This year, for Halloween, we went to Cherry's house! It was so much fun to trick-or-treat with cousins!
We even made sure to swing by and visit some old friends from our Keller days!
I took Aaron to a haunted house... it was pretty scary! Chain saw guy got me to trip over myself! Aaron thought it was a hoot!
What a great Halloween!
Charity recently got the Barbie and the 3 Musketeers movie. Ever since, her, Aaron and Nate have been "training" really hard. She already has a balance beam taped off in her room, so they practice leaping on it and sparring with their Nerf swords. They practice the different sword moves they see in the movie. They throw the swords at home-made targets on the wall... It is quite cute!
Well, Aaron decided he wanted to be a Ninja and NOT a Musketeer.
The next day, I found these taped from the toyroom, to the hall, and leading to Charity's door:
I love her spelling... I love how she is trying to exclude Aaron.
I love how she has directions poYnting to where her bedroom door is located.
It was complete with a sign-in sheet.
Joe and I signed in. She gave us a tour of all the stations she had set up. OH MY GOSH my kids are sooooo adorable!
Here's and update on the progress of my painting project.
Oh MY GOSH my house is too big. I hate it. I needed help! So, I went and found some workers painting a house still getting built in my neighborhood. I asked them to come look and tell me what it would cost for them to come do the things I couldn't reach (like the 2 story walls, and the moulding that is 25 feet high etc.)
They came and started. The 2 guys came for a few hours, painted a little bit, then left. They got one room (walls and trim) done the first day, then it took 2 days for them to paint the walls and trim of my 2 story entry way (they actually used 3 scaffolding levels, so i guess it was pretty intense)... but they dripped paint all over my wood floors. They used lacquer remover to get it off. My beautiful wood floors were all spotted. I was LIVID! They came back again and again and worked maybe 3 hours a day and went SOOOO unbelievably slowly. One guy painted doors (got about 5 done) and the other guy did the walls. After 5 days of them being lazy and pathetic, and ruining my wood floors, I fired them. The high stuff was done, and I couldn't stomach paying those guys any more money. I paid them half of what we agreed (although they might not have even finished half of what we agreed to having them accomplish). Then, I started doing the project by myself. I painted all day every day. 4300 sq feet of walls. and trim, a MILLION doors and 2 staircases... I found a guy at the gym who was willing to help for 10 bucks an hour. He helped me do the walls and trim of 3 rooms - made things go SO much more quickly!
I FINALLY finished. It was the biggest pain. I never wanted to pick up a paint brush again. I didn't even do my laundry room or media room (although I did paint the doors to those rooms).
After about a month of solid work, my trim was FINALLY an ivory color (matching my ceilings) and my walls were a sand color... 26 gallons of paint...
The next week, I woke up, and suddenly couldn't stand my bathroom cabinets anymore. They were that same ugly khaki color, and it just didn't look right.
So, feeling like I knew the paint staff at Home Depot to be competent, (heck, I had been in there almost every day for a month buying more paint!) I took off a cabinet door and brought it to them. I asked all the right questions, like, what kind of paint is on this? What kind of paint do I need to use to paint over it?
New guy: "oh that's interesting, your cabinets are already painted with a latex - you can just paint over that with any latex paint color you choose".
Day 1: paint guest bath upstairs with the chocolate brown latex paint. Feel so good about myself. That was QUICK! Those cabinets look AMAZING! What an improvement! Begin painting the boys' side of the jack-and-jill bathroom.
Day 2: paint starts falling off cabinets. RRRRGGHHH. Maybe I should have primed them? Sand cabinets. prime cabinets. decide to prime Charity's side of the jack-and-jill and also prime guest bath downstairs... feel pretty confident - finish painting all those cabinets the chocolate brown latex. Looks pretty good... feeling good too.
