Preschool Fun!

On August 20th was Kendal's first day of preschool. I love the expressions on her face. It looks like she's headed to a rock concert in the first one. Who knows, maybe preschool is like a really good Pearl Jam or Foo Fighters concert! I don't remember back that far so who am I to argue?

In the second picture I think she's headed to the circus. She and her daddy would make a good pair! I'm kidding people, I would never really send any of my children to the circus (maybe only on a really bad day...no, we don't have bad days...ever).

Preschool is gearing up to be a success. The preschool she goes to is awesome! The teachers have their degrees in Elementary Education with their Early Childhood Endorsements. I was so impressed when I went to the parents meeting. Their goal is get every child in the class reading by the time kindergarten starts. Very impressive! I'm excited for her and I think she's thrilled to be able to go to school...finally. She's going to be amazing and go on to do amazing things. I love her no fear attitude! Underneath all that attitude is a sweet, loving, and kind girl who goes out of her way to help and boost those around her. She's an amazing child and I'm grateful she's mine!

Another Tag!

There's not a lot to write about right now and I found this tag on a friends web site so I decided to pick it up and pass it along. Enjoy!

Four Places I go Over and Over:
1. Home
2. Lin's
3. Wal-Mart (Wal-Mart holds a share in my family income.)
4. The Mailbox

Four people who email me regularly:
1. Children's Place (Can't beat those 15% off coupons!)
2. Target (We're having a sale!! All you have to do is spend over $125!)
3. The Irish Commissioner (You've won the Irish Powerball Lottery!! All we need is your bank account number so we can deposit it!)
4. Betty Crocker (Cook better tonight with us! It's going to take more than Betty Crocker to help me cook better.)

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Pacific Beach, California
2. Seattle, Washington
3. Mexico (Not Tijuana, the nice beaches part.)
4. Disneyland (No matter how many times you go, it's still fun!)

Four people I talk to on a regular basis:
1. Derek
2. Kendal
3. Brandon
4. Myself

Four of my favorite places to eat:
1. Pachanga's (Cause I'm cheap and you can get a huge plate of nachos for $6!)
2. Pizza/Pasta Factory (Love their salads and their pizza.)
3. Parrothead (Love, love, love their smothered french fries!)
4. Panda Express (I could eat their orange chicken all day long!)

Four people I tag:
1. Chelsi
2. Dianna
3. Mary Jo
4. Lisa
And anyone else who wants to do this. So I guess I tag everyone!!!!!

Birthday Boy

Today was Brandon's 7th birthday. I was going to write a long poetic post about how much I loved him and I was going to post some dang cute pictures of him as a baby and show even cuter pictures of him right now but I don't have my computer because it got a virus and it's getting fixed! This was not just a little virus either, this was a hefty bag size virus.

Norton let it in and then couldn't find it to get it out. Malwarebytes couldn't find it either. Granted, Malwarebytes found the malware that was hanging out having fun, but it couldn't find the virus that was making my life miserable. Whatever it was, by the third day I was so sick of it that I was ready to pick up the computer and throw it out the window. Yes, I was that desperate. Every time we got on the internet, whatever it was, was using our internet connection to send spam to people.

Now I know that everyone loves a little spam on a sandwich (I personally LOVE it with my eggs in the morning.) but nobody likes spam in their inbox. One nice thing about Norton, was that they blocked (I hope) most of the spam from going out. At first we couldn't figure out what was going on with the computer. Norton kept popping up odd messages about emails not being able to be sent. I wasn't sending any so I figured there was something wrong with Norton. Because really, how could it be blocking emails that I wasn't sending?

I finally figured it out when one message (out of about 300) from Norton appeared saying that our message to [insert random email address] with subject line [insert random subject, they ranged from freezers to Russian watches] could not be sent. Then it clicked, somebody is using my connection to send spam. Then I hurried and yanked the internet connection out of the wall (anyone know anything about drywall?). Then I threw the computer out the window. Don't worry, I covered it up with cardboard. It looks fine.

Back To School

Yesterday was the first day of school for Brandon. It makes me feel so old to have a second grader! Granted, he is one of the youngest in the grade (he turns 7 tomorrow), but it still makes me feel so old.

Here he is dressed in his new clothes. Yes, that's a skull on his shirt. I'm THAT kind of mom. I'm not sure what THAT kind of mom is, but it's probably the bad kind that lets their innocent kids wear scary skulls on their shirts. I just consider it pirate gear and every good pirate needs a shirt with a skull on it. Justification rocks!

Kendal and Brandon cheesing it up.

Every year since kindergarten I've taken Brandon to school and walked him to class. This year though, he wasn't having any of that. I took him to school and was getting ready to get out of the car and he said, "I know where my class is." I told him that I'd walk with him. He said that he was fine and he could walk by himself. "What?!", screamed my brain. "My six, almost seven, year old NEEDS me to walk him to class!" Apparently, he didn't and I'm now one of THOSE moms. The moms huddling in the corner, quivering, crying for their child that grew up all too fast. Who knew? I thought for sure that he'd still need me up until high school. By then I figured he might be able to find his way around. Dang! They grow up way too soon.

