My Little Mess Monster.

My mess monster's latest obsession. . . . MARKERS.

Under a Bushel

So my parents are moving thus the last time they visited us they brought a truck-load of my memories with them. (I guess they didn't want to keep track of my old junk anymore). Those boxes of junk now reside in my bedroom. My not-so-happy-about-that hubby told me to downsize the memories before we store them. What? Choke. Cough. Sputter. After some careful consideration it seemed fair enough right? The question is what do I get rid of? These are not just memories, but proof of my

coolness
charisma
grace
athleticism

or in other words - evidence that I may have had a talent or two at one time. To whom am I needing evidence for? Well, I guess the kiddos and my delicate ego. Wiley always seems shocked when I mention a sport I played. Just this morning, Rosa tried on a pair of my ballet slippers and they fit her. She couldn't believe that my massive feet were ever her petite size.

So where do I draw the line? Do I toss out my favorite swimsuit from 1992? Actually, it was is my favorite suit of ALL TIME. It is 19 years old and proves that splashes of neon were all the rage! This suit is my favorite because it was my first big-girl suit. (It has a lining and little padded cups.) As a 9th grader I felt pretty special sporting a fake chest. Hey don't judge me. Didn't we all want to have a bigger chest at that age? The elastic is dried up and dead but on a brighter note I can fit one leg in. AWESOME.

 Do I toss out my beloved trophies? They represent hour upon hours of after school workouts. Notice that my school gave out mugs, or beer steins. Weird right? What message were they sending to the students? But heaven forbid that I toss out porcelain that says I was the MVP. When Wiley hits high school he is gonna want to see this. Right?  Won't he want to see my trophy that says "Super Citizenship" 1989-90, my pin that says "Student of the Month",  my blue ribbon that says "PARTICIPANT" . . . of course he is!

What about the pile of 1,500 or more stack of Spanish flashcards. I had five years of Spanish (7th grade to my junior year) and can barely put a sentence together. Oh and lets not forget two years of Spanish in College as well. Let's just say that I don't retain well. Perhaps Spanish is not a gift, but I do have an accompanying paper award that was given to me in my Sophomore year that was for "Most Improved" that says otherwise. Donde es el bano? Al le izquierdo?

A picture of me in 3th grade jump-roping. Cool right? I was in a very elite jump-roping performance group. Our major performances were held in the lobbies of hotels such as the Sheraton and at school assemblies. Yes, I was a Beartooth. Bouncing. Bear. So few can put that feather in their caps.

I have journals for my posterity.  I was a very prolific writer. Loads of them are filled with juicy details that give my descendants a little glimpse into my extraordinary life. How could I part with a single item?

 
Yes, over the years I have honed some unusual talents. Basically the talent just seeps out of me. It's a good thing I have them all documented and boxed neatly in my room.

I have joked many-a-time that when the bell went off in heaven to come pick out your talents that I must have been dosing off under a tree somewhere. . . I eventually got to the talent table but all the cool talents were taken and I reluctantly picked up what was left over. But even though my talents have been unusual ones I have had a sense of pride about them.

So what is the gospel lesson to be learned here? Should we hide our talents under a bushel? I say NO. They must be shared!!  

Pause. Thinking hard. . . . now I just need to find the perfect venue in which to share them. Jump-roping lessons anyone?

Before and After
Sorry I haven't posted these already.

Playroom transformation BEFORE:

AFTER: Since taking this picture I have filled the frames with my kids' pictures least you think I only hang old missionary pictures. hee he BTW the color on this wall is still the same as before, Avocado Green from Kelly Moore Paints, but due to the lighting the color is washed out.

Etsy is a wonderful place to find vinyl. I had a company custom make this branch for me.



BEFORE: The dresser of my youth. It was once painted green, then we striped it down and did a cherry stain on it about 17 years ago and then. . .




AFTER: We painted it baby blue with the most amazing milk paint EVER. Many people have asked me where to purchase milk paint and we bought it at Four Chairs in Lindon!!


BEFORE: This is the playroom in all its hand me down beauty. Hand me down t.v., console, etc. We had to ditch some of these items and came up with . . .


