What a weekend...

We had a lot planned for our Saturday work day and knew that it would be an unsurmountable task with just us and the boys so we invited Jared's parents to join us. Boy are we glad we did! Here's what we did...

Jared and Gregg busted out the brick planter and set up the swing set (already posted pics earlier). Thank you!

Gregg swapped out our leaking kitchen faucet for a brand new (and FREE) faucet that actually fills all 4 holes in our sink. Since he works at Ferguson's Plumbing supply warehouse he sometimes gets product for free when it just sits on the shelf for so long without ever selling. It's a beautiful faucet with some great height! I can actually fit pots into and out of my sink without banging them on the faucet every time!

BEFORE:

DURING:

AFTER:

We also put up casing around the windows in the front room and got the chair railing up! Now we've just got all the trim boxes to put on, LOTS of caulking, and then painting all the trim. I couldn't be happier! Merry Christmas to me!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

From Drab to Fab...

I'm into the "spray painting" age, are you? Once you see the transformations I've done you just might want to join in!

First there's this 4ft by 6 ft-ish mirror that I found on Craigslist (shocker, I know) for only $85. What was once gold and red became black and gold with a little spray paint and then gold "dry brushing." I can hardly wait to hang it on the wall in my front room!

Then there's this little dresser that my mother-in-law gave us (which was given to her by another friend). Anyway, it came to us in a county blue. My original plan was to spray paint it black and change the hardware, but then I saw a refinishing project on 320 Sycamore and I just had to try it out. So I used paint stripper to get off all the layers of paint on the top part of the dresser - it just bubbles right up and wipes off! The only problem was that the original finish was not just normal latex/oil paint so the stripper wouldn't take it off so I resorted to sanding which took more time, but still effective.

After getting off all the paint from the top, I taped off the sides and applied a few coats of Dark Walnut stain.

I had decided to spray paint the sides cream initially but after painting it cream, it wasn't achieving the look I wanted. It was too light. So back to Home Depot (that's the store we go to most often now; sometimes multiple times a day). This time I came back with an Oregano green. Much better!

I wanted to highlight (or darklight :) the details on the door. So I tried to q-tip some stain in the grooves of the doors, but of course it blurbed everywhere. When I tried to wipe it off I couldn't wipe it off clean. Lucky for me I unexpectedly liked the look of the stain distressed on there so I did it to all of the green surface. I LOVE IT! The final step is adding a polyurethane coat to the top to make it look more finished and more durable... I haven't got that far yet, but I hope to soon. The weather is so favorable to doing these re-vamping projects!

Go breathe new life into some furniture that you're not crazy over anymore. With a fresh coat of paint you can get the look of FAB with something that was quite DRAB!

(PS. I back-posted about B's birthday... I was waiting to post it until I had a current and cute picture of the little guy - it's posted on Nov. 16)

Labor and Delivery...

What would it be like this time? Easy? Painful? Drawn out? Well, lucky for me it was painless. The welcoming of the newest member of our family began with an innocent glance at the Free section on Craigslist (by now you know I can't stay away from that). Lo and behold... it was a swingset! It had been listed for hours and I knew I couldn't possibly be the first to respond, but I sent an email anyway mentioning our two little boys that would LOVE it. A couple days later he responded with "We've received hundreds of responses and your one of the few we've chosen to consider. Please tell us why your needs are greater than anyone else's." Well, I'm positive that my needs aren't greater than most so I responded saying that although our needs are not great our appreciation would be. Since our boys are just 1 and 2 and there are hopefully many more to come, this swingset would get several years of love and fun. Another week went be with no response from him. I had a thought that perhaps I should send a family picture - I know ath I always want to send things to a good home with good people. So I sent one of the pictures that Mindy took 6 months ago. The next day he emailed back and said we could have it if we picked it up by the weekend. HOORAY! THANK YOU MINDY! Who knows what would've happened if I hadn't such an amazing family photo? What do you think you could get for FREE with your family picture?

