Koi Pond

It started with a little rushing. On Tuesday I found out that my brother was out of work and needed to make rent, and I had a painting job I needed help with. I offered to pay him to help me paint my master bedroom and bathroom the next day. I had a half-hour until Aaron would be leaving work, and there is a Sherwin Williams store right by his office. I called him and asked him to pick up some Koi Pond paint, the color recommended to me by my good friend Kim, who is a fabulous designer.

I asked Aaron if he thought we would need two or three gallons of paint. He was in the middle of work (imagine that), and asked me to figure out the square footage and email him a list of what I needed. As I only had a little time, I did a rough calculation of a 10'x14' bedroom, plus a 5'x10' bathroom. I had a combination of calculator mishap and area calculation memory lapse at this point, and somehow came up with needing enough paint for 1500 sq. ft. I couldn't find coverage information on their website, so I left it for Aaron to calculate at the store.

Aaron handed my list to the Sherwin Williams clerk, and he proceeded to mix 10 gallons of paint. Aaron thought it was taking a long time to mix, and asked him how much paint a master bedroom and bathroom would normally take. The clerk thought 10 gallons sounded about right (Do most people really have a bedroom and bathroom three times the size of mine???). Aaron had been in the middle of a serious discussion at work when he answered my call, and had not remembered my question about whether I'd need two or three gallons of paint.

Aaron purchased the $394 worth of paint and supplies on my list, and brought them home - at which point I cried. I wasn't planning on spending so much on painting my master bedroom and bathroom, and you can't return tinted paint.

After 14 hours of painting yesterday, the bedroom and bathroom are now a very beautiful shade of green. However, I have seven extra gallons of paint. If anyone is interested in some very nice Kim Dray-recommended Koi Pond Sherwin Williams Paint at $31/gallon, let me know. Six gallons are flat paint for bedrooms, and one gallon is semi-gloss for a bathroom.

First Day of School (a little late)

Here are our traditional doorstep pictures on the first day of school. I have been so busy with home improvement projects ever since the house emptied of these guys during the days that I hadn't gotten around to uploading pictures until today (I have a bit of a cold, so I'm trying to take it easy today).

Tristin - 8th grade

Brandon - 6th grade

Will - 4th grade

Ben - 3rd grade

Dallin - 1st grade

The whole bunch!

Katie hanging on the fridge

Katie was very determined to get a snack out of the refrigerator.

Line of the day

From one of my high school friends' FB page:

_______ hates it when relatives say, "You could be next", at weddings. That's ok though.. she just responds by saying, "You could be next", at funerals.

General Conference Favorites

Here are my favorite talks, in case anyone is interested:

Sat. morning session:

The first half of Elder Scott's talk on communication with the spirit was a definite winner. It gave me peace in regard to the insane decisions Aaron and I are trying to make right now. The second half didn't really apply, but Aaron and I were expecting it, and both yelled, "There it is!" with a few giggles when he got to his favorite evil to avoid (it seems to be a theme with him in his conference talks).

Elder Bednar's talk on the home touched on very important principles that I feel like I'm doing well with right now. I have room for improvement, but all in all, I feel like Aaron and I are on the right track. I will use it in FHE, more than likely.

Sat. afternoon session:

Dallin H. Oaks' talk about love for our Heavenly Father and parenting had sound principles that will help me be a better parent.

Sun. morning session:

H. David Burton's talk about the "ity" virtues is one I plan to use for a family home evening in the near future.

Ann M. Dibb's talk had a great analogy to use in FHE or Primary sharing time.

Thomas S. Monson encouraged us to provide more service to others in this talk.

Sun. afternoon session:

Jeffrey R. Holland bore a fiery testimony of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, and warned us that even those of the covenant can be deceived.

D. Todd Christofferson's talk was very interesting. He discussed how the lack of morality in today's society is causing governments to drive our behavior by compulsion. He reminded that there is no double standard for morality.

