A slow blink

Nine years ago we were given the best mixed blessing ever... that of parenthood. Christian was born April 19, 2000 in San Juan Puerto Rico. He was the cutest baby I had ever seen. (Wishing all the baby photos weren't packed right now.) We were told many times that he would make a great baby model.
We knew Christian was an amazing child from the beginning. He began talking quickly and hasn't stopped since. When he was 18 months we went for a walk and I was astounded to see him point to a stop sign and hear him say "Look Mommy, a octogon." Christian remembers everything he hears or sees (except those he chooses to forget like homework due dates and chores). It's a mixed blessing. He is full of amazing trivia, rarely has to study for anything, and remembers everything that sounds like a promise. We have to be very careful what we promise.
He loves anything to do with magic or science. He asked for a chemistry set in 1st grade and was very disappointed when I explained to him that we couldn't build a working laser to "cut things with" because I wouldn't know where to get a particle accelerator (if in fact that's what we would need). We built an electrical circuit instead.
I can't believe that he is nine years old. Someone once told me that when you are raising children, the days go slowly but the years fly by. It is very true. In a blink he has grown up so much.
He is in 3rd grade and is really amazing. In the accelerated class he is in, he has learned to play chess very well, participated in a school play, learned to play chimes with his group, and took 3rd place in a 3rd - 4th grade math tournament of the game Krypto. He has a reading comprehension level of 8th grade, has taught himself to add and subtract fractions, and positive and negative numbers, as well as figuring square roots. Overall, in the national testing, he scored in the 98th percentile. We are continually amazed and proud of his abilities. However, academia has many challenges left for Christian to master... remembering to bring home homework, turn in completed homework, and staying organized enough to keep track of said homework. :)
Christian is a very helpful kid who loves to do things to make others happy. He is so good with his little sisters and is always bringing home things from school that he thinks Jordan will like. He is creative, loving, kind, curious and infectiously happy. We love him and we are so glad he is a part of our family!
Well, I guess that is enough bragging for now. I really believe a child should be bragged about on (or around) their birthday.

Here are some pictures of his birthday party, he called it a "Mysteries of Magic" team party.





It was so breezy we had a hard time lighting the candles.










Solving the mystery!

What's new at our house...

Thought I would post some of the projects we have done in preparing our house to sell. I wish we had done these things 5 years ago! Our realtor is a trained house stager and I have been watching a couple of shows on HGTV for ideas. In other words, there have been more projects than time! You should be able to enlarge photos by clicking on them.

If you are interested or know anyone who might be, check out the professional photos and our official listing here!

I especially love my room. I feel like I have a Master bedroom and a Master bath instead of just a plain old bed and bath.

BTW, the moulding is velcroed onto the mirror! Yep, the self adhesive stuff! Cool huh?

We have lived here for almost 8 years and it takes moving to get us to actually furnish the living room. It just hasn't been a priority. This cushy loveseat will find a new home in our bedroom in the new house.

Above the computer desk in the dining room.

Basement:

Basement Bedroom

Basement Bathroom

You can read about some of these projects and others we have done here, here, here, and here.

And be sure to check out what's happening at other people's houses at WFMW and Remodeling Guy!

Photos from our staycation

Christian Playing Chess at the Treehouse Museum. He is really very good!



Jordan the musician! Playing insturments at Treehouse museum.



Our Pretty Princesses playing dress up. One of our princesses tends to be a little rough and tumble. Can you tell which one?



We went the the Festival of the American West up in Wellsville. It was a blast!!




We loved holding the ducks and bunnies! And being held by THE bunny himself!



Holding turtles....


and snakes... Oh my!
(I have tried 4 times to get this picture turned right. You'll just have to look at it sideways!)

The highlight of the day was the Mutton Busting!! We cheered, screamed, and laughed as both Christian and Jordan gave it a try.



