have lots of fun getting my craftiness on.

Remember the basket and cubby I scored at DI...

The basket plants I found at Walmart for $2.50 each (there's 3 of them). They're creeping fig plants. The plants in the cubby I got from Vineyard Garden Center in Orem. They're some fun succulents.

I also had this plate I found at the thrift store and turned it into a chalk board for my kitchen.

Today is my parents 31st (I think) anniversary. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! Did you know my parents met in Germany? And that I'm their favorite daughter. It's because I've always been the most well behaved.

And I found my 4th $5 chair to refinish!

Now doesn't that sound like lots of fun?!

Ezra's Hair

2010-08-09T23:13:00.009-06:00

This is Ezra's hair. It sticks straight up no matter what I do. But I just figure its one of those things that just makes him so dang cute. Apart from his one dimple and huge scrunchy face smiles. And his side teeth coming in before his front teeth.

Speaking of hair, mine is finally getting long again. I'm thinking of really, really growing it out. We'll see.

Thrifty Finds

2010-08-07T21:36:00.004-06:00

So these are my most amazing Thrift Store finds. I fell in love with each one of them(except for maybe the wreath, but you can never have enough of those). So I had to get them. Don't think that every time that I go to a thrift store that I always by this many things. Most of the time I leave empty handed. This is the first time I had a cart full. I got real lucky.

I have a new rule though, I don't buy anything I don't love. It really keeps me from buying a lot of things. You should have seen how many things I liked but left in the store, just because I didn't love it.

The problem is that I don't know what to do with them yet. Well, the purse, duh. Already used. But the rest, I haven't decided. The huge frame would be great framing anything. But what if it sat on my front door as my wreath? Would that be a waste of a good frame?

I'm wondering what I could do with the shadow box frames, other than put them on my wall. What if I used them for something else.

The one that is driving me the most nuts is this cute little cubby. I'm thinking of painting it white. But what to put in it?

Maybe cute little cup and saucer? Plant? Bird? What would you suggest?

I'll make sure I take pictures and update you on where and how they turn out.

Beautiful Day

2010-08-01T21:39:00.003-06:00

Today was absolutely beautiful.

Honestly, couldn't have been a more pleasant Sabbath Day.

This morning was Church-wonderful, uplifting, and thought provoking. This afternoon was nap time for all 3 of us (Dad was at church until after 6pm). While the boys continued sleeping, I made a delicious dinner. Dinner was ready and Dad wasn't home yet. So we waited for Dad outside, walking around barefoot in the rain, counting to see how long he'd take. Then after dinner, Dad took a nap and I got to play with my boys.

Then we all got to go on a walk and enjoy the most gorgeous sunset and weather. For real, the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen. So regretting not bringing our camera on the walk. It was the perfect panoramic shot. In the west the sky turned from yellow and orange to pink-lined silver clouds. Up above were huge pillowy grey clouds releasing scattered rain drops. To the east the deepest blue sky with scattered grey clouds. It was awesome.

The perfect ending to a perfect Sunday. Who couldn't believe in God after witnessing something that amazing.

Dave tried to catch the last remnants of the sunset when we got home after our walk. Nothing to do it justice. It was already gone.

Proof

2010-07-30T23:01:00.004-06:00

This is my proof of a great day. A full day of everything.

Playing...check.

Laughing...check.

Wrestling...check.

Reading...check.

Dinner...check(and it was good).

Service...check.

Weeding the garden...check.

Exercise...check.

Cleaning up after the kids went to bed...check.

Laundry...check.

Movie with the hubby...check.

I think I deserve a sticker or a cookie or a smoothie or maybe a massage.

Random Thoughts

2010-07-26T16:43:00.004-06:00

Dallin and I had a lot of fun the other day playing with play dough. It was mostly Dallin (while I was up to mischief in the kitchen, check it out here). But I helped when necessary and Dallin ended up with the longest play dough snake ever.

I love the colors! Dallin wanted the snake to have stripes.

Ezra's been way too cute and way too much of a stinker lately. He's showing a lot of personality and already starting to swat at his brother when he gets upset. I think we're in for it with this one. He doesn't sit still and entertain himself like Dallin did. I suppose I've been spoiled for way too long.

he sure doesn't look stinkerish here though. he is wearing another one of dad's old shirts.

Dallin was fiddling on the piano the other day. He likes to make up sad songs. He told me, "Mom, this is a sad song. Its called 'I can't find my Dad'." Does that not melt your heart or what.

I have a neighbor kid that I can't stand. Honestly. Does that mean that I'm evil? Sometimes, I think that I am. Sometimes I wonder how I call myself woman. I don't melt for babies(sure they're kinda cute, sometimes) and I'm not patient, especially with children. I hate pretending (let's be real). Nursing is not my favorite. And I'd rather scoop poop or clean toilets than open or run or work for a day care. I'll take your teenager any day over a toddler.

BTW- If you're reading this, I promise it's not your kid that I can't stand. I actually have several neighbor kids that I think are wonderful. And Dallin loves playing with them. Its just that one, who isn't yours. And if you're a relative of mine, I always love and adore related children. That's a given.

Handsome Boys

2010-07-19T19:48:00.003-06:00

Check out my handsome boys in Daddy's old clothes! Way too handsome!

Aren't I lucky!

Major Improvements or Setbacks

2010-07-17T11:42:00.010-06:00

I thought I'd catch you up on all the exciting changes around here with a little before and after action.

My 3rd chair.

New flowers.

Just don't pay attention to the weeds.

Finished border. Removal of crappy sidewalk, awaiting new poured cement sidewalk. (Again, don't pay attention to almost dead plants and weeds.)

This is what happened to our driveway as our sewage line was hit while trying to install new sprinklers for the side of our yard. But results of the new sprinkler system and new grass....

Can I tell you how much I am absolutely loving my new side yard. It's the only part of our yard that is really shaded and now I can sit there and play and enjoy it with my children. LOVING IT!!

So besides the dead plants, obvious need for weeding, and sewage setback, I think it qualifies as an overall improvement.

Got to Love It!

2010-07-11T01:31:00.004-06:00

This is how our bike ride ended tonight. Love those kind of leisurely bike rides!

Make sure you check out my most recent cake at Cooking With Kirty.

Happy 4th!

2010-07-04T07:30:00.006-06:00

HAPPY 4th of JULY!

I like having the 4th fall on a Sunday. It makes for a whole weekend of celebrating our great country and freedoms. Can I tell you that celebrating this great holiday couldn't get any better than living in Provo. They go all out! Hooray for Freedom Festival!

Here's how we've been celebrating:

Dallin's favorite was the pig, of course.

Happy 4th-ing!

Hurry!...Harry?

2010-07-02T21:22:00.007-06:00

Yesterday morning I had to run to the store to get some formula for Ezra's next feeding. Ezra was napping at home and Dave had a client coming in 20 minutes. I promised I'd hurry and be home before the client showed up.

Well, you know how things are going to go when you're in a hurry...

