$urprise

While Matt was visiting his parents, I decided to take things into my own hands AKA (he's not here I don't have to try and convince him that this will work). I redid our master suite (doesn't it just sound more luxurious that way). So here are the before pictures of the room and items I changed followed by the afters. WARNING I had all three kids while doing this in only 3 DAYS!

Before Bedroom

(no my hubbie was not shirtless, he was just "inappropriate for the blogging world" incase you're wondering about his "strange glow" from the neck down)

Did I also fail to mention that this was a complete surprise to Matt (the room I was doing); so before he went I had to take pictures non chalaunt like and he of course questioned what I was doing so I had to say it was a surprise, and then I had to go and take pictures of three other rooms, and said it's one of these rooms. (He never suspected our room because I kept asking him, why is the camera taking such fuzzy shots CLICK the lighting is not quite right CLICK I'm just fooling around CLICK, so sorry if there is not that many and if they are not great he was taking the camera and I had to have some proof of the before's.

After Bedroom

Here is a close up of the yummy color

I have curtains in my bedroom wahooo!

here are our night stands

his

mine

here are some beautiful pictures I found for a steal

and yes I want to live here

and since it's my...our room I have a wall dedicated to my most valuable possessions

My children of course....what did you think it was my singed copy of U2's very first performance found on eBay? (I don't really have this, but a girl can dream).

I repainted this

Here is the before, with a cute M in front in our apartment in UT (yeeeeears ago)

Here is the after, you better believe I carried this down stairs by myself, and painted it in the garage. You also better believe that a little tiny stray dog showed up and put his paw in the paint leaving a trail of foot prints all the way down my driveway.

I'm just putting it out there now, if anyone sees a stray dog wandering with black paws, please call, I have a.......... hose waiting for him. Animal rights people, like I'd really hurt a dog, I love dogs! Especially the ones that the neighbors allow to wander freely, and who -if I failed to mention it-enter my house. Enough about the dog...here is the desk.

Before I show you the last thing in the room that was done, I think I should show you the other surprise I did...our bathroom.

Before bathroom

after same area

More before's

after same area

BAM BABY!

here's a view going the other way.

Oh remember how there was one more thing from the bedroom, well look at the mirror in the before shots. Where did that go you might ask, here baby. Big thanks to my friends Justin and Cassity for helping me with it, this is a heavy sucker and I didn't want to crush myself, or cut myself using Matt's tools to make the frame I got for it. I have to say, I have always wanted to do this, but Matt never let me spend the $300+ on a mirror like this, and I always thought this one was glued to our wall and therefore unavailable, and the thought of ripping our bathroom apart for a mirror seemed more harm than good, but I have to give credit to Cassity for pushing me to try and having the good sense to help me do it all. She has tons of great ideas like this, you should check out her blog: http://www.remodelaholic.com/

I'm glad to finally have an adult space to call my own....oh wait I have kids and on many evenings it looks like they sleep in this room as well. Awe well, at least it looks stylish while being messy.

Homecoming

Here's anticlimatic for you.... Matt's parents have returned from their mission to the DR.

Surprise!

Ok...so it was in September, so they've visited us twice, so what...in blog world this is the next sequence of events; and a pretty special one at that! Through the help of his very sneaky sister and her generous help with the finances (thank you Melissa), he was able to get out to MO to surprise his parents getting off the plane.

Here is his prep face for surprising his parents.

Caption reads (Peace out suckers).

Again I repeat he was there to surprise his parents, they thought that only said sister was going to be at the airport with her family to welcome them in. Matt set the scene up as follows:

- sit in inconspicuous chair

- hold our video camera like a tourist in Disneyland for the first time (don't pretend like you don't know who I'm talking about)

- 'pretend' to read intently the fashion section of the newspaper (ask him he knows what's new this fall)

-wear a 'blending' hat

- be 6' 4" when everyone is ... not

- stand up and ask for the time

- shock his mother, no wait taser her with a stun gun, this was the look she gave him. I believe she even said, "your not supposed to be here!"

- make his dad laugh (you can't really fool the guy, he's just too good)

All in all it was a tear filled reunion that meant a lot for all of them

While he was there he got to see his parents NEW kitchen....Jeal-us!

Didn't you all get the memo: When one leaves on one's mission, pipes will burst on your main floor in 7 spots, creating a 120,000 gallon river on your basement ceiling, causing it to collapse, destroying priceless things; warping your wood flooring on the main level, not to mention your base cabinets in your kitchen, leaving you to replace it all while on your mission.

