The Kids

I have been horrible at updating our day to day lives lately. I think because we have settled into our routine and not much out of the ordinary happens. So here are some updates on the kiddos.

Jillise is really thriving in 2nd grade. She has a great teacher and some good friends. She has been a "self manager" since the second week of school. Self Managers are allowed to leave for lunch and PE early, they get to eat lunch with the teacher on Fridays, and they get other special privileges. She has been able to maintain this status and really enjoys the perks.

She continues to do well in spelling and math. Since first grade started, she has only missed one spelling word. I wish I had her brain. She has recently gotten back into writing and illustrating stories. Brian and I just crack up at what is swirling around in her head. She is currently working on a chapter book. I'll have to put it up here when she is done.

Her "meltdowns" have been few and far between lately, and none of them have happened at or about school. The few she has had have been in the evenings when she is tired and the last straw just makes her snap. She is also quite helpful here at home. She loves to practice her piano and most days doesn't even have to be reminded to do it. She really is a fun girl to be around.

Joelle seems to be enjoying kindergarten -- at least from what I can get out of her. She never seems to want to share much after school. She knows her letter sounds and has started to read some simple phonics books. She loves doing her "homework" and I think is really liking some independence from home and her big sister. She is not a morning person, so afternoon kindergarten was really a good move on our part. She has the morning to lounge around, eat lunch, do homework, fight with Jaren, and have some Mom time.

Joelle is our "spirited child" and I am trying to figure out how to best raise her so she has some self control, but maintain her energy and feistiness. She is very loving and I think she is just trying to find her place as the middle child. She makes friends easily and is very social. She also loves (LOVES) to talk. She has been blessed with a great Primary teacher who I know is helping her with that. I have yet to hear from her kindy teacher that she is a motor mouth, but teacher conferences are this weekend. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the news is good. I have heard that the class has some REALLY unruly boys, so maybe a chatterbox is the least of her worries.

Both girls are finishing up soccer. It has been fun to watch their personalities come out during practices and games. Jillise is a perfectionist and carries that onto the field, where she is thoughtful and a bit cautious. She has been hit in the face with the ball a few times, but each time has gotten back in there. They have goalies this year and she has come close to scoring a few times, but those goalies make it tough. :) Joelle, despite her feistiness, does not seem to have a competetive bone in her body. She is out there running NEAR the ball, but she seems more interested in managing what is going on. She rarely makes contact with the ball, but she is always shouting helpful instructions to those who do. She also loves to tell all of the female coaches and refs about her day. During the game. Whatever. This is a child who isn't very inclined to do physical exercise on her own, so she will be sticking with soccer to keep her moving.

Ballet has started up again, too. Keeps me busy.

Jaren is my buddy. I. love. this. kid. He is funny, charming, cuddly, and all boy. It cracks me up to watch how he plays with things. He is all about noise, destruction, and chaos. His speech and vocabulary are a constant source of entertainment for me. He is pretty good at getting his point across. Thanks to his older sisters he has mastered "I don't want," "I can't," "Stop," and "No, not that!" But he loves to say prayers (always in a whisper, except a loud AMEN with hands thrown up in the air at the end), and count and try to sing his ABCs. His current TV shows are Go Diego Go and Dora. He loves to call Brian at work and say, "Oh, Maaaaaaaan!!" like Swiper and "Yumyumyumyum... delicioso!" like backpack. His favorite drink is milk or water WITH ICE and he is back to loving cheese.

I like that Jaren still enjoys being rocked before bed and that he is snuggly when I get him up in the morning. He is surprisingly easy going and doesn't pitch a fit when he is awakened early to take Jillise to school in the cold. He seems to love being along for the ride and likes to try to make any situation fun.

Our weekends in October have been CRAZY BUSY and we hadn't been able to go to the pumpkin patch yet. This was one tradition we hadn't broken yet, and it was killing me that we might not be able to go. Yesterday was sunny and 72 degrees, so Brian took the afternoon off and we went to a really fun place. The kids had a great time, though Jaren couldn't seem to figure out what on earth we were doing. We climed the hay pyramid, rode the hay ride out to pick our pumpkins, took a ride on crazy cow train, and saw the animals. It was a fantastic fall day.

