Projects out my ears!

So, I have a little lull in my world of projects... so I thought I would update you with what I've been doing.

There is a local thrift store that I frequent. By frequent I mean "twice a week". I'm addicted. They have a great selection of clothes and my favorite, furniture. I've become a little obsessed with furniture lately. Okay, maybe that's an understatement. In the last 2 months, I've brought home:

 a cedar chest

a lamp

dresser

chest of drawers

desk

twin bed

coffee table, and

2 end tables

Yes, I "needed" all of these things. But, seriously, it was out of control! We couldn't walk in our own house.

Shawn just rolls his eyes at me every time I come home with something.

It's a true test of his love.

So, without further adieu... let me share a few of those things.

Okay, this desk rightfully belongs to my friend Jen (although I bought it and painted it), she saw it first and had great dreams for it. But alas, she moved, and I couldn't leave it sitting at the store priced at $11. I had to buy it.

It is GINORMOUS!

It sat and sat while I decided what to do with it.

In the end, I stained the top a dark dark brown, and painted the bottom an off white.

I kept the original hardware, because I liked it. And I lined the drawers. Smashed in the back of a drawer I found a stamp from 1951, so this desk must be pretty old.

 Here it is, smooched in the corner. Shawn and I brought this MONSTER up the stairs last night. It was a comedy show. I think it weighs as much as an elephant.
 It will house my sewing machine and serger, and it's already littered with crafts.

Do you think I should glaze it? Or distress it? I still can't decide.

 Reagan desperately needed new dressers. Hers were falling apart.

I found a dresser and chest of drawers. They are really nicely made.... and also very heavy!

I couldn't decide what color to paint them. I fell back on white.... AGAIN!

I have a real painting problem. I just cannot step out of that box and paint anything except white. What is wrong with me?

 Here's the chest of drawers. I like them... but I feel like it needs something? That was a question.....

I was freaking out with the thought of bankrupting myself over 14 drawer pulls. Until I went to the Re-Store (another obsession of mine) and found 10 identical pulls and 4 knobs... it was meant to be. They were 25 cents each! I almost cried. They aren't my first choice of knob, but you can't be picky when you're poor. They have cute little flowers accents on them.

 I painted them... yes, white.... and glazed them pink, then distressed them.

 Okay... then came the bed. Reagan was ready to graduate into a twin bed. I found this one at the Re-Store and feel in instant LOVE!

I spray painted it white (I know, you're shocked) To my defense... it's not white white. It's an antique white.

I bought a wood decal for the headboard because it was really boring. You can hardly see it in this picture, but it's there.

 Reagan's new room. Once we can paint our walls I think I'll love it even more!!

 I plan on painting that mirror (an actual color... I just can't decide which one)

So, that's what I've been up to.

Are you sick of white yet?

Now I'm working on reupholstering our rocking chair, and Halloween costumes.

It never ends.

The Red Scorpions

Jefferson has always wanted to play soccer. Always!

He must have some of my brother's genes in him. My brother was a rockin' awesome soccer player! Shawn and I no nothing of the sport. We didn't even know what sort of equipment he needed. After a couple practices, the coach informed us that he really needed some shin guards and cleats. Yes, we were that clueless.

Here's my little soccer player, glowing! Just the mention of a practice or game has him ecstatic.

The games are held rain or shine. It was raining during his last game. Jefferson said he was freezing cold, so he insisted on keeping his sweatshirt on.... and keeping his hands in his pockets.

Here's the rest of us, huddled under our umbrella, wondering why we didn't just stay home. It was cold! Sorry Jefferson, but I'm more of a 'fair weather fan.'

I think his age group is fun to watch. I don't know whether it can be called "soccer" quite yet. My mom always called it "bunch ball." You have a team full of kids running after 1 ball. It's pretty entertaining.

The highlights of the game were when...

Jefferson got elbowed in the face

and when he tripped and fell over the ball.

On the way home I told Jefferson, "you did GRRRRREAT (said just like Tony the Tiger), you just kept after that ball... I noticed a lot of other kids just standing around doing nothing."

