Whimy Whims

Life and Plans

2009-05-14T10:13:00.000-07:00

Who was it that said life is what happens when you're busy making other plans? That's how things seem to be going around here. I have so many things I want to do, and then I have to do the things that need to get done, and then there are the little things that pop up. I need more hours in the day.

On the 2nd Tate turned 6. Where did the time go? We had a good day. He wanted to go bowling again. He seems to think that's what you do on birthdays. It was a blast. And we had cake and presents. A good time was had by all. Then on the 4th I took some cookies to share with his kindergarten class. I made car shaped sugar cookies. The kids were so impressed and I felt like an awesome Mom. :)

Dillon was able to come off his medicine 3 weeks ago. He's got about a 70 percent chance of never having another seizure. Yay! The only problem now is that he's going through withdrawals so he's been a little grumpy, sometimes lethargic, very clingy. I hope he gets over it soon.

I've been slowly trying to plant a garden, plant some more plants and flowers around the house, spin a little, knit a little, read a little.... keep up with the house, wish I had a ton of money so I could do the things to it that I want to do...see, I just need more hours :)

Happy Birthday to me!

2009-03-18T08:09:00.000-07:00

My birthday was good. It was mostly just a lazy day. Unfortunately my hubby had to work all day so it was just me and the kids but we went out to dinner when he got home.

My spinning wheel showed up on the 10th! It was unfinished so I got to play with it all week, staining and then putting a couple coats of polyurethane on. She turned out soooo nice!
Meet Guinevere. I haven't had too much time to spin but what I have been able to do has been nice. The first time I sat down it just worked. I couldn't believe it! I'm glad that it came with 2 pounds of wool to play with. I may need all that practice!

My Mom sent a package that arrived yesterday. She sent a shirt and a gift card to home depot. She also sent the kids some toys and candy. She's a good Grandma. And Mom too :)

My Sister is going to come up this Saturday, her b-day is the 25th so we'll celebrate both our birthdays then.

I love when my birthday lasts nearly all month!!

A bit of update

2009-03-06T08:23:00.000-08:00

Poor neglected blog. I'm sorry.

Anyway I'm still around. I've been working on some quilt blocks I bought over 10 years ago. Maybe one day I'll have a quilt. I've been unpicking one of the blocks because it was a little wonky. I started putting it back together and it's still wonky. So it's been set aside again.

I've also been working on a pair of socks for me. They have peep bunnies on them. I'm excited for them, but I'm having a hard time. I've lost count how many times I've restarted them. I hope I'm on the right track now.

The kiddies are doing well. Tate loves school and is disappointed when the weekend comes. Dillon is starting to be a little more understandable. He still isn't talking as well as other kids his age though.

I'm excited for my Birthday in about a week! My hubby got me a spinning wheel! I got the tracking number last night and have been obsessively checking it since. It was in Illinois last I checked and should get here on the 10th! I can't wait!

Gotta go for now. Tate had to come home early from school because his tummy hurts. So aside from being sad because he's missing school, he doesn't feel good. Dillon is doing his best to cheer his brother up though. It's great how well they get along!

Hello New Year

2009-01-06T09:21:00.001-08:00

Hopefully this year will be great. So far it's been ok. I even got carded when I bought some cough medicine the other day. The cashier didn't believe I was over 18!
And if all goes well, Dillon will get to be weaned off his medicine in April. I'm crossing my fingers on this one.
Anyhoo, hoping this year is made of awesome.

The saga

2008-11-19T14:51:00.000-08:00

I made a hoodie. I thought it would be easy. For some reason this hoodie didn't want to be made. It all started when I bought the fabric. I decided I wanted to do two layers of flannel. So I bought enough for the outside, but in my infinite wisdom, figured I would need less for the inside. Yeah, it made sense at the time. Once I figured out I didn't have enough of the inner fabric, (as I was cutting it out) and acquired more, I thought I was good to go. I started sewing. I got most of it sewed. I sewed the pockets, then the body went together well, then the arms, then the hood. Next came the zipper. I'd only ever done one other zipper so I was worried. But I followed the instructions and only cussed a couple times to put it in. As soon as I held it up I realized that yes, I'd sewn the zipper in quite well, but unfortunately it wasn't a separating zipper. Yup, I'm dumb. So I had to pick it out, get a new zipper and put it in. Ok, next came the hem tape. I put in between the hood and the body. Not too bad, I think, I can finish this up pretty quick now. So I go to put it alongside the zipper on the inside. And I run out of thread. So close to finishing, this thing is still giving me crap. So I run and get more thread, and hurry and finish it before anything else can happen. It's not perfect, but I loves it.

Tate took this picture because I couldn't get a good shot all by myself. It's a little blurry but not too bad for a 5 yr old.

