Ugh!

Painted again - hate it - again. Maybe I'll just go back to white. Boring old white. Blah.

Snow at last!

It finally snowed. I know, you thought I wouldn't be looking forward to it, but it is better than the barren scene we've had for a while with no real fun outside. We did go down to the lake on Sunday and throw rocks. Sometimes they would go through the ice and create an air pocket under the ice and other times they would skip across the ice, making the most incredible noise. I can't even describe it. The best little tinkling sound came from a handful of tiny rocks.

We had initially gone down to the dock to retrieve the motor off of Doug's little boat. The big one has been "packaged" for the winter - he lovingly wrapped it in tarps, folding them nicely so it looks like a gift - okay, I think it looks like an arc, but whatever. There was no ice in front of our dock, so Doug decided to just drive the boat around to the boat launch. He got about half way there and hit the ice. He had a good time breaking through the ice, but it doesn't sound so good when a small ice burg hits the propeller.

There was no snow on the forecast for the week as of Sunday, but today it says we should have snow for the next three days. The little boys will be so excited when they wake up! We have to head into town and look for new snow pants for Brenden. The ones that he is wearing from last year look ridiculous!

I painted part of the rest of the kitchen yesterday, but I HATE the color, so I will start over today. I like the color, just not with the yellow wall. The color is called "warm muffin," but it looks like I painted a pastel yellow wall next to my bright "squash" wall. What's with the food names for the colors?

Have a wonderful day!

Recipe Book

I am home sick from church today, so I thought I'd share a little story I remembered last night.

About a month ago, I was working outside and it was getting late. Brenden poked his head out the door and asked if he could make dinner. I said, "Sure," thinking we would be having cereal or toast. I came in a while later to see Nolan bustling around setting the table beautifully and Brenden making a gigantic salad. Doug and I thought it was so delicious, Brenden typed up the recipe so I can make the same salad again later.

Yum! Yum! Salad

RECIPE: GET LETTUCE THEN GO GET SPINACH LEAVES NEXT I GET CROUTONS THEN CUT TOMATOES. PEEL AND CUT CUCUMBER. GET SEEDS GRATE THE CHEESE.

Brenden got all of the packages out so he could spell everything correctly. Seeds are sunflower seeds.

From there he has created an entire cookbook called "Brenden and Nolan Cookbook." He typed it up on my computer and toward the end was experimenting with fonts. This is the only handwritten recipe:

Fruity Fruit Snack

get A Few Pechs then get A Few grapes then get A Few slies of Apples then mix it then you make Fruity Fruit Thank you

Quite a few of the recipes are very simple: (anything lowercase is handwritten and capital is typed - in all capital letters)

Brefist fruity oatmeal

RECIPE: MAKE OATMEAL THEN GET FRUIT THEN PUT THE FRUIT BY THE PLATE GET THE MILK OR WATER

Brefist

RECIPE: MAKE CEREAL THEN PUT FRUIT BY THE SIDE OF THE BOWL

Lunch chips + sandwich + fruit

RECIPE: MAKE A SANDWICH THEN GET CHIPS NEXT ALSO GET FRUIT OR GET BANANAS Thak you

Lunch spegete

RECIPE: MAKE SPEGETE THEN PUT GREEN STUFF THEN MAKE IT WEVER YOU WANT Thank you

Green stuff is parmesan cheese - no, ours isn't green, it just comes in a green container.

The only recipe in the "Desrt" section:

BUTER POPCORN movestand popcorn

RECIPE: MAKE POPCORN THEN GO GET THE BUTER PUT THE BUTER ON THE POPCORN

Ocassionally, in between recipes, there is a picture or a comment he has written like: "Great! recipes!" "YUM!"

That made me also think of another story. One night we each colored a Halloween picture to decorate the house. Nolan picked out coloring sheets on the internet one afternoon, so I printed them and he assigned who got which sheet. We colored them and Brenden taped them to the window. Then he decided it was a coloring contest and guess who won? Brenden. I got second and a comment written on my picture that said, "Very cute witch." Nolan got 4th place and a comment that said, "Next time add more color." I wish I had saved them, but I just can't save everything.

Brenden told me this morning that last week he wrote in his journal that he has lots of books, but his mom still keeps buying him more books. What can I say? It's a more true statement than he knows! He sometimes reads my blogs so I can't say much more than that - but trust me, there are more... LOTS more.

Kitchen before and after

So it's only one wall, but I am working on the rest, so you will have to wait...

Before (previous owners)

After

We got rid of the obnoxious cupboards over the island within the first month of living here. They hung so low that you couldn't see under them without stooping every time someone wanted to talk to you. We also tiled the floor. The black board currently has 5 coats of magnetic paint and still isn't as magnetic as I would like, so I think I'll be using the rest of the quart of paint. It's not cheap - buy a piece of metal. I couldn't find one big enough or I would have. Next I will paint it with chalkboard paint and then the little shelf will hold chalk and an eraser. It will be our message board and a place for the kids to color. I designed the vinyl lettering and a woman in our ward made it for me. I totally believe what it says. I cook to show I care and to have a creative art form.

I have always wanted little cubby holes on either side of my sink. I finally got around to kind of decorating them - with things from around the house. I didn't shop for a SINGLE thing up there - I want you to know that. Maybe someday they'll be cuter, but for now, the decorating was free. They are hearing aid storage, so ignore that little "decoration."

The other walls will be tan, so it won't be too exciting when I'm done, but I just can't handle all of the white around here. Doug finds this funny. I wouldn't let him paint our first house because I thought the white made it look "clean." Now I think white is boring. We women can never make up our minds, huh?

Cub Scouts

Monday night for Cub Scouts, the boys met at the fire station. Something like 50% of the dads are fire fighters, so it was fun to be there and be allowed to see the whole place. Nolan kept asking, "Can I ride a fire fighter?" He MEANT fire engine, but kept saying fire fighter instead. Finally, one dad (Matt) said, "I'll give you a piggy back..."

I wish I had my camera. The kids got to see ALL of the trucks (2 fire trucks, a water truck, the ambulance) and the boat, four wheelers and snow machines used for rescues. They took a ride in the fire truck and while all of the kids piled in, Brenden and Nolan got to sit up front with the driver. They had a contest to see who could get dressed up as a fire fighter the fastest, but it ended right as it was Brenden's turn. Nolan was totally bummed, but he put on a hat and coat afterward. I took a picture with my phone. I don't know how to get it OFF my phone, but if I figure it out, I'll let you know.

I painted my kitchen today - well, ONE wall. I keep promising pictures of my make-overs, but they are never quite done. The bathroom still has two things I am waiting to get done (and how long ago was THAT!?). The wall I painted will be done tomorrow or I'm gonna... I don't know... scream?