Jordan Christian

We did a couple of other things that I don't have photos for. We went to Fat Catz in Ogden on the same day as the Treehouse museum. Unfortunately, Jenna had an enourmous diaper blowout in the restaurant we went to for lunch and my mind forgot we even had a camera. I was focused on the smell that didn't leave us for the rest of the day. Anyway, after lunch and clean up, we went upstairs and watched some people do the indoor skydiving. It looked like a blast but a little pricey for this trip. Paul had the chance to do it with a work group and said it was great! Then, Paul and the kids had fun in the arcade while Jenna and I went to the toddler play area.
On another day, we also drove down to Sandy in order to see Monsters vs. Aliens in 3D at the IMAX. The kids loved it! Paul and I thought it was great too.

Over all our staycation was a success! We were able to spend a lot of quality time as a family with lower stress on us and our wallet. We would recommend it to anyone with more limited time and resources.

Don't get me wrong, we will be pulling off a couple of big trips this year as well.

Jenna has been indoctrinated

Jenna has officially become a seafood lovin' Bruderer. As many of you know, Paul is violently allergic to any bone fish but not crustaceans or other seafood without a skeleton. We eat these kinds often and in large quantities. Our kids love crab, shrimp, calamari, lobster, scallops, etc. Jordan and Emma are a little pickier but Christian loves it all.

As part of our stay-cation, we went to see Monsters vs. Aliens in 3D out at Jordan Commons and so decided to go to one of our favorite restaurants, Joe's Crab Shack. We couldn't resist ordering some calamari because we like it so much. Jenna LOVED it! She loved it so much she would throw her head back and Mmmmm very loudly every time we would give her some. She also loves crab and shrimp too! Jordan said he liked it until we told him is was squid. He said he still liked it but... didn''t want any more. Emma didn't even want the plate that the calamari was sitting on! :)

How is your day progressing?

General Conference activities

I love General Conference. My kids even look forward to it, especially this year since we have the 8:30 church schedule. Over the last few years I have looked for creative ways to hold the kids' interest while we listen. We encourage them to listen as much as they can but 8 hours of speakers is a little much to ask of kids ages 8,6,4, and 18 months. Some activities we have enjoyed have been:

• a Greg Olsen print puzzle of Noah's Ark (It's a 500 piecer so it takes us a while)
• match the apostle game
• activities from our Sunday box
• "hear that word" bingo with candy
• various healthy snacks
• packets from various websites

Here are some of the resources that I have found on the web:
http://www.sugardoodle.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3101&Itemid=429

http://www.theideadoor.com/General%20Conference%20Page.html

http://lds.about.com/od/puzzlesgamesquizzes/Puzzles_Games_Quizzes_Crafts_and_Other_Activities.htm

If you have any ideas or resources to share, we would love to read about them.

Our plans for Spring Break

This spring because of circumstances (we are trying to sell our house and get a new one built), we are taking a staycation. Paul is taking 3 days off and we are going to see and do lots of things around our area as if we were tourists. We will eat breakfast out, do picnic lunches in the park etc. We plan to spend most of the daytime hours out and doing. We will not let ourselves work until kids are sleeping peacefully in their own beds and then we can sleep in ours.

We want to have a plan to get us up and going in the mornings, just like we would do on an awaycation. Here are some of our ideas so far:
Treehouse Museum
Fat Catz
Sweet's Candy Factory Tour
Monsters vs. Aliens 3D
Kennecott Copper Mine
Discovery Gateway
Planetarium
Tracy Aviary and Liberty Park
Eating out (the only thing Emma wants is to eat at McDonalds)
decorate Easter eggs
play Easter games etc.


I think it wll be fun, and economical, both financially and timewise.
What unique vacations have you taken?

Help! Suction cup issues

This week, over at We are THAT Family, for the weekly WFMW, they are doing a reverse blog carnival. This week we get to ask questions!
We have a dilemma here. We found some really great suction cup hooks to hang in the shower to hang the kids puffs. Unfortunately, when we removed them toget ready to sell the house, they have left brown circles on our faux marble walls. They just don't match with the new shower door we bought for $200 and the new caulking job I stayed up until 2 am doing to really make the shower sparkle. I have tried bleach and a magic eraser neither one worked. Any other ideas?

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!