some newness, some oldness, some awesomeness…

shall we start with the newness?

let us..

AC Digitals has some newness in store today:  Crate Paper -  Maggie Holmes collection.

perfection in softness, femininity, and fun.

I just love this photo of peyton, in fact, I have loved all of the photos of her that I took in this little sitting of sorts. 

she’s gorgeous.

(no, I am not biased.)

(papers and embellishments are from maggie holmes collection, tape frame from liv.edesigns, staples from design by dani, and stitching from anna aspnes.)

speaking of lovely things, father’s day was quite lovely.

this “merrill working seven days a week” thing was old the minute it started, and hasn’t gotten any newer or more exciting since then. 

I have been having a hard time with it, and he has too. 

yesterday wasn’t easy for either one of us.

I sat on our bench in sacrament meeting and fought back tears as the girls sang father’s day songs to me, while I sneakily (and perhaps a tad inappropriately) recorded them with my camera phone so I could send it to merrill.

I guess I should look at the positive, I was able to be there and record it.

nevertheless, it sucks that he is gone SO MUCH.

in other news, there will be some re-doing going on here, starting today.

meet the main bathroom:

this bathroom bugged me the second I saw it.

just what bugged me?

- the size

- that shelf thing behind the toilet

- the lack of storage

- the lack of light

- the lack of space

- the fact that the light IS NOT CENTERED OVER THE SINK.

(seriously, can’t plumbers and electricians just work together?)

- and it’s small.

(or did I mention that already?)

the main bathroom at the old house was spacious.  there was a lot of counter space, tons (TONS!!!! I tell you) of storage.  there was all of the space in that roomy vanity not to mention a FULL CLOSET.  everything had a home.  I was severely comfortable with that bathroom.

I mean, okay, it did have it’s faults..

the floor, no shower, the tile in the bathtub area, the floor..  but the size was awesome!  and all those other things could be fixed.

here, the size thing is not fixable.

we have also had our dear towels since I bought them when I was a senior in high school.  I loved them so much, had to have them for my future house, and they stayed packed away for two years..  I still do love them, well, the parts that aren’t dingy, stained, or fraying. 

the ducks have been with us since we bought our first house.  they were a gift from my mother-in-law, and we have loved them, but sadly, the whiteness of the towels isn’t what it used to be, and even sadder, the girls really aren’t into rubber ducks like they used to be (something about getting older I suppose).

the plan is to lighten, brighten, and simplify.

so, here’s the battle plan:

- remove that dang shelf

- paint the ceiling white

- replace baseboard with foamboard that will resist (RESIST!!!) water.  (unlike the MDF that is there and soaking up water like a sponge..)

- frame out the plain old contractor mirror with the same foamboard trim.

- add our new paint color to the walls

- board and batten the east wall

(I am more than a little excited about this part.)

- new shower curtain (buh-bye duckies!!)

- replace all towel bars with hooks

- all linens will be replaced with white which will mean that we will not have as many, which will also help on that whole “lack of storage” issue that exists.

I have started the day off right with a banana and a scotcheroo for breakfast, so I am more than ready to go.

(breakfast of champions I tell you.)

me & my dad: mini album for the kiddos

so here’s the deal, I saw this on pinterest, loved the idea, and kind of ran, a little zig-zag crazy-like with the idea.

but I am in love with it!

(oh, yeah, merrill..  if you are reading this, stop.  close out the page.  go look at some funny stuff on “the chive” or something, okay?  seriously, get a snack or a drink.  don’t come back here.  k?  loveyoubye.)

you can never be too careful, you know?

so anyway..  it’s a mini album, mostly stuff the kiddos can do, filling out question & answer sheets, drawing pictures..  it’s fun.

unless you have two kiddos that take after their mom and are perfectionists.  that is slightly problematic.

there are eight 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 pages for each kiddo to fill out.

 

(here’s the download link for the printable pages.)

there are some pretty fun questions there!

we grabbed a bunch of supplies, like sharp pencils with good erasers, crayons and such.

for the cover, I used some chipboard that I cut down to 6 inches square.  I made a template to help me in punching all the holes too.  the inner pages are all 5 1/2 inches square.

I had to hunt down book rings (those things were harder to find than I thought..) to bind it all together.  ribbon and ric-rac tied to one ring helped to polish that off.

I used my cricut to cut out the circle and scallop shapes on the front (“storybook” cartridge) and the “street sign” font cartridge for the lettering.  I obviously cut the letters out in different sizes too.

I also pierced holes in the circle + scallop after I glued them together, but before I glued down my letters, and used a cross-stitch needle and some floss to stitch around the inside edge of the circle.

I made a pocket in the front, to slip in a little letter from myself too. 

I added dividers with a tab at the top of each to write each of my girls’ names on.

