Take a step up

Here is an update on our stairs! Tyler has been hard at work these past few days on getting our stairs  completed. I am continuously amazed at his ingenuity and diligence! He is determined to complete these stairs soon! And without having to make a million trips to Home Depot, haha

For example- all the wood to make the railing came from our porch and reclaimed 2x4's since Home Depot had closed. But reclaimed wood is all the rage right now- so I guess we are just on trend ;)

Here is what it looks like at the top of the stairs. Creeeepppppy, huh! You can see the top 2 steps. 

There is what we call- dead space, between our current ceiling and the floor of the attic. 

See, our current ceiling is about 8 1/2 feet tall. But the original ceilings were about 12 feet. Someone thought it was a great idea to make the ceiling 3 feet shorter..... Hmmmm....

Looking at the type of materials used to shorten the ceiling, it looks like this was done in the 60's or so. And drop down ceilings were the trend around that time. 

Here is a look at the wood used, if you can actually see it from in this picture! They are actual 2 by6's. Here's is a fun fact- if you go to the hardware store and buy a 2 by 6, it actually measures about 1 3/4 by 5 7/8. Not 2 inches by 6 inches. Who knows why! But back in the day, the wood would ACTUALLY measure 2 inches by 6 inches. That's how we were able to tell when the drop down ceiling was probably added.

Here is a better look at our current ceiling height (up to the white), the original ceiling height (the cream area), and the ceiling joists. We could raise the ceiling up to the original height.... But that would be so much work and dust and lead paint. We decided not to mess with it for the time being. :)

I am, however, trying to convince Tyler that some secret passageways would be a great idea! He's not on board.....yet.

But we did have a structural engineer come and look at our roof structure. Looks like we should be able to cut those ceiling joists you see in the picture above. And restructure the support in our roof to give walking room. Yay! We're excited :)

It will be great to have the extra room. We are planning 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, and a family room to be added up there. Then Todd won't have to sleep in the front room anymore! But it is nice to see his cute sleeping face all the time :) .... Speaking of.....

Here he is now as I type :)

Wish us luck!

Jamie

No pretty pictures

So I have not written a post for a while because  I don't have any pictures to accompany them!

Then I realized that pictures don't constitute a blog post..... Words do.

Actually, I JUST realized that as I was typing it. Hmmmm....'words do.' That is liberating!

Back to the first train of thought I was on. (Do you ever think 2 things at once? I totally do and my poor hubby has to try to keep up :)

....first train of thought....what was it? Oh yeah!!!! 

We had a girls night. :) it was so fun! Todd was included, but we still called it a girls night. I guess girls +1cutebabyboy night, haha.

Tyler decided to spend the evening with his brother playing Starcraft, yay for them! It is nice to do something like that every once in a while. And nice for me to stay home :) So I planned some girl (+1cutebabyboy) time. 

I ran to the neighbors and borrowed Frozen since it is a favorite of every little girl, I'm sure. Maybelline was singing the 'let it go' song after only seeing the movie once! And the movie was still fun to watch since we have only seen it a handful of times. No repeating-every-line-since-you-have-seen-it-a-ridiculous-amount-of-times going on here! 

They (and I) were SOOOO excited! I got the laptop ready in their room and started the movie. There were a few technical difficulties, and slight frustration but I calmed down and got it working :) when it started, squeals commenced....from all of us girls, haha. then we paused the beginning of the movie and said a prayer to thank Heavenly Father for the opportunity to have time together :)

Then.....I got a wild hair in me.....and pulled out....

CHOCOLATE!! at 10pm too!! Haha

Those girls loved it. I gushed on baby Todd until he fell asleep about 9:30 ish and we finished the movie together, 

It was so nice. I think the what made it nice was mostly MY attitude. I had thought about it and gotten excited. That excitement passed onto my girls, and we were able to enjoy it as the precious time it was. 

Just a movie and chocolate. But really, it was time with my 3 favorite cuties in a loving setting.

I'm so grateful for the time with them *looks heavenward*

Jamie

How to help a fever

Now, I'm not a doctor, and to avoid being sued- please consult a doctor before trying any of thee home remedies. Who knows! You might be allergic to lemons! 

My hubby has had a bad fever the past few days. Like 102. Poor thing. And I finally broke my fever last night. Let's just say both of us  being sick with three kids is a little challenging! But the kids aren't sick- so it could be worse :) *knock on wood*

Tyler and I were discussing what fevers do. And it is your body trying to kill the bacteria/virus by raising the temperature. So we decided to not give him Tylenol as long as his temp is under 102 so that his body can actually raise the temperature to kill those naughty germs :) 

So without medicine we have been doing a few other things to help the aches and pains of a fever.

First up: 

        image source via (http://dalybeauty.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/lemon.jpg)

A Hot Lemon Bath. Oooooo. Doesn't that sound nice!! Fever or not- sign me up :)

The heat and lemon is supposed to help you sweat out the toxins that your body is trying to get rid of.

