Little Change.

I had book club at my house a few weeks ago and after the discussion some of the ladies decided to tease me a bit because I STILL had paint chips taped to my wall from a year ago. They started talking about colors and I mentioned I was going to go with a nice brown in my kitchen and Maree said "oh Liz do something bold and drastic", so this is for you Maree. It's about as bold as I get. haha. I think it turned out well. This is the before picture and below is the after. Our biggest thing was finding a red that matched our chocolate brown curtains. I like the change it's made. Nothing like a good group of friends to push you past your comfort zone. I'm going back to my bubble for a while now. ha ha.

The After. I should have taken the picture at the same time of day as I took the other one . . but you get the point. I really like it and it is DRASTIC. I will say I am so glad I got online and read tips on painting red walls. If your interested ALWAYS get a grey primer and have them darken it, paint that on before you even start. HUGE difference! I only did 2 coats of red and it turned out so dark and rich. LOVING IT! Thanks for the inspiration Maree.

Pears anyone?

I have never canned in my life, nor had much interest in doing so until this year. I got all the canning supplies earlier this summer but didn't have anything to can. Then at church they offered 40 lb boxes of pears from the church pear farm in Medford. I bought 2 and decided that would be my first canning experience. I was a bit nervous having never canned before and my first attempt would be on 80 lb's of pears, but it all worked out. Here is a picture that Jeff took of me the first night. I did it in the evenings right before bedtime and it took me about 2 nights to can all 80 lbs. I think the boxes were only 20 lb boxes because I didn't get as many quarts as my mom calculated I should. My girlfriend loaned me her water bath caner so I had 2 going at once and it was GREAT! Thanks Emy! Glad my kids love pears! Scottie ate so many before I was able to get to canning that he had pear diarrhea. Was that TMI? Only a Mom would post about poop on her blog. haha.

I got a bunch of supplies from the company I am working for, and the boys LOVE playing in the boxes the supplies come in. They pretended they were on pirate ships.

Mother of the Year

I thought I would share my experience that I had yesterday with Scottie that is sure to get me a nomination for Mother of the Year. Jeff had school this weekend and came home with a couple of treats. He had one of those 100 cal pack fig newtons and the boys REALLY wanted me to open it. I said no, and later I hear Scottie repeatedly say "Cake-a-treat , Cake-a-treat" I think to myself "We don't have any pancakes what could he be talking about?" I walk into the kitchen where he is sitting on the floor with the package of fig newtons opened and a BUTCHER KNIFE. To my horror he had grabbed the package, walked into the kitchen, opened a kitchen drawer that had the butcher knives (I didn't know he could reach let alone know where they were!) and sat on the floor with a HUGE butcher knife and cut the package open. He had the knife lieing next to him and the package opened with a big smile of achievement. AHHH! There goes my award. haha.

Scroll down to the bottom and watch.

I got these a few years ago from a girlfriend at work. I have saved them for over 4 years! Everytime I see them I just laugh and I admit I can't help but dance along as I am watching my computer screen. Scroll down to the bottom of my blog and tell me what you think! Make sure to pause my playlist so you can hear the music on both video's! ;)

True First Day of School

This was Jeff's TRUE first day of school. He got to drop off Grant and see Grant's school and then headed to the University. He has already had a TON of homework before he even started and he is feeling a bit overwhelmed. But we know this is all worth it.

You can see the grey primer coat I put on the trim. I hope to cover it with white paint soon. We'll see . . . you know how those projects go. hee hee..

My craigslist deals!

I was really looking for a trike, but thought I would see if there were any bunkbeds posted. I saw that this one had just posted. The ones we got are a honey oak, but the EXACT same design as these. The lady had posted at 3:00 or so and I got to her house before the other 6 people and paid her by 5:30. I got these for $200. She bought them 3 years ago for $800. Grant is excited to get them set-up after Scottie's birthday.

I wanted to buy Scottie a trike for his birthday at the end of October. After looking at some stores I realized they are running for $50+. Not that he isn't worth $50 to me, but I SO did not want to spend that. I got on Craigslist.com and found this one for $25. The owner lived less than a mile from me. I found out this trike usually goes for $150+ . . . I felt like $25 was a good bargain. Don't tell Scottie what he is getting for his b-day. It's hiding and a surprise.

First day of School! Just drop me off Mom!

Grant was SO excited to start pre-school this year. We signed him up back in March and he has been talking about it ever since then. His famous request is "Just drop me off Mommy. You not come in. Just drop me off." Hard to believe my baby is growing up! He picked out a Cars backpack with wheels. This picture is as we left the house to "Drop him off". I didn't honor his request completely, I walked him to his class room and made sure the teacher saw him. He wasn't very happy about that.

Grant standing right in front of his new pre-school class. By the time we got there, he was a little nervous and not smiling as much. He was very brave. He is very much like his Daddy when it comes to school. Jeff says when he was young, he thought the whole point of school was going to recess. . . .when I picked up Grant he said his favorite part was playing on the playground and that's all I could get out of him. Like father like son.

Crashing the Family Reunion

The Olson family invited us to their annual Labor Day weekend camp out at Dorena Lake. We were actually in town at the time and drove up for the day. We had SO MUCH fun visiting with them and watching all the kids play. My favorite part was watching Jessica and their other cousins trying to dunk Melissa (no offense Melissa, it was just really funny). Jeff talked with my Uncle Greg for a long time about bikes and got some great information from him. (My Uncle Greg is a HUGE biker). We played at Cottage Grove Lake instead of Dorena lake because it seems Dorena lake has Toxic Algea in it. They didn't have a sign posted at the lake about the toxic algea and it wasn't until the Olson's were done playing in the lake all day and back at camp that they found a notice by the bathrooms at camp notifying of the toxic algea. Ugh. That's why we decided to go to Cottage Grove lake instead.

Grant and Scottie playing and throwing rocks.

My cousins Jessica and Melissa with their other cousins watching the kids swim at the lake.

Grandma Robbins and Aunt Kathy watching everyone play around at Cottage Grove Lake.

Scottie and I at Cottage Grove Lake with the Olson Family reunion.

Playing with the "Telascope"

With my new job as a Paremedical Examiner the boys see me with my Stethascope sometimes. Grant wanted to play with the "Telescope" and he and Scottie thought it was SO neat to listen to eachother's hearts. Scottie kept lifting his shirt and holding the bell piece to his chest. It was really cute.

Grant thought that Scottie would like to hear the heart in his feet.

Grant thought his dump truck would like to hear his heart too! As you can see the Stethascope ear pieces are around the dump truck. Crazy kid.

Secret Agent Man

I knew this hat would be used. I got it when I was in the singles ward and we had a free market. It folds up into a small circle and fits in a purse. Scottie and Grant LOVE playing with it. It is too big and rolls around Scottie's head but he thinks he is hiding.