Happy Birthday Michael + Visitors!!

Happy birthday, Michael! He went to work on Tuesday and we made him falafel for his birthday dinner. I got him a neck & shoulder massager for his birthday because he keeps saying he needs to take up Yoga so his hunched-over job doesn't turn him into an old man. Westin and Bennett had helped me pick out a Neighborhood Beekeeping book for him, too. They like visiting the local bee/honey shop because if you find the queen bee in their observation hive then you get to choose a flavored honey stick.

I did an accent wall start to finish by myself this week, and I felt proud of my first solo power tool day! I put a geometric trim pattern on my green wall and painted it the same color green, to give it some texture. I also added some details into our half bath that I stenciled last week. Every week the house looks more like I've pictured it in my head. And now I know that I'm more comfortable with a miter saw and a nail gun than I am with a drill. I'll never understand that. I also took a curtain rod that the sellers had left, and cut a part off of it with my jigsaw so that it didn't look like a boob anymore. Then I sanded it and spray painted it, and now we can buy curtains for the front room. Except choosing curtains and rugs is too hard, so, I'll just keep adding curtains to my cart from a bunch of stores without ever really pulling the trigger for a while.

On Saturday, Ali and Matthias and Elise arrived! I love when family come to our house! We had just left an outdoor neighborhood birthday party (where Bennett spilled hot chocolate which bounced all over me and Westin... some days are just a bigger struggle than others), and we were so happy to come home to family getting here. Baby Elise is so stinking cute, and she and Camden seem like twins since she's so determined and mobile. She loves to stroke his hair... and then pull it. Hehe. We have to referee them but they are so cute to see together, especially on their little high chair dates. We're looking forward to their visit this week!!

 

Before and after!

Splotchy because I just painted it. But I love it!

Election week.
We look at red and blue state maps so much,
but it's important to remember that land doesn't vote and all counties are different.
This visual was helpful for me.
Also, following the election for days and then getting results felt like I stopped holding my breath for the first time in four years. The physical feeling I felt Saturday was so surprising to me.

I love this boy and he's such a sweetie. But he's also pretty high maintenance lately, and, well,
just had to document it. I don't want to scroll through this blog someday and just weep for my little people to be little again. I want to feel grateful these days happened and grateful for new stages...
pics like this will probably help :)

We finally got a new vacuum, since ours was working less and less every time we forced it to keep trying to do its job. I know this is disgusting. But you guys, it is so fun to vacuum with a WORKING vacuum.

Two weeks ago I didn't know at all what I wanted to do in here,
and someday I might do something different and remodel it more,
but this little temporary and basically free option is making me really happy.

Big Snow and Simple Halloween

 The boys were excited to get a big snow storm this week!

It was almost melted by Halloween, so that was perfect. We had a fun and simple Halloween with our neighborhood families, doing a spaced out parade and most houses put candy outside in ways that would keep people from touching each other's candy. It was friendly and distanced and fun to see a lot of our older neighbors come out to enjoy the kids' costumes, too. Then we trick or treated the couple streets over to our bishop's house where our ward had a little trunk or treat set up. We came home and had a pumpkin shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's and sorted candy and it was one of those "Oh wow, life is really different" days... I just remember each Halloween of residency feeling kind of hard. Getting 2 or 3 kids dressed up, making food for the parties we would go to, driving to multiple neighborhoods to trick or treat because our neighborhood wasn't super festive... it was always so fun and the boys loved it. But having Michael around for the whole holiday, and walking right outside our door to the friendliest set up, it just all felt really fun and simple and perfect.

It's so late and I just finished painting my downstairs bathroom (pics at the end) so I'm heading to bed. Pictures instead of words this week. I love my little family.

Watching cousins in their virtual primary programs has been a fun bonus of this weird year.

The snow started in the evening and kept coming all night!

This was a really good read. I've been listening and reading so much more these last few weeks compared to when I was painting even more than I am now.

"Don't let Camden by the stairs" is a current frequent big brother job.

They were just spinning and jumping and hugging... I love them.

Couldn't contain their excitement to get out in the snow.
They're wearing the same shirt underneath their t shirts -- I went to a consignment sale from families that have twins and triplets in Fort Collins and picked up a bunch of winter stuff. They can basically wear the same size and I think it's so funny.

Deep! Bennett eats snow the whole time he plays in it :)

Some projects are easier and faster than I anticipate (painting doors).
Some projects are much, much more tedious than I anticipate (painting our shiplap black). 
Painting the gaps between the boards took me hours. There was probably a better way to do that but I just didn't think it would be so hard to get to after we installed it.
But now it's done and we set up our BED for the first time since being here and our room is starting to feel like a real room, its so fun. The black shiplap is super calming to me.

Sometimes he just cries and cries. Oh Cam Cam.

Michael made butternut squash soup on his day off this week and it was a labor of love for sure.
Picked up the ingredients with Westin, toasted the coconut, used fresh ginger and garlic and doubled the recipe... it was delicious but very strong ginger flavor going on so the boys were having a hard time.
They couldn't wrap their minds around the "spicy" they were feeling -- it's different than spicy Mexican food but they still couldn't get on board.

One of Michael's assistants brought some avocados from her dad's avocado tree in Florida.
It's HUGE! The next picture has scale...

The fork helps. This thing is massive. And SO good!

See how perfect?
We've kept it in the fridge and we've been putting slices on sandwiches, eggs, in smoothies, etc, and it's just this dream avocado that keeps on giving.

All ready for our masked-up, socially-distanced parade and trick or treat time!

Our neighborhood parade and trick or treating meshed right into our ward trunk or treat at our bishop's house, and it was the most efficient and simple Halloween ever. It was great!

Our sweet Dalmatian was frequently referred to as a cow.
Both are really cute.

Pumpkin pizza time!
The day before I took the boys to pick up groceries, pick up pizzas, and one more errand,
and we were home within 25 minutes. I LOVE living close to everything we need.

Every night they fall asleep, and I stay up doing this or that.

Picnic spot after our family ride!

This design is far less tedious than our Indianapolis wall -- took me 3 hours instead of 24.
And it doesn't even look like it should have taken 3 hours. It just did.

Done! Time to add some details and shelves and stuff to get this looking a more finished.
I should've taken a picture of the robin egg blue bathroom before, but I've taken no before pics.
Just jumped into things around here and I should have documented our empty rooms before we moved in.