Thursday, July 31, 2008

Magical Magical Buzz

The answer to the earlier question is:

The Wizard of Oz. Of course, by his description, he is saying it the way the Munchkins do "Wonderful Wizard of Oz." Isn't it amazing how kids turn words into what is most familiar with them. Once you finally figure out what they are asking for, it kind of makes sense!

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Decor-um

These are some photos of the finished painting job done on my sister-in-laws kitchen.



We spent Saturday at Tai Pan shopping for decor for the walls and made everything co-oordinate by painting her existing frames black.

Spray paint has become my newest best friend.

Last night I spent the evening at my favorite printer's home watching him (I tried to help, but he enjoys what he does too much to allow me to screw something up) mount the printed pictures on foam-core, cut and place in the FREE frames that I spray painted white.

This morning, before the kids woke up, I hung the pictures, which in turn woke up the kids. I am having some vinyl cut to go under the "gallery" type pictures in the hall.

I am a little concerned about the photos above the fireplace. I think it is too busy and am considering just spray-painting the original wreath that was there white and moving the collage of frames to the wall just in the entry. What do you think?

We are amidst potty training right now. Once I came to grips with the fact that my kids (and myself) just aren't cut out for the boot-camp and potty-train-in-a-day techniques, I am handling it very well.

Yesterday Connor even managed to actually make it to the toilet in time for one major accomplishment. Abi wet and doodied through 9 pair of undies. Today is another day. No success yet. I am just very grateful that the kids like being outside (less clean-up), the basement is unfinished (little clean-up) and that the kitchen has laminate flooring that each of the kids have gotten really good at cleaning up on their own.

Name That Movie

Connor has begun to watch a particular movie over and over again. It is a classic with a title you all know. When he asks for it he says, "Can I watch Mystery Mystery Buzz?"

What movie do you think he is talking about? Share your thoughts with me in a comment. I will post the answer tomorrow.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Jewelry Party


A friend of mine from Hawaii (Shirley Chu) is in town right now. She is dabbling in the jewelry business and asked if I would hostess a party. It is not Lia Sophia, so it hasn't been completely saturated here yet. The company is called Premier Designs Jewelry. Check out their designs on-line and if you are interested in anything, please comment and let me know. I will email you and give you the address and directions to our house.

The party will be at my home (Murray/Taylorsville area), this Thursday, July 31st. An early showing will begin at 4:30pm with a presentation at 6:00pm at which time the party will officially begin (with refreshments!!!).

Please don't feel obligated. I can't really afford any "bling" of my own right now, so I won't be making any purchases, personally. I'm just the supportive one giving a friend a chance to get started.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Hi-Ho-Hi-Ho

It's off to work I go. Kind of.

I would like to start making a little bit of money on the side, so I am going to start babysitting. If you are aware of anyone that is looking for a babysitter, please pass my information along to them!

I am willing to watch kids up to 12 years old. Mondays-Fridays from 7am-6pm. I will charge $25 per child/per day. It will include two snacks a day and lunch.

Wish me luck!

Monday, July 21, 2008

Design on a Dime

Many of you watch HGTV and have seen this particular program. I also have seen it, but must admit that I get frustrated with it. I don't think they finish their projects all the way and kind of do a shoddy job. Just one persons opinion. Just because you are on a budget doesn't mean that you can't do a job whole-heartedly and get it done the right way.

Yes, I know they are on a time crunch with the one-day makeover and all, but I hope it doesn't put stars in your eyes and make you think it is possible. A good job takes a little more time, especially when we don't have the kind of crew those tv people do.

Enough ranting for the moment. I am on a very strict budget now that we are homeowners and we have had to cut back drastically. Todd said I could continue to make our house into a home as long as I could be creative with the funds given...virtually nothing. I mean, under $20.

