A Barn Raising

I want to go to bed but I had to add this blog entry before the day is over. I just spent the last 40 minutes trying to get Mr. B re-settled for the night. His room is very warm and the fan wasn't hitting him just right so he laid in bed moaning and groaning. It took me a while to figure out what the problem was and now all is quite (knock on my desk).

So now before I head off to la-la land I will comment on friends. I don't want to downplay any of my friends and their incredible role in my life and the love I have for them (they really are awesome) but I was just blown away today by one in particular. We are, as previously blogged, in the midst of our kitchen remodel. I, personally, removed all the tile from our kitchen floor and have been trying for days to get the plywood removed so that we can float (level) the cement foundation in preparation for our new floor. This has be the absolute most tedious task ever! The shovel I used for the tile wasn't working on the plywood so I've been using a flat tipped crowbar and sledge hammer or a chisel and hammer to literally, inch-by-inch dig my way under the wood and glue and pry it up. We finally called the local rental outfit and ended up renting a type of jack-hammer thing used to remove tile, roofing material, etc. only to have no success with it.

LESSON: Sometimes the best way to get the job done is to go back to the basics.

After our disappointing outcome with the high powered rental tool our friend and neighbor, Steve the engineer, stopped by and saw what was happening (or what wasn't happening) and he offered a solution. He brought over this tool from the 1930's (looks like a pick-ax with a big flat tip on one side) and went to town on our kitchen floor. It was AMAZING to see him in action with the ax. Shortly after our next door neighbor dropped by and, as it turns out, he too has this tool, only he has two of them. I came downstairs to find three adult men making incredible progress in the removal of the permanently glued plywood. In a few hours time they had removed over half the floor! I was giddy with excitement.

Now today, after an enjoyable afternoon at the lake swimming, playing and just trying to beat the heatwave we've been having, I get home and Steve shows up again. He is here to finish the job! Seriously it is 80+ degrees in my home, he's just worked all day and now he is spending his evening helping us complete this giant task. He and DH had the second half of the floor up within 2 hours. It was amazing, it was stupendous, it was a shining example of Christ like charity. There was no payment (other than dinner the other night, which was the very least I could do), no expectations, just friend helping friend in a time of need.

I've since had this strange Amish-esque feeling, only instead of a barn raising we did a floor raising, where the entire community comes together to help one in need. It has really made me think about my priorities, the busy work that fills my life and a desire to simplify and be available when He wants me to do His work.

Thanks Steve for being "in tune" and willing.

It's Not Just Mom's

I've decided the whole "mom"entarily out of order brain thing is not limited to just the "mom's". How else would you explain the reasoning behind this:



This is what DH decided to store under our downstairs bathroom sink when we were cleaning out the kitchen cabinets. Hmmm, let's see, that's the bathroom our kids use during the day. It's also the bathroom that has a locking door. Not such a great combination in any house, but especially not in ours. Needless to say I discovered this medley of hazardous household chemicals the hard way.

While I was talking with the kiddo's about not using unknown bottles and "please, come ask mommy first when you don't know" I was overcome with the potential danger of it all and muttered aloud "I'm going to shoot Daddy." A moment later I heard Beeb say from the family room, "I like my Daddy. Mommy's going to shoot Daddy. I don't want Daddy to die." Then the tears and wailing began. Of course Mr. B thought this was all hilarious (I did too and was quietly laughing at Beeb's literal understanding of my comment). After consoling Beeb and asuring her all was well between Daddy and myself I moved the chemicals to a safer place.

So it was a tough lesson and thankfully nobody was hurt, except for maybe DH when he gets home.

A "Nano" Moment

"A Happy Wife = A Happy Life" - that is what is inscribed onto my iPod Nano, by my DH, which I am grooving to right this second. What do I listen to while I am editing pictures?

Miley Cyrus - See You Again
Rhianna - Umbrella
Cascada - Everytime We Touch
Metro Station - Shake It
Nelly Furtado - Man Eater
Pearl Jam - State of Love and Trust
Pearl Jam - Better Man
Mary J. Blige - Just Fine
Mary J. Blige - Family Affair

Cleaning House

It's that time of year when the urge to clean house, get organized and make it all spit shine for the summer comes upon me. I take my house keeping very seriously and so deep spring cleaning is no exception. The kitchen is always the biggest project with the cupboards, drawers, appliances, floors, windows, wainscoting and ceiling to wipe down and degrease.


I may have gone a little overboard this time . . .






Do you dig my pasty white legs and super cool safety glasses? I know, extra hotness going on.

The real event of the weekend is the start of our kitchen remodel. I cannot even begin to express my excitement over this project. When we bought our house the kitchen was THE nicest room in the place (so sad) since it had been updated 15 years prior while the rest of the house remained stuck in 1978. Over the past 8 years we have done major renovations to our home but the kitchen has gone untouched, until Friday.

