Swing Set

We got an old "free, you haul away" swing set. It needed some swings (still does), paint, and new bolts but the kids think it's great.



Anya has no rational fear of heights (she get's that from Uncle Justin). She loves being able to swing herself as high as she can go. At the park she is constantly asking for Under Dogs. The other mothers look like they can't believe I would sing a child in a "baby swing" that high .
Here you can see that the top of the wing set was faded red and rusty. We spray painted it with a spray paint made for use on rusty(but sound) metal. Of course I chose green because I am obsessed with that color in all it's many shades. Aaron is a good sport and has agreed to let me paint all of the walls inside the house various shades of green if I want too. He says it would be monochromatic-- it's a good thing I made him take that interior design class in college and didn't do all his homework for him.

So back to the swing set. We really had to work to get enough rusty bolts out so that it would fit in the back of a friends pickup. After we had the rusty bolts out there was no way Aaron was going to reuse them. We got some new bolt and Aaron did a great job getting it all back together and sturdy. He is now working on getting the slide in safe usable condition. It is in our garage right now and getting close to being ready. He is using a stray board I found at the park and brought home last week to make the ladder rungs (it is currently rusty metal). Now if any of you are marveling at our cheapness just remember it's called recycling too. Aaron is loving the excuse to use is own tools on his own work bench. But now he has also started talking about how much faster it would be if he had this power tool or that one. I remember the day he thought a leathermen was all the tool he needed.
Talmage insisted on taking a picture of the swing set so that we could "put it on our blog". This is his. He did a good job getting it clear.

Funny Faces

Aaron and the kids had a little too much fun with the camera while sitting on the carriage swing on our "new" swing set on friday night.

It's getting hot

It got pretty warm and down right hot on Thursday-- only 84 and I started to sweat and remember how hot summer can get down here. Talmage and Anya finally got to pull out the sprinkler and get wet. They also got to wear their new swim shirts that are 50spf to protect there white skin from the sun. We've looked for one for Aaron but haven't found one.



You can see that our grass is still dead from winter but it's starting to get little green shoots-- spring is on it's way! The wildflowers and blooms are amazing down here. We're planning to go out into the country and really see the bluebonnets this year.

Another Tag

I was tagged again here are the questions and my answers.

10 yrs ago: I was a Junior in High School-- Hmmmm that's about it, nothing exciting happens for another year.

5 Things on my list of things to do today: Cook dinner, spray paint an old metal swing set, water our poor dry flowers and trees, help Aaron hang a shelf in the kids closet so that they can learn to hang their own clothes up, finish this post (thanks Steph for adding another thing to my list!).

Things I would do if I suddenly was a Billionaire: Pay a lot of tithing. Invest. Save. Travel.

3 of my bad habits: Talking more than listening. Bragging about my kids. Eating ice cream nearly every night after the kids go to bed.

Places I have lived: In Washington-- Coleville, Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Monroe, Snohomish, Puyallup. San Antonio, Texas and Rexburg, Idaho. I may have forgotten a few in Washington--I may have lived in Lynnwood, Renton, and Woodinville too-- can't remember so well, it was a long time ago. I have averaged about a move a year-- about 27 moves in my life time. The most moves in a single school year is 4 homes and 3 schools-- impressive I know!


Things most people don't know about me: I strongly dislike making phone calls. I don't mind talking to people on the phone-- it's just the calling I don't like. This especially includes doctors offices, utility companies, stores, libraries, anyone I visit teach, and even friends.

I'll tag Kara and Christin-- Jackie your off the hook because I know you've already had this one.

Sand Table

For family night this week we built a sand table. I have been trying to get the kids to go outside in the backyard and play but we don't have a very fun yard yet. Aside from kicking a soccer ball around for a few minutes or turning the hose on and trying to make mud the kids aren't too interested in the back yard. So I've been in search of low cost things we can put in the yard to make it more fun. This is one solution I came up with. We built this sand table out of a big black tub from Home Depot (it is for mixing something like dry wall putty). It was $5 and then two bags of sand for $2 each. We then put it up on some crates that I've been packing around since I left home (we've used them as book shelves, an entertainment center, storage, and a base for a toddler bed). So for under $10 I have some sanity and the kids have something fun in the backyard.