I got in the ONLY check out line open. The person in front of me had a lot of groceries. And as expected the cashier was an extremely slow older woman. She stopped to talk to some children she knew and gave them each a sucker. She was telling stories, smiling, and having fun.

I was growing more impatient.

But it was still hard to be mad at her. She was so friendly.

Then it was finally my turn. While waiting to be rung up I called Dave to let him know I was going to be late, hoping she would understand I was in a hurry. That didn't help. She gave Dallin a sucker and a smartie. Which was nice, but it also slowed down the process. Then she started talking to the lady behind me and giving her kids candy. I was slightly perturbed, but she was also trying to calm that lady's crying child. For which, I was slightly appreciative.

Finally she handed me my receipt and asked, "Do you want to her something funny?"

I said sure, but I was thinking, "A story too? Don't you know I'm in a hurry?"

Then she said, "I was watching Harry and The Hendersons last night."

I suddenly perked up, said, "I love that movie" and decided this was going to be good.

Then she said, "So you can imagine what I thought when that guy walked into the store," as she pointed to the guy behind me at the customer service desk.

I turned around to see a large, very tall man, with a full, bushy beard and grey hair that was sticking straight up. Even his face looked just like Harry.

I couldn't believe it. The resemblance was amazing.

I turned back to the cashier and she was just smiling and smirking.

I said, "I wonder if anyone's ever told him."

We smiled, smirked, and laughed for a few more seconds and wished each other a good day.

That conversation made all the anxiety and impatience disappear and every second of the frustration worth it, for several reasons...

The thought of a woman her age sitting down to watch Harry and the Hendersons, just makes me giggle.

I can't believe she shared that moment with me. I would have probably kept it to myself.

And the resemblance, for real, was astounding.

That experience will go down as my all time favorite trip to the grocery store.

SUPERMOM

2010-06-30T22:35:00.006-06:00

Every once in a while I catch bits and pieces of other moms and I think to myself, "How does she do it? I want to be a SUPERMOM!!"

But then I wonder does SUPERMOM really exist? Do all moms go through some non-supermom times?

Sometimes I get down on myself, wondering why I can't be that perfect SUPERMOM image I have in my head.

You know the kind....

SUPERMOM, who gets up hours before her children to exercise, read her scriptures, and clean, before the day's begun.

SUPERMOM, who stays thin while slaving away in the kitchen over the perfect meal or dessert or treat, meeting the food demands of her family. Sometimes forgetting to eat altogether because of her constant care for her family.

SUPERMOM, who never gets distracted by TV or computer, or wastes her time while chores are waiting to be done.

SUPERMOM, who always looks her best with perfectly accessorized embellishments.

SUPERMOM, who is always happy and smiling, patient and forgiving, mild mannered and gentle.

SUPERMOM, who is content in her surroundings and with who she is.

SUPERMOM, who has several perfect hobbies she does in her spare time, while never taking the time away from family.

SUPERMOM, who faithfully fulfills all her church callings.

SUPERMOM, who always plans for daily educational, fun, and inspirational activities for her children.

I don't know that I'll ever be a real SUPERMOM or if it's even in my realm of achievements. For now I'm content with just being the mom of two super boys. Just knowing they think I'm pretty super is good enough for now...It helps that they don't know all the qualifications for being a SUPERMOM yet. When they do, I'm sure I'll hear a lot about how I'm a super crappy mom. But I'll take what I can get for now and work on the rest later.

Pain Schmain

2010-06-25T18:48:00.006-06:00

These ostriches were having a serious 'who's taller' competition. It was awesome.

Today we went to the zoo. And my back hurt real bad. I was driving to the zoo and my back hurt. I hate medicating over anything. I usually only medicate if I have to. I took a pit stop on my way to the zoo and chugged down 3 ibuprofen. 3's a lot for me. I may take a total of 3 ibuprofen a year. Besides the last two Sundays of sitting in hard chairs at church for 3 straight hours, today is the worst my back has hurt.

Sometimes just picking up Ezra, bathing, or changing his diaper is very hard. Dallin asked me to pick up a toy he dropped in church and I couldn't even bend over to pick it up. He had to do it. Lately I act like an 80 year old trying to get out of a chair.

So what's my problem? Unofficially-ankylosing spondylitis. My doctor's appt. proved nothing, other than I have some back pain. My x-ray came back normal. Thank goodness. I'm setting up an appointment with a rheumatologist next week. Hopefully, we'll be able to get an official diagnosis.

What is ankylosing spondylitis?

A lovely inherited arthritic disease of the spine. Eventually causing the vertebrae to fuse together. I could become a hunch back and be forced to walk with a cane.

Treatment?

Exercise and anti-inflammatory drugs. Good thing I love to exercise.

So I realize this isn't life threatening. But it is non-curable. And it makes doing a lot of little things a little harder. Not exactly looking forward to more pain and stiffness for the rest of my life.

You know what I would love. I would love to walk into my rheumatologists appointment next week and hear something like "Oh, you just need your back popped. (pop) There, that will fix it. No more back problems for the rest of your life."

Not that a rheumatologist would really pop my back.

I already tried a chiropractor. That didn't do any good. (I also happen to think he wasn't a very good chiropractor though.)

Some part of me is still hoping to hear that I don't have the disease and that it will all be gone and done within a few short days. Then I would happily write a post about how I'm a big fat liar and perfectly healthy.

We'll see. I'll keep you posted.

By the way---highlight of my day. While at the zoo, we saw a gorilla pick it's nose and eat it. For real. No joking. I now know that it is only the primal instinct inside each one of us, to try such a thing. Because I bet we all have at some point in our life---hopefully, a very young point of our life.

P.S. I apologize to anyone that I may have frightened into thinking I had some serious life-threatening disease. No, it's just serious to me. And life changing. good changes, right?

changes and getting older

2010-06-21T07:41:00.004-06:00

I have a doctor's appointment today. I think I'm finally just started to fear what I know he is going to tell me. I've decided not to let it get me down. To see it as a challenge and start fighting.

But fear and doubts start to creep in.

I can do this though.

Right?

I'll let you know how it goes. I promise. At first I thought I would keep this to myself. But I think sharing and talking about it might help me to get through it.

Wish me luck.

Refinishing New(Old) Chairs

2010-06-10T08:48:00.007-06:00

These are my dining chairs I've had for the last 6 years. I have hated them since day one. They're big and bulky and ugly and don't come clean. They've been an embarrassment to me for a really long time. But they were relatively free for a poor, young married couple. So I've put up with them. Well, I'm tired of putting up with them, but we can't afford a whole set of brand new beautiful chairs. And you know how I love a good project...

So here is the plan: Buy cheap $5 chairs that I like and fix them up, so that I love them even more.

Here are the first two chairs that I got for $5 each from a restaurant in Spanish Fork.

They've been a little more work than I wanted. I had to reinforce the legs with some extra dowels and buy a new drill bit to do it. BIG THANKS goes to my brother ROBBY for helping me do it. Love you Robert.

So the plan is to 1) sand the new chairs. 2) paint them white. 3) sand them again to give them that roughed up antique look. 4) paint with polyurethane. 5) sand again. 6) paint again with polyurethane.

