Winter Wonder

Freezing Frost and Six Degrees

By Popular Demand....

When you think life can't get more interesting-

It can.

Isn't this a lovely picture? Nice family outing.

Everyone happy....even the cow.

Toward the top of the list of things I never wanted, or expected, to transport in my family vehicle would have been creatures of the bovine persuasion....goes to show how little creativity I truly have.

In case you were wondering about the young people in the picture holding their noses...the cow didn't do anything unseemly like cow-decorate the car,

but the kids did named her Bubbles.

This is Bubbles in her natural habitat, not a silver Suburban. Hiding behind Bubbles is her sister, Puddin. She was not so kind to the car.

The car has been cleaned....thoroughly.

Boxes, Boxes Everywhere

Done unpacking...no way! Playing "Guess What's in This Box" and "I Know I Saw That Somewhere" is too much fun.

Truthfully, the unpacking was stymied because I had to paint the front and dining rooms- or suffer optic-sensory-overload-hysteria. The combination of a green love seat, a green pump organ, and a red chair, against gold(top) and green(bottom) sponged walls was more than my nerves could handle. (Do I sound like Mrs. Bennett?) Factor in the hand-painted ivy bordering everything, including the front door, and I couldn't unpack a thing.

Oh- the bliss of beige!

Now, I just have to figure out where to put all this stuff...

For some REAL fun-

Don'tcha' hate it when your six year old gets in trouble, for eating all of the fruit snacks in the storage room, so you leave him home with his big brother while you go to a church dinner, and the disgruntled six year old calls 911 to report his big brother is bothering him. Has this EVER happened to you? Yeah, me neither.....especially the part where all the neighbors come out to see who got busted.

Remember When-

Are there moments in your life that suspend reality and transport you back in time?
I like to sit with my eyes closed and remember the sights, smells, and feel of my childhood. I remember the aroma of my grandmother's kitchens, the sounds of their voices reading stories or giving careful instructions. I remember the smell of the farmer's work boots as they entered Grandma V's country store for an afternoon break and the slushy bottles of pop encased in the old style water filled coolers. I can see Grandma N putting on her flattened lipstick with the tip of her tongue sticking out just a bit, as she followed the tube around her lips. I remember whiskered kissle-wissles, huggle-wuggles, and freckle-weckles from Grandpa S, who painted all of his tools with a big blue "S". Grandpa C smelled like Skin Bracer Aftershave, and his arms were really strong.

I remember other things....

One particular memory woven into and throughout my youth was dancing. My grandparents danced, my parents danced, and my aunts and uncles twirled and galloped with the best of them. My mom is from a large family that does everything together with enthusiasm. One of the things they do best is dance. It is what brought my grandparents together and convinced my mom that a second date with my dad wouldn't be too unbearable.

A recent event triggered these nostalgic musings. I had the delightful opportunity to attend my cousin's wedding reception in Oregon. It had been a long time since I had the thrill of being with those wonderful people. Just seeing their faces was joyous, but when they started dancing I felt myself drift back years to the way things use to be- when all of the people I loved were still with us, possibly arranging trays in the kitchen or coming through the door for a huggle-wuggle, to join us shortly for a dance.
I observed my children that night, as my dad and mom encouraged my six year old son when he took his first tentative steps on the dance floor while my youngest daughter twirled euphorically in and out of the other dancers. They beamed confidence and bliss as they joined in the family throng, as I use to. It was delicious.

Holy Cow!

Our home is under contract. Five days on Craigs List....whooda' thunk? We put off really searching for a new house because we didn't want to find the perfect place , fall in love, and then have our hearts broken.

After an interesting search this is the finalist:

A basic tri-level on 1.5 acres

(These pictures are arranged in profusion for the benefit of sisters who live great distances and ask lots of questions.)

The front and sides.The back...horses not included.

These were all labeled, but it was all lost in transit.

UP

Wee Master bedroom

(featuring the fattest cat I ever saw- in person)

DOWN

The house is about a third smaller than our current home so, there will be lots of opportunity for polishing of skills.

# 1 is planning on her own horse boarding operation....We will not be without things to do.

Marooned by a Sausage on Four Legs

I was so on top of things this morning...until I wasn't.

The plan was to run the eldest daughter to school, briefly stop at our storage unit to drop off Easter decorations, then sprint home to get the boys off to school. This was all possible because J was home from work to finish a couple of projects.

