A couple of ideas

Sorry for the post overload today, but I'm at work (bored because we're slow), and I've had a lot of things running around in my head. But I'm wondering if any of my 2nd Ward friends (or anyone else who lives in this area) wants to get together for a couple of activities. Here are the ideas:

1. A monthly crafting/sewing/whatever group. We'd have a specific thing we were going to make each month, and we could meet at my house or someone else's, and basically just socialize while we do something fun. I'm thinking we'd make assignments for each month, so that we rotate who chooses the project to make. That way we'd have more of a variety of things to make - aprons, flower headbands, cards, whatever. It would have to be a simple project that can be completed in the one day.

2. Summer camp! This was actually Shari's idea, but we think it would be fun to organize a few families with younger kiddos (maybe ages 2 or 3 up to ages 7 or 8?) to do our own sort of summer camp. We'd pick a week (probably in July?) and each mom would be in charge of some sort of activity. We'd split the kids up into age groups, and do crafts, scientific experiments, service projects, gardening, whatever. We're thinking of a simplified version of this idea by My Mix of Six.

If anyone is interested in either of these, please let me know!

My next project

I love this scrappy quilt from Cluck Cluck Sew, and it will be super easy. I'm totally going to make one. But not until after I've finished reupholstering my chairs. And painting and hanging trim in the basement. After all, my fabric and most of my sewing stuff is in storage while we do the basement, so I really can't get started on it right now anyway. (Jeff will be so relieved that I'm not putting yet another project before the basement.)My favorite part about it is that I can use up lots of my fabric scraps - and if Mom will give me some of hers (hint hint) I probably won't have to buy any fabric at all. Don't you love it?

Boot camp

Ugh. When 5:30 Tuesday morning rolled around, I was not too excited about getting up and going to work out. Especially since I had worked until midnight and then Lauren had been up every two hours the night before. But I dragged myself out of bed and went. To be honest, I was a little disappointed at how many "skinny minnies" there were. I thought that in the beginning boot camp class, there would be more people like me. There are a couple, but out of 45 or so people, only about 9 of us are first-timers. The rest have been doing every session of boot camp for a while now. One lady started in October, and has lost 30 pounds since then.

After the initial workout, the first-timers went into the trainer's office to get our body fat measurements done. I actually am better off than I thought I was (partly due to the 10 pounds I've lost in the last couple of months due to running). But I still have a ways to go. Hopefully I'll reach my goal with only one session, because it isn't cheap. I'm going to follow the diet plan that the trainer gave us as well. It's very reasonable - all about eating frequent small meals with protein, whole grains, and produce, eliminating refined foods, and reducing carbs. And the plan is incremental. So this week I'm only working on having a good breakfast, with whole grains, protein, no sugar other than fruit, and no more than 4 grams of fat. Next week we make some changes to lunch, and so on.

The first week of workouts is now over, and I am SO SORE. SO SO SO SO SORE!!!! But I also am enjoying these workouts much more than I enjoy running. Even though I can't lift my arms above my head without some serious pain, I'm glad I'm doing this. I've had to modify the workouts a little bit to get through, but hopefully in the next couple of weeks I'll be able to complete them all.

And on days when I don't go to boot camp, I'm still going to work out at home with the Winsor Pilates videos. I used to do them a long time ago, and it made a huge difference. I'm looking forward to the lower impact and the toning and core strength that comes from those. And the stretching. I love my pilates videos. And I love e-bay, which allowed me to replace my VHS ones with DVD. So much nicer than rewinding all the time.

As a way to make myself more accountable, I'm going to post my progress in my sidebar after each of my weekly "weigh-ins." It will make me think twice before I order that piece of grasshopper pie from Jeremiah's.

Mission Impossible.... Almost

I have been searching for weeks for a sofa I could put in the living room. We sold our old ones at our yard sale, and since then have only had the two chairs I need to recover. We can't really afford a new one, so I had been looking on KSL and Craigslist. I wanted a queen sleeper, so that my family has somewhere to sleep when they are visiting. And I wanted it to be brown. I thought I might like a sectional, but was having a hard time finding one with the right design. I'm super picky, and I feel like I'm past the point where I'm willing to just get whatever because it's cheap or it's free. I wanted to actually get a sofa that I want to keep for a long, long time. I was getting very frustrated and was even resigned to paying full price for one that fit my long list of criteria. I had even gone to a couple of new furniture stores to price them.

