A little more paint

We finally painted the gold for the living and dining rooms. LOVE the color. It's so peaceful in here now. I want to spend the whole day in this room. But then the chaos would have to follow me and folding laundry and doing sit-ups in here somehow ruins it! Anyway we couldn't be happier with the paint. Negative? The whole experience led us to decide the drapes we chose are going to have to go, coloring is all wrong... we're thinking a cranberry colored drape. By the way- look at that ceiling! The weird picture is to show you how high we were able to get the paint above the door way. I'm quite proud of that!

Friday nights are FREE!

I am ecstatic to announce that Friday and Monday night football/cheer practices are officially OVER! Yes- that's down to only four days a week of football and cheer baby!

Cabinets, cabinets, cabinets

I'm not sure why we thought it would be a good idea to strip and stain our kitchen cabinets. We've undertaken the first cabinet. Tony and I stayed up late last weekend learning that Cabernet stain may show the same color as red mahogany but it just isn't. Lesson learned- and I love how cute he looks with his hair a little messy so it was worth it. The doors were almost dry as they sat protected in the garage when Kaiden flooded the bathroom floor with an all too fun bath and water seeped through the grout, under the rafters and poured onto the doors below. That was three days ago. Most of the stain got washed off. Now they are almost dry and ready for a coat on the backs of the doors. Stay tuned to see how it all comes out! (The first cabinet anyway).

Kids look cute in the MORNING

Ever try to take a picture of your cuties after church or school? It never seems to work out. I found that out last easter with a chocolate covered dress after primary! Anyway, it never ceases to amaze me that the school picture people find the best time to take pictures of my kids to be after lunch; when, quite frankly, may be the least cute time of the entire day. Hair is a mess, faces are food covered, and clothes, well- good thing for oxy clean. I guess they get you by forcing you to buy the pictures before they let you see them. I'm a rebel and just don't buy those. I'd rather spend my money on professional pics. Anyway, here are a couple of pre- school shots on picture day I took to appease myself. Kaiden and his toothless grin got a kick out of me trying to get him to smile!

Food storage, industry, and pie...

I made my first trip to the church cannery last week and I must say it was a lot easier and more fun than I thought it would be. We canned some extra apples, so I thought I'd try some and see what I could do with them. After all, the point is to use the products in my food storage. Mainly, I was wondering if it might be possible to make an apple pie- Tony's love only second to pumpkin pie and perhaps me- (that still tasted great) out of those already peeled and sliced apples... So I rehydrated them and made some delicious warm apple juice with cinnamon and sugar out of the water I used for the rehydration (kids loved it). Then on my- yes- store bought crust- I layered the apple slices with cinnamon, sugar, and a little slice butter. Another pie crust over the top, sliced a pattern, brushed with milk, and sprinkled with sugar and baked until golden. How did it turn out? Fabulous! I'm so excited that it was actually good. Easy as brownies, I swear. Kelsey loved helping and I mean it, it really did turn out good!