Hall Update

This summer we had some travelling plans.  We were going to head up to my inlaws in VA for a week, before we came back home to host my family for a week.  Hubby and I always do decently when we have a deadline, so we used this opportunity to get a few things done.  We decided to work on the hall.  It is the only place in the house with white walls still!!!!  We moved the bathroom door when we remodeled (practically right after we moved in) and finally got it mudded and primed a while ago.  And there it stayed.  But before my parents came to visit, I decided we could (and should) get the hallway done.  

The original paint in the hall was a flat, so whenever I tried to wipe off all the dirty smudge prints, the paint would come off!!!  And they didn't happen to leave any of THAT paint with us, so...

We had also done just a few updates, like adding a new electronic thermostat.

And new door moulding that needed to actually be nailed into place.  The two base moulding pieces on either side of the door had been missing also.  So, we finally got around to cutting those two pieces.

When they had painted the whole house (before we bought it and moved in) they didn't always do the best job.  So we had to add painting the ceiling to the list too.

Hubby nailed the moulding into place, and I went back and filled in all the nail holes.  Dylan just supervised.

We also decided to add a small detail to the top of the stair mould.  We happened to have it on hand, so, this project was almost free!

Once hubby did the nailing, the rest of the job was pretty much mine.  :p

I took down the doorbell box (that was attached to a phantom doorbell) and filled in the hole.  I took the light down so I could paint the ceiling.  Then I went back and painted all the moulding.  I prefer that order because of the angle of cutting in the color.  In this picture I had painted all the white (notice the no longer wood bathroom door trim) and done a quick repaint of white on all the doors that faced the hallway.  And I had started to cut in the color.  Hubby and I disagreed on that a little bit.  Hubby wanted white.  But white?!?!  Ew.  I suggested grey.  Not anything dark.  But dark enough to contrast with the while moulding.  And in the same color family as the green from the family room. In this picture, I had already started to cut in around the ceiling and the stair rail.  

And here is the finished product!!!  No hand smudges.  And, all of the children are tall enough to reach the rail, and have been instructed accordingly....  We'll see how long that lasts.  It looks like one continuous hall way now, instead of cut up parts and pieces!!!

The grey really isn't that dark, but it is in the same color family as the green.  And it goes well enough with the bedroom colors upstairs (purple, tan, and pink).  Note the doorbell box is gone, the thermostats are painted in, and the white pops!

See?  That is the new design on top of the stair mould as well as the contrast between colors.

I promised hubby that I would repaint the hallway if he didn't grow to like it.  I just wanted it done before my parents came for a visit.  I think he will grow to love it.  I'm pretty sure.

6 years and 3 years

So I'm a little bit behind on posting stats.  Big fat hairy deal.

Dylan turned 6 back in March.  All of my local photography studios have closed (for whatever reason), so I took him to a friend who does pictures.  If you are local, feel free to check her out.  

So, Dylan is officially 6.  Even though is birthday was over 4 months ago, it wasn't official until I posted it here.

At his 6 year old check up, he weighed 47lbs (60%) and was 46 inches tall (again, 60%).  So, he is just on the larger side of average.  As of now, he hasn't lost any teeth yet, but he does finally have one that is loose.  He made it all the way through kindergarten with all his baby teeth!

He is a worrier.  Sometimes, at night, it gets the better of him and he has a hard time falling asleep.  But we are working on that.  He is a sensitive soul, and a perfectionist.  Which is not always the best combination.  He can be pretty hard on himself.  But he is one smart cookie, especially in math.  He is all boy, and loves to play rough, with swords and guns.  Today, when I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, he said a doctor!  He has such an animated face, and he really can be a big goofball!

Kelsey turned three back in February.  She is my clown.  She loves to get attention by being silly.

At her 3 year check up, she weighed 31 lb and was 37.5 inches tall (both right at 50%).  And she potty trained right around 3 years and 1 month.  I probably could have done it sooner, but I knew we had some travelling coming up, and I was lazy.  And so it ended over a decade of diapers!

