Texture is Good

This past weekend I finally took on a project I've wanted to do for four years. 

When we moved into our house, it had the ugliest wallpaper in the dining room and in the room that is now my boys' bedroom.

As a quick and inexpensive solution, we primed and painted over the wallpaper in both rooms. 

Huge improvement? Yes.

Permanent solution? No.

I grew tired of being able to count all of the wallpaper lines every time I sat at my dining room table.

So with a little joint compound, some paint, and a whole lot of guts (hoping I wouldn't seriously mess up my walls!), I immersed myself in a transformation....

Here's the beginning of texturing......

no more green:

Covering the walls:



A little beige paint and VOILA!:

 So much better!

This weekend I'll be in the boys room hoping for the same results!

A Vow of Silence

This morning I decided to take a vow of silence. 

Not hard to do when you wake up with almost no voice.

These darn allergies get me at this time every single year. 

So, I whispered my way through the morning and got each child drop off at school.

(Including Jackson who is now going to full-time preschool....hip, hip, hurray!!)

Then, I spent the day resting my non-existent voice and hoping that by some miracle it would suddenly reappear by 3:00pm in time to referree kids during the after-school witching hours.

No such luck.

Looks like I will be extending my vow of silence into tommorrow.

Not that I have much choice!

If you need to talk to me, please email.  You won't hear me if I answer the phone.

Just ask my husband!

What I'd Like To Accomplish This Week...

Oh, and this

And how about repainting the outside of this:

I'm thinking new light cream trim color and black painted iron posts.

Oh, and this was how nice the front of my house looked last year....with all my home grown pumpkins.

Not looking quite that nice yet this year and unfortunantly no such pumpkins.

Well, did you really think any of this would happen this week?

Yeah, me neither but I can dream right?  Maybe start planning?  Maybe run some of these plans by the hubby first?

Hmmm....maybe not yet. 

Timing is everything, eh?

So, been awhile, huh?

I guess I just needed a bit of a break. 

I am learning that when I already can't keep up with everything, sometimes I just have to quit trying to keep up with everything.

You can only imagine how many things got neglected. 

But, I figured it was time to get back on the wagon. 

Again. 

I won't attempt to detail all the events that took place while I've been away. 

But, there is one event that I would like to share...

My little man, Skyler, was baptized last month.

I guess there's a particular sentiment that we mother's share when our firstborn goes through this precious experience.

And can I just say how adorable he is? Just don't tell him I said that.  He's a little sensitive about being called "cute", "adorable" or even "handsome" these days!

Here's our most recent family picture....

So what else has been going on around here?

 The simple answer is:

Just about everything. 

 Trying to keep up with it all is still a daily battle that usually defeats me.

But is there anyone out there who doesn't feel that way? 

 If there is, please.....share your secrets!!

I could use a paddle or two...

The Mother's Day Post That Didn't Happen

This Mother's Day I felt particularly sentimental.  I really took time to reflect upon the opportunity I've had to be a mother and the journey that I have been on in that endeavor.

I spent a couple of hours Mother's Day afternoon, while the rest of my household was sleeping (or playing "quietly" in their rooms...a special Mother's Day treat for me since that never happens) and browsed through file after file on my computer of old pictures chronicling my mothering years thus far. 

I had lofty intentions of documenting many of these pictures in some profound Mother's Day post.

Then life happened.

The household woke up with a start ushering demands upon me: feed me, change me, play with me, listen to me, do this, do that, etc.

My computer was set aside with intentions of returning to post later.

Then Jackson nearly broke his nose on our coffee table while running into the room with a blanket over his head while I helplessly shouted at him to "STOP! STOP!" but, it was already to late.  I finally got to him, picked him up and quickly rushed him into the kitchen, knowing that would most definitely be blood.

And there was.  Tons and tons from that little nose, but I was most grateful that he didn't knock any teeth out!

The following hours of that evening were filled with anxiety of whether or not to take him to the ER, and questions of whether he might have broken his nose or suffered a minor concussion.

Happy Mother's Day to me, right?

In the end we decided not to take him in, and he healed very quickly from the episode.  Which, by the way, he later told me what inspired him to go running in with a blanket over his head....."I BE DI-NO-SORE, SCARE YOU MOMMY, RAAAOORRR!" 