And plus it feels so nice when you feel continually cold during a fever!

And for some reason I feel nauseous during a fever. Hmmm. Don't ask my why. Anyone else have that?

To help with that I use the B.R.A.T diet :)

image source via: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy9hBOLJoFLm0-hxQ8eozYyoeYhGxgk9Iqi37mw0-FSh_YA1EV3_lDdhk5Boipn999uQzuTQ7fzW_j5U4aNCZfaMRB4RwG0WGbwXkc2bIWkpYJvpUmk1L3tryDsoKBP4rR0CTXcqGv4vg/s1600/BRAT-Diet.jpeg

Bananas

Rice

Applesauce

Toast!

They are easy to eat on an upset tummy and help you get the nutrients you need while you're sick.

We are also doing lots of fluids, prayers, and rest.

Oh yeah! Sleep!! How could I forget??

I feel like sleep is pretty much the #1 way to get better.

 (Unless you're like me and have a newborn/husband/2littlegirls to take care of and you are woken up every hour of the night, ha!)

Any other tips out there that help you feel better when you're sick? 

Jamie

The Best Ideas are Made Together

So.

I wanted something to hang on the wall in our bedroom.

Pictures are always great- except when you're trying to sleep and there are just eyes staring at you! Super creepy, so I knew I didn't want pictures above our bed, haha. Tyler thinks I'm a little crazy :)

What about a painting? Perfect! I can do watercolor. So I came up with an idea for a collage of paintings that would all go together. As I talked to Tyler about it, though, he is not in love with the idea for our room. Don't get me wrong- he loved the idea- just not for our room :)

Hmmm a clock?? I can't stand the tick-tick-tick in the middle of the night. 

Finally I ask Tyler, "what do you think?"  Suddenly Singing commences and the clouds part! Haha

We came up with an idea TOGETHER!! And it means sooo much more to us than any other idea. 

Here it is!

See?? Way cool. We made it to look like trees in the forest, and like one of those carved hearts in a tree. The best part is that it's ours. Not just mine or his. 

We made this in installments. A little bit here and there after the kids were in bed so it could be like a date! 

We first drew the design on a big piece of wood that we got for free from Taylor Carpets by our home. (Pretty much all our wood comes from there, haha)

Then I cut it our with our jigsaw when I was 9 months pregnant...... :) I was just upset that the baby hadn't come yet and needed to wield a power tool-ok? 

Next was the heart.... So we just drew a heart. 

As for the names, Tyler wrote his and I wrote mine, that way we had each other's handwriting!

We used thumbtacks from the dollar store and a hammer to put it in the wall. Like so...

Okay, you don't need to hit it that hard! More like a soft tapping- don't wake up the sleeping kiddos.

We slid the cut 'trees' back behind our headboard so it looked more like they went all the way to the ground. 

 Then, ta-da!

We love it. Maybe I can give a tour of our bedroom and it's projects next week! It is my favorite room in the house so far :)

Happy Thursday!

Jamie 

Mish- Mash Monday... Wait it's Tuesday...

It must be a stay at home mom, or a me thing- but it's hard to know the day of the week! 

Nevertheless here is my mishmash of thoughts for today :) 

It's hard to relax about my imperfections sometimes. Last night was a little rough when I felt like I couldn't do anything right. Heavenly Father is watchful, because today I ran across this on LDS.org:

"One thing that hinders the development of resilience is a misunderstanding of the commandment to be perfect (see Matthew 5:48). This misunderstanding is the most common factor I’ve seen undermining resilience in new missionaries. They want to be perfect in everything because they love Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and do not want to disappoint Them. But they do not understand that the Lord works through weak, simple servants (see D&C 1:19–23) and that striving to be perfect does not mean we never make mistakes but rather that we become fully developed or complete through the Atonement of Christ as we strive to follow Him (see Matthew 5:48, footnote b)."

Thank. You. :) 

I make mistakes! I'm not perfect! Whoo-hoo!!! That means the Saviors atonement can be applied to me!

Next thought:

We got to see family last Saturday at a family reunion. It was great! I saw my aunt and her family for the first time in 11 years! And my grandma got to meet my three children for the first time... Ever! We had good time to connect with everyone. And we had a talent show! My dad showed off his AWESOME pantomime skills. As in pretending there is a wall when there isn't one....

But way better :)

And I got to share some songs on guitar, and my cousin juggled! Who knew there was so much talent in one family? 

I did. ;) jk

It definitely was an adventure on Saturday! Because on the way there our car broke down (radiator leak, so we added water and all was well).  And then our car broke down on the way home.... ( back tire's tread was PEELING OFF!! We heard the duh-duh-duh on the freeway. As we pulled over to put on the spare, we realized there was no wrench for the lug-nuts.... Luckily the 3rd times the charm and the third person we asked had one that fit :)

So there is my mishmash! I have a great update to tell you about that we did to our master bedroom! I'll share that soon :)

Jamie

Working on some chairs :)

So this is a project that is in the works. 

