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A Long Awaited Book: We Love you MOM

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Just for FUN

So once we got all these projects finished that you have undoubtedly read about in the previous posts, Fall was over and the Holidays were fast approaching. I needed something to do that was clean, fast and didn't give off any dust in any form as a by-product of my labors. Can you guess what I came up with? If you know me you probably said SEWING and you would be right.

Yes I was still in denial about my work out buddy/therapist/BFF moving away and so I just had to keep super busy. Here are some pics of the fun things I churned out.

The little guy in the cowboy outfit is one of my favorite kids in the ward. HE is just so dang cute and such fun to be around. It was cool that I had everything in the house that I needed for the vest, down to every detail. That was cool

And that would be the end of my projects for 2010. Once Christmas was over I went into hibernation and didn't really get much of anything done except..reading and more reading and a trip to Utah see meet our newest Grandson and spend 2 weeks trying to get him to sleep at night and become his friend. I succeeded at the friend part, at least I think I did, we had daily chats where he confided in me he liked having me there. The sleep thing well that didn't really work out very well.

The Bedroom and Bath

After I got all the rocking chairs and dressers done I decided the time had come to re-new our bedroom. It had been years and the carpet was very worn, walls were really needing paint and we shall not dwell on the leak in the ceiling for years that caused damage there.
I think it was the original owners who put up this paneling but it was my quest to get rid of it. No small task not only did they nail it up every 12 inches they glued it as well. Uggg I thought I would never get all the glue off

Then it was time for a skim coat of plaster. sanding, priming and finally the lovely PAINT. I love what a coat of paint can do to totally change a room.

Next part of the project was changing our little closet into a walk in one. I have NEVER had a walk in closet and I had no idea how much we would LOVE it. We knocked out the little walls on each side of the bi-fold doors, framed in a new closet wall about 4 feet into the bedroom. And you know the rest, There is the drywall, tapping and muddying, sanding and finally the good stuff PAINT. I must say the people who built this closet thought no one would ever want to change it. They put everything together with HUGE nails. All the shelves in the closet needed to be taken out to allow us to add 2 rods. It took me about 4 hours just to get them out and it did leave behind more than one hole to patch. Uggg, so glad we use screws these days.

Our new closets! We love them and now we both have twice as much space as we once had. Our kids think Dan is a bit hoggish about it but really I have as much space as he does.
Dans Rod

My Rod

I found all these rods, cubicles and corner shelving spaces on Craigs list. They fit our closet perfectly and make it so nice to keep things organized. The shoe cubicles that go all the way to the floor, corner unit and then rod space for long things. Behind the door there is tie and belt racks and my jewelry rack.

This stool I had refinished back with the dressers and I love having it in my closet since I have to stand on it to reach any shelf and to hang up Dans clothes on laundry day. No more carting chairs from the kitchen.

We then had new carpet installed, painted the bath and put in a new vanity and sink. I guess I was tired of taking pictures buy then because I don't have any. That project took another week and was not as simple as I thought it would be. Oh the joys of being a homeowner!
Lastly I made a bedspread and curtains for the windows. I still have to hang up pictures and such to make it not seems so sterile. That will happen this week-end (I hope)

Where Did the Last Year Go?

What were YOU Thinking

I am usually my most productive self during the Summer and Fall. Winters seem to drag me down and I feel like a slug. So one Winter day earlier this year I started thinking "sheez what did I do this past 12 months." I couldn't remember anything except some sewing. It had been a rough year. My best friend had moved away and I was un motivated and a little, OK ALOT depressed. I decided I would try and pull my self out of my funk by organizing my pictures in Iphoto (they are a complete disaster) and started seeing all these pics, then I remembered all I had done so here is a quick re-cap. I hadn't been such a slug after all.

CURB Rescues
My neighbor was moving and had put out a bunch of stuff for the trash one afternoon. I saw these dressers and knew Rachel could really use one for Madison and I needed one for our down stairs bedroom to put Stacy's stuff in that she keeps at the house for when she comes home to visit. There is nothing special about these dressers except they were salvageable and FREE. I thought they turned our wonderful, wish I had thought to take before pics so you could see the difference.


DRESSERS
Many years ago when living in Aurora Colorado, we picked up a couple of dressers at a garage sale. They were in acceptable condition and priced right for our very tight budget. They were sturdy, well made with large drawers and drawer boxes. We desperately needed dressers for the 5 kids we had at that time. Time flew by and all the kids grew up and left home but now Dan and I needed dressers because I was planning on re-newing our bedroom.I shopped many stores and just couldn't find a dresser I liked and was willing to pay the outrageous price tag. Thus the thought of just refinishing these dressers. I tried hard to push that thought out of my mind cause I just didn't want to do the work. I couldn't shake the thought and now I am so glad I lovingly and sometimes cursedly refinsihed them. Years ago James and done the short one for a scouting project but there was still one left to do.


