It just keeps coming..

So on top of it being Merrill's birthday yesterday, having a cake to make, a birthday dinner too (both my choice, Merrill was not in the mood to celebrate, for some reason..) the people buying our house wanted to show it that night to possible renters/buyers.

Great!

Cleaning and finishing the exterior paint to go on top of that..

I was tidying the house up before I began the painting, taking things that belong out in the garage, out to the garage. Ashley and Peyton were going back and forth, taking scooters and bikes out of the garage. I thought to myself, I should probably just back the car out of the garage and let them play in here while I am doing this. But I thought against it. There have been so many stories on the news lately of accidents with kids and cars.. taking my next load out to the garage, I hear a loud thud and Peyton starts to cry.

There is Nathan and Julie's ladder "JAWS" laying partly on the car. I think it scared Pey more than anything, but upon closer inspection, the car wasn't doing too well.

My new windshield, the one I HAD to get to replace the 12 year old one that was too chipped and dinged to pass safety, was smashed in the bottom corner. The cracks already spreading throughout the rest of the glass.

That was awesome.

After getting Lynn from school, I leave the car outside :) and begin painting the back man door to the garage.

Remember that all the exterior doors are now BLACK.

Well, Peyton decided to "help".

She took the roller, covered in black, and proceeded to paint the garage floor and part of her left side, BLACK.

I quickly got the roller away from her only to find her going after the paint pan, filled with enough paint to pour out all over the front of her body, which she was attempting to do.

We tried to celebrate Merrill's birthday.. again, he wasn't really in the mood.

30.. uh.. er.. um, I mean, 20 (again) has him kinda down.

I think you can tell by the cake..

On to today.

I had a list of things that need to be done (still things to do on it..) in order for this appraisal to go where we want it to. Mostly touch-up painting, fun stuff like that, you know, stuff that I am surely not sick of, at all.

So I set out and about my day.. painting and patching some dings that come out with nice, new, glossy paint. I also had some lovely artwork that the girls did pro-bono for us in the exercise room when it used to be the play room, all over the walls. That whole room needed paint in a bad way.

Funny as it was the only room in the house to not be painted by us, at least once.

I am quite the pro painting without tape. I use it around the door trim but not the ceiling or baseboards.. yes, I am that good. ;)

Total tanget that was.. I must be tired..

So while I am painting away over my precious artwork, Ashley and Peyton go upstairs. I hear the normal playing.. it goes on.. then I hear a thud. Nothing loud or out of the ordinary, but Peyton immediately starts crying. I go to see what is wrong, and she is holding her right arm. I start to drill Ashley. Let's face it, she doesn't have a very good record and with Lynn gone all day on top of that blemished record, Ashley has been forcing little Peyton to be her friend. Yeah, I thought she was the one who had hurt her.

Ashley performs a little re-enactment per my request, and the story is out.

Peyton was playing at the foot of her bed, stumbled, tried to catch herself, and fell, on her arm.

She wasn't getting any happier, so I called a friend to see if she could take Ash.. and oh, by the way, Lynn was due to be out of school in 20 minutes.

She took care of it all.. sheesh.. those mothers of 4. ;) (Thanks JuJu..)

Peyton and I took another trip to the IsntaCare over another arm.. were sent again to the X-Ray area (know how to get there with my eyes shut I do believe..) felt like a horrible mother to have let something like this happen AGAIN.. had X-Rays taken, then had Dr. Cardon (LOVE HIM!!) look over everything and tell us that...

She has a buckle fracture.

And then he put her in a hot pink cast.

There are still firsts for us.. first broken bone.

Please tell me there is a break (no pun intended) from all of this for at least one day?

Maybe it will break her of her finger sucking habit... she did need some drugs and a binky of all things to get to sleep tonight.

Give it a go..

This is one of those things I was SOOO excited about, just the idea of it, when I began this last Jessica Sprague course.
Making and sharing (possibly selling) digital scrapbooking schtuff.
So, here's my first freebie that will forever be free. :)
A brush set created by yours truly..
Let's all hope I get better at this!Go here to download.

