Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Pomp and Circumstance

This is my handsome nephew, Jason. The impetus for our trip to Portland was his graduation from Evergreen High School. He's headed to BYU-I in the fall. We're so proud of our guy (I was going to scan in the picts from his birth to include in this post, but ran out of time at my parents' house. Sorry!).Here he is with his Dad (my oldest brother, who, btw, will be our house guest in a week while he comes out to start his new job! So excited! His family will follow soonish--after they take care of having a baby, getting Jason off to school, and figure out what to do with the house...). 

Congrats, Familia Bird! Now to shove him lovingly from the nest...:)

Road Trippin'--the toddler years


Isn't he cute? That's his picture-taking face.

Well, we recently (like, at the end of may) took a trip to my oldest nephew's high school graduation. I made the executive decision that driving now makes sense for our family (as in, it's WAAAAYYYY cheaper to drive to Oregon than to fly the 5 of us). So, early-ish one Friday morning we headed out for a 13-hour-drive-that-really-takes-15-hours-with-kids-who-need-lots-of-stops. 
I'll be honest. The kids were really really good. Jack and Sheridan only slept four about 2 hours after Boise (despite driving until almost midnight Utah time) and did great until a few hours past bedtime. Henry...
Honestly, Henry did play with his toys a little bit...but mostly he slept. Hooray! I never expected that from one of our kids!
Sheridan...was a little crazy. But she is two.
Jack...he's come a LONG way since he was 4 months old (from 4-about 20 months he mostly screamed during any car ride. You know how most kids fall asleep in the car? Uh, yeah, not Jack. Ever.). He handled the long ride like a pro. 

I must say "hooray for DVD players!". Really.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Posers

Finally a pict of the kiddos in Easter gear.
Henry looks a little afraid because he is a little afraid. Sheridan has a habit of being a little too friendly with his face.











Caught in the act! Sheridan was busy dancing with her "prince"

Friday, June 12, 2009

"Mom, HELP!!!"

...is one of the scariest phrases from a kid. Well, perhaps "nothing" in answer to the old "what are you doing" question...

Jack announced that he needed help after appearing with a bloody nose. We were wiping it up when I noticed blood on his fingers.
"Uh oh, Jack, were you picking your nose?"
"Yep." No shame in this kid.
"Jack, that's why you've got a bloody nose! Please don't pick your nose anymore--you're hurting yourself!"
"But Mom, the boogers were TASTY!"

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Do you dream in Chocolate?

I do.
Henry will, too.
That's cuz his room is now a nice, rich chocolate brown.

(Originally Jack's room--when we moved in)

That's right, the room of requirement has been completed (mostly)!

(notice the dresser in the wall? it's hiding access to the under-stairs closet. It was just an open doorway when we got there--not kid-friendly and a little creepy)

The process started only a few months after we moved in. Jack got sick of the peeling wallpaper trim during his nap (he was still 2 and taking naps at that point) and decided to peel large swathes of if from the wall. I finished that process by November but we decided to forestall further "improvements" until we had completed more urgent matters.

(The awesome border went most of the way around the room. Even across the doors and into the shelves. Sweet)

Fast forward to October of 2008. Henry was due in a month and we'd moved Jack into Sheridan's larger (and no longer purple) room. Mission: Renovation was about to begin!
Except I was 8 months preggo and had no desire to move around the house, let alone tackle major renovation. Sigh.
Fast forward to January. Henry:born. I was getting no sleep due to our 2 month old bundle of joy, so I decided to tackle room improvement to get the kid into his own space. Starting at the top makes most sense, right?
So, I scraped off the popcorn ceiling in a day. Even cleaned up! Lookin' good! (well, the drywall/mud look was MUCH nicer than the popcorn).
It took a few weekends to get the ceiling mostly smooth, and then I spent over a month trying to get primer to stick to it! What!?! The issues that crop up during "home improvement" are enough to make me want to strip rooms down to studs!

(Mmmmm. Chocolate. The room is a bit full right now with bed, crib, and rocking chair...but it's way cooler than it used to be. Check out the fabulous beadboard T installed--not easy when no walls are square!)

Anyway, after a far more drawn-out process than we'd dreamed possible, the room is complete! Tyler busted his booty putting in the beadboard. I got to use a variety of his power tools (table saw, jigsaw, nail gun, miter box, and of course drills) but failed at the circular saw (you were wrong about my abilities, Beth!). We'll have to try that one again next time! I also got to use a bunch of my favorite drywall compound to even out the upper walls--but the wall texture in this house is another post.

(see the door to under the stairs? Only a thin seam...T did a great job making it blend)

So, here she is. No more funky border. Yes, the paint is chocolate brown (a little lighter and far less burgundy than it appears in these picts). We still have the linens and stuff to do, but we'll call her good!

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Saturday is a Special Day

Now that Henry's room is basically finished (still a few details to attend to, but we'll have pictures up soonish) our Saturdays have become much more enjoyable. No more painting trim or beadboard, no more finicky cuts to make or things to nail down...we now have Saturdays to do regular up-keepy things in the house and yard, to wash cars or (gasp!) do fun family things. 

Yesterday we did a little house/yard upkeep and some family fun as well. We took our kiddos
 on their first hike and picnic!
Lest you get too excited, we took them up Rock Canyon--which is more of a meander than it is a hike, and we didn't get pics of the picnic. But is was a coolish, cloudy day which is far more enjoyable for hiking with kids than a blisteringly hot, sunny day (since each of us lugged a kid the entire time).  And it is still so beautiful here since the sun hasn't yet scorched all life of the landscape. It was comfortable weather and green and beautiful! We probably only hiked 1/2 mile, but Jack did great (other than trying to pick up every rock in his path to throw toward the river...or the flowers...or the canyon walls...). Sheridan rode on Tyler's back the first half...until we took a rest and she face-planted while in the hiking pack *ouch*. Henry was tired, but (unlike the other kids when they were babies) he wouldn't sleep while in the snuggly. Sigh. He did enjoy stretching out while we had our picnic lunch! 
Hikes like these remind me that Utah really can conform to my Washingtonian standards of beauty...but you do have to search out the more verdant areas! The kids are already asking for another hike (after Sheridan reminds us that she "fell down in the backpack and got an owie!"). 

Sunday, May 10, 2009

If you build it, they will come...

the kiddos, that is.

Tyler put this bad boy together in March when the weather was GORGEOUS. 70 degree heaven. It took about 10 hours (started Friday night in the garage, since the night temps were COLD and finished Saturday afternoon out back), many power tools, and occasionally help from yours truly.
The next weekend it snowed.
It's nice again, though, so now the kids are all over it, all the time.

Just not when I'm taking picture, apparently.