Staining the Deck

Yesterday we had such a busy day. It felt really great to get so many things done. We went to Home Depot and bought a sump pump, stain for the deck, a bathtub (it was on sale), some paint for a project I hope to get to later this week, and a few misc. items. This was after we'd cleaned the basement and cold storage. Then Nate and I got to work. I sanded the deck while he "played" with the sump pump.
I sanded everything but the inside of the bottom legs of the deck. Seeing as how there was a nice wasp nest there, I was a chicken. Nate poisoned then sanded.
He used the compressor on his truck and blew all the sawdust off. Then we started staining. (Doesn't my hair look cute? Nate enjoyed making fun of me, but heck, it was hot and it helped to pull it up.)

Kayla was having lots of fun being our photographer. She took a ton of pictures. We told the girls they had to stay inside once we started staining the steps. Kayla said, "So... I'm in charge." Scary question!!! She unloaded the dishwasher, entertained her sister, took pictures, and brought us water. Nate and I were very impressed with our helper.

It is a little red, but it should fade a little in the next week or so. Either way, it looks so much better than the bright orange they did originally.
As a reward for all our hard work we went to the last night at the drive-in. It was a triple feature starting at 8:00 and ending about 12:45. First was Aliens in the Attic-"kinda scary but good in the end," then Ice Age 3, and finally Night at the Museum 2-Allie really wanted to see this, but she only made it about 10 minutes into the show. Nate and I were both struggling to stay awake. I suggested twice we leave, but both times a wide-eyed Kayla changed my mind. I can't believe she lasted for all three movies. Once the show was over though, Kayla was asleep before we even made it out of the drive-in to the road.

Sump Pump

We are so sick of having a swamp in our backyard. After getting no action from the city, we decided while we need to keep after them, at least we could get rid of the majority of the water. We bought a sump pump and pumped the water almost to the sidewalk on the other side of the fence.
Our house was built with a basin for a sump pump in case of floods inside by the water heater. Knowing we have a high water table, we figured it would be a good idea to get one that would turn on automatically if water was ever an issue. So we just made sure it would also work for pumping water out of the backyard.
This is after Nate started the pump. You can see how bad it got after the city "fixed" the problem
Looking from our yard into the empty lot. We are the lowest yard on the slope since there is an electrical box just down from us and the city made that plenty high. We get all the water from everywhere pooling behind our house.

Obviously the city didn't really fix their problems either.

It continues all the way along our neighbors yards, but ours is definitely the worst.

We're planning on bringing in more dirt and raising the back 10-15 feet of our yard so it's not such a slope. We'll have to raise the sprinklers and then bring in more sod. We'd love to have the city pay for it, and we're still hopeful to get some results. We just found out Richmond is going to start building next to us, and while we're thrilled for neighbors and to get rid of the ugly empty lot next door, we want to be able to get our cement and yard finished before we're closed in. Nate can rent a skidsteer from work for fairly cheap. There is plenty of fill dirt where they are building houses around us (apparently the market is picking up because in the last two weeks they started 3 homes with 1 more about to begin). I think our only option because of time is going to have to be a day off that we were hoping to use for the holidays. Sorry!

Fun for Me

I have felt the creative bug a lot lately. It just sounds so much more fun than say cleaning toilets. My parents gave us this old bulletin board when we lived in Tooele. I was going to use it for a project in the basement there, but then we decided to move. I finally decided to get to work.
I bought batting and found some fabric from Grandma Garbett. I used spray adhesive to attach those, and then I got Nate's staple gun. After a very frustrating attempt to use it, I gave up and waited until he got home. I was feeling more than a little dumb for not being able to properly use such a simple tool. After the staples refused to go into the wood for him too, I felt some vindication. We were finally able to get it to hold, and then yesterday I applied the ribbon and as many buttons as I could find at our Walmart.

The buttons are cute little white flowers. I'm going to have to go to every Walmart I can find until I get the other 17 I need. We're going to have it hung next to Allie's closet. It has thicker white ribbon tied in a bow that it will look like it's hanging from. Allie is so excited to have a place to display all her artwork (Kayla already has bulletin boards). It was so easy and other than the stapler issues, fun to make.

Then since I had the glue gun out I thought I'd experiment making ladybug and butterfly hair things. They were really pretty easy. Allie didn't like the ladybug. She didn't even want me to put it in her hair for the picture. But after Kayla came home from school and liked it, I think Allie changed her mind.

She loved the butterfly one though. She insisted on wearing it even though it didn't match at all. I also finished the last of the headbands using the same ribbon as on the ladybug. I probably would have kept playing, making some more color choices, but I figured I'd better go get Kayla from school.

Ribbon Headbands

I've been having way too much fun lately making hair things for the girls. I bought some cheap headbands at Walmart and went to work fixing them up.

Kayla needed a green one to go with her dress.
She really wanted the Mickey button on it too.

Here's Allie modeling the red one.

It also has a Mickey head.