30.. er.. uh.. I mean 29!

Happy 29th birthday again Merrill!!!

I thought I would pick out 30.. um, I meant to say 29 of my favorite pictures of you, but how do I narrow that down from the hundreds of favorites I have?

So I have a few... you can see where my children get their good looks from too..

Love you Merrill!!

I am so happy that you are 29 (again)..

All things will work together for your good.

So, I will just say it before I get too far into it...

We are moving.

It's just down the street, around a corner, still in our neighborhood and ward. Right where we want to be. It's a newer, bigger house, with a bigger yard for the kidlets.

But this is such a blessing..

We have always kept an eye open to what is available around here, not always serious, but interested. Merrill claimed this house was our "starter house" and I was fine to live here forever.. really. We were close one time, last year, to buying a house of similar style, smaller in some areas (no yard really) and would be giving up on things we said were "musts" for a move to happen. We were waiting for Lake Powell to come and go to put an offer down, and that was when the market went. Good thing we didn't, we would have been up side down in it.

We also played with the idea of buying the house that Gilbert's now live in, and are glad that that wasn't a real serious deal.. we also looked into the land that Dickamore's have built on, another forehead wiping moment of relief. Look what we'd be missing out on!!

See, things that are supposed to be, are going to happen.

So here's what happened:

This house has been up for 13 months.

13 months and I was praying all the while.

I have been trying to get Merrill to just look at it. It took a year, and a $60,000 decrease for him to get there. We both loved it, but knew our home would have to sell.

We were in the midst of getting some improvements done, and decided after that, we would get an appraisal to see what it was worth, to see if we sold it for enough, if we could get into that house.

We let things quiet down, well, we were staying quiet.. the Realtor kept in contact with me, we were their only really interested people, and we weren't that serious. We kept up with our improvements and whenever she'd call, I would tell her the same thing: We love the house, we would love to be able to buy it, but we would have to sell our house, and sell it for enough to make it happen. It's just a waiting game at this point, but move on if you get an offer.. don't wait on us.

In the meanwhile, our tithing checks were piling up on the counter top. With the kids being sick, it was either one of us or the other going to church, and the checks getting forgotten.

Then there was one Sunday that we all went to church, and I remembered the checks. Just a couple of weeks after, while I was painting the garage door, I get another phone call from their Realtor.

"They will buy your house, either sell it themselves (ours would be easier to sell in this market than theirs..) or rent it.. if you buy theirs."

WOW.

We have witnessed so many blessings in this whole event unfolding.. so many "little" things that have been prompted about in advance, that made this process that has moved so quickly so much easier..

Just a couple of examples: My hormone induced trip to IKEA.. I got the shelves to better organize the basement, and I know that improved the appearance of the basement, not to mention the quick clean-up they enabled when they wanted to come and see my house with 3 hours notice.

That same morning I felt the urge to go and wipe down all the door frames to remove Peyton's sticky little fingerprints.. that saved me time later that same house-showing day.

Not to mention all the recent improvements and all of the other hard work we have put into this house..

It has been moving fast ever since and the prayer remains, if it is meant to be, it is meant to be, let it be easy, let it feel right.

And it has.

We signed papers today. It is bittersweet, leaving all the memories here.. bringing babies home, watching them grow.. okay, I can't think that way.

I will have great neighbors (no cigarette smoke wafting through my open windows anymore) and good kids for my kids to play with..

Blessings..

Let the packing begin!!!

But it won't hurt if we all just pray for the appraisal to come in HIGH. :)

First day..

Yes, yesterday was the first day back for little Lynnie..

Yes, I am late at getting it all up.. the details and whatnot.

I hope to sometime soon explain why life has been a little behind.

Lynn had a "great" day yesterday. Much the contrast to her first day last year. She went on and on about every detail of the day.

