Projects

So I don't post my projects very often (I'd say it's because I'm too humble and I don't want to brag, but it's probably more accurate to say that I am a little embarassed that my best effort turns out, well... not always perfect!).  But I like having a record of things I've worked on and rooms and projects I've finished, if only to make myself feel like I do accomplish things sometimes.  Then when I look around at my house and yard at all the things that are unfinished or not done the way I want, I can look back at a few things and remember that it used to be worse!
So in no particular order, here are a few of the projects I've made recently:

Bathroom vanity (not by myself, this was mostly Brandon's handiwork.  He does nice work, huh?)  We are going to pour concrete countertops for this one of these days... had to order the concrete and then we have the additional handicaps that it is almost Christmas and therefore a little crazy, not to mention freezing cold to be working with wet concrete.  You can see in the photo the copper sinks we found on Ebay that I'm really excited about.  Hopefully they look as cool installed as they do sitting precariously in their future home. 

So here is the finished product (well, almost).  I love the way the countertop turned out.  Very mottled looking, which I like.  So far I like my  copper sinks, but they do look dirty quickly.  Luckily they are easy to clean.  The tile I am going to use as a backsplash is sitting against the wall, but not cut and permanently placed yet.  And of course the window has no trim (still) ... All in good time (I'd estimate maybe 6 months?)

I made baby bedding for Shannon last fall.  This was a first attempt and it did not, of course, turn out as cute as I would've liked.  But we'll chalk it up to a learning experience (easy for me to say, since I don't have to look at it every day. If she doesn't like it, then she can replace it and I'll never know! :)  I lost the photo, but I still love the fabrics she chose and I think overall it turned out pretty cute.  I'd like photos of how the whole room turned out with bedding and all, but haven't seen any yet. (something about having a baby has kept her from sending me those... I can't imagine why she's that busy now!)

Kitchen island for mom and pop :)  (With Jake and Mae modeling, and no knobs yet)

Ethan's desk.  This is from a while ago but just wanted to post the pictures for my records.  It has actually been taken apart and re-imagined in Jake's room already.  (Ethan has a little problem with keeping an 8 foot long expanse of desk-top clear of clutter.  We had to re-think toy storage in his room :)

Also in Ethan's room I made this big organizing board.  It looked really cool with the desk, but then I cut it into two squares when I dismantled the desk.  Still trying to decide where to hang them.  Maybe I'll keep them for me.  I'm sure I could use some organizing.

before:

after:

Still not ideal, but Jake keeps his room cleaner so they will stay that way for a while.  As for the organizer, I  ended up putting it up in Ethan's room.  Don't know if it will stay.

Mohawk diaries

One of my many 'catch-up' posts from months ago.  I won't edit except to say that I'm sorry I didn't get a photo of Jake's church mohawk (a name he came up with himself)


So Jake wanted a 'cool' haircut from aunt Lindsey, but she didn't have time over Thanksgiving to give him one.  So when we got home I told him we needed to cut his hair and he decided on a mohawk.  At first I was not too excited about this idea, but it gradually grew on me.  I figured if it was horrible I  could just cut it all off, so we did a homemade mohawk.  I'm pretty sure it looks white-trashy, especially since I have never cut a mohawk before and they are surprisingly hard to get even.  Regardless, Jake's got one and he is rockin it!  There are several different versions of the mohawk:


Here is the full-blown do:

Missing is a photo the "church mohawk"  (slightly combed down so as not to be quite so outrageous).  Too bad, because this was definitely the cutest of the three 'dos.


Here is the version we see most often:  the "I-forgot-to-comb-my-hair-this-morning mohawk".

On an unrelated note, Ethan had a good comment the other day.  He was late for school (like an hour late, because he had been up late the night before so I let him sleep in).  When he realized how late he was, he tried desperately to hurry up (which means he made it up to normal people speed).  Trying to hurry Brandon up to get in the car, he said, "Dad, do you realize kids are learning AS WE SPEAK?!"  I didn't realize that one hour of third grade would be so vital.. .whoops!

One more edit note, even though I said I wouldn't:  due to the fact that the mohawk we saw most frequently was inevitably the "didn't get combed" version, Jake now has a buz cut.  In all , the mohawk was a short-lived but exciting chapter in Jake's fourth year of life :)

Mostly Dead

Does anyone else love the Princess Bride?  Especially the part when Billy Crystal is talking about how Wesley is "mostly dead".  Anyway, that is what I was thinking about my blog today.  The poor, sad, thing is mostly dead, and its all my fault.  I don't have some crazy potion maker to give me a cure, so I guess I'd best start posting.  I'm not willing to let it go just yet, you see.