Day 3: let paint dry
Day 4: paint peels off the primer. WHAT???? It wont even stick to the primer????? ARRRGGHHHHH!! Tears. Go to Home Depot. Complain and demand to talk to someone competent. They were baffled that the paint didn't stick to the primer. They replaced my paint with an oil based paint. They replaced brushes and gave me more sandpaper. Start sanding
Day 5: still sanding/scraping off paint from cabinets. Tears. Frustration. Joe tells me it is a disaster. He is right.
Day 6: Go out of town.
Day 9: Come home. Finish sanding/scraping. prime cabinets. (a MILLION doors, drawers and facings!!!) Oil based coat 1.
Day 10: Oil based coat 2... for some reason, 3 cabinet faces have paint that bubbles. OH MY GOSH. I AM GOING TO KILL MYSELF! I HATE THIS STUPID PROJECT! Walk away. let paint dry.
Day 11: Decide perfection is not an option. Leave bubbles. re-hang cabinets and put in drawers. Start and finish master bath room cabinets.
Day 12: Sand down bubbles. prime/paint and it is ok.
Day 13: I vow to not pick up another painting project for a LONG time.
Yes, it looks SOOOO much better now. Unfortunately, it was also disaster. I think if I ever want to change cabinet color again, I will pay someone to do it.
Well, Joe and I needed some R&R, so we joined our old friends (the Votaws) and took a trip to UTAH! They live in Arizona, and we met up in Kelly's family condo in Sandy. We've had lots of fun memories with them! We hung out a lot while dating/engaged... Then, they got married a week after we did. Dave was Joe's roommate in college. We LOVE those guys! We had so much fun just hanging out together so many years later. We walked around our old BYU stompin' grounds... even went to the spot Joe and I fell in love (the Eyring Science Center). This was where our single's ward met. This was where we met for the first time, and he invited himself over for Sunday dinner (pop tarts). This was where it all began in the early months of 1999.
The campus has changed quite a bit! It was fun to walk around the Talmage (where both Joe and I spent the majority of our time in CS classes and math and statistics). We even walked around to the testing center (which hasn't changed so much). We could smell it - the fear - the stink hasn't changed!
The highlight of the trip was the BYU vs TCU game. ESPN College GameDay was hosting there, so it was pretty hyped up. Joe, being the awesome Dr. Pepper employee worked his contacts with the marketing department and got us (the Votaws and Dan Liddle - the biggest BYU fan ever) back stage passes to be able to see the Dr. Pepper hosted BCS National Championship trophy. It was pretty neat. We got to watch behind the scenes of the broadcast. We got to go into the bus and see where the "talent" hangs out. We got to take pictures with the trophy and with Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, and Kirk Herbstriet.
Me, Joe, and the Dr. Pepper trophy...
Kelly, Dave, Chris Fowler, Me, Lee Corso, Joe, Dan Liddle & Kirk Herbstriet.
At least hanging out with the Votaws was FUN!!! Hope to see them a LOT more often!
Well, I was right. Charity is 100% from Joe's genes.
We were given a family history book from Joe's mother... While flipping through it, Joe suddenly stopped. He showed me this picture. We were both FLOORED. Joe's mom's grandma is Ada Holmes. Is my daughter just an exact duplicate of her great grandmothers' sister (Annie?).
Joe thinks Charity Looks like me.
I disagree.
She is 100% Joe.
She is 100% his genes.
No matter what, she is 100% adorable. I am so glad she is my daughter!
I LOVE football. I LOVE watching my KID play! Their team is actually pretty good! Aaron does a great job. I am very proud of him! Looks like we're going to go on to the playoffs!
After 5 years and 3 moves, our trampoline finally died. It's been a slow process... the last straw however, was when I tried to get on to help Charity with back handsprings. My weight was making the springs pop off and fly EVERYWHERE! I was worried a window would be taken out by high velocity flying springs. Charity was appalled and started yelling "MOM!!! YOU'RE TOO HEAVY! GET OFF!!!!" It made me feel so good about myself.