It's quite a lot of work, but I'm enjoying the finished product. And can't wait to have a complete set of chairs--a mismatched set of chairs all finished the same way.

Here's a peak at the next chair to finish. I got it from DI. Another $5 chair.

I love this chair! I love the tall back. Dave's not the biggest fan, but I absolutely love it. And it's my project. So he'll put up with it.

I'm still on the look out for chair number 4.

Total Cost?

I already had white paint and sand paper.

4 chairs, $5 each= $20

polyurethane, dowels, drill bit, 2 paint brushes= $30

So...

4 chairs=$50

That's $12.50 per chair.

Completely doable and well worth it.

Things I never thought I could/would do...until I became a Mother

2010-05-27T22:27:00.003-06:00

I remember being single or married without children and thinking or saying things like, "my kids will never..." or "I'm not going to let my kids..." or "I will never..." Lately I think I've broken every one of those promises. I've also realized that as a mother, I appreciate a lot of things that only a Mother could really appreciate.

So here's my list of things that I never thought I could or would do, until I became a Mother:

graciously accept the gift of a booger
pick things up with my feet (because my hands are occupied, most likely with a child)
clean my house despite knowing it will be a total disaster within the hour
make up songs about giraffes and frogs on demand to the tune of little hands banging on piano keys
dance like a maniac to nursery songs blaring through the speakers
purposely seek opportunities to get my child dirty, so that he understands it's OK
spend the day with the smell of spit up on my clothes because I don't want to change again
be so proud of my son's first poop in the toilet that I honestly think, "it's the cutest little poop I ever saw." ...that wore off quickly
suck on my child's pacifier(to clean it for him)
watch the same movie every day for a month, sometimes twice a day
cry over spilled milk or console a crying child over spilled milk
kiss the pain and booboos away
say "i love you" more than 20 times a day and mean it every time
love my 2nd child just as much as the 1st
love my husband even more because of the great father that he is

Unwelcomed Moisture

2010-05-24T08:47:00.009-06:00

Someone please confirm, this is illegal activity for the end of May. I'm sorry, the snow must stop! I can handle rain, I love a good thunderstorm, but this is insane. Snow is good and fine in December, but this is not December. This is May, the end of May, almost June, half way through the year! Please tell me this snow is not going to ruin my tomatoes and peppers and the rest of my garden.

What really bugs me is that I even checked the weather last night and nowhere did it say anything about snow. I could have handled it a little bit better with a warning. But to wake up to snow this morning was a complete shock and uncalled for.

I realize there is no use in complaining since no one here has control over such things. But while I'm complaining, I'd like to add that the term "moisture" used in prayers really drives me nuts. Dave and I were just talking about this last night, driving home in the rain. I don't know why people can't just say snow or rain. Dave suggested that it could be that they're not really grateful for the method of precipitation, just the "moisture" it gives the soil. I still think its ridiculous.

So while I endure the snow, why don't you enjoy some of these pics, courtesy of Dallin. He's enjoyed taking pictures lately, a lot of pictures.

This last one is amazing. Hercules, the movie. This is Hades. Impressive.

p.s. Just in case you think this is some light fluffy snow, I've taken some before and after shots of some of my trees/plants that I shook free of the heavy snow. I didn't want it to ruin them. I also freed my tomato and pepper plants and covered them. I don't know that they're going to survive. I'm crossing my fingers.

a rose bush

a non-producing plum tree

my purple leaf flowering plum tree

me, soaking wet

Little Gentleman

2010-05-17T22:01:00.002-06:00

Can you see the shining drool on Ezra's face?

Tonight we hiked the Y. Dallin loves hiking the Y. He asks to hike it every time he sees it. 2 years ago we hiked the Y every monday evening during the summer. We're hoping to get into that routine again. Today I carried Ezra in the baby wrap so that Dave could help Dallin when needed. Dallin did really well though and ended up walking most of the way. Dallin loved running down the trails holding Daddy's hand. He giggled the whole way. It was cute and I laughed to see the two of them running downhill. Dave and Dallin would wait for me at the end of each switchback. On the last switchback on the way down, they stopped and waited halfway down. Dallin first said "run mom!" When he learned I wasn't going to run he ran up to me, grabbed my hand and said "Let me help you mom. It's a little steep here." It was so sweet. He does a good job of looking after his mommy, my sweet little gentleman.

happy-nings

2010-04-29T21:20:00.004-06:00

Here's what's been happening around here.

Spring has finally come....and so has winter again!

Dallin loves washing his hands.

Normally Dallin and I like to tell each other how much we love one another by saying, "I love you to the moon" or "I love you to the stars" or "sun" or "ocean." Today Dallin told me, "I love you to the aquarium."

Ezra is more and more fun everyday. He certainly keeps us smiling.

Dallin ate an ant yesterday. Yep, he did. I don't know why...

Dinosaurs Roar!

2010-04-17T23:07:00.005-06:00

Betcha guess T-Rex? Nope, not a T-Rex. Don't remember exactly what it is, but it's not T-Rex.

Dallin and I recently checked out the BYU Museum of Paleontology, aka The Dinosaur Museum! Can I tell you how much I love FREE museums! And what could be better than a FREE DINOSAUR MUSEUM!! for real. Now this may be the tiniest museum you've ever been to, but totally worth it! This is the kind of museum that's nice and quick with kids, about half an hour. If you wanted to go on a date, looking and reading no more than an hour to read and see everything. For being so tiny, they've got a great variety of things to look at and its so neat knowing that a lot of it was found here in Utah. What could be cooler than a Utah Raptor... They don't actually have a full raptor at the museum, but just knowing there was one, that's cool.

So if you haven't been, or even if you have, I totally recommend making the trip. It's open Monday thru Friday 9am-5pm, with extended hours monday night for FHE. It's right across from the BYU football stadium in the parking lot off of Canyon Rd. Don't believe me, check it out here or here.

Believe it or not, this is actually a Giant CROCODILE head! Imagine running into that. no thank you.

TRICERATOPS. Huge, huh.

T-REX.

GIANT SLOTH. amazing.

If you would like a tour guide, Dallin would love to show you around. He had fun taking and showing Dave around the next day. He'll even make sure you see the fossilized poop!

House Confessions

2010-04-10T14:40:00.009-06:00

How embarrassing. Dirty laundry visible to the world!

Confession #1: I'm always looking for a new house. I think I look at houses for sale on www.utahrealestate.com or ksl at least 2-3 times a week. (okay, maybe 3-5 times a week)

Confession #2: I put off home improvement projects because I always think, I'm not going to live here much longer. And I'm selfish. If I don't reap the benefits, I don't want to do it.

Confession #3: I don't think I'm ever going to get out of here!

Not that here is so bad. We're just getting too crammed and Dave's business needs to expand. It's getting harder to keep the kiddos quiet and I'm running out of space. Basically we live in a small 2 bedroom apartment and I'm starting to go nuts.

