Memory Monday (a day late)

These pictures were taken during our summer trip to Rigby in June of 2008. Maryn was 7, and Avery was 5. That was the summer Maryn learned to ride her bike in the Church parking lot, and the year that Dennis got the riding lawnmower that he took the grandkids for rides on.





This was right after Laurie's initial breast cancer diagnosis before she started chemotherapy for the first time. (That is the last time we saw her "real" hair.)





Speaking of hair, Avery used to love to have Laurie curl her hair with her small curling iron and then give her curly piggy tails. They both LOVED all the unique dress up clothes that Grandpa found at yard sales...I mean a figure skating costume, seriously?!? Awesome memories.



It's still amazing to me how so much can change in a matter of just a few years. We had no idea how short our time with them would be at that point. It still seems like just yesterday. But time marches on, and so do we.

Still though, it's nice to have these happy memories to look back on from time to time. Sure do miss them.

To Hoard or Not to Hoard, That is the Question!!

I need your advice and/or a good old fashioned pep-talk (or scolding as the case may be). You may remember back in May I had a garage sale. {see this post} It was my first here in the back-woods (or cornfields as the case may be) of Illinois and I didn't really know what to expect. I did my usual in terms of prep and presentation. I thought it looked good; neat, organized, clean items, priced appropriately. Anyways, it was a total flop. I mean we made maybe $100 bucks over 2 days, not to mention all the time that went into organizing things ahead of time. I couldn't fathom the thought of throwing all that stuff and my hard work away, so I bagged and boxed up all of my un-sold items and took them back down to the basement!! Did you hear that??? I put all of my GARBAGE back into my BASEMENT!! AAGH!! So now the whole north side of our basement wall is covered in bags and boxes of HOARD...supposedly waiting for next year...for another garage sale. Is this madness???

My theory is this: I will wait until Tonica's annual town-wide garage sale (normally held in late April/early May), and unite forces with this small town and hopefully be able to draw in more customers, therefore SELLING my HOARD!!

However, I cannot seem to handle looking at this monstrosity any longer. Every time I go downstairs, I silently cringe. The thought of having to organize it all again, lay it all out again, price it again...quite frankly it doesn't bring music (or the pleasant sound of cha-ching) to my ears.

So this morning after I went downstairs to feed the cat, switch the laundry, etc. the thought occurred to me: you could just let it go. Lightbulb moment or insanity??? I ask you, please!! Which is it? Is this the devil on my left shoulder or the angel on my right???

I can appreciate the beauty of letting it go. My gently-used items could make somebody else's life better/easier. There is something so freeing about that thought.

But at the same time, a lot of my own blood, sweat, and tears went into the acquisition of my items (mostly baby stuff) and I can't watch them being thrown to the wind without any financial kick-back. If I bought/paid money for something (either brand-new or second-hand) then surely there is someone else out there who is willing to do likewise. Right?

So what would you do? I need your advice.
1. Let it go.
2. Hang on and sell it.

First Day Drama

Having daughters is hard y'all. There is so much estrogen in this house at times I think we could blow the roof off. So you take that high level of estrogen and you throw the first day of school into the mix and BOOM!! You have a doozy of a day!!

Maryn is starting 5th grade with Mrs. Cacciatori.



Avery is starting 4th grade with Mr. Downing.



If it looks like Avery isn't happy in her pictures, it's because she wasn't. 'Nuff said. Needless to say, I'm glad the first day is over because it was just the anxiety of it all that was causing the drama. They both came home happy as clams, talking about their day as if the morning had never happened. Phew, right?



Maryn trying to get Avery to smile. Although an impossible task at times, I give her an A for effort.

Memory Monday

Dang, it's been awhile since I did one of these! But I was thinking of something this morning and figured if I didn't get it written down it would be gone, so here goes:

Parker
She is a maniac these days!! So busy...running here and there, and talking up a storm. One of her first full sentences came the other day: "I did it!!" LOL!! Makes me laugh just writing it. Other phrases include: funny baby (about herself, about pretty much anything she does), all done (after eating approximately 2 bites...she's too busy!!), and lately she's been in a snuggly mood with me. She will crawl up and nuzzle in and start making this wimpering sound and say, "nice". She'll give me hugs but no kisses. She just offers her cheek to you when you ask for kisses. She is precocious fo sho!! She will be turning two soon. Can you buh-lieve it???

Avery
Avery has grown another foot this summer...well maybe not a whole foot, but it seems like it. All new clothes for Fall. I found some jeans on clearance at Target for $2.74 a pair!! Other than that, I'm having a hard time keeping up. She is wearing a woman's 8 shoe, so if you ever want to get rid of some old shoes, send them our way!! I'm saving mine now cuz I figure she'll be wearing them by next year. :-) Avery consented to getting her long grown-out locks a trim in preparation for school. She loves pulling it back into a pony-tail most days. I'm trying to teach her how to just do the top part of her hair for a little variety. She got a mani/pedi with me a couple weeks ago. She chose blue polish, and got white stars on her toesies. She is a bike riding maniac these days and actually prefers riding all over our yard to the street. She lost another tooth the other day, which I think means that all her front teeth are out now. Her 9th birthday is coming up in September and we are planning on a party with just a few friends for now.

Maryn
Maryn got her braces last week!! She was so pumped, she couldn't sleep the night before. It was a quick process and pretty much pain free. I think she is feeling more grown up these days. We were laughing about how much there is to take care of when you're a "tween". Washing your face, taking care of your ears (piercings), taking care of your braces, taking care of your nails. I think she is eating it up with a spoon though. She is starting 5th grade this year which means she will start band...I think she is going to be choosing the flute. I kinda want her to choose the violin though...is that bad???