I have learned that the Gingerbread man led them on a hunt all over the school, coincidentally taking them to important places within the school, showing them places which locations they will need to know.

I have learned that the cafeteria's chocolate chip cookies are better than mine.

I have learned that the chocolate milk in the cafeteria is better than mine, and apparently, so is grandma's.

I have been schooled in every rule the first grade has enforced, and have learned what happens when you play paper rock scissor with your neighbor. (Even though it is breaking a rule, you don't get kicked out for breaking that one.)

She is so very happy, grinning from ear to ear, and has enjoyed her second day just as much.

It smells like a great start to a great year!

Here she is..

Here's the house before...

And after...

Our new door and glass..

Buh-bye amber glass!!

The mailbox got a facelift too..

Merrill is loving the black, he thinks it looks "classy".

This very second..

They are getting everything prepped to put in a new door and surrounding glass..

The company hasn't been the easiest to work with, there have been many things said, not all of them true, mostly when it comes to when they would be here to get the job done.. well, they were supposed to be here the 14th. I got a call a few days before saying that they couldn't, the door wouldn't be in, and I understood. They rescheduled for the 18th. The morning of the 18th, I get a call from them:

"Hi.. how are you doing?"

"Great.."

"Did anyone talk to you about when this will be scheduled? I have been out of town.."

"Um.. you are supposed to be here TODAY."

"Oh, really? I don't know who would have told you that."

I went off.

It benefited me in the end.

They had told me they could be here by next Wednesday, that was when the door would be in. I told them we might not go with them.

"But we have your stuff on order, and you have already put half down?"

"Yes, and you can pay me back."

Surprise, surprise.. they are here today.

It already has the makings for a crazy busy day with Family Fun Fair and Back to School night, both tonight.. three kidlets in tow.. fun, mounds.

As the Olsen Twins would say, "Put it on the pizza.."

What will come next?

As we were getting PTA stuff done late last night, it hit me..

Yesterday was the 11th anniversary of our first kiss. I tried to celebrate by kissing him on the cheek, while he was sleeping, sometime after midnight when I came in.

It wasn't as magical as the first time, but that time we were both wide awake..

I guess the rides on the zip line before I went home made up for it.

A new post.

Merrill just notified me that it has been 4 days since I last posted..
I didn't know he enjoyed (?) or paid that much attention.
So here's what's gone on..
The tooth fairy came and paid a good price for that tooth, I hear she/he/it was also trying hard to be quiet.. hence the bill.
She was "Queen for the day" Saturday. That is a tradition my mom started with us as kids when we lost teeth. We got to pick our favorite meal (and usually the one easiest to eat minus a chomper) and our favorite ice cream for dessert. Numbing helps too. Oh, and somebody else had to make our bed for the day..
Lynn thought that this status meant that she got whatever she wanted, when she wanted it.
She was corrected numerous times.

Sunday we went out to see dad who celebrated his 59th birthday.. I have a pic of that, but ol' Joe-Bo is in it, and he has this "rule" about pictures of him on the internet.. I might just have to PhotoShop so I can post it. :)
I have been busy painting. The garage door is now BLACK, and I think Merrill is getting used to the idea (aren't you hon?). The trim where the roof line meets the new fascia needed to be painted black AROUND THE WHOLE HOUSE, so that got done as well. I also started on the mailbox. That spray paint for plastic is AWESOME!!
I also started to touch-up paint inside the house.. patching walls, trim, etc. I did the blodest thing yet, I began painting before ensuring the color was the one that was already there (it was a TOUCH-UP..) not so much. I guess the kitchen will be a new shade of brown.. it really does look better, I have a side-by-side comparison up right now, I know it looks better.
Peyton went to her 18 month check-up today. Our concern was if she had grown in height any. Her doctor said if she hadn't, we would have to take another trip to Primary's. She's below average everywhere (just like her sisters..) but she grew, sure enough. I knew it wasn't my imagination when I had to buy pants. Hers were waiting for a flood. She had to get some shots, and one was out, so we'll be back, along with the rest of the fam when we ALL get flu shots.. so fun! He is somewhat worried about her umbilical hernia, but not enough to do anything now.. if it gets worse, just like everything else. He says it should go away.
She doesn't need to be seen again until her Kindergarten check-up. That was a bunch of great news!!
She crashed and took a long nap, letting me get a ton of stuff done..
Mom took the girls to buy a new pair of shoes for school, and pretty much spoiled them.. that is what grandma's are for, right?
I am so excited about everything I have learned in my last Jessica Sprague class and I can't wait to share it all... I lay awake thinking of what else I can do now.. that is fun, but causes me some problems the next day due to lack of sleep..
More going on, but I will have to update when things are more specific, concrete.
Next big thing is our Family Fun Fair for back to school.
Then school starts?!
I like that idea, but only on certain days.. ;)
Oh.. and I sent my camera back for that one repair.. I have been without it for two whole days and miss it terribly.
Sigh...