Apparently I'm old and have a big butt

2008-11-13T07:17:00.000-08:00

Conversation with Tate a few days ago:
T-Mom, how many are you?
M-You mean , how old am I?
T- Yeah, are you....15?
M- Nope, older than that.
T- Are you.....18?
M- No, older than that.
T- Are you (big pause here) 20?
M- No, I'm even older than 20.
T- Well, I don't know what number you are.
M- I'm 30.
T- Wow......that's a lot!

Conversation yesterday while changing Dillon's diaper:
T-Mom, Dillon has a little butt
M-Yep
T- And I have a bigger butt than he does.
M-Yeah, you're a bigger kid than he is.
T-And you have the biggest butt of all!

It's a good thing he's cute!!!

Pumpkin Walk

2008-10-28T09:13:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we went to the pumpkin walk they do every year. People make little scenes using pumpkins and other squashes. It's really quite creative. And the weather was beautiful. There was a Noah's Ark display. The elephant butts crack me up.
There were witches.
There were some military ones, a cool fishing one, one about a local mentally challenged guy who rides around on his bike, waving at everyone. It was really cool. Then they had a bunch of these painted-plywood-character-with-the-face-cut-out-things.
Clay and I even had to do one. :)
Anyhoo, it was a fun day and a good time was had by all.

6 stitches

2008-09-18T14:16:00.001-07:00

He looks awfully happy doesn't he? Little stink bonked his head last night and needed 6 stitches. He did really good. Didn't cry very much at all. We spent 2 hours in the ER that the little boys should have been in bed. Tate wasn't easy to get up this morning. But we did it. Then about an hour after I picked him up from school his teacher called me. Wanted to let me know the red mark on his cheek was from hitting a chair when he was running in the classroom. I was a little confused because there wasn't a mark on his cheek at all. Still, you would think after last night he would be a little bit careful?

Still Alive

2008-08-25T12:26:00.000-07:00

Yes! We're still alive around here!
Summer has been fun. We've been swimming a lot, playing a lot, generally having a good time. We even went and stayed at my parents house for about 2 1/2 weeks. Just me and the kids and the dog. Driving almost 12 hours with 2 kiddies and a dog is fun times let me tell you.
I learned how to spin on a drop spindle. I went to a class with my mom. I didn't think I would get sucked in. But I did. It's a ton of fun!
Lets see, what else, I made my Dad a pair of socks and I helped the neighbor girl make a pair of jammie pants. I'm sure there was more. I just can't think of it right now.

Oh, and guess who started kindergarten today?

He was very excited. He had a hard time getting to sleep last night. The face in the second picture is a"mom, quit taking pictures of me and just let me go to school" look. I can't believe he's that old already. He had a ton of fun too. He said the teacher is nice and the kids are nice. I'm glad he's enjoying it. The house feels weird without him though.

Well Pbfffft

2008-06-06T12:28:00.000-07:00

So much for being better about the blog huh? I have been doing stuff, and the computer was down for a while. Yea, I'll blame it all on that.
So Tate turned 5 on May 2nd. I can't believe it. The time just flies. The only thing he wanted was a skateboard. He's wanted one for quite a while and no amount of trying to substitute something else was working. So we got him one. I'm either totally insane or an awesome mom. Tate thinks I'm awesome. And he has no problem at all putting the safety gear on so I'm not going to complain. We also went bowling for his birthday. Thats what he wanted. No party, only one friend so that's what he got. He's easy to make happy. And it was fun.
I finished moms socks. I ended up having to totally redo them because I knit the first one too tight. I pretended everything was fine until I had my MIL try to put it on and she couldn't. She is tiny, only 4' 9" or so. My mom is bigger. But they turned out well the second time and she likes them.

Hello Blog

2008-04-24T12:11:00.000-07:00

Hi, I'm sorry I've neglected you. I will try and be better I promise. I'm going to blame it all on the crazy weather. One day will be in the 70's and the next day it's snowing. Today we have snow. Maybe I need to write to Mother Nature something along the lines of:
Dear Mother Nature,
Hi, just in case you didn't get the memo, spring officially started in March. It's now the end of April. The snow isn't funny anymore. Please fix this. kthxbai.
Anyhoo I made my sister some socks for her birthday

She really liked them. I'm glad because they turned out better than mine and I had a hard time giving them up. :) I also started on a hoodie sweater for me

this is the back of it. I'm thinking I may be crazy for attempting a sweater but as my hubby has pointed out, that hasn't stopped me before. I also am making my mom a pair of socks. I have one done and I've started on the other. She doesn't know about them so she'll get a surprise in the mail one of these days. They're just a plain blue color, I'm sure she'll like them. I'm also learning how to knit toe up on them. The other two pairs I made were cuff down. These socks also have a different heel and toe on them. I'm not sure which I prefer yet. I'll have to try another pair. I just know when my dad sees the socks for my mom he'll want some. Even though I made him a whole blankie for christmas. He's funny like that.
Well it looks as though it's quit snowing for a bit. Maybe I'll see what the little goobers and I can get into.

ack!