This is why you don't buy children new and nice furniture. I often asked myself when I would walk by these dressers "why didn't they just get a piece of paper and pencil to play their game." On every side of that dresser there were Tic-Tac-Toe games CARVED into the wood. Every drawer was labeled with a CARVED name denoting who's junk belonged in that drawer. Really did Stacy and Rachel have such a hard time remembering whos drawer was who's that they had to CARVE in their name?
Drawers all sanded and ready to be stained

The finished product.. I was so glad to have that finished. I ran into many challenges, wrong stain and having to start over, re-building the tracks for the drawers to slide on and rain falling on fresh varnish that ruined that coat and it had to be sanded off. I love them and now we have so much space in our room for our stuff.

CHAIR #1 & #2
FLASHBACK Rachel was expecting her first child Peyton in 2007. While I was out in Utah visiting my awesome Mother several months prior to Rachels due date my mom asked me to take this rocking chair to the dump. It was in pieces, upholstery was torn in many places and it really had

seen better days. This rocking chair was one my Dad had bought my Mom when my sister Annette was born. I couldn't bear to throw it away and asked my mom to keep it there until I
could fix it up for Rachel. The 2 boys in this pic are my 2 little brothers. They are so cute!! Same chair all fixed up for another 30 years

While Rachel was in the hospital after Peyton was born I spent 3 days making a old chair beautiful once again. My mother was thrilled to see new life and another baby rocked to sleep in this chair.

Once again Rachel was expecting another baby, yes a girl. They had just moved into their first house and she wanted a chair downstairs in the living areas of the house and also one in the babies room upstairs. I made her a deal that if she would give me back the one I fixed up for her a few years ago I would buy her 2 chairs (at garage sales or on Craigs List) She was happy to seal the deal and we immediately started shopping for chairs. Now you might ask why would I want a old chair verses a new chair. The answer is simple...this chiar fits me. Yes my feet hit the floor, my back hits the back of the chair at the same time, it rocks and swivels. What more can you ask in a chair.

We found this chair on Craigs List ( I LOVE Craigs List) The chair was in great shape but Rachel didn't like the color of the cushions so I made new ones for it. It turned out nicely . The 2nd chair we found for $10 at a garage sale and I also made new cushions for it. No pics on that one.

CHAIR #3
This is a rocking chair Dan bought me when we were expecting our first child Alan Grant. We were poor students and he found this unfinished rocker downtown on center street. He bought it and lovingly finished it. It saw us through all our 6 kids and countless hours of rocking day care kids as well. It was pretty beat up, the cushions I had made were trashed and i was ready to throw it out. then I thought maybe Alan Grant (who's wife Michele was expecting their first baby) might like it if I fixed it up. So began this project. I loved how it turned out and am so happy to see another generation rocked into this world.

To make this chair last another generation I stripped it down, re-doweled the joints and then reinforced with screws. I HATE wobbly arms on chairs. The rockers had flat places so I re-shaped them to a nice curve. Now came the fun part of staining, varnishing, designing a pattern for the cushions and making them.

I really like re-newing things and making something ukky look wonderful. Its a lot of work but I find great satisfaction in it. There are more things coming, check back to see what I did beside re-finish furniture.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY MOM!!

MOTHERS DAY: The day most mothers wish didn’t exist.

Who has a great mother.... probably most of us...however many of us think that only applies if your taking the continuum of generations backwards or forwards, . I think my mothers is AWESOME, I also think my sisters, daughters and daughters in law are awesome. I also had awesome grandmothers. However I would never attach that same praise to myself and most mothers I know would not think themselves great mothers.

So in honor of a great mother, who is also a great teacher. That would be my mother. Due to the fact that my father was killed when I was 8, I cannot for a fact say that all these lessons so aptly taught to me came from my mother, most likely they were.

Thanks for the great lessons Mom..you are wise, smart, thoughtful, ingenious and the list goes on and on.

Lessons of Life taught by Vivian Merikofer Terry Murdock

That I try and live by every day of my life.

*Buck up!

Stop whining, bend down, take a deep breath, own the problem and make things right. Also means make the best of what Gods has given you, you can learn from the hard things. Dig for that inner strength you need to get through hard things.

*Always take the high road.

In all of life roads we take, especially in our relationships, we CHOOSE if we take offense or not, if we gossip or not, if we keep our word or not. Always take the right (high) road.

*Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth!

In other words be grateful when you are presented with a gift and don’t stop to access it for further value. Be gracious.

*You made your bed now lie in it.

You get what you earn. If you make poor choices, you get the consequences. Take them and live with them and stop whining about it. If you don’t like it change it.

*An honest days work for an honest days pay.

No job is beneath you as long as you do it the best you can. Never steal or cheat your way through any job, it will always catch you.

*Get your education!!!

IF you don't think you need it, every teenager should have a ditch digging job, then she will learn. In Alpine vernacular that means menial hard, back breaking labor for little money.

*”That’s a bit like the pot calling the kettle black.”

Don’t criticize others for things you are guilty of yourself.

*A mans word is all you need.

No contracts needed..just your word. However you will lose peoples trust quickly should you fail to keep your word, and trust is one of the hardest things to earn back.

