Toddler nightmares

Kendall woke up. He was crying ... it was a nightmare.

After the second bout of nightmare cries we gave in and snuggled him for a bit.

Then he started to dream ... and he talked clear as a bell.

"Tigers CAN chase dinosaurs."

"Kerst don't laugh."

In the morning I told the girls what he said during his nightmare as I was driving them to Seminary. I told them I thought he was dreaming about the movie Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. Diego the saber tooth tiger chases dinosaurs.

Good guess but I was wrong. Jenna told me it was the Zoo Tycoon computer game he has been "playing" - the dinosaur and marine life version. He loves to put dinosaurs and tigers together ... and tigers in with giraffes. The giraffes are NOT happy. Maybe Kersts laughs when he does that.

This is what happens when you have a toddler who thinks he can do everything his older siblings can do.

Melaleuca Oil - I'm sold

My sister Kelly introduced me to Melaleuca Oil. She was aware of one of my girls fighting a bad case of "backne" (back acne). She's been on antibiotics and a wash for months. The antibiotics and wash have helped but hasn't cleared up the problem, just lessened it.

Kelly told me about her bottle of Melaleuca Oil. While she was giving me a much needed haircut she noticed a newly forming zit (insert gasp here) on me and dabbed the spot with Melaleuca. The next morning it was gone - less than 12 hours!

So after 3 treatments on my daughter's back ... she is pretty much clear! She has even applied it to her face and it is almost like porcelain now.

Where was this stuff when I was a teenager?

No more of that antibiotic that tells you to avoid the sun as it makes you even more sensitive.

Here is what Melaleuca treats:
may be used for lowered immunity, colds, flu, skin infections, cold sores, warts, acne, burns, athletes foot, thrush, candida, fungal infections, viral and bacterial infections, inflammation, shock, hysteria, glandular fever, colds, verrucas and inflammation.

Here's to Melaleuca! Thanks for the tip Kelly! Happy teenage skin over here!

We are a happy family

Our Happy Family

Artist: Kendall

Spring Cleaning is here (aka Spring Break) ... sad to see this art go though ... and Spring Break.

Windows - before, during and after

What can I say? I LOVE the new windows that Certified Home Services installed! I told John that I couldn't wait for the next huge wind storm. He looked at me with the "who are you and what did you do with my wife" look. I think I would diagnose myself with Ancraophobia- Fear of wind. I can't sleep when it is windy; my heart races as I hear it whistling at night. I think being in Hurricane Hugo had some lasting effects on me ...

We had our first wind storm with the new windows two nights ago. At least that is what I heard on the radio. I didn't hear a thing!

So here are the pictures of the window project.

We had several windows in sad shape in several areas. The bottom of the windows were rotting out. In fact, when those 4 windows were removed, the bottom wood frame disintegrated as they lifted it out. Thankfully we didn't have moisture in between the panes. I could hear the wind whistling and saw the blinds moving on a windy day even with the window latches locked.


The front of the house before:

The front of the house after:

Notice the difference? Before: Grid Lines

After: NO GRID LINES! I love the unobstructed view!

(I spy a cute Jaley in the front window!)

Before: Kitchen corner window

After: Kitchen corner window

Before: Dining Room


After: Dining Room (Kerst has it all set up for a formal game of Apples to Apples Jr. - Kendall added his touch with setting cards out in a rainbow design)


Before: Kitchen eating area

After: Kitchen eating area


Before: Living Room/Piano Room


After: Living Room/Piano Room ... no grid lines - you can't see the effect in this photo. I love the view so much that I have not hung the blinds back up in this window.
Before: Family Room. You can kind of see the blue tint to the windows. I put Gila film up on the windows shortly after we moved in to cut down on the heat from the sun that was beating down on us ... even in March! It made a huge difference having done that but didn't solve the inefficiency of the windows (drafty, etc). The far window on the right doesn't have the film as the sun doesn't hit that window.
During: I was able to watch the window installers remove the family room windows while I was ironing the curtains (5 hours of ironing). Tony had to cut out the nailing flange on the original window from the outside of the house. 34 windows kept him busy for quite some time! Tony even told me that he has these windows that he was installing for us in his own home ... which means we made a good choice!

Tony's crew removed each window. Here you can see the difference the Gila film made on the brightness of the room. I didn't notice the difference until ...

They installed the new window.

It doesn't look like there was one in there! Notice the circle on the window to the right of the head of the installer standing inside. It is a suction cup! What a neat tool! The installers used 1 to 2 of these suction cups to install the windows ... even the large picture windows that were 3 stories above ground! Tony told me it was like having another set of hands.

Look at the difference! Now I understand why I was squinting for several days getting used to the beautiful new efficient look!

After: Family Room

And the finished product in the Family Room. I changed the curtain arrangement ... a rod originally ran all of the way across the top with the curtains where they are. I shortened the rod to fit each curtain section. I love it so much more!

Here is a before and after all in one shot. The windows by the deck are new. The upper windows have not been installed yet.

Thanks Joe L., Tony and John R. ... we love the windows!

17

Julia proudly informed us that in one more year she can order something from the "as seen on TV" commercials (must be 18 to call). I laughed. I bet she will call next year on her birthday just to let them know she is old enough to call.