He's excited for school and I know he's going to do awesome! What a good start to a new school year!

I know...

Blah, blah, blah...I've been busy....blah, blah...been drinkin' too much Code Red Mountain Dew...blah, blah...I'm just lazy...blah, blah...I can't get my housework done...blah, blah....lazy.

Actually, I did get one thing accomplished. This is my new kitchen table.


As you can see, I have the before and after. I bought the table for $30 and spent way too much to refinish it. Although, the amount I spent to refinish it is still less than what I could've bought a new table for so I guess I did okay.

(Click to get the full effect.)

It started out that the base was green and the top was a light oak. I decided I wanted to do the base black and the top a dark stain. My sister had done a refinishing project so I copied what she had done which is this: You start off by sanding off all or most of (by the end I was pretty dang tired of sanding so I kind of slacked off which is why it's most of) the old paint.

After that, you use spray paint (if you don't want to get laughed at then you can use a brush and a can of paint) and do as many coats as your finger can handle (from pushing the trigger). I'm just kidding...for graffiti artists everywhere, spray paint companies have come up with a cool handle that fits on your can so your finger doesn't fall off after you've painted your mural on the side of that church. I'm not naming any names...Chelsi. I'm kidding. Maybe. Anyways, I did four coats just to make sure I covered it all up. Make sure you sand between each coat.

Then, take your sand paper and rough up a few spots to make it look like you threw it in the street and ran over it. That will give it the antique look.

Next, find a stain you think you can live with to cover it. I'd tell you what color I used but I'm too lazy to walk from the computer room to the garage and look. It was a dark stain. Use a rag and apply your stain, leaving it on as dark as you'd like it. Then wipe it off. After you've achieved the look you want, it's time to varnish, poly, coat, whatever you want to call it.

Now here's the very important part that you need to listen closely to. Do not under any circumstances feel the need to get a little wild and crazy and start throwing your poly can, opened, around the garage. It really does make a mess. And then you just have to buy a new can of poly. And they're kind of spendy.

Use a sponge brush or a varnish brush and apply 3-4 coats, sanding between each one. And there you have it. The 21 day way to refinish a table. If you talk to my sister though, she has a 3-6 month way to refinish a table. Hers probably turned out tons better than mine.

You'll notice that the top of the table is black. We had planned on staining it dark but scrapped that after a total mishap. The top of the table had a stain on it and when we sanded away the stain, it sanded away more of the table than we had hoped. So that when we went to stain it, that area was darker then the rest. We tried many times to achieve perfection but each time it was snatched away from our grasp. Hence, the black top. I like it better that way anyways.

The table in it's new home. I can't show you the chairs because they're top secret, very special chairs. Actually, there's no chairs because there's no chairs. The ones we have are from our previous set and don't match. And I'm NOT refinishing those. It's worth the money to buy new chairs.
(You won't believe it, but having that word by itself on a line is really bugging me. I spent five minutes trying to get it on the line above, but now I give up. I just won't read this post again.)

The vinyl above the table. People walk in and are a little shocked by it. So far, nobody has said they hated it. The reaction is more of, "It's different, but I like it."
It says "live the present". Which is my new motto.
(If anyone wants one of these, for FREE of course, let me know. I kept messing up on measurements so I have a few.)

I know it's been awhile...

It's been awhile... I know... And I'm truly, immensely sorry to all those who wait anxiously at your computer waiting to see what amazing things my family's doing (totally tongue in cheek, in case ya don't know me). So here's the scoop.

On the fourth, we headed up to Panguitch for a family reunion. And no, I won't be posting my finished craft on here (just a shout out to all you Barneys). We had a really good time, as always, and enjoyed spending time with everyone. After lunch we left and headed up to Delta to spend some time with some friends.

Kendal and Brandon in their 4th clothes.

That night, we headed out to Delta's "derby" (that's what they call it there). It is a major event! All the stores close down and everyone heads there for their entertainment. We've never been to one before and I wasn't sure what to expect, but we had a blast! I loved watching the cars get destroyed. The only thing that would've been better is if I'd been driving.

The start of the race before they got all smashed up.

Self-explanatory...

The best crash of the night!

Brandon having a little fun.

We had a great time in Delta and thank Scott and Breanne for letting us crash their party! Also, congratulations to them for their soon to arrive (in four months) baby girl! After three boys, they've finally achieved the impossible! We love you guys!

Swimming Lesson

Things I love most about swimming lessons:

At the beginning they're flailing and flapping around like they might drown any second and a week later they can propel themselves through the water with ease. Although, with ease may be pushing it.
The look on Kendal's face as she tries so hard NOT to put her face in the water.
Jumping in the pool fully clothed after Brandon went down the slide when no one was watching and proceeded to drown. That was fun. The really funny thing was how I actually got in. One of the teachers headed over to him as I was near the edge of the pool to jump in and as I tried to stop myself I teetered on the edge and just fell over into the pool.
I've been amazed with the progress they've made over the past two weeks. I can't wait to see what happens next year!