Gentleman

Caden has been working really hard each week on earning merit badges for Scouts.  There happens to be a clinic each Saturday that allows him to go work on many different ones.  Sometimes he complains that he has to do it each Saturday, but for the most part, he's doing well.  He even got special recognition the last Court of Honor from many of his leaders showering him with praise for earning a badge that most earn closer to the end of their Scouts experience.  He was super proud!  I was even more so!!  His newest badge he working to earn is Service, where he has to give 8 hours of service to someone in the community.  He decided to help his school each morning for 30 minutes as a crossing guard at his school.  They call it "Safety Patrol."  Today was his first day.  He woke up all excited at 5:30AM (remember Christmas morning this year or that we're all trying to recover from Daylight Savings Time?) ready to leave by 7:00AM.  We got to the school the same time as the white car ahead of us, however, Caden bolted from our car as if he were on fire.  The girl ahead took her dear sweet time.  As I was pulling away around the white car, I turned around to take one last glance at my son.  With face almost plastered to the door, and back turned to the girl, he waited to hold the door open for her.  Remember, she took her dear sweet, so he was standing there for a little while.  Not ten minutes, but enough time that if he'd walked in without holding it for her it would have been just fine.  And just like that, my heart swelled to capacity:)

Front Room

I've been trying to take a picture of our front room/living room for a few days now.  Since I know my computer won't download them from my camera, I've been trying to take one with my phone.  The lighting was never good, so I haven't gotten one.  Today wasn't too much better, but enough to take a decent picture that will have to suffice for now.

 Before

 Also a Before, but with two cuties in it this time:)

After.

I would like to draw your attention to the couches.  Squeal!  They're new!  I've been looking at them since first arriving here in Richland.  I was disappointed the second time I went to look at them- the price had actually gone up.  Thinking back now, I realize it was around the time of the Super Bowl.  A few weeks later, around the time we moved and President's Day, I went again and saw that they were at their original price- exhale breath held for weeks thinking I'd missed my opportunity at the good price:)  Then, Tuesday I went looking for curtains (remember the broken sliding glass door?) and happened to walk by the couches.  Please, I went to them first!  And guess what?  They were 50% off!!  I casually called Randy to tell him the news and was surprised to hear him say, "I don't mind if you buy them."  I almost started crying right there in the furniture section clutching my beating heart.  My front room is exactly like I had always imagined it would with these couches.  I've always wanted this look!  The whole room house looks better in person.  Come visit us, we have room for you to sit now!!!

Kitchen

I'm having a hard time waiting for my computer to upload these pictures.  Here is a before and after that isn't too bad.

I love to go into a house we're buying while having an inspection done and just taking pictures, measuring, and getting excited for our stuff to adorn walls and shelves.  This house was just as fun.

 Before (duh!)

After (ahh!)

Since this is eventually going to be a rental, we saved the dumpy white fridge to move back into the kitchen when we leave.  That AWESOME SS one will go with us.  It's amazing!!

So, we added the better fridge, added a better dishwasher (since the last one sounded like a train going through the kitchen), added the microwave, added the handles, and added the decorations.  Next will be a new sink (that holds more than 5 kid cups), a new faucet, and maybe countertop paint and backsplash.  Little projects that would be fun to do together, but not too expensive.  We'll see what ends up happening.  Even though it's small and has mismatched appliances, it's still a great place to gather.

Shred it up!

"Hello, our names are Randy and Stephanie Dirks.  We are victims of identity theft." 

Randy got a call a few weeks ago from Visa asking us if we'd tried to purchase a sandwich from Subway in Indiana.  Nope.  We were told to shred our card and had a new card sent to us.  It was not a good feeling.  Thankfully there wasn't anything else charged and we got off easy.  That night we went and purchased a shredder that can crinkle cut 12 pieces of paper to 1/4 in shreds.  And a credit card.  And 1/4 of a....

 Nickle.

I know it's hard to see.  My camera phone didn't like how close it had to be to even remotely tell that it was a nickle.  The side view is a little better.  And it looked even better when I changed it to Sepia.  It's actually shredded it.  It stripped the motor and ruined the shredder, but you can tell just how strong that thing was.  We have since gotten a new one with STRICT orders to keep money away from it.  We find ourselves shredding everything:)  We love the feeling of power!!!  And destruction!!!  For the record, no one knows how the nickle got into the shredder.  Apparently, there were a few elves that snuck into our home while we slept and ruined our stuff.  No one is safe.  Lock up your valuables.  You've been warned!!!

Storm Door

Front door.

 Front door with fresh coat of paint and a surprise storm door!

