saturday fun with punkley pitcher.

“one of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn't belong, can you tell which thing is not like the others. by the time I finish my song?”

was what I sang after I saw this:

whelp, this is the kind of fun you are in store for when you get to spend an entire saturday with punkley (aka merrill) pitcher

we had the jacked-up water heater replaced by the best plumber EVER! and were feeling so high and happy, we decided to tear into the garage.

well, that’s not really how it happened.  we needed to shut off the power to fix our sprinkler system situation, but needed to wait for him to finish up, so we decided to tear into the garage while we waited.  it has been something that I have been slowly working at for a while..

we got the tool holder deal-ios from lowe’s, we had them at the old house and quite loved them, so thus, it was a necessary repeat here.   sad thing is, we are approaching 3 years here, and we are just getting to this…

wish I would have taken a before picture, but vomit on your keyboard isn’t good.

(you are welcome.)

he was in quite the silly mood (slightly giddy about the new water heater I supposed), so funny things like this happened.

his explanation for how it fit, went a little something like this:

“well, if there were a zombie apocalypse, these would all be considered weapons.  then the baseball bat fits.”

yeah.

anyways…

saturday was a very full day for us. 

- the water heater is no longer jacked-up.

- the garage is all cleaned out and organized.

- we managed to program the “home link” button in our pilot to the garage door opener.  hey, it’s only been two years (okay, almost).

- and after 4 trips out to “chad’s”, we fixed the sprinkling system.

that was quite the relief.

our controller, the timer deal, was apparently friend in a power surge (thankyouverymuchrockymountainpower…) and needed to be replaced.  initially, we thought it would just be the front panel, but not so.  the new panel was too big for our existing box, so we had to change the whole box, and happily so, because the new one is bigger for a reason, and a very good one at that.  there is a protection in it, for, get this, power surges!!!

merrill was playing the role of punkley quite well as we took out each wire from the old box to make the transition, saying such punkish things as:

“when we hook up the new one, it isn’t going to work.”

“aren’t you going to be pissed when we get this all done, and it still doesn’t work.”

“what is the problem going to be when this doesn’t work?”

see, punk.

all I could say to my dear punkley was: “there is going to be a pretty epic run-to-and-hug episode played out in our front yard when this works.”

I was functioning totally on positive vibolas.

he doesn’t have very many positive vibolas.

but guess what?

after we got all the wires fixed in their proper positions in the new box, and junk, we turned on the power, and started that sprinkling system up and….

IT WORKED!!

like it should!!

as in the way it is supposed to!!

and I ran to him, because we weren’t by each other, and he thought we were going to chest bump (?) but instead I jumped on him in that epic embrace, except for he wasn’t expecting that, so instead of both of us cheering, I was, and he was groaning.

then we laughed.

I hope I don’t have to drive out to chad’s again for a very, very, long time.

my newfound membership in the “ffa”.

are you singing “the dixie chicks” song, “goodbye earl” in your head now?

no?

I know I have been.

so let me explain somethings to you.

1) “ffa” doesn’t stand for what you think it stands for.  it stands for “fearlessly finding awesome”.

b) it’s a club of sorts.

III.) I am hoping it will help me to un-funkify my bedroom.

(as well as other areas in my home.)

there is this blog, that I have happened to love for quite a while now.  I just love this chick’s attitude.  her personality rocks, and what’s best is that she is real.  she shares her incredible talents and gained knowledge (don’t you love it when people don’t keep cool ideas to themselves?) but she also shares bits of her real life.  I think that is what has attached her to me in a very irreversible way.

well, that and her sense of humor.

so usually you join a club because the club is based on something you enjoy doing or something you want to enjoy doing, or learn more about, or if you just need help in that particular area.  the latter is the reason I joined.

now our first assignment is “catch a dream”, we are to put into words what we want our home to feel like.

- organized.

- fun.

- peaceful.

I guess that the first thing listed totally describes me.

but in no way do I want my home to be a stack of blocky shelves stacked with boxes all labeled very uniformly with a label maker.

dude, I said I wanted it to be fun.

I attempted to hunt around the interwebs (mostly the pinterest) to find pictures that would define how I want things to be around these parts and for real, I started to get waaaaay ahead of myself.

baby steps.

for real.

so for now, no pix.

and for now, I will focus on my bedroom.

thing is, I want my bedroom to embody all the aforementioned traits, but I want it to be secksy as well.

it is so not any of those things right now.

(I could show you, but that would just be beyond comical.)

