Bu-Bye Blue

Boy I tell you what, saying good-bye to my blue carpet was like finally being able to pop a big ol' zit! Don't act like you don't understand what I'm saying! Just keeping it real!

The day we bought this house I said to Sam "That blue carpet will be the first thing to go!" 8+ years later I finally got rid of it!

In the past 3 days we have moved every single thing from our main floor into another room. It seriously feels like we just moved into this house. Lots of LATE nights, total exhaustion, but yet I couldn't be happier with how things have turned out!

Carpet removal:



I think the late nights have made Sam a bit loopy. I just found these pictures on the memory card. I bet these pictures were taken around 1am.



Saturday morning the carpet installer arrived right at 8am. The timing was great because our friends, Nathan and Ambyr, wanted to use our yard for a yard sale. We hung out all morning in the front yard with them, while the installer took control of our house. Carson sold Gatorade for $.75 a bottle and at the end of the day he made $20! He was an awesome salesman. Every person who slowed down as they were driving, he would start enticing them over for a nice, cool beverage.



As soon as the yard sale ended, the carpet guy left. Perfect timing! We enjoyed the new carpet for about 4.5 minutes, and then we started moving back in. So exhausting!


I seriously love, love, love all the new flooring!


I should clarify my railing issue that some people commented on in my last post. We do have a railing so that ledge will be safe. It's just on the list of things to do. :)

Tonight we sat on the front steps and watched an awesome lightning/thunder storm. The three blue eyed musketeers loved it!


My kids are out of school after this coming week. I'm pretty dang excited about it. The best part? No more Kindergarten-half-day-schedule lameness. Very liberating! I'm wiped out. G-night.

Kitchen Floor, Another FUN Mess!

The messes are fun when you get something really cool after the mess is cleaned up. I've really learned that concept over the past few months!

We got our new kitchen floor today. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! I seriously cannot believe how beautiful it is! Before I show you the new floor, let's take a stroll down memory lane.

This is what the kitchen floor looked like when we bought the house in 2002:


Here we are on the day we moved into the house. Man-O-Man we had a lot of work ahead of us! That wall is no longer there! Look at the stencil paint job! Ah well, the price was right!


Look at the fan! This is mid-process of getting the new (in 2002) kitchen floor. By the way, I still have that sweatshirt! Don't be jealous of my frugality.


Okay, back to present day. This was Sam removing the kitchen floor last night. In fact, Sam worked like a horse until 9pm and then he cleaned the Conference Center until midnight. He came home and continued working on the clear-out until 2am. Don't worry, I made it worth his time...I left Peanut Butter M&M's under his pillow!


This morning our doorbell rang at 7:45am. The installers were here! Yay!!! They were here until about 4pm. Craziness!


End result, love it!




Oh yeah, to keep Cameron out of our hair, we bought him a mini trampoline. If any of you know Cameron, you'll know that he bounces instead of walking a lot of the time. He took right to the mini tramp! Yay, happy Cameron (sometimes)!

Memorial Day 2010

We spent the morning doing boring stuff: mowing the lawn, getting the sprinkler system going for the summer, cleaning...blah blah blah.

I did plant my Zinnia seeds so I'm crossing my fingers they look beautiful like they have in years past! Best $3 ever spent!

By early afternoon I was getting grumpy because I wanted to do something fun. Last Fall, Sam and I drove past a park in the Daybreak community that looked different from your average park. We decided to take a gander.

Besides the wind, this park was awesome! Tons of webbish toys for the older kids, a fun slide and some swings for the younger ones. It borders the "beach" by one of the man made lakes there too. Besides Cameron being a grumpy young man, it was just what I needed to break me out of my cabin fever!





Here's a stranger at the park. I can't tell if he's a really cool dad, or a really mean one!


Later in the day Sam took the boys to Walmart. Sam is not an "in and out" person when it comes to Walmart. He likes to browse. Here is a picture he took of Parker while doing said browsing. I laugh every time I look at Parker's tiny body compared to his head!


We ended the day with a killer dinner at my folks house. BBQ ribs on the grill. Dreamy!

We are GREEN!

No, not the environmental kind (although we do try), we literally have a green kitchen and I love its guts!

The day started bright, but not early...Saturday is a special day, it's the day we get to sleep in....

When Sam first poured the paint into the paint tray, my dad said "oooh, yuck!". It looked like Cameron's poop when he's had too many fruit snacks. Nice and green-ish, brown-ish, and yellow-ish all wrapped into a nice little package.