2008-03-21T10:11:00.000-07:00

It's been busy around here. My birthday was last Friday. It was good I had a really good day. Then Sat I ended up feeling sick and that's only just started to go away.
Tate had a Dr. visit on Tues to get his last set of shots so he can go to kindergarten. Poor little guy got 4 shots. He screamed like a girl.
Thurs was spent running around getting a birth certificate for Tate, then going and getting all signed up for school. We were there over an hour so he could be assessed. He's a smartypants. I had to toddler wrestle the whole time. Dillon didn't want to be contained. He wanted to run amok. It made the hour seem like 3.
I also was informed by the lady getting us the birth certificate that my drivers licence expired on my birthday. Oops. So when my hubby got home I ran to the licence place and renewed. Luckily they give a little grace period so I didn't have to retake the test or anything.
Then I had bellydance class at 7:30. I am officially worn out. And we're out of bread and a few other things so I'm going to have to brave grocery shopping today sometime.
I need a vacation. :)

ready for spring

2008-03-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

I'm tired of snow. I'd like for it all to melt and go away. I want to get outside and do more in the yard. I did notice I have some bulbs coming up by the house. This makes me insanely happy and makes me think spring really will get here soon.
Can I just say also how tired of the Cruella De Vil song I am? 101 Dalmations came out last tuesday. Tate had seen a million commercials for it and wanted to buy it. All day tues he bugged me. I managed to put it off all day. Then at bedtime he looks at me and says "mom, we didn't get the puppy movie" he looked so sad. I melted. So I promised that we would for sure go the next day and get it. So at about 6:30 the next morning he comes and wakes me up. He's completely dressed and even has his shoes on. He says "I'm ready to go get the hundred thousand puppy movie, I even woke up Dillon" oy. I am not a morning person. It's a good thing he's so stinking cute. We went and got the movie. He's watched it everyday since and then goes around singing the song. Then it gets stuck in my head. I should just be thankful he's never seen Barney.

Thinkin' cute

2008-02-27T12:46:00.000-08:00

I've got two sick little boys so in between cleaning up poo and puke I'm trying to pretend I'm cute. I got my peasant shirt done the other day.
I'm happy with how it turned out. Now the weather can get warm so I can wear it and not freeze. My hubby of course says it isn't slutty enough. I wanted something I could wear in public. :) I have a couple of other patterns I want to do now. The next one I think will be hoodie. Maybe if I make it spring will get here. I have some of the fabric and it's nice and flowery. One thing I'd like to know is, what is it with cats and patterns?
Anytime I get one out here comes Gonzo to "help" me. I'm surprised I get anything done around here between the little boys and the animals help.
And on this note, here's hoping the boys get better and spring hurries up and gets here.

manic monday

2008-02-18T13:31:00.000-08:00

I read about this contest and would love to win. My birthday is in March even. But I'm not going to hold my breath as I haven't ever really won anything.

Anyhoo, I was crazy today and went to Jo-Ann Fabrics. I should have known better seeing as it's Presidents Day and they're having crazy sales. But I wanted some fabric so I could make my peasant shirt. I've had the pattern for a while and with the sale and the coupon I had it will be pretty cheap. Cheap is good seeing as I've been calling it my slutty peasant shirt. ha ha. I had a maternaty one that was super cute and comfy so I wanted one that wasn't for big bellies. Although it may end up looking that way anyway. Such is life.
It took quite a while standing in line waiting for my turn to get my fabric cut. There were a bazillion people there. Lots of ladies loading up on the quilting fabric, and little me, with my one bolt of fabric, had to wait while they had 1/2 a yard of this and 1/4 yard of that on about 539 different bolts. Oy. It wouldn't have been so bad if Dillon hadn't decided to overflow his diaper, and then Tate was climbing on some stacked boxes and running around and around and around some yarn bins. I couldn't chase him, otherwise I'd lose my place in line and there was at least a mile behind me already. Usually he stays right by me, today, not so much. And I could have done without the nasty looks from uppity old lady. I'm sure your little darlings never had days like this. sheesh.