When Jared got the swingset home we realized that it wouldn't fit through our side gate without being completely dismantled - too much work and time. So Jared, Tom, and Derek muscled it over the brick wall. We also had to take down the chainlink fence (which needed fixed anyway, so it was a good excuse). Then to get it in its rightful place we decided we needed to bust out one of the brick planters - thanks Gregg for helping! They were also able to assemble the whole thing Saturday too! Suffice it to say that G and B both LOVE playing on it. B loves to go down the slide but is often content to just sit at the end. G loves the fort, slide, swings, and all. He could play out there all day.

So, a big THANKS to craigslist, to that nice man who decided to give away this wonderful swingset, and to all those who helped move and assemble it! Labor and delivery was painless for me this time but still required a lot of hard work and pushing by others. In the end though it's all worth it!

Stale Mate...

So I've been in kind of a "project mode" much to my husbands chagrin. Two weekends ago I decided to paint over the green stripes in the front room - I'd had enough of them. So my parents came up to help since I'd have a rough time of it by myself with the boys and Jared was hunting that weekend. We painted the ceiling white and the walls the dark tan that is found throughout our house already. My Grand Plan for that room was to put drywall mud on the bottom portion to de-texture it, paint the bottom portion the lighter tan, put chair railing along the seem, and put up trim boxes underneath the chair railing. Well, after we painted the walls and ceiling we still had another day together. So Dad got some drywall mud and went to work. He put a coat on, we sanded, he put another coat, and we sanded again. So far so good. I cleaned the walls and then painted the lighter tan over the drywall. When I took the painters tape off... that's when the trouble happened. My paint peeled right off! It didn't happen everywhere but where it did peel, it was BAD! I didn't know what to do to fix it. I spent an hour and a half peeling paint because I thought I was going to have to strip all four walls down, put primer on, and paint again. But that would take months to do. I really didn't know what to do. So that's the state my front room has been in for the past two weeks. Drop cloths and paint buckets on the floor, the piano is covered with blankets and plastic, a bright orange ladder lightens the room, and peeling paint on the walls.

BEFORE...

LOOKS GOOD...

and then... THE PEELING PAINT!

This weekend my in-laws are coming to help with our many projects. Hopefully we'll get the chair rail up and maybe even some trim... and my craigslist refinished mirror... and the shelf Jared made me that I stained dark brown... and the floral arrangement that I just made for $30. Pictures are to come :). Jared suggested that I not start any more until we've finished the ones that I've started. I guess you could say I'm project crazy!

Three things I never thought I'd hear people say to me...

1. Courtesy Clerk at Fry's Grocery Store: "Do you know who you look like? Kirsten Dunst." (And on a day when my hair is pulled back in a ponytail and I have no make-up on)

2. A woman in our ward: "You have a beautiful singing voice. Would you give my daughter voice lessons?" (Flattering, but completely unexpected! I've never had even ONE voice lesson in my entire life... where do you start?)

3. A political activist in our area: "I think you should run for office against Harry Mitchell" (He said this in all seriousness. Harry Mitchell is currently the congressman representing District 5 here in AZ)

There's a little bit more behind #3. He and his wife were in charge of heading up the effort for our ward/stake with Proposition 102 - the marriage amendment. They were looking for volunteers to go door-to-door informing people about the amendment and ensuring that every qualified person was registered to vote. I had been praying that week specifically for opportunities to serve and help others... I got a phone call asking for help and I excitedly accepted the invitation. Finally something good to stand up for, to fight for. So, as a family with our double stroller, we went up and down the street we were assigned meeting very good people (all but one were very supportive... some were hearing about it for the first time).