*You don’t DESERVE anything but the air you breathe and a family who loves

you......everything else you must earn!

Quit being lazy, looking for a short cut or someone or something (Government) to hand things to you. It’s your job to go out there and make for yourself, things that are important to you. Do it with honor!

The most valuable lesson my mother taught me came at the age of 12. It was “Tradition” For most of my friends certain ages were ones to look forward to. 5yrs Yea kindergarten starts or 8yrs I get baptized, best yet 16yrs I get to date, to bad the boys didn't catch onto that one. For our family the magic birthday was 12. Now if you were a boy and LDS that age makes sense and even if you were a girl, it meant leaving Primary and going to Mutual, yes it was called Mutual many years ago. In our family it meant you were an adult and now fully capable of being financially independent of mom and dad. Yes you could continue living at home and eating with the family, mom wasn’t that harsh. It did mean you had to earn any and all money you expected to spend. That meant all expenses related to you. Camp fees, school fees, school supplies, all clothing, (yes even underware), gas, tires, gifts etc.. Mom would continue to buy your glasses if you were so unlucky to need them. When birthdays and Christmas after the age of 12, rolled around our gifts were not frivolous, they were things we needed. Yes we occasionally got things like a transistor radio, alarm clock, and even a LP.

I wasn’t all that thrilled at the age of 12 with this ‘gift” of adult hood. I knew what it meant. I had seen it with my older sisters and brothers. But what this gift of financial independence taught me was to discern between Need and Want. To prioritize my needs and to realize it’s no shame to buy secondhand, to go without the name brands and more clothes than I truly needed. I also learned to work hard, and earning 10 cents an hour babysitting 6 children under the age of 8 for the neighbors was hard work. These were not easy children. Picking berries, apples or other farm type chores were equally hard and at times distasteful and arduous. I learned to take care of what we had and to be grateful for it. Delayed gratification was the norm by the time I left home. Sure there were times I spent un-wisely but overall I learned to be quite self sufficient and stubborn too. Would I change this gift if I could, NEVER, too many awesome things became ingrained into my inner self. Those lessons made me who I am, and really I quite like myself most days. I still think I have a long, long way to become as great a mother as my MOM, but I'm working on it.

THANKS MOM for teaching me so well. I won’t consider me to be half the mother you are, but the good part of me I owe to you!

Let the Good Times Roll, part 1

So after a long work filled summer with not really alot of fun time, I was overdue for a little fun. The middle of September found me in Cincinnati Ohio with Doug, Heather and Andrew. They had asked me to come out and help for a couple of weeks while Heather remained on bed rest for this pregnancy. Doug was also to have surgery while I was there also. He did remarkable well and hardly missed a beat. I was delighted to be able to help, spend time with all of them as that rarely happens, especially not just me and them.

Andrew loved going to the park nearly everyday. It was our morning thing to do and I loved it to.

Like most every little boy he loved to watch the big machines building a road at the back of the park. One day it was a bit muddy and they weren't working on it, a perfect time to climb on this one and check it out.

We rode bikes and tried a bit of soccer and baseball. He loves being outside and the 2 weeks I was there the weather was SOOOO nice. While inside we played alot of cars, blocks, lego's and super hero's. SOUND FAMILIAR. Why do I enjoy boy play more than girl play?
We also got lots of cooking time making sweets. His favorite and ours as well Applesauce Brownies YUMMY.
So least you think I spent all my time with Andrew not so, well a little bit not so. I enjoyed working with Doug painting the nursery, I did not take pics because I want Heather to do that. She and Doug have come up with a beautiful and unique design for this room and they should show it off when completed. I enjoyed daytime hours with Heather visiting, cooking and just resting during nap time.

All to soon my time was at the end. I was sad to leave such a great family. Andrew is the sweetest little guy ever. So polite and caring and imaginative. As a mom it was so gratifying to see Doug and Heather be strong, support one another and be such caring parents to Andrew.

I LOVE YOU!!!

Time for FUN

The BACKYARD Whew it is nearly finished..I think the rest of the landscaping projects back here will wait for next summer, but they are small in comparison to this summer

First we refurbished this brick wall, then power washed all fences and gates and re-sealed them.

Next came forming and pouring concrete edging along the north and west fence line. Then Dan had this great idea to built this little curved planter boxes with the leftover blocks we had to plant the new bushes in. He accused me of spraying the other bushes with weed killer but I deny that. They were simply OLD like 50 years old and tired and just went away. So 2 weeks ago we planted the new (Hibiscus bushes) in the nice boxes. They will grow big and tall and wide and block the neighbors ugly back yard. We like them alot.

Then more edging around the back screened in porch
f-

o

The sand box was re-built, moved and pavers placed around it. A cover now keeps the cats out.

Last was the small terracing in the corner that would become the play area.

We finished off by putting mulch everywhere.
In the corner we put rubber mulch to see how we like it.
While there is more to do we are really liking the transformation of this massive big yard is making. One more big surprise to come in a couple of weeks