. . . the babies lately . . .

. . . it's pretty hilarious 

having these babies around . . .

. . . here's cameron . . .

. . . he turns one next week . . .

. . . he enjoys his new teeth . . .

. . . learning to walk . . .

. . . and making amazing messes . . .

. . . colby is eight months old . . .

. . . he enjoys his dog, snickers . . .

{pictured bored and yawning}

. . . his pacifier and 

sticking his tongue out - 

at the same time . . .

. . . and crawling . . .

. . . and baby hayden . . .

. . . so far, she enjoys kicking . . .

. . . growing . . .

. . . and making her mama 

exhausted all the time . . .

. . . babies are the best! . . .

. . . the gilbert temple . . .

. . . it's getting . . .

. . . closer . . .

. . . and closer . . .

. . . every day . . .

. . . to being finished . . .

. . . we're lucky . . .

. . . to live . . .

. . . so close . . .

. . . to two temples . . .

. . . oops! on the way . . .

. . . a little late night sewing 

and wrapping . . .

. . . for a couple of baby girls . . .

. . . one of them is

waaaaaaaay overdue . . .

. . . wait . . .

. . . the gift is overdue . . .

. . . not the baby . . .

. . . day two . . .

. . . project 

back yard beautification 

continues . . .

. . . today's target? . . .

. . . these well-documented pots . . .

. . . the sweet alyssum 

that once reminded me 

of delicate pearl necklaces 

or lacy collars 

now just looks dry 

and extra crispy . . .

{and it kind of reminds me of dandruff. ew.}

. . . but after a quick round 

of deadheading . . . 

. . . a generous trimming 

around the edges . . .

. . . and a big gulp-size 
swig of miracle gro . . .

. . . i'm hoping 

for one more 

month of pretty . . .

. . . please? . . .

. . . because i sure enjoy this view 

from my kitchen window. . .

. . . which combines 

yesterday's love of ivy . . .

{this valentines day heart-shaped topiary is still mostly alive!}

. . . with a lifetime love of pink . . .

. . . it's a jungle out there . . .

. . . i love ivy . . .

{side story: i would have loved to name a child ivy. in four times of expecting a baby, only once did i know the gender of the child before it was born. i always told myself they were boys, because i wanted so badly for them to be girls. we had three girls in a row. seven months into my fourth pregnancy, i had an ultrasound. not because i needed one, but because my husband was going to die if it wasn't a boy. fortunately, it was. so, there went my plan for naming a child ivy, because ivy is a funny name for a boy, plus all my kids' names begin with "a". given the opportunity, i could have made it work, though. something like aye-vee. how's that? PLUS . . . i would totally have called my ivy "four" as in IV in roman numerals}

anyway...................

. . . i love ivy . . .

. . . i have it growing 

in pots on my front porch, 

and in the planter 

under the flowering pear tree . . .

. . . i've always been a sucker 

for the floral 

and houseplant department 

at the grocery store . . .

. . . i wish i knew 

how many times 

i've bought 

a beautiful potted ivy plant 

~ hanging basket, topiary, etc. ~ 

on my weekly 

"grocery" shopping trip . . .

. . . the answer is: quite a few . . .

. . . those plants always look great 

in the kitchen ~ until . . . 

. . . they don't any more . . .

. . . so one time when i had 

several of them that were 

"mostly dead" . . .

{quick! name that movie!}

. . . i tried an experiment . . .

. . . i've got a planter 

between the house and 

the storage/pool bath building . . .

. . . and it only gets 

this much sun every day . . .

{about three or four feet. see?}

. . . so i stuck 

the sad/dying/leggy/trashworthy 

ivy plants in the ground there . . .

. . . about six of them . . .

. . . success . . .

. . . just the right amount 

of sun/shade apparently . . .

. . . because now ivy 

grows like a weed there . . .

. . . since i pruned it last fall, 

it's grown about 12"-18" 

over the sidewalk . . .

. . . surrounding the a/c unit . . .

. . . sending runners 

through the vents . . .

. . . and, i'm no expert, 

but i don't think it's a good idea 

for it to be growing 

inside there . . .

. . . so today was the day . . .

. . . what with this 

probably being the last 

sub-ninety-degree day 

till, oh, i don't know ~ 

say, christmas? . . .

. . . my pruning party 

was even interrupted 

by a little precipitation . . .

. . . how nice is that? . . .

. . . okay ~ rain delay over . . .

. . . back to work . . .

. . . then i turned the corner 

and kept going . . .

. . . the pittosporum 

needed a trim, too . . .

. . . the sidewalk is reclaimed . . .

. . . the air conditioner 

has been freed . . .

. . . and it doesn't look 

like an abandoned property 

any more . . .

. . . the green trash can 

is full to overflowing . . .

{and ~ maybe i can convince one of my children 
to name a little girl ivy}

. . . the answer is always two . . .

. . . how many brothers 

does it take 

to install 

recessed medicine cabinets? . . .

. . . one to hold the saw 

and one to hold the vacuum 

and suck up the sawdust. . .