I reminded Sam to not judge the paint by the first wet coat because when we did the first coat in our red kitchen, it was HOT PINK! Sure enough, after two coats of the green paint had dried we were so happy with our decision!

First coat:


My dad painted the ceiling. So nice!!!


Sam is still smiling, that's a good thing!


Paint. It's a messy, dirty, cluttery job.


End Result. The new kitchen flooring will be installed on Wednesday or Thursday. Yes, we will get a new garbage can that is more, uh...chic!




Speaking of green...
Sam has a history of putting soda in the freezer and then forgetting about it. The first Christmas we were married we spent in Seattle with my family. Sam put a Root Beer in the freezer on Christmas Eve so it would be really cold at dinner time. He spaced it and we went to bed. Really early Christmas morning we woke up to my brother saying really loudly: Who's the IDIOT who put the Root Beer in the freezer? Well, the can exploded so before we could enjoy Christmas morning we had to clean out the freezer! ha ha! The other day I opened the freezer to this scene:


Sam wasn't even home but I said out loud: Who's the idiot who put the Mountain Dew in the freezer? Then I laughed, and left the mess for him to clean up. :)

Today for dinner Parker wanted Mac and Cheese. I kept telling him he couldn't have any because the kitchen was a mess. A few minutes later Sam handed this to Parker.


So funny! Do you get it????

Bu-Bye Red

Hopefully, by the end of this week we will be saying 'so long' to our red kitchen. Big red has been good to us for almost 8 years.



The question of the day: What color should we paint the kitchen next? We still don't know. So for now, it's primer white.

Feedback would be great.

Who Is Chasing You??

My sister-in-law, Susan, ran her first marathon on Saturday. I applaud her for her strength and endurance. The only way you'd get me to run that far is if somebody were chasing me. Ha Ha, I take that back. I wouldn't run that far. I'd maybe run a half mile before I would stop, wheeze, and ask my attacker how I could help them.

Back to the marathon. It was in Ogden. It was a beautiful Spring day and I loved hanging out with my family while waiting for Susan to cross the finish line.

Here's Darren. Darren is married to Susan. He had been up since 4am. Contrary to this picture, he wasn't grumpy at all! ha ha!


Although he did try ruining my self portrait by sticking his fingers in front of the camera. Yeah.....his fingers are the only thing that ruined this picture....right.... good thing Sam loves how nerdy I am.


There's a cute face. Darren and Susan's youngest, Jacob.


Here comes Susan! Two of her boys, one niece, and Carson jumped out to help her run the last 10 yards or so. Perhaps Carson wasn't the biggest help when he said "you need to run faster!". If he said that to me I'd slap him back to 26 miles ago! Susan is too nice for that. She just smiled through her pain.


See, I told you. She is smiling. I'd be crying because I couldn't breathe.


And now for something completely different.

Without going into too many details or naming names, I just have to say I love my neighborhood and I love the friends we have made here. This weekend I saw so many people pull together to help a common friend through a very difficult time. It was inspiring to see how one person's pain translated into dozens of people's determination to help carry the burden. Problems were resolved and my faith was strengthened. People helping people. It's what we do here. It's all about not giving up. With enough prayers, friends, and faith, it is possible to find the needle in the haystack!

Things That Make Me Laugh

Let's keep it real. My life hasn't exactly been a piece of cake lately when it comes to my 2 year old. Everyone tells me that he's entered the "terrible two's" but here is my problem about that phrase...I've honestly never experienced this stage of life with my boys. I'm being totally honest and legit!

Carson was pretty much a dream baby until he was 3 years old. Then he gave me a hard time until he was almost 4. Going through the "terrible two's" with a three year old isn't that bad because they can totally communicate with you and they understand "time out". So overall, piece of cake.

Parker was a little pill UNTIL he turned 2. Once he turned 2 he became quite charming and has been super fun ever since.

Then there's Cameron. He is the very definition of "terrible two's". I feel really bad about this, but Sam comes home to a grumpy wife more often than not (sorry Sammy!). If anyone has any suggestions on getting "terrible" out of my two year old, I'm all ears. My only strategy so far is not giving into his tantrums. He's getting quite used to time outs. OH yeah, I also calmly look at him and say "no crying". Surprisingly, he stops crying about 7 times out of 10. Now instead of crying he'll say "MOM! I SAD!" ha ha ha!

HOWEVER...

In the midst of toddler trauma, I do have moments of happiness for sure!