I am not sure I would even post a picture if it was assigned to us in one of our club meetings.

it’s that bad.

thing is, at our old house (as in the place we lived about three years ago) everything had an order to it, everything had it’s place.  we had worked our butts off and made that little home OUR home, and I loved every area in it. (well, except for two of the bathrooms.  they still needed an intervention.)  our bedroom was shoved to the last item on the list to be re-habilitated and that kind of sucked, but I was able to narrow down the vast list of what I thought I wanted, to what I really wanted by the time we got to that room.  and I got it all put together.  it was a space that we loved.

and then, we moved.

everything got shuffled and re-organized.

don’t get me wrong, it was a lot of fun.  I love our house.  it just isn’t ours.  yet.  I mean, it is “ours” it just doesn’t feel like “us”.

I am slowly trying to get things to a point where they function for me (uh..  I mean us.) to where life just kind of flows and things make sense.

so I guess that is where the organization being #1 comes in.

I could give  quite the descriptive list of things that I would change in/about my house now, but that would be lengthy, and merrill would roll his eyes and then he might roll them too much or too far back that he might fall over and lose consciousness.

that could be scary.

(he’s that enamored with my dreams for this place.)

so I won’t.

and that is also why I have decided to start with our bedroom, put all the other stuff that will likely not happen for a very long time, on the back-burner and get to this space that drives me batty.

I deserve a pretty place to lay my head, don’t i?

so I lied about the picture bit, because I do have some inspiration for this area of mine (and merrill’s)…

art:

I love this!

and I have been dreaming of this headboard ever since we saw this movie..

(the change-up)

I want my base colors to be neutral (thinking “revere pewter” for the walls), but want some pops of color.  I just want to make it easy for when I need to change things up a bit.

and I love this technique on the wall.

 

the used an eggshell for the majority of the wall, and a high gloss for the stenciled part.  I love the way it looks.

and then there is this….

like my husband is going to go for a big bunch of ruffles on his bed?

yeah, I didn’t think so.

if you would like to jump out of your comfort zone/beautify your home/be inspired/join the ffa, click on my friends!

hopefully, someday sooner rather than later, my bedroom will not be blah.

Optimism..

It feels like we have had so much going on around here!
We are keeping busy working away at constant home improvement, which is fun, I like that kind of stuff.. and the kids are playing away, Peyton helps us with our work though. :) She is an awesome rock sorter. She now carries a rock around for a buddy.
We hope to get swings up, soon, and make our "swing set" an actual "swing set".. it hasn't had swings on it for the whole 3 years we've had it. Blasphemy considering Merrill's former occupation.
We are actually getting to spend some of our hard earned and saved cha-ching.. many people are coming to give us bids on improvements that are long overdue.
- A gate, that actually latches, keeping kiddos IN THE BACK YARD.
- A pump for our sprinkler system.. dragging a hose around the front yard when you have a sprinkler system SUCKS.
- A new front door, with no storm door. :)
- And last but not least, updated glass. Woo Hoo!! No more amber glass!!!
And with that, our seventies abode will be updated. :)
We'll just have to see if the bank can take it all..
Merrill has been out, pluggin' away in the yard with just about every spare moment he gets, and the girls love making mud or coloring with the chalk while they are out there with him.
Last night, Peyton kinda biffed it on the cement out on the patio. She came inside whining and rubbing her hands. I usually try to kiss her better, and she hasn't gotten it, she'll pull her hand away and clap them together or even shake them, to lessen the pain I guess. So last night, I attempted to kiss her hand better. I brushed off the dirt, and then kissed her hand. She looked at me like I was crazy! Then she looked at her hand, then smiled, and giggled at me. I think she gets the concept now. She has come to me since, holding out her hand like she needs a kiss.
A highlight of my week was speaking at Jaclyn's enrichment night last night, that's where the flowers came from.
The topic was optimism. I had the past month to study, ponder, and prepare, and it all came together so well. Many prayers were answered.
I really am a dork.. I ENJOY that kind of stuff.. I love to study and learn, I love teaching in RS.
The funny part, is how a bunch of crap tried to rain on me the day before. Trying to tinge my optimism with the smell of poo.
Seriously.
There is a someone out there who has issues with me, and off and on they try to start stuff. I choose to leave it alone. It's not my issue.
They decided to try to start it all again on Monday.
That one post, you know, about praying, it really does help. I could go from reading one of the e-mails or comments submitted by a cohort of theirs, and it would roll off my back.. like water off of a duck's back. :) Thank you, awesome power of prayer!
But I don't think they know how much I do not care about it, at all. Ignoring the e-mails, comments, and remarks, doesn't seem to get the message across to this person that I don't care. (Perhaps this will?)
I know who I am. I know the truth. Those who know me, know me.
Telling untruths about me, attempting to slander me, taint my reputation.. none of it phases me. The truth will shine through, and those who choose to believe what this person has to say, will one day know.
It did not not affect my optimism. :)
That was just one of Satan's tools to try to thwart me and the message I was asked to share.
By the sound of the feedback received last night, it was a well-received message and one that was needed.
Score: Satan - 0, Me - 1

Oh, and those flowers.. they are loved by all the females in this household! One look or whiff of those babies and the sunshine is turned on full blast here!