So, for safety, we gathered all the springs and took off the mat. When she saw the empty bar, Charity's eyes widened. She begged me to keep it up so she could practice gymnastics on her new bars! So, in true WT fashion, I'm leaving the broken trampoline just as it is in this picture. The kids have so much fun swinging on that thing! I swear - give my kids an empty box and a broken trampoline and they could not possibly be ANY happier!
Time for a haircut boys! I guess their hair is really long and scraggly.
I was nervous how Nate would do at the hair cutting place (last time he screamed the WHOLE time).
But I gave the kid a sucker, and he did GREAT!
Aaron, is always pretty chill there in the chair.
The boys look so handsome now!
They look like 2 totally different kids! Amazing what a haircut can do!
Jeff has lots of motorcycles. Joe (of course) loves to ride them - just like old times when he had his own. Anyways, Jeff got Joe to go to one of his Track Days for some instruction. He brought up an extra bike for Joe. These track days are actually pretty cool - they get ride around these professional tracks and learn from instructors how to find racing lines and turn like the professional motorcycle racers. Pretty great opportunity to "open it up" and safely ride the motorcycle as fast as it will go and turn like crazy people at about 10 degrees from the ground.
I think they had a pretty good time! Michelle and I just sat in the car and froze during their classes, and then I did a terrible job trying to film them riding without a tripod (lesson learned). It was a fun day (until it started raining in sheets). We gave up on the track day and went out to eat. Great times! Thanks Jeff & Michelle!
sexy man!!! lookin' good in that suit!
just chillin' between class sessions...
Our life pretty much revolves around football right now. Aaron has practice Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights. Then, his games are on Saturdays. It is a pretty big commitment. Texas football is a pretty serious thing - especially around here! His team is great though, and we are all having a lot of fun! It is like a little family. Aaron is learning his position better - all around improvements in his attitude and behavior and discipline. I have so much fun watching him! Joe and I are really hard on him, but I hope it is for the best! He is such a little stud!
As a tight end, he is a pretty good blocker. He always knows his assignments. I will sometimes catch myself yelling at him to pick up a block, but he will say that so-and-so running back was supposed to get that guy, and he was on the correct man... he was always right too... He gets it. I love it.
Patriots team 2009. Aaron (Tight End) #82
Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?????
It is fantasy draft time! Of course, we take it pretty seriously...
SO...
Here is our setup for this year.
Joe and his brothers on video conference.
college football game on Picture in Picture
Seperate computer stations so Joe and I can use our own seperate uber-competitive and top-secret drafting strategies.
I'm ready for a fun season! GO COWBOYS! FYI: I am a Cowboys fan first, I always have to have at least one Cowboy on all my teams - and every week (except bye weeks) I have at LEAST one of my Cowboys STARTING... but don't use that information against me if you ever join a league with me! ;)
Nate started Preschool!
He was so thrilled! I can't believe my baby is in preschool already! Ms. Angela is a lady in our ward who does preschool from her home. His buddies from nursery go with him. They are so adorable!
It is 2 days a week from 9 - noon. What am I going to do with myself while Nate is gone? I have NO kids at home! Well, for now, I will paint ;)
He is just so cute! He is growing up way too fast!
The kids are in school, so I have time for a project! Yes, the PTA keeps me busy, but not that busy!
I realized why I dont have pics of the 1st day of school - I was putting on the Tears and Cheers breakfast for the entering Kindergarten parents that morning. I also had to do the APPLES FOR THE TEACHERS... I felt a little overwhelmed. I did at least take the time to walk the kids to their classes, but I think I asked a friend to borrow her camera so I could take a picture... but I don't remember who I asked!
Anyways, now that the back to school rush is over, and my PTA obligations calmed down a bit...
I finally had time to tackle a BIG project...
I can't stand the Khaki trim that puts off a pink glow throughout my brown and orange floored house.
The house is large and intimidating. But, I am determined! I will paint the trim! I think after that, it will start to feel like MY home. Once the ugly pink khaki is gone, it will feel so much better in here! I started in Charity's bedroom and the Jack and Jill bathroom.
I think I know why painters wear pants.
This stuff is hard to get off.
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