I also added a picture of each of them with their dad.

and they each drew a picture of them + dad":

lynnie’s:

ashley’s:

pey’s:

some other fun examples:

this was so sweet!!  I wrote what peyton told me to, she can handle her name ^^^ (see above) but the journaling needed a little help.  so just in case you cannot read the following:

“dad, I am thankful for so many things you do for me…  here are just a few:

he makes me lunch, he lets me visit him at work, dad took us to Disneyland and Lake Powell too.  I am thankful that he plays with me.  he does the “bed bounce”.  I am thankful that he goes to my primary class with me so I won’t be so sad.”

this one makes me giggle…

here’s the inside of the back cover:

and the very back:

I think he just might love it.  maybe not as much as I do, because I am kind of obsessed, but he’ll love it for sure!

so my very best friends for this project were:

paper trimmer, scissors, hole punch, crop-o-dile corner chomper (1/2 inch rounder), xyron sticker maker, paper piercer, needle, floss, twill ribbon, ric-rac, baker’s twine, small sharpie, 2 one inch book rings, stapler, and these digital supplies:

splendid fiins “foto frame” for the frames on the photos.

all echo park papers:

clouds

red + small white polkas

white + red polkas

turquoise + small polkas

larger turquoise polkas

red herringbone

turquoise squigglies

light turquoise pattern

Father’s day, the real deal.

Thanks in part to our two previous Father’s Day celebrations, we enjoyed our Sunday, and actual Father’s Day at home.

It was quite nice.

And a bonus, I managed to get some pics of the man himself.

(And you somehow managed to not break my lens!)

Love you Merrill..

(I hope you still love me after posting pics of you.)

THE post....

Let's cover three days now, shall we?...
Saturday, was a fun-filled day... not much of the fun actually taking place at home.
The morning began earlier than usual for the girls because I got them up to go to Terrace Days parade, Kaitlyn and Mikell were in the parade... we have to yell their names as loud as we can. We got there, only after there were a few giggles at my expense because my car has now power windows... (laugh it up again Brookers and Jacks... hahahaha...)
The girls got a ton of candy, and we all got kissed by the sun, despite being in the shade. I think it came from being at the park afterward... anyways, the girls did great in the parade. Mikell was the appropriately spunky cheerleader, who did get voted as sophomore captain (woohoo!), and Kaitlyn held her military drill face perfectly. Poor Ash was so confused why Katie wouldn't wave or smile at her, she wouldn't even look at the poor kid! We had to explain to Ash that that was part of the routine. Then, there was this poor UPS guy who got stuck in a driveway right as the parade began, he got lots of mercy candy thrown his way. There was also a motorcycle cop who kept riding past us. Brooke and I were in heaven. He must have known, cause he kept on comin' back. I think I'll encourage Merrill to follow that dream of becoming a cop... bring his work home ;)...
At Rohmer park, we had a lot of the fun. They had this big sheet of plastic going down the hill, it is a very hilly park, (where Kevin sustained his injuries this last winter...) they weighed down the top with bins full of water and sprayed down the rest to make one gigantic water slide. The kids had a blast. Poor little Ash was a feather though, she really didn't get to go too far or too fast. We ate some treats and won prizes and Brooke played the favorite aunt and undermined all of my parenting... thanks Brooke. We saw the "Monster Truck" begin to crush some cars... then it stopped, and Ash wasn't too happy about that, she wanted to see it finish it's job.
After that, I was home to make some yummy desserts. I guess I should post that recipe on my other blog... and then off to hunt down Dixon's gift that I had left Mer in charge of picking-up, and he ran out of time. Four stores later, no one had it. So... We went up to his parents later and swam and ate. Peyton loved the pool! We are trying to convince Lynn that she doesn't need the floaties this summer. After that we went down to the store to watch the firework displays. It was "U Days" too... we thought that we were watching the "U Days" display, it was really Terrace Days, "U days" started when we were in the car to go home... so we kinda got a two in one. The kids had so much fun playing on all of the swing sets and trampolines down there. It's always a treat to play at dad's work.
Sunday, we gave Mer his gifts. After helping me wrap them, Ash was a little reluctant to hand over the case of Reese's Big Cups (it is a prerequisite to love Reese's peanut butter cups and Simpson's, sometimes at the same time, to belong in our family...) she told me that she didn't want to give them to dad because she, "lubs Reese's Pieces Peanut Butter Cups soooo much...." I convinced her that daddy would share, and he did. There was quite the grin when he confirmed that fact. They worked like a charm to bribe them to sing in sacrament meeting :).
I went out to my parents house and stayed a while. Hallie really got Peyton laughing. Peyton was being held all night long, everyone seemed to want a turn, so when we came home, it was quite a surprise to see her new trick...
Today, we have been playing catch up from this weekend. I still have laundry to do, a house to tidy, hopefully a page (or two or three...) to scrap... but I do have groceries done! We also had lunch with Mer and saw the trusses getting put up on the hotel and got a bonus in some squeaky cheese curds from "the cheese guys"...
Now I need to stop for a breather.... enjoy some pics :)Me and my newest little fish.See, she LOVES it!
Sophie and Lynnie... we gotta get rid of those darn floaties!My tow older fishies.
Ash and Cade were buddies.Peyton at the fireworks.I caught Sophs doing her trick.
We are trying to convince dad to put up the swing beam...
A shot of the fireworks from across the highway.
And last but not least... Grandpa and Peyton.