Christmas 2012

So the first picture really isn't from Christmas, it is from Thanksgiving but I had to share it because is so funny.  Tucker & Spencer found a new use for the caps from the top of the sparkling cider.  Spencer has the metal caps over his eyes & Tucker has the plastic covers you use when you want to save it after you open it.  It's what boys get up to when dinner is done!

 Pretty much every year we have gone out and cut down our own tree.  This year Tucker had to work so he didn't get to come sadly.  So here is Cooper looking manly with the saw in his shorts--which I think I have mentioned before that he wears them year round.  The only time he isn't in shorts is on Sunday.  Even then, if he could figure out a way for dress shorts to be acceptable he would wear them to church.

 Spencer picked out the tree we finally settled on.  It only took about 10 minutes of looking at the most.  I didn't like noble firs so much when we first started getting them, but I have to admit they have grown on me over the years and I think the right kind of noble is the best because you can really display your ornaments.

 It actually wasn't as muddy as it looks in this photo, but we definitely were lucky to get a day without rain to get our tree!

The place that had the trees also had these cute little donkeys.  Spencer asked if I thought they would bite before he decided to try petting them.

Cooper this morning.  Not sure why he was wearing that hat.  It wasn't cold in the house!

Spencer was also sporting a stocking cap.  Guess it was the fashion of the day.

Specner gave me the salt & pepper shaker for Christmas.  He was "tired of the picnic ones we always use."  They were not on my list but I guess that is okay. :-)

Tucker and Tae. 

Cooper again.

So this was the best gift I got today!  It is a bag made by my neice Kelsey!  She posted about them on Facebook and Dennis asked her to make one for me.  Isn't it the cutest thing!?

Here's the best part.  This is the note that she attached to the bag.  So you can see from the note that the lace & button on the bag are from my mom's sewing supplies.  The note is written on the button card from Sears.  It has to be pretty old judging from the tag and how long ago it was that Sears was in Idaho Falls and mom would have  shopped there.  It made me cry when I read it!

So here is a close up of the button.  Best gift ever.

I realized after I uploaded all the pictures that I didn't have one of Dennis which I should since he is the one who asked for the bag for me.  Again, best gift ever!!!! Love it.  I'm a lucky woman for sure.

My Work Space

I meant to do this post before we went to Hawaii but obviously I didn't.  I was thinking that I needed to change my post but didn't know what to do it about (things aren't always so exciting around here).  So I decided to do a little post about where I work at the school.   So this is the teacher mail boxes that are right in the entryway as you come in the main office.  You can't really make it out, but the pictures on all of them are of the staff members when they were babies or little kids.  I have been decorating the mailboxes with different themes (favorite books, pictures of what they did during the summer...) for a couple years now.  This one was really quite popular.

This is the front of the school.  The building was built in the 50s.  They used an open courtyard design like they do in California.  Of course our courtyards don't get much use during the school year because of the weather.  Our office is to the right of the main entrance doors.

This is just inside the main doors.

This is the counter in the main office.  My desk is on the right hand side just behind the counter.

This is my computer station.  Notice I have two computer screens.  It's awesome actually and really helps.  I thought it would be hard to get used to but now I don't know what I did without it.

This is the view from my desk back towards the waiting area.

And this is me and my desk partner Dana dressed up for Halloween.  We were trying to think of a duo theme and came to this one accidentally.  I was thinking Laurel & Hardy, Thing 1 & Thing 2, etc.  I just happened to mention I had the cow costume from Cooper last year and she had the Wood costume that her daughter used the year before.  So the cowboy & the cow.  It was accidental, but it sure was funny.  She is awesome to work with.  Such a positive lady and so willing to do whatever is needed.  We have a great time together.