I have started several posts over the last few months and never posted them.  Eventually I will finish each and post them too, because at the time I must have thought they were worth writing about.  Honestly, I think it's the winter that gets to me.  I know this has come up before, but winter sucks.  And I kind of suck in the winter too.  As soon as the sun is out and I can get outdoors, life is good again.   The blog just follows my ups and downs.

Anyway....
no big long catch-up, but today I think I'll just vent about my day and then call it.  This was it - the good, the bad, and the really ugly:

615 am - woke up to Jake saying he wanted some crepes for breakfast.  Started a cartoon and went back to bed for 45 minutes.
700 am - got up and realized that my headache from yesterday is still there (ugh).  Took some ibuprofen.  forgot to say my prayers.
730 am - got all the boys up and Brandon out the door to work.  late start on Mondays means we are all lazy in the morning and I don't get a good start on my day, but also we get to sleep in a bit.
735 - 1000 am - made crepes for jake, who had been begging for them since, you got it, 615.  After breakfast, spent next 2 1/2 hours trying to get a few chores done and get the kids ready.  Also helped Ethan figure out how we were going to do an easy science fair project, since it's in 2 days and we never started anything.  Found out we could use a flashlight to test a bunch of different objects to see if they conduct electricity (an easier version of his original plan).  We tested it all, wrote down our data, and I typed it all up (because lets face it, if Ethan had to type it all or write it all by hand, we would still be working on it 2 months from now.)
1000 am-  got Ryan out the door, then told the other two to hurry up and finish getting ready so we could walk to school in the BEAUTIFUL weather we are having.
1020 am - had an argument with a 5-year-old who couldn't find any underwear.  I told him he could go without (just until we got home from walking E to school and a load of laundry got done :) or he could borrow a pair from Ethan.  No dice.  After a lot of arguing, I finally threatened to put him in his room for the rest of the morning if he didn't just get dressed.  Then we argued about which shoes he was going to wear.
1033 am - finally left the house.  They whined and walked really slow.  We were going to be late.  I piggy-backed Jake  3/4 of the way.  I'm out of shape so my legs were burning, especially since we were jogging at this point.
1045 am - the bell rings and we are almost to the school.  I tell Ethan to run in the 'back' way.  He says its too late, he has to go out front.  I tell him, nonsense, all the other kids are still running in from the playground, he has plenty of time if he runs.  He starts crying.  I run and make him run too.  He gets that crazy-mad-stubborn look on his face and says he cannot go in the back way (even though there were like 100 kids going in that way as we spoke) and he has to go around front to get a tardy slip.  The recess lady tells him its okay, he can go in.  Finally I yell at him on school property and tell him he'd better get inside now.  We get a note from the office lady, who also tells him he's not late, and then he tells me to, "just get out!" when I start to walk him down his hallway.
1050 am - I start walking home with jake, who starts to whine about how tired he is and how he can't make it and he needs to be carried.
1100 am - still walking home, trying not to hurt my tantruming 5-year-old while neighbors look on.
1115 ish - we finally get home and he goes to his room.
1135  am- I fix him some leftovers and tell him he can come out for lunch.  He claims he hates noodles and wanted yogurt.  I tell him he can finish his noodles and then eat some yogurt.  I leave the room before I shove his face in the bowl of noodles.  He then eats them all and says, when asked if he would like some yogurt, "No.  I only like strawberry and we don't have any strawberry."
1200 pm - We argue about what he is going to wear to school (class picture day) and he eventually gets dressed.
1220 pm - He yells at me while dawdling down the driveway to the bus stop, "I wish I never even had to go to school!"  He barely makes the bus but still kisses me on the cheek and hugs me before he gets on.
1230 pm -  Silence, blessed silence.
1245 pm - I leave to meet Brandon for lunch.  I buy a few necessities, we go to Noodle Express and enjoy a teriyaki chicken rice bowl outside on their patio.  We sit there for a long time, but then its time to go. 
145 pm - I drop Brandon back at work and go to Lowes.  I buy a  lot of flowers for my garden because they are beautiful.  I will probably kill most of them, but it's a chance I'm willing to take.
245 pm - Get home and unload my flowers, then pick up the boys from school.  I find out Ryan did bad on his last math test, even though I helped him study.  I make him re-do all the problems he got wrong and then some more practice ones so he can re-take his test.  I help Ethan (painstakingly) finish up his science project info and print it out, all the while going back and forth with Ryan and his math and bad attitude.  This goes on for quite a while.
600 pm - I run to the store to buy a few ingredients for dinner.  We have nothing.  I get home and start cooking.  Brandon gets home and starts working on the garden.  Jake clogs the toilet and makes a mess of himself so he has to take a bath.  I manage to make some steaks, pasta with homemade alfredo sauce and grilled tomatoes, and some asparagus. 
700 pm - we sit down to dinner and Ethan says steak tastes like water and he hates it.  Jake says he doesn't like the noodles and only eats the top of his asparagus.  I listen to Brandon harass Ryan about his math grade (a lecture I'm tired of hearing by now).  Ryan is also apparently tired of hearing it, because he just sits there with a sullen look on his face.  Brandon gets mad at him and goes to finish up prepping the garden.  I have seconds because I might be the only one who likes the entire meal.   I clean up dinner while Ryan pouts studies in his room and the little boys get ready for bed.
800 pm - I help Brandon in the garden for a minute and the night is refreshing.  Breathing the cool air after a hot day is wonderful.  It feels refreshing and smells like cut grass and pine trees.  Plus I get a little bit dirty and that feels good too.
830 pm - We go inside and say prayer and get the kids to bed.  Ryan is still mad.  Jake makes me "fix" his bed 3 times because he keeps getting up, but likes his blankets just so.  Ethan keeps listening to a book on tape (Hank the Cowdog, book 1,000,000 or so) even though I tell him three times to turn it off.  Brandon and I put away our laundry (did like 5 loads today, including sheets).  Jake needs a drink of water and some fluoride.  Then he needs to dig through his clean clothes to find some pajama shorts because he is too hot.  Ethan gets threatened and finally turns off his tape and his light. 
915 ish - I do the dishes while Brandon sits at the computer.  I secretly think mean things, even though he worked a 10-hour shift and deserves to sit and relax for a minute.  I get over it.  Then I get our clean sheets out of the dryer and make our bed.  I fold one last load and sort about a million socks.  Ryan moseys back downstairs and says his room is too hot to sleep in.  He says he will sleep on the couch.  I tell him to go sleep in his brother's room.  He refuses to sleep with Ethan because he farts and grinds his teeth at night.  Instead he moves Jake (who is blessedly asleep) to Ethan's bed and almost drops him, then takes over Jake's bed (but only after obnoxiously sniffing the sheet to make sure it didn't smell like pee).
930 pm - Brandon decides to go play basketball, even though his knee has been bothering him and he has been bitching about it for the last 2 weeks. He asks if I am going to wait up for him.  I say maybe but I mean probably not.
10 ish - I sit down at the computer and realize it is time to visit the old blog.  I eat half a box of Junior mints (yes, the jumbo box) that I bought today and hid until no one was around so I didn't have to share.

