St. George Weekend

This past weekend, we headed down to St. George so my husband and his father (another dentist) could get some Continuing Ed credit. An old professor of my husband's was teaching a class down there and so it was a fun, good opportunity for them. So, I got to spend the weekend with these two good looking men.

We love St. George. Some highlights: stomping on peanuts at "The Texas Roadhouse"

Eating at Tom's Deli

Climbing around the "Dixie Rock" area.

We also did a lot of swimming in the hotel's pool, went to Walmart (I gave the kids a budget and let them each buy something), went miniature golfing and had awesome custard a Nielsens.

And, we even made it home in time for afternoon church, so Chris and I wouldn't have to get substitutes for Nursery.

Barry Manilow Family

Recently, I heard a "new version" of the Barry Manilow classic, "One Voice." It was done by "Straight No Chaser" on their latest album. I was raised in a "Barry Manilow family" because I have a brother and sister who are 12 and 10 years older than me and they liked him. While many of my friends were raised in Neil Diamond families or Rush families or even Beatles families, we were a Barry Manilow family with a little bit of John Denver, Manhatten Transfer, Sergio Mendes, Billy Joel and later a lot Michael Jackson thrown in.

I know EVERY Barry Manilow song and album. I can honestly say I really like him but this song is my favorite, even though, "Copacabana" comes in as a close 2nd. The words to "One Voice" are a little more philosophical than Copacabana. Enjoy. You can listen to the tune here.

Just One Voice,
Singing in the darkness,

All it takes is One Voice,
Singing so they hear what's on your mind,
And when you look around you'll find
There's more than

One Voice,
Singing in the darkness,
Joining with your One Voice,
Each and every note another octave,
Hands are joined and fears unlocked,
If only

One Voice
Would start it on its own,
We need just One Voice facing the unknown,
And then that One Voice would never be alone,
It takes that One Voice.

It takes that One Voice.

Just One Voice
Singing in the darkness,
All it takes is One Voice,
Shout it out and let it ring.

Just One Voice,
It takes that One Voice,
And everyone will sing!

Now I am curious, what music was listened to in your house growing up?

New Hair Cut

With summer coming, I went and got a shorter hair cut. Here it is styled.

Here it is, not styled.

Also, with summer coming, remember to wear sunscreen. Like my t-shirt? You can buy it here. The sizes run small. I have no ownership whatsoever in who makes these but I like the message. All of my sisters are getting one for their birthdays.

Being Optimistic or Maybe just Wishful Thinking

Because the inside of my house is a total wreck, I decided to ignore it and head outside to look at my flower beds. I really have not thought about them since last fall and decided it was time to see what needed to be done. Last fall, I planted new bushes in the front to replace the bushes that had never done well in this spot. Three of them are looking really good.

However, the fourth, a mere few feet away from the other three doesn't look so good.

Here is a closer shot. It looks dead. However, I have had plants that look like this and really are "mostly dead" (thank you Princess Bride) and bounce back.

See in an even closer look, some of the leaves are still kind of green. So, I have not given up on this bush even though even I know I am walking the thin line between optimism and wishful thinking.

Meanwhile, my daphne bush looks like this. But, so does my neighbors, so I am not too worried about it yet. I really need to plant some forsythia because right now, they are blooming everywhere and look great. Not so with my yard, yet.

Again, optimism.

Basement is Finished!

These aren't the greatest pictures, you can get "the idea."

This was taken from one side of the open room area. You can see the kitchen area and TV room.

Standing on the opposite wall. This picture is significant because it shows the "blue line" wall in the kitchen/family room area. Instead of pretending the duct work wasn't there, we acknowledged it by painting it. The huge open area over there will eventually have a pool table and ping pong table. (Yes, we measured it and it has room for both.)

My storage closet downstairs. We need to move the filing cabinet to our furnace room but I am not strong enough to do it myself and dentist husband and I haven't seen each other much. (Thankfully, he has been SUPER busy at work and not getting home until late when we are both too tired to tackle that project.) The shelves are deep enough and tall enough to fit the blue storage bins I have. (You can see one in the back.)