The problem is finding a house that will work for our needs. The idea is to eventually get Noisebox Studios out of the basement and into a separate garage/studio building in the back yard. (A commercial building doesn't work if we're to be competitive with other studios. Plus we can't afford the additional mortgage payment.)

So we need a house that has a basement that will work for a temporary studio setup while we can build a studio in the back. So a good sized, finished basement and enough acreage for a studio, a good neighborhood, nice looking house, all for CHEAP. --If you happen to find anything like that in Provo/Orem, let us know!

The other problem of course, is selling our current house. And let's be perfectly honest here, while it has worked well for us these last 4 years, it still needs some major attention. I refer you to confession #2.

So I've taken some lovely snaps of our home and am turning to you for your advice. What do you think are the major home buying concerns, and quick, cheap fix-ups that would be most beneficial in selling our home? (Dave and I have very different opinions on this matter.)

Here's our house.

Not too bad from this view. I have since planted some flowers. I'll take and post those pics later.

Dave's biggest concern:

Dave believes that the white coloring on the brick is extremely embarrassing and the first thing people notice when they pull up.

My biggest embarrassment: (It takes two pictures)

That's the first thing I see. This whole side is completely embarrassing. So what do you suggest can be done? I KNOW, first lets get rid of the buckets and hideous piles of yard wastes. But the problem with this side is that it is the only part of the yard that doesn't have automatic sprinklers.

Here are a few of my ideas I've played with.

planting some kind of creeping vine to cover the hideous, broken, wood fence
planting some kind of creeping ground cover to hide the rocks, uneven ground, and weeds
covering the ground with rocks or mulch
planting some large shrubs
planting a tree

Any suggestions?

Dave's other concerns:

The vent hole in the brick doesn't have a cover. The window well needs a cover. (Both of which are very low priority on my list.)

The chimney cap needs replacing/fixing. (We had a beehive in the chimney problem last summer! That was really fun.)

My other concerns:

The lack of foliage. I've recently discovered that there aren't just perennials and annuals. There are biennials. Biennials--the reason why my plants only seem to last a few years. I have since invested in some more permanent perennials. Also notice the incomplete rock border of the flower bed. I don't get why that was left unfinished.

My wonderful, life saving, convenient storage placing, red barn. The wood is falling apart. And it is red.

Dave and I do however agree on one thing that needs to be fixed.

The sidewalk is falling apart.

So whose side are you on? Any suggestions? Please, don't be afraid to be brutally honest. I promise nothing you say could hurt my feelings.

BTW- purely hypothetical situation here- What would you do if your house was supposed to have a working shower in the basement, but the previous home buyer-fixer upper failed to put in a pee trap, making the shower stinky and unusable. How would you fix the situation? Take out the shower and replace with shelving. Pull out the shower, dig in the cement, put in a pee trap and replace shower. All while keeping money and time in mind of course.

Mini me

2010-04-05T21:28:00.003-06:00

First, can I say how much I love this picture! I couldn't stop laughing when I caught this image. Dallin won this magnifying glass for finding the silver egg during the easter egg hunt. I'm sure he'll have a blast with it outside this summer. He loves to help me in the garden and find lots of worms and bugs. I'm thinking he might be a bug lover like his mom.

BTW-we're all doing tons better. No more complaining.

So today Dallin wanted me to help him put in a movie. I was doing something in the kitchen and he turns to me and says, "Mom, are you coming or what?" I smiled and immediately followed. That's a me thing for sure. I know I've said that to him a dozen times.

I secretly love those moments when I catch Dallin saying or doing something I know I inadvertently taught him. Then there are times when he says or does something really off in public, that I know I for sure didn't teach him, yet I wonder how many people think he learned it from his parents. That's when I quickly blame his dad.

Dallin's really in to Toy Story. He just got a Woody doll complete with hat and Bullseye. We like to take Woody's hat and put it on our heads to say, "Hi, I'm Woody, howdy, howdy, howdy." Today Dallin said, "Hi, I'm Kirty, howdy, howdy, howdy." I love that he likes to tease. He's becoming his own little person and I find that I'm enjoying him more and more. I just can't help but love a kid that's growing up to be more and more like me. (and his dad.) but this blog is about me. Not that he's really like me, cause really he's not that much like me. I just love the mini me moments I find in him. It's fun knowing that I rub off on him in some ways. (Hopefully, all the good ways.)

Just one of THOSE weeks

2010-04-01T14:15:00.006-06:00

Have you ever had a day when nothing goes your way? Well, I'm having a week like that. I think if one more slightly disastrous thing happens the dam is going to break. Not that this week has been disastrous, but it hasn't been very easy. It's mostly little things. Isn't it always the little things though?

Dave has strep. It started Sunday. So he was out of commission until about last night. He had it bad. And we didn't want the kids to get it. I kinda felt like a single mom for a few days (a single mom with an extra kid).

The weather has been really crappy and that hasn't helped either. I have the spring fever bad. Real bad. I'm going nuts. So that hasn't made it any better being a single mother to three kids, stuck in the house.

Then Dallin got the bumps. Red bumps. Bumps on his face. I took him to the doctor today. He kicked and screamed and would not calm down. I had to bear hug him so that the doctor could look in his ears and mouth and listen to his heart and lungs. They never were able to get his height or read his blood pressure. It was awful. He's got impetigo from rubbing his nose raw with tissues. That means antibacterial cream for his face. Yep, he didn't like that idea either. I had to hold him down for that too.

We got paid yesterday. But thanks to our new budgeting plan I already feel like I have no money. Which only adds to the stress since we've had plenty of doctor visits and a holiday in a few days. I can't believe how much money I spent on Easter. I've decided the chocolate will have to count for at least 3 of our meals this month.

On the plus side, Easter is this weekend! I love Easter Egg Hunts. I'm planning a good one. (I'll let you know how it goes.) Plus I get to listen to the amazing counsel of a Prophet and Church Leaders this weekend. I could really use it. And I just purchased 2 wood chairs for $10 to fix up and to start replacing the crappy chairs we currently have at our dining table. You know me, I love a good project! (Look for updates on that one too.)

So here's to hoping you're week is going better than mine. Hope you make the most out of your April Fool's Day. I could use a good joke or laugh about now. I've got some dinner plans in the works. We'll see how Dallin likes it.

p.s. I have a sore throat.

p.p.s. I just got back from the doctors. I have the strep. Lovely.

projects

2010-03-24T18:56:00.003-06:00

I got this chair/step stool at DI for $5. When I saw it I was immediately thrilled. We had one like it when I was little. But it was silver with a red seat. We called it the Red Chair. I knew I had to have it. I thought about making it a complete duplicate of the one we had as a kid. Then I decided to keep it simple. So here is the after pic.

I finally pulled out my Easter decorations today. Dallin was thoroughly sad that the plastic eggs didn't have any candy in them yet. I've had to explain several times that the Easter Bunny does that. But I realized that my Easter decor is completely lacking, other than a few plastic eggs, two baskets and some ceramic eggs, I have nothing. So I came up with some stuff. First I needed some grass for my basket. And as I am too cheap to go and buy some and I'm not the biggest fan of that plastic stuff anyway I decided to make my own.

