Friday, December 30, 2011

1*2*3




We're a step beyond this...after a nightmare of adding
can lights for kyle for two straight days, we have no walls left,
can lights in and the ceiling hole sheetrocked.

It is a slow moving process...we're thinking by March
it will all be done.  There is more dust than I like and
we haven't eaten a well balanced meal for days.

I certainly have a love/hate relationship with redoing/remodeling.

But, I do love it when it's all done.  I will keep thinking
of the finished product.  And wishing I were at a hotel
with maid service for the whole experience! ;)

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

the way things were













I know!  I know!  Try not to become jealous of our ugly old outdated, or in otherwords
RETRO kitchen.  Ok, it's just ugly.   Every house we move into (that is of course a "fixer
upper") we seem to do every room, saving the kitchen for last.

WHY?  I always ask 5 years into living there. (In this case--almost 8
years!!) OH WHY?

Well, I was bound and determined (and bound and determined to convince Kyle
to be bound and determined!!!) to do a kitchen at "some point" ...."on the cheap."

The cheap I tell you!  We had plywood cabinets, old linoleum floors and in reality
NOTHING worth salvaging.  It certainly functioned and I did not NEED a new kitchen.

But I sure WANTED one.

I searched high and low on KSL ads for months and months, sent emails to relatives,
contractors and friends of friends on the off chance someone was tearing out a kitchen
that we could have the cabinets from.

Without going "custom" we needed more than a few to make it work.

As luck would have it, two days before Christmas I was surfing KSL and found
an ad I had missed in previous searches.  A full kitchen INCLUDING some appliances
(they offered ALL, we took some!) for about $750.  We decided to go take a peek.

They were solid wood, they were in GREAT shape, there were lots of pieces for
Kyle to work with and we decided to take the plunge.  The seller knocked off $200
if Kyle would dismantle and haul them away.

Of course, Kyle would.  He probably would've walked to Provo for the $200
discount.

Long story short.  We are INSANE!  We have cabinets and we are "redoing"
the kitchen.  We are trying to stay in XXX price point and see what we come up
with.  It will NOT be the kitchen of "my dreams"--BUT it will be a BIG step
up from plywood cabinets original to the house (1950 people, 1950!) and
green and burgandy tile counters.

We don't know exactly how it will all turn out--but Kyle and I are always up
for a challenge and adventure when it comes to planning and figuring and
making it all work out.

We have spent nights and days and hours and hours talking and planning
and measuring and reworking.   We let the kids paint/color/hammer the walls.

The wall between the old "dining" room and kitchen is now gone and Kyle
has worked hard to get new electrical in today.

I love it that I have a husband who knows how to do EVERYTHING...literally!

From tile to electrical to plumbing to floors, sheetrock, painting, you name it--
he does it.  Our labor costs are free, a BIG plus.

Will update with progress periodically.  We are in it for the long ride--excited
to see if we can make it all work on our shoestring budget.  So far, so good!

celebrate good times....come on!

 Christmas Eve Dinner....

 Ready to Eat.

 Happy Bowls...

 & Cinnamon Rolls...

 Taco Soup

 Homemade caramel sauce with apples

 Grandma Ladanye joined the family for Christmas week.

 Sparkling.

 Looks like Santa DID come!

 He drank his Dt Coke...don't let anyone fool you--it IS dt. coke he drinks!

 Holiday Lights.

 Ripping in to the good stuff!

 Piles of gifts.
Spoiled!

 Grace, the princess, camera shy on Christmas morning.

 Fires buring brightly.

 Loot here, boxes empty.

 Puddy got her cruiser.

 Josh & Puddy build Legos, no Christmas is complete without them!

Riding off into the sunset. 
Until next year!!!

Friday, December 23, 2011

ACT, U of U, PMM

PMM: Proud Mommy Moment....

Josh got his ACT's back today.
Score: 30
Composite Score: 32

PDG (pretty d@mn good!!)

Also in the mail today?

Acceptance letter to the University of Utah.  (U of U)

Between his GPA and ACT we *think* he will be in the running
for a full ride scholarship!  Applications being started after Christmas
break.

I guess I will be a Ute fan from now on. :)

Go UTES!!!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

get your epi pen ready





Well, the Winter Formal was exciting at least.

His date, who was supposed to pick him up at 5:15 had his sister CALL Josh
at 5:15...apparently Sarah (the date) ate a nut she was allergic to and had to
take an epi pen shot, prescription Clariton and one other allergy medicine
because of a severe allergic reaction.

Dinner was off...the dance was a maybe depending on how well Sarah recovered.

By 7, she was well enough to have her sister drive them to the dance (she was
high on multiple legal over the counter drugs and couldn't drive).  She arrived
decked out in teal and looking lovely, albeit a little "tipsy".

Apologizing profusely for missing the first part of the date and for having her
sister be the driver.  We felt so bad, but were happy she was well
enough to make the dance and after activities.

They looked stunning in matching colors and I will be up til 3 AM waiting
for the boy to come home!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

prayer of gratitude

Each year our Church Youth Group (ages 12 to 18) does a "Holiday Activity"
with the Special Needs kids in our area.  These kids have a variety of disabilities,
and range in age from 8 to 28.  It is a long standing tradition and is something
our youth look forward to all year.

THIS year, one of the special needs girls was saying the closing prayer and
in her words said, "And I'm so thankful that Josh is the HOTTEST BOY EVER!
He's SO cute!!....Amen."

Needless to say there were giggles all around.
And it IS worthy of a blog post, right?

We're so thankful for our "Hottie!" (wink wink)


"Hottest Boy Ever!"

AMEN & AMEN!!

Friday, December 9, 2011

when you leave 17 (& 18 yr old boys) home alone...

This is what happens....


...When the boys are left home alone.

That WAS my basement bathroom sink.

Porcelain in granite.  They thought it would be FUNNY (and fun?)
to put a fire cracker in the sink.  And then see what would happen.

(Well, I could have told them if only they had asked!
Which they didn't....ask that is!)

Well, firecrackers and porcelain sinks don't mix....obviously.

The one good thing was that there WERE tampons under the sink
to catch all the water the spilled all over the bathroom when the
sink blew up.

Sigh...17 year old (and 18 year old) boys.

WHAT ARE they thinking????

I'm trying to decide if I want to laugh or cry...probably a little of both.
But mostly laugh...we've made it a LONG time, and a LOT of
explosions with no incidents.  It could have been an arm, or
an eye, or worse.

Next time, I've instructed them to blow up my kitchen sink which
I hate.

P.S.  I must add it was NOT my son, but a friend.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

its beginning to look a lot like Christmas...














This is how it's looking here....

How about you?  How is it looking at YOUR house?