Whatcha doin'?

Just a bit of what we've been up to..
Keeping busy around here!

South Ogden Days Parade... Lynn marched the whole way!

Had lunch at McDonald's..

Played and probably caught Swine Flu..

Peyton fed me french fries.. this is what it looks like when she feeds us bites:

Worked on Peyton's room some more.. I love IKEA!

She LOVES her room!

Resurrected the "Rose Petal Cottage"..

Which every little girl residing in this house is more than happy about. :)

Peyton is diggin' it.. the baby also ends-up in the oven. :0

ONE birthday cake..

An afternoon of swimming...

These two are so tight now..

These two are such posers...

ANOTHER birthday cake..

For Mom's birthday this time..


We love her!!
Watched some trains..

Went for a drive..

In celebration of the lady's birthday, we lit some sparklers, popped some pop-its..
This was Peyton's face when the pop-its started going off:

And enjoyed another dip..

With some other friends.

Now why on earth did I need a nap so bad today?
A doctor's appointment is in there somewhere, along with fireworks, a trip to DI (finally!!!), and just the daily funnies..
More stories to come in greater detail..
Until then..

Project mode..

The debate as to the size of our family has come to an end.
At the risk of my dear husband either going bald (he's already gray enough for both of us), working more hours to escape the massive amounts of estrogen being emitted into our home's atmosphere, and in efforts to earn enough money for the future purchasing of feminene hygeine products, training bras, then padded bras (as genetics has proven..), and three weddings with BIG poofy dresses, we are told, not to mention the fatherly worry and stress he endures through the gestational period..
I have folded.
I will wait for the millenium. :)
With the end of this debate came the dismantling of the nursery.
Merrill about died when I announced the coming activity of re-painting the nursery.
He thought it had been striped in the mauve-y tones that matched the crib bedding so perfectly for only a few months. (?!)
It's been almost 2 years.
If I am supposed to be "done" having babies, I can't see the paint everyday, that was meant just for "baby Peyton", who is not a baby anymore. I type this as she throws away garbage from her "after nap snack".. she cleans up after herself. Her favorite thing to do is to help me unload the dishwasher, put away the silverware! She has a favorite book that she brings to us to read to her multiple times throughout the day. (Merrill reminds me to take pics to post and document the cuteness of it all..)
She has been ready for a "big girl" bed for a couple of months now. We tend to put them in one as soon as they manage stairs. Life is much more pleasant that way. The other two have slept so much better once the transition was made.
So, I am painting.
My craft room re-do still has a few little touches left to it, but her room is calling to me.
Friday, I packed away the nursery things.. an afghan that I made while I was pregnant with Lynn watching endless episodes of M*A*S*H while my hands worked.. the quilt that has been on the twin bed for when the older two made their transition.. the musical carousel Jaclyn got me for Christmas the year I had Lynn.. cross-stitches, Noah's Ark EVERYTHING.. sigh..
A couple of months ago, the changing table came down.
I was teary during that task, so I thought I would fare much worse when Friday came.
I didn't do too bad.
Two moments, that's it.
One- taking the crib quilt, that mom and I made when I was pregnant with Lynn, before we even knew she was a she.. packing it away, for the first time in seven years got my eyes foggy.
Two- I think was more out of frustration than anything else. I was dismantling the crib, which has never been taken apart.. Peyton was so excited! She kept running around, giggling, patting my back and hugging me repeatedly, but despite her happiness and excitement, I couldn't get the side rails to release their grip from the brackets for the life of me!
Merrill called at the height of my frustration..
"It won't come apart.. like I am not supposed to be taking this apart.." I said.
"Oh... yes. It is most definitely supposed to come apart. I will help when I get home if it hasn't come apart yet." He reassured.
The emotion helped me get the side rails off. :)
The make-over continues.. the first coat of paint dries.
Can't wait to post pics..
We have quite the busy week ahead of us!
And surprisingly, I am okay with it all..
We are happy, after all.