Oh you didn't get that memo....neither did his parents, they wouldn't have changed a thing about their mission. They served up until their last day leaving them one hour of sleep to head home. On a positive note, they did a great job with the remodeling from a far. Here's a teaser, I'll get more at Christmas!

Lastly it wouldn't be Matt if he didn't include a picture like this.

Absolutely gorgeous though! Love you honey, glad your parents are back, you too (even though this post is late, we'll all pretend you just got back this week).

Family Temple Trip

It's always good to get to the temple....with your kids. The primary had an activity that got everyone out of their houses, to go and see the temple. The reason being is that the temple is 25 years old and the whole stake was putting on an activity for it, and they wanted the wards to be prepared. It was beautiful, even with the rain! Enjoy the pictures, the only thing that would make this better is the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sounding from my play list....apparently I need to work on a few things, anyhow...proceed.

The foliage was amazing!

The Temple looked stunning against the gray sky.

Now for the reason we went to the temple... the children. Ahhh, what peace, what calm...

What absolute refinement!

And then my husband saw fit to add this one?



Sorry folks, the trees are beautiful though!

This was a way cool hidden path.

Matt fooled around in Photoshop to get these next few, he loves black and white photography.

Great job honey!

Finally the activity rolled around (the one the stake was putting on) and look what I was asked to do by the primary.

OK not asked but told in a very sweet way, that I would be the one to do it, even though I had no idea that I was going to do it. Really truly, thank you for this opportunity!



Close up of the center.

People did you look at the picture before....(just above, if you need to jog your memory). That's right baby, Matt fixed (added from other pictures) a total of 7 faces and added a girl who was only in one of the 25 picture's taken, not the one we needed. Thank you honey; I couldn't have done it without you.

Now, so that I could participate with an entry of my own, I had this genius idea, and was pleased as punch when it turned out.

It's a 3-D picture of our wedding day, all I'm going to say is 7 layers! (Okay, I'll say a little more. I took a favorite photo from our wedding day and made 7 different layers out of different elements in the photo. Then we printed them each out as sepia tones on a 7 transparencies. I bought 7 frames at the dollar store and Matt routed a grove for 7 frames to slide in the top of our stained frame with the transparency behind it. So the 7 layers are separated by a 1/4 inch or so. The effect is awesome!)

I love to see the temple,

I'm going there someday.

Second of many: Man Zone AKA the Garage

Matt has been wanting to build this shelf for a loooooong time, and recently (I'm pretending that this happened last week, when in reality we all know it was long ago...) we were given some work benches from a very nice couple who didn't need them anymore. One we used to build the shelf you're about to see, and one was metal, so we're selling it right now. We would love to keep it, but we decided long ago our garage would be a 2 car garage, hence the space saving shelf Matt and I thought of. It was a real blessing that we just had to buy hinges.

Here is what the place looked like before (missing some tools)...not bad, but suuuuuuuch a waste of space!



We didn't make this much of a mess making the shelf, we were also painting in the other garage bay, but it goes to show how 'non bueno' it is to use the floor as a work space...especially for my husband. I don't know if anyone knows this, but he's 6'4" (that was for his sisters).



Half way through...



All done! It simply hinges down, and the little arms hinge out to support the top. Then when you're done you swing it all back in to the wall and pull the car in!

Proof that it works! Matt has since cut the small piece at the top that the latch is on, and moved it over to the right so we didn't lose any hanging space for all his junk, errrr, I mean tools which were above the actual shelf. Thumbs up from Dad and the G man! (Side note - our friends J & C came over to help me out with a project - to be seen later - and J, who is not 6'4" went to use it and instantly commented on the unusual height of the working surface. Yep, it's custom built for a giant, but said GIANT loves it that way:)

This makes our garage / man cave pretty much done. We feel like we have done some really great work to it (all the shelves, garage door openers, lumber storage, bikes, and a mountain of crap spread out as strategically as possible...ahh the joys of homeownership!) and it's fun to have a place to park, and work!

The First of Many Posts - The Door Saga

I will slowly but surely bring you back to date. I have to start from the beginning...enjoy!


Let's bring you up to date. M started school and one of his favorite things to do is jump on the tramp after- he just needs to pick better pants (or ones with a belt).

C loves to do this....

G is crazy about doing this....

