Tackling the Boxes

Thank goodness for extra help to push me along. Yes. There are now a lot of boxes to sort through in our bedroom. I got rid of 6 tonight! Our latest project was boxes of Christmas ornaments. We all have one. They brought their boxes over after Christmas to go through. It's been pretty easy through the years to get them mixed up with one another. Also, the family box has all of the duplicate handmade ornaments I made years ago and it is a good time to just divide them and let the girls enjoy them now. I now have just one of each ornament, already preparing for the day when we will have a three foot tree that we can cover with a sheet and store, ready to go each year. Lame I know. The girls looked at me in horror that this is a possibility. It is. One day. Meanwhile it is feeling good to get these projects done. Thank you girls!
-Brenda

Playing Restaurant

We were told to meet at the house at 1:30pm. Some kids grow up and play competitive sports. Our girls grew up playing store and restaurant. They still do. They think of a restaurant name, in this case it was called Dragons Lair. Then they set the menu with what is available in the fridge and charge too much for everything... but our expenses are helped out greatly by the wad of play money they spot us. Food is good. We meet in the family room until the hostess comes to seat us. We make light conversation and get to know the restaurant help. Everything costs extra, but we think it's well worth it to be served so wonderfully.
-Brenda

Birthday Girls

It's been a busy month so far of Happy April Birthdays! Kelsie (9th) Abby (11th) Brenda (13th) and soon, Ashlee (24th). Favorite dinners of Pioneer Woman tacos, grilled hamburgers, chicken enchilada casserole and times of playing spud and speed outside. Handmade cards and time together. Also a surprise breakfast for Abby & Dallen across the street with the neighborhood kids (they share a birthday).

For my Bday, they asked, "Anything you want to do?" And I thought of lazer tag, a bike ride... but then it came to me. "Anything?" I asked. So they all came over and we wiped down and cleared out the family & living rooms and closets. The help was thrilling to me as I have felt a bit overwhelmed lately. It really was the best gift they could have given me... afterwards we played games and had homemade chocolate malts. And yes, the boxes and items that I still don't know what to do with are back in our bedroom, waiting for me to go through them for the final time... soon!
-Brenda

Abby 16 and Kelsie 20

My happy birthday cleaning crew

Hello Yellow

We are needing a change. Not a big change, just a simple change that a $13.79 can of paint (and several trips to the paint store to get the color right) can bring. Is there really anything better than a fresh coat of paint? Not in my world. We went for a happy yellow, which may take awhile to get use to. But inside, I kind of really love it.
-Brenda

Potty in the Toilet

We got the phone call. Conrad's excited voice, "I go potty in the toilet. It was fun!" Our hearts jumped for joy... biggest news of the day at our place.
-Brenda

Saying goodbye...

Grateful

Life can change in an instant. The most important things in our lives can sometimes get lost in the day to day busyness and we think things will always stay the same and never change. And then the phone call comes and we hold our breath and pray... priorities instantly pop back into place and we see life very clearly once again. Larry's Dad went into the hospital on Sunday and was thankfully released on Wednesday, feeling & looking much better. We are all getting older and with that comes a deep gratefulness for so many things. What I value now, I took for granted in my younger years. I feel like this is a gift life gives us every so often. I like the softer side of Joe as he has gotten older. He sometimes seemed crusty through the years, yet he is so tender on the inside. The thing I admire most about Larry's parents is the love they have for their family. We can see it, we can feel it. They gave me my Larry and the girls. I thank God everyday that they are my family.
-Brenda

Home sweet home and organizing his medicine

The Wipe Down: Laundry Room

We are on a cleaning out roll. Now that the kitchen is clean & shiny, we voted to do the laundry room next. Other than the mismatch socks, 97.8% of what we hauled out of there belongs to me ... boxes of incomplete projects and things that I am just not sure what to do with. I think they have been moved around the house for the past 15 years or so, depending on the room that is being tidied at the time. I know. I have issues. This is just one of them.

The boxes are now back in our bedroom all stacked up and ready for some kind of action from me... sometime hopefully soon. I would imagine that as we go through our house having wipe downs that my piles will grow. We wiped down and painted our laundry room a Dragonfly Blue (extra paint from Pebbles). We love the color and the tidiness of the room... now to just keep it that way.

It was a sunny 70 degrees yesterday and today we woke up to 6 inches of snow. Spring in Utah! General Conference weekend has been nice. Every six months, our church leaders have a two day conference filled with inspired talks and music. We are thankful for the guidance and being able to watch it on TV at home in our pjs is extra nice. We were going to dinner at Larry's parents house today, but got a phone call letting us know that Larry's Dad was taken to the hospital. Amazing how quickly life can stand still as we all went to see him. (He is doing much better this morning!)
-Brenda