I am slightly second guessing the new cabinetry since I didn't realize, until recently, how popular my yellow oak cabinets were until word got around of our pending kitchen redo. I got a call from a friend (Angela B) who wanted to know what we were going to do with our old cabinets. I hadn't really thought much beyond the city dump so I was surprised when she said she would be interested in them and how much did we want for them. Hmmm, how about you come and help uninstall them and you can have them sound? Following this agreement (she and amazing hubby (AH) showed up the next day to make sure they would fit for their project) I was contacted by several other people about "taking the cabinets off our hands" - who knew cheap oak cabinetry is all the rage right now.

So Friday Angela B. and AH showed up and we got the appliances, sink, counters and cabinetry all out within a few mere hours. Okay really her AH did 90% of the work, and was NICE about it, but I chipped in where I could.

Pre-Demo (first time kitchen has been this clean in 8 years!)








This demo team is unstoppable!





Saturday - Still in Demo Mode

It may appear that I am shoveling up the mess but in reality I am the one using the flat tip shovel to remove the tile floor (and I have the blisters on my hands to prove it). By the time I called it quits for the day I had taken up half the tile using the shovel, crowbar with hammer (for those extra tough tiles) and the trusty sledge hammer (for the ones that refused to come up using the other two methods).





At days end all the wainscoting was down and ready to be picked up (thanks to FreeCycle!!!) and I had half the floor up.

Coming up next, removing more tile, getting the plywood off the floor and the carpet up from the entryway (and I think the tile there too but I haven't told DH that part yet - but it doesn't match my new floor so it has to go!).

The Beeb Can Read

I love love love Hooked on Phonics! I have not been super adamant about the doing the program each and every day but I will say that when I do sit down with the kiddo's they learn and can then sound out the word challenges. It is so so amazing and really great for their self-esteem!

Last night Beeb finished a block of new word endings and then read her second book! She was so excited and I was so excited right along with her. It was hard work but she set the goal to read that book and she worked through the frustrating moments like a champ. There were even a few times when I asked her if she wanted to stop and she said "NO!" so we kept on going.

Not too bad for a little girl who just turned 4! I am so glad my passion for reading is passing down to her.

Preschooler Math Play

Here's a fun little math activity to do with your preschooler.

Playing Cards (you'll need a deck of cards)
Challenge your preschooler to:

sort by color
sort out the people cards
sort out the one-eyed people
sort out the boys and the girls
sort by shape
sort by number
sort the numbers in order
sort by letters (Js, Qs, Ks)

This is also a great activity to play in the car or on an airplane.

I now have to scroll!

A sad sad moment just happened to me. I was registering at a new site and when I went to put in my birth year I had to scroll to find it! When did I get old?

More sad news. . . I'll be 35 very soon (thus the need for the scroll). I hate milestone type birthdays. Heck, I hate the scroll doohickey thingy too.

A Father's Day Funny

Yesterday we heard some great Father's Day talks and lessons at church. It relieves me to know that though it doesn't appear so DS actually does listen to the lessons and so as we were leaving church he asked DH, "When is it Brother's Day?".

Yummy Yummy Soups

Whenever we go to Montana to visit family I always raid my SIL's recipe books. She has the most fabulous and usually very easy recipes. Here are two of my favorites:

Potato Chowder

8 C. peeled, diced potatoes (small cubes/pieces)
1/3 C. chopped onion
3, 14oz cans chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 tsp pepper
1, 8oz pkg cream cheese
crumbled bacon
chopped chives or scallions

Mix first five ingredients in a crock pot (potatoes through pepper), cover and cook for 8 hours. At 7.5 hours add cream cheese (cubed small and then mixed in). Serve in bowl and add bacon and chives for topping.


Carla Chili (I don't know who Carla is but her chili base is amazing!)

Brown hamburger - season (I use 1 lb of hamburger)
1 large can stewed tomatoes
1 can light kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can dark kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can canolini (white beans), drained and rinsed
1 packet of McComick's chili seasoning
1 can tomato soup
1 cup water (or use your eye for your own thickness preference)

Simmer in crockpot. (I add other goodies to mine like onion, corn, etc)

So now what?

Did you ever pray for guidance on a specific subject, received an answer and then talked yourself out of it? I hope this is not what I've done.

We are on our second ADHD med for DS. The first one, Concerta, caused dramatic mood swings with an emphasis on anger/manic episodes. We are now trying Adderall XR (often dubbed MADderall) at its lowest dosage and are seeing a couch potato with anger/manic episodes (or rather a raging couch potato - Ha!). Earlier today I left a message with our doctor about the side effects of this second medicine and want to know what we should do now. I'll admit I am a little bit worried that regular prescription meds are not the answer to DS ADHD issues. Both DH and I are disappointed by the change in DS's personality and are at least in agreement that we don't want to change his personality we just want him to be able to sit still so he can focus and learn in school.