The "dormitory". Those are the chairs we are going to put in the kitchen area but we currently just have them there temporarily. (Oh, that door is a walk in closet).

Under the stairs play area for my kids. (In a previous picture, you can see the "mouse hole" we cut on another wall.)

Taken from the "TV wall" looking into the kitchen. The oven really isn't blue, I just hadn't taken the blue protective film off of it before I took this picture. The floor is a dark wood.

Taken from the kitchen, looking at the TV wall. Eventually, we will buy sofas and a TV for that wall. You can kind of see the wood floor/carpet line. It works out to be 1/2 and 1/2 of the whole room.

I didn't take a picture of the bathroom or the "laundry closet" because those were in a previous blog post. No changes there, so no need.

So, this weekend is the big "move everything from my front room down to the basement" project. Honestly, it will be so great to have my house back into order.

Why Being a Mother of Small Kids is Wonderful

For our family talent show last night, the following was done:

Toothsome #1 (age 10): --Math--Dentist husband gave him several math problems and he solved them. And, for some reason, dentist husband also decided to explain scientific notation to all of them as well.

--Flexing his muscles (done with his 6 year old brother)

Toothsome #2 (age 8): --Dance routine with toothsome #4

--math

--her dance for her upcoming dance recital.

Toothsome #3 (age 6): --reading

--his "moves" (A lot running around and kicking and jumping)

--flexing muscles (done in conjunction with his older brother)

Toothsome #4 (age 3): --dance routine with toothsome #2

--by herself, free form dancing

All of this was typed up by toothsome #2 and put into a program.

Best night of April 2010 so far!

Dessert--Bars Cut Up

Everyone knows when you marry into a family, you each bring "family" things into the marriage. One of my favorite Dentist husband contributions to our marriage is "Bars Cut Up"

The story goes that my mother-in-law had two candy bars but many children (there are nine total but I don't know how many were in the family when she started this). Anyway, she cut up the two candy bars, up them on a plate and served them as dessert. Wala!

I can't tell you how much fun Bars Cut Up can be. Sometimes I let the kids each pick a candy bar and sometimes I just buy whatever is on sale. I honestly think there is some beauty in seeing the various types of candy bars cut so you can see the various strata of chocolate, caramel, nuts, etc. We all sample the various types. It is so fun and so easy. Try this in your house. I promise, you'll do it once and then decide to do it many times after.

Sneak Peek

The basement isn't quite finished but I so thrilled with some of the latest changes that I had to post pictures.

A freshly painted front door. It used to be brown. The shutters are also this color.

Family room wall. Eventually, that wall will have a TV on it. You can also see the carpet color.

Bathroom. Nobody liked the tile I picked out (at the store, the salesman as well as the guy laying it) but I persisted. I love it, my husband loves and the few people who have seen it, love it as well.

The bathroom light fixture. I picked this out in five minutes. I had no time and they needed me to have it picked out that afternoon. I literally ran into the store, saw this and said, "That one." I am very happy with it.

Look what my kids got out yesterday . . .

And, if you were wondering, no, it wasn't warm enough.

Spring Break 2010

It has been Spring Break around here. This year, my husband had a dental meeting he needed to go to in California. We went with him. While he was in meetings, we

watched TV (which is actually very exciting, because in our house, we don't have cable, so cable TV is very exciting news for my kids)

and swam in the hotel's 82 degree water outdoor pool. The weather was actually pretty cool and very windy in Encino (where we were) but again, these are children we are talking about and a very nice Mom who was willing to brave the cooler temps so my kids could have fun.

Again, while my husband was in meetings, we also visited with two of my favorite people in CA. Roommate number #1 (in the hat) just redid her house and it is absolutely lovely. She even bought Diet Coke for me, which she doesn't drink. Again, she and roommate #2 are some of my favorite people ever. (Roommate #3, we missed you. You know who you are.)

And, when Dentist husband was finally all done with meetings, we headed south to Legoland. The weather was perfect, hardly any lines and most of my kids were all tall enough to ride every ride they wanted. It was a perfect Legoland day.

On the way home, we stopped in St. George and ate at our favorite Mongolian Barbeque.

Great Spring Break.