Marianne Is Here!

We are so excited that Marianne is visiting us for ten days! Saturday morning I took this shot of the girls playing tug-o-war.

On our way over to the kids' house Saturday afternoon, I took this fabulous shot of the Superstitions...I never get tired of seeing them in all different kinds of light.

Sandee had dinner ready soon after we got there and then baked chocolate chip cookies. Can you tell that Shelby is not thrilled with her cookie dough stealing brother?

In response, he took the bowl and was going to dig in but then...

...his mom took back control of the bowl of cookie dough! So fun!

The kids spent the night with us Saturday night and then we all hung out here on Sunday. After breakfast, Rich decided that the step stool we bought at IKEA last week needed a face since the two holes on each end looked like eyes. I did the end you can see here while Shelby and Rich did the other.

Here is Shelby wearing their creative masterpiece!

We can find the simplest, funnest things to do. Shelby helped me tear bread to dry for Thanksgiving dressing. Dylan helped a bit but quickly lost interest. He and Jackson brought their X-Box over so they were playing football...what a surprise, huh?

Everyone pitched in to make place cards with menus for Thursday. Rich started that tradition with Sandee years ago so I loved seeing him do that with our grands this year...special times, these!

I cooked potatoes with the skins on to go with chicken nuggets for lunch and so everyone gathered around to smash and load their own potato with a variety of toppings.

Sandee and Shawn came to get them and stayed to visit for quite a while so the whole weekend was one giant treat!

Today was so special because Marianne flew in around noon. We stopped for lunch at Red, White, & Brew...yummy! When we got home we gave her the full tour, then took a drive, and shopped for the last of the groceries. While I worked on photos, Rich taught her to play Farkle. We are enjoying her being here and catching up on each others' lives.

Lovin' Life ~~ The Excitement Builds!

Pantry Renovation

It's always the little things that make us crazy, right? This pantry was on the long list of little (&big) things in this house that made us crazy because it was divided into these bizarre, inefficient spaces.

By the time I realized that I wanted some photos of this project, Rich had already removed one shelf; you can see the line where it was attached halfway between the top and the (formerly) third shelves. The bottom three shelves had those wire baskets attached.

Problems: there were only about 12 inches between shelves so there were many items that would not fit; the wire baskets were hard to pull out and squeaked loudly; it was impossible to clean crumbs and stuff that had fallen under the wire shelves; with the pantry door hung on the right side, the remaining area was only about three inches wide so nearly inaccessible; and it had never been painted.

Solutions: Rich removed the second and third shelves from the top; the second shelf was discarded; the third shelf was re-positioned a few inches higher; now we will have four functionally sized shelves; he designed three shelves that will pull out and installed them on top of the existing shelves; he removed the new pullout shelves; and painted the inside of the pantry.

After the paint cures in a day or two, he will re-install the new pullout shelves and we can restock the pantry. Bella was this close to one or the other of us all day, here she's supervising the painting. Dora observed from a safe distance.

After using the kitchen for a few weeks now, I finally decided which drawers would hold which things. Most were in good condition and only needed to be washed when we moved in but others I had not used because I needed to line them. In the process of doing that today, I had this center drawer hanging loose so that I could reach all the way to the back to put Contact paper in when it slipped, fell on the floor, and the front tore away from the screws. The outcome of this sorry tale is that Rich got to repair my mess in the midst of his awesome project...geesh...even when I try...

After that fiasco, I just tried to stay out of his way, fixed lunch, made a supply run, and let the girls hang by me since they get a little nervous when we're working on projects. Here's a short movie of them playing this evening.

Lovin' Life ~~ And Home Improvement Projects

Another Ideal Weekend!

Well, so much for NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month). I posted on the first but already blew it by not posting yesterday. You wouldn't think it would be hard to post some little thing every day for a month, especially a month of Thanksgiving, but it is for me. Everyone who knows me well is aware that I am tremendously thankful every day of my life for all the wonder that is mine.

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Rich has made great progress repairing all the messy paint on ceilings and trim and outlets and all the other places where the previous owners slopped paint. This is merely a tiny sample; this careless painting was on nearly every inch of the house that butted up against all those hideously dark colored walls.

Some, but only some, doorways were painted some version of the dark colors used; some random sections of woodwork along the floors were painted the same way. There was no logic that we can determine and we've had lots of time to analyze while fixing this mess. How about that lighting system Rich cobbled together? It gives great painting light!

As we headed to an art showing by our neighbors' daughter, these riders were crossing front of us about a mile from the house.

 The Horse Crossing signs here are no joke, we see so many riders.

I wish we had more time yesterday because there were many homes on the art tour by the Artists of Superstitions. We only had about three hours though between painting and picking up the kids. We stopped for lunch on our way to Gold Canyon. Here are a couple of Erin's paintings; she had several on display.

The painting above the fireplace behind her and her parents was painted by Erin too. Rich and I have one of her paintings in our living room that we absolutely love looking at every day!