A Very Fresh Dinner..

Dinner tonight was delish..

I felt bad that Merrill got to miss it. He was stuck "fixing" some problems at the hotel..

We went out to the garden right as our roast beef was finishing, the bread was toasted, and we hunted for fresh tomatoes. We also came victorious with an (one) ear of corn. It was more mature than it's peers. I shucked it outside (remember the ear wigs...) I broke it in half, and cooked it up for the two girls. They were so excited. I was feeling so bad that Merrill was missing this!

The girls started in on their half of the ear..

Only Ash let me have a bite.. Lynn told me that hers tasted just like Ashley's when I asked her for a nibble..

And here's the warning for you squeamish ones...
Remember Lynnie-Lou's loose tooth?...
It gave a little "pop" when she went in for that third bite.
She told me to wiggle it.
It was SO LOOSE!
One little tap later and it was out.
We were both teary, you can see hers..


Tears of happiness though!

Tonight the Tooth Fairy will undoubtedly visit, and tomorrow, she'll be "Queen of the Day".
I don't know yet if I feel bad that Merrill wasn't here or relieved.. he really didn't want this day to come!

Sew Terrific..

Today, I got to it..
Sewing projects.
Lynn made her little Care Bear a bed.


She's so creative.. using a soup can crate as the frame, her blanket folded-up to make a comfy mattress.. Care Bear needed pillows, I was told.
So we made some pillows. Lynn picked-out the fabrics and drew the size she wanted them all to be on the chalkboard..


Care Bear had better sleep well tonight!
But with a mom like Lynn, I am sure she will..


A camera strap to go with my new camera..


I am a geek, this was something I was so excited for, just another plus to my new camera!
And pillows to go on my Mother's day gift..


It is driving me nuts that the Damask is sideways.. that whole print was just crooked, and I keep messing with it to get it positioned the way I want it. That yellowish-greenish color, that looks like breastfed baby poop, matches my siding PERFECTLY.. I love this fabric.
Don't be surprised when you see dresses and/or skirts in the same print soon!! ;)

Happy anniversary-ish..

We celebrated our anniversary (which was in April) yesterday.

The catalyst was my mom, taking ALL of her grandchildren (5 girls and 4 boys) for a sleepover at her house.

She is insane, I know.

We decided to take that opportunity to celebrate.

The day started-out messed-up.. the start of day meaning midnight. Merrill had hired a new girl to take the 12-8 shift in preparation for their trip this September, needing to have someone trained. She never showed.

So Merrill got to work it. That's just what happens, I know.

He had sales meetings all week with Best Western reps. and his last day of those meetings was yesterday. He had someone ready to cover him at noon, and after all his meetings were done, we would take off. Well, being there from midnight on, kinda threw a wrench in those plans. No more meetings. Once someone has been up for 36 hours straight, there's really no point. Clint was luckily able to come in and help out Merrill. He came home an caught a little napperoo. We took the kids to mom's, and went to the mall. We looked around for some things he wanted for his upcoming trip. He was even okay going shopping for me..

