Zak is 5!

On Saturday, Zak turned 5.
He is such a big kid.
And now, he is officially old enough to start Kindergarten!

Zak has been asking for a big kid scooter, and he is amazingly good at doing puzzles.
So he got one of each.

We love you Zak.
Happy Birthday

5 Things I love about Zak
1-Zak knows what he wants and is willing to fight for it
2-If something is not important to him, anything will do
3-If something is important to him, you can't change his mind
4-He loves Primary and knows the scripture stories and songs well
5-He never misses anything around him, and can rehearse anything back to you

Zak's Birthday Party

On Friday, we had Zak's 5 year old birthday party.

The boys played Barrel of Monkeys

Built blocks

And ate birthday cake. He had green cupcakes.

They liked the balloons the best.

We had lots of fun. We keep birthdays pretty simple around here. I usually just let the kids enjoy having friends over. Zak loved the attention, and deciding the activities.

A New School Year

Well, the kids are now one week into the school year. They both love their teachers and so do I.

Amber is in the 5th grade this year. She is starting to turn into a girl. It is important that her hair and clothes be just right. She is a good student and does a good job at being on top of her schoolwork most of the time. She sure is growing up quickly.

Les is in 2nd grade this year, and I am looking forward to a great year for him. He needs a month to brush up on his reading, and then he will start piano lessons. He is a quick learner. Sometimes, I have to remind him to finish his homework before TV time, but he works hard.

I can't believe my kids are so big. They grow so fast. But I am very proud of them.

I know we'll have a good year. I am looking forward to helping with their class activities.

Kitchen Archway

We have been so consumed with our home makeover, that I haven't had time to post anything for a while (and this has upset at least one friend who is going through blog withdrawl so badly that she finally had to subscribe to a newspaper!). While I am still not all put together and ready for pictures of the final product, We are, for the most part, done. So, I thought I'd post a little teaser of one of my favorite things that we did.

The entry to my Dining room/kitchen didn't have a real doorway. The walls just went straight up to the ceiling. For some reason, this has always bugged me.

Before

When Brian started talking about making a doorway, I suggested maybe an arched doorway.

During

For a couple of amateurs using the Internet as our only resource, I think that we did a pretty good job.

After

Of course, this is not the finished product. Hopefully, I'll have that posted soon.

Waterfight!

Last winter, my kids started a snowball fight with the neighbor across the street. Since then, he teases them, takes their toys, and always tells them "I'm watching you." My kids tease him right back, and they all have fun.

Last week while the kids were out playing in the water, the neighbor came home from work. Les was bugging him, and he came over and both Les and Zak threw buckets of water on him.

Well, 2 days later, they were out playing in the water again when he got home from work, but he walked up to the front of his truck and got a bucket of his own. I don't think that my kids really thought that he would dump it on them, and I wasn't even sure it really had water in it until....

He started running, and got Les,

And then Zak

I'm glad they can all play in good fun. Fortunately, the neighbor is mature enough to know when to stop and where to stop. Obviously, my kids are not. But they love the play.

Trip to SLC

Last Friday, Brian took his young men camping, and I wasn't in the mood to have the kids fighting all day. So I surprised them with a very unplanned trip to Salt Lake. Before we left, I was able to pack their swimsuits and towels, and pack a lunch without them knowing. I told them we had to go somewhere, and to get in the car. They didn't really ask any questions until we went past the Layton exits on I-15. Since I don't usually go further than that without them knowing, they started to ask questions.

I thought that we would just spend the day hanging out, doing what we want when we want. No schedules.
We wandered around Temple Square.
We saw the Christus statue,

Looked out the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial building,

Went to the top of the Church Office Building to view the City,

And enjoyed the beautiful flowers on the church grounds.

We played in the fountains at the gateway,

And played and smiled the whole time.

Then we went to the Church History Museum where the kids enjoyed the special activities for the children.
Les really enjoyed helping to tie a quilt for the Church's Humanitarian projects,

And Zak had fun doing the CTR rubbings.

We always like to see the Temple, and this day had lots of beautiful brides and grooms.

We also took a few minutes to walk over to the Brigham Young Memorial park
and City Creek Park and the Beehive House.

We spent about 8 hours in downtown Salt Lake and just had fun being together. I need to remember that if the kids have fun things to do, they fight a lot less, and really have fun being together, and I love to be with them. It is definitely a trip I'm glad we took.