Hawaii 2012

We spent a week in Hawaii from November 3 through November 10.  We went to Maui for the 4th time.  Dennis gets the trip through work so basically we only have to pay for food (and sometimes not even that).   We stay on the north end of the island at the Kaanapali Westin Resort which is pretty awesome (love the Heavenly Beds).  We got to do a couple of events paid for by the radio station sponoring the trip.  One of those was ziplining which was totally a blast.  There were 8 lines that went back & forth across a valley up in the mountains.  This first picture (from such an awesome angle) is of me going across one canyon.  I was always ending up backwards for some reason.

 We have a video of me coming across after the guide literally threw me off the platform and the guide on the other end pulling the cable up and down to make me bounce.  It was absolutely fun!  Had the best time ever and highly recommend ziplining if you get a chance. 

 This is us at the break between the first and last four lines.  We stopped at this platform on the edge of the canyon where you could see how really high up you were even though it didn't seem like it was that high.  They served us lunch and then we did the last four lines.  With each line the distance got longer & longer. 

The other activity we did was golf of course.  We ended up playing three times altogether (paid for by the radio station--which made it even more awesome).  We got to play three fancy courses.  It was not the best golf I have ever played for various reasons (sore back one day, high winds two out of the three days, and a serious headache the last day) but it was still fun.  This is us in front of a Par 3 hole where the guys have to get their tee shot over the water that we are standing in front of.  I didn't have to shoot over it thankfully.

We also got to go to a Luau which is always a good time, sat by the pool and dipped in the ocean. We were not as adventurous as Amy's family, but then it was just us and we ARE getting old--though I do feel pretty studly about the ziplining!  It was a really nice week spent with the hubby sans kids without getting sunburned (or one bit tan as you can see by my really white legs in the last picture--but I'll take white legs any day over a sunburn!)

Not Much But At Least It Is a New Post

This is a random post so I can feel like something has been happening here.  Cooper on the first day of school.  Yes, he does look like a linebacker.  Look at the size of those feet! 

 This is a picture of the area rug we purchased from Overstock.com for the living room.  I say that proudly because every place else was way overpriced!  The rug is really pretty and soft to walk on.  It really goes well with the overall decor.

 You can see it in use here as well.  Notice Dennis' golf clubs are still in the living room despite not  being able to chip down the hall.  He IS able to partly swing it on the little section of rug between the TV and the coffee table.

 This is the smaller version of the same rug under the dining room table.  We ordered the blinds tonight.  We should have them in about three weeks.

 Here is a picture from Spencer's birthday (9/11).  We lost parental brownie points because we had no candles.  Spencer was quite miffed at us.  So I got the big red candle out but sadly we couldn't find any matches to light it with.  Then Dennis found this lighter, but it was out of fluid (yes, a comedy of errors).  Finally Cooper found this App on his i-pod that was a flame.  So that is his i-pod he is holding there on top of the big red candle simulating that it is lit.  As you can see Spencer even found it funny despite himself.

 A closer up veiw of the carpet.  It should have been closer to the other picture of the carpet but it isn't and I am too lazy to move it. 

And that's about as exciting as it has been around here!

The Transformation

So when Dennis asked me what I wanted for my 50th birthday I couldn't think of anything I wanted or needed.  So I put a few things I wanted done on the house (I guess that counts as something I wanted).  Anyway, one of those things was getting the living room carpet replaced. The carpet has been in the house since we moved in (so 20 years basically).  As you can see below it was a lovely salmon color and in an attempt to add some color to the room we painted the back wall and the trim green.  In this first picture you can see we had already started removing the carpet which covered the living room and dining room.

 This next picture shows what was underneath the carpet.  Hardwood, which we knew but weren't sure what kind of shape it was in.  It was very dirty and had these little black dots all over the place from the carpet pad.  Like something in the pad had melted.  We figured having the floors redone would be really expensive so we were just planning to recarpet.  A friend of mine recommended Gabor who was a big Hungarian guy.  He gave us a bid and it was actually $100 less than new carpet! So we went with the hardwoods much to Spencer's delight as he was pushing that from the start (too much HOME or DIY TV).  Notice the lovely green beam dividing the living room from the dining room--it plays in later.

