Jenna's at it again!

This afternoon, Jenna fell against the side of the coffee table and lost a chunk out of her bottom lip. I took her into the doctor and after much trauma for her and for me, they put in one stitch so that it will heal better and cleaner.

She was very upset during the process but after a short nap and a popsicle, was as happy as ever. Jenna is such a mild tempered, cheerful child! She amazes me and is a real blessing to our family.
We were discussing the fact that we have four children and this is only the second time we have had to have stitches and no broken bones! That's pretty amazing. Not that we haven't had accidents, like this one, and this one, and many more that I have yet to write about such as when Christian decided to get out of the tub by himself, stood on the edge and slipped splitting his lip open. Or when Jordan got his pinky slammed in the door at the church and popped the nail right out of the nail bed. Or, or, or....

I guess we better be knocking on wood!!

How we got a Cherry 7-up stained ceiling

Jordan was about 2½ or 3 and in his throwing stage. Whenever he had something he shouldn't have, and we asked him for it, he would grin, throw it, and run. No matter how close we were to him, how we asked him, if we instructed him to put it in our hands, he always threw whatever it was.
One day he found a can of Cherry 7-up in the pantry. I, in my panicked state began to chase him around the house trying to get it from him, until I realized that the room temperature can was thoroughly being shaken. I approached him with my hands in the air, palms out so as not to threaten, and began to beg, plead, cajole, anything I could think of to get him to gently place it in my hand. No such luck! He gave a maniacal smile worthy of the best criminal holding a loaded weapon and then in true 007 style lobbed the can and escaped under the cover of a bomb and the panic it caused.
Over the last few years I have tried to wash the kitchen ceiling at least 3 or 4 times without success. We have finally painted over the splatter stains. As I write this I feel almost a sentimental sadness that they are gone. Almost....

Remodeling Revelations Vol. 1 - Paint

I am learning a lot of great things throughout this process and decided to list them for future reference because my memory is as holey as swiss cheese. Now, these things may be no brainers for you DIY veterans out there but they were revelations for me.

1. Start by prioritizing your projects by $ as well as how much they bug you. In hindsight, there is a large ticket project that really bugged me butI wish we had considered other options and spent the extra $ on some other projects.
2. If your paint doesn't need a color change, try washing the walls first. It's amazing how it will brighten the room. Magic Erasers can be very useful but try to use them sparingly as they will dull your paint sheen. If washing the wall doesn't make enough difference, consider paint matching and touching up as another option.
3. Remember, color matching isn't perfect or fail safe! The difference of "just slightly off" can be as big as the wall you are painting. Old paint is hard to match and needs to be washed (see #2).
4. Paint sheen is more important than you may realize. Don't let anyone, even the Home Depot guy tell you that your ceiling paint is a semi-gloss. It isn't! Instead of painting one section of the ceiling stained by Cherry 7-up, we ended up painting the entire ceiling. Uggg!
5. Contrasting paint colors adds interest and drama. We are very happy we chose a bright white for doors and trim rather than a more mute eggshell or cream color.
6. There are lots of uses for paint that make big changes for little $. We are excited about our new blue front door and the "hammered" metallic paint we used to update the light fixtures in the bathrooms.
7. Buy expensive paint tape and remove it while the paint is still wet to prevent bleeding and flaking. I just learned this yesterday from a professional painter! Wish I had known this long ago! No more DollarTree tape for this house!
8. Removing hardware, switchplates, etc is worth the time and effort. No matter how hard you try, you will get paint on them. It is more difficult to clean the paint off of them later.
9. A higher grade brush can make all the difference when cutting in those edges!

DIY Before and Afters

Well, I imagine that most of my blogs for the next few weeks/months will be about getting this house ready to sell and planning the new house. It has become my obsession!

I have put a few before and after pictures of a couple of projects we have done, info on a fun product I discovered, and a disposable paint tray idea!

First of all, I hate to paint doors. I mean I REALLY hate to paint doors. I have spent days painting doors and door frames. The only thing I hate worse than painting doors is cleaning up after painting doors. One night, I was washing out a food tray from our ready-made dinner from Costco (We've been having a lot of those dinners lately). I looked at the ridges in the bottom and on the sides and thought "this would work great for the 3" paint roller I was using to paint the doors." I just put it inside the regular paint tray to keep it on a slope, covered it with plastic wrap between the (count 'em) 3 coats I had to do on the front door, and then threw it away! It Worked for Me! Check out other paint tips (here) we have learned along the way !


Before & After

I don't know if you can see the white front door, but we painted it the blue you saw in the paint tray and it really accents the otherwise monotone colors of the house. The new color and a planter on the front porch should add to the welcoming feel.

We had old brass colored light fixtures in the master bath. The finish was peeling and tarnished. I took them apart and lightly cleaned them with steelwool. I then used a new (to me) paint by Rust-oleum called "hammered" metal. You can spray it right over any metal surface, even if it is rusted! I chose a nickel type finish to match the new shower door Paul installed although I really liked the idea of the antiqued bronze. It is a little hard to see in this photo but the "hammered" finish has a lot of depth and really updated the look. It was an inexpensive alternative to replacing the fixtures!

Before & After

Here is a picture of the new shower door. I don't have a before, but trust me it was scratched and needed replacing. We chose the rain glass which I really like, especially since it is easier to keep looking nice and clean.












Well, I guess I'd better figure out what to feed my family for dinner and plan that Family Home Evening lesson!

Surprise gift game!

Here's a fun blogging game started by my friend Dahlene over at My Happy Family...

Be one of the first three people to leave a comment on this post and you'll receive something handmade from me sometime in the next year. But there is a catch. You have to do the same thing on your blog. And then once you get the item from me you have to comment about it on my blog!! Your entry into this, is your most embarrassing moment.

I have so many stories in my arsenal, but I guess it will be the one at Bear Lake. When I was about 15 we had a ward outing and they had reserved two cabins to let people shower. I was showering, when someone knocked on the door and informed my friend that there was a fire and we had to evacuate immediately! Looong story short, I ended up on the highway with the rest of my ward in a towel with a blanket thrown over me as all the little kids asked me if I had "any clothes on under there" and the semi truck drivers honked!

My first giveaway! A science booklet

Here I am doing my first blogosphere giveaway! We'll see if anyone checks in or if I will just experience the sound of crickets. Enter BEFORE MARCH 7TH!!

Do your kids like science? My son Christian, when he was 6½ years old informed us that he wanted a chemistry set for Christmas. I searched everywhere and found nothing that satisfied me. The kits I found were $20 and basically included experiments with vinegar and baking soda...period! We had been there and done all that. So I started researching on the internet. I found some great websites and some things from my old teaching files and compiled my own book. There are more than 25 activities from the vinegar and baking soda volcanoes, to crystal gardens, to electrical circuits. The experiments use materials you can find at your grocery store and craft store. There is even a supply list on the back so you can gather it all and put it in a box, making a kit to use for a gift.

This booklet is a great to combat the summer doldrums! Making my own science kit worked for me! Check out more on Works for me Wednesday over at We are THAT family.

Leave me a comment to enter to win a copy of this fun booklet.

**Using a highly scientific (or seemingly so to this techno challenged mind) process at http://random.org/sequences/ we have a winner. And the winner is....Fairion. I will contact you by email! Happy experimenting!

Anyone else who may still be interested in the booklet, you can leave me a comment and we can work something out for the cost of copying and postage.