The Final Product...

Our upstairs bathroom... previously referred to as "The Duck Bathroom" has needed to be renovated for a long time (probably since we bought the house).  I have put it off, because it is located in the most obscure place and no one ever uses it except our older kids.  Honestly, in the 5 1/2 years we've lived here, I think I have taken a shower twice in that bathroom.

However, it occurred to me sometime last week that I had invited guests to come for the weekend of the Indianapolis quiz and that they might actually want decent bathroom facilities.  I also figured that it was probably unrealistic to expect 3 adults, 5 quizzers, 2 basketball players, and a baby to all get ready in one bathroom next weekend.

And so... the rennovation began...

Although I would not suggest roll on popcorn paint for an entire room again... ever...  It did serve its purpose, and the ceiling looks great!  I, also, was covered in popcorn paint.  This was rather disturbing to Miah who kept asking if I was OK even after I got cleaned up...

The Ceiling:

I think the room turned out fabulous!  Presenting...  "The Mickey Bathroom"

L.    

PS  Do other people name the rooms in their houses?  Just wondering...

PPS  Thanks to Brad, Sheri, Abby, and Noah, whose Christmas gift card to us was used to buy all of the Mickey Mouse stuff!

Anybody Out There...

want to take a wild guess at what project I'm working on today:

Here's a hint...  We're going to be saying good-bye to this sad guy:

More pictures to come, hopefully tomorrow or Friday...

L.

This Is Going To Be...

A Force to Be Reckoned With...

And, yes, as a matter of fact we are having quiz practice... in our kitchen... at 10:00 at night...  It's the week before district finals, what did you expect?

L.

PS  Caleb answered his first correct bonus question tonight, and he makes a pretty good place holder, too... even better than Peter...  ahem...  Peter is a rock...  literally...  And with this I must concede that I must be tired, because people who get enough sleep do not name (or post pictures of... or photoshop) rocks...

Peter:

I May Have...

... gone just a touch overboard with the no sew dresses and shirts:

 Well...  summer's coming...

L.

Better Late Than Never...

Between Upward games we finally celebrated Phil's birthday today (8 days late, but who's counting... well... other than everybody who lives at this house...)

Oh yum!  Peanuts!  

Guess where we are?

This shot was just too fun to leave out:

When we got home we also enjoyed our DQ ice cream cake.  Remember?  The one I bought on half price Tuesday?  It was so good (and we still have half of it left in the freezer)!

That was a lot of candles:

We are still lacking in the birthday gft department.  Apparently this is just the birthday that keeps on giving...

Happy Birthday, Phil!  I Love You!

L.

PS  Funniest part of the day was when I went to pick up one of the boxes for leftovers and Phil said, "That one's empty".  It was really heavy, so I knew that couldn't possibly be true.  Turns out Miah had put her plate in it...hahahahaha...  Glad I checked before I walked out with it!

Oh... and Caleb wants one of those enormous bins full of peanuts for the house...  Somehow, I don't think so...

I Am No Seamstress...

However...

Even though I can't sew (yet), I have always been pretty crafty.  So...  I was delighted when I came across directions for a no sew pillowcase dress!  This did require an iron... and I don't really "do" irons, but I decided that if I could think of it as an art tool as opposed to... well... an iron, I could probably do this...

Here is the first of Miah's new dresses for the summer!  It's even cuter with her in it, but by the time I pulled the camera out, she was asleep.  In addition to this one, I have material for four more and for two matching tops for Grace.  Grace is, of course, not as thrilled as I am about this...  (she hates "pillowcase" anything, but I think she can get over it long enough to take some great pictures with her baby sister)!

Tell me what you think!

 L. 

I Am Deeply Disturbed…

… that this breakfast might not be a healthy choice based on things I just read:

I’m honestly not sure what to think anymore about the organic, natural, raw food health craze.  Last year I gave up things like “pink slime” and put an enormous effort into buying organic produce and meat, cutting way back on processed foods, and generally cultivating a healthier lifestyle (at least in the form of what this family eats). 

 

I weighed in more than 20 pounds more at the beginning of this year than last.

And that’s the least of my concerns (well, OK, maybe not really the least, but work with me here)…

Did you know that processed juice is often stored for over a year before it hits the grocery shelves after being mixed with “flavor packs” containing only who really knows what?  I’m talking about “natural”, “fresh squeezed” juice here…

And that even organic fruits and vegetables are being grown in soil that naturally contains a certain amount of arsenic?

I give up!

The honest truth is I don’t have the time or desire to fresh squeeze my own fruit and vegetable juices and to live off of them.  I just can’t do it.

In addition, it’s probably a really bad plan to take the only alternative to eating anything, which is consuming filtered water, alone.  This kind of “healthy” only lasts for 3-6 weeks, at which point you starve to death…

I’m at a loss here…

L.

Two Year Olds Matter, Too...

Today we went to see the orchestra at an educational outreach program at a local theater.  We have been buying tickets for events like this for the past 5 ½ years.  I love taking the kids to these events.  Today’s show had a $1.00 ticket price, so in addition to the big kids… and even the little kids…  I took Miah.  She was very good, although she did talk quietly to me several times during the one hour performance. 

At some point, an usher came to me and whispered that the people sitting in front of us were contributors to the venue and that they are really into “this kind of music”, so I needed to keep Miah quiet.  Uh… seriously? 