Thomas S. Monson closed the meeting with much gratitude for those who spoke, offered prayers, and for the beautiful music. It wasn't just rote, as it sometimes seems. The spirit was strong, and it was very heartfelt. He asked us to pray for him and the other general authorities.

I felt the spirit witness to me the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ so many times during this conference. I am so grateful for the blessings the gospel has brought into my life.

General Conference Activities

Did you know the church has a page with links to general conference activities for children on its website? I didn't until I read about it on my friend's blog. If you are interested, here it is:

http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?locale=0&vgnextoid=ae20e975d2a2b010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

Highlights of My Day

• Giving Katie a snack, and having her say, "Thank you" to me
• Having Aidan come in from outside and ask me to suck up the leaf pile he made, to find there was actually a good-sized pile that he had raked up all by himself, without any prompting from anyone
• Having the sister I visit teach actually want and need my help with something, and being able to help her

Escape Artist

All of our kids have been moved to a twin bed by the time they were two years old, and most of them before that. Until Katie, that is. We thought we'd keep her in the crib until she was closer to three, thus helping her to be a better napper.

Aidan taught Katie how to climb out of her crib last week. Yes, Mom, I've received my comeuppance. You see, I taught Jacob how to get out of his crib, and I wasn't even four years old. I was more like 14. I thought I was saving us all the trouble of having to get him out of his crib when he woke up. Of course, then I learned how that affects nap time.

So, at the moment I am hearing the volume of the CD player go up and down in Katie's room. Not only can she escape her crib, but she can also climb up onto the top of her dresser and reach the shelf that Aaron mounted two feet from the ceiling in order to keep the CD player away from children.

At least I have a child-proof door knob. Let's hope she doesn't figure that one out any time soon.

Pictures (click here to view)

Aaron took "school pictures" of the kids last night in the backyard with his work camera. The kids have their pictures taken at school, but we would need the $45 package for each of them to get the right sizes, so we do it ourselves. This way, it normally costs under $50 for the whole bunch of them.

I need a little help deciding which ones to order, so please add your comments to the Picasa web album.

Steep risk: Parents on slide can snap tot’s leg

I thought this was an interesting read. It could save a shin bone!

GovTrack: S. 1640: Text of Legislation, Introduced in Senate

I think this is an excellent idea for health care reform.

GovTrack: S. 1640: Text of Legislation, Introduced in Senate

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Tomatoes

Eight tomato plants is probably too many. I have given away over 50 tomatoes this year. Yesterday, I told Brandon and William, who wanted to put up a lemonade stand all summer (I never had any lemonade for them to sell), that they could sell tomatoes, and I'd split the profit with them. They made $7. There were still three large bowls of tomatoes left. So, I canned eight quarts of tomatoes this morning. I also froze one quart of diced tomatoes, as I didn't have enough jars handy - I didn't have any idea how many would fit in a jar when I started.

What is amazing is that I can can tomatoes on the fly. I don't have a baby anymore. I have not had that kind of freedom in a long time. It is nice! I have gotten so much done this week, and it feels really good.

Ode to Clean Bedrooms

Ye stained floor, ye are no more.

I rejoice in thy departure!

New carpet, "Cape Sands,"

I rejoice as you land

as my bedrooms and office's decor!

Okay, my poetry leaves something to be desired. But, I had to express my joy at having a bedroom that looks clean. Not just picked up, but clean!!! There were a few stains in the carpet when we moved in, and it has only gotten worse over the past few years.

No, we hadn't planned on replacing the carpet this week, but Dallin and Aidan forced the issue with Katie's carpet, so we did them all at once, in order to save a little money, as we were planning on doing it in a few months, anyway.

How did Dallin and Aidan have something to do with this, you ask? Well, they just so happened to dump a few buckets of water on Katie's bedroom floor, and I quote Dallin, "Because (they) felt like it." Tristin and Brandon were babysitting one day last week when I ran errands, and Dallin and Aidan were quiet for them, and they didn't notice what they did.

