Jeremy’s grandma past away a week or so ago and we spent a good chunk of last week attending the funeral and other family functions.

Even though Jeremy and I have only been married for 9 years, we have spent many hours visiting with Grandma. We would spend many Sunday afternoon just hanging out with her and spending time the house that her and Grandpa bought in the 40′s. She was as much my grandma as she was Jeremy’s.

I have attended a few funerals in my day and I have to say that I think funerals, or more specifically, loosing someone, is one of the most spiritual experiences in life. There is no doubt in my mind that heaven is close by during those times. There are amazing feelings and experiences that testify of how thin the veil can be. Grandma’s funeral felt like this to me. She was such a great, strong lady. She will be missed but I can’t help but be so happy for her to be rejoined with her husband who past away 28 years ago. Imagine that reunion.

Jeremy’s Dad gave me a whole bunch of old photos of Grandma and their family. He had found some old slides and had them digitized. We had such a good time looking through them and reminiscing about the past. I love this one of Grandma curling her hair. It’s so real life. They said that was how she always was, with a book in hand and her feet kicked up. Love it.

I now have all these old photos and it’s a wonder what to do with them.

I had to post this old picture of “the Duster” that Jeremy and his family drove for years. There are stories of kids falling out of broken doors and everyone piling in on road trips across the country and sleeping on the hot floor. Oh the days before car seats! (Jeremy is the one squashed next to his dad. Let’s all say Ahhh together. Ahhh!)

Have you done anything with old pictures? There can be so many that it’s completely overwhelming. But what’s to be done so that all these wonderful times wont be forgotten? Print them out? Put them on flash drives and pass them out? Who knows, but it’s so much fun to sit down and remember.

I never intended to take the summer off from scrapbooking but that seems to be what has happened. This week alone has been so crazy. I can’t even think about sitting down at the computer to blow a few hours at one of my favorite hobbies. There’s just no time for that. Maybe when this week is over things will calm down a bit.

I’ll give you a little update though.

Emma turned 8.

We had our third annual birthday part at my dear friend’s swimming pool. (Hello, what a wonderfully easy party. Hurray for summer birthdays!) If this picture looks familiar it’s because I’ve got 2 from the previous years that look almost identical.

Emma, of course, was super excited to be one year older and finally 8. But of course things can not go completely smooth so we had to deal with a small fall and a popped open a chin two days before her party. She couldn’t swim with her friends like she would have liked to because of the Dr’s orders to keep it clean and dry. Drats.

Turning 8 is super exciting for us around these parts because Emma was able to be baptized.

We had such a wonderful day. It turned out super special and sweet for Emma and us. I hope she remembers this day all her life. I know I will.

I think I must have recovered from my vacation because life has really picked up this week. I’ve gone mountain biking, rock climbing and now we are headed out to go camping. Whoo! This is just the way I like things but occasionally I’ll sit down on the couch in a big huff and think, “Gosh, I’m tired!”

Emma’s birthday is coming up. We are getting ready for it weeks in advance because it’s the big 8 which is a big deal around these parts. Yesterday I spent the afternoon making invitations for her friend party and they turned out cute enough so I thought I’d share.

Emma originally wanted to make them all by herself so we bought card stock and glitter and she planned out her design all by herself. After taking a couple weeks to make one (which was soon destroyed by her sister) she gave up and asked for my help. The only problem is “help” means “please take over” so I did.

I had seen these cute No-Melt Pop Invitations by Martha Stewart and thought they’d be an answer to our problem. There is even free clip art that makes them a breeze to make. Perfect for busy summer time, yes?

I bought some sticks and vellum at the craft store but decided against the glassine paper and regret it only a tiny bit. Let’s not tease ourselves, we all know these go in the garbage once the event is over.

Here’s my version. I just used left over card stock and experimented until I had a version I liked (the polka dot one.)

I didn’t have any spray adhesive and so my glue stick was disastrous on the dark brown paper. I also think my vellum was more see through than Martha’s. Okay, we can admit that Martha’s are way cuter, but hey, they’ll do the job. At least I’ve got something done on my TO DO list.

I’m off for a fun camping trip. Happy summer.

Since coming home from my summer vacation I’ve had a hard time getting back into the groove of thing. My brain is thinking of new projects I can do to jazz things up around here.

Yesterday I painted my front door a boring black. It needed it and looks better than it did but at the end of the day it left me with an incomplete since of satisfaction. Now I’m wanting to paint something more fun… something bright and cheerful.

How about a piano?

I’ve been wanting a piano for a while. I’m not a pianist by any means but my parents had me take lessons and I can play a handful of songs and read a bit of music. Now that I’m a parent shouldn’t I make my kids take lessons as well? Every kid should be tortured with having to practice for hours on end (oh, maybe it was only 30 minutes). It’s good for them, right? I’ve survived. And yes, I wish I’d stuck with it.