No Mercy..

This is my DI pile.. well, part of it.
There is no mercy in my house when it comes to what we are holding on to.
The spring cleaning bug has bitten, hard, and I have been in the mood for a month plus. Many projects, cleaning, organizing, and painting. We've been busy around here!
My largest (and hardest..) under-taking was going through all of my little girls clothes (from 0 months-5 girls) and giving or throwing away many items.
Flashbacks came heavy and hit hard.
I then organized it all...
It was hard going through Peyton's next size.. these are the clothes Lynn wore when I was pregnant with Ash.. there's my body clock.. ticking away.. telling me what I should really be doing right now, gestating..
I am trying to put it all aside.
Took apart the changing table (first time it has ever been taken apart and packed away.. it's always been up in the nursery, waiting for the arrival of the next little one.). I am planning on painting the nursery. Peyton needs a big girl room, and if I am really done having babies, I need the reminders, the things that make me long for another little one, out of sight.

So Much to Say....

So I will try to start where I left off.. not blogging daily (or multiple times a day..) is hard!! My fingers are out of practice when it comes to typing, and I am misspelling a lot..
Life has been quite busy, and it has definitely taken a toll on us.. we are trying to recover.. Peyton has trouble sleeping alone, Ashley is, well, Ashley.. and Lynnie-lou isn't feeling well and sleeping a lot.
I began to tear apart my craft room last week, thinking it would be quick.. not so. I have many things to get to many people, and I would, if I could find them in the mess that lies therein.. it is cute and will post pics when it is all the way completed.
Diamonds in the color of fudge (which make me very hungry by the way..) do exist on this wall now.
It was tricky, and not so quick, considering I was doing that while doing many other things, most of them at the hotel..
Friday I went snowboarding for the first time in seven years.. I remembered how to do it all, like I never stopped! My first crash came as I was goofing off.. I promised Merrill that I wouldn't venture off into the trees, and do crazy stuff. I did manage to return home with all appendages intact. It was a lot of fun, I think Christie and Julie had more fun..
Casey and I did go down the face for our last run on that foggy night.. there were multiple crashes there.. but that was the funnest run of the night!
The only sore spot on my whole body the next day, was my shoulder, the one with the arm that I use to steer myself as I fly down the mountain.
I was far more sore after cleaning the hotel...
I had to get a new phone.. my old one was like a gadget out of the 1900's.. "can you hear me Watson?"
It needed to be held by two hands to be remotely affective. Oh, and the antenna didn' t want to stay where it should. It also like to hang up on people just for the heck of it.
New one, much smaller, and it's a slider, not a flipper, not that "flippers" are bad.. (eh Juju and JFreeze ;D?!)
For our RS birthday social, I did a cake decorating demo (more pics on the other blog..) like I could think of three other women far more capable than I in this department... but it was fun.
After that, we went to the hotel, to bust our behinds some more, to prepare it for the QA (quality and assurance) walk through that took place the next day to ensure we were ready to open..
It was a miracle as Merrill would say..
So Friday, he wore his new accessory to his new job..
That's right, it says "General Manager".. I am so proud of him!!
There will be some more adjusting to come.. it's a 24/7 job.
Friday was also Hallie's 11th birthday!!!
Happy Birthday Hallie!!! (and Levi too!!)
..and because I had fondant to be used, I decorated a cake for her..
Last night, we enjoyed dinner, with Mer at the hotel.. then we enjoyed a swim. That spa.. oh my goodness.. I wanted to fall asleep right then and there..
The lights are turned on, and I have to admit, I got teared-up. It's been a road.. an emotional one these last couple of weeks. I am so thankful for such good friends and family to have helped us out so much!! Love you all!!!!

Headache..

I have had a week for the books.. and it still isn't over with!!!
Tomorrow... I pray for tomorrow to be over with!! (Has there ever been a Blue & Gold Banquet BREAKFAST?? That way, it can be the first of the day, and be over with..)
Then I will be able to catch up, tell you all the funny things the girls have been saying.. play with paint (for my craft room :) yay!) and put together my IKEA shelves and finish organizing my house!! Spring fever has hit, HARD..
My pic of the day (which I sadly, cannot figure how to load..) is of me, at IKEA (no longer a virgin) with a cart FULL of fun stuff.. thanks Jacks!! Lunch was yummy too...
Can't wait for next week!!
So.. I think my headache is the me coming down from such a fun day... or, maybe stress... drinking too much root beer?.. or lack of sleep.. four people in one bed, not conducive to good sleep.. or maybe the diet coke.. it has been a while.. or PMS.. ah, heck.. all the above?