I also did a blue and brown, pink and brown, and pink headband before running out of hot glue sticks. As soon as I go to Walmart and get some I'm going to finish the last headband.

They were so simple to make. I just glue small pieces of ribbon over the ends. Then I glued and wrapped all the way around. After that I just added a few simple bows. Kayla and Allie had so much fun telling me how to do it. Kayla is absolutely loving headbands right now, and these seem to stay put in her hair instead of slide around like so many of our other ones do.

Making Pancakes

Nathan is the official pancake maker in our house. It is his special thing to do on Sunday mornings with the girls.

Sunday while we were eating, Allie looked at Nate's stack of 4 pancakes and said, "Wow Dad, that's a LOT of pancakes." She looked and Kayla and they started giggling. Then Allie continued, "That's cuz you've got the biggest mouth."

Neighborhood Fall Social

Last night our stake held a neighborhood harvest celebration of sorts. It started out at 1:00 with lots of classes on things like bread making and resume writing. There was a chili cook-off and pie and cookie bake-offs. Then at 5:00 everyone gathered to eat all the entries. You know how crazy dinner is at a ward activity in the gym; well imagine cramming the whole stake in there. It was more than a little packed.

Allie posing by one of the scarecrows in the doorway of the church.
Kayla with the other scarecrow. They had a hard time deciding which one to be with. We tried to get them together, but one would sit, we'd coax the other one over, and the first would run to the other scarecrow. We finally just gave up and took separate pictures.

As I mentioned the place was packed. We put Kayla and Allie on the stage, and I Nate and I stood by them to eat. When Kayla took her first bite of my chili, she said,"I thought this was going to be gross, but it is really delicious!!!" Both girls ate all in their bowls, and Kayla asked if we could have it for dinner tonight too. YAY!!!! (The biggest problems with these church potlucks, is I have to bring everything for us to eat. I made chili, cornbread, and cookies. It really would have been much easier to eat at home, but not nearly as much fun.)
After the dinner there was a family dance outside. It was lots of fun to get to dance with the girls. They were very insistent on wearing dresses; cuz you can't go to a dance in pants.

Allie and Sienna dancing together.

Sadly we didn't get a decent shot of Kayla. She's a blur in every picture. The girls had a great time, but they were sad the DJ never played any slow songs. They were both really looking forward to having a Daddy Daughter dance like at Jessica's wedding.

What was I thinking?

So you know how I said I was going to take some banana bread to a friend. Well, Allie wanted to go for a walk; so we combined those activities. I grabbed my spare key (so I didn't have to take the bulky key chain), locked up the house and garage, and we were off. We delivered the bread and then stayed and talked for a while. When we left I debated if we had time to walk to the school, but even from her house we were a good 20-25 minutes away. I only had 15 before school let out. Allie and I hurried home cutting across the field (which Allie thought was kind of fun and kinda scary in the stroller) to make better time. I got home at 3:05 (school's out at 3:10) and reached for my key. I had my van key. Very convenient for driving, but not so convenient for getting into the garage or house.
I didn't get too worried, but called a few neighbors using my cell phone. Nobody was home. I called the school and asked them to tell Kayla to go with a friend who normally rides her bike. I was hopeful her friend would be patient enough with Kayla walking. I told the school I was coming but I was a good 35-40 minutes away. Nobody was home cuz it was too close to school letting out and all the good parents had already left to pick up their kids.
I threw Allie back in the stroller and off we went. We got a couple of blocks making really good time when a friend was outside in her yard. She offered us a ride, and since timing was important here we accepted. We got to the school and found Kayla in the truck with her friend who's parents had decided to pick her up. She wasn't at all worried she was just happy to get to ride with Kaybree.
I had called Nate at 3:05 when I discovered the problem and told him he needed to hurry home. He hurried as fast as he could, and he made it home just after-wait for it-6:00. Thankfully the neighbors let the girls use their potty. Several nice neighbors, now home, asked if we wanted to come play, but first we did Kayla's reading on our porch. She had gotten her book order that day at school and for once I actually ordered a few books. It turned out to be an extremely pleasant afternoon.
I have since gotten friends cell phone numbers added to my cell phone. I have a key that I am going to take to a neighbor's house. The sad thing is I actually had the copy made more than a month ago after the friend was locked out of her house. I've just never handed it to her. OOOPS! I'm also thinking we should really get one of those programmable codes for the garage door so no matter who is home we can get in. Nate just informed me we have one of those, he just needs to hook it up. I think maybe that would be a good plan for today. I really don't like not being on time picking up my child from school.
So the moral of my story-Pay more attention when grabbing the spare key.

Making GF Banana Bread

Allie was so sad that she didn't have preschool today. She was bored and didn't want to do anything. I suggested we make banana bread, and after a little convincing she was excited.

Ready to get started.
Allie was so full of questions. She wanted to help with everything. Here she is pouring in the milk.

Allie loved squishing the bananas in their peels. Then she had even more fun mashing them in the bowl.