Everything was proceeding perfectly. Daughter arrived at school on time, I remembered my gate code for the storage facility, I had the key for my heavy-duty lock, I made everything fit into the compact storage unit. All was great!

I bounded for my running auto mobile and....my door was not opening...What the...huh?

I tried all the doors. (I don't entirely perform at peak at 8 a.m.) No success. Drat! My brain was boggled...

Dooo-da-doo- the answer!!!!!

Enter the "plan" plundering villain:

This is Penny. Don't let that squishy face fool you...She is smirking with glee.

"I locked out the silly lady. I locked out the silly lady. Hah, hah, hah"

Luckily the silly lady had her cell phone and a camera in her pocket to document the event...and call a tall, hot rescuer- who saved her from the plotting canine. Unfortunately, "the plan" never recovered.

Perfect Family with Character

Tired of cardboard construction and cookie cutter homes? Turn back to a time when homes were built to last, with charm and personality. Slow down and enjoy life in the 2800 square foot family home on .40 acre. Huge trees shade your property. Take time to smell the roses in your own private rose garden. Eat vegetables picked fresh from your own raised garden beds. Watch the world go by from a huge picture window as you sit in front of the fire. Enjoy the richness of real oak floors. Built-in shelves and drawers add charm and personality, deep closets provide ample storage.

Lose yourself in projects in your own huge shop, or park all the toys you want.

The bathrooms have been beautifully updated, but still keep their charm.

Savor cooking in a generous sized kitchen with abundant natural light and storage.

Large master bedroom with built-in.

What you will find:

4 ample bedrooms with large closets, 2 bathrooms, 9'x10' den/office with built-ins, sizable storage room, cozy fireplace and efficient pellet stove, new carpet, new dishwasher, water softener, brick barbeque fireplace on the patio, a fanciful swing built into the trunks of two trees, UGS, RV parking... and don't get me started on the 24'x36' air conditioned shop. There is also, a large car port in front of the shop for added parking.

What Have We Been Doing......?

At our home sometimes we get a little over zealous. We thought it might be a good idea to fix up our house a bit in case there is something better out there with five bedrooms instead of four. What would it take....couple of weeks.....

Hah!!!!!

It's actually my neighbor/bosom friend's fault. She inspired us when we were informed they were relocating many, many, many miles away. We watched them become bleary eyed and drooling (minimal) as they revamped their their castle. Their listless sleep deprived state should have stood as a sentinel against undertaking major home rejuvenation, but nope......we were determined. Now that my dear friend is away in her new home she laughs/cackles heartily through my daily tales- mostly describing how may times a person can visit Home Depot in one day before they think you are on the payroll....and perhaps one anecdote on why its not a good idea to wipe excess caulk on the toilet paper roll.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of our adventures.

Photographers disclaimer: Just because I am not shown in any of the photos does not mean I was not on the work crew...

except for the roof part. I don't do heights.

Here is my little mother. She thought she was coming for a relaxing visit.

We ( Mom, Dad, & I) ended up on the "dump" detail.

Do to his (over)enthusiastic demo-urges my sidekick stood back while

his friend ripped into our counter tops. Good fun!

New counters sans sink and drawers. After the tile back splash was added it looked even better.

After the counters was the kitchen floor- and then the laundry room floor.

Isn't the installer adorable?

(Side note: My stove and fridge were in the front room for a long while.)

We ordered new carpet for the basement and parts of the upstairs. This is what we found when we pulled up the carpet:

(not the cute girl.)

We knew there was oak under the old carpet, but were surprised by how great of shape it was in...too late though, the carpet was installed the next morning. Drat!

The worst, most horrible, stressful, but blessed part of our project was our roof.

We knew when we bought the house almost six years ago that the roof was not award winning. It was ugly, but didn't leak. Well, after a very wet winter our roof thought it was living in Seattle. It had to go. Thanks to some amazing men in our ward, some who gave up their Sunday afternoon to help us finish in the rain, the new roof actually happened. It's beautiful and no one fell off!

In the near future, hopefully, I will be able to show some "after" pictures.....but not today.

Back in Town

My friend, Lee, is back in town. Yahoo! She is an amazing photographer and took these pictures of my family.
If you are in the area- she is having a free photo session give-away and it is worth more than you can imagine. She has an amazing talent.....and loads of patience.

Check her out:
www.photographybyleeann.com/blog/?p=406