We picked the kids up around 4:30, stopped for a few groceries, made dinner, and settled down to watch Monsters U. After all the Halloween excitement Thursday evening, a busy day at school on Friday, and a garage sale and play-date Saturday, Shelby was asleep soon after the movie started...in Dora's "bed" in the corner of the couch!

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Overnight it was Bella sharing a bed with Shelby!

It was a relaxing morning for everyone.

Thursday evening the kids had asked their Gpa if he would make his salsa for them again this weekend. They got started on that project right after I cleaned up the breakfast pans and dishes. Dylan and Shelby pitched in and helped while Rich taught them some skills! Jackson observed for a while.

I had gone in to take a picture of Jackson on the couch listening to music and noticed The Girls lying in the sun keeping a watch on the neighborhood.

Just then they both jumped to their feet and Bella looked up at me barking her alarm; sure enough, Sandee had turned onto our street, and was pulling into the driveway.

Dylan joined them to calm and hold them while Sandee came to the door.

While dinner was cooking, the kids and I swam. So far the pool cover is keeping the water warm enough for a perfect swim, by my standards anyway. The kids still think it's too cold which is understandable since they mostly swim in the summer when it is in the one-teens out here! They just crack me up and we had so much fun!

Rich grilled chicken. It looks like Jackson and Shelby are amazed at Gpa's grilling skills right? Nope! They are trying to get warm by the heat of the grill since they just got out of the pool...haha

After dinner, while the kids were packing up, Rich and Sandee took a stroll through our yard. Everyone who saw it before enjoys it so much more now that all that overgrown brush is gone.

 

While outside to sneak a shot of them, I took another of these beautiful blooms on one of our Ocotillo.

Lovin' Life ~~ On These Busy Weekends

Spa Day & Halloween

Spa day for the girls that is! Tuesday was their first grooming since Bella's surgery. In this first picture, taken in the parking lot at the groomer's because someone lost track of the time again that morning and forgot to take some at home...harrumph, who could that have been? giggle You can clearly see where her entire belly was shaved for surgery Sept. 16th.

While they were at the groomer we ran some errands then puttered around the house. This pot sat on the patio outside the kitchen door with some kind of plant in it. I don't do plants that require care so it had died over the summer. Rich loaded it in the yard cart that he and the kids assembled the weekend of his birthday and hauled it out front.

On our way, I stopped to shoot this gorgeous bloom on one of our ocotillos.

Rich placed the pot at the front corner of our place where he and our grands had constructed this sculpture they named KJJ (King Julian Jr).

KJJ is our greeter and this is his domain, complete with Tiki torch!

Now that the brush is all cleared we are discovering interesting cacti and plants that we had not noticed among all that overgrowth. I love this for its multiple gnarly trunks and long thin leaves. However, I have no idea what it is and have invested way too much time on Google trying to find out, to no avail. Do any of you know?

I did think to get some shots of the girls after we brought them home. We still keep in touch with Bella's surgeon and she was happy to get a few pictures of a healthy, freshly groomed Bella! The brown area on her back is dark brown hair growing back where she suddenly lost hair a few weeks ago. No explanation and she has been just fine all along.

Rich continues painting the ceilings & woodwork, where the previous owners slopped paint. I've mentioned before that no roll of painter's tape had ever entered this house when they lived here. We got lucky with our selections and have paint that very closely matches the ceilings and woodwork. Still it is an enormous amount of work because every foot of ceiling edges and woodwork have to be taped and then carefully painted to blend into the existing paint...whew!

Late afternoon on Halloween we went to the kids' house bearing pizzas and Rich's Sangria. The kids were just putting finishing touches on their costumes; Dexter was already wearing his!

Note: Dylan's pumpkin sports an I-Pod and ear-buds!

Note: Shelby's pumpkin has peace signs for eyes!

Note: Jackson invested two minutes drawing on his pumpkin...such a teen!

Shawn had carried some of their patio/pool furniture out to the driveway so we could all enjoy the festivities. Dylan and Shelby each trick-or-treated with friends. Jackson stayed home and hung out with his folks and us. Sandee had prepared a huge basket of candy, pencils, candy, bubbles, candy, stickers and everyone got to pick their favorites. She and Shawn had lighted the pumpkins and other candles for a really cool table of treats. Dexter claimed his front row seat early and never relinquished it...he was the hit of the evening for lots of the kids!

This shot was taken with flash.

This is what it really looked like when the trick-or-treaters came by.

Usually big kids are not in costume or very unimaginative "costume" anyway so are not at all appreciated. These guys though were among my favorites (with some precious little children taking top honors of course!) because they were polite, having fun, and wearing these fabulous costumes.

Like I said to Sandee B in an e-mail earlier, "We all sat outside and enjoyed the hundred or so kids, with many parents in costume too, who came by. It reminded me of Halloween evenings when my kids were young and the ones when we lived in CA. As you know, that is the one thing I've always missed in Carillon."

Oh yeah, we enjoyed the pizza and glasses of Rich's fabulously drinkable Sangria too! Let's bring on November and continue celebrating!

Lovin' Life ~~ Here With Our Grands