Why I don't attempt more...

Have you ever noticed that as soon as you start a project, your kids begin to fight, want you to watch EVERYTHING they are doing, want something to eat, spill something, get hurt, and open the doors so a tornado can blow through the house...?

Seriously. This week has been a nightmare. I attempted several projects and have learned a very valuable lesson: These are not the project years.

Project #1: Jenna and Kesley's princess bed
Results: Kesley was "a little disappointed", and Jenna almost...well, she got a hold of this drill I was using and was sitting on the ground pushing the button making it turn. I thought it was the regular screw gun until I heard her screaming! She had pushed the button and the drill caught her diaper. From the first glance I thought the gun was going right into her--privates--CAN YOU IMAGINE! She was screaming bloody murder! I couldn't get the drill to come out! She wouldn't let me touch her! I took off her diaper and was SO RELIEVED that the drill came too. I still couldn't tell if she had cut herself and she was so traumatized, she wouldn't let me touch her. I unwound the diaper and found that the drill had stopped at the very last layer--the one that is pretty much transparent. It was that close. I can't even think about it. Here is a shot of the drill bit I was using....Here is what the living room looked like when I finally came out of that room with a finished project...it was clean when I started...I couldn't even bring myself to take a picture of the kitchen.

Project #2: Clean the house.
Results: Gavin snuck out front to ride his bike, fell over and somehow got his foot stuck. I tried to free him for 15 min while he screamed, and finally realized there was no way I could do it. I didn't have ANYBODY who could help. No neighbor. Brent was at work. What do you do? I called the fire department. Not 911, just through dispatch. I was sure they would show up and free him in 2 minutes and I would feel like a total idiot, but I needed help.

I don't know why it made me so happy, but it ended up taking 4 firemen, 20 minutes to free that kid! They had to take apart the whole bike! They were so great about the whole thing and even stayed to put the bike back together!Project #3: Mow the lawn. Sounds easy, but it is an acre of very tall weeds.
Results: 1. Broke the $500, borrowed lawn mower. 2. Lost my debit card filling up the gas can. 3. Left the gate open and the dog got out and was hit by a car--she's OK, but it cost $600! 4. The house was a once again a complete disaster by the time I got back from the vet.

I didn't take any pictures of any of this, and I hope to never think about this day again.

Project #4: Take today off and not try to do anything.
Result: I almost broke my neck--really.

The girls were invited to a play date this morning, so I decided to let Gavin bring a friend home from school to keep him occupied. What do I do with all that free time??? A project I cannot do with all the kids around! I decided to prune our huge trees out front. They have lots of dead branches that have always bugged me. My neighbor lent me this saw on a stick thingy and I got out my 6 ft. ladder and went to work. I guess I looked pretty ridiculous and was really worrying a few people driving by. I had one lady stop and say, "Your going to kill yourself!" I had another lady stop and ask me to please come borrow her ladder which was a Little Giant and much more sturdy. I didn't even know her! I totally took her up on it and put it in the upside down "V" formation and sawed away. Wonderful! After a while I decided to make the ladder into the straight formation which would allow me to climb way up into the tree and get those pesky top branches. Try lifting one of those heavy ladders sometime. It's hard enough when it's all compact, but out in this straight formation--IMPOSSIBLE! Just trying to lift it up into the tree made my tired arms shake. Somehow the ladder got stuck on some smaller branches and totally threw me off balance, making the ladder fall backwards. There was no way I could stop that thing from coming down! I tried to let it down slow, but my arms were too tired. The ladder ended up on my shoulders with my head in between two rungs, which pulled me all the way to the ground and totally tweaked my neck. It was all in slow motion and I really thought my neck was going to break there at the end!

Let's just say I put everything away and I have no plans to attempt anymore yard work...maybe forever.

No pictures of this, but here is a cute one of Kesley and her newest makeover accessory: STICKERS! Maybe she could use my attention, like to learn how to put on makeup without looking like a clown...hmmmm....is that what mom's are supposed to be doing?

Perhaps too creative?

I am getting a little tired of having to be so creative with space. Our little 800 sq. ft. gets smaller and smaller everyday. My latest idea has me thinking I may be a little border line crazy lady...

