Hammer Time!

We've had an exciting week. We started the improvements on our house. We're adding a 4' bay onto our dining room (who knew we'd ever need more room around our table) and a wrap around porch into a deck on the back. So the first picture is Bill and Billy taking off the back steps and then what our house looks like now as of Friday. What you can't see is the BIG ruts that the cement truck, backhoe and others left in our lawn since it was snowing or raining most of the time they were here. So on Saturday we cut up all the sod over those places and then shoveled that whole pile of dirt into the tracks they left and put the sod back on. It was a LONG, HARD process and since it was a lovely day, not too hot, I never even thought of sunscreen. Now, I look like a lobster with a true farmers tan - nice shirt sleeve lines and matching glove lines. Natalie and Cheyenne were great helps and worked with us from about 11-6. Hopefully it will all fill in and look decent soon. We can't wait for it all to be done! Oh and one other funny thing, when Cheyenne and Natalie came home from school on the day the cement was poured, I was explaining to them that it was the foundation for the new extension. As I'm talking to them, Billy starts singing "How Firm a Foundation." I stopped mid-sentence, started laughing and asked him how he knew that song. He replied, "I learned it in Primary." Then Jon started singing it with him. At least I know they're listening and learning. :)

Easter by the Numbers

6 kids -- 9 colors of dye -- 18 eggs -- A quick 5, maybe 10 minutes of fun!

6 kids -- 4 beautiful new dresses -- 1 beautiful sunny spring day

6 Easter baskets -- 6 hiding spots (Dad's were harder than Mom's) -- 6 happy kids on a sugar rush

House Tag

Okay Leslie tagged me, so here's mine:

Grab your camera and take at least 5 random pictures around your house. No cleaning up first, this is your house as is. Here are some categories you could use: Room that stays the cleanest. Work in progress. What someone else is doing right now. Favorite decor or display. Something that represents your current life. Favorite relaxing spot. Something hand-me-down. etc.

Favorite Room and Decor: Our Kitchen
I love and loved making the sign over the door. I love the hutch that Bill bought for me. I love that we had to get a matching table when our family grew so big. I love the farm picture that Grandma Hegsted made me when I was in high school. I love all the fun eating, playing games, and so much more we do around this table.


Current Life (okay I guess Messiest room, too):
The Bonus Room aka play room, craft room, exercise room, guest room, storage room

This is my craft area. I know not much, but I got kicked out of my "craft room". That's what happens when you have 6 kids. So I was going to say that this area usually isn't this messy, that I was in between/finishing up about 4 different projects at this time. But then I swallowed my pride and am admitting to myself that yah, this area looks like this most of the time - maybe just different things sitting out. That's why I'm dubbing it the messiest spot in the house, too. This is where everything that needs to be put away, mended, looked at, prepared for YW, stored gets set - along with my scrapbooking/card making/sewing stuff, too. What I love - my scrapbooking storage cubes, my history of Rexburg photo book (so cool!), my buckets and tins of different colors and shapes.

What others are doing:

My little kiddos playing legos and watching "Horton Hears a Who." I love having them by me while I'm exercising, crafting or whatever out here (in the bonus room) - well, most of the time.


Work in Progress:

Well, I guess this will be the first remodel project thanks to the wonderful Idaho spring winds last week - actually after today, it's a lot worse. Then soon we'll start on a "wrap around porch/deck" off the left hand side of the house around to the back. I'm hopefully, finally getting my picket railing on the front porch. Yeah! We're also taking the roof over the porch all the way around, too, probably. Besides the fun of just having a deck out back and a shady porch to sit on in the afternoons, I'll get rid of the side flower bed that I hate the most and is more of a weed patch than anything else; and there will be less lawn to mow. Double bonus!


Okay, so that's it. I tag anyone else who'll play along with me. :)

Look what I made!

I just had to share what I made - all by myself. Yup, not even one phone call to my mom, that's a first for me and sewing projects. It was actually kind of fun, too.

Today marks 16 years!

Yes today is the anniversary of Bill and my's first date. I know it's a silly thing to celebrate or remember, but my dad always did it for my mom and so I always do, too. Yup, this is the night that changed my life FOREVER! We went to a concert (Sawyer Brown, Chris Ledoux and Mark Chesnut) in Pocatello. I remember sitting at work that afternoon and making my mom (I worked in her office) listen to the country station promoting the concert. Everytime they'd say something about the concert or play a song I'd get so excited. I don't think I did much work that day. I was so excited, but at the same time terrified of having to talk to him the whole hour long drive there and back. To say I was shy is an understatment. So when I had no trouble talking to him the entire way down and back, I knew he was something special. I guess he thought I was too. We had a great time together that night, and we've been together ever since. Bill's my best friend and I can't imagine life without him. I love you, Bill!

(The playlist is now playing songs from that most wonderful night, with the first one being "our song".)

Another way I'm turning into my mother.

I just have to laugh at myself when I realize all the ways I'm becoming like more and more like my mom all the time. Not only do I frequently burst into song when talking with my kids, and I often wake them up singing the dreaded "Wake up, wake up ya sleepy head" (Cheyenne and Natalie dread it, but Billy actually requested it the other day), I realize I'm starting to have her same tastes in decorating and clothes and value her opinion over just about any one elses. Good thing my mom is such a classy lady! So, the newest way I'm becoming my mom - I'm now part of a group of "old ladies" exercising at the church. From the time I was little up until I think I was in high school maybe, my mom met up with a bunch of other ladies to exercise every M W F. She was religious about it and I don't think she hardly ever missed a day. I tried to go with her a few times, but I never kept with it very long. It was just too early for me and I cherished my sleep more. See the biggest difference between "us" and "them", those ladies were made of much sterner stuff. Not only did they go three days a week, we only go twice a week, but they would meet at 5:30 a.m.! I just can't handle that early in the morning. We meet at 8:30, after the kids all leave for school. My little kids have a great time playing with their friends in the nursery and I get in a great workout. It's all good! Oh, and the other difference, no fancy leotards and leg warmers and no Jane Fonda. :)

Love you, Mom! Thanks for being such a wonderful example to me. I'm proud to say "I'm turning into my mother."

Thanks Grandma!

Chloe and Maddie in new Christmas dresses from Grandma and Grandpa. They love their "puppy" dresses, especially because they can twirl in them.