Flashback Friday..

Flashback to February 2001.. we had been married for almost one year. We were living the apartment life.. in the blue "homicide apartments" (let's face it.. it happened there, a lot..) next to Bonneville, ready to move on and put all that rent money towards a house payment instead..
So, we looked.. and one night, while I was at work, Dixon and Val took Merrill by this place they thought we might be interested in.. Merrill loved it! Now, I don't know if he necessarily loved the house itself, or the idea of getting out of the apartment.. but he told me all about it, very excitedly that night when I came home from work. I was excited too, to see how excited he was..
He said, "Do you wanna go and see it?"
"Of course! When can they take us through again?" It was after 10 pm, mind you.
"Now.. I have the key." Dixon told Merrill to keep the key, take me through when I got home and put it back into the lock box when we were done.
We were sold..
We put an offer down as well as some earnest money. It was a foreclosed property that had sat empty for over two years, close to three. We offered to take it as is..
It was listed at $136,000, we offered $105,000.
They countered us at $109,000 and we countered back at $107,000.
To which they countered back at $107,500, which we took, and signed our lives away, happily.
We didn't want to pay another month's rent, so we began packing, and moving the less used things to the house, hey, Dixon told us to.. he said it was a done deal, who else was going to offer them what we did?
Then we moved in.. a little shy of three weeks to closing :) We lived with the drapes tightly drawn... and we re-keyed the locks.. left the old key in the lock box, but re-keyed the locks :) Have you ever seen a confused real-estate agent? I have...
We found many fun things in our home.. and outside as well. We have enjoyed many do it yourself projects.. and have loved every second of them!
We did have to get a new furnace, our existing one had holes in the chambers which = carbon monoxide poisoning. The first night we stayed there, with the old furnace, Dixon loaned us his carbon monoxide detector, which was fairly new then.. Merrill would wake up every hour to make sure we were still alive.. checking to see if I was still breathing.. what a sweet guy!
When the snow melted, we found many exciting things..
No front yard; dirt and dandelions instead..
A tree that only half was blossoming, the other half, was duck-taped to the trunk of the tree to make it appear to be whole.
A mailbox that was ready to fall off and leave it's post as a awesome place to impale yourself upon.. while trying to dig out the dandelions, of course..
And, last, but certainly not least, a deck, with soup can lids nailed and/or screwed to the surface where the knots in the wood had fallen out of the planks.. rusted soup can lids I should clarify.. (we found a DOG FOOD CAN LID screwed to the floor in the upstairs hallway when we re-did the floors up there.. I have photographic proof..)
We have done many things since.. only one room still has the original paint color on the walls.. I plan to remedy that soon :)
Merrill is calling it "our nice little starter house"..
I say, after all we have done, I wouldn't mind living here forever!! And that's what I planned on the moment we bought it!
But we still have our fond "apartment day" memories...

All is well in my universe...

Last night, we christened our deck...
Grilled chicken was in order...
Followed by some dancing...
With music... this is the surprise that Mer got me the other day. I looked at the puny thing as he told me it cost all of ten bucks and seriously questioned the quality of sound it would produce... it is so cool. I get to listen to tunes while I scrap or sew... not just the array of Disney movies the girls watch while I am down there...
And I have saved the best for the last...
What is the best thing that could happen to a girl (who also happens to be a mother of 3...) the day of her 10 year high school reunion??
She very suddenly is able to fit into her size 8s!!!
And her wedding ring can fit again too... might not come off without lotion.. but it fits!

439...

...pilot holes that is...
The deck is nearly complete! I can hardly wait...
To help the process move along a little faster, I drilled some pilot holes to help the fastening go quicker, and less cures-filled.
I drilled at least 439... those are how many need to be filled with screws now.
I ask myself, was this worth it? Spending my day, drilling so many pilot holes?
I answer myself, yes... one afternoon spent drilling pilot holes equals one evening with a drastically less swear count coming from Merrill's mouth.
I did have to sacrifice reading/treadmill time.. Breaking Dawn, here I come...
I got an accessory that I have wanted ever since I saw Open Range... or was is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?
Robert's... 50% off one item coupon. Stacy and I had a fun girls day out yesterday.
By the way.. Cricut packages are on sale there... $139.99... guess what I have been seriously considering...
And last but not least... proof that my girls do have some of my DNA: they love these...
Merrill hates cinnamon, but we girls sure love these yummy treats!
And Merrill has a surprise for me when he gets home?!
It's a good day...