My front room is the perfect place for a piano. In fact I’m dying to get rid of a couch or two but I can’t get over one issue. I don’t care for the way pianos look. They are so big, so imposing and so noticeable. I know, it seems so superficial but if the piano is going to be the first thing people see when they walk in my house, I want it to look good.

There’s one problem. I can’t afford a good looking piano.

And then I saw this:

And oh my gosh, I fell in love. I didn’t know you could just paint a piano. I’m sure there are people out there who are moaning and groaning but I love the idea of a bright fun piano. It makes me want to play it. I searched the internet and found a whole bunch of cool inspiring pianos.

Here are some of my favorites. (images linked)

I think that this green is a perfect green. Greens can be tricky but this one looks modern and fresh. I like that this is a normal upright. I guess it doesn’t have to be a vintage piano to be worth painting.

This yellow one is so cheerful and cool looking. I wonder if I could pull off this color in my house.

This whole room is darling. The white piano isn’t exactly my style but I think it really looks good in this chic space and I think it’s a good example of what can be done.

I like red too. It’s probably the most doable color in my house but maybe not the most fun color.

So now I’m dreaming about what color I’d paint a piano if I had one.

I’ve been searching the classified and there are a lot of pianos to choose from. I’m nervous about buying a piano though. I want it to work. There are a lot of cheap ones out there and they could just be garbage. My piano doesn’t have to be concert worthy but I want it to sound nice, hold it’s tune and hold up to the kids banging on it.

I do have my eye on a beautiful vintage one and even went to check it out. I was so disappointed to find that it was in bad shape and had about 10 or so broken keys. I called some piano guys about fixing it up and heard some negative responses. First of all, it would be expensive. Second, you don’t know if your buying a lemon or not and thirdly, major parts could simple just snap when they tried tuning it. So sad. I did talk to one guy who seemed happy to fix up old vintage pianos and said that occasionally he’ll find a diamond in the rough. That gave me hope but I’d have to put money into it to find out if I found a diamond or not. Risky, eh?

So here is the question. Do I buy a cheap ol’ crappy piano that I don’t feel bad painting or do I spend a little bit more money and find a decent piano that my kids can learn and play on for years? If I bought a nicer piano would I feel bad or weird painting it? See the problem? I guess I need to find a middle of the road piano that needs a little tlc but still sounds good.

So what do you think about painted pianos? Would you dare? What color would you choose?

I hope you all had a wonderful Father’s Day.

This is my dad and Leah out at sunset exploring the world together.

I absolutely adore my dad. My adoration is growing too. Grandpa-hood must be wonderful. I love seeing him interact with my children. His face seems to burst with happiness when Leah runs across the room to hug her Gampah. I can almost see his heart exploding.

I love to see him giggle in remembrance when the kids make a mess. I know he’s tickled to death when he stands in the driveway waving 100 times good bye with both hands high in the air in response to my kids yelling and waving with both hands as we drive away from his house.

Love you, Daddy! Thanks for all your time, sacrifice and love.

Hello.

We are wanting to put a large photo of the Draper Temple in our front room. I don’t have a nice camera so we borrowed one from a dear friend and went up one evening to try our best at getting a decent shot. Now, I need some input because I have no idea what I’m doing.

Pick your favorite. Remember that we’re wanting to put this in a front room.

Temple #1

Temple #2

Temple #3

Temple #4

So that’s my 4 favorites. I know #3 and #4 are alike but the colors are a bit different.

Thanks for your input.

The battle continues with Leah’s naps but I’ve decided that I’m not going to give up on her. Thanks for all your great comments and suggestions. Despite what she thinks, she is too young to go without a nap. On Sunday I let her skip it because we were busy and on the run. During the evening I quickly came to regret it because she was a beastly monster!! The whining and crying and “I want you”s were too much. I have several family members that will testify to her grouchiness.

*** *** ***

I guess I need to accept the fact that spring weather will be wet and roller-coaster-ish. Last week was so nice and sunny. We had weather in the 70′s and we made sure to enjoy it. We were outside most days. (no scrapbooking time for me)

We’ve had fun in the sun at soccer games and practices. I love the view we have at this park. The snow capped mountains are a great back drop while I sit there warm on the grass (even though everyone is terrified about the amount of water that’s going to come down during spring runoff. Record amounts I hear.)

*** *** ***

We also moved the chickens out of the garage because they were getting big enough to jump out of the cardboard box hotel I’d made them. We made a little make shift brooding coop with a roof, heating lamp and a movable side so we can let them out when the weather is nice. It’s been fun to sit and watch them explore their new surroundings. The chicks appear to love the sun just as much as we do. This funny black chick kept laying down and fanning his wing in the warm sunshine. It must have felt wonderful to the little thing.

Apparently they’ll eat ants at this age (5 weeks) but not rolly pollies. The chicks seem so puzzled by them when they roll up.

Isaac seems to think they should be parrots.

Leah is scary to watch hold the chicks. I’m afraid for their lives (or wings) most the time. She’ll cradle them in one arm like it’s a baby doll. She loves them though and I can’t get her to leave them alone. Gosh, I hope they make it to adulthood.

