Rats...Can't Sleep

I was trying to have a nice Sunday nap, but my "sore throat" cold has turned into a "cough til your eyes water" cold, so I kept coughing myself awake. So, I decided I would just get up, put dinner in the oven, and spend some time on my long awaited paint blog. I have been painting the last 3-4 weeks, which makes me an expert. So here you have it.... me passing on my painting expertise:

I started out priming everything with WalMart's Color Place primer. I got way too much (like 5 gallons way too much) and it was white and boring, but it went on fast, and there was no cutting in! (Please give me a call if you need primer...you can have it!)

With the red, lime green, and gray that I painted, I decided I needed a really good paint so that I didn't need to paint a million coats, so I chose Valspar Ultra Premium from Lowes. This was the best paint that I tried. It is really thick (think painting with Elmer's glue). It stuck to the roller and the wall, so there was no dripping or splattering and it went on thick... so no re-dos. Worth every penny.

I used Olympic Premium for the family room. As far as I could tell it was the same as the Olympic 15 year that I used for Malia's pink walls and the ceiling paint. It wasn't as thick as the Valspar, but thick enough that there were no drips, and there was minimal re-paints. I used WalMart's Color Place 15 year for the trim and doors. It reminded me of the Olympic Premium.

The very last room that I painted was McKay and Anaya's room. I got the Behr Premium Plus from Home Depot and it was terrible paint! It was really thin, so lots of drips and re-paints. It spattered all over and I had a harder time getting it to sit right on my paint brush for cutting in.

Valspar Ultra Premium: *****
Olympic Premium: ****
Olympic 15 year: ****
Color Place 15 year: ****
Behr Premium Plus: ** (And that's mostly because it washed off pretty good... like out of the carpet that it would spatter on.)

PS: My scathing Behr comments had nothing to do with the fact that I was soooooo sick of painting when I got to painting this room.

PSS: It has nothing to do with the fact that McKay came in screaming because he thought the color was girlish.

PSSS: And I certainly wasn't in a bad mood when Anaya came in screaming because she thought the color was boyish.

PSSSS: Nor did it have anything to do with the fact that I was painting around the bunk beds, a dresser and a TV, so things were a little cramped, and I put my step ladder down in my paint tray, cleaned that off, and then stepped off my step ladder INTO the paint tray, and then when I was trying to take my painty sock off, used the wall I just painted for balance, and because of my head cold, had no voice to yell at the kids to get me a wet towel, and the kids were far away in the basement, because they just knew they shouldn't come into the room to tell me what they thought of the color.

PSSSSS: And it has nothing to do with the color, which I hate. It's an aqua/sky blue that I am going to get really tired of in about a month two days ago, and I think I'm going to have to repaint this week.

PSSSSSS: Nor does it have anything to do with the fact that I couldn't find the drop clothes, had to run to WalMart on Black Friday for that one thing, had no pumpkin pie in the house, the kids ate a whole pound of my cinnamon glazed almonds while I was painting (I was saving those), and when I finally finished the room, I walked out and the rest of the house was a total disaster. Nope this was a purely objective paint review.

And now my review of painting doors:

I hate painting doors. Ya, I know, that is a shock, because I have really enjoyed painting um.... nothing.

PS: The door and trim roller I have makes a nice finish on the door.

PSS: I don't have a bad attitude about painting.

PSSS: My painting doors review had nothing to do with me shaking the door/trim paint, and not realizing the lid wasn't on tight, the lid falling off, and paint spilling on the laundry room floor (could have been worse.... I could have been on the new carpet! *phew!)

Alrighty then, 3 doors painted, 5 to go. Oh yippee!


Sorry, no pictures today. But I'm taking Anaya to get her ears pierced tomorrow (after having this conversation with her about 1000 times this weekend: Anaya: I want to get my ears pierced! Me: Ok, we'll go Monday after school. Anaya: Is it Monday after school right now? Me: No, did you have school today? Anaya: Mmmmm, yep. Me: No, there was no school today, and there are too many people in the stores today. And then 5 minutes go by and we repeat the whole thing all over again....no concept of time!) So I'll probably get some pictures up with her earrings, which are going to be hearts and probably pink. I'll take some before and after pictures of the robin egg blue room (ewwww).