First I colored some paper with some spring colors, using cookie cutters for some of my decorating. Then I folded the paper accordion style and snipped the paper into tiny strips. It worked pretty well, but was a little time consuming. As the project went on my drawings were more stripes and quick flowers and spirals.

For the last project of the day, I needed something to hang some eggs my sister gave me last year. So this is what I came up with using sticks, a vase, tissue paper, and a hot glue gun. All of which cost me nothing since I had some lying around.

It reminds my of popcorn on the apricot tree!

Thankful that the Tree Has Eyes

2010-03-19T00:19:00.007-06:00

Lately Dallin won't say prayers unless he feels like he has something he really wants to pray about. Like if we tell him that he can watch a movie after dinner he will pray, "Heavenly Father, thankful we can watch a movie after we eat dinner." We went up to the cabin this week and Dallin wanted to say the dinner prayer. He prayed, "Heavenly Father, thankful that the tree has eyes, name of Jesus Christ, amen."

He was so excited about the tree and it's "eyes." Dave and I decided that Heavenly Father probably appreciates the attention to details and acknowledgement he gets from little children like Dallin.

So in honor of Dallin, here are a few things I am thankful for:

I'm thankful that my son will bring me his boogers, since this means he's not eating them and they're not ending up on my walls, floors, or anywhere else embarrassing.

I'm thankful for snowy nights that brighten the whole sky, it just makes me happy.

I'm thankful for tulips and irises that grow despite the cold and snow.

I'm thankful for babies in snowsuits...and good times at the cabin.

Flowery Embellishments

2010-03-12T20:51:00.003-07:00

Flowers for accessories seem to be all the rave right now. I love the look of flowers in the hair. I have yet to find some cheap flower clips that I really love though. Most of them seem to be for little girls. So I've gotten some stuff together and I'm starting to make my own. Here's what I've come up with so far. Maybe later I'll do a step by step for you.

This green one was made from a wired ribbon. As I wrapped the ribbon around to make the rose I constantly tied the bottom of it with needle and thread. I used a clear thread for all my flowers.

These last two were made from layering different sized circles of material. I burned the edges of the material to give it that petal look. Then I sewed a button in the middle.

I ordered the alligator clips on line. I couldn't find them at any craft store. Then I used felt and a hot glue gun to put it all together.

I've got a few more flower designs I want to try and I'm planning on making some bracelets too. I'll let you know how they turn out.

Budget Schmudget

2010-03-08T11:33:00.004-07:00

So I went to our Stake Women's Conference and come home inspired to work on some things, one of which was a Budget. Ah, the dreaded word, Budget (dun dun dunnn). The mere sound of it would frighten any reasonable adult. To be frank, in the 5 1/2 years Dave and I have been married our budget has been, well, non-existent. Yep. That's right. If I need money I ask for it. If there is none I go without. Each month varies considerably since Dave's clients vary from month to month. We've come to recognize a pattern however, and pretty much expect very little work or income when January rolls around. There are a few other months that are a little more dead so we know when things will be tight.

Anyhow, Dave and I actually sat down and came up with a real Budget. A regular monthly income, expenses, savings, the whole shebang. What's funny to me is that we discussed the budget last Thursday. Today is March 8th and I already have no money left for this month. How is that possible? I definitely think this should be a practice month. Practice, meaning it doesn't really count and I get more money. We'll start for real next month. That's reasonable. You can't expect me to get it right on the first try. Right?

P.S. We're not destitute. Or in real need of money. We're fine. The budget's just not working out quite like I expected. It's amazing how quickly Dave spends our money. Yep, I'm blaming my other half. Surely it's not my fault. I'm the one who came up with the budget. (OK he may have helped.) But, I'm still blaming him.

You've heard of the Boogyman...

2010-03-03T10:04:00.006-07:00

But have you heard of the SCARY SHIRT?

Every night after we say prayer with Dallin in bed, he always asks for Dave and I to sleep with him for a little bit. So Dave and I take turns lying with Dallin for a few minutes.

Two days ago Dave was lying with Dallin first, I could hear Dave telling a story. I thought "How cute, I wonder what he's telling him about?" Then it was my turn to sleep with Dallin. Right away Dallin asked for a bedtime story about a "scary octopus." It's bedtime and I want him to sleep. There is no way I'm going to tell him a scary story. So I started off with a boy and a scary octopus in a pool, but by the end the boy and octopus were best friends and had a good time. Then he wanted a story about a "scary Ashley." So again I started off with a boy and a scary Ashley at the park. But again, by the end the boy and girl were best friends and had a good time.

Then as I was lying with him in silence I wondered what kind of story Dave told Dallin. I hoped he was smart enough to not really tell a scary story.

Dave and I were actually tired that night pretty early and started getting ready for bed as soon as Dallin was in bed. Pretty soon Dallin was at our door telling us he was scared. Dave went in with the Monster Spray(Febreeze) and sprayed the monsters away. That didn't work. He was then at our door begging to sleep with us. He wouldn't take no for an answer. He was really scared. So we let him fall asleep in our bed.

I later asked Dave if Dallin had asked him for a scary story before bed. Dave's reply: Yes, about a "scary shirt." And Dave did it. He actually made up a story about a scary shirt that followed a boy and his mom home and even the mom was scared of the shirt. I wouldn't think it would be possible to come up with a story about a scary shirt, but Dave did and he must have scared the beegeebees out of Dallin.

Dallin was still scared the next night. So he grabbed the monster spray himself and sprayed my room and his room.

My favorite part of this whole thing is that Dallin would come up with the idea of a "scary shirt" and Dave could actually make up a scary story to go along with the idea. I love my creatively imaginative, scary boys!

Have You Seen The Flaming Mustache?

2010-03-01T16:12:00.008-07:00

Last month I went to the BYU Museum of Art with my sister, Heidi and her family. Although a little painful with 6 kids under the age of 12, I think we had a good time. There is a fun exhibit right now called MIRROR MIRROR: Contemporary Portraits and the Fugitive Self. There are a few portraits I especially like. One is a giant black tree with windex filled glass birds. Its lovely. I'd like one in my house, because it would just make me happy and it would be a great conversation piece. In the same room as the tree is a video of an older woman and younger man doing some kind of exercise or dance, it's great. Lastly and obviously, there is a giant flaming mustache. (That one's outside, most likely for safety reasons.)

Whose heart wouldn't light up with joy to see a large flaming mustache? For real. Mustache + Fire= Pure Joy. I think it would intrigue even the feeblest of minds. I think it was by luck we got to see the mustache in all its flaming glory. It's only lit at certain times of the day and I'm not quite sure that we were there at one of those specified times, but we got to see a security guard light it up. Hooray!

