Room

Finally, here are some shots of the new and improved laundry room. A special thank you goes out to Nate S. for help framing, John for wiring and and hanging walls and shelves and paying for everything :), Todd C. for help with the ceiling, Jeff C. for help with the tile and to Adam H. for the hours of countertop intallation!

Although sometimes I look at it and think it's definately not a professional remodel, it's still far better than the cement walls and cement floor we started with. It's been interesting learning new skills and I'm proud of myself for designing the layout and getting it done. Now I have room for some of my stuff!








































I also miraculously cleaned my office 2 weeks ago! I actually have a floor. I should have taken a before picture so you could truly appreciate this. Now I have room to walk!

The next projects in line? 1. get John to put the bathroom sink back together 2. get john to stay home for a day and finish the coat rack/bench for the laundry room 3. clean out the family room and move the office stuff in there 4. remodel the office for Braunte' so she can have her own room!

2 Tag

2 favorite names: Braunté & Sofia

2 favorite months: September & April (because I am so ready for Spring)

2 favorite foods (and you can't say Pizza): most anything Italian or Mexican

2 favorite nuts: cashews & almonds (mostly when in an Almond Joy)

2 favorite stores: Wal-Mart (I know it shouldn't be, but look at the prices!) & any craft store

2 favorite activities: scrapbooking & reading

2 favorite huggers: Johnnyboy & each of my kids when they were the baby

2 favorite conversationalists (besides spouse): I can't pick 2...my mom (the most unselfish person in the world) & Shaury (who thinks like me) & Jennifer (I look forward to playdates) & each of my brothers (they can make me smile no matter what mood I have been in)

2 people to tag: Laura (I'd like to know more about you) & Tara (because she'll actually do it)

Braunté-Girl

Today was Jr. High pre-registration. Tough choices....pre-algebra or algebra, Spanish or German, choir or art. I can't believe my little baby is growing up.

She's gone from this....

to this...and now to this, in such a short time... This last shot was at her Christmas dance recital 2008. Thank goodness she still only wears make-up for dance recitals. The video clip was at the Reflections Contest Awards Assembly at Roy Jr. High this month. The 6th graders had to compete against 7th and 8th graders. She earned an Award of Excellence in Literature and an Award of Merit in Visual Arts.

Change is good?

(written Nov. 26) I got a major shock last Sunday when the Bishop called us in to his office. I was pretty sure John was going to be Young Men's President. Nope, I was called to be the Young Women's President instead. I already miss being in Relief Society. I am so thankful for the relationships I made when serving with the presidency and I am in denial that it's going to end. I feel so overwhelmed at this huge responsibility and the most stressful part for me (right now anyway) is calling counselors. I really struggle with knowing if things I think are the Holy Ghost's promptings or my own personal judgements. Although change is hard, I look back on all the opportunities I have had to serve in the church and I have great memories of all of them.(updated Dec. 27) I have a great presidency. We have held a couple of presidency meetings and two activities. So far so good!

Tolkien's photography skills

I just downloaded the pictures off my camera and I think about 65 of the 360 were taken by me. I spent about 45 minutes going through and sorting/deleting pictures. Why? Because Tolkien steals my camera whenever possible and goes around the house shooting pictures. They actually aren't that bad and it's interesting to view things from his perspective. Lots of pictures of toys, close-ups of household items, the family photo on the wall at every possible angle, his feet and door knobs around the house. I also seem to be a common target (I deleted all the ones of my backside). Thanks to my awesome sister-in-law, Kendra, I finally used my photoshop! Here are a few of my favorites he took this month...

Curse you milk!

Okay, most of you know that Tolkien is addicted to milk. I went from buying 2 gallons every 3 weeks to 4 gallons per week. Anyway, for the last couple years the first words from his mouth were "milk" every morning. When he would fall asleep in the car and I would carry him into the house he would wake up half way and say "miiiilk" and fall back asleep.

The last couple of months he hasn't been so bad. Probably because we have finally weaned him from his sippy cup and told him that 4 year olds (his birthday's next week)don't need to take milk to church each week. He has found a new power in being able to keep his cup of milk in the fridge and go take a swig whenever he pleases.

So why do I curse milk? I have cleaned up more spilled milk over the last 2 months than I have in the two years prior. His cup seems to get bumped over all the time. The worst was a few weeks ago when he put his cup on the top shelf on top of other stuff and when I opened the fridge door it fell and spilled over EVERY single item on the door shelves, ran down the inside shelves, into the bins, and under the fridge. I was not a happy mommy. Since I can't cry over spilled milk I must curse it. Curse you milk!

The good news? I have cleaned my fridge 4 times this month.

7 things tag

Okay, I'm not sure I like this tag thing...probably because I haven't been able to get on here often enough to respond to all the tags I've seen, but this one seems pretty quick.

7 Things I do:

*read myself sleepy most nights
*return phone calls
*wash clothes every Monday
*scrapbook at least once a month (wish I could justify weekly)
*volunteer at the school every week
*balance my checkbook
*drink only water


7 Things I can't do:

*go out of town without booking a hotel
*install the photo editing software I got for my birthday in September
*keep up with my housework
*be in a play
*pay for a haircut
*keep my mouth shut
*get myself to exercise


7 Things I always say:

*my prayers
*"come on, we gotta go!"
*"whatever"
*"go to bed"
*"Did you ask her to stop? Did you try to make a deal?"
*"no"
*"I love you"


7 Things I always eat:

*everything on my plate and maybe someone else's plate :)
*peanut butter and jelly toast
*tacos
*enchiladas
*chile verde
*left-over mexican food
*junior mints


7 people I tag: (sorry y'all)

tara
marie
kendra
amy
julie
tamie
brindy