Everything is in and mixing. We only had one small disaster when Allie turned the mixer on and milk and egg when flying everywhere. It is really hard to control the mixing level.

Allie also had fun being a photographer. She was having lots of fun documenting everything I did. Our recipe made three loaves. I think I'm going to take one to a friend who has celiac disease but really hasn't experimented with cooking gluten free yet.

In the oven.

Then Allie helped with the most important part of cooking-cleaning up while your food bakes. She was such a good helper. We got everything wiped down, the dishwasher loaded and unloaded, and all the ingredients put away. Then she got to watch Dora while the bread finished cooking.

It's done!!! Doesn't that just look yummy! Allie was anxious for me to take the picture so she could try a bite.

Perfect golden brown.

The official taste test-"It was hot and yummy! I love it!!!"

Happy Happy Birthday Daddy Dear

Happy Days will come to you this year... Nathan is the big 30!!!

The kids in primary sang to Nathan and weren't quite sure about the song-he is no children dear. They just giggled and then finished the rest of the words of the song.
Nate decided he wanted to go out for dinner and movie on a date tonight for his actual birthday; so we celebrated with Kayla and Allie.

Allie and I had bought supplies to make a fun cake for Daddy. At the last minute I decided he would have fun helping "build" the cake. I was right. We had a great time while the kids were too busy playing in the other room.

Nate carefully cutting out his truck.
I'm working on getting the rims for the tires.

And there you have it. I thought about writing Komatsu Nate on the cake, but Nate didn't want me to go to the mess of making yellow or white frosting.

I let the girls give Daddy his presents, but I'm going to wait until we come to Idaho to give him mine. Last weekend we saw Transformers 2 and Nate liked the haul truck even though it was a bad guy. I found a little two package of Bubblebee and Long Haul. He was pretty happy, but then he noticed they don't actually transform. Oh well, it's the thought that counts.

A wireless wii nunchuck, Raving Rabbits, and a Mario t-shirt Kayla saw at Kohls and just had to get.

We love you Daddy!!!

Happy 30th Birthday!

Blowing out the candles.

Yum!!!

Celiac Walk

Friday night at a little after midnight my dad showed up at our house (he called before he left Pocatello) to join us for an early morning fundraiser walk-Moving Feet without Wheat. We'd talked about going for quite a while, and since we were planning on coming he decided to drive down. The 6am alarm clock was cruel after staying up until after 2am talking. But it was so worth it.

Friday night at a little after midnight my dad showed up at our house (he called before he left Pocatello) to join us for an early morning fundraiser walk-Moving Feet without Wheat. We'd talked about going for quite a while, and since we were planning on coming he decided to drive down. The 6am alarm clock was cruel after staying up until after 2am talking. But it was so worth it.

We had missed the preregistration date since I was in the hospital at the time. So it cost $25 a person to participate in the walk, but it goes to a good cause. We only registered the three of us with the disease, and Nate and Allie just came along for support. We each got a t-shirt and a big back of gluten free samples for registering and later a door prize. Dad got a gift certificate for pizza at a restaurant in Harrisville (by Ogden), Kayla got some breakfast bars that Dad likes, and I got a $6 package of the cheese crackers Kayla loves but I hate to pay for.

The walk was only a 1K which amounts to just a little over 6/10ths of a mile. It was just a nice leisurely walk on a shaded path at Wheeler Farms. We were going to take the stroller, but then realized, why? Allie's got more energy then the rest of us combined. Both girls did great and had fun running the last bit to the finish line. After the walk, the kids got to play some games and make t-shirts.

There were a bunch of booths set up with information and samples. It was really weird to be able to try everything. Dad said he kept almost asking if it was gluten free. Kayla LOVED it! She was so happy and bouncing around! For once she didn't have to go without, and the samples were of things she loved like cookies, zucchini bread (with chocolate chips), breads, and muffins.

At 11am they had a lunch for $5. It was yummy! Nate didn't even mind going GF. As we were walking over to the food line, Kayla saw all the cupcakes sitting on the table. She was amazed to find out they were gluten free; everything was gluten free. She never gets desserts at picnics except what I bring. It was like she was in heaven. They had sloppy joes on GF buns, chips, grapes, assorted other fresh fruits, salad, and little water bottles. Then for dessert we each got a cupcake, a piece of cake, and a individually packaged cookie. Considering just the cookie and cupcake cost about $5; I'd say we got our moneys worth.

Then as if we weren't already having a great day, Anita Stansfield, my absolute favorite author was there. It turns out she was diagnosed about 18 months ago. She brought two books for everyone. I later realized she was the lady that while on the walk was talking to us about the girls. She was full of complements, and she loved Allie's hair! It was very cool!

We all had a great time, and we're looking forward to getting a little more involved in GIG (Gluten Intolerance Group). They are hoping to have a Halloween party for the kids this October. Kayla was so excited to hear about it! We're definitely going to try and do the walk every year.