Oh wait.... I can steal some pictures from Thanksgiving from Laura:




We went to Soda Springs for Thanksgiving, and of course, the food was awesome, and it was so fun to see everyone!

With a little furniture and stuff

We are still working on getting some of the odds and ends done down in the basement. I still have a little bit more painting (my mom and I have done all the painting in basement.... and I kind of needed a break from painting.) Here's what it looks like with furniture in it (we haven't moved the furniture into the family room yet.... but we're getting there!)

Malia's room (we still need to hang up her mirror, and find some furniture... the room is pretty empty... she also needs a dust ruffle for her bed. She loves the space though)


Kayden's room is just about done. He has a TV, but we don't have anything to put it on right now.


This has nothing to do with the basement, but Anaya's hair turned out really cool the other day. I'm so glad she likes having her hair done (even if she's very opinionated on how it should be done....)


I decided since we were moving things around I would move Taisha into the boys old room, and put the two little kids together for a while in the girls room. That way everyone gets a new room. Eventually Taisha and Anaya will probably end up together, but for now Taisha has the place to herself. The room needed to be de-boy-ed though, which involved lots of Spackle and a fresh coat of paint. The pictures make it look mint green, but it is actually lime green and purple... and really cute!



I'm still working on McKay and Anaya's room. I think I will get it painted this week, and then I should be done with the major painting (until I forget how much I hate painting, and decide to paint my room.)

The three older kids have been really excited about moving things around and having their own rooms. Anaya wouldn't speak to me the first night we moved her out and into a different bed (isn't she a little young for the silent treatment?) She would just look at me out of the side of her eyes and glare. But she seems to be over that now....sheesh! McKay was ok with everything for the first night, but the second night I decided to move their clothes into the other dresser and closet, and holy smokes, the guy freaked out! He wanted his clothes back and his bed back and whoa... he actually had me thinking maybe he needed a behavioral specialist to talk to.... but then he got that out of his system, has decided he wants his walls painted too and his toys moved in. Phew.... nothing puts me in a better mood than fit throwing. Hopefully we'll finish up on everything over the next couple weeks, and can settle back into a routine... just in time for Christmas craziness!

Speaking of Christmas, here's a picture of Malia's first Christmas concert at the Festival of Trees. And once again, I took a spectacular picture!


I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving break! Hopefully we can get a little more done! Come visit though.... I'm so excited to show it all off! (Just a side note.... I've been spending a lot of time on big projects and a little teeny, tiny bit of time on my normal work.... so the house isn't super sparkly.....but it's getting there.)

Yippee!!! Pictures of the Basement!

Carpet went in yesterday..... and boy, what a difference that makes!! I still have a little more painting (doors, window sills, and touch ups), but it's getting really close. I think I would be more excited it I wasn't up til 3 every night. Last night I had a chance to get to bed closer to 12:30 or 1, but we stayed up until 2 talking about how excited we were....how pathetic are we?!

Malia's room. Her room is going to be pink and brown.

Kayden's room is gray, blue and black.

Coming down the stairs (oooh...look how daring the color!)




I have been tagged a bunch lately in my email so I thought I would hurry and post one here:

6 Things about me.

1. I grew up in Canada. I moved to the United States between grade 8 and 9th grade. I can still speak fluent Canadianese if I feel like it.

2. I sang in an Opera when I was up at Rick's College. I played the part of a boy that was pretending to be a girl from The Marriage of Figaro. I can still sing the first verse of my favorite song in Italian (it sounds like garbage now, but I remember the words.)

3. I love to read movie reviews. Tons of them.... and I also like to read comment boards about movies to see what everyone is saying about the movies. I can tell you how many stars each movie received and which reviewer said what.... but I don't actually like to go to the movies, and almost never go. And speaking of reading, I also like to read the last chapter or 2 of every book I read , and sometimes the last few pages of every chapter as well. I just can't help myself. I'm really bad at keeping suprises a surprise too.

