Projects

So admittedly, this blog is mostly about the kids.  They're my world and as such, most of my time and energy and activities revolve around them and their schedules.  But I manage to get stuff done on the side that's not laundry and chauffeuring and cooking *grin*

Last summer, my car starting making this obnoxious loud knocking sound from the dash... every time I started the car, "knock, knock, knock, knock..." for about 20 seconds- and then sporadically there after every 10 or so minutes.  The a/c worked, the fan blew, but there was that weird knock.  I called the dealership and they said it would cost about $800 to fix.  Ugh.  I just couldn't justify the cost considering that everything worked just fine, so I dealt with it.  It ended up going away for a while and I frankly forgot about.  

And then when it warmed up this spring, it came back... "knock, knock, knock, knock."  

Annoying.

But can I just say, I love the internet!  A few google searches and I found a youtube video that walked me through the process to fix it... the part was a mere $24!!  I was a little nervous as I took apart my dash...

but I did it!! Rather than spending $800, it took an hour or so of my time (plus a trip back into town to the get the correct part...)  Yay!  I can officially add 'car mechanic' to my resume *wink*

So, I love my house.  It is wonderful and I know we are blessed.  That being said, there's lots we want to do over the years that we couldn't afford to have done when we were building... mostly because our budget wouldn't allow it, or because we just wanted to do it ourselves someday.  While I love the look of 'glazed' cabinets, I couldn't justify the added $2500 cost... so I was super excited at the prospect of doing it myself for less than $100 + my time.  I stared in an upstairs bathroom, so if I didn't like the results, I could paint over it instead of ruining my kitchen =/

Before:

After applying glaze, before spraying lacquer:

{glazed on the left, original/unglazed on the right}

After:

So maybe it's not that apparent in the pics, it really is more dramatic in real life- the cabinets are overall a few shades darker and the glaze settles in the edges and corners, giving them more definition.  I love how it turned out.  As an added plus, it took far less time than I thought it would!

So with that done, I undertook the kitchen!!  It was a waaaay bigger mess during the process-

I had planned/hoped it would take me about week, but was pleasantly surprised when I had everything put back together after 3 1/2 days!  Well, 99% put back together.  As I was doing my final coat of spray lacquer, a few doors got drops of lacquer on them that required me to spend a considerable amount of time to fix.  Ugh.  Oh well, I'm super happy this part of the project is over (I've yet to do the island or other bathrooms), and very pleased with the end result:

We have an odd little niche in the powder bath that I've struggled with ideas for.  Once again, the internets pulled through for me... I first stenciled the back wall for a little visual interest...

I let Bryson take the lead on building the shelves for the space- he got some real world experience with measuring and the associated use of adding and subtracting fractions, as well as repeated use of the adage, "measure twice, cut once."  Initially he was *ahem* a little annoyed that I kept reminding him of that, so I had to laugh a little inside when I heard him repeating it to himself later on.

It took a few weeks to complete since we had to work around his schedule, but the finished product turned out amazing!

We've also wanted to do something with the fireplace from the get go.  Our builder just trimmed around the insert to do something with it, but how to really finish it has been an on and off topic of discussion between us for a long time... the before:

Nathan did an awesome job building the mantle and I fumbled my way through making the hearth.  We had some credit card points accumulated that we cashed in for Lowe's gift cards which purchased the majority of the stone we needed to rock the fireplace.  We used a product that is super light and thus requires no metal mesh backing.  You just 'frost' the back of the stone with their premixed adhesive and apply it to wall- it's so easy, the online demonstration was done by a woman in high heels!  Well, with two of us working and me opting NOT to wear high heels as we worked, we figured it would take us about a day to get it done... WRONG!  It wasn't overly difficult per se, just tedious- lots of trips outside to make endless small cuts and stressing over keeping the color distribution 'random'.  It took the better part of a full weekend (minus Sunday) and three subsequent evenings.  It was also waaaaay messier than we planned for *groan*

The during:

 The after:

Super happy with how it turned out, but in no way eager to use the product again *sigh*

 I love the sense of accomplishment from finishing projects!

Birthday Boy!

I'll just go ahead and say it right off the bat... TWELVE YEARS?!? WHA? HOW? *sigh*

It is so fun to see my first baby grow up though.  He is a sweet boy with a good heart.

He pretty much forbade me from throwing him a party- he just wanted to have some friends over to "hang out"... throw a football, play basketball, watch a movie... but NOT a birthday party (his friends were welcome to bring gifts though?)...  So I invited friends via texts to their moms, grilled out and made his favorite cake.  I must admit, it was super easy!