When election day was approaching they were again seeking volunteers to stand at the polling places with signs and stickers for Prop 102 while observing the 75 foot boundary where "electioneering" cannot take place. Thinking it might be kind of a hassle with two boys to keep track of an entertained I was a little hesitant but decided to accept because I wanted to do my part - do all that I could to help this proposition to pass. So we went down to our assigned polling place with double stroller, a ball, snacks, signs, and stickers ready to give one final push for a Yes vote. I talked with the Polling Inspector before setting up and got her name and phone number just as I was instructed. She told me that this was a "no signs" polling place even outside of the 75 foot boundary. I asked if it was okay that I stand on the sidewalk with my signs since that was off the property. Yes, that would be fine, she said. We waved at the cars passing by with our signs for 90 minutes before it was time for B's morning nap, all the while getting lots of honks, thumbs up signs, and smiling faces. After his nap we went back with our signs with lunch packed and a blanket to sit on this time - along with Andrea, Caleb,and Kyson. After about an hour of being on the sidewalk the pastor of the church where the polling was taking place came up to us and said we had to leave... that this was a "no signs" polling place... we weren't allowed. My insides got very defensive and I just wanted to get angry and say it was my right to stand there, but we graciously thanked him for allowing us to vote at his church, packed up, and wished him a happy day. My heart was racing. I wanted to fight back. I stressed about giving up so quickly... but after receiving an email from the couple in our ward in charge of it all I found peace.

Her email included the experience relayed to her through someone else that saw my little family sitting on the sidewalk that morning as she went to take part in her civic duty and privilege of voting. As a supporter of Prop 102 she wanted to roll down her window and give thanks for our service... service given with two little boys ages 1 and 2 as we sat with our signs supporting marriage between a man and a woman. But after rolling down her window she was so choked with emotion that she couldn't speak. She was brought to tears of gratitude seeing others standing up for marriage the way God intended it to be. All she could do was wave. It doesn't matter that I was kicked off the sidewalk... it does matter that I stood for something... and that I stood for something worth fighting for.

The lesson I learned while eating goldfish...

Today as the boys and I were eating a snack as we do several times a day I learned a valuable lesson. After giving G the small bowl of fishies I asked him to please share with B because it's nice to share and B would really appreciate it. G was happy to share with me, giving me handfuls at a time. But for some reason he wouldn't share with B at all. I asked him a few more times to please share his fishies with B... but with no luck. Towards the end of his bowl of goldfish I warned him that if he couldn't share, he probably wouldn't get any more fishies in his bowl (we usually go back for seconds and thirds :). After eating a few more fish and thinking about that consequence, he decided to share a few fishies with B. Seeing this made me so happy and I really wanted to give G some more fishies so I could watch him share with B.

So you may be wondering what I learned... I learned that Heavenly Father probably feels the same way towards us. He gives us so many blessings that I could never name them all and I'm sure that he wants so badly for us to share what we have with those that are less fortunate, with those that would truly appreciate it - because it's nice to share. When we don't share what we do have, Heavenly Father probably feels less inclined to keep pouring out those blessings upon us just as I didn't really want to give G any more fishies if he wasn't going to share with B. But when we do share with a happy heart and unrestrained, Heavenly Father would find great joy in continuing the blessings knowing that we are willing to use them to bless others. In fact, I believe we can have sincere faith and even knowledge that as we share what we have He will always bless us with that which we need. The parable of the talents from the scriptures came to life for me today as I learned about the parable of the goldfish.

B's First Birthday

Yep, the year has sailed by... but it's been sweet sailing with Mr B as a baby. He is so fun and easy going. We celebrated his birthday a few weeks ago with G's birthday but today we made one of his favorite breakfasts - pancakes. He out-ate all of us! Three whole pancakes! We stuck a candle in one of them, but he wasn't sure what to do about it so G helped him since he's become quite the pro.

B's Current Stats:
Weight - 23.5 lbs (G was 29 lbs)
Height - 30 inches (G was 29 inches)

All about our 1 year old B:
Can make anyone smile
He can dance like you've never seen (bounce and sway)
Makes the funniest faces - the scrunchy one is one of my favorites (Jared says he gets it from me)
A contagious giggle
Likes to collect socks (doesn't matter who's they are or if they're clean or dirty - gross, I know)
Eats all the time and will eat anything
Loves cars
Momma's boy
Working on weaning from pacifier
Signs "please" (on his shoulder instead of his chest) and "thank you"
Says "Mo" (more), "Bye bye," "yum," and "uh oh."
Loves to touch pointer fingers with you (like in E.T.)
A little snuggler - he'll just lay his head down on my shoulder and pat my back

We love you Mr. B!