I have wanted a storm door since we purchased our first home in 2002.  We have always talked about getting one, but that's all it ever was, talk.  Last night Randy took me to Home Depot to have me show him the one I've always wanted.  It's the one that has a self-rolling screen, so when you don't want the screen, you can't see it.  Unobstructed glass when not in use.  I die!  While I was at a meeting for Relief Society last night, he surprised me by installing it.  This was done after he'd finished my master closet with another hanging rod and shelves that can hold 12 baskets for clothing.  That closet is now SUPER functional even though it's the smallest one we've ever had.  Man, I sure love this house!!!  Can't wait until I can get the pictures uploaded and show you all the rest of the house.  It's coming along exactly as I'd imagined all those months waiting to get into it!

The Front

The pictures aren't the best quality since they were taken on my phone, but I wanted to get a few pictures up of some of the projects we got done this weekend on our home.  Here is the front of our house.  It's showing it's age a bit, but I LOVE it!  It's weird, but this is shaping up to be my favorite house we've ever owned.  I think it's because it needs us so much:)  If you love the people you serve, then it stand to reason that you love the house you fix up, right?  Looks like I'll love this one the best for sure then!!

 Front Porch

 I planted the flowers yesterday afternoon.  The colorful ones are Primrose.  My geeky Hunger Games side came out.  I even did a little squeal and may have even said "Primrose Everdeen" in Effie Trinkets affected accent:)  They sure are a pretty little flower.

Side note:  That AWESOME rock was a gift from our realtor, Alan Kowalski.  Isn't that amazing?  He dropped it off last Friday while Randy and I were running errands.  Imagine my surprise walking up to our door seeing a rock with our name on it.  So generous, huh.  Randy said he's glad it didn't have the address on it.  "Now we can take it anywhere we go."  I'm happy right here, thanks!

Our updated garage door.  I found these on sale at Home Depot for $10.00.  It took us 10 minutes.  Instant curb appeal.  And of course, the flag.  I always have to have one of those.  The cute girl at the checkstand said (in a foreign accent,) "Oh, what a good American citizen you are."  I simply agreed.

Welcome to our new home!!!

Freak Accident

Remember last night when I said that the house might not be clean because of my messy/naughty kids.  Well, it came true.  I woke up to find dry Rice Krispies cereal all over the floor.  I got upset and tossed the plastic container behind me, yelling at the kids to help me clean up the HUGE mess.  I heard a shatter, thinking it was the plastic container that is 2 years old that has had countless cycles through the dishwasher, but instead turned to find this...

Can you believe it?  I didn't throw a rock point blank at this.  I didn't even throw the container, I simply tossed it behind me to get it out of the way.  Thank goodness it didn't break the other panel as well.  So, we now how a single-panel sliding glass door.  What a nightmare.  Man, I wish my kids didn't need to have a locked pantry.  Why can't they just leave stuff alone.  Come on, who eats dry Rice Krispies????  Apparently, my carpet!

Pictures

I was so, so, so excited to post tonight!!  And then my computer wouldn't download the pictures off of my camera.  And now I can't show my new couches- the ones I've been drooling over since we moved here.  The ones that we got for 50% off the original price.  Or the master closet that Randy and I updated to be able to hang more than 25 shirts.  Or garage door accessories that added instant curb appeal and only cost $10 and took 10 minutes.  Or front door flowers.  Or main floor of our new home.  I cleaned and organized for 4 hours tonight to make sure it was perfect for the pictures.  That I can't even get- gggrrr!!  At least the house will stay clean in those pictures.  And tonight while the kids are in bed.  No guarantees about tomorrow morning.  Heck, it may not even be clean by the time I get the actual pictures posted.  Won't that be cool, "Hey, look at my uber-clean house that is a dive in real life because we live in this house and have 5 messy/naughty kids.  Enjoy!"  You'll never know, I'll never tell!  Until next time then.  Stupid computer.  Die already!!

Number Two?

Yesterday I walked into a totally disgusting powder room.  Tyson had just exited, so I knew the culprit.  There was a smudge of brown on the wall, so I called him in and asked, "Ty, is this poop?"  "Nope, that's fart!"  He was totally serious.  Then it dawned on me, whenever Shelby has "loose" stools, she always calls it "fart."  So, I sat both Shelby and Tyson down separately and asked them what "poop" is and "fart" is.  They both had the same answer.  "Poop is when you have to push.  Fart is when it comes out when you don't want it to."  And that ladies and gentleman is the answer!  In his defense, it also looked as if he'd bent over and bumped his behind on the wall.  Glad to know he didn't learn to smear his poop all over the walls/cabinets like his Aunt Ashlee:)  The stain on that white chest of drawers never came out!