Now please don’t misunderstand.  When I pay $40.00-$100.00 per head for tickets at this place, I don’t take my toddler.  This is a matter of practicality… a matter of wanting to enjoy an interruption free show… and a matter of respect for all of the other patrons who have purchased high priced tickets!

But…  when you purchase a ticket for $1.00 to a performance that is geared toward children (many local schools bus kids in for field trips, and I would say that 90% of the theater was full of elementary school aged kids today); you cannot expect it to be silent.  If Miah had been truly disruptive (crying, yelling, shrieking, kicking the seats in front of us, running up and down the aisles, etc.); no one would have needed to tell me to keep her quiet.  I would have been quick to correct the situation myself.  But she wasn’t.  She was simply being two… and a pretty darn good “two”, at that…

Further…  I felt out of sorts at the comment about “this kind of music”.  What?  The orchestra?  Classical music?  We’re pretty “into” it, ourselves.  As a matter of fact, Grace was transfixed the entire time, and Seth and Caleb didn’t move much, either, except to give each other sideways glances when the first notes of music they recognized (which included most of the selections) were played.  Admittedly, Ian flopped around on his seat like a fish out of water for most of the performance, but we were in a row by ourselves, with no one behind us.  The only person this irritated was me.

We love music at this house.  I think it’s really important to give children every opportunity possible to love music… music of all kinds… and this certainly includes the orchestra.  If a theater is going to advertise an event as educational and an orchestra is going to take time out of its performance to talk about the different types of instruments and the definitions of melody, harmony, and rhythm; I think it should be pretty obvious that this is not a posh, five star, suit jacket and fur coat event… especially at 9:30 on a Wednesday morning…  

When we got home, Miah ran into the living room to play the piano…  We win…

In my defense, I took all of these pictures before the program began, so we were not in additional trouble for using flash photography or anything silly like that:

Admittedly, Miah does look like she could cause some trouble here:

 She actually just loves to make silly faces for the camera...

This one is much more sweet:

 But... yeah...  We all know where she gets it:

 The Orchestra:

 L.

I Love A Good Deal...

Our local Dairy Queen offers ½ off everything on Tuesday!

Our kids got Dairy Queen gift cards for Christmas, and every time the ask to use them, I remind them about ½ off Tuesdays.  Except none of us can seem to remember to put the two together… gift cards and Tuesday, that is…

Well, this morning Seth greeted me with something like, “Good morning, Mom.  I love you.  It’s Tuesday.  Can we go to Dairy Queen?”  Ignoring the sub-zero temperatures and freezing winds, I told him that we could, indeed.

As it turned out, I decided to just take orders and go pick it up.  It tends to be a little crowded on Tuesdays, and… well…  it’s flu season and I didn’t particularly want anyone sneezing in my Blizzard.

I walked out of there (well, actually I walked out of there twice, and the second time I had the help of an employee) with two grilled cheese kids meals, two hot dog kids meals, one chicken strips kids meal, five chocolate milks, three chocolate extreme blizzards, two cookie dough blizzards, one chocolate covered strawberry blizzard (Miah ordered “pink” ice cream, thank goodness they had some), and an ice cream cake for a little over $5.00.  The kids still have $6.00 each on their gift cards.  I almost feel like an extreme couponer or something!

Getting Ready to Eat:

 Ice Cream Does Something to This Child:

 Thanks for the Reminder that it's Tuesday, Seth:

 L.

More Than I Wanted To Handle…

I have come to a realization.  I almost lied about it, but I’m not going to do that.  I almost said, “I’ve taken on more than I can handle,” in this current influx of kids’ activities and scheduling, but anyone who knows me also knows that I thrive on stress and deadlines and schedules that don’t humanly work.  I didn’t take on more than I can handle, but I did take on more than I wanted to handle, and that might be a more significant problem.

Today was rough.  Part of our family went in one direction for the Sterling Invitational and the rest of us stayed home to participate in Upward.  And this is probably going to be harder to explain than I thought, because the problem wasn’t really that we were separated.  We’re a family of seven.  We do a lot of things in “groups”.  It’s not a separation anxiety thing, either.  Although I love being with my whole family, the best; I actually enjoy being away from them on occasion, as well.  When I can get away for an entire weekend, alone; I do it.  When Phil and I can get away, just the two of us; we treasure that time.  Grace and I went to Florida, by ourselves, for a week once.  And I’ve always been really big on having special “date nights” with each of the kids so they can have my undivided attention at least some of the time.  So…  it wasn’t that we weren’t together.  It was that I wanted to be where I wasn’t…

Hmmm…  I’m almost tempted to write an analogy… almost, but not quite…

I’m not exactly sure what this means for us in the upcoming years.  We’re not going to be able to limit the kids to activities that never conflict with one another.  But I think we are going to have to limit them to things they’re good at… things they love… and (most importantly) things they legitimately should be doing…  uh… things that have purpose?  Sounds just awful, right?

I don’t ever again want to find myself in the midst of one of my children’s activities thinking, “I really wish I wasn’t here right now”.  There’s something wrong about that.  I’m not saying that you can go through life doing only the things you want to do, either, but I do think there comes a point when you have to choose what is best.  We’re at that point.

L. 

PS  Despite how I felt about this day, Ian is awfully cute: