snow castle

Today Sam and I shoveled snow. He actually helped me. I was amazed my little boy could really shovel snow. We had a blast.

When I asked Sam what we should build when we were done, his answer came quick, "A castle."

Okay.

Here's the castle. He was pleased it was so big. I was pleased it was so small.



And what was Jack doing you ask? Playing trains inside the house.

He did take interest in the snow castle.

Here is his contribution.



Yelling and directing and ooooing and ahhhing at us on how to build it from inside his tiny window to the outside world.

And he had to have the door cracked open so we could hear him.

black and white

I have had a certain black and white dress in my closet for four years. I bought it and never wore it.

When I got an invite to a black and/or white party, I knew exactly what I was wearing.

Adam just wanted to show a little chest hair.



Admit it, you love this picture.

Thanks Cat for having a birthday, throwing yourself a party, getting this dress out of my closet, and a fun night!

sicky sick

I took NyQuil last night. Did nothing.

I could say it started last year. When I got my tonsils out. Although it hurt something awful, it was a good thing. After I was done with pain meds, I would use NyQuil to help me sleep through the pain. I had to wean myself off it one week later.

Good news: I have had one measly cold in the last year. ONE in a YEAR. Those tonsils were making me sick.

Bad news: It feels different getting sick. Before I could feel myself getting sick in my tonsils, and I knew to lay low. Now, it's a whole different sensation, in the back of my empty throat and it weirds me out.

It feels like allergies, which I have only experienced once while pregnant with Sam. I guess I get allergies when pregnant? I don't know. (p.s. I'm not pregnant, keep reading)

I hate this new feeling of "sick."

I should be thankful. This is the first bout of sickness our family has had to deal with this winter. Last winter was awful. Recall these events, if you give a sick boy, awful dr. visit, fevers, and rashes.

Combine sick with that lovely time of the month, one hacking 3 year old that I can't send to preschool, one whiny 2 year old, and we have a disaster on our hands. "We" meaning my family. Meaning my kids.

I am really grouchy. I will spare you the details of my multiple breakdowns, but it's bad. Until my grouchy/sick phase is over there will be many movies watched, lots of sleep, and hopefully some projects completed to show you once I return.

And with many prayers, some happy healthy children.

Farewell for a few days, here's a picture.

mail sorter

I have a friend named Natalie.

I want to grow up to be Natalie (minus having my husband be the Bishop).

I think we might be long lost sisters.

I love having a friend that gets excited with me about junk and old crap.

Anywho. Remember this piece friends?



I love love loved it but it didn't fit into my life at the moment.

So Natalie fixed it up, and here it is now.



Check out her original post here.

Ha! All of you family and friends thought it was a piece of crap (and I know sitting on my front porch for a year didn't really help).

And I already informed her that I get first refusal rights.

She was featured on a little website called Design Sponge. Now she's basically famous.

arrgh matey

I might have been more exited about dressing him up for his pirate party than him. He's just trying to have his best pirate smirk on.





Cutest pirate ever right?

phoenix

In Phoenix we:

let our uncles drop us from really high places,



hung out with cousins 24/7,



cuddled our adorable nephew,



played OUTSIDE and wore CROCS,



organized a pantry (coming soon),



ate lots of Costa,



and went to the Phoenix Children's Museum.











Oh my heavens, this place was amazing. I loved every room, and the decorations in it. Here are a few of my favorite things from the museum.













Yes, that is a giant flying tub and a wall of hanging CD's.
If you ever get the chance, you MUST GO to this museum.

countertops

I hate hated my countertops since the first time I walked into my house. They are a black brownish barf combination on laminate.





See? Yuck. And you can see where I left some paint while cleaning a roller once...oops.

I found this laminate countertop paint at Home Depot. It's $22. Compared to new countertops, that is fabulous. We did have to spend a little more buying foam rollers.

We rolled them before we went to Phoenix for a few days during Christmas break. We literally put the kids in the packed up car with a movie, rolled the countertops, and left for Phoenix.

Here it is as we're getting ready to leave.



And here it is now.







Honestly, I don't love it. I was almost in tears walking out of the house thinking, "What have I gotten myself into?!" We're going to do it again, and do a darker brown. This brown kinda looks blah with the walls and cabinets. After all this, I found out that Lowes sells darker tints of this paint.

BUT, it is a huge improvement. And it's growing on me.

There are some definite tips and tricks that we will be applying to our 2nd coat.

1 - Wear a gas mask and vacate the premise. I am not kidding, this stuff will kill millions of brain cells. Which is maybe why I went ahead with the project even though I didn't like the brown.

2 - It takes three days to dry, and that is no exaggeration. Unless you can barricade off part of the house for a few days, you need to leave.

3 - Remove the sink, it's worth it. Then you can roll straight into the hole and it will look much better than hand painting against the sink.



See? The bubbles stayed, and the roller wouldn't have done this.

4 - Sand your countertops. You think they are smooth and flawless, but believe me, they aren't.

5 - Foam rollers, worth every penny. They will create a more even application of the paint.

6 - They suggest a 2nd coat, although not necessary. I think it's necessary.

We also did the bathrooms. They were the first color we tried, but it was too gray for the kitchen.

Our bathroom before.



After.



Ignore the awful color the walls look in that picture, they are much more beautiful than that. I still haven't shown my painted bathroom yet I just realized. Maybe I'll get to that soon.

Check out the little soap holder I got from World Market.



I love him.

Downstairs bath.



After.



We'll be re-rolling the bathrooms too, but with the same color just to even it out.

And then we'll probably have to paint the kitchen to give more contrast with the counters and cabinets. And so it goes...

Give me your honest opinion, love it or hate it?

package

A package just came to our door.



At first glance, what the heck is Adam getting from BYU Library?

So I open it.



What the whatwhat?



Now all of you know why I could never tell you what Adam thesis was on or what he was researching while getting his masters. All I could tell you is that every few weeks he went early and cut adrenal glands out of freshly slaughtered cows.

And ran tests on adrenal glands. That's all I know. Adrenal glands.
(I still don't even know what adrenal glands are.)



Some people probably thought I was a sad excuse for a wife not knowing what my husband was studying, but it's not a lack of wanting to know, it's a lack of understanding what in the world he was learning.

But now when people ask, I'll just drop this book in their lap.

Congrats honey. Now could the diploma get here soon?