The Hallway

From this....
to this....
I'm not sure how they did it, but they managed to get the blue funky marblization between every single door in this hallway. They were true artists... or they took every door off... or they were on drugs.

Ekco's room

When I first started painting this house, there were two bedrooms in the back of the downstairs that I had no intentions of painting any time soon. As a result I never took the before pics. Then, Ekco picked the colors she wanted her room painted and I went ahead and got them and painted it. It is unfortunate that you are going to have to attempt to picture something rather odd that I know my words cannot do justice to. At any rate, this particular wall had a red and black logo about as wide as the butterflies painted on the wall. There were more holes in these walls than any others. Brian had to re texture many spots in other rooms. This room he completely re textured. Additionally, this was the kiln/ workshop / dog room so it was the DIRTIEST! Now, however, it is sunshiny and beautiful. When Ekco requested yellow and hot pink, I'm not gonna lie, I was extraordinarily skeptical. Then I painted it. And it is so happy. I absolutely love this room. She has not seen it yet, but she's coming for part of the summer this weekend and I think she is going to be thrilled.
There is an entrainment center in here and I don't want to make a habit of having tvs in kid's rooms, but her room doubles as a toy room so it is nice to be able to turn on a movie for the kids in here. Plus, she loves movies so I think this will be a bonus in her eyes.
Because yellow has always been my favorite color, I already had frames and shelves that match perfectly!

I tried to find the wooden letters that I used in Xiana's room for Ekco's name, but I couldn't find them so I bought these instead and they are glitterific... and they were only 2 bucks a piece and came already painted.
I love these colors. Who would have thunk it? When I told Ecko that I was concerned that the colors might be garish she asked what that meant and I explained. Xiana interjected, "no, that's my uncle Garrett."

The Dining Room

I threw my back out (possibly working on the house, I'm not sure) so you'd think it would be a great time to catch up on my blog. Unfortunately, my computer chair is the single most painful chair for my back in the house. So... this will be short and sweet. This is what the dining room looked like when we bought the place. I have to admit, they put so much time effort and energy into marbleizing the blue walls it was somewhat disheartening painting over them. I had high hopes of keeping one wall blue, but it was simply not going to work. My mom came with me the first night. Brian was out of town, so she taped and I painted. I thought I could have the whole house done over the weekend. Apparently my painting radar was way off. A month later I finished the inside with the exception of one room.
You can't really tell from the pics, but there are blue tiles edging the room. I quite like them. Brian was not such a fan, but I think they are growing on him. Also, I think getting rid of all the blue elsewhere was a step in the direction of acceptance. The tiles are absolutely beautiful and we recently learned that the couple that put them in actually hand made each tile. I sure hope we never break one! Actually, there is a tiny unfinished part in the hallway that we are going to have to figure something out for.
One wall down, lots to go. Kacie and Alicia also came and helped the next night of this weekend and they were adamant that the blue wall had to go. I held on... for a few more days. I think at this stage in the game it was still kind of fun. Only later did I grow to despise the words paint, tape, primer, texture, and putty.
Wow, even looking through these photos taken just a few months ago feels like a different life. I can't believe how the place has transformed. I forgot what it was like those first few weeks trying to get the place and knowing how much work it was going to take (well, kind of knowing). This picture is someone elses house.
This picture is our home. Amazing how that happens.
New table, new frames, new bookshelves, new pictures. It is definitely ours.

Old Project, meet new project... one room at a time.

Hello my dear sweet old friend blog, meet my new redonkulous project.... our house. Suffice it to say there were roughly 600 holes in every wall in this room, Xiana's room. It was really important to me that Xiana's room be ready when she moved in because there was already so much change in her world that I wanted her to feel secure. This is what it looked like initially. The pictures don't reveal the millions of holes and pounds of dirt. It took me an hour just to clean the windowsill. But.... it is worth it!
She is so proud of her castle bed. This was a big selling factor for her with the new house. Still when anybody comes over the first thing she asks is, "you wanna see my castle bed?" I looked all over for a Princess and Frog comforter to match her poster...the colors of the walls match both Tinkerbell and Princess and Frog!
This is my old doll collection that I forgot existed after 17 years in my parent's garage. It is so fun to bring it out and put it in Xiana's room. So far she has been really good to look and not touch.
Remember my post a long time ago about how I got suckered into buying a million pics of Xiana? Well, I finally found a place for them! I got 8 5x7 frames at IKEA for 6 bucks and then duck taped them together.... cool huh?
Tinkerbell and her name.
I put her castle kitchen in her room, but the rest of the toys are in one of two toy rooms.