Now it is bedtime and I feel much better.  I don't know if it was the Junior Mints, the blog vent, or the random changing of tenses in this blog (which I am way too lazy to go back and fix), but my day is now complete and its time to get some sleep.  I have to get up early tomorrow for my bi-annual annual check-up at the gynecologist!  I am so excited about that, let me tell you.  I am only going because I guess after 2 years they threaten to discontinue you as a patient.  And I really like my doctor and don't want to have to find a new one when I actually need one.  Oh, and because I don't want to get cervical cancer and not find out until its too late.  So... TMI alert, sorry it's too late. 

Until next time, blog.  I promise it won't be quite such a long stretch next time.  In fact, you may get sick of hearing from me.

watch out pinterest

So everyone said I should get on pinterest and I did.  I will admit it is really cool, although I was a bit confused at how it worked at first.  (I blame that on my own ineptitude, not on pinterest.  I'm sure it couldn't be any more userfriendly..)  Anyhoo - I enjoyed getting on there, but didn't get 'hooked' like everyone said I would.  I found a few cute ideas, started a few pinboards, and even followed a few people.  I'm sure if I spent a little time and found more people to follow (like all my amazingly creative friends and relatives) I would find a bunch more cool stuff.

But here's the thing... I found a site I like even better.  When I am on pinterest the only things I really look at are house-related.  I am admittedly not crafty, and the only kind of projects I can even attempt are 'built' items, such as new furniture or trim or something.  I am definitely no professional in that area either, but that is all I'm really interested in attempting.  I keep saying I'm going to learn how to sew, and maybe someday I will, but for now I maintain my non-sewer status with pride.  I can stitch together a mean straight seam on plain cotton fabric.  That's all I can do.  So if you want me to fix a rip on a seam of your pants, or if you want me to sew a basic square pillow cover, I've got it covered.  Anything else and you'd better find someone else.  Enough of this rambling, I forgot where I was going with this ?