Now let's get down to what this post is truly about..... The Back Door (dun, dun, duuuun)! Yes folks our back door, the one that brings us into the back yard, the one at which we exit to get to the back of the house, the door....... Sorry. That door has been giving us problems so we decided to take things into our own hands.

"What did you do?" You might ask.

Well as "homeowners" we decided to go to the local hardware store and purchase a new backdoor. One that would be built better (not able to rot on the inside like our old back door), one that would have built in blinds (unlike the hook on blinds that would get off track every time the boys would open the door), one that would be installed for $200.00...(hold the phone, I don't think so, we'll take it from here Mr. Hardware man).

So here is what we had to take out:

(Doesn't look to bad you say. Believe you me - like the container in the back of the fridge harboring a community of you know what's, it's what's on the inside of that container that matters-much like the door, the inside of this door was slowly rotting and falling out every time we would open it).

Unlike the cute shoes modeled by me, the wood that was surrounding the door was not cute! It too was rotting from the previous owner's rather large dog (that's what we were told anyway, it looks more like a small saber tooth tiger had his way with it-I'm just saying).

More quality pictures.....of our door, not you honey, your grade A high quality....moving on. This one is my favorite because it's when we all get to share common ground, because all of us have plants growing underneath our threshholds....right....oh you don't, thanks for ruining the moment, moving on.

It wasn't just Matt who did the demo, he had help from C. Thanks buddy, you did a great job.

For a brief moment our door looked like this, while we did....people, this happened almost two months ago, I can't remember why, it just happened, let your imagination run wild.

Then finally our new door was in...

Shiny, new, working....

What? You don't want to open and shut?

What? You're a new door you don't have that option?

What? Lot's of money later we have to replace something two days in?

You've got to be kidding me! %@?!*&^% OK I'm better now. What needs to be replaced.

OK, Matt replaced the 'new' jacked up smashed door sweep (which by the way said 'Home Improvement' store didn't even hesitate doing when he brought this photo in) and did it right, and we were still asking why the door wasn't working already? (talk, talk, talk, to local hardware store, talk, talk, talk, Yeah we'll come out, talk, talk, talk, we can't come out with out our supervisor, blah, blah, blah, sorry we forgot to come out we forgot to tell our supervisor, blah, blah, blah, you need to call manufacturer, blah, blah, blah, let me come out with out my supervisor on my off day, blah, blah, blah, the door's perfect just cut these METAL screws -that should never be cut-then it should be perfect, blah, blah, blah, manufacturer called came faster then local hardware store could spell manufacturer and said door was installed perfectly but let me just CUT your door off at the bottom........manufacture man say what......let me CUT your door off at the bottom that should do it, blah, blah, blah, then Matt had to go buy another door sweep like the picture above and recaulk the thing right since the door guy was rushed. Then because it had been so long since we first installed the door, and it rained like Vietnam monsoon season here without our exterior moldings on - cause we didn't want to waste 'em - Matt ripped out all the foam and insulation and put in all new stuff....though secretly I don't think he minded because he knew we were almost done! Two months later it's finally fixed- these dang lemons are going to give me a belly rash).

Finally it's done, and it works, here are the before of the door's finishing work (notice the awesome condition of the drywall we replaced - how did it even get like that?)

Here are the afters....

(ok maybe I'll get these pictures in soon, they are still on the camera, I'm just glad I got this far).

Moral of the story is.....dang morals, there's no moral here...do you want me to say "don't get lemons", well now that's just impossible, who do you think I am, Harry Potter? I'm sorry but the repair spell won't work on any of this. Good luck with your own endeavors, ours have a tendency to always be tainted with Lemons. Side note - the door now works perfectly, and it's not rotting, nor will it ever!

Friend

Hello old friend blog,

Have you missed me? Have you been wondering where I've been? Did you think I forgot about you? The reasons for my distances are all silly really! Quite simply put, desire is a big part of it; that and the fact the all my energies have gone into other tasks. Dear friend, do not think in anyway this reflects on you, you have been good to me and my family as a blog. You have brought our lives to screen, and made many laugh. I know you see others devoting time to their blogs and for that you are mad at me, because they too are busy yet they can still spend a few moments each day or week on their BFF's. Well, today I'm here to say I'm sorry for the break, I promise to do better; to my old friend I say clear some room because boy do I have some catching up to do, and to the readers of this blog prepare yourself for a marathon of sorts-it's coming and you better believe it's going to be good!