I have to admit that at first, my reaction was simple joy at the silliness of the idea. But I've reflected on it since then and now my joy is more full...that is meaningful. Kind of silly to think that a flaming mustache could be someone's self portrait. But when you really think of it hair really is a defining and distinguishing trait of a person. Most people spend more time in the morning getting their hair ready than anything else. Your hair makes a statement about you. There are so many classic hair styles(including facial) that cause a natural smile just thinking of them. There's the mullet, the bob, the beehive, the bowl, the flat top, what we've referred to in the past as "mom's helmet"(you know the one with all the hair spray that ain't going anywhere and would protect you from anything), the goatee, the soul patch, the wave(Utah claw), the skullet, the comb over, the afro, mutton chops, and the handle bar mustache. I feel happier already-visual images...memories.

Have you noticed that mustaches are a dying breed? They're definitely hard to come by. Which is too bad. I'd have happier days, I think, if I saw a mustache a day. Not that I want my husband to grow one. I'm not a big fan of the idea of hair on the upper lip when it comes to kissing. Plus there's the issue of food getting stuck in it too. But if Dave really wanted to, I wouldn't stop him. I think I'd get a kick out of it for just a few weeks, as long as it didn't become permanent.

I believe I read that the artist behind The Flaming Mustache is known for his red haired mustache, hence, the flaming mustache being the self portrait.

This got me thinking of my self portrait. If I stuck to the hair theme, it would have to be some kind of giant fuzzy hair ball. Ignoring the hair theme, I think I'd like a close up picture of my nose with a perfectly placed pen mark. Or maybe some kind of sculpture made out of cake. I'll have to give it a good think for a while.

What would your self portrait be? Go ahead, give it a good think too.

If you haven't seen the flaming mustache or the Museum of Art's new exhibit, you should definitely check it out. Why not, it's free. Make sure you check the timing of the lightings of the mustache so that you too can see it in all its flaming glory. See here.

That's what I'm talking about. Hot!

Tired of Cheap

2010-02-22T18:44:00.005-07:00

We got two new games for Dallin this week. Cootie and Candy Land. Classics. What kid doesn't love to create a bug or travel along the candy trail, hoping to get the cool character cards. I got the games for $7.00 each. Score. Or so I thought. Upon opening the games, for which I have to admit I was probably more excited than Dallin, I realized why they were only $7.00. The quality of these classic games has gone way down. The cootie bodies and heads are cheap hollow plastic, assembly required. The Cooties we grew up with were solid. Many of the pieces don't stay in. I have to say I was pretty disappointed. The Candy Land pieces were also of cheaper quality than what I grew up with.

Why is it that quality has gone downhill? Is it because Walmart is thriving, proving that people prefer cheap to quality? Is it because quality is just too expensive?

Recently, Dave and I have decided to avoid cheap crap when possible and go for quality. --That makes us sound snobbish and rich, of which I promise, we are neither. I buy generic brands, I use coupons, I look for deals, and if I don't have the money I go without. What we're talking about are the big things, where it really matters, mostly furniture and appliances. Our thinking behind this is that the cheap things break sooner, requiring replacement or repair, which in the end requires more money than what we would have spent had we just gone nicer to begin with.

In the 5 short years that we've been married, we've had to replace a hand mixer, blender, entertainment center, glider chair upholstery, dish washer, washer and dryer, car, and I'm sure there are others I've forgotten. Plus, we have a few things on the waiting list, like our couch.

We've been blessed to receive some things free from family, we stick to second hand, or do it ourselves where possible(upholstery--never again!), occasionally brand new, but no matter the condition, we're looking for quality over cheap.

Does that make sense? We're not after expensive or fancy. We don't need high class name brand. We just don't want easy, quick-breaking crap. We want quality, good old-fashioned, dependable (and affordable) quality. Is that too much to ask?

Memories

2010-02-15T22:56:00.004-07:00

I've been reading daddy kemp's journal. For those of you who don't know my interesting family story, daddy kemp was my mom's first husband, the father of my 3 older siblings. He died in a helicopter crash. I'll have to share the story with you sometime. I think my parents' story is a really good one.
Anyway, after reading the journal last night, Dave and I got to talking about life and memories and afterlife. Dave brought up how crazy it is that this life is such a tiny part of the grand eternities; wondering if our life will be completely relived when we stand before God and are held accountable for everything we've done.
I personally hope not. I hope there will be a fast forward button. I'm all about the fast forward button. Honestly, there are moments I don't want to relive, or even think about. Not that I've had a lot of really bad moments. I've been really blessed. But there are a lot of embarrasing and mundane moments. Those I could do without. I don't think there's much I would change, but I don't want to relive it all.
I don't have a very good memory anyway. I can barely remember any of 7th or 8th grade. I do remember walking in on my best friends talking about how fat I was. I'd rather not go through that again. I also worry that some of the things I don't remember could include me being mean or rude to people. I hope I wasn't. But going through my yearbooks, I realized some of the faces of my fellow elementary school classmates were scratched or scribbled out. I don't remember doing that. Secretly I'm hoping they didn't like their picture and did it themselves, but I doubt it. So I hope those scribbled pictures don't mean that I was awful to that person.
Do you think it's too late to ask God to forgive me for every bad thing I've ever done, since I don't remember them all, but I'm sure I haven't quite fixed them all yet?
Reading old yearbook signatures is a good way to bring things back to remembrance. I really do have a bad memory.
Dallin has a good memory. He loves finding Waldo, he's really good at remembering where he is after the first time of finding him. I think he does better at finding the matches in the game Memory than Dave or I.
Why is it that our memories are so good at that young age? But when we get older we don't remember much of that age at all.
What about deja vu? How do we remember something that hasn't happened?
What is it about certain situations that impress upon our minds so that we retain that memory forever and others are so easily forgotten?
Why do my brothers and sisters remember things that I can barely recall?
Some memories are worth reliving, like my wedding day, the birth(not labor and delivery) of my children, being silly with friends, late night conversations with siblings. Others I could do with out. I'm sure hoping for a fast forward button. Or even better a skip button. I'm sure I wouldn't mind skipping a few scenes...

Do you remember Popples? I still have one. Wuzzles? I have one of those too. Eleroo.
What about slap bracelets?

What do you remember?

Not Every Day, But Today...

2010-02-08T23:07:00.004-07:00

Today was just one of those days. Nothing particularly special happened. But I was happy to just be me. I was happy to be a Mom. I was happy to be a full time Mom and spend the day with my two little boys.

I was sitting in the rocking chair, cuddling with Ezra (poor little boy got some shots today) and watching the Sand Lot with Dallin, who was sitting on the couch eating grapes. I started looking around the house, it was a mess, not a total disaster, but a mess. Then I thought, "Well tomorrow is clean house day, I'll take care of it then." Normally a messy house would stress me out, but today it didn't. Today it meant that I was having fun with my boys. We were playing catch, we were being silly, we were having fun. And for a change, I didn't mind knowing I would be the one to clean up...later. I even looked forward to the challenge.

I enjoyed the extra cuddle time with Ezra. I didn't mind Dallin's peeing his pants accident (he hasn't had an accident in over a week). I loved when Dallin had to interrupt my conversation with Dave to tell me he likes me.

Today was a good day-a good Mom kind of day.