Well, I'd better go work on cutting out some fabric while the Dillon-zilla is down for a nap. I don't get much done with him "helping"

Relaxin'

2008-02-13T13:23:00.001-08:00

I finished doing our taxes last night, got the federal e-filed and got the state return in the mail today, so I feel very accomplished. I'm doing as little as possible today. It's also snowing outside so it's the perfect day to just hang out inside with some hot chocolate. I can't say there is peace and quite in here though....not with 2 boys... but as long as they're not crying I'm not going to complain. :)

These pictures are off my phone. They seem relaxing to me.

Pampered

2008-01-25T14:22:00.000-08:00

I got pampered today. I went with a couple friends and had a pedicure. That's something I'd never done until this morning. My toenails are now a very pretty sparkly pink. And to top it all off my one friend decided she was going to pay. So I got my feet rubbed and massaged and painted pretty, free. whoo hoo! I tried to take pictures but I learned that 1. it's not easy to take a good foot picture, and 2. my feet really aren't that cute. So all spare everyone that sight. :)

show off day

2008-01-21T14:01:00.000-08:00

Because I don't have much to say, but I finally found the camera card reader thingy, here are a couple things I made:
.
This is my first ever sock. It's slightly wonky and has a few mistakes but I love it just the same. I'm working on the other one so I can dance around with 2 socks I made and not just one. So far the second one is turning out better but don't tell this one that. I'll like them equally. :)

This is a blankie I knitted for my Dad for Christmas. He's a truck driver so I tried to come up with a present that he could use that he could take on his truck. Turns out this was just the thing. He was so tickled to get it! And he's hard to get things for.
Anyhoo, I'm gonna go work on my sock some more. Once it's done I've got a second pair planned for my sis for her birthday in Mar. So until next time....

sick again

2008-01-12T11:08:00.000-08:00

ugh. I started feeling icky wed night, tried to convince myself I wasn't getting sick, finally broke down and called the Dr Thurs night for an apointment Fri and found out what I already knew. I have strep throat again. Luckily I'm the only one sick. I'm really hoping the boys all stay well.

And in good news I almost have a knitted sock. I've had to restart it a few times now otherwise I'm sure I'd have it done. And still I've got mistakes in it. But I'm past the confusing heel part and in the home stretch. Then I'll just have to do the other one. I'm so excited for socks I've made myself it's not even funny. I'm glad I have a husband that kinda humors me every time I hold it up after doing maybe two rows (not much progress) "lookie lookie!" he'll smile and nod.

Well, I've got a whole day of doing as little as I can possibly get away with planned so I better get at it. :)

Happy Happy New Year!!!

2008-01-01T14:12:00.000-08:00

Hope all is well and good out there in blog land!
We've had wonderful holidays around here. Santa came by so we must have been good. :) Now all the seasonal stuff has been put away around here we can get back to some kind of normal. (yea right :) )
Anyhoo, now we have this brand new, fresh year started. I wonder what it will bring? I'm hoping only good things as we've had our share of not so fun stuff. Which reminds me, I don't do resolutions. I'm always making goals for myself so I don't do a big new year thing. Instead I had someone tell me about how they write down things they learned during the past year and I liked that idea so much I stole it. You don't have to write down only things like , I learned to oil paint. you can write down how you learned feeding hot dogs and orange juice to a toddler that isn't feeling too well is a bad idea. (just examples) Sometimes when you write all those kinds of things down it makes you feel like you accomplished quite a bit instead of a big list of goals for the next year that you may or may not ever do.
My list is pretty long this year. I learned quite a bit. One thing is that I'm stronger as a person than I was even a year ago. It's amazing what I can handle that I wouldn't have thought I could. My little Dillon started having seizures last Jan. He had his first one while we were at the mechanic having the car inspected. I amazingly didn't break down until we had made it up to the Dr and my husband showed up. Poor little guy. I also learned I have a jillon things to be thankful for. (something I learn pretty often but sometimes forget ya know? ) I'm really thankful for all the Dr's and Nurses that helped out. And I'm thankful for the medicine that seems to be doing a good job of keeping the seizures away. He's only had a total of 7 and the last one was in April. Keeping my fingers crossed that he'll go at least 2 years without one so we don't have to force medicine into him every night.
Wow. That was more than I'd intended to write about that.
Anyway there were good times and bad times, but I think the good still outweighed the bad. Here's hoping this year is even better!

what happened to november?

2007-11-27T14:20:00.000-08:00

Is today really the 28th? When did this happen? This whole year is zooming by.

Anyhoo I thought I'd pop in and at least have one post in November. Goodness. We've been busy, having fun, enjoying the last of the good weather...

I'll have to find the picture of Tates costume for Halloween. He was a race car driver. I made his costume from a cardboard box. He had a blast. But he's the only kid I think that made it up and down one street and declared "I think I have enough candy now Mom" It wasn't even that cold because we went out before the sun went down. It may be a good thing he didn't get loads of candy because we had bought loads thinking we'd have a ton of kids here. There weren't that many that came by but Tate had fun handing out candy and asking what the other kids were dressed up as. It was fun.