He sure did scare me!

So, the Mother's Day post never happened, but I copied a lot of my favorite pictures into one file....

....and tonight came across them again and decided to share them anyway.  Even if it's just one at a time.  So here you go:

Mother's Day Picture #1

My first baby, Skyler, and I on a snowy, February, Salt Lake City, day.  I don't have many of Skyler's baby pictures, especially ones with me in them due to our computer crashing several times during his early life with backups that were few and far between. 

But I love this picture.

Believe it or not, this was actually a happy time.  A time still full of hope and optimism of a happy life as a family.  It all went downhill shortly after this time.  But, at least in that moment, that smile on my face is real. 

And, I was completely and utterly in love with that little baby and with my newfound motherhood. Afterall, all I really ever wanted to be when I grew up was a mother.

.

.

.

 ......and that is still all I want to be when I grow up.

... more pictures to come later ...

Picture of the Day

Skyler makes some awesome faces sometimes when getting his picture taken. 

Observe below:

Humorous yet a little frightening at the same time!

Love this kid!

Perhaps A Little Overambitious

Please allow me to share a little story with you...

Last year I planted pumpkins.  I did have great plans of planting a large garden, but between time and money, etc, etc, it just never happened.  I did go so far as to buy some various packets of seeds which are currently still up in my cabinet (guess it's due for a good clean-out again).  

Anyway, my garden never got started and all but one of those packs of seeds never got planted.  I would like to point out that last year I was of the opinion that in order to create a garden, I would need the help of my husband.  I think that factored into the equation of the garden never coming to pass last year.  

So, getting back to the point here....

Last year while all the packets of seeds sat quietly up in the cabinet, Kayla planted a pumpkin seed at preschool and shortly after it sprouted, she brought it home and declared that it was "For our garden".   You know, our garden that didn't exist, right?

Well, after keeping the darned thing inside for longer than I should have while I tried to come up with some idea of what to do with it from there, it began to wither and wilt.  I looked at the pathetic thing one day while washing the dishes and felt that horrible pang of guilt that mother's feel when they realize how traumatized their child will be when they realize their beloved plant has died at the hands of their own mother whom they trusted it with.

I looked out my window and knew there was only one thing to do.  I took it into the backyard with a hand trowel, dug a 2 ft. x 2 ft patch into the grass, and planted the sorry sight of a pumpkin plant.  Then I realized that stashed in the cupboard somewhere among the various packets of seeds, was a packet of Jack'o'Lantern seeds. 

I retrieved the packet of "Guaranteed to Grow Orange and White Jack'o'Lantern" seeds and hurredly stuffed them haphazardly into the freshly dug earth.  A few days and a lot of water and miracle-grow later, and about 20 baby pumpkin plant leaves emerged with the promise of covering up the poor dead withered plant that had once been Kayla's hope of producing a home-grown Jack'o'Lantern.

I'm not really sure what I expected pumpkin seeds to do once I planted them in the ground.  Perhaps I thought they would grown like a little bush?  Barely large enough to cover the small patch of dirt I dug for them?  I certainly did not expect that from that small pack of seeds, my entire backyard would become a giant pumpkin patch capable of producing over 55 pumpkins by that fall.  "Wow!" I thought by the end of last year. "If I can grow a pumpkin patch like that down here, then surely I can plant a huge garden."

And this year I did. 

By myself. 

No husband factored into the equation this year.  Had I waited on his assistance, I know it wouldn't have happened this year either.

All I can say though, is that next year I am renting a tiller.  I literally spent days, and days, and days digging out the beds and rows, and patches to plant everything.  But I am excited and pleased with my labors, and will enjoy the "fruits" of it hopefully throughout the whole summer and fall!

This year I have planted:

Pumpkins..........

Orange and White Jack'o'Lanterns again of course, and also a mixture of baby pumpkins and decorative gourds.  Hopefully they are spaced in a way that they will only take over part of my yard though! 

Cucumbers...

Mammouth and Table-top Sunflowers

Sugar-Snap Peas...

Raspberries...

Sweet Corn...

Cilantro...

Lettuce...

Carrots...

Also, spinach, peppers, onions, tomatoes, tomatillos, basil, zucchinni, summer squash, and watermelons....

It's going to be a delicious summer!