But then, I found this.It's exactly what I was looking for in a sofa. It was a little more than I would have liked to pay, but it's brand new - and still MUCH cheaper than retail. The lady bought it for her basement, and then her son decided to move his bedroom and so she sold this to make room for his new room. And I love it.

And I love Jeff for missing his elder's quorum ultimate frisbee game to drive to Herriman in rush-hour traffic with me to get it. And for hauling it up the stairs from the lady's basement. And for hauling it into our house. It's HEAVY. He did have help both times, but still...... Thank you Sweetie!!!

Some recent photos

Here is Michael and Faith in their new aprons I made at our last "sewing bee."
Here is Faith helping to plant beans.Next we have Lauren in her cute dress (one of her MANY cute dresses). And next to her, we have Faith in the same cute dress when she was the same age. Can you tell they're sisters?

Today after church we went to visit the ducks at Beus Pond. It was raining, and Faith just couldn't wait to use her umbrella.
A pelican at the pond - I don't think I've seen any pelicans here before.
Michael at the pond.
Faith exploring a trail at the pond.
Michael and Faith with Daddy.

Another project done

I got our "new" sink in today. It turned into a much bigger project than I had anticipated, of course. All of my projects do. I ended up needing to cut the hole in the countertop bigger, extend the dishwasher drain hose about six inches, and replace all of the plumbing underneath because the new sink's drains are a little farther apart than the old one's. I must admit, there's a certain satisfaction in knowing that all the plumbing underneath is shiny and new and not yet filled with crud. (Yes, I'm strange. I know.) And, I had to install the drain assemblies three times before we FINALLY had no leaks anywhere. (Dumb plumber's putty doesn't come with instructions - thank goodness for Google.)

While I was moving the faucet, I decided to get the part to fix the leak we've been having in it for several months. But then I couldn't get the handle off. Jeff came to try, and with all the yanking and pulling and maneuvering, somehow the faucet quit leaking - no disassembly required. So I guess that's good. I can return that part. And the replacement faucet I bought just in case all the yanking and pulling and maneuvering broke the old one completely. It's nice to be able to turn off the water and have it stop dripping without me putting the handle in juuusst the right spot.

Sorry, no photo today. The sink is finished, but it has cans of paint all over the edges, holding it down while the adhesive cures. Maybe tomorrow I'll take a picture. I was going to take before and after photos, but I forgot about the before until the old sink was already outside in the carport.

Quite the performer

Today at church, during Sacrament Meeting, Faith took advantage of a silent moment to belt out her new favorite song. Here she is doing a less-loud version:

Yard Sale Finds

My parents were up here for the weekend, and my mom and I went yard sale-ing on Saturday morning. It was a GREAT day for yard sales. I got this:I've been looking on KSL for a piano bench for a long time, so I was way excited to get this. It's actually an organ bench, but I'll just have to shorten the legs a little to make it fit properly. When I asked how much it was, the man said $10. I didn't say anything for about five seconds, and he said, "$5?" How could I not take that? Especially since the style of it is very similar to our piano (which yes, I know is in dire need of refinishing - one project at a time). I would have paid $10, but sometimes a well placed pause is very beneficial. :-)

I also found this:
Yes, that is a hand-crocheted queen-size bedspread. It is BEAUTIFUL!!!! My mom found it stashed under a table at a yard sale where they were still taking things out. Guess how much this beauty cost? $15. I could hardly believe it when I heard that. I've wanted to make a bedspread for a long time, and I've found a lot of patterns that I really like. But I get bored doing the same thing over and over when I crochet. And a bedspread would require like, 500 of the same little flower or star. It would seriously take me the rest of my life to finish it. So $15 is a great price to pay to spare me all that monotony.

I found kid-size baseball mitts (even in pink for Faith):
Michael is really excited about his, even though it doesn't look like it here. (They were watching Princess and the Frog, and he was not very happy that I made him take a photo in the middle of it.)

And in close competition with the crocheted bedspread for my favorite find of the day:
A kitchen sink! I am so excited about this one. We currently have one of those nasty porcelain or ceramic or whatever sinks. It is impossible to keep clean, and I hate it. So when I found this stainless, super-deep sink for $15, I grabbed it. Jeff wasn't very excited about the additional project, but I told him it would be my project. I'll clean it up and hopefully get it installed this week.