A friend of mine, let's call her Wendi, because that is her name. Tipped me off to a great store to pick up the paint. It is called The Trans Jordan Landfill, a.k.a. the dump. Yes, the dump. We all know that when you have those leftover buckets of paint, you can't just chuck them in the garbage, they have to be disposed of properly. Where does the dump put them until that time? A nice little shed labeled and organized (also with lawn care and other hazardous chemicals). The cost to you to go and pick these things up? The gas in your car (which, sadly enough, is a whole lot nowadays).

How cool is that!!! It gets even cooler!!!

For the kitchen and living room, I actually scrounged up enough paint amongst family members to not need to use any paint from the dump (dump paint to be used in the kids room, pictures to come once job is completed). This next part has to be my favorite part of my whole decorating experience in these two rooms.

Let me give you the list of cans I gathered:
5 gallon bucket of Exterior White paint no longer needed by Sumo Printing
1 gallon Ralph Lauren Chocolate Brown Interior paint (Sistah Suzy)
1 gallon Ralph Lauren Soho Loft Interior paint (Sistah Suzy)
1 gallon Ralph Lauren Soho Loft Primer (Sistah Suzy)
1 gallon Dark Brown Exterior paint (Tonya)
1 gallon Ivory Exterior paint (Tonya)

Each of these had been used so there were various amounts left in them. I went to my local Home Depot and met the most wonderful paint person ever, Julie, and she helped me with my experiment. I showed her the swatches of the colors I had hoped we could come up with to paint the living room and kitchen. I wanted the whole of the kitchen to be Dark Brown and the whole of the living room to be a mushroom color and one wall dark brown. See pictures below for what I was aiming for:



So Julie and I talked about our options and she said that she would take the 5 gallon bucket of white and mix it for FREE to make the mushroom color. Then I purchased an empty 5 gallon bucket ($5) and went into the parking lot to dump the remaining paint (except for the primer) into the bucket. I returned it to Julie and she added some more color and we got exactly what I was looking for!!! She assured me that it was okay to mix the exterior paint with the interior paint.

I got home and the following day my mom and my sister-in-law Jeanette came over with her boys and they all helped paint. I taped off shapes on the walls to make it more entertaining for the boys.


Julie had told me that she was worried there may not be enough of the chocolate brown paint to do the whole kitchen and the wall in the living room, so she recommended that I use the primer to help stretch the paint. Once I got the primer on the walls in the kitchen and near those cabinets, I fell in love with it! But I had used the gallon of Soho Loft in the dark brown!!! AAUUGGHH!!!

I went to my basement and discovered a full gallon of white paint. It was 8pm, I ran to Lowe's and asked the guy at the counter to help mix it to match the dip stick of dark umber I wanted. He wasn't very social, but walked away and did it. The couple next to me was a little disgruntled because he had mixed their paint wrong...and it was one of Lowe's paints with a Lowe's swatch. I wasn't worried thought, mine didn't have to be dead on. The guy opened my can of paint and said, "Don't worry, it will dry darker." It was PEACH!!! You can't make that shade of peach dry to a dark orange lamo.

I went to my moms to pick up a few things and vented my frustration. She came up with a gallon of paint, but it was pale yellow. At 9pm I took it to Home Depot praying that Julie would be there, but she wasn't and the guy in front of me had 15 gallons of paint to mix. He told "Buck" to go ahead and help me first. So Buck did, but it didn't come out right. I was not going to give up on my new favorite color. I asked Buck how much a gallon of the Ralph Lauren Soho Loft paint was, he told me $37. EEEEKK! I ran to the mis-match shelf and grabbed the closest thing to white he had and asked him to try again. I would pay the $5 for the used can of paint. Buck told me to go and shop around and when he had finished the 15 gallons he would work on mine. I came back to him at 10:15 and he handed me a gallon of Ralph Lauren Soho Loft and told me it was mine for $5. He thanked me for being so patient with him. WOO-HOO!!! I love Home Depot. I failed to mention that I had Connor with me the whole time, the little trooper never even complained once.