When we got home we were lucky enough to have the missionaries over to teach a lesson to a woman who is interested in learning more about our church. I was responsible for trying to keep the kids quiet (her six year old son was over and the kids were having quite a bit of very noisy fun upstairs) and so I wasn't able to be there for the whole discussion, but I really enjoyed being reminded of how I came to know for myself that the church was true. We are meeting again on Thursday and I hope that the same spirit will be here at this next lesson to help her know for herself that the gospel and Book of Mormon are true.

*sigh* That's it.

Pure Poetry

Jillise's class is doing a poetry unit. She had to write a rhyming poem and a haiku. Here were her contributions to the poety page:

BASEBALL

Watching baseball's fun for dad.
But that just always makes me mad.
I always want to watch TV,
But baseball's not that fun for me.

FLOWER HAIKU

Flowers smell so nice.
I have some by my front door.
There are lots of kinds.

Chili Cookoff

"My" white chili won the chili cookoff this year. Woo hoo!! Never mind that the Elders Quorum presidency were the judges. Brian said he took himself out of the vote. I won the world's largest Mum. Seriously. It's huge. It is taking up most of my porch. I love it.

Anyway, many of you asked for the recipe and since it's not some top secret family recipe and since I won this year and will have to come up with something different for next year, here it is. I got it from Taste of Home magazine seven years ago. You can make this really low fat by using fat free sour cream and fat free half and half instead of the whipping cream in the last step.

Creamy White Chili

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 t garlic powder
1 T vegetable oil
2 cans (15 1/2 oz each) great northern beans, rinsed and drained (Safeway doesn't carry this kind of bean, I just used white beans this last time and it was fine.)
1 can (14 1/2 oz) chicken broth
2 cans (4 oz each) chopped green chilies
1 t salt
1 t ground cumin
1 t dried oregano
1/2 t pepper
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whipping cream

In a large saucepan, saute chicken, onion, and garlic powder in oil until chicken is no longer pink. Add beans, broth, chilies, and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in sour cream and cream. Serve immediately. Makes 7 servings.

Motherhood

Joy of Motherhood #1853: Fishing poop out of the bathtub.

Joy of Motherhood #1854: Not dryheaving while fishing poop out of the bathtub because you have had the joy of doing it BEFORE and have evidently built up super human immunity.

Changes

It is officially Fall. I love this time of the year. I love the way the air smells (like football games and jackets), I love the colors (as you can tell from my new paint choices down below), and I love the CHANGES (school, wardrobe, temperature).

President Monson said in General Conference last week that nothing is as constant as change. Ain't that the truth. With the economy trying to find it's balance, politicians making a$$es of themselves to get my vote, and with some friends losing jobs and others unable to get them in the first place, it isn't hard to forget that some change is unwelcome and difficult. It is times like these where I cling desperately to my faith that everything is going to be "okay." I heard or read a quote somewhere that said, "Everything is going to be alright in the end. If it isn't alright, it isn't the end." I know that things will work out. We have known that times are going to get rough before they get better. The leaders of the church have been counselling us to get out of debt, keep emergency food and supplies on hand, and strengthen our families against the evils of the world. It's go time, for sure.


Some change makes us stretch ourselves a little and ultimately (hopefully) makes us better people. I was called today to be the secretary in the stake Young Women's Presidency. The only YW calling I have ever had was the Stake YW Camp Music Specialist. All of my other callings have either been in music or in Primary. I am looking forward to working with the new presidency and seeing what new challenges will be in store for me. I am assuming that I now get to go to Girls Camp, Dances, and Firesides. If nothing else, I am proof to these girls that a big clueless teen can become a big clueless adult who at least functions in society and has friends. I will miss being in primary and being reminded week after week of how simple the gospel is and seeing the simple faith of these little kids who have not yet been jaded by life and temptation and failure. But I hope to be able to do some good with the girls who are struggling to find a testimony of their own.