Sun in Smoke

This is a picture Amber took of the sun through all the smoke on Thursday night.

MUD!

The other day while Brian and I were working on the kitchen, the boys asked if they could dig in the garden with a little water. We agreed that would be OK.

About an hour later we went out to find two little boys that were in heaven, and a mess bigger than any I have ever let them make.

The bottom stair was completely lost in a mud slide.

The shed and the window were splattered.

And the boys had smiles from ear to ear.

Downstairs Bathroom

Last summer we started a remodel on our downstairs bathroom. We have had a few problems that have delayed getting the last few major things finished up, but finally it is done. I really like the way that it turned out. The pictures don't do it justice. Either the lights, or the green paint, or a combination of the two make it look really bad in the pictures.

I did almost all of the laying of the tile in this bathroom too.

The tile in the shower is really my favorite part. It looks awesome.
Again, I did it!

We had a really hard time choosing a vanity that we liked because of the size of space that we had to put it in. But I like what we chose. It looks like a piece of furniture instead of just a bathroom cupboard.

Slowly, everything is coming together, and hopefully, the whole project will be done before school starts. I am so happy with it all, and I am getting impatient for it all to be done!

What did a 1977 Mc Donalds Bag Look Like?

We seem to be moving much slower on the redo of the upstairs of our house. But slowly, it is moving along. Part of the reason is that there is a lot more work that needs done. Brian seems to start tearing each room apart while I am not home, and so far, we don't have a before picture of any of the rooms, how we have been living with them. Just after he has started the work.

This is our bathroom after the carpet, cupboards, and toilet have been removed. The old original linoleum was on the floor still. We had intended on putting the old cupboards back in because of cost, but they didn't come out in one piece, so we will be replacing them too.

Zak started in on the walls for us.

And once inside, I was disgusted at what we found.

A tube of sheet rock adhesive...and trash.

A milk carton...and trash.

And a McDonald's bag(our house was built in 1977) and coffee cup...and more trash.

I had heard that it was a common thing for contractors to do to clean up a job. But I was totally disgusted. Really, can't they have more courtesy to a persons home than this? It really can't be healthy to have all that stuff in there. The whole wall was packed full of more things like this.

At our house, Brian is totally willing to cut the tile, mix the grout, and mortar, but I actually lay it. It really is fun to do. This is the second bathroom at our house that I have done. That reminds me, the one we started last year is finally complete and I need to blog it too.

This is when the tile was complete. The final product with grout, cupboards, etc. will have to wait for now. But now the tile is in, we can grout and seal it, and continue moving ahead.

Pioneer Days Parade

On Friday, our family was asked to pull a handcart that went with the float that our Stake has made for the Ogden Pioneer Days parade.
The float depicted the scene near Devils Gate when some young men from the rescue party carried the saints from the Martin Handcart Company across the cold Sweetwater River. I wish that I had a picture when all of the people were on it. They had a young man in the river carrying a child across. (If you don't know this story from LDS pioneer history, click here.)
One of the big brothers of another handcart convinced his little brother to "hold on tight" to the wheel while he pulled the handcart.
It was such a good experience for the kids. Amber has been learning about one of her Great Grandfathers, Francis Webster recently, and so she appreciated the experience a lot more.

Sunset

On our drive home from the family reunion on Saturday night, there was an awesome sunset. I had to snap a few pictures.

2 Wheels at Last!

Just before we left on vacation to Florida, Zak took off his training wheels, and started riding. Since then, he hasn't tried much. So yesterday at the family reunin, we took his bike. We knew he would have a little more room to practice there. He even figured out how to get started without someone holding the bike up for him!

Hooray for Zak!

Fun Week

This week at our house has been chaotic but fun. Brian started out on Monday morning to go with the young men on their high adventure outing for the summer. After the last few years, they decided to stay a little closer to home this year. They biked out to Antelope Island, all around the Island and then rode home Wednesday. When he finally got home, his total milage was 96 miles.

On Tuesday, I took Amber to Greg's house to help Marsha with the boys while she helped at the BYU track camp. And Les went to spend a couple of days at Scott's house with Bryce. So we brought Seth home with us to have an over nighter with Zak. On Thursday, we returned Seth home to have a happy birthday, and Les and Amber were returned by Marsha on Friday, along with Heather to spend the weekend at our house.

