Update!!!!! Yay!

I got my haircut the day before Mother's Day. It went from this-

to this-

That first picture is kindof goofy, but you get the idea.

I had to take apart the disposal. Ben was playing with a bb (from a bb gun, don't ask because I have no idea where he got it) and it somehow ended up in the disposal. It didn't ruin the disposal, but it was sure inconvenient at the time.

On May 12, this lovely lady had a birthday. She didn't want a cake, she wanted root beer floats. So that's what we had. She turned 11. Two days later, a boy at school asked her if she would go to a movie with him. I have a feeling that we may be in for some trouble here.

On May 15 (Saturday) Mike said, "Do you want to install the new floor today?" He had brought home some laminate flooring some weeks before and it had been sitting - in the boxes - in our front room since then. I said sure, so we started ripping up the linoleum in the kitchen and dining area. We knew that we would need to install some new subfloor in the front room, but we thought that we could get the kitchen and dining area done before we needed to worry about that.

We got it all ready and put one of the pieces of laminate down on the floor. I really didn't like it, but Mike did and he had spent some money to purchase it. He could tell that I was less than pleased, so he loaded me and the little boys in the car and off the Lowe's we went. After some hours and a few different stores, we found something that wasn't outrageously expensive that we both liked and that matched our cabinets and table. We started to install it around 5pm and got almost all of the dining area done by 11pm. I spent the next few days installing the flooring in the kitchen. (On Monday I wasted most of the morning on the computer looking for a cheap flight to LA so I could attend my brother's wedding, and Tuesday I had a doctor's appointment in Salt Lake that took most of that day. I didn't get back to the floor until Wednesday. I didn't get to go to the wedding, by the way. Sorry Eric and Jill!) I got all the floor done by Friday around 4pm and re-installed the stove. I was about to re-install the dishwasher when I stepped on the floor. To my horror, I noticed that there was about 1/4 inch of water UNDER the new flooring. I un-installed the stove and we took out all the new flooring. Even what was in the dining area because the water had seeped under the cabinet. It took about an hour and a half to rip up what it had taken me about four days to install. We won't even talk about the amount of water added to the floor from my tears.

We had the fan on the floor for almost 48 hours before we decided that it was dry enough to re-install the flooring. All in all, I guess it wasn't too bad. A wasted week, but we only had to throw away four and a half boards. It's all done now (the part that was previously done) and it looks better than before. Yesterday (Saturday, May 29) we spent the day prepping the front room for flooring - ripping out carpet, pad, and tack strips, and installing a new sub-floor. Tomorrow we will be putting in the new flooring in there. Hopefully it will go pretty fast and we can be done by tomorrow evening. It will be so nice to have it done!

Josh had his last band concert on Thursday, May 27. They still sound like a junior high school band, but I must admit that they have improved since the beginning of the year.

This is what Andrew looked like at the concert.

The poor little guy. He had had another seizure on Wednesday and he was still sick and not feeling well at all. He had a fever of between 102 and 103 all afternoon, and that was while he was medicated. I would've stayed home from the concert with him, but Mike was at work and meeting us at the concert so I needed to take Josh over to the school anyway. Andrew was such a little trooper through the whole thing. After the concert, Mike got our neighbor to come over and help give Andrew a blessing. About a half an hour after the blessing, Andrew had no more fever and he slept pretty well all through the night. I am so glad that the priesthood is on the earth and that my husband is worthy to use that power to bless our family when we need it. Our family has been so blessed by the Gospel and I am so grateful that we are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Well, now you are caught up on what's been happing around here. Feel free to drop by and see the new flooring if you're interested. Have a fabulous day!

p.s. Tomorrow while we are installing the new flooring, I will be praying for the families of all those who have lost their lives while protecting the freedoms of others. I am truly grateful for their service. To all those in the military and their families - We love you and you are deeply appreciated for all your sacrifice and service!

Since I've been such a slacker, I'll sum up. Even so, be ready for a bit of a read.

In January, my hubby had a birthday and turned the big four ohh.

On February 8 Grandpa took all his sons and grandsons (and Keri) to see the Harlem Globetrotters. I saw the pictures. It looks like a good time was had by all.

For Valentine's Day I made pink applesauce pancakes shaped like hearts. Can we all say it together? Ready - aaawwwwww, how special. I don't make shaped pancakes very often because I stink at it. It just so happens that when I flipped these they landed like that. I couldn't resist taking a picture.


On February 19, Mike was the 8,000th facebook fan for a really neat lady - Becky Higgins. I have followed her and admired her and been inspired by her for a long time. She has written articles for Creating Keepsakes Magazine and she has written a few books. She has a blog about her family, scrapbooking ideas, and organizational tips that I have followed for a few years (http://www.beckyhiggins.com/). Anyway, Mike was her 8,000th fan. She had decided that she would call that person and interview them and highlight them on her blog. She called and interviewed me because Mike told her to. She wrote a very lovely article about me and said some really nice things. You can go here to see it if you didn't see it when it was done -

http://www.beckyhiggins.com/blog/2010/03/8000.html

Then on March 3 I had a knock on the door at about 2:20pm. I was getting some paper together to work on a project for my Mom and my aunt. You see, my grandpa was dying - could've been any minute - and I was making some cards for them that we could put a bit of his hair in. I had made them cards like that when my grandma died and they both expressed interest in having one for my grandpa also. Anyway, I had just picked the paper when the doorbell rang. I answered the door, and was shocked to see Becky Higgins standing there on my front porch.