Despite my lack of posts, she still says funny things!

Time is just running away from me, but I don't want to forget to write some of the nuances in Xiana's imagination.

• Brian always sings Charlie Brown and I always yell at him to stop because it gets stuck in my head. So now Xiana thinks it's really funny and she yells, "stop! It gets in my mommy's head!" Every day... no joke. Well, she has this radio that asks her questions and then records the answers to play back. The other day it asked her what she would say if she were a daddy and she said, "fee fee fii fii foo foo fum" which is the beginning of the song. I saved it to play for Brian.
• She is obsessed with our wedding song and asks 15 times a day to hear mommy and daddy's song. It is Chances Are by Bob Seger and Martina McBride. She sits in the back seat and belts the lyrics at the top of her lungs. She's gotten so she knows almost all the words to the song and I catch her singing it all over the place. It's interesting that without telling her she knew it was mommy and daddy's song from the first time we played it in the car. Well, the other day she asked me, "does this boy and this girl love each other?" "sure" "and are they gonna have babies?" She also assures anyone who will listen that it is Bob Saager.
• When she heard the song that my dad and I danced to she said, "did you marry grandpa?" I told her "no, but I danced with him." She said, "and who was carrying me when you danced?" "I don't know, I didn't see you for hours that night." "Oh, I think it must have been Zachary."
• One day we were dancing in the living room and she said, "hold my hands mommy, we're married!"
• She continues to amaze me with her ability to remember people. After one introduction, months later she can identify where she knows my friends from and where she saw them last and does it all the time.
• Her new big thing: "no I amn't."
• One day while driving down the road in 30 degree weather with serious winds she exclaimed, " I see the sun outside! We better go to Lake Tahoe!"
• Today at Burger King her friend showed her where to put her shoes and she said, "that was very nice of you Charlie."
• The water wouldn't go down the drain in the tub and she said, "daddy said that's because of your bum hair." :)
• We were at Target buying a massive rake 2 feet wide and Xiana asked, "is that for daddy's whiskers?"
• We had a FHE lesson on the prophet and the following week she brought me a picture and said, "look, I see the prophet president Monson" and she was right.
• I gave her a bath with her little boy cousin the other day and afterwards I was putting a diaper on him. She was getting dressed and alarmed cried out, "what's that thingy?!" I explained to her that it was a boy's private parts and both girls and boys have private parts. She asked, "my daddy has that thingy too? Where's mine?"
• She plays make believe all day long every day, but here are my top three imaginary episodes of the last 3 weeks: 1: I'm gonna make you dinner otay? otay, first you put a little bit of oil (pours rocks into her hands) sssssssssssss, then you add the garlic (adds some dirt to it) then you eat it. Oh, it's hot? You better blow on it (blows). I yike garlic. Is it too much?" 2: (on her cell phone in the back seat which she is constantly talking on generally about school which she has yet to attend) Hi Charilie, yeah? I went to school today and I rode the bus and it was a lot of fun. Kate was there and Charlie and Colby Callait gave me candy. She's really nice. Uh huh, yeah, okay, see you later, bye ( I interrupted, "what did you just say?") Colby Callait came to my school and gave me candy. She's really nice. 3: X:Oh no, my baby threw up on the floor. me: you better clean it up. X:I can't, I don't have any wipekins. me: Well, I don't know what to tell you. X: Just a minute, I'll be right back. (She walks around the corner and speaking to empty air) X: Hi boy, can you please come and clean up my baby's throw up with your wipekins? You can? Great, thanks! ( she walks back around and over to me) the boy is gonna come clean it up with his wipekins.
• Less you think that life around Xiana is always this fun and entertaining, let me assure you that she has fully embraced a defiant, screaming no repeatedly phase. She is awfully funny, but this morning she went to time out 4 times before she ate her breakfast... no joke! Some day I'll keep a list of the sassy things she says:)