AFTER: After being utterly memorized by my neighbors curtains that she hung in her sweet baby room shown here, which she purchased from here, I made my mother help me make our cheaper version of them. Considering the hours and hours that it took to make the number of ruffles, I suggest that you just purchase them. I do like how they turned out though.

Since taking this picture we also ditched the flimsy metal rod and replaced it with a white wooden one.

The funny thing about redoing a room. . . I'm already wishing to change things up again.

Birthday Boy



My how time flies. My sweet boy turns nine today. Wiley is the perfect older brother. Smart, adventuresome, protective, and gentle. This little man has taught me so much. It has been a privelege to have him in our home.

I love you Scooby.

Flashback

Oh me, oh my. Every time I look in the vaults I realize how much my kids look alike. They all have round faces with chubby little cheeks. Can you tell which girl this is? Rosa, Eva or Hazel. It is amazing how similar they are.

Birthday Girl turns 2 today!



The birthday girl got everything she wanted elegant, sparkly, jewels with a sequence purse to hold it all.


She kept looking at us as if to say teach me how.

This child has been so delightful to raise. I have enjoyed every minute of it. I have documented her messes and "tissed" away "ouchies". I have changed countless "ewes" and wiped away the "goss" stuff on her fingers. There are many times in a day while playing with her or feeding her that I think my heart is going to burst with love for her. If I were a singing gal I would break into song. She is priceless.

Happy Birthday Eva.

Traumatized

My favorite person in the world deserved a reward after his work week and I decided to treat him to a pedicure. When I told him my surprise he didn't look convinced.

Twenty minutes later he was sitting in a massage chair and picking out his color. What the? I was thinking he would go with clear or not have any polish at all. But to my surprise, he picked a very manly Titanium Black color. The technician working on his feet asked him multiple times if he was sure he wanted that color painted on his toes. We just kept laughing and nodding yes.



So an amazingly enjoyable hour passes, my significant other is "convinced"and we return home. Rosa has a very disgusted and confused look on her face. "Dad, why did you paint your toes"? she spat.

Whoops, I guess we might have traumatized our oldest daughter. On the positive side, Wiley liked his color choice.

Oh dear, what have we done?

January Fun

I am in desperate need of a nap. Not only is our family experiencing the yucky sicknesses that come with cold weather but we are also having a lot of fun, thus my need for a nap or two or three.



Before our family from Ohio left town we hit the slopes. Rosa and Wiley love Aunt Lisa, Uncle Matt, and cousin Kimball.


We just had to go skiing a few more times. Rosa and Wiley consider themselves experts, I just do my best to chase them down the hill. There is something really special about a family trip to the slopes. I get that same feeling when we all go on a bike ride together. Ahhh.



Big news: Eva started sledding. Last year we took her on a few sledding runs but this is the first year that she really loves sledding. Grandma got this great blow up sled. We turn it around backwards and away we go. Eva giggles the whole way down. She loves it so much that now she doesn't want to be left in the boom boom (the green mule) she has to get as many runs in as the big kids. Although I don't have a picture of our favorite place to sled, just know that it is the perfect balance of length and steepness. People of all ages love our hill.


Rosa has been asking to go ice skating since before Christmas so on Friday we fulfilled her wish. We left the babies home and Wiley and Rosa went skating with us. Both of them did awesome. They seemed fearless on the ice.



Now, back to that nap I mentioned. I need one. A good one.

My Wee One
7 months and counting


I love this girl. She is so fun to have around. So adorable. She is growing up too fast though. She can pull herself up to a standing position. Yikes. I wish the time didn't fly by so quickly.

Welch Family fall 2010
take 1

take 2

take 3


Rosa is happy and gorgeous.


Wiley is working on his Mr. Darcy look.


Eva is um. . . calm?


Hazel is amused.


What the. . . I look evil. I am about ready to bite off Ben's nose or perhaps I'm saying Mehhaahaa with a really deep voice. I can't decide if this shows the real smiley happy me or if it shows the real crazy-to-attempt-family pictures me. oh well either way, I may be an evil genius for actually making pictures happen.