I guess one of two things will come from this, we'll either find the med that works for him or we won’t and I’ll know that my initial hesitations about using prescription meds was right and I can stop wondering if I was just being stubborn. The one good thing is that these little pills kick in quick so we don’t have to do these trials for weeks, only days.

Some Smart Grocery $aving Tips

Real Simple has a few ideas, that I thing are great, on how to save $$$ at the grocery store.

1. Purchase oranges, onions, and potatoes in bags rather than individually. You'll pay roughly half the price.

2. Don't buy non-grocery items at the supermarket. These items are usually cheaper at mass-market retailers (like Targer). Paper product deals are best at Costco or Sam's Club (warehouse clubs).

3. Opt for frozen seafood over fresh. Vacuum-packaged salmon, flounder, and tilapia fillets and bags of frozen shrimp are 20%-40% less than their counterparts at the fish counter.

4. Buy ground beef and chicken breats in bulk or family size packages and you'll save big; 20% on ground beef and 50% on a pound of chicken.

5. Find out an item's cost per unit (CPU). It's listed on the shelf sticker next to the price. It will tell you what an item's cost per pound or ounce (make sure you notice the difference between comparisons) is, which can keep you from getting hoodwinked by packaging.

6. Pick products on the top and bottom shelves at the supermarket. Bigger sizes of items, which tend to offer a lower price per unit, are usually placed on the highest and lowest shelves. Smaller sizes, with a higher price per unit, are often given prime placement at eye level.

7. Buy store brands instead of name brands. Store brands are usually close to the market leader in quality yet less costly. In fact, the same manufacturer that makes the branded product often manufactures the house brand.

8. Avoid buying prepared and packaged goods. You’ll pay a premium for convenience. Consumer Reports once found that two pounds of carrots cost $1.29, compared with $7.16 for the same amount of precut sticks.

9. Join a warehouse club. Bulk retailers such as BJ’s Wholesale Club and Costco can be 20 to 50 percent cheaper than regular grocery stores when it comes to products like condiments, coffee, bottled water, and canned beans and vegetables. (The supermarket has better deals on items like produce, chips, and cookies.)

Here's to keeping our money in our wallets!

Rusty Gardens

Today we went to Golden Gardens in Seattle to explore the sea life at low tide. Does anybody else find the name of this park a bit on the ridiculous side? I mean really, Golden Gardens in Seattle? Wouldn't it be more aptly named Rusty Gardens? (especially this year of constant rain) I will say that is has been raining pretty much non-stop at our house the past 36 hours but as soon as we got about 10 miles west the rain magically stopped and it was simply cloudy during our outing to Rusty Gardens.

Here's a funny - we drove all the way to Ballard to visit this park only to meet some people who live 2 miles from our house! Apparently they recognized me and our kids ended up playing together so we all ended up chatting for a while. Go figure!

Here's a massive photo display of our outing (of course!):





These are all tiny hermit crabs!




A tiny shrimp! DH found the best sea creatures for us all to see.






An eel! Beeb spent a large amount of time trying to catch these slippery little creatures.


This Sun Fish held on for all its life to DH hand. It took several minutes of gently prying to get it to release its suction from his skin!








I have no idea what this is, any ideas? It had this beautiful blue on the underside of it.

The BEST Poop Book Ever

"A one-hump camel makes a one-hump poop and a two-hump camel makes a two-hump poop. Only kidding!"


Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi

The "Beeb" is 4

Our sweet Beeb turned 4 this week. The night before when I tucked her into bed I reminded her that in the morning she would be 4 and with that statement she gasped excitedly trying to comprehend how one night of rest will change her age.

The morning of her birthday started out with this conversation between her and Daddy:

Beeb: "Daddy did you know I turned 4 today?"

Daddy: "How?"

Beeb: "Because 4 visited me last night?"

Daddy: "What happens if a 5 visits you?"

Beeb: "I'll have to poo in my pants."

She's mentioned several times today that she doesn't want to turn 5 because she doesn't want to "poo" in her pants (since her big 5 year old brother is having some difficulties in this area right now she associates it with his age).

We had a fun family day with her which included a princess cake for dinner. Really, that is what she ate for dinner. I am of the mind set that on your birthday you get to do just about anything you want (within reason, or rather within my reasoning because after all I am the mom).

I caught her rocking out to her new CD player.






GIANT skinny feet. Her feet are two sizes bigger than her 6 month older and taller cousin.

The Phone Line

I am so so so excited!!!! Did you ever see the movie "The Jerk" with Steve Martin? There is a scene in it when the Steve goes running about screaming "The new phone book's here! The new phone book's here!"



For me it is "My new phone line is here! My new phone line is here!". FINALLY, after months of terrible, static filled, I can't understand any messages left on my answer machine phone service our new phone line was installed. I can finally hear you now when we talk by phone instead of just pretending.

I must now be a "somebody" since the phone company finally showed up to fix it. I wonder if my brain is not far behind?