And speaking of projects, this is my latest one to be finished:I had been considering one just like this on KSL, but then it sold. When we were down in Delta for Mother's Day, my mom had the exact same one on her front porch! She had bought it at a bargain store down there for $20 and was going to give it to my brother to use as an end table. But he didn't want it. So I bought it from her for $20, and after a week of sanding, staining, polyurethaning, and painting, and too many trips to Lowe's to get the right screws, here it is. I'm really happy with how it turned out, but I'm not still not 100% sure that it's what I want between those two chairs. (Which, by the way, are the chairs that I bought from the DI for $15 total and still need to recover - yeah, we have a lot of projects piling up here.) I think I need someone with some design sense to come tell me how to arrange my living room - should I get a couch or a sectional? What color should I get? Should I put it here or there? I am really not good at arranging or decorating a house. But I'm super good at finding things to put in it!

The new house

We got a new chair for Jeff's desk, and he made a "house" out of the box. The kids have a great time playing in it.

The votes are in...

... and bows on the bottom it is! I LOVE it!I don't love the bent blinds, but one thing at a time.

Five months!

I know I'm a few days late posting this, but better late than never, huh? I did take the photo on May 1st, though, which was Lauren's "five-month-birthday." (Fifth month-day?)Lauren is often in this position. She has STRONG tummy muscles! She loves to play with her feet, and she has rolled over from her back to her belly two times. She won't go from belly to back yet, though, because every time I lay her down on her belly she screams. Not a fan.

She still has terrible eczema, but I think we've figured out some things that were making it worse (dryer sheets, tomatoes, polyester), and so hopefully that will clear up soon. She is not a great napper, but usually sleeps all night, so I can live with that. I love to hear her giggle and talk. The other day, Michael was saying the third Article of Faith over and over. He had learned it in Primary. Lauren was jabbering, and I said something about her talking. Michael asked if she could talk. I said yes, she just doesn't use words like we do. And he said, "She can't say, 'By obedience to the laws and ornaments of the gospel'?"

No. Not yet. But I'm sure those will be her first words.

PHEW!!!

I promise - one of these days I'm going to be one of those women who are always caught up on everything. You know, laundry, dishes, visiting teaching, cleaning, blogging.... But today, I am not one of those women.

We've had a crazy week. The kids and I went to Delta for our girls' sewing bee. I've always done big projects when we've had them before (a quilt, bed skirts, etc.), but this time I did aprons for Michael and Faith, so they can "help" me cook. I'll have to take a picture of them. Faith's was kind of an experiment, but it turned out really cute.

We had a yard sale for our family activity yesterday. It rained on us, but not too much. I knew the weather was supposed to be kind of yucky, but I was SO TIRED of all the stuff piled in my living room. I put an ad in the paper and said "rain or shine," so we were committed. (But then the paper failed to print the ad, but that's another story.) So now our living room is practically empty, except for the two chairs I need to recover (my next project) and a table with the TV on it. Some guy who owns an auction house came and bought just about every piece of furniture we had - and we had A LOT. Between all of us, we had two couches, a box springs, headboard, loveseat, end tables, coffee table, mirror, shelves, futon mattress, bed frames, rug, and more. We sold a lot of stuff, and made a decent amount of money. It was fun, but not something I'll organize again for a long time. I'll be happy to sell my stuff at someone else's, though!

I've been working some extra shifts because one of the desk clerks is on vacation. The money will be nice, but it's hard to be away from home. Since Lauren was born, I'm just not feeling the desire to get out like I did after Michael and Faith. I get irritated with things that take me away from my family. Not that I want to never have a break, but I just have been feeling very strongly that I need to focus my efforts and my attention on home. I think that once we are finished remodeling the basement and doing a couple of other projects at home, I will probably retire from my part-time job, and definitely cut back to one day on my gym job. But to those of you who work with me at the hotel - that won't be for some time still. I imagine I'll be there at least through the end of this year. We have a LOT to do on the house.

That's the short version of the long week we've had. I'll take a photo of the kids' aprons soon, and post a photo of the curtains with bows on the bottoms. You all were right - they were just the right touch!