Over Just like That

Wow! Last week we had the scariest experience. We had just finished the laundry room and I was turned around doing something on the counter when I heard a huge "POP." The room filled with what looked like a firework and then just as quickly as it came, it was over. I turned around and screamed. The wall was black and Allison was at the wallflower I had plugged in with a metal necklace in her mouth. I grabbed the necklace and screamed again - the heat was still so intense. I dropped the necklace about the time Cole came running in. I have never experienced anything like this before, so honestly, I'm not sure I realized it could actually happen. From what we can tell, the wallflower was leaning forward a little bit, exposing the back edges of the metal prongs. Allison must have leaned forward and somehow, the metal necklace connected with those prongs and sparked. Long story short, it scared me to death. Just from that itty bitty second that I touched it, I badly burned my finger. We searched and searched Alli but other than the smokey patch on her nose and cheek and her repeated pointing to her hand, we never could find any sign of a burn. It was a miracle. I broke down a little afterwards realizing that just like that we could have lost our baby. We take for granted so often that we have them here with us and that we have another day with them. There I was celebrating my new laundry room, but in an instant that laundry room could have been one of the most hated, haunted rooms in my house. I am so grateful that everything is fine and that somehow my little one was protected. You can believe that I double checked every plug in my house for child proofing and that I got rid of EVERY wallflower I had! Once again I am reminded that "nothing is worth more than today" and am so grateful for tomorrow and everyday that I have the chance to love, cry for and live with these little ones!









This is the plate and wall AFTER we cleaned it 3 or 4 times. This is what we couldn't get off.

Poor Allison! She was still a little shaken up! Mostly because I screamed, I think!

She was showing Brock her hand. We couldn't ever find any burn marks, but she kept acting like it hurt.

You can kind of see the "crimp" burn marks just underneath the crease of my finger. It sure hurt!

This is where the necklace touched the prongs - it burst it apart.

The back of the wallflower - scorched and melted! I wish I hadn't thrown it away, I should have taken it to Bath and Body Works and shown them! That is so dangerous!

Happy Birthday to ME!

This year, I probably had one of my greatest birthdays ever! I have dubbed it "The Birthday that Never Ends!" It started the Saturday before my birthday with a girls' lunch out with my mother-in-law and sister-in laws and just kept going from there! I have never felt so loved as I have this year. I think the thing that made this year so special was that so many people remembered my birthday! I had so many friends take me to lunch and breakfast. I had phone calls and even got a surprise delivery from a friend who lives far away (which arrived on my birthday as an added bonus!) Our home teacher said Happy Birthday - on my birthday amazingly enough - and my visiting teachers even brought a gift certificate for a pedicure! It was especially fun to spend the day with Cole and the next week with him, too! All in all it was a very special 2 weeks (the total time I felt like I got to celebrate my birthday) where I felt totally pampered by my family and friends!

About a month ago, I got the great idea that this year for my birthday, I wanted to finally finish my laundry room! I made sure Cole understood that I didn't want him to get me anything else(not a hard concept for him;)) and set about getting my plan in action! It was my greatest birthday present ever!
The "BEFORE" picture! Of course, before it was gutted it had a few more things in it than this - a shelf across the top, backpack hooks, a paper hanger and an ironing board, mop, broom, etc! I also had long panel drapes that went to the floor!

The other view

On the actual day of my birthday, after the kids got home, we began the fun part! The kids' contribution to my birthday present was to help paint the laundry room too! Oh boy was that a TREAT! I ended up doing more "damage control" than painting! But they sure are proud of their hard work!

Here are the "AFTER PAINT" pictures. The paint ended up being a little "pinker" than I wanted, but now that it is all said and done - I love the warm color it gives the room and I love the way it brings out the color in the tile.

After painting, we headed to my mom and dad's new house to enjoy a movie, some cake and a long, relaxing soak in their jacuzzi tub. I know, I look HORRIBLE! Don't judge - at this point, it was about 10:30pm and we had had a very LONG day of painting and pulling all my food storage, etc out of the laundry room.