4. I was a contestant in the Miss Idaho Falls Pageant. My voice teacher suggested it as a "good performance experience." I was singing lots and lots those days. I did the whole thing.... swim suit, evening gown, talent, interview.... the works (um, yes, I did say swim suit... I wore a nice blue swim suit... which I still have.... and which the guy I was dating at the time said was too modest.... one track mind on those teen aged boys!) I have the whole thing on video, hiding in an undisclosed place in my house. The worst part was I did it for the performance experience, and ended up with a nasty head cold the night of the performance. My voice teacher had me drinking lemon/honey water and Robitussin by the bottle (she swears by that stuff to clean the gunk out of the pipes). Robitussin can also cause drowsiness, so I'm just glad I stayed on my feet all night... especially for that whole swim suit with heels thing....

5. I majored in math. I started out majoring in music, but decided I didn't quite fit in with the music group (some music majors are a little out there!), so I changed to math, and found that there were odd people there too, I just fit in better with them. Right now I use all that math knowledge to correct all my kids math homework and make sure they don't get too frustrated trying to learn it. I'm almost giddy that Kayden has geometry next year (although this is the 4th time I've been through 4th grade math.... and it's not quite as fun this time around.)

6. I am not all that athletic or competitive (ask Rik, he'll confirm). I tried track and field when I was in jr. high in Canada, and then when we moved to the states I thought I would try cross country. On my first run (after living here only a few weeks), I got really lost, had to run until I found a gas station, called my mom, and told her to come pick me up, where ever I was. I was so embarassed, and because of that I haven't run since (that and running makes me out of breath, sweat, sore, and tired). Traumatic running experience when I was young.... that's why I don't run... ya, that's my story!

An Ideal Day

We had stake conference this weekend. We were supposed to have it next weekend, but they kicked us out of that stake and made a whole new stake for us to be in. Last night was the adult session of conference, so that was our hot date for this week. We were planning on getting some dessert after, but all that talk on "stake this" and "stake that" and "this new Ammon stake," made me hungry and craving steak! Yes, I know, sad how my mind works.... So after conference we went to TGIFridays for steak, and it tasted so good! (Just so you know, I did actually listen to the talks, and they were excellent. The two general authorities that came to set up the new stake and stake presidency were outstanding speakers.... I only thought about food for part of conference.)

Later on that night we were talking about what an "ideal day" would be like. "We" meaning I talked lots about it and Rik rolled his eyes and gave me lots of blank stares, which I translated to mean "Hmmm.... you're ideal day has nothing to do with winning a Frisbee golf tournament or watching UFC live?!" I'm really good at translating Rik's facial expressions and moments of silence. Ask him.... he'll tell you! Like when we are are chatting together on MSN ("we" meaning I'm chatting away and Rik is working,) when he doesn't instant message me right back, I translate all that non-messaging. I can have a whole conversation with him, and he doesn't even know it! It's a gift really. Anyway, here's how my ideal day would go: I would have nice long sleep in, where my back didn't hurt and I didn't feel guilty about sleeping late (right now, my back only likes to stay in bed for 6-7 hours, while the rest of me would prefer 7-9 hours of sleep.) The kids would already be gone with Rik doing something really fun, that would take all day, and didn't require much preparation (like not going camping.... that destroys the house just to pack and get out the door....) I would go take a nice long shower with yummy smelling shampoo, conditioner and body wash. When I got out, my favorite jeans would be clean and broken in. My bed would already be made (as would all the other beds in the house) and the floors would be all picked up. Really all I would have left for my morning work would be vacuum and one load of laundry, but there would be nothing in the washer that had to go in the dryer, and definitely nothing in the dryer that had to be folded and put away. I wouldn't have to do my hair that day, because I would go to the hair place and they would cut my hair, color it the color I see everywhere that I love, but can never seem to get on my own head, and then they would style it (I can't seem to do my hair these days...) Then I would meet my friends for lunch. After lunch I would go do a little shopping, and would really luck out because there would be a one hour sale with an additional 50% off your total purchase (totally makes my day when I get a good deal!) Then I would go home, take a nice nap in my clean house, then get up and read some of my favorite blogs, who would have all posted something funny and interesting. Then I would go pick up some dinner, take it home, and eat while watching TV (a little side note.... when I pick up dinner, they would say they were offering a new dessert for free, just to get the word out.... I love free dessert). I almost never watch TV these days, and haven't for years, but wouldn't mind a night of it every now and again. While I was watching TV I would finish up on the one load of laundry and get it all put away, and then I would go to sleep when I was tired...early or late. I wouldn't have to worry about starting the dishwasher, or turning off lights, or correcting any homework. The kids and Rik would get home the next day.... and I would be a totally different person. I wouldn't want everyday to be like that..... but once every couple months would be so nice!