Sincerely yours,
writer and friend,
E

Last of Summer

The last of our summer days,
consisted of a few fun, silly, and just plain creative activities.
First, the boys tried their hand (or foot) at playing with water.

M shows off his muscles while making the water sore high!




C tried a little bit different approach, it's called the

'stick out your stomach, put your butt out, tighten your face' stance.

Hey it worked for him!

What does our judge say?

Looks like they caught him stunned!

What else do they got?



M decided on the classic harp movement of water....
What does the judge think now?


10 points from the judge....he's pleased as punch!

He's dieing to know what you've got next!

Adorable!


Perfect!
They went for the classic pose.
What does our judge have to say?


OOOOOOOH, sorry boys your boyish charm didn't work this time. Looks like your gonna have to try harder than that to please this judge!

Le's give him one more pose..........(drum roll please)..............



AWW I see where your going with this, when water fails - go for the tramp.

Let's see what our judge thought of that.

Good job boys you've left the judge bewildered and wanting more, until next time this is your host and narrator signing off.

Another thing we did was reach deep inside to find our Texan roots. That's right folks we live in Texas, we like to watch Westerns and gosh darnet we like the Stockyards-there is no shame in tourist spots-dressing the part is a complete bones Y'ALL!

Aren't long horn amazing animals!

Not that I would want one for a pet or anything!

Now that I think about it, it might be nice to have one when the kids are being rowdy...it would become a teaching tool, right..... NO....people I'm joking, that's why we're getting a pit bull instead, HE HE HE!

Again I'm kidding!

Moving on.

At the zoo back in UT, they have this sign that is in the shape of a gorilla. Tradition is that a person stands up next to it, and stretches his/her arms out to see how one compares to a gorilla.

Seeing as I'm not in UT I thought it would be cute to do the same thing in TX but with a TX native (because gorilla's totally came from UT-my mom said it must be so-or maybe I just learned it in seminary)

Any who, that how these pictures came about!

I thought this was cute, and very safe. More parents should let their children play on train tracks.....And ride bucking broncos!

(Only if they are plastic of course, I'm completely aware of the fact that this is neither a bucking horse or a bronco, I was going for the shock factor here).

And just so you don't think I left the little guy at home here's proof.

What's that you say, this could have been taken anywhere!

Sadly I completely agree with you so here is even more proof.

Look at the shirt color of the two boys, it's the same, see I told you I didn't leave him at home....Honey!!

And while we ate some over priced ice cream we saw this.

Did anyone else know about this? We are totally doing it......Some day.

Quick glance at another thing we did......

G and mom got to go for a ride on Daddy's lawn mower,

Grrrrrrr, that engine is powerful!

Here is what C did with that last of his summer....

Check out the placement of that hat, great lookin' wings honey.

and to add to that, we got this from him.

I think we are going to have to bring the judge back for this facial expression...

Verdict

That's what I thought, he's completely scared silly!

G learned to do a few things with the last of his summer.

1st clapping- which has been shown you

2nd walking- that's right folks he's movin and a grovin everywhere he goes (pictures to come)

3rd this- don't ask me, just know who his father is and the weirdness of his brothers is why my children do things like this.

I do have to admit, it's dang cute!

The family did this with the literal last day of summer-

We had a back to school dinner

entitled Be Prepared

and we armed him with a few key items to help him this school year.

(all of this was read to M & C on a scroll, in the voice of a king)

They each got a Crown - of wisdom (to help him be smart and learn many things)

a Heart - of kindness (so he can remember to be nice and kind to all those around him, because we all our Heavenly Father's children).

a Sword- of Strength ( to give him strength to do all that his teacher's ask him)

and lastly a Cape-of Confindence (so that he can remember that he is a Child of God, and he is the smartest, most amazing kid out there; he's my child, we all think that of our own).

It was a big hit, and all of this led into the father's blessing. This is such a big step for our family, we can't believe we have a child old enough to go to school, but boy is he ever ready- and as hard as it will be for me, I don't ever want to do anything to dampin his sweet spirit!

Dum, Dum, Dum, Duuuuum all of these summer activities lead us to this day.

M's First day of School

Cass watched the two youngest boys while I got the privilege to take him to school, he was yelling the whole walk in, "Mom can you believe I'm finally going to kindergarten."

(all while big sixth grade boys were thinking something totally different).

It was exciting and with a week under our belts, we couldn't be more thrilled about school especially M, he's loving his independence!

Big thanks to Mrs. Brayfield for your hard work and dedication, your gonna need it this year with M.