Just one of those days when you're almost sad to put them in bed. And then you can't help but give them an extra kiss after they've fallen asleep.

That's a good day.

Betcha Can't Reach That!

2010-02-08T21:59:00.016-07:00

Had to laugh today. I had my sisters' families over at our place for the weekend. They left yesterday. I walked around my house and realized that every loud obnoxious toy had been put in a "high" spot in a different room. Dallin's little computer was on top of the fridge in the Kitchen(that's where we keep our fridge). The noisy car radio was on the entertainment center in the Living room. Zurg was on our dresser in our Bedroom. And the annoying firing gun was on the shelf in the Bathroom.

You gotta love those kind of toys when a herd of kids are running around in a very confined space. No wonder they ended up there!

Another good laugh here: Cooking with Kirty

Forever My Dave

2010-01-28T22:05:00.007-07:00

I attended a funeral a few weeks ago. A comment was made that got me thinking about my Dave. A son of the man who passed away told his mother not to worry, because dad would be her husband forever.
I immediately felt grateful and happy knowing that my Dave is mine forever.

Our first Christmas together I made a book for my Dave. 100 Things I Love. It was a nice book. But I think if I were to redo the book today, my list of 100 would change a bit. Not that I've stopped loving the original 100 things about Dave that I did in that newly-newly wed phase. (I like to think we're still newly weds, it'll be 6 years in august.) But there are some things that would have to make it on the top 100 list now that would outweigh some of the original.

So I'd like to name a few that would now qualify. --Don't worry I'm not shooting for 100. Just some of my current favorites.

I LOVE that my Dave picked a career that HE LOVES. I love that he enjoys going to work everyday. I love that he is his own boss so he can't get fired. I love how he enjoys sharing his work with me.
I LOVE how my Dave never lowers his standards. Not even for clients. I love that he'll turn down clients or refer them elsewhere if they choose to use explicit lyrics. I think we've been blessed because of it.
I LOVE how my Dave puts up with all my whimsical projects and hobby ideas. Like this last week when I saw a painting at Target and wanted it-but it cost too much. So I said to myself, I could do that(even though I haven't had a single art class since elementary school). And my Dave lets me try it anyway. My next great idea is Taekwondo...He's thinking about it... But you know he'll let me if I really want to. I think I do.
I LOVE that my Dave once admitted to me that he actually enjoys folding laundry while watching TV. I hate folding laundry. I love that my Dave is so good about laundry and dishes... I think it's because he loves me too.

I could go on and on. I might later. But I honestly feel so blessed to have someone so amazing to be mine forever.

Forever My Dave.

ahhh. that feels good.

Snow Fun

2010-01-23T21:27:00.009-07:00

I love this kind of snow!

If Only...

2010-01-20T16:59:00.004-07:00

I saw this beautiful Red Rose Tufted Rug at Pier 1 Imports just the other day and it was love at first sight. I wanted it. No, I needed it. The rug, hung in all its glory, called my name. I reached out to lovingly stroke the coveted rug and ended up at the dreaded price tag. $499. Only $499.

If only I had an extra $499 dollars lying around, waiting to be spent on such a beautiful rug.

If only I had a place to display that most beautiful rug in our slightly crammed home.

If only I had such a space and the cash, I imagine I could never allow anyone's disgustingly germified shoe to touch its sweet tufted petals. No food or drink could disgrace its color. I'd have to outline it with arrows or foot prints to show people they must walk around the rug. Then I would lie on that rug, my cheek against its gorgeous red threads and slip away into dreamful bliss.

Alas, it is not and probably shall never be.

Most likely because I don't deserve it. Especially since I don't have the money and already covet such things. Imagine what I'd be like if I had the money. I can see how I would be a very idolatrous and covetous person. So I guess its a good thing and I should be grateful for my humble circumstances--which I promise you I am.

But sometimes it's fun to pretend. If only...

Thank you Mr. King

2010-01-19T13:42:00.002-07:00

Yesterday being Martin Luther King Day I decided to spend some time reading some of the man's sermons and speeches. Confession--Before yesterday I had never actually read his I have a Dream speech. Besides the I have a Dream speech I would highly recommend reading his Loving Your Enemies and Rediscovering Lost Values sermons. Both of which I thought were very well written and inspiring. It would have been amazing to see the kind of things he would have continued to accomplish in his life had it not been so tragically ended.

After being uplifted and inspired by Mr. King, I encountered something that disheartened me greatly. Yesterday Dallin took a nap(hooray), which only happens about once a month. So I did something I don't normally do, I watched some tv in the middle of the day while getting some things done. I was flipping through the channels when something caught my attention on the TYRA show. I don't ever watch that show, but I caught a few seconds about a man talking about Proposition 8. Naturally, I decided to listen to what he had to say. He was comparing Martin Luther King's civil rights fight to the fight for gay marriage. This intrigued me even more. I then sat down to watch the TYRA SHOW.
Tyra had 2 panels, one for gay marriage and one against it. I don't know how she picked the 3 people that would represent each side or what qualifications they had (I missed the beginning of the show), but it seemed to me that neither side was very well represented. The arguments were flawed and crude on both sides. The side against gay marriage referred to the Bible quite often. However, I thought their use of the Bible was often inaccurate and inappropriate.

But what really bothered me was a comment one of the people on the "for" gay marriage side said in rebuttal. She insisted that the Bible is irrelevant in the 21st century. To this the show audience applauded and cheered.
WHAT??!!
The Bible irrelevant? How can this be? People honestly think that it applied back then but doesn't apply to us now? We've somehow surpassed the wisdom contained in the Bible?
I was blown away.
And the people applauded.
And I was blown away even more.

How sad that we live in a time and place where people believe that they can ignore the Word of God, calling it old and irrelevant.

God and his word is unchanging. Ignoring Him and his word doesn't make Him nonexistent.

In the words of Martin Luther King Jr. from his sermon REDISCOVERING LOST VALUES:

"Go out and be assured that that God is going to last forever. Storms might come and go. Our great skyscraping buildings will come and go. Our beautiful automobiles will come and go, but God will be here. Plants may wither, the flowers may fade away, but the word of our God shall stand forever and nothing can ever stop him. All of the P-38s in the world can never reach God. All of our atomic bombs can never reach him. The God that I'm talking about this morning is the God of the universe and the God that will last through the ages. If we are to go forward this morning, we've got to go back and find that God. That is the God that demands and commands our ultimate allegiance.

If we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover these precious values: that all reality hinges on moral foundations and that all reality has spiritual control. God bless you."

Amen.

Confessions Made and War Declared

2010-01-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

I'm overweight. I don't know if you knew that, but it's true. Most likely you're saying to yourself, yeah I can kind of tell. Let's be honest here, I don't quite look like the girl I did on my wedding day. So I've come to a few conclusions.

I don't think my problem is exercise. I've always been pretty good at exercising and I enjoy it. Hence 2 half marathons under my belt and another set for this year. No- my problem is the food intake.

But, I think being a mom and a wife is partly to blame. Yes, I, myself am to blame; but I think there is some blame that goes along with the role of being a wife and a mother. Let me explain.