However, changing the color in the kitchen, meant the valances I got for my birthday to go in there would no longer match. Not to worry! A box of RIT dye and the current Living Room Valance became the valance in the kitchen and I think it turned out fabulously! Now I will just sew the valances meant for the kitchen together to fit in the bay window in the living room!

So the end results are shown below. Not to worry, the decor and such will come later, but very slowly. These things take time, but are worth the wait and it's always fun to discover how the next affordable project will come about
(free frames + printer dad = great artwork).



You're Driving Me Nuts, Mom!

Connor yelled this phrase at me this morning as I was loading him in the van after a rough moment in time. He learned it from me. I guess it means I have said it to him one time too many. He has also said to me on one occasion or another "stop yelling mom" and "don't be mean, mom."

I have been having one of those moments in motherhood that leaves you blue and playing the "Am I really cut out for this" game.

You know I have three adorable little children ages three and under. Most days are very manageable. Sadly to report, those are the days that we do not venture beyond the sidewalk in front of our house. Yesterday was exhausting.

Todd and I participate in our ward choir and had hesitated taking our own children to church with us knowing full well that we would have to wrangle them during another sacrament meeting in the afternoon. My wonderful mother-in-law offered to come and stay with the kids in the morning while Todd and I attended our own ward meeting and sang "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" with the choir...I love the rendition we sang, you have all probably heard it sung by the MoTab.

When we returned home we got the kids dressed and ready to head out to Lehi for the blessing. The kids did pretty good during sacrament meeting considering the time (1pm...nap time) and we only had to take out the two girls at the very end. Then we left for the luncheon...this is where my frustrations really kicked in.

Connor is a wanderer, Abi is a wanderer, Carly is a cute little blob that can't get too far too fast. But the moment I would find Connor, I had lost Abi and I was running around like a chicken with her head cut off all afternoon. I felt very antisocial and frazzled. Abi was once wandering alone across the fence by the street. Connor was discovered a few times heading deep into the neighborhood he was unfamiliar with.

I have tried to explain to both of them that "if you can't see mommy, you have gone too far." It hasn't sunk in. Did I fail to mention that I was wearing these totally awesome black high heels that are just a tad too small for my feet...but beauty hurts, so I wore them anyway. Maybe that added to my frazzled state of being.

I am mostly venting via blog because I didn't like being the panicked mom and I wonder if any of you have ever felt this way. I didn't like who I was yesterday. I couldn't visit with anyone and the moment I would try to start a conversation I was interrupted by someone letting me know that my child was missing. I know that I must have come off as a complete basket case and a rude person and people were probably thinking in their mind "this woman is crazy...she should really reconsider having any more children. She can barely manage the ones she has got."

I know that because I would have thought the same horrid thought if it was someone else I was watching doing the same thing I was doing. Oh no, I just admitted that I am a judgemental person. With that thought, let me just remind you all that I was going to be the perfect mom until I became one.

Then today Connor was a complete bully to his cousins and we had to leave early. I left in tears. Exhausted and frustrated that I am not the patient, loving, thoughtful, playful, clean, attractive, fit, fun mom I had imagined. It's just a tired mom day I guess.

On a happy note, I am going to go and clean the kitchen, take some pictures and share my most recent decorating experience with you all on the next post. Thanks for bearing with me.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

This One's for You Beckie

I may have done this one before, but I can't remember and I am too lazy to look back tonight and find out for sure. Here are the answers to the most recent tag by a cousin I love very much.