As for me, I just started back to the Writing Center today. I will be getting more hours this semester, which is a good thing for the finances, but will mean that Mark and I will be tag-teaming with the kids and the house. We'll see how it goes. It's just until December, that's not bad, right? I'm also doing the girls' GS troop again, as well as Activity Days. There is something exciting about the beginning of Fall though. I am looking forward to making some changes and getting some projects done. Stay tuned for the 1st day of school pics coming soon!!

Summer Weddn'

Nothing like a beautiful summer weddn'!!

My nephew Collin (1st grandchild, and son of my sister Shauna) got married this weekend!! His darling bride's name is Kristen and they couldn't be more perfect for each other!! They were so adorable and so in love, and just being around them was like being young and in love again. So fun!! Kristen has a great sense of humor, and I am so glad that she is joining the family...she will fit right into this crazy family of ours!! I flew out to Denver for the festivities on Thursday, returned on Sunday, and am sad that the fun is already over. It was such a beautiful wedding and reception. Here are a few pics of the celebration.

IVCC Outdoor Ed'Venture

The girls were able to go to daycamp during the 3rd week of July at IVCC. They loved it!! They set up the daycamp choices much like they were attending college for the 1st time. The campers chose a major, which they attended in the morning. After their major course, they broke for lunch in the college cafeteria. After lunch, they would go to the college theater for different presentations. After that they would attend a different minor course for 3 days. On the last day, they had a closing ceremony/graduation where each camper introduced themself and what they accomplished during camp on stage in front of family and friends. It was awesome and we will definitely do it again next summer.

Maryn's course of study included:

Major: Wild and Crazy Portraits (she completed a portrait of herself as an alien...don't ask me why. But it's pretty cute dontchathink?)



Minor 1: Wild and Crazy Music (we now have a CD of some awesome techno/house music to enjoy...LOL!)

Minor 2: Hocus Pocus (her least favorite...she came home with some kind of sparkly goo in a plastic bag, and complained that the teacher yelled the whole time.)

Minor 3: Cartooning (she is continuing in her Dad's footsteps with this one.)

Avery's course of study included:

Major: Go Van Gogh!! (Avery got down and dirty with mixed media...her starry, starry night piece is actually made up of sheetrock and mud. Her sunflower piece is sheetrock, mud, and fibers. She was sooo messy every day she came home. I actually had to throw away 1 pair of her shorts...they were covered in paint. One of the slideshow pictures on the last day was her up to her elbows in the drywall mud...she LOVED it!!)







Minor 1: Say Cheese! (A class in digital photography...one of her photos got 1st place!! Another one of her photos is Mark and my favorite, a close up of the College President...she had no idea who she was asking to take a picture of! LOL!)

Minor 2: Woodland Habitats (A Wildlife Preserve brought a skunk, a snake, and a frog...fun times!)

Minor 3: Go Fish! (Her least favorite...she was the ONLY girl in her class!! Ha ha!! But she did cast farther than most of the boys in her class!!)

Another reason to love IVCC...this daycamp was a great success!!

Breaking it Down (The Big Reveal Q&A)

So I figured that some of you might be interested in why we made the choices we did for some of the features in our kitchen. As I am the type of person to have quite an inquiring mind, and often wonder why others make the choices they do; I figured I would reciprocate.



The countertop is a laminate called Labrador Granite. We chose it because we couldn't afford actual granite, and because we wanted to go a little bolder with a darker countertop. I went back and forth for weeks on the countertop choice. When it came down to it, Mark made the final call. It's a little lighter than I expected. I kind of siked myself up for black, but it's more of a gray with lots of color and dimension. I love that even though it's a laminate it still has etching in it to give it depth.



The cabinets are made by Merrilat in a Medium Oak. My first choice was a white laminate cabinet, but it wasn't in the budget. These were my 2nd choice, but I really like how they turned out. They bring a lot of warmth and stability to the room. For the hardware, we chose brushed nickel knobs. I like how they dress up the cabinets and tie into the light fixtures and stainless steel sink fixtures.



I love how the faucet design echoes the curve of the light fixture above it. The faucet came from Dennis's garage. Mark said he found at least 5 or 6 different faucets to choose from. Apparently Dennis liked to have a lot of options...hee hee. Anyway, I love how it brings a little something from them to our everyday.



For lights we chose both canned light, and a few decorative fixtures. I went back and forth on this too. The lady in the store said to just do exterior fixtures, but then talking to my realtor sister and my SIL I decided that canned lights are the wave of the future and what every buyer is looking for. So that's where the canned lights came from. With both, I must say that we have one heck of a bright kitchen!! It's a little Vegas showroom at times...I could probably display some fine jewelry, or at least navigate a plane onto the breakfast bar landing strip. LOL!!



We decided to paint all of the trim white and it looks like a million bucks!! I love how the trim pops against the wall color. The wall color is Macademia by Sherwin Williams. After I picked it I found out that Erin and Melanie have the same color in their homes...great minds think alike!! It goes great with the tile too. As far as our dining room table, I would love to replace it too. Interesting how putting your old stuff into a new kitchen makes it look a little dingey, isn't it??? We'll have to put that on hold for awhile though.

IN the meantime, we will continue to bask in the glow of our beautiful kitchen and the plentiful brightness (ahem) it provides. Ha ha!!