Glad to go to Time Out...

Time Out for Women and Girls that is! What better way is there to spend a Saturday than with some of the girls in your life you love the most listening to empowering messages in word and music? The only better way I know is to spend it with ALL the girls you love most! The day was fabulous and filled with uplifting music that I couldn't get enough of. The speakers were John Hilton III and Laurel Christiansen. Performers included Jenny Jordan Frogley (LOVE her), Cherie Call (from AZ), Abe Mills (from Jericho Road), and Hilary Weeks (Classic). I kept saying that I just wanted more and more of Jenny and Hilary, but really I could have used a little more of all of them.

It's been almost a week now, but here are some of the things that made an impression on me...

John Hilton III: Talked about studying the scriptures and understanding that they really do hold the answers to all of our problems. He spoke of Nephi when his brothers bound his wrists with strong cords and how Nephi prayed for strength to loose the bands. He referenced a talk by Elder Bednar where he suggests that he does not think that the bands were simply and instantly loosed and fell from his wrists. He believes that Nephi was given strength beyond his own to work at grinding the ropes between his wrists back and forth, back and forth until they were loosed. It still takes work to get through hard things, but we can pray for and receive strength beyond our own to conquer our trials. John Hilton III also referenced some scriptures that I don't imagine I'll ever forget. Jeremiah 31:3 "Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love" and Exodus 33:17 "I know thee by name." So true and good to remember! And finally... I CAN DO HARD THINGS!!!

Laurel Christensen: She is just an amazing woman that knows how to speak to your heart through the spirit with laughter, tears, and rejoicing. One of the most memorable things that she spoke of was the divinity within each one of us. She quoted C.S. Lewis - I think this was the one...

It may be possible for each of us to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbour. The load, or weight, or burden, of my neighbour's glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you may talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship. Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses. If he is your Christian neighbour, he is holy in almost the same way, for in him also Christ vere latitat, the glorifier and the glorified, Glory Himself, is truly hidden.

After speaking of our divine worth she invited a mother and daughter (a complete surprise to them) to come to the stage. She asked the remaining 1200 women attending the conference to imagine for a moment how Heavenly Father sees this beautiful daughter of His and to see what He sees she can become... then we were to stand and give her the Standing Ovation of her life! Before we even started clapping this sweet young woman was brought to tears of humility knowing that she was about to be "worshipped" for a moment. At the count of three we all stood, all 1200 of us, clapping and cheering, never wanting to stop... all the while weeping... None of us really knew this young woman at all but I think I could have stood and clapped for her all day. It was amazing. As we caught a glimpse of the amazing potential she has and the love which her Heavenly Father has for her, even as a complete stranger, we could not hold back the applause (or our tears). Laurel Christensen literally had to ask us to stop. Give someone in your family today their own Standing Ovation - it will change your life!

She also spoke of how Heavenly Father does have "favorites" and how we can be one of them as she referenced several scriptures regarding "favor" and "favored" (Psalms 102:13 "For the time to favor her is come," Prov 3:4 "So shalt thou find favor in the sight of God," Prov 12:2 "Good man obtaineth favor of the Lord," Luke 2:52 "Jesus increased in favor with God" - surely Jesus is God's favorite! 1 Nephi 17:35 "He that is righteous is favored of God.")