I am recovering 2 chairs that were my neighbors. She didn't need them anymore and I loved the lines in the chairs and saw some great potential! She gave them to me- so nice. 

They were in rough shape to begin with but then inleft them outside for..... Oh... Like 8 months....

Through the rain and everything. So the ripped seats then became moldy seats... And the wood seat bases completely fell apart...

I removed the moldy seats for the picture in consideration of your lunch... No need to taste it twice...

This is what happens when you procrastinate!

But look at those lines!! So pretty :) just pretend you can see the vision in my head, haha.

So the first step was for me to cut new board for the seats.

I used the seat that was still somewhat in one piece as a pattern, the. Cut it out with our jigsaw. Which has a crooked blade, so my cuts were DEFINITELY not straight, haha. Or it was just user error...

I did have to cut the seats out twice because the first wood I cut it out of was too thick for the seats. So -take two- I used a different piece of wood. (Which I got from Taylor carpets in Provo. They have lots of free wood and pallets! In fact there are like 8 outside their building now!)

Btw, if you need some pallets, we have like 25.... Haha!

And then I used an old couch cushion for the foam and cut out the same shape. I used a combo of scissors and a steak knife to cut it out :)

So here is the foam and board cut out. Then I layered batting (given to me by a nice neighbor!) and waterproof fabric (given to me by my grandma!). 

Next is to staple-gun it all together. :)

As I'm writing this post, I am quickly realizing how cheap this project is.... So far- free!! 

That is my kind of project... 

Wish me luck so I don't staple a finger in the process!

Jamie

It is SOOOO Nice

It is so nice to feel so good! Physically, I mean :) 

I am literally back on my feet again after a good 2 months of being out-of-commission. 

I did 3 loads of laundry today (folded and somewhat put away), cooked 3 meals (that weren't just cereal or corn dogs), swept the kitchen, did the dishes, played with my girls, enjoyed little Todd, made cookies, and got dressed today! I know!!! It is SOOOOOO nice!

I say this not to brag or anything, because I am usually not so motivated or whatever the word is for getting a lot of things done quickly :) I say this to rejoice! 

To rejoice in health and happiness. To rejoice in the goodness of God in helping me through to the light at the end of the dark tunnel. Or in other words, to the chocolatey-goodness at the middle of the the tootsie-pop. :)

If you remember, I was having it rough at the end of my pregnancy with low energy (which I have now come to realize was anemia from low iron). I wrote about in my post in May titled God gives us hard things. I would link it here, but I'm not that good at this whole blogging thing yet :)

It was a hard time. I would feel barely able to get Rosie out of bed. And then I would feel way guilty for not being able to do more. And for having to ask so much help from Tyler who has work and a million other things to worry about. And guilty for not playing with Maybelline and Rosie as much as they wanted me to. Basically just a slurry of not good feelings! But I would pray. And pray. And cry a little (a lot). Then talk to Tyler and hug Maybelline and Rosie. I felt peace. I could feel myself changing for the better. Unimportant Little things didn't matter as much. I could enjoy the important little things more. Like Maybelline putting a piece of tape on her upper lip and singing chitty chitty bang bang, we love you! Or Rosie squealing in excitement over finding a piece of cotton. 

I hate to say it, but previously these sweet, funny moments would have been lost on me. I was too distracted to notice what Rosie was so excited about. And even annoyed at Maybelline for playing with the tape instead of using it for its practical use. 

But I'm glad to say these moments aren't lost on me now :) Heavenly Father has taught me an invaluable lesson that I would go through that hard time over and over to learn. Here is the gist of it:

Enjoy the moment. Enjoy the sweet spirits I am blessed to have around me. We don't have to be doing something fun (swimming, park, sidewalk chalk, etc) to connect and relish in each other. I just have to see them. See the shiny tape on her upper lip and recognize its funny :) then laugh! Laugh with her and see the sparkle in her eyes when she sees I am with her. REALLY with her. 

:) 

Best lesson learned ever. Or at least so far :) I have really felt my joy increase daily. Not just happiness, but true joy. I can tell as I lay down for bed at night, with a smile in my heart, that there is a good change in me. :)

I know that we go through hard things to become better. Just like the refiners fire, gold becomes more pure. I also know that there are a lot of tough things out there, but God knows you. He loves you. Just ask Him and you will feel it in your heart :) ask Him to help you through the hard times, and He will. Ask Him what you are to learn through your trial. It made it easier for me to have joy in my hard time, because I could see the silver lining :) 

I am greatful for that teaching time for me. And I am also grateful to have my health back again. It is SOOOOO nice! :) 

-jamie :) 

P.S. Since I don't really have any pictures that connect to this post, I'll just leave you with this cutie patootie!