Oh yeah- my new favorite site is http://www.houzz.com/.  All it has is pictures of houses.  And I mean a LOT of pictures.  You can select whichever part of a house you want to view on the left side of the page.  I clicked on entrys because I'm trying to find a solution for our always-messy front entry.  There were over 5,000 photos to view in that category alone.  And all the photos are from professional builders, architects, and designers.  Not that I have anything against DIYers, as I fall in that category myself, but there is a difference.  Seeing some of these photos makes me want to have 49 doors to my house so I can have that many different entryways.  They are gorgeous (although some are a bit over the top for me - think white marble, chrystal chandeliers, etc.). 
Here are a few examples of cool photos I found:

contemporary entry design by seattle interior designer Shuffle Interiors

traditional entry design by san diego architect Dorothy Howard AIA, Architect

So I'm not bagging pinterest - I'm sure I'll continue to get on there and find cool ideas, but for anybody out there who likes house-related projects, or is looking for ideas for a remodel or something, you've got to check out houzz.com.  It's free to browse, and you can sign up for an account easily (and still free) if you want to save photos in your own idea books to come back to later.  And for all of you crafters who keep making Pinterest stuff, when you finish something cool bring it on over to my house.  Because every craft I have ever attempted looks like crap.  (and most aren't even finished...)

In business

So we thought we'd have a lot of extra eggs with our chickens and the boys have been excited to make some money from them.   Unfortunately, we have realized that our family eats a LOT of eggs, so there haven't been too many extras.  We buy them from the boys at 25cents each and the deal is they have to pay for the feed and they can keep any extra. 
Yesterday my grandma called and said that if we had any extras she would take a half dozen of them, but only if she could pay for them.  We fixed up a little carton full and Ethan went up to deliver.  After their exchange he told her, "On the way up here I told those chickens they better get to work because now we have a customer!"  So if she is paying the same amount we are for eggs, what are we, chopped liver?  Maybe the chickens will lay more knowing that they have an actual 'customer' now, who knows?  More omlets for me :)

Speaking of Ethan and Grandma, he asked me today on the way to school about how retired people get money.  We talked about savings, then he asked what happened to their stuff (specifically his great-grandma's) when they die.  I told him how a will works and that usually people split their stuff up between their kids.  He asked who would get Grandma Jerry's house and I told him I don't know.  Then he thought for a moment and said, "Do you think she'd let me have the fishy crackers when she dies?"  Anyone who knows my grandma knows that she will outlive the expiration of any box of goldfish crackers, but I love how Ethan's always thinking ahead (and with his stomach).

thrifty me

I am so excited, we just finished painting our basement.  It is in the (long) process of being finished.  Along with the main floor, which of course is not completely finished either.  But, we're still working on that...
Anyway, I knew we were going to have to spend some money on paint because we had a lot of area to cover and it was brand new drywall, so it was going to soak it up.  We had a few buckets with a little bit of primer and old ceiling paint left from upstairs, so we thought if we just mixed that together with the 49 billion other half cans of paint we had sitting around downstairs, it might be enough to prime the first coat, then we would have to buy 4 or 5 5-gallon buckets of paint after that. 
Well,  when we mixed it all together (blues, greens, tans, off-white, the white ceiling paint, and even a quart of red) I realized that I loved the color it made.  Go figure - all my cast-off colors (I had a really hard time coming up with just the right shades upstairs) combined make the perfect color of putty/tan.  Only problem was it was a bit too dark since we wanted to spray the ceiling the same color (no cutting in all the wall edges for me this time around.  We have a sprayer and I was going to use it to the full extent!)  So we ended up buying three big buckets of primer (which is about 1/3 the price of paint) and only 2 buckets of pure white satin enamel at Lowes.  Total cost only about $360.  Then we came home and sprayed the primer and self-mixed our color concoction with all our left-over paint and the 10 gallons of white.  Turns it out matches the color I wanted (our main color upstairs) almost perfectly.  We got the whole thing done in 2 days and I am SO glad to have that step done!
Now I can take down the plastic, clean up the floors and hopefully not have any more dust/spray mess making its way upstairs.  Even if we don't get the floors and cabinets finished downstairs yet, at least I won't have the MESS (well, not that mess at least).
Here is a photo of our beautiful, bland, tan walls

Also, here is a sneak peak at Shannon's new nursery.  Kristi and I spent a few days out in Dallas helping her paint and pick out fabrics.  Now I just have to sew the bedding in time to send it back before the baby is born.  All I can say is, I really hope the ultrasound is right and they are having a girl, otherwise their boy might be messed up!  That's a lot of pink.