She went out to lunch with her friends. She treated them - she had a gift card to Red Robin. She loves their burgers.

She wanted to watch her new favorite movie: The Terminal (and I'd have to put that at one of my top movies list too). I searched. No luck.


Kyle left this cute message on our driveway with a goodie. It reminded me of another message ...

I'm glad I grabbed the camera. It started to rain about an hour later and then we ended up with almost a foot of snow 5 hours after that (I'm SO glad we missed the snow to and from UT)!

I tried my hand at making a more creative cake. I admit, I'm not a cake decorator. Even my cupcake creation attempts would be considered flops. Jaley helped me with this creation. A piano for our piano player. Jaley made the metronome. I used this fondant recipe.

We had Spaghetti for dinner. Yum!

On to the celebration ...

Kendall is in to correcting us lately. If we slip and say the "S word" (aka - stupid), he quickly says "We don't say that word." He can pick that word out in any conversation be it on the radio, a book on tape that we were listening to on the way to UT, etc. He will also correct us on how to say Julia's name. If we call her Julia he tells us, "No it's Daeia."

Here is Kendall stating throughout the entire Bday song "I want to blow it." When we reach Julia's name, he switches gears and tells us "No, it's Daeia."

I made her a snuggie ...

And then the highly anticipated Birthday Phone Call ... and notice my Dad took some pointers from the All State Singer during HIS Birthday Phone Call.

Happy Birthday ... the singing tradition

My parents call each year to sing to us for our birthday. I have been catching it on video. Jaley loved it.

So ... when Grandpa had his birthday last week we called him. We sang to him ... and some of the kids (I won't name any, Julia) tried to sing just like he does when he calls us ... but even more exaggerated. We even got Kyle in on it ... it was fun!

Quick Trip

All of the way to UT Kendall kept asking if we were visiting his cousins. He couldn't wait. He had a blast.

We played hard. We had fun visiting. Jaley went to an overnight Science Camp with her cousin Jadey. We got some much needed hair cuts by famous Aunt Kelly. We hit the BYU Creamery and the mall Food Court.

We visited cousin Jason. It was so beautiful and peaceful. Sweet to remember him. I have him saved in our naviagation system so that we can visit again ... soon.

We played games - nonstop.

On the way home Kendall kept telling me he wanted to go back to his cousins. He did not want to go home.

We love visiting our family!

The windows are IN!

Certified Home Services gets 5 gold stars and two thumbs up from me. From Joe explaining their patented glass developed by a Lockheed Martin Employee (and that argon only remains in the windows for 18 months - 2 years like John suspected) and importance of virgin vinyl ... to John calling to update us on the progress of the production ... to Tony and his crew installing in record time, I AM HAPPY!

It took 2 full days to remove and install. I took photos of the progress and will post those soon, but I wanted to tell the world how beautiful the windows are and what a HUGE difference in efficiency.

Tony and his crew replaced all of the windows in the basement and part of the main floor on Monday. AT 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, I placed my hand in front of a new window and then moved to one of the old windows facing the same direction and on the same floor. WOW. What a difference. I am anxious to see the difference in the heating (and cooling) bills.

I had put film up on the windows to protect the furniture and floors and to keep the heat down in the summer (gila film). I can't believe how bright our home is now with the new windows.

Thanks Certified Home Services (Joe, John and Tony!) ... one very happy family here!

Today is the day!

The windows have arrived! They will begin installing shortly ... and should be done in 2 to 3 days. 34 windows - they will be busy!

I'm Home!

I know when Kerst comes home from school ... no matter where I am in the house ...



He LOVES to play and practice the piano. We also know when Kerst wakes up; he is down playing the piano.

Paris Original

Julia is "Paris Original" ... and a few other parts ... in her musical.

Good Luck Julia!

Been Busy

Musical.

Need I say more?

It has been fun helping. I painted two of these signs. Donated paint/discounted paint is great for the budget ... but not for time. It took me 5 hours to paint each one of these signs (One sign is 8' x 3', this one is about 5 1/2' x 3'). The cheap red paint took 10 coats. It was still a lot of fun to do!


I have also been taking photos of the dress rehearsals.


This is a really cute show ... a comedy.

My Favorite Photos (I've Ever Taken) 2 - Julia

My Favorite Photo (I've Ever Taken) 2 Brickfish

Go vote for Julia!!!

I think I can

Trying to get organized. Again. It seems like the story of my life. It feels good.

I found some handy bins with handles to put in my cupboards. That helps keep the chaos to a minimum. (nuts, baking supplies, cookie decorating supplies, and creamers ... for strawberry Dad-a-ccinos)
I came across this rolling shelf idea for rotating canned food on foodstoragemadeeasy.net and decided to try it. John and I shuffled things around in our storage room. I wish I had a before picture ... just take my word for it, it was cluttered. We moved the misc storage items to the back wall and the food to the front shelves. It is easier to get to now. With this arrangement, Jaley is more likely to go in and grab some cans of food (she doesn't like the storage room - it is scary (: ).

Next the closets ... any suggestions on how to organize teenagers? The only thing that works for me currently is to close their doors (and expect a clean room by noon on Saturday).