Friday night was our ward campout, so we then headed out for a night of camping. I love camping when I don't have to worry about cooking. It is so much more fun and relaxing and a lot less stressful.

On Monday, we will again return Heather to her home, and Les is leaving for a week on the ranch with Marsha and the boys. He will be in heaven. I hope he will muster all of his courage and ride the horses. I think he will love it if he will let himself try.

And then it is back to work for us. We have got to get moving on the upstairs of our house if it is ever going to get done. We have been dragging our feet. The downstairs was easy because it didn't displace us. I thought that after I was so pleased with how the downstairs turned out, that I would have more motivation. But the heat has wiped away all of the motivation I have. But next week, with one less kid, and no other interuptions, hopefully we will make good progress. Cross your fingers.

Waffle Craving

Boy am I having a hard time lately. I love waffles. And my waffle iron is causing me huge amounts of worry.

I grew up eating these amazing waffles, sometimes with homemade blueberry syrup and ice cream, but usually with mom's homemade maple syrup (which I put the ice cream on more than the blueberries).

When Brian and I got married, some very generous friends gave us a waffle iron. Not just any run-of-the-mill WalMart type waffle iron, but a very nice, very expensive (as far as waffle irons go) waffle iron. For several years now, the chord has been getting hot while the waffle iron was plugged in and in use. I don't just mean warm, but hot. Sometimes I had to use a hot pad to unplug it. But sometimes, it didn't. I don't know why.

I do tend to make pancakes more often than waffles, because they are slightly easier, and faster, in the mornings before school, but I also love waffles for dinner-to Brian's dismay.

Anyhow, about a month ago, while the waffles were cooking, I commented that I could smell something that smelled like hot brakes. But it wasn't real strong, and we didn't really worry too much about it. After we were finished eating, and the waffle iron was cooled down, when we went to put it away we found a burn spot on our counter top.
It is very discolored, and bubbled. I know that it isn't long before it gets brittle, and chips. When we turned the waffle iron over, one of the two screws that holds the chord connection on was black. And I am scared to use my waffle iron. I can't bring myself to actually throw it out yet, but I can't use it either.

I can't justify spending $150 to just go out and buy a new one while we are in the middle of our home makeover project. And pancakes just aren't the same. I'm not sure why....the recipes are almost exactly the same.

Maybe, one of you is interested in the recipe, and I can at least share my favorite food in the whole world (I wish I could find a way to add chocolate though) with you...Enjoy!

2 1/2 c flour
2 T sugar
4 t baking powder
1 t salt
2 eggs
2 c milk
1/2 c water--unless you like real heavy waffles, then leave this out
1/2+ c melted shortening

mix together dry ingredients, then add wet ingredients, and mix well.

Maple Syrup
3 c sugar
2 c water
1/2 c brown sugar
dash salt
bring to boil and then add about 1 t mapeline (maple flavoring)
boil a little more, being very careful not to boil it over -- it' s a mess to clean up!

Top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

or try strawberries and whipped cream,
peaches and whipped cream,
blueberry syrup,
a soft boiled egg covered in maple syrup
or any other topping of choice.

Downstairs

To get all of the painting done downstairs, and to get ready for the new carpet, we have had to move everything upstairs. We debated on several ways of doing this, but finally decided that packing the living room with everything was the best way to go. As you can see it was packed full. I did insist that I be able to get to the computer, and that Amber be able to practice piano, but that is a pretty tight squeeze. We were able to contain most of the mess to this one room though, so we are still able to use the kitchen, bathrooms, and bedrooms.
This is our family room when it is all emptied out, and Brian had started a few minor things...
And this is after the painting, but before carpet. We painted, put in new mouldings, new white electrical fixtures, and a new light.
And this is with the new carpet. I love it. The paint and carpet actually match better than the picture shows, the flash kind of made it look different.

Amber's Room
On her wall, we used a magnetic primer under the paint, that gives her a magnet board without putting anything on the wall.

And in the old computer room, we have decided to make it into a storage room with shelving so we can start to get a better food storage, so we just painted the existing moulding, and left the wood paneling for now, but we did carpet this area.

Now, all we have to do, is move the entire contents of the house back downstairs so that we can do an even more extensive fix-up to the upstairs!