Spring Projects

For awhile Andy has been talking about needing a project, and he decided a good one would be to put up crown moulding in our family room and master bedroom. Scott and Cameron decided they wanted to do their houses as well, so the three of them decided to work together and do all three houses.

It turned out to be a LOT of work...and here we are two months later and it is NOT done. However, it is getting there. They got it all up within the first couple of weeks, but the sanding, caulking, taping, and painting is the part that is delayed because some motivation has been lost, I think. They accidentally used putty that is "flexible"...which we figured out means "partially made of rubber"...and it was REALLY hard to sand. Our house is finally done with sanding though, so now all that's left is caulk, tape, and paint. I'm hopeful it'll be done this weekend.

We also decided to get some colorful flower/bushes planted in our backyard planter box that we built last summer. It was fun to go to Lowes and pick out a bunch of pretty ones.

Colby wanted to "help", so he broke up chunks of dirt in the wheel barrow as Andy dug the holes to plant things.

We weren't sure how the flowers would do since the soil here isn't the best (it has a LOT of clay, and is really hard), but so far so good. I took the photos below this morning, and the plants are all doing okay, so yay! Of course it's only been in the 80s-90s so far, so we'll see how they do this summer when it's 100+ every day.

The kids have been wanting to decorate their rooms but we don't want to paint until we decide how long we'll be staying here. I decided to just get some vinyl stickers to make their rooms a little more bright and fun.

The girls got a wall of flowers...

...and the boys got Super Mario.

Then I took this old "Bee Happy" poster I've had since I was a teenager (and has been hanging in each of Kylee's rooms since she was a baby) and painted the frame purple to go in the girls' room as well.

I decided the walls still looked a little bare, so I wanted valances for the windows. I found this neon pink one for the girls, but I couldn't find a lime green one that I wanted for the boys, so I bought some material and made one myself.

It's nice that you can make such a difference with just a few inexpensive updates!

I've mentioned to Andy and the neighbors a few times that I wanted some bigger rocks to put in our front yard to give it some depth so it's not quite so bare. One day our neighbor came home from work with these in the back of his truck for me. He works out in the oilfields so he gathered some up from one of his sites and then I directed where I wanted them to go and he and Andy placed them for me. I realize it doesn't seem like a big deal, but I feel like it makes a difference, and I love them! We have the BEST neighbors!

Since we moved in I've been moving our sectional around to difference places to figure out how to best make it work in our living room. Sadly, I finally realized that it just DOESN'T. It's too small. So after almost 10 years with this comfortable couch, we sold it and purchased a new one that fits our space better and is more versatile with it's placement for future spaces we might need to put it in.

Now I just need to find some couch pillows that I like!

It's crazy how fast time flies. Andy just passed his one-year anniversary at the hospital, and in a few weeks the kids and I will have been here for a year as well. I don't know how long we'll be here (at least another year since Andy just signed a new contract), but I'm glad that for as long as we are here we have good friends, great neighbors, and a fantastic neighborhood and home to live in.

Ally Turns FIVE!

Ally counted down her birthday for like two months, and she was so excited when it finally got here.

When I asked her what she wanted for her birthday she said "a slime-making kit and some socks." Luckily I had already bought those things anyway, and was planning to give them to her. She's apparently super easy to please! She also got some sweatshirts, skorts, jammies, paint w/ water books, a princess book, and a soap-making kit.

She had a little party with a couple of her friends and had a lot of fun.

She picked out a funfetti cake mix and this purple frosting, and said she wanted 'unicorn' cupcakes. I wasn't sure how that was supposed to work with the things she chose, but if you look closely we did manage to put unicorn horns on the top, and she was pleased.

Ally is such a fun and nice girl. She's really good at sharing, and she loves to play with her friends and siblings. We've been teaching her about mountain biking a little (we go on a dirt road where the whole round-trip is only about 4.5 miles), and even after she crashes she just gets up and keeps trying. She's really brave and adventurous, and she loves to sing. She can't say her "R" or "Th" sounds at all, so she says things like "I fink Skylow and I weally, weally need to wide ow bikes!"...but she'll get there! She's super excited for kindergarten next year, and even though she still pretty tiny for her age, I think she'll do great.

Random February/March

Connie and Sugi came to visit for a couple of days around Valentine's day, and it was fun to see them! Our friends from Florida were here at the same time, and Sugi's brother and wife came over from Las Cruces one day as well. We all went out to dinner together.

Ally decided she is ready to get married.

It's been so fun to hang out with our friends at the park in the neighborhood. Ally and her friend Savannah are pretty much inseparable.

One morning there was a deer hanging out across the street from our house. Later that afternoon there was a different deer that was dead over there. I wonder if that's why this one was hanging out? Sad. A big dump truck came and used a big metal claw thing to scoop up the dead one. It was gross.

A few years ago Grandma KD gave us this game "Seek-a-Boo". All our kids have loved it when they were small, and Colby recently discovered it in the closet. He sets the cards up all over the living room and plays over and over again.

Our Sr. Primary got invited to sing at the Stake Conference adult session. It's about 75 miles away from our house, so I took all these kiddos and we ate dinner at Sam's Club before we sang. Kylee played her flute while the kids sang, and it turned out really nice.

Near our house there is a dirt road that runs along a canal, and we've been teaching our kiddos how to "mountain bike" on the dirt road. Ally crashes at least once per ride, but she's getting better!

One Sunday we were down at the park and some people from our ward were out walking their pony. They let the kids all pet it, and then asked if any of them wanted to sit on it. Ally and Savannah were the only ones brave enough to give it a try.

One night Ally's preschool had STREAM night (remember the olden days when it used to be STEM? Then STEAM...now STREAM...what will they add next?!?). It started while she was at dance, so as soon as her class ended I took her straight there. She took a picture with a dino, made a bunch of crafts, and did a rainbow experiment with Skittles. It was fun!

Kylee got 3rd place in her category at her school Science Fair, so one Saturday she got to wake up at the crack of dawn to catch a bus to Regionals, which was about 2.5 hours away. We had to meet the bus at 4:15am, which was crazy, but she had fun.

Our kiddos LOVE to watch cooking shows (MasterChef Jr., Spring Baking Championship, etc.), and they all think they want to learn to cook. I don't want the little ones near the stove when it's on, so they sit over on the end of the counter and watch their macaroni cooking.

Stinky Blankie finally underwent surgery. Colby chews and chews and chews on those corners, and they were NASTY, no matter how often blankie got washed. I chopped off all the corners and sewed it back up. Andy's plan was to just throw stinky blankie out, but I couldn't find a replacement one, so we improvised, and stinky blankie lives to be chewed on another day!

One day Ally was playing dress-ups and Colby really wanted to play. He'll LOVE this photo when he gets older!

Kylee had her last band concert of the year right before Spring Break. They did...wonderful! Let's just say it's a bunch of 6th graders who have been playing their instruments for about 3/4 of a school year. It's clear that some are better than others, and when you throw them all together...I give them an 'A' for effort. Kylee is actually first chair of the flutes though, so that's something. She's doing pretty good!

Her school also did a Living Wax Museum and she was Ruth from the Bible. They painted red dots on each kid's hand, and you had to walk around and push the "button" for them to give you their memorized speech. Skyler and Ally thought it was super fun.