This week will not be anywhere close to my ideal day.... but carpet is going in Tuesday... that will bring a whole different kind of joy (but I just might be exhaused too...) Nice to day dream though. I'll get some pictures up later on this week!

Malia's 20 Seconds of Fame!

I figured out the video stuff. So here it is:



She came home from practice all excited last night, partially because she thought maybe I would say yes to letting her have one of her singing teacher's puppies..... um is she new here?! That would be a no... but also because she and another girl got the "Santa Baby" solos. She has her first Christmas performance next Friday afternoon at the Festival of Trees (3:00.... so she gets to miss school. She's really hoping it's A day so that she misses computer class....)

Kayden bought himself a new iPod a couple months ago, and it has been the best investment! Kayden usually goes nuts when Malia has to practice singing (because he's a good supportive brother like that and/or kinda grumpy) but now he just plugs his ears with his iPod and goes off to his happy place where his sister doesn't sing. And then there is no yelling in the house and all is peaceful. At least for a couple of minutes. Anaya, on the other hand, is Malia's #1 fan. Every time Malia starts to practice, Anaya is right there watching and listening. She knows all the songs, and the other night fell asleep in Malia's bed while Malia was singing her little lights out. Malia seems to think that Anaya is a better fan than me. Apparently Malia likes "Sing it again Malia! That's my favorite!" over "Ahhh...That needs to be a longer vowel sound!" (This is why she takes piano and voice from someone else....) Speaking of piano (kind of), for everyone who plays the piano, this is the song Malia is playing for her Christmas recital. Go download the sheet music and play it,or you can listen to the MP3. It's really pretty.

Technical Difficulties

Last week my kid's elementary school had a fund raiser at Barnes and Noble. They scheduled each grade to come and perform, and then you bring parents, grandparents, neighbors etc; to come buy stuff at the Barnes and Noble and a percentage of that money would go back to the school. I was lucky enough to have kids performing three nights last week (I think the school office staff hates me.... first, because they asked me to be a "walking school bus" (yes, that does involve wearing a huge yellow jacket that says I'm a "walking school bus," and second, because they scheduled all my kids on different nights.) I remembered to bring the camera to two out of three kids performances... not bad statistics.... but naturally I forgot the camera on Taisha's night. My friend Kim's grandma has me very worried that I might be overlooking my "middle child," (long story... I'll explain later), so I took a quick picture with my cell phone. It turned out like this:


Oh well....I tried, hopefully that doesn't ruin Taisha. Taisha's in the red hoodie, I'm sure with a perfect smile and eyes wide open. Here's the picture of McKay, who went kicking and screaming because it was more important to reach the next level of Lego Indiana Jones, than fund raise for the school.

McKay is in the middle row, second from the left. He actually sang, well, for most of it! (McKay just walked by and said, "Mom, you should have taken my coat off!" *sigh.)

Malia sang with the performing group she joined. I have the whole thing recorded on my camera. I just need to take some time to convert my camera's Quicktime video so I can edit it shorter (I don't have Quicktime Pro, or any of the software I need to do that...so I need to spend some time finding some free stuff online to do all that). Malia's solo was about 20 seconds, the whole song is a lot longer than that. I'll try to get that done later.

I took McKay to get picture retakes last week, and I give up. He is so cute and smiley in real life, but get him in front of a really nice photographer, and McKay just couldn't work it out. His expression changed from "What? Picture? Who me?" To "Ack! Does a smile go up or down in the middle? I can't remember!!! I'll just open my mouth. Phew, glad that's over!" Oh well.

The basement is so close. I would be moving kids in right now, but the door and trim guy caught the flu last week, so everything got pushed back a week. He should finish up Friday afternoon, and carpet is scheduled for early next week. And I only pouted a little bit over all that.