Wennon

From the time that Tyson could talk, he's always called Brennon "Wennon."  This last few months he's had such a jump in his vocabulary, that it's made me kind of sad to see him growing so much so fast.  We went in for his Well Child Checkup as soon as we could after the move and insurance and all that jazz, so it ended up being on Wednesday.  The Dr. made a comment that he has such clear speech, much better to understand than most his age.  I couldn't agree more!  Last night as we were praying as a family, it was Tyson's turn.  He likes to ask "What's next?" all the time, so Randy started thanking Heavenly Father for each child by name.  When he came to Brennon, we all assumed he'd say "Wennon," but to my surprise said it correct.  And again my heart broke at how quickly the time is going.  No diapers and better speech all in the same week.  Stop growing, babies!!!!

Game Night

Jamie and Cameron are the first friends we've made here.  When we lived in the rental, we lived 7 houses away.  Now that we've moved, we're only 4 away.  It's a mere 40 steps from my front door to hers.  Not that I've counted:)  Since first meeting them, Jamie and I have painted her powder room, crafted, shopped, done lunches, done some "book clubs," decorated, and just hung out.  It has been so much fun having a friend SO close.  Randy and Cameron have built shelves in the garage (with more on the way) and gone shooting.  Last night they made an ammo run at 9:30PM since everywhere is running out the moment it gets placed on the shelves.  All of this has been fun, but the most fun that we have happens after the kids are in bed.  Since you can see our home so easily from theirs (and vice-verse) we each put our kids to bed and get together for games.  We've played Settlers of Catan- Cities & Knights three times now after 8:30PM.  It's kind of funny, because we're the ones that introduced Cities and Knights to them, but they're the ones that have won all three times.  We've also played Quelf, Acquire, and Wits & Wagers with them.  This is fun!  We kind of always have a Saturday Night Date in a way.  One where I hope to win at least once:)  One more reason I know we were lead to the Tri-Cities!

Done!

With Tyson potty training himself so early, we never really worried about nighttime diapers.  We continued to just put him in a diaper at night after the first two nights of pee.  With the move from Wyoming to Washington, and then renting while we were here, I didn't worry about trying him out without a diaper because I didn't want the house to stink while we were trying to sell it, or the rental to stink because he was having accidents.  So, now that we're in our own home and things are settling down (knock on wood,) we tried him without one three nights ago.  And we're done!  :)  No more diapers in the Dirks' home.  Ever. Again!  Wow, that feels so nice.  I can't believe we're past that stage after 11 years.  Lovely.  The weird thing is, on Tyson's second night going commando, Brennon actually peed his bed.  First night ever!!  He was so confused about it, too.  He was telling us (in his cute way of telling stories) that he woke up wet.  His eyebrows were pulled down low, his arms were flailing, and his voice was one of awe.  He had actually peed his bed and couldn't remember doing it and didn't know why he woke up wet.  It was so weird.  That just made Tyson's wet-free night even better!  The next milestone we'll come up on is when Tyson goes to Kindergarten.  My babies are growing up:(

Early Morning Breakfast

So, we've moved over into our new house. It was so nice only having to move 5 houses away!!  Not to say that it is all done, but it was easier than the move we made from Wyoming to Washington just 3 months ago.  I love that we were able to roll the metal garage shelving on our furniture dollies down the street so we didn't have to take them apart:)  Randy is a genius!  Since we didn't get our keys until it was almost dark on Valentine's day, we made an initial haul that night and then made the big push on Friday.  Saturday morning we didn't have a clue where anything was, so I packed up the kids and headed to Winco for doughnuts.  While in line at 7:15 AM with a dozen doughnuts, a man asked me in an incredulous voice, "Who eats doughnuts this early in the morning?"  With eyes raised at his weird questions, I said, "Um... my kids!"  wondering "who doesn't eat doughnuts in the morning?"  And, if they don't, when do they think it's acceptable?  Then my eyes traveled to his grocery load.  BEER!  He was buying a case of BEER at 7:15 AM and thought my purchase was weird.  And then I realized, he must have already been drunk:)  For the record, I think any purchase of beer is too early!

Happy Valentine's Day 2013

This year we got a house for Valentine's Day!  After a week of trial after trial trying to close, it finally because official today at 4:00 PM.  We are moving in!  Happy Valentine's Day 2013:)  PS. Randy will never be able to top this year's gift!

Marriage

I've heard a lot recently about how sometimes a girl will marry a man just like her Dad.  Well, yesterday we were telling our kids that Randy and my Dad were born in the same hospital, went to the same Elementary, Jr. High, High school, College graduating with the same degree.  I guess my Dad is just so awesome I didn't stray from a single detail:)  My parents have been married for 33 years this July.  I know we won't stray from that detail either!