Like father like son

Sharon, this post is for you!

So today when Brandon came home from work, he dumped these on my counter:

He then asked me how much milk we go through in a month and told me he could order 50 or more cans of this if I wanted.  Does this remind you of Papa George and the ketchup?  Ever since we have been married I have heard the story of the 17 bottles of ketchup brought home because they were a good deal.  Well, Brandon is also a deal-finder and I usually just let him do it.  But 50 tubs of powdered milk?

(In his defense, it didn't quite come out of the blue.  We had some friends tell us that this brand of powdered milk is better than regular milk.  Not quite believing that story, I bought one can and made some up to try it for myself.  I think it's ok.  Definitely better than regular powdered milk.  I would drink it if I couldn't get regular milk and would bake with it no problem.  Well Brandon loves it.  LOVES it.  He makes some every night so we have a fresh, cold pitcher of milk for the next morning.  He offers some to everyone who comes to our house.  And apparently he has a hook-up at the Walmart that can order for him in bulk.  Oy!)

If your name is not Sharon you are not allowed to harass Brandon about this post.  I have been scolded for teasing him online.  He doesn't read the blog often and doesn't really appreciate my on-line harassment, especially since he usually gets caught unaware when people make comments to him about something I've posted and he has no idea what they are talking about or how they know that particular deep dark secret :)  I supposed I'll have to email him a link to this post!

Bored already

So I don't get to hang out with girls all that much, but I am lucky that I get to serve with the Young women in our church.  A few weeks ago I got to participate in a walk across town to the temple - 12.6 miles!  It was a lot of fun and a great experience for me, even though I grumbled when I got up that morning at 5 am.  Here is a shot of a few of the girls I went with (I'm sure they would hate me posting this, as it was taken at about 6 am as they were getting ready to leave and not wearing makeup and such :)  Anyway, I am lucky to spend time with these cute girls and all the others that put up with my lessons each Sunday and my old lady point of view!

Here are the boys all ready to walk to school on the first day.  Needless to say, Ryan was THRILLED to  have his whole family walk with him to the first day of 8th grade.  We tried  not to embarass him too much, but we just couldn't help ourselves.  He tried to ditch us when we got near the school, but for old folks we are pretty fast when we want to be (and when it comes to harassing our teenager)!  Don't they look cute!  (and doesn't that newly-coated driveway look fabulous!?)

Jake's first soccer game

Well, I know I've already mentioned Jake's soccer first experience so I don't want to go on and on about my kids.  Oh wait - that's all I ever talk about anymore!  I don't think I ever have conversations that don't involve talking about my kids these days... some day maybe I'll get a hobby :)

Any hoo.... One quick story about Jake.  This photo was taken during halftime of his first game.  The coach called the boys over to give them a pep talk when Jake plopped down in the center of the circle and loudly announced, "I'm bored!"  His coach, bless him, just laughed and told him to start playing harder and he wouldn't be bored anymore.  That poor guy (the coach, I mean)!

Looks like his pep-talk worked, though, because right after halftime Jake scored a goal.  I was trying to video-tape and ended up hitting the wrong button and getting a photo right as he kicked it in.  Lucky thing I'm a dunce with my camera - I never get these shots when I am trying!

BTW, Just in case you're dying to know the outcome, Jake's team lost by a score of something like 4 to 8.  However, right after the game Jake came up to me and said, "Mom, we totally won!  They only scored 1 goal and we scored like 10!" I think we won't burst that bubble just yet...he'll learn to count better eventually on his own.

The boys have now all started soccer. By far the most entertaining this year will be Jake: not much soccer, but a lot of drama. Here are a few photos from his first practice. He cried once, but another boy cried twice, so at least he is not the biggest cry-baby on the team. Actually, he cried again at the second practice, so maybe he is. The first time he cried because he got hit in the head (not very hard at all) by a soccer ball. The second day he cried because he got out-voted on the team name. The other boys liked "Dragons" and Jake wanted "Lightning Bolts." As I said, a lot of drama, and not much soccer. I think I am already regretting signing him up this year.

Side note, today at soccer he told me, "Mom, I finally like the name Dragons now!"  So... that's improvement, right?