Last year, she got to stay home with mommy by herself (except on the days when we watched some friends).  She is like Kari in that she is actually interested in letters and numbers and writing (and unlike Kaitlyn and Dylan).  She is the baby, and loves to boss around anywho who will give her the chance.  She is an excellent eater and has a pretty good sense of rhythm.  She will always have the most toys and clothes as she has the most hand me downs, but, one day she will learn to see that as the blessing it is.  She has a lot of attitude, and she certainly knows how to use her most powerful weapon: her ability to be annoying and loud.  But we love her.

And, of course, because the girls were with me, we took one or two kid group pictures. 

I particularly love this one because it shows all their personalities.  Both of the older girls are poised and smiling.  Kelsey has her beaver face going on, and Dylan looks annoyed.  But if you look closely, you can also tell he is trying not to smile :)

There we go!  Much better!!!

Boo for kids getting older!!!

Adrienne!!!

Hubby has many hobbies.  Many hobbies.  He took Martial Arts as a young adult, making it all the way to second degree black belt.  He wrestled as a high schooler too.  So, he likes to have physical hobbies.  When we cleaned up and rearranged the workshop outside, hubby made sure to carve out some space to hang up his punching bag.  And, smart man that he is, he made sure it would work for both his punching bag as well as his double ended bag.  The kids think that punching anything is fun, so they enjoy getting out there and playing with Daddy's toys too.

They may not be the best yet, but....  I am sure they have many years to practice ahead of them.

New FHE Chart

I think I have mentioned before that I am not a great sleeper.  I don't usually have a problem going to sleep, but I rarely stay asleep.  I get about 4 hours, and then wake up.  Sometimes I can go back to sleep easily, and sometimes I am up for 2 hours before heading back to bed for an hour or two.  My dad has this problem too, and when he asked his doctor about it, the doc suggested trying melatonin.  However, the doctor also mentioned that it can take up to 3 months to get the medicine into your system and to get the full effect.  So, for now, I am giving it a shot.  I am about 6 weeks in, and will be happy to report the effects, if any, once I have finished the bottle.  For now, that means that I often have an hour or two in the middle of the night, with no kids and no husband.  I could be productive and sweep, or pay bills, or fold laundry.  But where is the fun in that?!?! So I picked a few craft projects to work on.  My first project was an updated FHE chart.  

Firstly, FHE stands for Family Home Evening.  In our church, we are encouraged to have a time to strengthen the family.  We do this by learning the gospel together, listening to each other's thoughts and ideas, and enjoying activities together. If you are interested in learning more, click here.  

In a family of 6, life is about fairneess.  So you have to keep track of whose turn it is to do what.  I made this chart several years ago.  So many years ago, we were missing one member of the family.  Now that Kelsey is a bit older, she wants to have an active part and so we needed to not only update the chart (that was falling apart), but include her as well.  

I played around on pinterest one night (when I couldn't sleep), and pinned several ideas.  But I ultimately decided to use this as my inspiration.  I liked the way it looked, as well as it looked like something I could do and personalize to my taste.

(Source)

So I went to my local Hobby Lobby to get supplies.

I ended up picking more of a teal and black vibe.  I really liked the color combination.  With the patterns, it feels grown up and sophisticated, and maybe a little bit girly.  And I like that there are so many patters, but they don't feel overwhelming.

I'm not super fond of my handwriting, so I started by finding a font I liked and printing up the words I would need.

I picked up these glass shapes, intending to use a different shape for each person.  So, I traced around the shape, cut it out, and used my E6000 to glue it to the back of the shape.  

For future reference, make sure to cut the paper slightly smaller than the outline, and spread glue all over the paper, so it really sticks to the glass with no air bubbles.  Then I glued some magnets on the back.

Then I moved on to the background board.  I had picked up a frame at Wally World, so I knew what size to make it.  I arranged the paper how I wanted it, making sure to glue down all the edges.

Then, I moved onto embellishments.  First, the ribbon as a border between papers.  Then, letters, assignments, and our name :)  When I put the paper in the frame, I put a magnetic sheet behind the teal part, so the names would be able to freely move between assignments.