Lagoon

We took a really quick trip to Lagoon in Farmington Utah and it. was. fun. Worth the entire 16 hours of driving. We genuinely had a wonderful time which could be construed as strange given the circumstances....But I will get to that. On Thursday night Brian had gun club so we went there first and then (at 10 pm... the latest he claims it has ever ended) we hit the road. We spent the night in Battle Mountain, picked up Ekco bright and early and forged ahead. We stopped at the platform in the Salt Flats which I have stopped at way too many times to count in my life. Growing up my grandparents and aunt and uncle lived in Utah so we made the trip as a family a lot. Additionally I lived in Utah for five years and put plenty of mileage on my car over those years as well. It's pretty handy stopping in B-town first because it breaks up the drive a lot.... but surprise surprise, I digress. I called my sister about 30 minutes out to tell her that *surprise* we were WAY earlier than we thought we would be. She characteristically had a million places she needed to be but expressed her enthusiasm nonetheless. Then, getting off her exit, my car broke down... major bummer. So, she had to squeeze in a quick sibling rescue onto her already overloaded agenda and come and get us. Then her husband took Brian to the auto parts store to get stuff to fix it. Thanks guys! It turns out the radiator cap blew so it was a quick and easy fix. I am so grateful that Brian is so handy and knows how to fix so many things. It truly makes me feel safe.
This was the first ride we went on. I didn't realize it at the time, but Xiana was definitely not even close to tall enough for this ride. Only at the end of the day did I discover the sign that said "36 inches must be accompanied by a responsible individual." First of all, I'm not sure how they define "responsible." Second of all, Xiana is 32 inches. Still, I'm glad I was blissfully unaware of this throughout the entire day because truth be told she wasn't tall enough to ride any of the rides and my sneaky approach might have given her away. Though I do remember looking back on this particular ride that went really fast, even for adults, thinking that it looked like she was going to fly right out of her seat. She was oblivious as she was thoroughly enjoying herself.
So was I :)
This is one of those free falling rides which are my favorite type. Xiana also loves them. She's so tiny, while we were up there this lady was like, "how did you get her on there? I can't get my kids (much older) to go." I chuckled as I am confident Xiana would get on any ride they would let her on. Though she did assure me several times that she didn't like either haunted houses because they were "scarrry."

We met up with two of Brian's brothers and their families and his parents and it was a blast. I really thought this trip could go either way. Xiana is still pretty little and there is a big enough age gap between her and Ekco that they could have wanted to do very different things, but that wasn't the case. Everybody (adults very much included) had a great time. The rides were fun. The visiting was fun. The whole experience was one that I don't think many will soon forget.
Another really great thing was that the weather was pretty bad. It was relatively cold and rainy. That ended up being our saving grace because it wasn't too bad to be outside and the weather scared people off so we didn't have to wait in long lines for anything.
Eric and Hunter chilling on this chilly ride. This is the one ride we got wet on. I was doing so good until right at the end I went up to try to avoid getting sprayed and nailed Xiana right in the face. She thought it was funny surprise surprise.
This was Ekco's favorite ride and I kind of feel bad that we only went on it once, but it was warm enough to enjoy the day, but cold enough to not want to be wet.

The tilt-o-whirl is a classic. We loved it and both girls like to spin fast.
This was Brian's favorite ride and I will admit, it was awesome. Still, my favorite was the new roller coaster Wicked.
The swings were fun. The glasses that Ekco is wearing she found under a bench, put them on and LOVED them. It was so funny. She wore them all day and took them home. They look really cute on her and might have been her highlight of the day..
Apparently Brian's parents have pictures of their kids when they were young on these cars so both Eric and Brian wanted these shots.
Very nostalgic.
And very cute!
Okay, so I realize this is a kiddie right, but my expression is simply due to my shock at what a decent drop this tiny little dragon had. They are really prepping these kids for the real deal.
The train that goes through the zoo is timeless (and a great way to take a little break).
As a family.
Tyson and Xiana rode together for much of the end of the day. They were in their element. Poor Jenn planned this trip and then found out she was pregnant. I'd say this was the least fun for her, though I think she still enjoyed herself despite being sick and unable to ride anything.
Watch out when these two hit the road.
Ekco in her glasses, ready to go!
We had a perfect day. After we left we headed to the Golden Corral buffet and the food was tasty (somewhat trashy, but delish.) that is until about midnight when it started disagreeing with me and then for the next 15 hours or so as I suffered from the worst food poisoning I have ever had which meant that Brian had to drive the whole 8 hours home and I had to sit in a car and feel like death warmed over the whole way. It was pretty miserable, but Lagoon was so fun.. it was worth it!