Egg Whites

I found out a few years ago that if you use egg whites as a mouse while your hair is damp and ready to dry, it will make it curly.  I just brush my wet hair, use one egg white almost like a gel, and then crimp while I dry.  Next thing I know, curly hair that lasts all day and washes out the next.  It doesn't smell either.  There was actually a girl that sniffed my hair one time when I told her how I did it:)  Anyway, Ty was snuggling with me tonight, kind of crimping my hair in his cute little hands.  "Mom, why is your hair so spokey?"  Um... I don't even understand a word you just said!  Who knows what "spokey" means?  Not me!

Frames

Shelby's glasses age 3-5

Shelby's glasses age 5

 

With the move and new insurance, Shelby's eye appointment this year got pushed back a few weeks.  She has needed some new glasses for a few weeks because her last pair got chewed by Bella.  The weird thing is that those glasses that she had from 3-5 didn't get ruined once.  Can you imagine that?  Not once!!  She got them the week she turned three!  I can NOT imagine Tyson having glasses and not having them get messed up once.  Then she turns five and gets some pretty cute glasses and then has to get another pair because of the dog.  When we moved to Richland, she actually found the first pair and wore those for a few weeks before a pin came out and lost a lens.  Today, as she was picking out frames for her new glasses, she tried on about 10 pairs before choosing the ones I had her try on very first.  They are so cute!!  The funny thing is, when we were checking out, the Doctor actually said that our insurance pays up to $139.  Her frames only cost $9!  So, when we could have the most expensive frames in the store, we got the least expensive.  The 5 year old glasses cost us $150 a piece.  YIKES!!  Talk about bad luck!!  Let's hope we have good luck with these frames.  No dog might be a great thing for her vision!

Grown Up

Keilie 2005  Man, I love those eyes and flawless skin.  And psycho pigtails:)

Every time I pick up Keilie from Sylvan Learning Center, without fail, she asks me what we're having for dinner.  Tonight I told her we were having leftovers.  A couple minutes later she made the comment that she couldn't wait to grow up.  I asked her why, curious to hear what she had to say.  "Because, when I'm older I can have Ice Cream even if I don't finish my dinner."  Sad that she knew she wouldn't like dinner tonight because she hadn't loved dinner the last three nights.  Better get some new recipes:)  For the record, she's right.  There are even times when I have ice cream for dinner!  Being grown up is awesome!!!

Upcycle

I got the idea to make these storage containers on Pinterest.  Since we use about 2-3 cans each month of our food storage, I can't wait to line my linen closet shelves with them.  Can you imagine the clean look of identical storage containers?  *Swoon*  The cans are free and the twine only cost $5.00 and will last for three cans.  Careful, I'm feeling crafty again!  I just need to find a cute project to lable these bad-boys!

Warts

Remember the episode in my life where I had planter warts on the bottom of my foot that plagued me for 6 months?  Each night I took an hour pealing off the layer of acid I put on the night before, plus some of my actual foot.  It was quite painful!  And embarrasing.  And painful!  A couple months later, Caden complained about one on the ball of his foot. We went in and had the most simple procedure of them painting on some "beetlejuice" on the wart and then it took care of itself.  I promised myself that I would always go that route when one "popped up" in our family (had to show my lame side there, didn't I?)  It was so easy.  Painless!  Well, a week ago, Brennon complained about his big toe hurting.  It was a HUGE wart!!  So, I made an appointment with a dermatologist hoping to convince them to do the same thing.  They have "other procedures."  Either they scrape off the top and inject meds or they cut it out.  Um, why don't they have the easy way?  So, they put a little numbing gel on his toe while we waited in the small room with expensive equipment every.where for an HOUR while it numbed.  The kids were good, but BORED!  Brennon asked why they didn't have toys.  Um, yeah, why don't you have a few at least?  Then the doctor came in and tried to be funny, but his assistant just made it uncomfortable.  They did not have a good relationship, so she'd roll her eyes at everything and pretty much mock him while he worked.  They they started to scrape the wart.  Brennon was saying that it hurt, to which their reply was, "No it doesn't.  This doesn't hurt."  I wanted to scream, "HECK YES that hurts!!"  I was trying to comfort him without saying out loud that these psychos were trying to help.  Then, the arguing began between Dr. and assistant about which size bandaid they should put on.  HELLO!  Get me out of here.  I don't care about that stupid bandaid.  Just let me leave so I can find a new Dr.  Hopefully one that will have beetlejuice!  What a nightmare.  Brennon asked for us to never go back.  I was glad to say, "That's one promise I can make that I have no chance of breaking!!"  There's something to be said about working relationships.  Maybe that's why Randy and I work so well.  We just don't argue!  Or I just do it all:)  Just kidding!