He invited 4 friends and I was so impressed with these boys!  They were so respectful and friendly- totally involved Eli and Jace and Hailee with what they were doing- just great kids.  BUT, it was simply not possible to get a decent picture of them...

Happy Birthday Bryson!

Bryson still loves reading, Lego's, Star Wars and all things flight and military.  He was super excited to get a queen sized bed for his birthday and a new tablet- his was majorly on the fritz.  He does a fairly decent job of keeping his room clean, despite the fact that he really hates getting rid of anything.  I love hearing him play piano or the trumpet or sax, just for fun.

Bryson's favorites at age 12-

Favorite Color: Silver

Favorite Restaurant: D'lish
Favorite Food: Bratwurst
Favorite Drink: Sprite
Favorite thing to do: Build Legos
Best Friend: Jarom Cobb
Favorite Movie: Avengers: Age of Ultron
Favorite TV Show: Phineas & Ferb -we really don't watch a lot of tv, so this was hard for him...
Favorite Toy: Legos
Favorite Animal: Bald Eagle
Favorite Book: Lord of the Rings
What he wants to be when he grows up: architect

Birthday Girl!

Ever since Hailee realized Eli's birthday was approaching back in February, she has anticipated her birthday with great excitement.

When I woke her up on her birthday, she rolled over in bed and sleepily asked, "Is it my birthday yet?" *grin*  

It's pretty rare that she gets up quickly- I usually have to make multiple attempts at peeling her out of bed, but this morning, she was eager!  I heard her joyful squeals more than once that morning...  She requested pancakes and {surprise!} heavenly syrup for breakfast-

Since she's been going to kindergarten every day with both classes, she wanted to bring cupcakes to both classes- the actual day of, and the following day also!  She sure felt special...

Picking out her treasure...

a little playground fun...

All she wanted for her birthday was a Seahawks jersey and new cowboy boots- we also got her some Seahawks pj's which was even more sweet...

Dallin had a baseball game that night, so we brought cupcakes to share to make it a little more fun.

Initially she wanted a transformers party, but (to my relief) ended up deciding on a Seahawks party instead. The invites:

The cake:

Her Seahawks birthday banner:

She invited both girls and boys to her party- so funny the differences between boys and girls- I found all the girls (Hailee included!!) upstairs with her dollhouse:

while the boys were downstairs with light sabers:

We played some games...

pin the football:

football bingo:

throwing the football through the hoop:

and way too many kids on the trampoline at once =\

The kids made their own pizzas and then we had cake:

and opened presents:

We had lots of fun!  It was a little a lot crazy, but worth it!  Happy birthday my girl!

Hailee's favorites at age six:

Favorite Color: blue
Favorite Restaurant: McDonald's Playland
Favorite Food: fruit - apple
Favorite Drink: water
Favorite thing to do: play outside
Best Friend: Dallin maybe?
Favorite Movie: Minions
Favorite TV Show: Animaniacs
Favorite Toy: My bike
Favorite Animal: Cheetah
Favorite Book: coloring books
What she wants to be when she grows up: "a nurse and a dentist and a teacher - or I want to stay home with my kids."

Bryson Track

I was happy (and almost a little surprised) Bryson opted to participate in track again this year- he just doesn't love to run, but he does like to be active overall, and well, then there's the social factor *wink*

He's getting to the age where it's starting to embarrass him when I want to take a picture *sigh*  I really had to work to get him to give me a decent shot {you'll thank me someday Bryson!}... 

Preparing to run the 4x100 relay:

handoff:

shot put:

final lap of the mile:

I was so so so happy with his effort this year!  Last year, he just kinda jogged everything, and the mile was downright unpleasant for him- he didn't seem to ever push himself... but this year he gave it a lot more effort- and he really challenged himself on the mile- competing against himself and not dwelling on the drudgery of it.

At the end of the year last year, I was really pretty hurt for him as he was the only one on his team that didn't win a ribbon at the final All-City meet- so this year, I was so happy for him that he won TWO ribbons (6th place in shot put, 7th place in 100M) and set personal records in all three events he competed in!

Way to go Bryson!

If only I had a picture of him with his ribbons, right?  Too bad he can't find them...  oh well...

Eli Track

Eli participated in track this spring- he is a quick little thing, even if he's got short little legs *grin*

Running the 400 meter:

The long jump:

4X100 relay:

At the final All-City meet, he raced in the 100 meter and took First Place!

Good job buddy!