Another thing Laurel Christensen spoke about were 3rd Party Applications. She shared how the previous night during the Time Out for Couples event her Blackberry Phone decided to quit working (she'd already gone through 3 Blackberried before this one). Since she is the coordinator or event manager she really needs access and use of her phone because that's how she communicates with everyone from the presenters, sound technicians, etc, etc, etc. It is through the use of that phone that the event is best able to run smoothly. She prayed that Heavenly Father might "heal" her Blackberry - took out the battery, put it back in... same message telling her that it was "polluted." She prayed again, "Heavenly Father I know you can heal my Blackberry. I really need this. I know that this may not seem important to you, but it's important to me... therefore it can be important to you. Please heal my blackberry. Wouldn't it be neat if I could tell all the girls tomorrow how you healed my Blackberry? Please help me." Take the battery out, put it back in... "Polluted" still. "Okay Heavenly Father, if you'd rather we can just keep this between you and me. I won't tell the girls tomorrow, but please help me. I know you can save my phone. Please." Changed out the battery... nothing. She prayed a few more times each time with increased faith that He could heal her Blackberry and knowledge that He had the power to do so... but still with no healing. Then this morning as she called the phone company to see if she could get a new phone because hers had been polluted the technician asked if she had downloaded any "3rd Party Applications" since those will often conflict with the programming of the phone and cause it to be "polluted." Ahh... yes. She had downloaded Facebook. In fact she had downloaded it onto all 3 previous Blackberries that had the same pollution problem. She understood. She gave a prayer of thanksgiving to her Heavenly Father for sending her the answer and said "I hear you loud and clear... and I will share this message with the girls tomorrow. " She shared with us how she learned that we need to be cautious of 3rd Pary Applications. Evaluate your lives. Are there any 3rd Party Applications you've downloaded into your everyday life that causes pollution and inhibits your ability to pray and communicate with your Heavenly Father? If so, uninstall them as soon as possible! Get rid of music that desensitizes you to the spirit. Get rid of friends that tempt you to do wrong. Walk out of the movie that makes you feel uncomfortable. Be warry of those 3rd Party Applications! You need the communication lines open so that the event of your life can run as smoothly as possible.

The musicians... they inspired me to be better in so many ways. I love music! It speaks right to my heart! Watching them perform, share their talents and in so doing bless my life has motivated me to stretch my own talents and see what I can do. Who knows... maybe someday I'll try writing a song. Wouldn't that be the day!

My two favorites of the singing bunch were Jenny Jordan Frogley and Hilary Weeks. I love Jenny and could really listen to her all day - what an amazing voice and a great performer! I love Hilary's songs - the melodies, the words, everything about them!

Our Mighty Hunter...

Jared went hunting for whitetail deer in section 33 (is that what they're called? areas? zones?). Anyway, he and his Dad had gone in a day early to "reserve" the spot they've been scouting and tracking. Friday morning, the first day of the hunt, they each spotted and shot a deer by 7:30. That's AMAZING! Jared's is a 3x3 and its antlers score right at 100 - that's bigger than anything he's got in the past. Great job! I think I may try canning some of the meat this time so that it doesn't get so freezer burnt before I can use it all.

And I couldn't post about hunting without including pics of my father-in-law. Hunting and guns are his passion. I think he'd go every week if he could :). I'm so glad that we live close enough so that Jared and his dad can get together and have some "man time."

These next pictures are taken right by where they were camped and they're pointing to where they shot their prize deers. Mighty hunters!

CARS Party Recap...

Well, we had quite a fun little birthday party for both boys on Saturday. I was worried about reaching the range of age groups attending, but I think we found success. It all began at 10:00 (and more importantly ended at 11:00... short and sweet) when the guests exercised their artistic flair at Ramone's Art Shop. I completely covered the table with butcher paper and they went to town with my new favorite crayons - Crayola's Twistables. Totally worth it!

Then we changed over to Flo's V8 Cafe where each person got to decorate and eat their very own car/truck shaped sugar cookie. G and B each got to blow out some candles and were each sung Happy Birthday to. B smeared off the frosting of his cookie, but didn't really know what to do after that.

I helped him to take a bite of the cookie... then he knew exactly what to do :)

G, on the other hand, as you may have guessed, had NO problems. In fact he was sure that he should have 2 or 3 more after the first one.

Then each child was given a CARS card and they had to go and search for the match hidden in the backyard. With match in hand they could then go to Sarge's Surplus and pick out their very own Hot Wheels car. I know, very exciting :)


My friend Teri brought over the "Pin the Tow Cable on Mater" poster that she made. The older kids thought that was pretty cool. Sadly I didn't get a picture of it, so I'm stealing this one from her blog. Thanks Teri! :)

The opening of gifts concluded our party. Thanks to everyone who came to make their birthdays extra special. It was fun to have you at our race track on Saturday!