The weather has been moody-- which is fine. We didn't get a very big storm on Saturday like they had predicted. No hail, no tornadoes, not even distant thunder. It has been off and on sunny and cloudy the last few days which makes it warm and humid. Having the sand table under the patio makes it a perfect place to play out of the sun and rain. Now if only sand weren't so sandy I'd have the perfect set up!

Weather

It rained some off and on today. The kids wanted to play with the umbrellas. They had fun walking around and singing in the sprinkling rain but when the big drops started to fall Anya ran for cover in the garage. It was warm (upper 70's) so it was fun for the kids to be out side.



While checking the weather for tomorrow I read the following (cut and pasted from Yahoo weather).
Tomorrow: Windy with strong thunderstorms likely. Storms could contain tornadoes. High near 70F.

Storms could contain tornadoes? Who writes that? It's funnier than possible "sun breaks". Well I guess it will serve me right for laughing if a tornado snatches my roof off tomorrow. I'll keep y'all posted.

Two years ago

This is Talmage and Anya now and the following is Talmage and Anya almost exactly two years before. Boy have they grown!

My Hubby and Me

While reading Jackie's blog I thought about stopping in the middle of her "Tag" post for fear I would be taged. But I didn't so here it goes. And I'll tag Lexy, Annette, and Jessica-- this way you can't stop reading in the middle -- you've already been tagged!

1. What's his name? Aaron

2. How long have you been married? almost 6 years

3. How long did you date? I don't know if we really dated. We knew each other for 6 years before getting married but he was only home from his mission for two and a half months.

4. How old is he? 26

5. Who eats more?In general, him.

6. Who said "I love you" first? He did, it took me a couple more years.

7. Who is taller? Me, but only by a little if he stands up straight.

8. Who sings better? He's usually got the tune and I've got the words-- but he's probably better over all

9. Who is smarter? We've both got our strengths. Over all we're a good match.

10. Whose temper is worse? We're both so even tempered most of the time. But factoring PMS I think I'm a little more irritable.

11. Who does the laundry? Usually me but that's just because I'm home more. He's very capable of doing it and helps out when he can.

12. Who does the dishes? Again, I probably do a little more but he's definately doing his part.

13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Right now me but we switch sometimes. It depends on if my shoulders acting up....

14. Who pays the bills? We both do. We communicate very well on money issues-- we are both tight-wads.

15. Who mows the lawn? Him all the way. Even if my arthritis gets all the way better I think he likes be be in control of the lawn mower.

16. Who cooks dinner? I do weekdays but he often helps on the weekend especially if we're having Japanese food.

17. Who drives when you are together? He does-- this is his major control area. And I'm fine he's a better driver.

18. Who is more stubborn? Depends on the subject but we don't clash very often.

19. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? We both try to admit it -- but I can't help it if he tends to be wrong more often (kidding)

20. Whose parents do you see the most? We saw his last but we don't see either very often.

21. Who proposed? Him, his one true surprise (he's still gloating about that one)

22. Who has more friends? Not sure, we're both friendly but we're definately each others best friends.

23. Who has more siblings? Same amount (3 sisters 1 brother each) But if we count step siblings I've got him 6 to 0.

24. Who wears the pants in the family? He's hard to get into a dress, just doesn't have the right body shape a think. I I guess he gets to wear the pants and I'll wear the dresses. But as far as calling the shots-- he usually lets me do that.

Now, remember I tag Lexy, Annette, and Jessica.

Feeling Great

I have been feeling so good lately that we have been out mountain biking a couple of times as a family. We ride out on the roads in our subdivision to where land is cleared but not quite ready to build homes on. The roads have very little traffic on them so it's a good place for Talmage to ride. Once we get out pretty far we park Talmage's bike and he climbs in the bike trailer with Anya, that Aaron pulls with his bike. With Aaron pulling the extra 60+ pounds we are evenly matched for the bumpy ride over the dirt, gravel, and clay. It has been fun to be included again in family physical activity.

The following pictures a just the kids making goofy faces while wearing hats. I just include them to please the Aunts and Grandmas who only check this blog to see pictures of the kids. Which is fine because after all that is the purpose of this blog. I hope you enjoy.