A good laugh

I read the below today on http://www.nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/ better known as the NieNie Dialogues. I like to read this blog when a need a shot of gratitude or to put my life and problems in perspective. But today it just made me laugh....


"I was downstairs and overheard Mr. Nielson upstairs attending to two screaming girls in the shower. Then he said:"Oh girls, guess what? The devil called and said you guys were doing awesome."I laughed and was glad the day was over."

Fall is in the air...

We did make it to the mandatory Pumpkin Patch trip this year. The kids had a day off of school a few weeks ago and we decided to take the trip out to Dayton to this great little farm. The best part.....it was a week day, and we had the place almost all the ourselves!

Jack, Jake, Grace and Avery with their choices, baby Grace, the fifth wheel, is standing off to the side....unwilling to get in the picture.



The tractor ride to the pumpkins. Can you just stand baby Grace's hair??? Too cute.

The farm had this great rope swing. Got some great action shots of the kids jumping off.... although I'm not sure how sanitary those 'cushions' are. You wouldn't have caught me laying on that stuff.

This photo reminds me of my brother Rug. He was such a dare-devil as a child. Well to be fair, he still is. Just fearless.

Jack. These kids were probably six feet in the air.

Little pom-pom girl pointing.

Lots of goats to feed....

And the giant slide.

Laying in an acorn 'sand' box.

Could not have been more beautiful this day! From the picture, you can just smell the Fall in the air.

13.1

The Girlfriends Half Marathon. That's right 13.1 miles. Number 507. Finished today in 2 hours and 20 minutes (roughly, haven't gotten the actual time yet).

This is the last picture after the race. Brian got me a trophy. He has really been incredibly supportive through my training.



The starting line. Along the course there are motivation signs encouraging you.

My friend Emily and I before the race. This is our second year doing the race together, and hopefully not our last. There were women in their 60's running this. I wonder if that will be me? I should say, I hope that will be me.

My Mom and Dad came early to see me off the Start Line. Their support always gives me a boost.

My Mom and I having the annual tearful moment before the race. I seem to start this race off with tears in my eyes.

Bri helped all the kids make signs to cheer me on.

Avery's chalk sign.

Priceless. She was picking her nose and scowling when I jogged by. Made me laugh.

After the race. Super tired, sore quads, and burning feet (which turned out to be dime size blisters, guess the shoes were not completely worn in)

I still feel like a champion! A sore one....

Before and (almost) After

What is the phrase? "Measure twice, cut once"

Well I think that now applies to ordering wallpaper. I 'finished' the bead board wallpaper today and need about 10 more square feet of wallpaper!?!?!? How frustrating! I totally thought I would have enough. The sucky thing is that Home Depot took more than a week to deliver the first order of wallpaper... So that means that the project is on hold for another week. I don't want to start painting, if I still need to wallpaper a little more.

So I decided to organize and decorate a little while I wait for more beadboard.

One of the before:



Everything has been piled in the middle of the room for weeks.


A vintage Grace pose (well almost vintage, she is usually scowling). She wanted her picture taken while I was working in the room yesterday.

After:

The view from the doorway.

Did I mention that I love this chair.

A little decorating to tide me over.

This is a shadow box I made about our first date (a blind one). He took me to the lighthouse that his Coast Guard Station maintained. We signed in the log. It was back in 1995. So weird. He later went back and 'stole' the page. I'm glad he did.

You can see out names on the second line. Aug 11, 1995 Holly and Brian Aberdeen, WA

I still need to do a little more.... like make some shelves for the wall, find a recliner for Bri and organize oh so many papers. But at least I can see the progress....

And it makes me smile!

PS. I would totally use this wallpaper again. Although time consuming, it's not hard and looks great!

I'm Sold...

Ta Da ..... Bead Board Wallpaper! I think I'm in love.

We'll see if it's still standing in the morning. But it really does look good.

Choices for curtains.... The stripe would actually go the opposite direction.

Option One and Option Two. Place your vote.

I'm leaning toward the stripe, a little more masculine.

Undefeated

Another Soccer Saturday. Records: Pink Lightning 4-0, Titans 5-0. The kids have been having a great season, with both of them really improving in their skills and Avery especially improving in her aggression for the ball.

Brian's parents were able to come out and see both of the kids games. They have an amazing camera and snapped some great pics of the kids. Hence the post.

Avery scoring her first goal of the game!


Another great kick. I think this one was a goal as well. She's catching a little air. It's so cute to see her be aggressive out there. She is easily one of the smallest kids on the field.



Who is that beautiful blond coaching the team on to victory? :) Hey at least I like this hair color. I was helping out, as one of their coaches was out of town.



Grace on standby. Sometimes I feel as if she just gets schlepped around every Sat morning...

Jake playing defense, scoping the field.

I love the smile on his face in this picture. He's such a speedy kid.

In the Morning

There are benefits to running before the morning starts for most people. It's one of the most peaceful times of day. Well almost peaceful, if it weren't for Kayne blaring in my ears.....

It was beautiful today. You can feel Fall in the air.

These are things I saw:

Then on to Soccer games (Avery and Jake's teams both undefeated, both scored goals today/you'd think I had some pictures). Finished painting my office. The color is Devine Almond. It's beautiful. Waiting for the wallpaper, and then curtains.

PS-I feel like I'm coming down with something....that's what you get for taking your kids to the Dr. for a well visit/checkup. Too many sick people there....

Oh Happy Day

My new Running Shoes came via the wonderful UPS man today!!! Sadly, I don't know if I will be able to break them in before the race..... but I'm still soooo happy.

I love these shoes. They make me feel like I'm running on a little piece of Heaven! Probably because they come in wide width (thanks for that Mom).



I tried to get a profile shot, so one could see the difference in the old and the new.



The old tread:

I could seriously see the miles I had put on these things.

I tallied up the approximate mileage: 400 Miles

Not Bad!

Just a teaser

Primered over red paint: check

Tested colors of blue on the wall: check

Ordered bead board wallpaper for bottom of chair rail: check (seriously who does that?!?!?!? wish me luck)




OK, so the blue that I saw at Crate and Barrel that I thought would be just perfect for this room, turned out to be just a tad too turquoise for me! So what to do with a pint of sample paint left over???? You guessed it. Paint a wall in my miniature Laundry room! It's perfect in there.

I then painted "OUT" and "IN" above the doors.



Didn't stop there...... Got some plain 10 inch wood letters at JoAnn's and painted them white.

Tell me, who wouldn't be a little happier doing laundry in here? I think I may hang three hooks up below this.



OK - Here is the best part!!!!!!! See the ugly pink computer chair in the middle of the room? The one that came free with the desk?

Look at it now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you believe it??? A few dollars of fabric and looks like I have a Ballard Design custom chair! Cannot even tell you how much I love this chair. I was a crazy lady. Took it apart like I was a man! And put it back together again of course.

More to follow!