Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Building another house....kind of!

I have always wanted to have a dollhouse. So with the grandkids staying with us this week while mom and dad are in Hawaii, I decided its now or never. I figured it might be easier to start with a bookshelf and just convert it. So after a few days of neglecting my big house, this is the small house I came up with...

This is what I started with.
This is what I ended up with.
Dollar store picture frames were used as the exterior windows. I replaced the glass with plexiglass. The roof shingles are strips of fun foam cut to look like shingles.
Kind of a birds-eye view of the house.
The family room, or game room, complete with rock fireplace. I built the frame for the fireplace out of MDF, then covered it in small stones. I used tile grout for the mortar. The mantel is a chunk of wood that I distressed and stained. The hearth is a rough piece of cedar painted to look like stone.
The bedroom, complete with a family photo on the wall and braided hot pad as a rug.
The bathroom, still in need of a few more fixtures. The tiles are 3/4" squares of fun foam glued in place.
The kitchen with a cast iron stove, "stainless steel" sink, "granite" counter tops, and fun foam tiles on the floor.
The dining room with the bamboo hot pad as an area rug.
Looking through the window into the kitchen.
A close-up of the cast iron stove with a freshly baked apple pie cooling on top! Can't you just smell it?
Every house needs a sewing area.
What house would be complete without an upright piano and grandfather clock?
And the best part of the house? My sweet granddaughter, Shailey, who is soooo excited to have a house to play with.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Popcorn popping on the Fuji apple tree!

We planted a Fuji apple tree several years ago and have lovingly taken care of it over time. But, for some reason it only produces every other year. So, today "I looked out the window and what did I see? Blossoms blossoming on my neighbor's apple tree!" I wondered what my tree was doing. One glance outside and I was so excited I had to grab my camera. (new camera, not quite sure how to use it, good time to experiment) I was just going to take pictures of the blossoms, but then realized that the bees were just busy, busy, busy! Not to rush through spring or summer, but I look forward to fall when we get to feast on fresh apples and apple juice!







Check out the pollen load on this guy...definitely a busy bee! Thanks to him and his buddies we should have lots of juicy apples in the fall!

Friday, April 16, 2010

Tea Party Celebration!


Recently, Monty has been attending the 9/12 group for Lane County. They are group that follows Glenn Beck's 9 principles and 12 values campaign. He has enjoyed meeting other people who share his ideals and thoughts on government. On tax day they sponsored a Tea Party in downtown Eugene at the former Federal Building. It was quite successful with over a thousand people in attendance. The boys scouts had the opportunity to sell hot dogs as a fundraiser and also perform the flag ceremony. The boys had fun and the troop earned a good chunk of money. We played the National Anthem for the event (right after the Pledge of Allegiance) and thought it would be fun to play the recording of our daughter Kim singing. It was a gorgeous sunny afternoon and (I know I'm probably bragging, but...) her voice sounded so beautiful as it played over the loud speakers. After much head scratching, I learned how to include a copy for your listening pleasure. Have a great day...and may God bless America!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Are these good looking guys or what?!

Ever since Jesse changed his name to Moroni, I've been wanting to take pictures of Dad and the boys and add these scriptures to them. Finally, on the day before Ammon was leaving, and only about 30 minutes before he was to be set apart as a missionary, we snapped a bunch of pictures...very quickly! It was quite the trick to get Hyrum to cooperate. He loves to close his eyes in pictures, but we got a few.


"Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men. Behold, he was a man like unto Ammon, the son of Monty, yea, and even the other sons of Monty, yea, McKay and Hyrum, for they were all men of God." Alma 48:17-18


"Now these sons of Monty had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God. But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God." Alma 17:2-3

Haircuts!

So Kara took the plunge and got her hair cut. It's really short in the back with more length around her face. I think it looks really cute! Hyrum was in much need of a haircut. Of course, it doesn't matter how short it is, it always sticks up in the back like Dennis the Menace! Anyway, Moroni didn't think I should cut it because he liked it longer. Hyrum had his opinion as well..."Mom, your cutting off my style!" In my opinion, I think he has great style even with shorter hair!