Here is part of what Carson brought home from school last Friday in honor of Mother's Day:


Seriously? Oh my gosh, I did a complete and total BELLY LAUGH when I saw it. Carson said "SEE! I knew it would make you smile!" Oh man, so sad, but so true.

Then he did a Mad Libs sort of letter to me:


Just to clarify, the funniest thing I ever did was "SCARE" him. I don't think he really means "SCAR" him....well, maybe he did mean that....uhmmmmmm....sorry Carson.

Oh, one last thing....who in my neighborhood needs cookies? Carson gets to do a service project to pass off a requirement in his classroom and one thing he needs to do is bring a neighbor some goodies. :) Speak now! I'm pretty sure it's the teacher's way of having Carson do community service....I said he was a dream baby, not a dream pre-teen! ha ha ha!

It's Never Too Late

It's never too late to update your blog....no matter how far behind you are!

It's also never too late to get sealed in the temple to your loved one. Sam's Aunt Belva was sealed to her husband, Bob, last Saturday. Belva is 82 and Bob is 92. Super fantastic!


Sam's brother and a couple bros-in-law. That guy on the left? Well, that's Jeff. Jeff is the super star who did our sheet rock. He is pretty dang cool. He has completely finished the sheet rock, tape, and mud process. I feel bad for him though because now that he's done, he doesn't get to hang out with me all day anymore. I'm pretty sure he's devastated. Ha Ha!!


I guess when you are 82 and 92, you need to get your priorities straight and be safe and hold the handrails instead of holding each other's hands when walking down stairs.


Half the Sweet family and some various cousins thrown in just to confuse me. Although, I'm happy to meet that little girl on the bottom right. She was so cute I seriously wanted to borrow her for a few years. She is albino. I'm sure that's politically incorrect to phrase it that way, but DANG! Her hair was so white I couldn't get over it. She had glasses too....kids with glasses are automatically my favorite.


Ha Ha, we're dorks. Oh, poor Fontella...


Thanks Jessica! Now she doesn't feel left out!


It's also never too late to clear dinner out of your teeth before your son pins a Bear Scout pin on your shirt. At least that's what it looks like I was doing here.


Carson rocks. He earned the rank of Bear in scouting. Phew, all my...er, HIS work paid off!


We've been attending Parker's soccer games lately. Well, unless they are rained out. We've had quite the rainy spring season here. I love it. It reminds me of my days living in Seattle. Although it does make my hair a little on the afro side due to the humidity....another post for another day.

You know what's crazy about large camera lenses? I didn't know Sam was taking this picture. He was across the soccer field from me. It looks like I'm saying to myself "PU, what stinks?" Carson is either having a seizure or he sees a cool airplane. Candid shots.....fun!


This picture shows pure joy! This is Emery, she is my niece's daughter. It's a dang good thing she and her brother are on Parker's team because they are so good!


Oh yeah, back to the sheet rock...that stuff is messy as all get out. Here's a shelf in my house. Look how dirty it is! That crap is all over every single surface. One day I will have a clean house again. I swear.


We finally cut down the mostly dead tree in our front yard on Saturday. Now I need to plant a replacement tree. Any suggestions? I'm thinking a flowering pear tree.


This dead aspen is a goner as well.


Did everyone have a good Mother's Day? My brother and his wife had a baby girl on Mother's Day, it doesn't get much better than that! It was so nice of them to break the boy-trend in this family! The baby's name is Lucy. I held her on Sunday and last night and I'm already itching to hold her again. She is beautiful, perfect, and I love her so much! C'mon Curtis and Shandy, when can I babysit??? :)

Okay, next stop: paint. Ug. Stay tuned for that.

Finally: Nothing says "Spring" like three boys devouring hot fudge sundae's! Let the warm weather arrive soon!

Random At Its Best

I always say my husband is random. I don't know how else to describe him. He does things out of the "normal" so often that it becomes normal to be random.

For example:
Today as Parker and Cameron were praying at lunchtime I snapped a quick picture because Cameron always assumes whatever praying position that Parker demonstates. After the prayer I sent this picture to Sam via a picture message:


After a few minutes I received the following picture from Sam. The text to go along with the picture said "Amen".


It struck me as being so funny I literally laughed out loud. When Parker wanted to know why I was lauging I couldn't tell him the whole story because....well, I didn't want him to know I didn't close my eyes when he prayed! Ha ha ha ha!

I love Random Sam. I'm glad I married him.