Decorating Part II

My mom say's I'm not happy without a project. Maybe she's right... although I do dream about the days when I DON'T have a project waiting for me. This week, my project was the kitchen. When I moved in, I put all the knick knacks that I didn't have a spot for on top of my kitchen cabinets with plans to fix the kitchen later. So... this week I started by taking down my pristine white curtains (the one's that matched my cute white table PERFECTLY... that would be the table we sold to make room for a pool table!). So.. back to the story. I took my white curtains and put them in a big pot with lipton tea. I made them a nice tea-dyed color and hung them back on the windows. Then, I found an old tablecloth in a pattern I LOVE... but I don't have a table that size anymore- so I made them into a curtain for my kitchen window that didn't have anything on it yet. Plus... I made a curtain/shelf holder thingy for above the window- yes... I made it all by myself! Then, I painted the walls a darker gold/yellow color which I am really happy with- LOVE that color so much! I put the chocolate brown vinyl stars around... plus the Jane Austen quote and a piece of bead board on the island in my kitchen. (right now.. I just velco'ed it on becuase I don't want nail holes in my cabinets... we'll see if it stays). Here's the end result...

And... I finally got a picture of Zach's new haircut. He was so funny the other day when I was trying to take his picture.. he wouldn't hold still. I think he knows by now that it will end up on the blog for the world to see! But I got a picture of my mom and her husband Tom and the kids tonight when they got here... so you can see Zach's shorter haircut... I really like it.

And... the last note tonight is my little pool shark Allie... isn't she cute!

Decorating

I fixed up Allison and Kenzie's room a while back and I never posted pictures. I made it into a guest room, so all the company we've been having would have a nice, comfortable place to sleep. Remember the story about how Allison and Kenzie were now sharing a queen bed and Kenzie wanted to keep her side all to herself and Allison wanted to at least touch Kenzie with her toes?? It still makes me smile to think about it. So, last week I told them if they could go a whole week without arguing at night about who's on who's side of the bed, I would get them a treat. It's funny how treats can solve ANY PROBLEM! All it takes is a .33 cent candy necklace people! So I'd better go get that treat because they've been doing great ever since. I'm not sure if Allison won out getting her feet planted on Kenzie... or if Allison is staying on her own side with her cold tootsies!
So... this is the guest room... feel free to come and visit.











I also redid Rachel's room for her birthday a few weeks back. I had done Emily's for her birthday... then I did Kenzie and Allies room. So of course Rachel was expecting big changes. I wasn't really feeling the "decorating spirit" at that point, so it was hard for me to get the motivation to do something. But I walked around Lowe's for about an hour the morning of Rachel's birthday trying to think of something to do... what color to paint the walls etc. I finally decided on blue for the walls (because her new bedspread is a really cute blue striped cover and her curtains are blue denim). Then, I put a darker grey color around the top with a quote that TOTALLY fit's Rachel and some of the Hawaiian accents that she loves being a Hawaii born baby! I still haven't totally finished. I bought thin wood to make a surfboard to go on the wall and I haven't done that yet. I also want to paint her furniture a matching color. I took two cork boards and used adhesive spray glue to attach coordinating fabric to the front for some wall accents. So- this is what it looks like so far.

4th of July

I had to do something in my yard for July. Here's the latest project.

Also... here's a picture of Zach's new haircut LOL

Closet Organization

So here's a picture of my closet BEFORE I tackled it. Since I moved in, I'v been throwing everything in this closet under my stairs and it was eventually for my craft supplies. So- I finally got to it the other day, found a bookshelf and some containers from the dollar store. This is the end result...




Isn't that MUCH better? It seriously takes me ALL DAY to do these projects- but I really do love organized things.

Here's a photo of some friends from my ward. We were at a primary activity today. Stop posing Jenne!