Here we are squeezing in a little bit of last-minute summer fun:

• The Fair   (Ethan touched a live alligator that was just sitting out.  It was cool, but really?  Who brings a live alligator to the fair?  And who ties a bandana around its neck?  I felt like we were in an episode of "The Waterboy."
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The Park   (A few rides, and Imax show, and check out the view from the top of the ferris wheel!  BTW, it's been a long time since I was on a ferris wheel, and they are really scary! 
• Now we are ready for SCHOOL to start!!!  I am they are so excited to go back.  Time to work on all those projects I have not worked on all summer.... :)  I will keep you posted if I actually finish any of them.  The only thing I finished so far was spreading asphalt sealer all over our driveway.  33 5-gallon buckets and 1 pair of crocs later, and my toes still have black that won't come off them.  Here's hoping that job doesn't need to be done again any time soon!

Liar, liar... and getting old quick

I expect to hear how old I am from my teenager, but lately Jake has been worse than even Ryan!  I think the reason its worse coming from Jake is because you think a four-year-old doesn't say things just to harass you.  Well, most four-year-olds don't, anyway.  Just a few days ago, he was looking at the front of a book and asked me, completely straightfaced,  "Mom, when you were little did they have these kinds of carts?"  I look over at the picture he is referring to, and it is a covered wagon!  What?!  I explained that even when his great-grandma was little most people had cars.  Not sure this concept held, though, because just today in the car we had this conversation:
J:  Mom, when Ethan is 13 how old will I be?  (This is after we have gone through several other age scenarios... don't know why he got on this kick)
M:  You will be 9.
J:  And who old will Ryan be?
M:  Ryan will be 18.  That means he will be moving out and going to college!
J (with a look of alarm on his face):  But then who will take care of me?
M:  Dad and I will take care of you, and I'm sure Ethan will help too.
J:  Yeah, Ethan can take care of me.  Because by then you and dad might already be DEAD!
M:  Dead?  We won't be dead in 4 years!  We aren't that old!
J:  Well, you're pretty old.  And dad is REALLY old!

It's bad enough that he makes me feel old because I have a hard time keeping up with him anymore.  Now he has to say it, and I'm not sure if he is sincere or if he is just pulling my chain.  Most 4-year-olds are incapable of coming up with these types of things to say just to get a reaction, but I wouldn't put it past Jake.  He is really devious.

And speaking of devious, he has turned into a liar.  He lies about things all the time, and it's always to get out of trouble.  For example, just the other day he got several (like 5 or 6) pieces of lunch meat out of the fridge and started munching on them.  He had them all wadded up in his hand and I almost got mad at him, but decided at least he was eating something healthy for a snack so I let it slide.  Well, he wanted to help me make cookies and I told him after he was done eating and had washed his hands he could.  Then he says, "Just a sec.  I have to go potty," and goes running down the hall to the bathroom. 
When he comes back 3 seconds later I ask, "Jake, you didn't go potty, did you?" 
Jake:  "Yes I did."
Me:  "Where did your lunch meat go?"
Jake:  "I ate it."
Me:  "Are you sure you're telling the truth?"
Jake:  "Um, yes."
Me:  "Did you just go in the bathroom and throw your lunch meat in the garbage can?"
Jake:  "How did you know?"

No remorse, nothing.  I know he is only 4, but I am starting to wonder if maybe I am raising a serial liar.  If he becomes a con artist or thief as an adult, all fingers will point my way and they will say I should've seen in coming.  Or maybe he is just 4.  I'm not sure yet if I should be alarmed.  Well, I know I should be alarmed about a lot of things that go on in this house, but I'll wait to judge Jake's honesty until I am sure he knows the difference between a lie and the truth.  I hate this age for that reason -- you can't really punish them too harshly for lying, because you can't be sure they really understand that they lied.  I'm pretty sure Jake understands, though :)

I swear if I wasn't old already, Jake may send me over the edge pretty quick.  Maybe he knows something I don't with all this old lady talk!