Some change is painful. Jaren's face was changed today when he was bit in nursery. Ouch. I guess this is karma coming back to get me. I remember biting a girl when I was older than nursery age. I also remember getting to come home and bite a piece of soap. A Christmas Story has very personal meaning to me. (It was soap poisoning...) The poor mom of the boy was just in tears. My heart went out to her. I would feel the same way if Jaren had laid into someone. I don't blame anyone. It's hard to see the bright red spot on his cheek, but it happens. It didn't break the skin, so it should go away after a few days. He snuggled with me in the kitchen for a few minutes while I put ice on it, then he went back to nursery. What a trooper.




Some change is welcome. Like the change from my regular routine. Yesterday Brian and I went to the temple for our ward temple day. It was so nice to be there with all faces that I love and recognize. It was neat to see everyone and know that through our callings we are all serving each other, and that if one person wasn't there or doing their part that things wouldn't run as smoothly as they could. It was great to be reminded of why we are here on this earth and what our goals should be. It puts all the other changes of the world into perspective and helps us to "carry on" through the ups and downs of life. I was reminded that fear is the absence of faith. If my focus is on things of eternal nature I will be able to rise above the temporal challenges and everything will be okay because I will doing what is important. I need to serve more, pray more, and have faith.

Change is good. :)

The Big Reveal - Part II

On to the kitchen and dining room!!


When you open the front door, a little hallway leads to past the stairs on the left, the new living room on the right, back to the kitchen. The kitchen is along the back of the house. To the right of the kitchen is the new music room/office and to the left of the kitchen is the room where we used to have the TV and old gross couch. There was a breakfast nook there where we had our small table. On the far side of that room on the far left of the house is a pantry, bathroom, and laundry room. One of the biggest things keeping us back from doing any sort of room switch sooner was the fact that the linoleum from the kitchen extended into the little breakfast nook, then there was carpet for the area where we had the couch and TV. To make that area into a dining room would mean the table would be on half carpet, half linoleum. Blech. So here are some before pictures. I had to scrape the bottom of the barrel because I didn't really take many good before pictures. So these are just random ones that showed how the room was set up. And yes, my kitchen was lime green. I loved it. I had the color picked before we even moved in. The color makes me happy. But it was not really a color you could extend into the dining room without it starting to look like overkill. So it's gone.

BEFORE

The lime green walls, with the scripture I had in vinyl letters above the sink. That thing took FOREVER to get off.

The yucky couch, with the pile of shoes, bags, coats, and everything else in the corner. That door leads to the garage. We park in there, so that is the door that we use the most often.The breakfast nook. You can see where the TV was here in this picture. Behind Joelle are sliding doors to the backyard.

Looking from the TV area into the kitchen. Don't mind the mess. It usually looks that bad. I have gotten used to it.

AFTER

The kitchen is now a warm reddish/orange. My designer recommended a color that wasn't so bright, but I was sold on this. I had lime green before, remember? I'm not afraid of color. This is the view as you come down the hall from the front door.

The orange really makes the cabinet color look warm.This is standing in the entry way to the music room, looking into the kitchen.
Standing in the kitchen, looking into the dining room. The color going down the entire wall really unifies the space. That is the light fixture that used to be in the room where the piano is now. After many trips to Ace Hardware, I rewired it and hung it myself. Go me! There is a regular flush mount light in the music room now. Also done by me. The table really goes well in here and we can fit people all the way around it. There is even plenty of room to use the leaf on Thanksgiving! That cabinet in the back corner has all of my sewing stuff in it. It was SO easy to pull it out really quick this weekend to do a few little projects. We still need drapes in this room -- I am thinking offwhite with a band of khaki or green along the bottom.

The hutch. The hutch that no one could really get to an enjoy in the other room because the room was too small. That is my great grandmother's china. I am so excited that it can be shown off now.

A closeup of the re-covered chairs. They used to be white. And cloth. A horrible combo for a dining room with kids. This fabric has an orange stripe in it that I used for the kitchen walls. This is also the fabric above the sink and covering the chain on the dining room lamp. And the chairs are covered in the oh-so-chic spill proof vinyl.

Thanks for visiting!