She was on vacation, visiting some friends here and doing some skiing, and decided to come visit me. She brought me one of her kits - Project Life. It's a way to display your life for a year. A picture a day, a few lines of writing telling about what happened that day, slip it in the spot on the page, and there you have it. It was so great to meet her. She is so nice, and personable. I don't know how she has time to do all the things she does. She has three kids, a business she runs, and she is the Relief Society President in her ward. She amazes me.

On February 24 Andrew held a tea party for his bear. So cute!

My Grandpa finally died on March 6. He hung on for a lot longer than anyone thought he would. It was an excruciating time for all of us. We were all very sad at his passing, but we were relieved that he was done with his suffering. I was able to go to Oregon to help clean out his apartment and to attend his funeral.




While in Oregon I had some really good experiences with my family. All my brothers and sisters were able to come, most without spouses and none brought kids. We had so much fun, especially Jolene and I. We spent the most time together because both of us rode up and back with Dad.












When we helped clean out the apartment, we found quite a few of Grandma's things that Grandpa couldn't part with, like Grandma's lipsticks. Of course we had to try them on.

My Granddad was awesome. He could fix anything. He built things and invented things. He had tons of apple trees on his property and he made an apple press so he could make his own apple cider. My mom and my Aunt Julia picked out a casket for my grandpa that looked like he could've made it himself. It was so beautiful. The spray that they had made for the top of his casket had a bird nest and apples. Everything about it made us think about Grandpa and his life. He was a great man and all our lives are a bit empty because he is no longer with us. We all learned a lot from Grandpa and his example.

When I went to Oregon I was a little sad, and not just because I was going there to attend a funeral. I thought that I wouldn't get the chance to visit the Coast. The Oregon Coast is one of my favorite places on the face of this earth. I LOVE IT! I thought that we wouldn't have the time or a way to get there. Well, out of the seven days I was in Oregon I was at the coast on three of them. And two of the days were travel days. So really, it was three out of five. I was so blessed to be able to be there. It is so beautiful. I even got to see the ocean at night, which is something that I've never seen before. It looked like molten silver. So cool! I went out to dinner with all my brothers and sisters at about midnight Utah time. I can't say that I would recommend eating fish and chips that late, but it was a really fun time.

Here's a pretty good picture of my cute parents on the day of the funeral.

Back to normal life.

Josh had a band concert on March 18. He plays the trombone and he has a real talent for it. He would be a superb player if he cared more for practicing.





March 18 was also my baby's second birthday. We didn't really celebrate until the next day. We did go out to dinner at Winger's though.

And here's a picture of Aaron all gussied up for Church. What a handsome boy!

We spent most of the end of March trying to finish the basement. We had carpet installed on March 28, so we spent the week before that painting the living room five times (1 coat of primer, 2 coats of paint in a color that we decided that we couldn't live with, then 2 coats of paint of a color we love), and removing the existing carpet.

We really love the way it turned out. Feel free to come over and check it out. We would love to show it off!

Pictures of the girl's room and the living room.

Of course we had to dye eggs for Easter. Let me tell you, it's no small feat when you have six kids.

On April 5, Mike was in a little fender-bender. No one was hurt except for the Focus. Both air bags deployed and the windshield shattered. The accident happened at less than probably three miles per hour. The other guy got his taillight broken. The insurance company decided to trash the car rather than fix it, so we had to get a new one. Mike decided on a KIA Rio. It's pretty good.

And here are a couple of random photos from the last few days to round out this post.

I hope you have enjoyed this. Now go forth and actually get something done.

Oh, and have a fantastic day!

Here are some great quotes that I wanted to have, so I put them here so I wouldn't lose them.

"And while it takes courage to achieve greatness, it takes more courage to find fulfillment in being ordinary. For the joys that last have little relationship to achievement, to standing one step higher on the victory platform. What is the adventure in being ordinary? It is daring to love just for the pleasure of giving it away. It is venturing to give new life and to nurture it to maturity. It is working hard for the pure joy of being tired at the end of the day. It is caring and sharing and giving and loving…" - Marilyn Thomsen"

"..but the biggest mistake I made is the one that most of us make while doing this. I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of the three on them sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages 6, 4, and 1. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in a hurry to get on to the next things: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less." - Anna Quindlen

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense." - Emerson

Over on Ali Edwards' blog (aliedwards.typepad.com) she just got done documenting a week in her life. She took over 100 pictures each day of everything she did that day. Cool idea. I will probably be doing this sometime in the future. She included these quotes because they inspired her to pay attention to the details of her life, the little ordinary things. Things that she wished she knew about her grandmother's daily schedule. I like this idea and I like these quotes.

The other day Andrew learned how to climb into and out of his crib, open doorknobs, and take off his diaper. All in the same day.

But, how can you be mad at this?

mmmm. Still life in plastic.

Have a great day!