For Thanksgiving we had an 11 hour car ride up to WA to visit my parents. We were going to see my inlaws too but my hubby ended up getting some sort of bug that wouldn't let him get too far from a bathroom. Other than that it was a good visit and I'm really glad my kids enjoy riding in the car. It only gets hard when the sun goes down and they can't see anything.

Better get back to the madness that is today. I'll see if I can't find some time to find some pretty pictures later...

weird child

2007-10-30T14:04:00.000-07:00

I have a strange kid. A kid that thinks you need to be leaving the house to wear pants. A kid that loves to play with anything resembling a vehicle. A kid that informed me the other day that when he gets big he wants to wear a dress. A kid that sings the alphabet while sitting on the toilet. A kid that will do almost anything for french toast or pancakes. A kid that asked me just a few minutes ago what held up our stairs. I have no idea where he comes up with these things. He's a nut. But he's a stinking cute nut.

I must be crazy

2007-10-17T09:52:00.000-07:00

Really I must be. I have a gagillion projects and hobbies and then I go and decide I need another one. I've seen a ton of really cute really comfy looking knitted socks. I've decided I need some. Could I buy them? Probably. But I want to be able to say "I made these!" Yeah, I'm insane. So I got a teach yourself knitting book at jo-anns that also has a couple sizes of needles and other bits and some patterns. No sock patterns but some others that I may try. I have tried knitting in the past but haven't gotten along with it because I was doing something weird in how I purled so when I went to knit the purles no matter how loosely I did them they were horribly tight and almost impossible to get the needle in. In the past few days of practicing I figured out what I was doing wrong! I was so happy I was telling my hubby all about it. I'm sure he just keeps me around for entertainment value :) Anyway my dream of knitting socks is so close now! I even went and got some bamboo needles and some yarn. I'm hoping the yarn will work. I'll most definitly be checking gauge (something I've never really had to do before). I'm so excited it's not even funny. Blogger won't let me do pics right now. I'll see if I can later. I'm off to knit some more!

makin me feel better

2007-10-08T14:03:00.000-07:00

I have 2 kitties. I relate to this. They really aren't too mean though. Especially this past week that I haven't felt good they've been helping me. Their idea of helping is laying on me and generally being velcro kitties.

an hour and forty five minutes

2007-10-05T16:05:00.000-07:00

Thats how long I spent at the doctors office today. With 2 energetic boys. Oy. They were running slow plus had people like me that they just squeezed in. At least everyone in the office was nice. Good attitudes really make a difference. Anyhoo turns out I have strep throat. Not fun. I'm hoping my family doesn't get it. Then on top of having a really sore throat, I'm also dealing with cramps from Hell. If it's not one thing it's another.

moms aren't supposed to get sick

2007-10-04T12:23:00.000-07:00

eeh. I've felt crappy for a few weeks now. It started out as just allergies then I'm sure I had a head cold and now the past two 3 days I've had a nasty flu bug or something. I wish I could just lay around and rest and get better but there are 2 little boys that make that very difficult. ugh. sorry for the pity party. I'm going to go have some soup now.

periwinkle, olive green and red orange. oh my

2007-09-20T11:20:00.000-07:00

You Are Periwinkle

You're very intuitive and sensitive. You often know other people better than they know themselves.
You're also quite optimistic, and you think well of yourself and others. You know your dreams will come true.

What Color Blue Are You?

You Are Olive Green

You are the most real of all the green shades. You're always true to yourself.
For you, authenticity and honesty are very important... both in others and yourself.
You are grounded and secure. It takes a lot to shake you.
People see you as dependable, probably the most dependable person they know.

What Color Green Are You?

You Are Red Orange

You are a very genuine person, although it takes a while for you to show the true you.
A bit introverted, you desire respect and affection from those close to you.
You are quite empathetic, and you have a true concern for the well being of others.
Many people have warm, heartfelt memories of you - even if you don't remember them well.

What Color Red Are You?

Maybe I should do something productive? Let's see... go do laundry.... or see what color brain I have.....or what kind of pet I'd be...

I'm an apricot

2007-09-19T11:51:00.000-07:00

You are Apricot

Soft and sweet, over time you let your provocative nature shine through.
You are definitely unconventional, but you don't broadcast it.
You offer people a fresh perspective on life - so fresh that it can be shocking!

What Color Orange Are You?