The next step was getting the cabinets installed. This actually happened about a week later. We had initially planned on buying the pre-assembled cabinets from Lowes and simply installing them, but my primary counselor's husband is a wood distributor used to design cabinets, so when he heard about my "birthday plan" he ran over to take a look. Within 5 minutes, he had completely sketched my new laundry room, complete with all kinds of options and needless to say, we were sold - the Lowe's ones were COMPLETELY out of the question! Hehe! He did everything - ordered the wood, had the wood cut and drilled and then he and Cole (but mostly...HE) put them together and installed them! After having the wood cut, we came home with hundreds of various shaped wood pieces! It looked like a really cruel puzzle to me, but Cole and Chris put those things together and had them installed in less than 2 hours.

Then I headed to Lowes for matching hardware and the counter top, cut my vinyl lettering and the next night...VOILA! I could not be any happier with the finished product! It is amazing how such a simple thing has made me feel like I have a brand-new home...and I even enjoy doing laundry again ...wink!

My COMPLETED MASTERPIECE!

I absolutely LOVE this room now! I found the things on the counter at Roberts for 75% off and knew they were exactly the look and feel I wanted in the room. I have been saving them for a month waiting for this room to come together! I already had the baskets and I converted an old shoe rack into my new backpack hanger so that I don't have to hang hooks into the wall this time. Phew - much better!

These are the vinyl quotes I put up. This one is hard to see in this picture, but it is right above the light switch and I love looking at it each time I go in the room - it actually stands out really well when the lights are off too! It disappears a little when the light turns on! Oh well!

This one is one that I designed myself. This is one of my favorite phrases. I still have a bunch of flowers in the green and pink that I need to decide where I want to put up.

All the cute decorations I found at Roberts. Everything on this shelf, except the baskets cost $22. The purse is a piggy bank - how perfect for me - since I find coins in the laundry ALL THE TIME!

P.S. These items are not permanently assigned these spots! I am hoping to put up a little shelf and move one off and I like to frequently rearrange...so keep that in mind!

One last view at my new laundry room - HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me!

After my long diatribe in the previous entry about my love of Demo Derby's, I figured I'd better hurry and post the actual pictures of the derby! This years Derby was especially fun because they included a truck derby, which is always a big hit since someone ALWAYS flips over! They also had the annual Van jump. However, this year it was a little disappointing since it was all over before we really had a chance to get excited for it. The van went up a small dirt ramp and went right through a motor home. It was fun to watch! We had great seats this year, clear at the top, so we could see everything. Can't wait for next year's derby to roll around again!

Allison got a little rowdy and we strapped her into her stroller! She was not happy about that, but it sure made it a whole lot nicer for me! Plus, it was so loud, no one could even hear her cry!

The Flying Van!

The motorhome after the van jumped through it! It all happened so fast noone even had their cameras turned on! Oops! Usually it's a YOU TUBE hit! Oh well!

Haha! She finally caught on! She spent a lot of time like this - plugging her ears! She did it during the fireworks too!

The final six cars in the Winner's heat! The cars that Brock and I picked were both in this heat! We were so proud. ;)

The Fair Parade

I have to admit it...I've turned a tad bit redneck! Yes, I know, it was one of my greatest fears...that I'd move to Utah and become one of those (gasp) "Utah Mormons" and turn into a Richfield "Redneck!" Darnit! And of course, it happened - there's no use denying it! I'll admit, I have become one of those full-blown rednecks that has grown to ABSOLUTELY love the demolition derby. It started 10 years ago when Cole took me to my first one. At the time, I was a few months pregnant and so, sooo sick. Between the dust, the exhaust fumes and the sounds - it was all I could do to run from that place and ever want to come back. But as the years went on, it became an annual event and regrettably, it has now become one of my favorite "family" traditions! Yes, I've even turned my kids into little rednecks!;) I have to tell you, if you've never been - you are definitely missing out!
So here we are at the parade the morning before the derby. The kids had spent the night at Uncle Ladd and Aunt Krystal's house the night before so I met them there!

Blowing bubbles and waiting for the parade to start.

Isn't she just adorable?

The hair school sprayed color on people's heads! I thought that was pretty creative instead of throwing out candy.

This was Allison's stash of candy that she was trying to build. You can see the bigger pile that the kids had Ladd guard! The funniest thing was that she puked in her pile! Grossss! I tried to give that candy away to Ladd! I can't imagine why he didn't want it!

Little swiper!

I will love this picture forever! We are so lucky to have family so close! How sweet is that tender pic between Alli and her uncle "Lolly-lolly!"