Then, I put it all together, and Voila!  Except.  Except......  Except, I didn't like it.  First off, the paper looked frail, and knowing how much the kids had played with our previous one, I didn't want the paper to get frayed, pulled up or dirty.  And I didn't like the glass gems.  They were too big, and too colorful.  They didn't match.

So, I pulled the magnets off (as the glue hadn't hardened yet), and went back into my craft stash, to pull out these gems from our Father's Day craft.  

To protect the paper, I went to a copy place and laminated it.  The stickers, ribbons, and glue ons were flat enough that they laminated just fine.  And I hadn't glued the magnetic sheet on the back yet, so that didn't get in the way either.  I followed the same process with the names, printing, cutting and gluing for the new glass gems.  And THERE!  It wasn't super matchy matchy, but I liked it a lot better.  It felt protected and easy to clean too.

BEFORE                                                               AFTER

Other than the laminating part, and including the remaking of the name pebbles, it still only took one insomniac night to finish!  It IS a little bit trendy, with the turquoise and all.  But I really like it all the same :)

First Day of School!

Yesterday was the first day of school.  All summer long, the girls have been checking the mailbox for a letter from their teachers.  Literally every day.  They wanted to find out who their teacher was, as well as what school supplies were needed.  By the 10 days before school, I had given up.  I wasn't waiting until the last minute, so I picked up the generic list from the school's website, and off we went.  It was an adventure to say the least.  

Last Thursday, we went to the Open House/Meet and Greet.  We met the kids teachers, and got their personalized school list.  As I predicted, their lists were not exactly the same as the schools.  Too bad!  If you wanted something specific, you should have given me more than 3 days notice!  We left the day after the open house to go down to Pa's for a family reunion.  So, they got what they got!

But, the kids were super excited for school yesterday morning.  They were already dressed in their first day of school outfits, and only had to be reminded once to do their morning chores.  Kari and Kaitlyn's outfits match, though they aren't the same colors.  Kari picked hers first, and Kaitlyn copied her.  I was surprised when Kari picked something so "girly", but, she surprises me daily.  She even picked out a special pair of earrings to match. 

 This little man had a mild panic attack the night before at bedtime, though I don't know that he would recognize it for what it was exactly.  Daddy was able to talk him through it and calm him down, while Kelsey slumbered silently on his floor (a story for another time).  I love the plaid shorts.  He'll do great!

 Kaitlyn wanted to pose all genteel like.  She was somewhat subdued the morning before school started, but I knew she was super excited too.

 This little girl was already dressed.  She sad down as soon as the girls were done having their hair brushed to have her turn.  She ate breakfast, and when I was done with the three older pictures, she stepped to the wall and posed.  Just.  Like.  This.

 And so begins Kari's 5th grade year, Kaitlyn's 3rd, and Dylan's 1st!

 Before school started, daddy gave all four a special blessing.  They were sweet and touching and reassuring.  Then loaded them in the car to send them on their way.  As has been tradition in the past, Daddy takes them into school on their first day.  It works out for two reasons: 1) Mommy doesn't have to be dressed and make-uped that early in the morning.  And 2) It is a special something that Daddy gets to do.  But when the kids went out to load up, Kelsey grabbed her shoes and backpack and went along with them.  I warned daddy the night before she might.  So he loaded her up too, and away they went.  First they dropped Dylan off.  He did fine.  Kaitlyn was next.  Off she went.  Kari walked 10 feet ahead of him into her class and didn't look back (according to him).  Then Kelsey said "My turn!  Where's my class?"  At which point...  well?  Whaddya do?  They walked back towards the front door, and as they got closer Kelsey said "No!  My turn!  Where is my class?"  And started to cry.  So, when hubby pulled back into the drive way, to drop off the car seats as well as Kelsey, she did NOT look happy.  Daddy had to sit on the couch and cuddle with her for a bit, to help her understand.  Ironically, most of her blessing from daddy was to be ok with the it not being her turn yet.  Heavenly Father really does know us best.