Provocative nature? Not so sure about that but this was fun anyway. :)

cool table

2007-09-12T09:50:00.000-07:00

Technically this isn't done yet. I still have to screw the suitcase to the base and do something with the inside but it's sat this way for months and months so I figured I'd brag about it. I'd seen people make cool tables out of suitcases so I wanted to try one too. I've also wanted to try mosiacing. And then I also wanted to get in on making something out of paint chip samples so I decided to combine all of that together. It turned out pretty good if I do say so myself.

Mr. Clean

2007-09-06T20:52:00.000-07:00

Tate came up to me today and started telling me that when the guy comes to our house he was going to help him. I asked what guy? He says the guy that has the scrubber and they clean things and throw to the other person.... all this is said with many hand motions and dancing around. Finally (it took quite a while actually ) I figure out that he saw a Mr Clean magic eraser commercial.
Now I want to know how I get Mr. Clean here to clean my house. That would be soooooooooooo nice.

Where did Summer go?

2007-08-24T15:10:00.000-07:00

It goes by way to fast. I hadn't even really started to complain about being hot and now it's cooling down. We've had a good summer though. My stepdaughter was here for about 3 weeks. That was trying at times. But we got through it. Then my inlaws were here for a weekend. Now I'm just trying to get things back to normal. Whatever that is. Hopefully soon we'll be back in the swing of things.

m&m's and books

2007-08-03T11:12:00.000-07:00

I was just sitting here at the computer eating a handful of m&m's when Tate comes over and informs me I'm eating them wrong. Apparently you have to have all the m's facing up. I had no idea. All my years of eating m&m's the wrong way must be what's wrong with me. ha ha ha.
Actually I do have a problem. I have a thing recently (since november when we moved in here) for gardening type books and for crafty books.

I have all sorts of grand plans in my head for a cool landscape. And then I go to the thrift store and find all sorts of books with pretty pictures and good ideas. I keep collecting them. I can't seem to stop. I don't really want to stop but I should because I really do have a ton of other things I've started. I used to be so good at doing one thing at a time. I couldn't start another project until I finished what I was working on. Not anymore. There aren't enough hours in the day for all I want to do.

I've always liked to make stuff but since we moved to our very own house it's like I have another excuse to make things. I like projects, I have about a million things started, and a ton of things I want to learn. If I live long enough to get all the things I have started done, and learn everything I want to I'll end up being about 270.

The Pond

2007-08-01T12:51:00.000-07:00

Here is my pond in all its glory so far.

It's still a work in progress. I still need to decorate around the pond. And I need more plants. It's hard to find any now though because it's the end of the season. But being the end of the season I have scored some deals on what I got. And some things were free. We went to a landscaping place a few weeks ago and got two 5 gal buckets full of pea gravel to put in the bottom of the ponds. Because that's such a small amount they didn't even charge us anything. Then on sunday we went for a drive up logan canyon and picked up the flat rocks to put around the rim. I didn't put any on the front there because thats where Tate likes to sit. I'd been keeping my eyes open for a statue to put in the back. I wanted something with a little bit of height but I didn't have anything in mind for the subject. Then the night before last we went to the grocery store to get some milk. They had a end of season garden section set up near the door and I saw this little girl feeding 3 ducks. It was only 20 bucks and the ducks came too so I snagged it before I could talk myself out of it or someone else grabbed it. It looks like she's feeding the fish and the ducks now.

This has been a ton of fun to put together. Lots of work, but fun.

Who are these kids and why do they call me Mom?

2007-07-27T12:47:00.000-07:00

My little boys can be so strange sometimes. Out of the clear blue today Tate says to me "mom, i like watermelon" It was funny because he doesn't like watermelon and we haven't had one or seen one in weeks. And when he wanted a purple elephant. I finally got him made and Tate named him zoo zoo. No idea where that came from. Now he wants a purple giraffe to go with the elephant. He wants to name the giraffe zoo zay. Oh boy does he ever keep me laughing.
Last night the boys were playing in their room. My hubby poked his head in just to see what was up. This is what he found.

Tate was so proud. He looks at dad and says "look, I made a slide out of my bed for me and dillon!" They had such a blast playing like that. This is one of Dillons favorite places.