My love/hate relationship with summer

School is almost here... hallelujah! I love my kids, but by the end of summer, it is TIME. I am sick of them and they are sick of me - enough said. What I really need is a schedule, not so much to get rid of my kids (although a little peace and quiet will be nice too). Somehow in the summer we end up completely disregarding normal and going to bed/eating/cleaning at horrible times if at all (we always eat and sleep eventually, just not the cleaning part). Plus, though I love Brandon's spontaneity, when the kids are out for the summer and he has three days off in the middle of the week we end up just dropping things and going to do something else. While this is fun most of the time, you know the saying about too much of a good thing... I need a PLAN! I need a SCHEDULE! We need to STICK WITH THAT PLAN! It is really sad that the anal retentive part of me just can't take too much spontaneous fun. I need some boring, structured days in there so I can truly appreciate the fun ones :)

Enough of my crazed ramblings ... since we did have fun this summer, I probably should document it :) The great thing about this summer is that we haven't even gone anywhere but still managed to get nothing productive done. A few pictures I found (which I haven't been good about either)

Boating with Grandpa, Grandma, Lindsey, and Max - the boys had fun on the tube, and we even managed to talk Grandma into going for a ride!
We also went out with Kage and Kennedy once (when they came to stay for a week, which was SO much fun!) and had Kage and Ethan no less than 8 feet in the air. Wish I had a picture of that because the look on Ethan's face said it all. I'm surprised he didn't pee his pants (well, since he was in a lake maybe he did and we didn't notice). Before you think we are crazy boat drivers, we were going really slow but they managed to hit a wave just right and bam - they were airborn. Luckily they landed it well :) We also went rafting a few times - Brandon took Ryan down Hells Canyon and had a great time (I'll see if I can get the video of their huge rapid to load - it looked awesome!) and we went down our local river a few times. The last of these it was so shallow we had to push ourselves over rocks most of the way. Fun but tiring! Here is a picture of Brandon paddling in a deeper spot that last time down the river (notice the rocks right below the surface?
Now you can see why it was mostly pushing, not so much paddling).

We also rode a bike trail with just Brandon, Jake, myself, and Curt (ditched the big boys). Jake was a trooper and didn't complain (much).
Notice the cool tag-along bike he used? I'm brushing up on my Vanna White skills in case I lose my job. Oh, and can I just say that even though I wore the special padded-diaper shorts, my butt hurt for DAYS after this. I've decided I don't care how stupid I look, I am buying one of those super padded old lady bicycle seats to put on my hand-me-down mountain bike. At my age, it's all about comfort :)
And here is the chipmunk that Jake thought was "so cute!" until it bit him. Then he had nothing good to say about it ("I Hate that Chipmunk! He is NOT cute!") Luckily it didn't draw blood so I don't think it could transmit rabies. Not that I'd be able to tell with Jake anyway.

Jake modeling hairclips for me (my attempt at craftiness, thanks to my friend Amy). Good thing he's a boy, I'm not sure he would've made such a cute girl.


We also had a baptism this summer...Ethan is 8 years old now! Crazy to me that he is so big. This really deserves its own post, so when I find the pictures I will do just that. Can I just say it was fun having family come and visit for the occasion and I'm really proud of what a great kid Ethan is turning out to be!

A few great quotes from this summer:
Jake: "Dude, I totally JUGGED that!" (a glass of milk that he 'chugged'). I like Jugged better anyway.
Ethan, after his baptism: "I am almost speechless!" It would take more than that to render Ethan speechless.

Last but not least, here is what I see on a regular basis, this time in front of the cabinet that holds marshmallows. Love those dusty footprints!

testes...testes

anyone else see this episode of Beevis and Butthead?  I am just 'testing' my ability to publish a post, since I have been having problems for the last week.

Yeah!! It worked.  I knew a little B&B humor would do the trick...  Solves most of the problems in my life :)

Playing catch-up

This part of blogging is obnoxious. Since I haven't been in the mood, I haven't properly documented many parts of our life lately. Not that any of you care, but in 20 or 30 years I may be sad that I forgot to write down the 10 gazillion funny things that were said and done these past few months. (Well, the boys are funny but not THAT funny. Jake just likes gazillions these days. If asked how many of anything he wants, he answers something like, "100 million gazillion!")

So...

THE CHICKENS

They are large.
They are feathery.
They are not as creepy as I remember from my own childhood.
They live outside (because chickens in your basement start to stink in a HURRY!)
They still don't lay eggs yet.
One or two might be roosters - we are still not sure.
They are all still alive!
They are the easiest pets we could ever have!

Overall, if they ever produce eggs I will be able to say that I love having chickens. If they don't, they will be our 10 most expensive chicken dinners ever (already gone through 3 large bags of feed).

BIRTHDAYS
Birthdays came and went this year. We celebrated, we ate cake, they got presents. All the boys are now one year older. The end.