Sad and Lonely

Look at my lonely new Ping hybrid club. It's so sad and lonely waiting for the BRAND NEW G10 PING IRONS that I ordered last week! I'm really so SUPER excited to get them. My Dad, Mom and 2 brothers got together and bought me a new set of clubs for my 40th birthday this summer. I've been using the same clubs since I was 15 and I'm playing much more often here- so they suprised me and told me to go pick some out. I've wanted Ping clubs forever! So- I went and had my swing analyzed to see which ones to get and I ordered the G10 Pings in white dot (OK... so who really cares right??) They were suppose to come in today and I called the golf shop twice (I was a little embarrassed the second time- I was going to hang up if it was the same woman who answered). They didn't come.

Last week when I ordered them, I tried one of the new hybrid clubs. I haven't looked at clubs for so long that I didn't even know about them. They are AWESOME! One hit with the 18 degree loft and it went 200 yards down the fairway. I went in and put it on the counter... ring it up!

Then, my step-mom Colleen got home and started looking at golf bags and found a really cute ping bag to match my clubs. I DID get that today... yippee! But now my hybrid looks sad and lonely waiting for the clubs. But I'm dying to get out and play with my new clubs and bag.

THANK YOU FAMILY!!!

An Enormous Change

I really can't believe I'm saying this... but I actually gave up soda 5 days ago. Any of my family and friends that know me will be in SHOCK! I think I've had a soda every day of my life except when I was drinking from a bottle. Some of my great childhood memories are going to 7-11 and getting big gulps with my mom. I even use to send my brother Danny to the local grocery store and have him bring me big soda's with ice in a cup when I lived near him and he was in high school. Clint would take our car to work, so I'd call Danny when he'd get home from school and tell him to bring me a drink. If I drank alcohol, I'd be an alcoholic for sure! So- I went to a friends for lunch the other day and she was teaching a class on nutrition. I wasn't planning on giving up my stress reliever, my best friend in a can... but I came away from the lunch knowing that I had to try and eat healthier and pass it along to my family. So this week I've been trying to make healthier choices- which has been pretty hard since I'm also trying to give up on anything with artificial sweeteners, so really all diet stuff is out. I'm not a water lover, but I'm chugging it down anyway. I even tried herbal pomegranate tea... uggg. I even sprinkled ground flaxseed on Allison's cereal this morning. I thought for sure she wouldn't even notice because it's so small and pretty much invisible. She did. Finally, after telling her it was her imagination a dozen times, I said, "OK- it's healthy for you and you won't even taste it" and so she went and ate it down. LOL Of course, when I made biscuits with wheat flour and substituted apple sauce for the oil, my kids refused to even try them. You REALLY can't even taste the applesauce at all! It's a great sub for any recipe with oil. So- that's my challenge right now.

So- I'm 5 days down now... and I'm doing okay.

Here's an update from my dad...

Dear Readers: As Kate’s father, I plead guilty to having hooked her on soft drinks from an early age. She has no responsibility for her addiction, nor her propensity for seeking out the larger 64 ounce cups rather than the 6 ounce “social” serving. However, I have passed this gene down from my Norwegian grandmother who always placed a Pepsi bottle (long before the cans arrived) at my bedside before I was five. It is a family addiction and I am proud of my daughter for finally reaching the stage where she can attend Rehab and say, “Hi, I’m Kate and I have a problem.”

I will make it my goal to return to her residence at the earliest opportunity and take her out to play golf, where she will once again succumb to my charms and take “just a wee sip” of my Pepsi. Diet Pepsi, hopefully.

Love, Dad.

Great website for blogs

I found a great website that has free templates for blogs. I finally got a 3 column and it was easy! I love changing up the design and colors of my blog... but be warned. If you change, you might lose some of your sidebar items... but your posts will be okay.

http://lenatoewsdesigns.blogspot.com/

Coolest Mom Ever

The award goes to...... ME!

I'm usually a little more modest than this, but I have to say- I must be a cool mom because I let Rachel get a bearded dragon! I even bought live crickets and fed them to the dragon. Wow- I really can't believe it myself after reading it back.

Here's Rachel with her newest obsession...