He likes the puppys box. What a nut.
So I finally found the camera and the cord but the hubby changed the memory cards and some of the pictures I wanted to put up here are on it. I have no idea where he put it. I also have some pictures on my phone I want to see if I can get off but I'm not the technical one in the house.
I guess I'd better go make a giraffe and see what else I can get into today.

things and stuff

2007-07-13T11:11:00.000-07:00

I hate when I'm at the thrift store, see something I like, talk myself out of it and then when I get home and it's too late to do anything about it I wish I had said item. I did this to myself about a week ago. I saw a really ugly, yet really comfortable, green chair. It was only 18 dollars. Why didn't I just get it? I don't know. But the next day when I went in, it was gone. Now I keep having dreams about it. I don't really need another chair, which is probably why I talked myself out of it. sigh
I finally got the pond up and running. We even put some goldfish in it. Now if I could only find where the camera and the cord has run off to..... I'm working on a couple of metal chairs now I found at a yard sale to put by the pond. When I got them they were a primer grey and had no seats. Now they're nice and shiny black. I have to get some plywood to make the seats but I went to jo-anns and got some fabric and some clear vinyl to cover them.
My 4 year old picked out some purple fabric while we were at jo-anns that he says he wants to make an elephant out of. He is such a nut. Now I need to find a little elephant pattern. This is why I don't get anything done. But I do have a couple of happy little boys. Someday he isn't going to want to play cars with me or things like that. Maybe I'll get all my chores done then.

House name

2007-07-09T07:39:00.000-07:00

So when my sister was here we were chatting about our houses. She was saying how she was trying to think of a name for her house. Strangely enough I've been trying to think of a name for my house too since we moved in, in Nov. You know like Green Gables or something like that. I've even been trying to think of just a name like, Clyde. Unfortunatly all the good names have already been taken. Like the Shire for example. My house was built in 1906 so I'm thinking it needs a good old fashioned name. My sister and I are weird like that. We have houseplants with names too. She has a christmas cactus named simon. She gave me a piece off of it years ago to grow. I named it simonson. Yeah, we're strange.
Well, I didn't get my pond finished. I ran out of bark. So on the list of things of things to do is get more. Also on the list is find where the camera cord thing ran off to. Ah, too much to do and not enough time to do it and I'm sitting here playing on the computer. Better get at it.

hot day....

2007-07-05T14:57:00.000-07:00

We had a good time yesterday. My sister drove up from Salt Lake City and hung out for the day. Her hubby went with his brother on a fishing/camping trip so she was alone. It was fun. We hung out and chatted and ate a ton of steak. Then when it got dark we lit some fireworks. Mostly little things that Tate would like. This year he wasn't even afraid of them, we got him to hold a sparkler even. He had a blast. I should have tried to take some pictures but it wasn't until later that I even thought of it. Isn't that the way it goes.
When talking to my sis, I was telling her what I'd like to do with the house and the yard and things. The only problem is that we really don't have much money. My sis was saying the same thing as they just bought a new house. Then we were lamenting the fact that we don't have any reletives with any money and we would have to win the lottery to get any. The problem with that is there isn't a lottery here in Utah. sigh...
Today was really hot. I just about melted. I did get a little work on the pond done and got a sunburn in the process. Maybe tomorrow I'll get all the bark done and some water in the pond!

Happy 4th!!!

2007-07-04T09:32:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday America! What a wonderful place to live. I sincerely try to never take it for granted that I live here.
I've been slowly puttering around the wonderful blogs that took part in the Pikes Peak Project. It makes me wish I could visit everywhere!
Well, just thought I'd pop in. I'm off for some playing outside, bbq steaks later, fireworks, visiting with family and enjoying every second of living in a free country!

From sea to shining sea: Utah

2007-07-03T12:20:00.003-07:00

What makes Utah great. I've been thinking about this since I volunteered to write about it. I guess there are tons of things especially if you enjoy being outside.
If you like to hike there are mountains galore. I'm here in cache valley. In just a short drive I can be up in the mountains. Its funny how with trees around you it seems as though civilization is miles and miles away. It seems like there are campsites around every corner.

Or if you like to be on the water it's also just a short drive to Bear Lake. You can swim, rent jet skies, play on a boat... and they have really good raspberry shakes. And ice cream. And hamburgers. Boy is that making me hungry!
There is also a place up Logan Canyon you can park, walk up a ways and then tube down the river. This is something I have yet to do but for some of the locals here it's a summer tradition.
You can also find many places to go rock climbing, mountain biking, horseback riding, miniature golf, shopping and various other fun things to do. I also shouldn't forget that in the winter skiing is a big past time.

And talk about just pretty scenery. Just going for a drive and looking at the views is amazing. It surprises me just how many different landscapes are in this one state. There are mountains, flat farm land, cities, lakes... it almost seems as though there is something for everyone.
There is also tons of history here. There are places close to Moab where you can see petrogliphs. Also close to Moab is the Arches National Park. This is a truly amazing place to visit.

And in Vernal there are dinosaur exhibits galore. And of course there is the history of the Mormon pioneers that traveled and settled here.

Wow. When I started this I thought I'd have a hard time. There really are a million and one things that are great about Utah. There are so many more things I didn't babble about. I can't believe how lucky I am to live here. And to live in America. Writing this post has really helped me to see that. I am very grateful to Firefly for this idea. I'm so glad I was puttering around and found her blog when I did. Hopefully my meager ramblings can help. I can't wait to see everyone elses corner of this great land. Now go:
north
west east
south

Where does the time go?