Three years ago, Brent turned one of the 2 bedrooms this tiny house had into a laundry room. NO COMPLAINTS because I couldn't handle the washer and dryer in the kitchen any longer. The idea was to finish an addition off the house to give us some extra bedrooms, but until that was completed, we moved all the kids into one room. This was not an issue, because the kids were so young and liked being together, and didn't have any strong decorating opinions. Well, that time has passed, and lately Gavin has been EXTRA creative with his top of the bunk bed... This new trophy shelf is full of, you guessed it, OLD FASHIONED CARS!! Ok, so this picture makes it very clear that I am pretty leinient on letting him decorate his own space--it's his space to do what ever he wants!In order to create more "space" in their crowded bedroom, I converted the lower bunk into a full size bed and had the girls sleep together. They haven't ever complained, and it did create the space I needed, but I have always felt like they were getting the shaft. They are not quite into decorating like G is, and I wanted to do something to make their space a little more "girly."

Here is my latest and greatest--I was just thinking the pictures don't do it justice, but then again that could be the crazy lady talking.I used quilt batting to line the posts and up underneathe the top bunk and then I covered that with pink satin. I added little jewels to cover the staples and create a little carriage feel...stop snickering... Here's a view of their cealing...it really does look a lot better in person...All the edges are finished off with tewel and ribbon...

Anyway, it is only a temporary fix. We hope to have our little addition completed by the end of the summer (fingers crossed) and G will have his own room and we can re-do things for the girls, but until then...

Cute moments for the scrapbook....

Can I post a funny, naked picture of my 2 year old? Jenna just started this ultra private walk to the tub. Where she got the idea, I have no idea--but it is too funny not to share!

Kesley has started loosing teeth! She had her top one pulled awhile ago, but just recently lost her first official tooth. It just happened to be directly underneath her top hole, and she now has an open door instead of a window! The Christmas ornament pose seemed like the best way to display this...



Kesley had her little cousin, Naomi, come play the other day. They did their own "make overs" and came up to show me with a, "Mom, how do you like us?" I took one look at them and could not help but let out a little laugh! Kesley was a little thrown off by the snicker, and probably felt a little embarrassed...so she tried to recover by quickly adding, "Mom, can we dress up like clowns?" Then I really laughed!





This is so cute, but also kinda sad. Gavin was trying to get on my nerves the other day and was getting more and more obnoxious. He does this on purpose in order to get my attention--but man--it really almost pushes me over the edge! I finally got mad and told him to leave me alone and let me finish sorting the laundry. Well, I came out of the laundry room to find this note.

Yes, I went and found him and gave him a great big love. I love this kid!

Easter

Ahhh, Easter. I love Easter. Easter means it is officially spring and summer is on it's way. I love Easter dresses and Easter egg hunts. I love Easter chocolate and Easter dinner. I love following the Saviors life through the week leading up to Easter Sunday and trying to keep the focus on him. Every year this seems to get a little harder.

This year I thought I would try to do without the candy, except for what the kids find in the easter egg hunt. Somehow Gavin still ended up with a HUGE basket of candy (from the church egg hunt, teachers, etc.) and all Kesley keeps asking me is why the Easter bunny didn't come to our house.... Ooops, I've never been a fan of the Easter bunny. We use our Easter baskets to collect eggs and haven't really expanded things from there. She came home from church and was so confused as to why the bunny had brought her friend presents and candy and hadn't brought anything to her. Why has Easter become another Christmas? I can see an Easter basket with a little chocolate or whatever, but why gifts? I just don't understand it. Now I feel like a mean mom who has sucked all the magic out of Easter...I just can't win.

They did, however, get beautiful new dresses and Kesley never felt more like a princess. She got to wear her hat and some new little heal shoes to church. Gavin and Jenna were not very cooperative in letting me capture their Easter cuteness, but Kesley was more than willing to pose and pose and....Jenna was just in awww of Kesley. Was it the hat or the dress? Kesley was loving the admiration--she was the princess among the paupers. I call this shot, "The Condescension of Kesley"
Jenna wouldn't really pose, but this one turned out cute.We did have a great day and a yummy dinner up at Gram & Grandpa Smiths. Next year, I will continue in my quest to celebrate the true meaning in Easter, but I think I will add a tiny amount of pizazz to the basket...just so my kids aren't traumatized.