We are still trying to decide what to do with the chicks once they are bigger. We are leaning towards keeping them but we hate to go build a big coop when we aren’t sure how many hens we’ll have.

*** *** ***

Jeremy and I were able to get out for our first bike ride of the season. It felt so nice flying through the newly budding trees.

The ground cover under the trees was amazingly green. This photo doesn’t quite show it but it felt like we weren’t in the Utah scrub oak any more. Felt more like the Appalachian trail or something. There were even darling little blue bell flowers all over. It was gorgeous, I tell you.

So now that we’ve had this little teaser of pleasant weather, the clouds have rolled in.

Boo hoo! I guess it’s time to get scrapbooking. I’ll be posting a new free template soon.

For some reason when all of my sweet darlings turn the ripe old age of two they decide that they no longer need a nap… but guess what!! Mom thinks they STILL DO! Isn’t two years way to young to be quitting? I have yet to be successful in getting a child to nap once they realize that they are missing out on tons of fun by having to take a nap.

” No nap!! Waa aaaa a aaa”

Dear me.

Please excuse the messy room. I am human.

The battle with Leah has begun. We have a little routine, you see. It involves going potty, turning on the fan, reading her favorite book of the month and singing a couple of songs. This used to work like a charm but now she wants more stories, more songs, and even more potty time. Sheesh. Before I know it I’ve spent an hour trying to get the girl to sleep. Today, for an example, she wanted a band-aid on her (week old) ouchie. I got one for her and then she happened to see another scabbed over ouchie and wanted one for that. OK, fine. Well, when she found a teeny, tiny 3rd ouchie and I’d had enough. I just had to say, “It’s nap time. Love you. Go to sleep.” and put her in her bed and shut the door. “Waaaaahhh!”

When I do that she ends up climbing out of her crib and sleeps on the floor by the door. I can see her shadow there and she’ll roll over and bang the door sometimes. Apparently she likes to sleep in her chair too. Is she ready for a big girl bed?

I hope every mother has those days when they have no more patience left at all and has to just shut the door.

Sigh.

It’s getting worse; the crying, the kicking of the door. She’s getting better and better at not falling asleep. It takes longer and longer and longer.

Not to mention the taking off of the diaper and pooping on the floor and then sitting in various spots on the carpet to spread the lovely brown mush around the room. Nice.

I’ve started to skip days because it’s just easier… but that means I’m on the path of phasing them out. Blast. That’s not what I want. Nor do I want a grouchy girl in the evening.

So are you going to tell me to be more patient? more consistent? more compassionate and that I should have given her her third band-aid? lay her down at the same time every day?? Hum, what to do?

Have you had a toddler that fought naps at 2? Did you continue to make them have them or did you give up? Do you have 4 or 5 year old that still naps? I’m not sure how anyone gets to that point. It’s a mystery to me… but at 31 I still like to have a nap. Maybe that counts for something.

Not much scrapbooking going on around here. It’s spring break at our house and my computer time has been limited. I did, however, see this wreath and fall in love with it. I showed a couple of my sis-in-laws and they fell in love too. We knew we each had to make one for our front doors so we declared it project day and got to work.

I wish I had snapped some pictures of the chaos that ensued from our crafting day. Imagine babies of all sizes crying here and there for want of nap, pb and j’s intermingled with fabric flowers, nerf guns and marble runs spread all about the floor, pouty children not getting along, yelps from hot glue gun burns going off ever other minute.

Boy, was it fun.

And look how cute my front door looks now.

Fun, huh?

If you are looking for a springy paper project. Check this one out. My mom made me a few of these cute bird cages and I love them. They sit on my entryway table and make everything look so springy and cute. The tutorial comes with a pattern and everything.

That’s it for now. I hope this inspires you to make some fun spring crafts as well.

My little munchkin is 2 today.

Sigh.

I spent some time laying on a blanket outside in the warm sunshine watching Leah run around and around in circles. She was going as fast as those rolly, naked legs could take her. She was saying “Watch, mommy. Fast!”

While I was there basking in the brief sunshine, my memories trickled back to exactly two years ago. It was a similar kind of day, warm enough to be out but perhaps a light jacket near by. I remember walking and walking and walking around the playground trying to figure out how to get this baby to come out. There happened to be a man working on some newly poured cement next to the playground. He must have been watching me walking waddling around in circles because he asked me when my baby was suppose to arrive.

Two weeks ago was my reply.

Little did I know that in just a few more hours I’d be pushing that baby out on my very own bedroom floor. Ah, what a memory. It’s a memory that makes my heart warm and a smile come to my face and maybe even giggle.

And now look at her. Sooo big. Where have these two years gone?

She has been such a dear girl. A joy to our family. She’s very loving and sweet. I do admit, though, that I have some fear about how her two year old behaviors are going to turn out. She’s had a bit of a nasty, grouchy spell with whining and hitting. Yikes. Well, it’s exciting to be two anyway.

Happy Birthday, Leah!