When I got married I felt a certain duty to cook real meals for my husband. Not only was it a duty, but I really enjoyed cooking for him. I still do. But this was different from my normal single routine. Not that I never cooked meals being single, I did. But a lot of meals consisted of a small piece of chicken and a bowl of lima beans. (I happen to LOVE lima beans.) Or a large bowl of veggies and a little pasta thrown in. When I got married I started cooking full meals. As a result, I also started eating more. Not only was I making full meals, I also started baking treats and I added desserts. Plus Dave loves his ice cream. We ate a lot of ice cream.

Then lets throw in a kid. Baby weight, ugh. Plus there is a lot less time for myself. Food has to be quick. Quick food tends to equal junk food or microwaveable. Plus kids snack a lot. Without even realizing it, I'm snacking too-all the time. Working out also becomes trickier. For some reason that 2o minute work out video seems to last 45 minutes and sometimes its just non existent.

Love my hubby and my kids. But it sure seems a little harder to be good with my eating habits.

There's also this other problem. I'm a chocoholic. Shocking I know. Can't help myself. Chocolate needed on a daily basis.

Well, I've figured it all out. I am now 25 lbs heavier than I was on my wedding day.

Weight gained and not lost from baby #1= 10 lbs

Weight gained and not lost from baby #2= 5 lbs

So you can say I gained 15 lbs in about 18 months(9 months per child). That leaves me with 10 extra pounds gained over 3 1/2 years.

Disturbing.

So I'm DECLARING WAR.

War on myself. My mind is in control. The body will submit.

Lose 25 lbs.

NO CHOCOLATE. Yep. For at least a month. Must prove to self-can survive.

Eat healthy.

Portion sizes cut. No seconds.

Exercise at least 5 days a week.

Run 1/2 marathon in under 2 hours.

Wish me luck.

Darling Boy

2010-01-10T13:48:00.000-07:00

For the most part Dallin is a typical 3 year old boy. Although sometimes he is just a little more darling than the typical 3 year old boy.
Like any 3 year old boy, Dallin looks for any opportunity to sneak into our bed and sleep with mom and dad. And if I happen to be up nursing Ezra when Dallin wakes up in the way too early morning hours, he'll hop on the couch next to me and request that a movie be put on for his entertainment.
I was nursing Ezra around 5:30 am today when I hear Dallin's door start to open.
I think 'Great. I don't want to play this game, it's too early.' I get ready to tell Dallin to go back to bed, expecting him to come and sit on the couch next to me.
But Dallin turns and walks into the bathroom. I can hear a tissue being pulled from the box. Then Dallin walks out of the bathroom. Now he'll come and sit on the couch. But no, he walks back towards his room, closes his door and gets back in bed. HOW DARLING! My little boy (who is sick) just got up to wipe his nose and went right back to bed.
I finished nursing, put Ezra back down and went to bed myself. A little while later I hear Dallin's door open again. I'm sure he's going to climb into bed with us. But I just see his little body walk to the bathroom again. When he finishes he closes his door again and goes back to bed.
Dallin continues this routine a few more times. What a sweet little boy. I'm amazed at a few things here.
1. He's actually getting out of bed to wipe his nose.
2. He's not asking me to do it or complaining that he's sick.
3. He's putting himself back in bed each time.
4. He's not even asking me or dave to "sleep with me a little bit."
So by the fourth time he gets up and wipes his nose and stands in our door way for a few seconds I can't help myself. I ask him if he wants to sleep with us. He runs into our bed and cuddles up with me and goes to sleep.
This was just one of those moments I couldn't pass up. I needed to cuddle with my darling boy.

Then when I got up for the day and walked into the bathroom I noticed the trash can was full of about 2o barely used tissues. He must have grabbed a new tissue for every wipe. I considered pulling them out and letting him use those same tissues all day. But that would be a little too gross and I couldn't mess with the sweet moment those tissues in the trash can represented.

tissue damage

The Incredible Burping Sheep!

2010-01-06T15:47:00.000-07:00

I remember the first time we took Dallin to Thanksgiving Point. We went through the dino musuem and on to the live animals. The goats totally freaked Dallin out. He wouldn't get near them.
Then there was this sheep that kept baaing. Only it didn't sound like baa.
It sounded more like BUUURRRRRRRPPPPPPPP!
Honestly, I'm not lying, nor am I exaggerating.
BUUURRRRRRRPPPPPPP!!!
My amazing mother-in-law who always has camera ready in hand even got it on video. Dallin loves the video and watches it on grandma's computer almost every time we go to visit. I'll have to see if I can get a hold of the video and post it for you. It'll brighten your day to watch the incredible burping sheep.

Anyways, my story leads to this: cjane, sister of nienie(both blogs are highly worth reading) is giving away an annual pass to Thanksgiving Point. If you're interested, check it out here.

O Tannenbaum!

2010-01-05T12:30:00.000-07:00

I love Christmas trees. I love the lights, I love the colors, I love the symbolism.

Yesterday I took down my Christmas Tree. It made me sad. I honestly contemplated leaving it up all year long, just because I knew it would make me happy. Then I looked around my tiny cramped quarters and realized it could not be. I need the space. Someday when I live in a house without a recording studio and lots of space, I just may leave the tree up all year long.

Dear Christmas Tree,

Thank you for the meaning you bring to Christmas. Thank you for reminding me of the STAR that led to the baby Jesus. Thank you for your beautiful colors and sparkling lights. Thank you for providing the light in the middle of the night for all the late night feedings with Ezra. Thank you for making Christmas so special. Thank you for making me so happy.

I’m sorry I had to strip you of all your beautiful adornments and shove you into a giant bag. I’m sorry I have to store you in my shed out back. I’m sorry you’ll be freezing cold for the rest of winter in a bag in my shed. I’m sorry you’ll be very hot all summer long in a bag in my shed.

I hope you’ll forgive me. But I promise to take you out and dress you up and make you beautiful again before the year is over.

Love,

Kirty

Family Home Evening

2010-01-04T21:15:00.000-07:00

Dave and Dallin in their tent with Dallin's computer

Birthday Money

2010-01-04T20:59:00.000-07:00

Dallin had a few dollars from his birthday. Dave took him to the Dollar Store and let him pick out what he wanted.

Dallin came home with:

a BAG of RING POPS

CARS stamps

a flashlight(which doesn't work-can you return things to a dollar store?)

and a balloon-

he always comes home with a balloon from the dollar store

he chose this one because of the hearts

You're Welcome!

2010-01-02T15:35:00.000-07:00

Welcome to KIRTY'Z VIEW! A blog for me, my family, my thoughts on being a mom, and every day life.
I know that you are all overly excited at the idea of looking at life from my point of view and reading my personal thoughts...So all I can say is You're Welcome. --A phrase that always makes me think of the much loved childhood movie MOM AND DAD SAVE THE WORLD. -A classic in the Lucas household. If you've never seen it, feel free to borrow it from me anytime.

So enjoy AND...

YOU'RE WELCOME!