"Um, Mom, that's called DEFENSE," he scolded me.

 Oh, you mean like this? Here is Jefferson on 'defense'

With enough passion, I believe you can succeed at anything. This little guy is going to be an incredible soccer player someday! He doesn't have all the skills yet, but he has enough passion for an entire team.

Jefferson, you ROCK!

Birds

 It's September again, which means we went to see the birds in Portland.

I tell you about these little guys every year, so I won't bore you.

But I will tell you we had fun. And the swifts are a fantastic sight to see. So, if you're ever in Portland in September, check them out!

It's been fun having this little tradition.

There are THOUSANDS of these guys!!

It's totally impossible to take a picture that does the sight justice.

Here's my attempt.

Reagan sat staring at the birds for over an hour. Her eyes were glued to them. And I thought she was going to cry when a hawk swooped into the swarm and caught a bird.

The boys spent the time carboard sleeding, as usual. "We're watching the birds while we sled" they told me. Sure.

I think I have just as much fun watching them as I do the birds.

Goodbye little swifts.

We won't be back next year, or the year after that.

Oh boy, I'm already missing the Portland area, and we still have 9 months left.

a quick note

to let everyone know that I am back in the real world now.

We've been without the internet for over a month.

It has been the most difficult thing I've ever had to endure!

Okay, that was a total exaggeration!

But it was the most annoying thing

Actually, listening to my kids whine is the most annoying thing

But this was a close second.

Anyways, I have had the internet for 1 hour and 12 minutes, exactly.

I have been glued to the computer since then, which means

I've neglected my kids for that entire time.

They've gotten their own snacks out of the cupboard and smashed popcorn all over the floor

Reagan screamed for about 10 minutes for me to wipe her bum for her (which I never did)

and now the boys are wrestling and Grant is crying.

But I have internet access now, and that's all that matters, right?

School Daze

We’re in our new home. Finally!

The day I packed up and moved, my kids started school.

It was sortof hectic and I feel a little bad that I wasn’t more emotional. In the past, I’ve cried like a baby when I sent someone to school. This year I couldn’t wait to drop them off so I could get boxes moved without someone whining for me.

Awful, I know. 

This year I have 3 kids at 3 different schools.

I’m already a little crazy, but when you add a small dose of chaos, I get sortof wacko.

Of course, this was my choice. I put so much thought into schools that my head could explode. I spent weeks in agony.

I’m really happy with where they are though.

I'll start with Jefferson.....

Because of budget cuts, the district closed Gales Creek, which was the best elementary school in the area. Okay, I am a little biased.

It’s a detailed story which you probably don’t want to hear about. But of all the choices, I signed him up for a charter school and crossed my fingers he would get in. He was 3rd on the wait list until 6 days before the start of school.

Thank goodness!

This school is, um, I can’t really think of a word... but it is SO JEFFERSON! The curriculum and environment fit his personality perfectly. It's a very small school and very community based. They learn hands-on and spend a lot of time outdoors.....who wouldn't love that? We feel lucky that he has the opportunity to attend there.

 Here he is at the Forest Grove Community School.

And with his teacher, Karen.

Grant....

Can you believe this guy is in Kindergarten? I can’t.
Preschool last year was very up and down. I am confident that he is ready for the big K though.
The community school doesn’t offer Kindergarten, so our only option was our local school (which I didn’t feel comfortable with), or to move to an area where we would live in another school’s boundary.

We moved.

He is attending Kindergarten at Harvey Clarke elementary. It is literally in our backyard. He has afternoon Kindergarten, so he spends the entire morning asking me when he gets to go to school. 

 Here he is showing off his seat in his new classroom.

And Grant with his teacher, Mrs. Bond

 And Reagan.....

Reagan has been wanting to go to preschool for over a year. But not any preschool, “Grant’s school”.