I noticed later in the evening, when putting Katie to bed, that the floor was soaked. I sopped it up the best that I could, but it wasn't enough. A few days later, the room stunk of mold. I ripped up the carpet, and the floorboards were still wet. The pad was very stinky. If her carpet had been in good condition, I could have just replaced the pad, but as we were going to replace everything soon, anyway, it made more sense to tear it out. We got a quote from Empire Today (you know the jingle, "800-588-2300 Empire - Today!" I've used them before, and they did a good job, so I used them again.

In case you are ever in the market for carpet, and decide to use them, make sure you beat the price down. They always quote high, and come down quite a bit. In our case, they said it would be $3500, but I brought it down to $2500 with upgraded waterproof pads in Katie's and Aidan & Dallin's rooms. $625 per room, installed, hauled away, and furniture moved (they even took apart and reassembled our bed frame), and the carpet is sooooo soft. I'm really quite pleased. I really didn't expect it to be any less than $800 per room, but labor is cheap right now.

Bemidji Pioneer | Bemidji, Minnesota

My sister-in-law's kids are in the news. I can pick out at least two pirates I know, can you?

Bemidji Pioneer | Bemidji, Minnesota

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Oh, the joy of being four!

Last month, when the weather was actually warm some of the time, the boys played in the sprinkler whenever they could. This picture was taken on a particularly hot Family Home Evening. I think it was about 95 degrees in the evening. Whichever boy was in charge of the activity chose a campfire, so we had hot dogs over the fire. Of course, it was so hot outside that evening that we tried to stay as far as possible from the fire, and it didn't take long before the activity turned to playing with water.

Brandon's Birthday

Brandon's birthday is on June 13th. If you read my last post, you may recognize that date. Yes, it was Ben's Baptism. Brandon wasn't too excited to have to share his special day with Ben. But, we don't have a choice when it comes to when the Primary Baptisms will be. They picked a day, and we could either do it that day or wait a month or two for the next one. I didn't really feel that Brandon's birthday was a good excuse not to have Ben's Baptism, so we had a party for the both of them afterward.
Aaron was, again, in charge of the cake. Some of the boys made up some sheet cakes beforehand, and he was in charge of the design and assembly. Melissa and Emma (and Jessica, too? I don't remember) happen to have some talent in the area, as well, and helped Aaron with it. They came up with this treasure chest. Isn't it great?

Ben's Baptism

I just downloaded pictures from my camera for the last while, and it appears I haven't done it since June 5th. Wow!

On June 13th, Benjamin was Baptized by his dad. It was a neat experience. Since our building is under construction (they are adding on to it, as we have had a lot of growth in our ward over the past two years), we had to find another location for the Ward Primary Baptisms. One of the boys who was being Baptized happens to live on a farm, and they have a swimming pool in the back yard. Their parents offered to host the event for the three boys being Baptized that day.

The weather was perfect, as you can see. Luckily, it was warm for part of June. If it had been scheduled for this month, we wouldn't have been so lucky (so much for global warming). It was in the mid-80s, and sunny. The pool was a little cool, as the weather hadn't been very warm for the prior week, but Ben didn't seem to mind.

Ben is a very sweet boy, with a good understanding of the gospel. I am so proud of Ben for the decision he made to follow Christ's example and be Baptized into His Church!

Birthday Cards

I renewed my resolve to get birthday cards out to people a couple of weeks ago. So, if your husband gets a birthday card from me, and I haven't sent you one in a while, it doesn't mean I like him more than you. It just means I've started it up again, and he happens to have a birthday before your next birthday. Hopefully, I will still be on top of birthdays when your next birthday comes around!

P.S. I put Tom's in the mail today, so it might actually be late.

