My Dad

I would be remiss if I failed to make mention of my father this Father's Day. I struggle to put down how I feel about my dad. He is a good man. I love him a lot. But how to convey that is something I struggle with. So instead I thought I'd just tell you a little about him. Growing up my dad would wrestle with us. I'm sure many fathers do this, but it was special to my sister, brother, and me. Especially because dad was so busy. He took time to be with us when we were young. He was the coolest. I remember telling some of my friends in school that my dad could drive a car with the fingernail of his pinky finger when we got in a fight about whose father was a better driver. Obviously mine was. He was also the strongest, smartest, most fun, etc. When Dad would tuck Sera and me in at night we would do everything in our power not to move for as long as possible so we "wouldn't mess the tuck up."

When we got a little older my dad would wake us up every Saturday morning by blaring Queen over the stereo. Then he would come in and practice his diving techniques on to our beds where we were trying to pretend like we didn't hear the music or see the crazy man about to leap on top of us. We would have to get up and get to work. But working with my dad was often a lot of fun. He was good to teach us lessons as we went. I remember driving over the hill into Wendover with my dad and him teaching me about the curvature of the Earth. Every time I come over that mountain and see the Salt Flats spread out and see how the Earth curves I think of my dad (and we make that trip fairly often since Ammon's family is in Nevada).

Anyway, most of this is just me rambling on about my pa, but he really was and is an amazing guy. I'm thankful that I had the coolest, strongest, handsomest, funnest (yes I know that's not a word), awesomest dad growing up. Yup, he's better than your dad. And he can beat your dad up too.

The Guest Bedroom

Walk with me down the stairs of our home. We only have a half basement. It is small, but kind of fun. With the warmer weather it's so nice to have the basement where it is always cool. Our basement consists of the smallest little hallway you could imagine, two large storage closets under the stairs, and two bedrooms. I decided to make the first bedroom a guest bedroom. 

Here is the before:

Then Ammon tore out the carpet and we had it replaced:

It's really hard to tell from this picture, but the carpet is nicer. I finally got around to painting and fixing up this room back in March I believe it was. My mom was coming to town for the week while Ammon was out of town. I had been meaning to fix up the guest bedroom forever and felt that this would be a good excuse to just get it done. I would like to say that I was able to do a little fixing on the walls, fix the trim, paint the trim, and paint the walls all in one day. I've still got it.

While I was busy at work painting I decided to open the window in order to tape it off a little better. The windows in our basement don't currently have screens, and though the window wells are disgusting and really need cleaned (it's on our mater list) I didn't think much else of it. I opened the window and what should fall in but a little garden snake. Now my long term readers probably remember our little snake problem we had begun just before this project started. This was the fifth snake we had spotted (we have since killed 11). I screamed. I'm not afraid of snakes, but come on. Luckily I was thinking on my feet. The snake was only half in the house so I slammed the window shut hoping that by pinching him like that I'd kill him. Well, it didn't work. So I ran upstairs while the snake was trapped and got a plastic bag. I ran back downstairs and looked around for what to do next. Sitting on the bed in the middle of the room was my hammer. I figured that would do the trick. I opened the window and put my slithery enemy in the bag and threw it on the floor. I grabbed my hammer and beat it to death. Then I felt guilty. Poor little guy. What a way to go. But I wasn't about to let him in my house. My mom is terrified of snakes so she didn't learn of this adventure until after she went home. And I'm very proud of her, she is sleeping in that room right now. I didn't think she would ever stay with me again.

This room was a problem for me. Not only did we have our snake adventure, but I managed to dump almost the entire gallon of paint on the floor. Luckily I had taken the time to lay down a heavy layer of plastic. So I was able to just roll the paint straight from the floor on to the walls. What a day. But when it was all said and done I had this to show:

I made the pillow shams to go with the comforter. I'm just barely learning to sew, so I'm pretty proud of my accomplishment.

That bookshelf was already here, I just painted it white to make it look better.

I also sewed the curtain to adorn this room. It took me a few tries, but they aren't too bad. Just don't look too closely.

I wish the lighting was better. This is one of my favorite colors I have ever used and you really can't see it. It is called  Classic Key Lime. It's a very yellow, cool, green. I love it!

As with all rooms in our abode, this one is not yet finished. However, the only element missing is a frame for the bed. Right now it is sitting on the floor. So if you come across a queen size frame that needs to go away let me know.

The Big Blue Ball

This adorable little boy was the only boy in our small family. He was plagued with two older sisters. It's hard to be the youngest (or so I've been told by Ammon, the youngest of six). It's harder to be the youngest with only older sisters to play with. Luckily for Nick, Sera was a tom boy, and she was closer in age to him than I was. But regardless, Nick spent a lot of time amusing himself. He loved many things, but one of his favorite toys was a big blue ball.

This is not Nick, but it very well could have been. 