She will be attending the afternoon 4 year old class at Wonder World. She's not 4 yet, I understand that. She was enrolled in the morning 3 year old class (which is probably a better fit for her), but the teachers were kind enough to let her switch to make my schedule a little easier. I just love the teachers there. They were a real blessing in Grant’s little life, and I am sure Reagan will have an equally great experience.

If she actually goes.

She’s been really clingy lately. I don’t know if it’s the change from us moving, or her friend moving, or starting something new, or just being herself.... but I’m taking this preschool thing 1 day at a time.

Today she had to be pried from my arms, screaming.

I haven't gotten a phone call yet, so she must have calmed down.

It’s still hard for me to believe that all 3 of my kids are in school. It's just a reality check that they are really getting older.

I don’t have little rugrats running through the halls anymore, and that’s sortof heartbreaking.

 I guess I could keep Reagan home another year? Um, I'll pass

School is a big step.

They’re not under my influence so much anymore, and that's hard on me.

Okay, all those emotions I pushed aside because I was too busy moving are now starting to flood in.

These little babies aren’t so little anymore.

But they are still cute.

Happy First Day of School!!

Practice Bike

Reagan was riding a bike at 2. She would hop on this huge bike that belonged to our neighbor and whiz around (it had training wheels of course). I thought for sure she would be riding a 2 wheeler by age 3.

Wrong.

She actually reverted for a while and insisted on riding her tricycle.... ONLY

What a funny girl.

Then I found this transitional bike at the thrift store. It was $2. Amazing! It doesn’t have pedals which allows her to practice her balance. (We couldn’t take the pedals off her regular bike because her feet didn’t touch well enough)

anyways.....

She loves this thing! It lives in the trunk of our car because she wants to ride it everywhere we go. She learned to balance perfectly after 2 days of riding it. She’s totally ready to ride her regular bike.

But now the challenge will be get getting her off of this one.

Annual Camping Trip

Shawn had a week break between clinical rotations, so we took a vacation. We all needed one!

We went camping at Silver Falls State Park... again. You’d think we would mix it up a little and go somewhere else this time. But we have this obsession with getting the best campsite, and we were scared to go somewhere new and have an awful spot. Yes, it is possible to have the worlds most awful campsite, we’ve had it!
I’m happy to say that this year we got the very best. I’m not kidding! If you ever go to Silver Falls, get campsite #37, it’s the best. It is the biggest and has the most privacy.

I told you we are obsessed, I could write a whole blog post about campsites. You’re yawning aren’t you? That’s my que to move on.....

Here we are... hands nicely folded in our laps and big smiles on our faces. I had to bribe my kids (and Shawn) to sit so still.

This is what we did the entire time... 

 We sat around the fire so much, we lost touch with reality and had a silly face contest. Jefferson needs some serious creative help. And we decided that Grant can cross his eyes the furthest.

 Shawn insisted on cutting his own firewood and chopped many a branch with this tiny ax. It was quite entertaining. It was easy to make fun of him. But I thanked him later when we had a blazing fire.

 Instead of packing meals, we just brought supplies for smores.

I’m kidding.

But I probably could have.... that’s all my kids wanted to eat. We brought enough stuff for 6 smores each, per night. We sure had our fill of ‘em.

yum, burnt marshmallow, that’s the best kind!

 We didn’t hike the entire trail this year, like we usually do. We decided to just see a couple of the waterfalls (there are 10 total). We ended up stopping a lot and exploring off the trail more than actually hiking it... which was more fun really.

Us at South Falls

 

 We had fun exploring some caves. The boys were pretty brave, climbing into areas that were pitch dark, Shawn too.

 We stopped to have lunch by a stream.The kids had fun exploring. Reagan took off all her clothes and went swimming.

 The next day we hiked down to Upper North Falls, my favorite.

 We tried to get a picture with the falls... this is the best we got

 The boys crossed the stream and spent time on the other side playing Nephites and Lamanites. I really think my boys should have been born during the Book of Mormon ages!

It was fun. Camping always is. I'm hoping we can squeeze one more camping trip in before we leave Oregon. It really is the most beautiful place.