The rest of the day at home was fairly quiet.  Laundry and stuff.  When the kids got home, it was a heavy homework day for mom.  Writing the same stuff over and over again on 3 different papers.  Yay!  And so the school year begins!

Swimming Lessons 2.0

"Welcome back!" you say!  "Glad to read you again!" you say!  Its been a while....  Lets get started!

I already mentioned that we signed the kids up for swimming lessons.  They lasted 2 weeks.  But before the first session was over, I knew that I wanted to sign them up for more.  They were having so much fun, making so much progress, and getting so comfortable, it was totally worth it.  So we signed them up for the very next session (albeit at a different time) and away we went.

Dylan's teacher took a slightly different approach during the second session.  He really made Dylan work for it.  He hardly ever gave him a floaty, and would stay close, but just out of reach.  A lot of the time, I was a bit fearful that Dylan was drowning, but, thankfully, his teacher was always there to lend a hand in case he needed it.  And while it looked scary to a mothers heart, he actually was learning and getting better.

They also worked a bit on a few different strokes as well as things to do when he got tired.    

And it didn't seem to bother Dylan either.

Again, his teacher rarely stepped in to help him, but guided him through the process from close by.  Here is Dylan, having jumped in from the board and swimming to the side all by himself!  Yikes!

They encourage parents to sit on the bleachers during class, so we don't disrupt or distract, but one time I was able to get close enough just to get these pictures.  He loves being underwater :)

During the second session, Kelsey also did amazingly.  She really didn't learn any technique, but she did progress to where they tried her without her floaty belt.  She still wasn't scared.  Like, at all.  But she wasn't particularly buoyant either.

A lot of the time, the teachers would leave the kids on the wall and take one student at a time the length of the pool.  When they got down to the deep end, they would hang on to the side again to let the kids rest just a little bit.  They always looked like they were having such serious conversations!

What can I say?  She is a looker!

Seriously, she is such a little fish!

At the end of class, they take the kids to the deep end of the pool and let them jump in.  The first session, I didn't think much of it, because all the kids jumped in and were fine.  The second session, was not the same.  Several of the kids in Kelsey's class were scared of the water, and some wouldn't jump in at all.  The lifeguards would have to hold onto them and jump in together.  Kelsey didn't have that problem.  She would jump in, swim to the ladder by herself, and walk right around and do it again.  She was so good at it, and so comfortable with it, that the lifeguards only had to watch her out of the corner of their eye (mom too, of course).  She was also such a quick swimmer, she would jump and swim maybe 10 times while the other kids would average 3-4.

They also practice going completely underwater.  Again, Kelsey did just fine :)

Unfortunately, all of the kids spent a decent amount of time on the wall, waiting their turn to swim.  Kaitlyn spent her time playing and with her face in the water.  Of all my children, she advanced the furthest in her lessons.  She went from borderline floaties, to swimming in the deep end by herself.  She is also the only one of my children that can swim underwater without holding her nose.  She is quite graceful, and I am sure that being able to use both arms is very helpful in her abilities and progression.  Unfortunately, I only got one real usable picture of her, which means that I either love her the least, or she is a typical middle child and gets lost in the hubbub.  You may take your pick.

Kari started with no floaties.  And with the ability to touch the bottom in the deep end.  So she didn't necessarily make as much forward progression, probably because she didn't have as far to go.  But she did work on her technique, and she did get loads of practice. 

And she did get frustrated at me when I took pictures.

At the end of class they take everyone to the deep end and let them jump in.  My kids have a blast!

They don't have a ladder at the deep end, and while the lip of the pool keeps the water in, it makes it difficult for the kids to climb out.  So they would station a lifeguard on the side to help pull the kids out.

The last day of the two week session was Fun day!  The get out all the floaties and water guns and just let the kids play.

I am so pleased and proud of the kids!  They learned so much, gained such high levels of comfort!  And had so much fun!  And, as it turned out, they got quite a bit of pool time later in the summer.  It was a worthwhile investment and a fun time!