The Big Reveal Part I

We have been working HARD. My body is tired, my brain is tired, and my bank account is spent. I spent most of my "free time" last week pulling up carpet, moving things into the garage and other rooms, painting, and purchasing laminate and underlayment. I was determined to do this all in an orderly fashion so my family wasn't walking on subfloor for weeks and weeks if this took longer than I thought it would. But it was still crazy chaos as my counters were taken over by books, music, tools, and whatever else needed to be up off of the floors. On Thursday night our friend Brian came over to help hang the TV on the wall -- the first step to the big rearrange. On Friday he came over again to help us get started on the floors. Saturday morning my friend Jeanette came and picked up all three kid (what a saint she is), and she dropped off her husband to help. Later my brother John showed up. We were in business. We got the front hallway, the kitchen, and the dining room area done that night. With the help of a neighbor we got the huge heavy hutch moved so we could start the other side of the house. We took Sunday off. On Monday I started the day by ripping up the last of the carpet (by myself, thankyouverymuch), pulling up the tacks, staples, and baseboards, and rolling out the underlayment. John came over at about 1:00 and the two of us got the bulk of the remaining work done. By the time Brian got home from work they just had the tricky fireplace pieces to do and the finishing touches.

We still need to put up baseboards and transition pieces. We started doing the transition pieces Monday night but we were all so spent mentally and physically that we thought we should take a little break from it. Besides, if you cross your eyes and look at the walls it LOOKS like there is baseboard there because that part of the wall is still white and the rest is painted. Hee hee!

Now I just have to put everything BACK. I have been holding off on posting pictures until things were more put together. But I am realizing that this is a marathon, and not a sprint. And despite wanting everything done NOW, time and money don't really allow for that. So allow me to introduce you to our "new" downstairs. At least two rooms of it.

The Family Room

When we first bought the house I was thrilled that we had a front room for the piano and nicer furniture, and a back room where we could put another couch and the TV. Since I teach piano lessons I wanted a place to do my thing that wouldn't interfere too much with the rest of the family. But as our family grew and we settled into the home I realized that that arrangement wasn't working any more. We didn't all fit on one couch to watch TV and the space was so small that we couldn't have anyone over to cheer for BYU football or play the Wii. So we moved the TV to the front room and found another place for the piano.

BEFORE

This room never got fully painted. I started with a golden yellow, but it ended up looking greenish in some light and so I stopped and never started again. The carpet in this room was in fairly good shape, but it was abysmal in the back of the house, so it all had to go. Those windows look out on the street. The entry to the house is on the other side of that little wall on the right. The wall in the third picture is the wall along the hallway that leads from the front door to the back part of the house and the kitchen. We joke that the color looked like baby poop. It looked great in some light and just gross in others.

AFTER

The walls are now a nice buttery cream color. The tape is still up there from painting. I guess I should take that down tonight. The first picture is standing by the front door, looking into the living room. On the "to do" list is a nice plush rug to go in here so we have a place to lay down and watch tv and wrestle with the kids. The next picture is taken from the hall, looking straight in. I am not sure if we are going to keep the shelves and cabinet on each side of the fireplace, but they are serving a good purpose right now, so until I know what to do, they are staying. Stacey is coming for dinner this weekend and you can be sure I will be asking for her advice.

This is standing in the corner by the fireplace, looking into the front hall. We have replaced the poop brown with one that looks like melted Hersheys bars. yum. The little bookshelf by the chair will be painted black at some point. It will also be organzied. Eventually. Brian is thrilled that he can not sit in the recliner and watch TV. Bring on the fall sports!

This is the "old" dining room. We bought a table and chair set several years ago for the dining room and it took up so much of the space that we could never actually EAT there. So I used it for my computer. And sewing. And to pile up junk. NOW it's my music room/office. One wall still needs to be painted -- I ran out of paint. And we will be moving the light into the other room over the table and replacing it with a light fixture that people won't bonk their heads on. I really think this may become my favorite room. I love having a desk for all my stuff that ISN'T the kitchen counter.

The black bookshelves on either side of the piano were the maple ones from the "before" pictures. I love having all of my music at arms reach. And now the top of my piano isn't piled high with all of the things I need for lessons. I am on the hunt for the "perfect" drapes for each room. I may end up just making them.

Next -- the kitchen and dining room.