He loved his ball. But most of the time there was no one to bounce his ball back to him. That didn't deter Nick. He was creative. He came up with a solution. The solution? The stairs! Brilliant. He could bounce the ball up the stairs and then it would roll right back to him where he could again hit it back up the stairs. This pastime allowed him hours of fun. However, there was one hiccup in this game: his oldest sister. Yes, that would be me. You see my bedroom wall happened to also be the wall that bordered the stairwell. Now when I remember this game I remember that it was always played on Sunday afternoon when I was trying to catch a nap. I was a teenager and was always busy with school, sports, choir, band, and having a social life. Thus my nights were often not as filled with sleep as they could have been. So I valued my Sunday nap as a precious opportunity to gear up for the next week. My family remembers that I was always yelling at Nick for playing his innocent game. I feel this is a little harsh considering that they all love their Sunday nap as well and none of them had to listen to the bouncing of a ball against their wall.

The long and short of it all is that I hated Nick's ball. I hated his game. I didn't want to listen to the noise. Why couldn't he just find something else and somewhere else to do it? But alas, that darling little boy has grown into something of a giant and he no longer has a big blue ball that he bounces against walls.

Now I often wish I would have taken more time to bounce Nick's ball back to him. But never fear, there is a new little boy in the family. And my brother and my father are not about to let him live his life without the pleasure of knowing how to have fun with his toys. Behold:

The stairs in my home. That lovely blanket is there acting as the wall to Ammon and my bedroom. By the time Cormac is able to throw a ball around we hope to have a real wall there (notice the words "we hope," it is slow going around here with our projects). As you can see, the situation is very much the same as it was in my brother's time. I am sure that he will not allow Cormac to go unknowing of his Uncle Nick's favorite game.

And conspiring with him is my dad. Who recently sent a little gift for his grandson.

In the words of my mother, "You know that ball is just going to get bigger over time." Yes, I'm sure I'll know it better than anyone else.

Growing Houses

This is our little house. There is a lot of work to do around here. But since I am currently working 2 part times jobs, have a 7 month old, am attempting to help my family eat healthy meals, go to yoga 3 times a week, and try to have a few minutes here and there with my husband (among other things), most of it is not done. We have so much yard work it makes me want to cry. Our kitchen is still torn apart. Our bathroom isn't finished. And we recently had a minor flood in the basement and so it is a disaster down there as well. Sigh.

Yesterday I decided I was sick and tired of seeing my house so dirty on the outside. I went on the hunt for a hose. I settled Cormac down in the shade, turned the water up so I would have a lot of pressure, and started spraying. I wanted to get the dirt, spider webs, and bird poop off.

As I was spraying away Ammon pulled up from work. He stood a little way off until I stopped splashing so much water and then came over to give me a kiss. Then he said, "I want our house to grow too, but I'm not sure if that's the way to do it." I just love this guy. He makes me smile and laugh all the time. What a guy.

Seven Months Old

This post is a week late. Sorry. Our little Cormac is growing up so fast. He is so much fun! We just adore this little man. Every day is a new adventure. He is a little sponge soaking up as much as he can. I think he is learning very fast and is such a smart boy. He takes after his dad that way. At seven months Cormac:

~likes to use his head as a battering ram. He bangs his head on everything and then usually laughs afterward. I think he enjoys finding out how things react against his head.

~is finally growing back his hair!

~weighs in at 19 lbs 3 oz and is 28.5 inches tall.

~loves bath time. But is not such a fan of getting dressed and undressed.

~doesn't cuddle as much as he used to.

~is always moving.

~sleeps with his feet up in the air against the side of his crib.

~loves his blocks. He loves knocking down towers that you build for him.

~loves prunes. He is also okay with peas as long as they are mixed in his cereal. He likes sweet potato from a can, not if it's homemade. To be honest, the kid just really doesn't seem to like food that much. Which is so strange to me.

~wants to crawl so so bad. He is close and he tries all the time. He just hasn't figured out how to move all the parts at the same time yet.

~loves to pull hair.

~is teething. Keep a careful watch on your fingers or he'll have them in his mouth and he can bite hard, even without teeth.

~has a death grip. If he wants it he can hold on.

~is fascinated by lights.

~loves Sandy and Charlie.

~loves his daddy and his mommy.

~is not a great napper.

~is still not sleeping through the night.

~loves to hit. Not in a mean way, he just is fascinated by the feel and sound of his hand on any and all surfaces,

~  , k bu b n .yt (this is Cormac's contribution).

~loves to smile and laugh.

And we love to smile and laugh with him. He is so much fun! I can't believe he is growing up on me so fast. But I'm so glad he's here. I can't imagine my life with out him.

Yum

Tell me I have the cutest baby in the whole world! You know you want to.

Waterfall

I just wanted to post a few pictures from our little hike that we took on Mother's Day. We just picked a random trail and started walking.

The view was spectacular. And I don't just mean my two handsome men.
And we were surprised to run right into this:
I love waterfalls. We had no idea this one was on the path that we had chosen. It was a nice little surprise.
And it was a fun and wonderful day. Cormac especially enjoyed flashing the camera with his hottest you-can't-touch-this face. What a nut. What a day.