I got a new bra.

Yup.

SOOOO happy. I don't feel like a crazy woman anymore!!

I guess I had to learn that I am past the point of cute push-up bras, and where I need support.

It's a Body By Victoria. It doesn't flip up, it doesn't give me little empty pockets, it fits!!

It also happens to be a 32 C. In my other bra, I would have sworn I was a 32 A (on the right) and a 32 B (on the left). Now can you get a glimpse of why I was despondent at times?

He was so good to sit there and watch me try on bra after bra, discovering the science of boobs and the things that contain them.

We came home, where he dozed some more, and then went to dinner.

I was really hankering for some crab legs, but accepted Olive Garden. They do have soup, bread sticks, and Black Tie Mousse Cake. :)

We snuggled up and watched a movie after dinner, enjoyed without interruptions.

I could hardly believe I got a whole, full night's sleep, without any middle of the night wake-up calls!!

It was weird waking up without them here though.. I am more than ready to see them!

Let's hope mom recovers.

Too Much Information..

It's been a while since I have done this..
Cover your wee ones eyes, or click on that little "x" in the upper right if you are squeamish...
It's "that time of the month"... or so I think.
I have had cramps from Hades since Sunday evening. There have been lulls between, but not today.. oh no, not today.
Funny thing is, there is NOTHING to show for it. Not even spotting! I would really love to have something to show for all of this pain and torture, but I have nada.
I have been taking dosages of Ibuprofen that a postpartum woman takes while still residing in the hospital.. heck, I would gladly accept this pain if I had a newborn to cuddle, a maxi pad sized much like a small crib mattress to bleed on..
See, there it is.. TMI.
I did take a pregnancy test today (it was negative Mer-Bear.. don't pull your hair out..) just because this cycle has been so weird!! I had my flip-out at the beginning of the cycle, followed by ovulation that that beat all, or so I thought. I could even manage to tell you which fallopian tube the egg was enjoying it's slide down, that is how precise and accurate the pain was. Then there was insomnia... The bloat was killing me last week, along with lingering insomnia.. then my chin exploded.
That leads us to today.
I decided to take it easy, take a HOT shower after a while, see if that would help my aching back and the feeling that my uterus was falling out, only to find this when I got out:


You'd think I would have covered it all.. shut all necessary doors, locked knives and guns away, turned off the stove and the iron.. but she manages to find one missed item..
Sheesh.
It only continues to get better. I vacuumed the basement, turned around to go upstairs to attend to dishes, only to return downstairs, to find that the girls helped themselves to the packaging Styrofoam, broke it up and made a snow storm for the Little People.
I hate styrofoam..
But I still love being a woman.

Silly me..

I did this last night for my homework challenge of "putting it all together"..
I was so excited about it, yet I forgot to post it!!!
Four techniques I have learned this far:
- using brushes as erasers to distress
- making custom embellishments
- creating custom shapes
- creating grungy/distressed photo masks
The only elements on this page that I DID NOT make were the notebook paper, the stitching, and the staples.
I made the paper.
This is so cool!!

Because I felt like it..

It was like any other Monday...
Cleaning the house.
Finishing laundry..
Then I went to the basement.
Arggh.. the disorganization!! I had had enough.
I went to IKEA.



I had been planning on going, just waiting for the right time. I had purchased my bins long ago, planned out the way this was going to be fixed, I just needed to get there.
So I went, today. After feeding the kids lunch, making them all go potty, snagging some books, water bottles, and treats and tunes for the road.
Little to no planning (which is unlike me) and three kids in tow.
It went better than an un-planned trip to IKEA with three kiddos would imaginably go.
They each were allowed to pick out one toy from the bins.
Lynn got a white "mouse", a rat, really, but she thinks that word is gross.
Ashley picked out a heart with hands, creepy/cute, but hilarious to Peyton, especially when Ashley high-fives it.
And everyone helped Peyton to pick out a dog. It is her fascination lately, and she makes them say, "meeeowwww...".
All in all, it got done.



