30 April 2012

. . . 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! . . .


29 April 2012

. . . the gilbert temple . . .

. . . it's getting . . .


. . . closer . . .


. . . and closer . . .


. . . every day . . .


. . . to being finished . . .


. . . we're lucky . . .


. . . to live . . .


. . . so close . . .


. . . to two temples . . .


28 April 2012

. . . 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 . . .


27 April 2012

. . . 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 . . .


26 April 2012

. . . 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}


25 April 2012

. . . 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 . . .


24 April 2012

. . . 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
for a more detailed tutorial . . .
. . . i give it 
two very enthusiastic 
thumbs up . . .


23 April 2012

. . . 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 . . .



22 April 2012

. . . 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!}


21 April 2012

. . . 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 . . .


20 April 2012

. . . 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}



19 April 2012

. . . 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