Garden take one; take two!

There is no shortage of time consuming (obviously, look at how absent I have been from my blog) projects around our house. Some are more pressing than others. In my mind, a garden was not crucial, but thanks to Brian's efforts, my feelings have changed. It is really great to have a garden. Not to mention he planted seed in the dead parts of the grass that have sprouted. It's neat to watch as the little buds pop up in the earth. The whole back part of our nothing but dirt half of the yard has been transformed right before my very eyes. Also, it's a fun family project and Xiana can't get enough of it. The day we were planting seeds she was pretty much throwing onion seeds all over the place so that we won't be surprised when we find onions sprouting up everywhere. Brian had this genius idea (he is really clever at thinking of things like this when I just lose my patience) to give her her own packet of seeds and garden. She already has her own rakes and hoe and shovels. So, he filled an empty packet with little tiny rocks and put her to work. She was so proud of her own little garden and needed a refill of seeds about five times. Later, Brian brought us outside to show us our own little pets we had in the back trellis.... four of them!
Brian with the fruits of his labor: tomatoes, peppers, onions, jalapenos, turnips, and radishes.
Gardening makes you thirsty!
She was so serious about her work and confidently assured us that her seeds were all planted.
See those empty patches of grass... they are not bare any longer!
I just had to throw in a pic of the trampoline that will surely become famous in this journal eventually... if not already.
Poop! aka fertilizer. One night when I went to school, Xiana was having a melt down for some reason. Brian has just put 6 bags of manure on the ground out back letting it dry before tilling it into the ground. Xiana was hysterical so Brian said, "guess what's in our backyard?" "what?" "Poop!" "I wanna see the poop." Tantrum resolved. She is fascinated by poop probably stemming from Brian pointing out the excrement's of various animals on our hikes. Still, another creative idea. Just side track her with poop. Brilliant.
So, with everything planted we went out of town and in our absence.... it snowed. A lot. And it froze...really froze. And when we came home, everything was dead... including our baby birds. It was a sad day so Xiana and I went all over town trying to find 4 packs of plants instead of paying 4 bucks a pop for the more mature plants. In our travels we discovered that most places had also lost all their plants to the freeze. Then we came across a nursery whose dedicated owners had come in the middle of the night to rescue their vegetables and brought them in to an already filled inside to save them. So I bought a bunch more plants and this time we waited a week to put them in the ground. It is now June so I hope there will not be anymore freezes. Brian meanwhile planted squash, 3 different types of cucumbers and something else I can't remember. Then we replanted tomatoes and peppers.... take two. Then, the rabbits started eating them... those rascally little things. So Brian took matters into his own hands. And I bought some chicken wire, but 50 feet didn't go around the corner of the garden and it was expensive so we decided to finish the back fence with hopes that it would ward off some of the little bunnies and squirrels that hang out in our yard. We started it, but we are heading out of town again tomorrow leaving our garden free for Peter and his family and friends. I really hope that we don't experience de ja vu upon our return. If we do, we might have to try our hands at gardening again next year.
But I hope our plants live because they are really something.
This week Brian is planting corn and melons... oh yeah, and he also planted rhubarb and when we went to Home Depot to get it there was a mommy and daddy owl living on the rafters.... and they had babies! The babies looked completely fake like stuffed animals and I thought Brian was pulling my chain as usual, but he wasn't. They were oh so real, oh so beautiful, and OH SO SCARY! Animal control was on their way to relocate the fragile ferocious birds. It was pretty darn cool.

To be continued....isn't she a sweet little gardener? She should get to experience success and so should her inexperienced non green thumb mother. Hopefully her daddy will carry us amateurs through to vegetable heaven.