. . . teamwork is a thing of beauty 

and i always appreciate 

workers who like 

to keep things tidy . . .

. . . ripping off the bandaid . . .

. . . i could never be a nurse . . .

. . . i can't even stand 

the sight 

of bleeding paint . . .

. . . for me ~ 

taking off the tape 

is always nerve wracking . . .

. . . for years, 

i've used 

the tape and caulking 

trick . . .

. . . two problems with it:

1} there was always a little ridge

2} no skin left on my finger 

from smoothing caulk

. . . so this time, 

i used a new technique 

found on {usually} trusty 

pinterest . . .

. . . here it is in a nutshell . . .

. . . please visit

house of hepworths 

for a more detailed tutorial . . .

. . . i give it 

two very enthusiastic 

thumbs up . . .

. . . pick your seat, tagg . . .

. . . we've got two 

disney princess chairs . . .

. . . and two 

thomas the train chairs . . .

. . . and six 

white wooden chairs . . .

. . . things work out 

just fine for the girls . . .

{except they think they're getting a little too old 

for pink disney princess chairs}

. . . the problem is this: 

three boys vying for 

two thomas chairs . . .

. . . and it isn't pretty 

sometimes . . .

. . . yesterday, 

tagg was 

the odd man out . . .

. . . and let me tell you . . .

. . . that boy got his pout on . . .

. . . in a big way . . .

. . . shame on us 

for getting 

such a kick out of it . . .

. . . sunday inspiration . . .

. . . i was privileged to listen 

to a really sweet 

relief society lesson today . . .

. . . the teacher was well prepared 

and you could tell she'd studied,

 prayed, and sought 

to say exactly what 

the spirit would have her 

tell us . . .

. . . many class members participated 

in very personal ways . . .

. . . i love my ward 

and am so blessed 

for the associations 

i've enjoyed here 

for many years . . .

. . . the lesson was 

based on one of my favorite talks 

from the most recent 

general conference . . .

. . . i bet it might be 

one of your favorites, too . . .

. . . here's the meat of it . . .

{free printable available at thisisnick.com}

. . . and here's the entire talk . . .

. . . as luck would have it, 

i listened to this one 

before church today . . .

. . . the message is timeless . . .

. . . one i need to hear occasionally . . .

{sidenote: what the heck is up with the new blogger format????? 

and why did they automatically change it without asking me?

i'd just barely figured out the old style!}

. . . taping/draping . . .

. . . i've heard that real pros 

don't bother with tape . . .

. . . a steady hand 

and a quality brush 

and they're good to go . . .

. . . but i'm a sissy painter . . .

. . . blue tape and i are bffs . . .

. . . and i use 

the widest blue tape 

there is . . .

. . . i need that 

margin of error . . .

. . . then just to be sure . . .

. . . i'm also a believer 

in draping everything 

with plastic . . .

. . . especially all that beadboard 

i painted four or five times 

with a brush . . .

{two coats of primer and two or three coats of semi-gloss}

. . . i guess you could say 

i'm a little paranoid . . .

. . . gotta protect the valuables . . .

. . . i'm really hoping 

paint will wash out 

of my bangs 

before church 

in the morning

. . . and, yes, 

this is the project 

that never ends . . .

. . . is it too much to ask? . . .

. . . dearest fedex driver . . .

. . . i know this isn't exactly

a computer monitor . . .

. . . but, seriously . . .

. . . what do you think

"GLASS

FRAGILE

HANDLE WITH CARE"

means? . . .

. . . not to mention

"UP"

{with arrows!!!} . . .

. . . i'm kind of afraid to open it . . .

{it's a lighted magnifying makeup mirror ~

you know for "someone" who can't see very well}

. . . thirty-three years . . .

. . . remember when

there used to be newspapers? . . .

. . . local newspapers? . . .

. . . papers where

you could read about

who won the junior high school

football game? . . .

. . . papers where

you could find out about

babies recently born? . . .

. . . papers where

engagements and marriages

were announced? . . .

. . . that was pretty much

a lifetime ago . . .

. . . and these newspaper clippings

have aged . . .

. . . right along with

the people pictured . . .

. . . here's our

engagement announcement . . .

{oops! i really graduated in 1975, but who's counting?

proof that you can't believe everything you read!}

. . . they even listed

my parents' address . . .

. . . i love that

our temple marriage certificate

bears the signatures

of our two fathers

as witnesses . . .

. . . i miss them both . . .

. . . temple president

{at that time}

junius driggs

performed our ceremony . . .

. . . it was coincidence

that several years later,

his journals were being transcribed

by a woman

who was our neighbor . . .

. . . she came across this entry

and shared it with us . . .

. . . then this little article

about our happy day

was published

in the mesa tribune . . .

. . . that was thirty-three years ago . . .

. . . today, i love my husband

even more . . .

. . . our life together

has had its share of challenges,

for sure . . .

. . . but those challenges

are far outweighed

by blessings . . .

{additional anniversary posts

thirty-two, thirty, twenty-nine}