 This is what the trim around the doors looked like up close.

We knew the beam was fake, but when Dennis cut into it, it was hollow.  I can't even explain how the guy constructed it.  But, it is gone now!

This next picture is just to show what was underneath the trim around the doors, so basically what was underneath the textured walls--old ugly wall paper!  Can you imagine a whole room done in this stuff!  We think it kind of was an oriental theme and the white building is a pagoda.

This is more of the lovely wallpaper.  We are so sad that we couldn't restore it to it's original splendor--NOT!

 This is the wall paper that is in all of the closets in the upstairs, the linen closet, our bedroom and the boys--though I painted over it in the boys room.  Tiki hut?  I don't know, definitely not attractive but I'm sure it went with the oriental stuff that was in the living room/dining room.  Scary? Yes!

 So this is how the floor came out!  Can you believe how different it is?!  You'll notice that the trim is still green.  But the room looks so much more open & airy!

This is what the ceiling has looked like for the 20 years we have lived here.  Lovely, sparkly popcorn--so stylish!  We have always wanted to get rid of it but figured it was full of asbestos and we were stuck with it.  Turns out it wasn't and we weren't.  I scraped off a sample and took it to this place that tests it to see what's in it and there wasn't asbestos!  So off it came and easily, just a little water sprayed on and it scraped right off.

 This is what the ceiling looked like after the popcorn was off and it was repainted.  It also shows the addition of the crown molding.  Isn't it cool!

 This is more of the crown molding.  It isn't completely finished as we still have to fill in the little nail holes and the edges with caulk.

 This is the new door trim.

 More of the new door trim and baseboards.

This is what the crown molding and the new ceiling look like up close.  The wall is a tan color that looked almost white when it was with the green but after the white trim and ceiling were added it really brought out the color on the walls. 

 This is the final look so you can compare it with the original.  In both pictures there are no blinds on the windows but you can definitely see what a big difference the new floor, trim and paint job make to the room.  I am so excited!  Our finishing touches will be area rugs and new blinds.  It turned out to be an awesome birthday present.

Summer Fun

I didn't take as many pictures of our summer trips this year.  Mostly because my camera battery won't stay charged.  It's difficult to find a battery for it now so I guess it must be time for a new one.  Anyway here are a few photos from some summer adventures. 

 This is Tucker learning to kayak in Bill's swimming pool.  It wasn't actually as dark as it seems in this picture.  It WAS evening but not this dark.  Tucker learned out to exit the boat once it is flipped over but not how to flip himself back up while still in the boat.  Though he did try it many times, he always had to exit with the boat turned upside down.  This and a couple other similar pictures of him are the only pictures I got of our rafting trip this year.  :-(

 This is us "sunning" at the beach on our annual Chandler Beach Campout.  Notice the mulitple layers of clothing and the towel substituting for a blanket?  That pretty much sums up the weather.  Well that and the next couple of pictures.

Here is Cooper enjoying the surf and no, it is not a badly taken picture.  This is actually what the weather was like--foggy.  And yes, it was pretty much as cold as it actually looks.

 The coldness however did not stop Cooper from spending a few hours body surfing and also using the boogie board--which sadly I did not get a picture.  The boy has no nerve endings I'm convinced.

We did spend quite a bit of time around the fire.  This being late in the day when it was at its warmest.  Dennis is at least sporting his beach sandals. 

Here's Tucker with his cousin Emma (purple jacket) and her friend Cailey who has camped with us every year for probably 5-8 years I think.  It WAS fun despite the bad weather.  It didn't rain, it was just socked in with fog and the temperature only in the 60s but being intrepid Washingtonians that didn't stop us from staying the whole time.  Sadly, the best day of the Friday, Saturday & Sunday we were there was Sunday when we packed up to leave!  Oh well.

We are finishing up the big living room remodel. Next post will be the before & after photos.  Not that I got good before photos and I kind of forgot to get in the middle photos...it will still be a pretty amazing transformation!  Stay tuned.