2007-06-27T12:51:00.000-07:00

Seriously, the days are getting shorter or something. My youngest turned 1 yesterday. How did that happen? We had a good day. Nothing too exciting just hung around the house. And then of course we ended it with a mess of chocolate cake. Dillon had a blast. I'll have to get some pictures up.
This last weekend we went camping up in couer d' alene for a family reunion. It was a long drive but fun. Except for the part where we ran out of gas. The hubby was sure we could make it but we didn't. 8 or 9 miles away from town the truck decided it was done. Luckily we didn't have to sit very long. And now I can say I told you so because I had said we should stop for gas.
Well I should go do the laundry. That's one of my least favorite chores. Actually the putting in the washer and dryer isn't so bad, it's the folding. I HATE folding clothes. I would rather clean the toilet. And I suppose I should just be grateful that I don't have to wash my clothes by hand. When someone invents an automatic folder I will be first in line.
Ok enough ramblings for now.

Busy

2007-06-13T13:47:00.001-07:00

I have been kinda busy. I made this chair cushion a few weeks ago. The chair was found at D.I. and the cushion on it was gross. Besides being gross it wasn't even meant for this chair. It was for lawn furniture. We lived with it for quite a while but it was in need of a change. So I got some fabric and made a newspaper pattern and went to town. Amazingly enough it turned out better than what was in my head.

This table was a little unfinished wood table that I got a michaels for 5 bucks. I also bought a pack of scrapbook paper at the same time. I took it all home and assembled the table. Then I painted it black. While that dried I found a paper I wanted to use that had dragons on. I cut out the bits I wanted to use and mod podged them on. After that was all done the table still looked like it needed something so I painted around the top and on the legs a pink that matched the paper. The pictures don't really do it justice.

I'm also pretty sore from moving around blocks for my pond. We got a load of bark mulch to fill around the pond forms yesterday too. I need to get some pictures taken of my progress so far. It's going to look goooood! (if i do say so myself)

Bleh Monday

2007-06-11T10:39:00.000-07:00

And it is a monday. My little baby boy is sick and his big brother is driving me crazy and I won't even get out of the house for belly dance class tonight because my hubby has to work late. Aarg. Not to mention we need to go grocery shopping but I don't want to take sick boy out but we don't have any milk....
ok. now that I've vented some...
We did have a pretty good weekend. Nice weather for some yard sales. We didn't really find any big treasures but we got a few new story books for Tate. And then later on Sat the boys went fishing. Didn't catch anything but they had fun.
well, here's hoping this day gets better!

Rainy day

2007-06-06T10:13:00.000-07:00

Today is rainy. I guess my plans for puttering outside just got canceled. That's ok I suppose. I finished a fleece blankie yesterday just for me so today can be spent snuggled under that with a cup of hot chocolate.
Yesterday was spent sewing a fleece blanket kit from Jo-anns. As I was sewing it I was wondering why with the warm weather was I making a blanket in the first place. One reason was because I'd had the kit for quite a while and I'm trying to finish projects I already have before getting new ones. And maybe I knew today I would need a nice snugglie blankie.
Maybe later I'll get some pictures up. About a week ago I sewed a new cushion for a glider rocking chair I've had for a while. I should show off some of the things I've done. But right now hot chocolate is calling me.

Treasure

2007-06-04T13:00:00.000-07:00

I didn't get to any yard sales this weekend but I did find these bowls at the D.I. They are definitely handmade but I like them because they're slightly wonky. They aren't perfectly round and they aren't even the same height. I thought they would be perfect cereal or ice cream bowls. And for 1.00 for both of them I couldn't resist. They're almost so ugly they're cute.

And in other news I'm rather sore from hauling a ton of retaining wall blocks to go around my pond. For mothers day I received a preformed pond so now I get to put it all together. I'm excited for it. I've wanted a pond for a long time. I'll get pictures of it up as it comes together hopefully. My plan is to make myself a little secret garden by the side of the house. That's my project of the moment, I'd better get back to it!

First post!

2007-06-02T13:39:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally hopped onto the blog bandwagon. I don't know why really except it looks like so much fun to post pictures and babble about things. I see so many other pretty blogs and think to myself...
self? I bet I could do that.
So, here will be my attempt at that. I don't know really why I'm even trying to explain why I'm doing it. I tried to explain something to my hubby the other day and it ended up with him calling me whimsical. He says I get whims and just jump into things sometimes. I don't really think it's a bad thing and he didn't mean it in a bad way. I kinda like it.
So there ya go. The name of my blog pretty much sums things up.