Start Saving Now

Tristin has a beautiful smile. His teeth are very straight, but he has been complaining that his lower teeth feel crowded sometimes. At his last dental appointment, his dentist recommended an orthodontic consultation, but only after I told her I was concerned. Today, we visited the orthodontist she recommended. Here is what she found:

Dental Class II right side (this means the molars on his right side are slightly gaping in the bite). Dental Class I left side (this means these molars meet up as they ought to). There is an excessive vertical overlap of the front teeth. The upper teeth are ahead of the lower teeth 1-2mm when he has his teeth together (1-2mm is excessive?). There is a slight amount of crowding of the upper and lower teeth. The center line of the lower two teeth is shifted to the right. The upper and lower center lines are off by 2mm or less. There is enamel wear on the upper and lower front teeth due to the overlap. The upper and lower jaws relate normally to each other. The outline of his facial profile is balanced.

This just doesn't sound that bad to me. So, can anyone tell me why they recommended braces for 1 1/2-2 years, for a total of $4900?

I also presented a question to the orthodontist. I had braces for a couple of years, and had a retainer for a year or two at night. I also had an upper and a lower cemented retainer. The upper stayed on a couple of years, and the lower stayed on for 10 years. When the lower was removed, the teeth migrated to their previous crowding. I asked her what is going to prevent this from happening to Tristin, as well. She told me that studies done 10-15 years ago showed that this happens with 80% of orthodontic patients. The bones and gums are programmed to shift teeth forward. As I was in this 80% group, Tristin probably would be, too. The solution? Wear a retainer at night for life.

So, if I'm getting this right, we can pay $4900, and then replace and/or maintain retainers for the rest of Tristin's life. If he should ever get sick of wearing his retainer, we lose the entire investment. Can anyone tell me why I should even consider this?

Let me also say that orthodontists have a way with assuming that you are going to go along with their recommendations. They start going over whether the child wants ceramic or metal braces on the top teeth, and that they will cost an extra $200 on the bottom, and make the child think that this is all a done deal. The child says that he would probably have to take the cheaper option, at which point you are grateful that your son recognizes that finances are an issue here, and you interject that this is all contingent on whether or not the finances will work out at all. They act as though you are ready to shell out the money without hesitation, and when they spring the $4900 cost on you and you tell them that you don't think you can find that kind of money in your budget, they look confused. Then they tell you that they can work with you on payment plans. They also tell you that they have already discounted their services by $200 because you have other children that will probably need orthodontia, as well. At this point, you tearfull explain that it is just not in the budget, leave the office, wiping away the tears of guilt you have from not being able to afford something as necessary as orthodontia for straight teeth, and then apologize to your 13-year-old in the car while tears stream down your cheeks, explaining that it just isn't in the budget, and maybe if Dad's new company takes off, or maybe if his current company starts giving out bonuses again someday, if they even survive the recession, or maybe if the tree in the back yard starts growing greenbacks...

Let me see...Tristin's teeth are the straightest of all of our children's teeth. Seven children times $5000 (probably more, with the other children's teeth being worse) equals $35000+.

I think I'll start saving now for Benjamin's orthodontic treatments. They are inevitable, as his teeth are actually crooked. In the meantime, unless I hear a really good reason to shell out this kind of money for each of my children's straight teeth, I think I'll pass. And I refuse to feel guilty about it any more.

Appreciate the Good Times

I have a friend from high school who has breast cancer. She doesn't have a family history of breast cancer, and is extremely young for getting the disease - just 33 years old. She noticed a lump one day and had it checked out. It was found to be pre-cancerous, but they also scanned the other breast, and found a 1.5cm lump that was cancerous. It was only stage one cancer, luckily, but she had to have a mastectomy. Now she's going through chemo, just in case it has spread at all.

My friend has a very supportive husband (her high school sweetheart, also a friend of mine) and two little boys. This has been a trying experience for her, but she is very resilient, and I am confident she will pull through it.

The thing learned from this is - do your monthly breast exams. It is worth it.