4 Jobs I have had:
1. Movie Theater Concessions
2. Cashier for The Red Balloon Toy Store
3. Janitor at the Salt Lake City BYU Campus
4. Bridal Consultant for Fantasy Bridal

4 Movies I have watched more than once:
1. Clueless (awesome during that phase of my life...recently watched the musical version)
2. A Muppet Christmas Movie (mistook it for the Muppet Christmas Carol)
3. Goonies (it seems so different 10 years later)
4. Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang (this became a favorite of Connor's)

4 Places I have lived:
1. Roswell, NM
2. Montpelier, ID
3. Logan, UT
4. Murray, UT

4 TV shows I watch:
1. We don't have a t.v. anymore
2. But if I did, I would watch:
3. So You Think You Can Dance
4. The Office

4 Places I have been:
1. Mantua, UT
2. Billings, MT (was it Billings, Nik?)
3. Rupert, ID
4. Baton Rouge, LA

4 People who text me regularly:
1. Ike
2. Kelli
3. Suzy
4. Miranda

4 of my Favorite foods:
1. Nachos
2. Salads
3. Any Cheese Soup
4. Cereal

4 Places I would like to visit:
1. Victoria, BC
2. Anywhere in the Caribbean
3. Aiea, HI (only to pick up a friend then hop to another island)
4. Anchorage, AK (you know why, Huntsman fam)

4 Things I am looking forward to in the coming year:
1. Settling into our own little abode
2. Watching the kids grow up
3. Watching Todd grow up
4. Trying to grow up

4 Friends I am tagging:
1. You, the reader
2. You, the stalker
3. You, the acquaintance
4. You, the friend

1. How long have you been married? 10 years
2. How old is your spouse? 32
3. Who eats more? Um, compare the hips and you tell me.
4. Who said I love you first? Toddy
5. Who is taller? Let's face it, I am.
6. Who sings better? Equal grounds there
7. Who is smarter? Todd
8. Who controls the TV remote? Neither
9. Whose temper is worse? TODD's
10. Who does the laundry? Me, slowly but surely
11. Who does the dishes? We both do them
12. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? We both do...it depends which angle you are looking at.
13. Who cooks dinner? That would be me, the one with the bigger hips.
14. Who is more stubborn? Todd
15. Who is the first to admit that they are wrong? Neither of us is ever wrong (did that just cancel out the answer I gave above?)
16. Whose parents do you see the most? Probably mine.
17. Who has more friends? I think that I might, but he's pretty friendly
18. Who has more siblings? Todd wins that one...double my sibs
19. Who wears the pants in the family? I wear the right leg, Todd wears the left.

Memories

I am sure many of you have seen this one going around, I found it on Auntie Rachael's blog (that's how she's known to my wee-ones) .

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I (or both of us) have had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments. That's it!!!

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Moving In

I inherited a beautiful set of china from my grandmother and spent one afternoon unpacking it and placing it in my wonderful kitchen cabinets. These wrappings were what was surrounding each and every plate, goblet, bowl and teacup. It felt just like autumn, I wanted to run, jump and land in the pile...however I weigh a lot more now then I did when I was a kid and the hard floor underneath would have hit me faster than the fluffy looking stack of papers.

The move went ever-so smoothly thanks to a wonderful group of family members who got us all moved in in just one night. Of course, our beds didn't arrive that night and we kept our Riches family tradition alive by spending our first night in our new home on the floor. Every time we have moved somewhere, we have had to sleep on the floor with Connor in between us. Nothing like getting things started off in a familiar direction.

The children are adjusting as well as you could imagine. I don't know whether to blame their moodiness on the move or their "developmental progress" because of their ages. Connor started off sleeping really well in his own room, but last night he tried to join us in our bed. Abi is sleeping like a log all by herself in the basement...just the way she likes it and Carly has started to sleep through the night.

We don't have any more unpacking to do, just "homemaking" and a few other accoutrements necessary for living in a home (you have to understand...we had NOTHING). So I think I will be hitting up garage sales for the remainder of the summer to get things like a spatula, cheese grater, sautee pans, etc. There have been many kind people that have given us things to fill our drawers and room and I just want to say "Thank You!!!!"

Kissin' Cousins


This handsome little bugger is just a few months older than Carly and has taken a liking to her. It's a crying shame he's her cousin! I suppose I can only show these photos at this stage in their life, as when they get older it would seem a little awkward. If you click on the picture it will blow it up a little bit bigger so you can see just how adorable these two wee ones are.