Hopefully I can get it all put together soon, fight the disorganization at last.

Where is time going?

It seems like the days just go by waaaay too quickly around here. Once I get one task accomplished, ready to move on to the next, funner thing, bam! It's time to make dinner.. turn around and it's bedtime!!
Sheesh..
We had family pictures taken last night. A guy in our ward asked us if he could take them, for free, to help build his portfolio.
Who can say no to that?
Not I..
I was glad that I thought ahead while I was school shopping and purchased some pieces that would work well together for all of us. Yes.. I even coerced Merrill.. I do have to mow the back yard in exchange.
Tomorrow. :)
I am excited to see how the shots turned out. He used some techniques that I haven's seen used before, so I am excited to see.. He approached me at church today, asked me if we could meet again this afternoon. He didn 't get any good shots of all three of the girls together. Is that even possible, I wonder? He said, he needs to try, that's his job! He also told me he got a couple of workable ones of Merrill, but none of me. :o
I was too busy worrying about kids following direction. I should have let him take over..
I think I have learned that it might be best to give the children a small dose of Benadryl before such photo shoots.. it might help to chill them out, make them more mold-able.
I am really excited.. the family pic that fits into my big frame, is from when I was preggers with Peyton.. ALMOST TWO YEARS AGO.
Once my front door area is spruced-up, I hope that Brookers will still be up for my kitchy photo shoot vision. :)
I have outfits for that one too.

Agendas

School is fast approaching, and while some days I LOVE that fact, other days I am sad that it will all be over too soon..

Lynn will be off in the elementary world for full days now, and time together just won't be the same.

We are cramming all we can into the last of our summer.. trying to make it last.

Until Ashley sneaks into what was to be our lunch, and then they tease and fight, then the countdown is on...

Lynn did have a few things she wanted to do. So the other night, after prayers were said, and all were tucked in, Lynn came to me.. she had an agenda for the next day.

- Play games. She whipped my butt in checkers..

- Read.

- Make a pillow for her Care Bear.

- Snuggle.

- Wiggle her tooth. :)

Collating 699 (almost perfect..) back to school packets for PTA did interrupt our time together, but she reassured me that we could do what we didn't get to another day..

I did make sure to wiggle her tooth plenty.. that drives Merrill nuts! :D

New classes..

Jessica Sprague is one crafty little devil...
As soon as I finish one class, she sends me a coupon for another class..
Crafty I say...
This one is all about the brush tool in PhotoShop. I am waaaaaaay behind on my classes, but I will show you why as soon as my editing little fingers can. :)
Here's the first three days worth of homework:

Day one, step one:

Day one, step two:

Day two, text + chalk:

Day three, I can't even remember...
But I can do stuff like this, save it as a png. and use it on my layouts! :)
Something, something, distressed..
I am tired..

Clint and Britney got hitched yesterday..

Here are some of my favs from yesterday..

I really do have a lot!

Jaclyn & Kaitlyn

Lynn

Ashley

Peyton

Merrill and Ashley, waiting....

Grandpa & Lynn

Merrill & Clint

Clint & Jaclyn

Cade

Bride & Groom

Ashley & Lynn

Tyler & Sophie

I LOVE this one.. the bubble was just too cute!

These are the windows to the sealing room where we were sealed over nine years ago.. so sweet to have a picture of our little family here!

Merrill and Me.. isn't this better Merrill? ;)

Kaitlyn and MiKell.. these two are too fun!

Our girls...

It was such a full, fun day! It was so nice to be there, in the temple with them, to hear those sacred blessings. It is an awesome place to be.. Lynn was broken-hearted to not be able to "see" them get married. This girl wants to be in a temple so badly! The girls really did enjoy our long day..

Surprisingly, I look forward to when it is their turn.