BRACES

Ethan is now the only 2nd grader in his school to have braces. He has had them for a few months now and is really doing well with them. He has to wear headgear every night, and he almost never complains about it. In fact, at first he wanted to wear it to school to show it off. (I didn't let him. It's one thing to let him be himself. Wearing headgear to school voluntarily crosses the line. It's like putting a giant sign that says, "beat me up" on his back.)

He will have the braces for about a year, at which time they will have hopefully widened his palete (sp?) and corrected his overbite, in addition to straightening his top front teeth. In a few years when all his permanent teeth come in, they say he will need a second round. I am thinking if they are reasonably good by then, we may just call it a day and move on to saving for Jake's braces. By then Ryan might actually get his braces off, or his teeth will have rotted out of his head by then. I have my suspicions about which will happen first, but we'll see.


YARD PROJECTS
I have given up. My dreams have been squashed right out. Between Brandon and the deer, I realize that I cannot make my yard look the way I want it to (I have a vision of a park in my head... so maybe it IS a bit unreasonable). Anyway, I have decided to consolidate my efforts to certain areas and just mow the rest down. I have also decided to quit buying plants for the deer to eat (although they really seem to like most of my choices.)

On the plus side, we have a garden again this year. I am excited to eat fresh produce in a month or two. We have already harvested about 20 gazillion cups of rhubarb. If there is anybody out there (that lives near me) that would like some fresh rhubarb, let me know! I still have some in the freezer from last year that we didn't get to. Ryan already has this batch washed and cut into cubes. All yours if you want it. And speaking of rhubarb, check out the berry-rhubarb pie I made. All by myself! (Used Grandma Jerry's recipe and it was delish!) If you promise to take some rhubarb I will give you the recipe for free.

HOUSE PROJECTS
We decided to finish our basement. We hung a few sheets of sheetrock. We bought some lumber and framed up two walls. That was a month ago and nothing else has been done since. The end.

Oh, and I did do a little work on Ryan's room. Although it is not completely finished, I did complete the bed for his room. I wanted him to have a couch/bed so he could sit up there with his friends and play video games, etc. Kind of a manly version of a daybed. I thought of just buying a futon (would've been way easier), but he would never make it or put it back up into couch position, so I know it would always just look like a mess. This photo was taken right after I finished putting the bed up, before Ryan had even gotten home from school. I am pretty sure the bed will never be made this neatly ever again. Ever.


SOCCER

Spring soccer ended. I have no pictures to show for it. I gave up trying to take sports pictures about a year ago. there are many reasons....which I won't go into. Anyway, Ryan tried out for the select team with his coach from last year and made it. We are very proud, and now we will be starting up soccer again in a few weeks. Ethan is also signed up for next year. In his last game this spring he scored a goal and blocked two as goalie! (This has never been done before ) Of course Brandon and I were both working so we missed it :( In the fall, Jake will also be playing soccer. I'm really not sure how that is going to go. Or how I am going to get three boys to different games and/or practices. I think I was a little crazy when I signed them up. Probably up past my bedtime messing around on the computer. I really should know better.

OTHER STUFF
One day while babysitting a friend of Jake's they disappeared from outside. I went inside after a few minutes of their absence to see what they were up to. turns out they were hungry. Jake had two frying pans on the stove. He had a 1 1/2 dozen egg container on the shelf, ripped open. Every single egg was out of the container and sitting loose on the countertop. When I asked what they were doing, he said, "Me and her were hungry so we decided to make some eggs!" There are so many things about this situation that could have gone terribly wrong... let's just say that NONE of the 18 eggs had been cracked or dropped yet, and the burners were not on yet. I'm sure it was only a matter of time.

(This is him in trouble, after I had picked up part of the mess. Then I realized that because it wasn't a disaster, it was actually kind of funny. I wish I would've gotten a picture of what it looked like when I walked in. Notice he even got out the Pam so they wouldn't stick, and some pepper for seasoning!)


THE SMOLDER
If you haven't yet seen Tangled, the new Disney cartoon, you should. It is out on video. When we watched it, my boys laughed at several parts. One in particular has stuck with us: the smolder scene. Here it is in case you forgot or haven't seen it yet:

http://http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip_0CFKTO9E

Anyway, all my boys think they can do 'the smolder.' Have a look, and you'll know that I do not have to worry about girls knocking down our door anytime soon!

Oh, and here are a few different versions by Ethan and Jake - each equally disturbing.



And I just thought this picture was cute:

We have new neighbors! We love having Mae, Rachael, and Jordan live next door. The boys especially just think Mae is the cutest thing ever. She seems to like them too, although if I were her I'd keep a healthy distance, especially from Jake!