Perfectly Content

I cannot think of anything else I would rather be doing right now. I love these 3 weeks in July. Maybe the only other thing I would rather be doing is seeing it for myself in France. Or meeting George in person.

Wonderwear

I think we have hit a major milestone. Potty training! This has been so much easier than Blynn and has happened way earlier than Blynn too. Blynn was 3 years old exactly and Rusty is 2 years 4 months. Who says girls do this faster and easier. Rusty has virtually taught himself how to do this too! The other major milestone will be not buying diapers anymore. Woohoo!!! Some motivation that I used for Rusty was to let him choose his first set of underwear, or rather wonderwear according to him. He chose Thomas the Tank Engine of course. (Is anyone other than me amazed at the extensive railroad system this tiny island of Sodor has? Kind of seems like overkill. And we complain in our town of how many times we get stopped by a train. Those poor Sodorians.)




I did make one mistake. The first time Rusty did no.2 in the potty I got really excited and gave him a big treat, a lollipop. Now he expects a lolli every time. I need to transfer this to something small like a jelly bean, because our next step is sure to be the dentist if I don't stop this soon.

Grandpa and Grandma Martin

We had visitors from Denver last night. The kids were so excited to have Grandma and Grandpa here. Blynn was listening to a story Grandpa was telling and I know it looks like it is a very serious story...

....but it turned out to be a very funny story.

Don't you wish your fireplace was haute like me?

I have been wanting to do something to this fireplace for awhile. I read this blog entry and was completely inspired by what I needed to do. Now, I will admit for the longest time I thought I was going to do this myself on my dad's radial arm saw, but my brother in law (Travis) laughed in my face, and I hate to admit it but he was soooooo right. Me doing this by myself is a very funny joke which I was reminded about constantly that day. First we primed the brick and then painted the brick a dark chocolate color and the backs of the book shelves green. Actually it is called pepper grass and that is exactly what I wanted. Green but with some spice. I love it!!

Have you ever seen Todd painting? Me neither, so I thought I'd take a picture to prove it.

Some of my favorite parts are the crown molding Trav added to the tops of everything, the clean lines of the wood around the fireplace, and this wire basket holding my old books. I do also think the fern in the insert is a great idea. None of these ideas are mine however, completely plagiarized by my friends in the blogging world. I realize that my ceiling needs to be touched up in this picture but I was reassured that the painting police aren't coming any time soon because they are too busy arresting people who are afraid to paint their brick and wood. TRAGEDY!

I'm still thinking of how I want to accessorize the mantle. But I know that it should involve a convex mirror that you usually see up in the top corner of a hallway at the hospital. Where can I find one of those?

Now the problem is my couch doesn't match with this beautiful new fireplace. We'll see what I can do about that. Do you think I'm capable of slipcovering myself? I also have a few other projects detailed out in my mind, but I think we are going to need a little break after this one. I forget how much work a little painting can be with a 4 year old and 2 year old.

Space Station

Did you know that the space station was visible tonight in our sky. We all went out to watch and low and behold it appeared between 8:46-8:54 just like my dad said it would. My dad has always known all things space related. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that this was one of his toys when he was a young boy and the fact that he interned with NASA one summer.

It seemed like it was lower than the airplanes that were flying out tonight. My picture makes it look super small, but it was much bigger to our eye.

The letter 'Nn', Sleepovers, and Projects

Blynn and Rusty are having their first sleepover tonight with their cousins. We did a fun project with the letter Nn. We gathered sticks and dipped them in brown paint, to represent a nest of course, and stamped them on outlines of the letter Nn. While the kids were taking a bath, I went to gather all of the kids pajamas. I opened Luke and Sam's bags that their mother (my sister) let them pack and this is what I found.
Only the essentials, what looked like all of their socks from their sock drawer and every piece of underwear they own. Also, their gameboy and every single game. These boys kill me. Thank goodness their mom is prepared as she did notice their packing necessities and actually packed them some pajamas.

Todd and I are still working on that project I was telling you about. My brother in law and our friend Abel were over yesterday and finished their portion. Now it's time for the slow, tedious process of finish work. I can't wait to show it all completed. It is spectacular!!!

Big TV day tomorrow, the Williams sisters and the TdF. Todd, of course, will try to sneak in golf. Luckily the tv and fireplace are right next to each other as to not slow down our progress.

Aaaah! And only after approximately 138 threats through gritted teeth, "If one more of you come out here again you will not get any donuts tomorrow".

Master makeover

I have slowly been updating the rooms in our little old house. I just completed our bedroom, but I accidentally deleted the before photos. And that really bums me out since I love before and after photos. But basically what I did was sew a new bedskirt and shams with a different material so as to not be so matchy matchy. We also used some of my parents leftover paint to use on the walls. My favorite part of the shams is the ricrac.

Here is the project I am currently working on, but you can't see those photos yet as I'm not done yet. I am on my brother-in-laws time table so who knows.

I have to get these projects done because on Saturday I will be out of commission from any special projects for about a month. The Tour de France is starting and it is everyday for 3 weeks. It should be very exciting this year!

Belated Father's Day Entry

Todd n. integrity. reliable. goes the extra mile. loyal. funny (at least 70% of the time). handsome. hardworker. patient. sacrificial. confident. loves God. leader. smart. chef. housekeeper. provider. lawnboy. playful father. sincere. honest. discernful.

Surprisingly Productive

This week is VBS, and I have been anticipating being exhausted. Which is usually the way I feel because I generally have the 2 and 3 year olds. They sure are active, and since our church only breeds boys, they are also squirrely. So, today I planned on doing nothing this afternoon, but I got a phone call from my friend who was stuck in a house full of sick people so she came over and we did this project with freezer paper stencils I've been wanting to do for awhile. We were in full-on crafting mode and we had a lot of fun. Here is the process and result:

These are some gifts for my awesome VBS helpers. I love those girls.

"He changes times and seasons..."

We just got home from our church's family camp which has been a tradition for a long time. I have been going to this exact family camp all of my 32 years. We missed the last two years due to Todd having to work, and I just wasn't up for doing it by myself. We went this year and it was so enjoyable. I think we are entering into an easier season physically. I have noticed this for several things this year already. Going to the park is a little easier without having to follow Rusty all over the structure just barely saving him from one of his death defying leaps, and Family Camp was much easier.

Our speaker, Ben and his beautiful wife Lizzie.
Our speaker was a great friend that I grew up with and is just home from school in Scotland, and they have a wee one.

Everyone had big smiles after doing the zip line.

The kids were very adventurous which also made it more enjoyable. The camp has a zipline and Blynn & Rusty loved it. Rusty wanted to go by himself, but we decided that wasn't appropriate for a 2 year old. Can you hear the questioning at the ER when they ask, "Ma'am, how did your son get this injury?" "From running into a tree since he isn't tall or heavy enough to stop himself after going across the zipline over a river by himself ." Most definitely a CPS referral, so we decided to just let him go with Daddy.

Here are the videos of the kids on the zip line.