A Week of DIY
We sure did a lot this week! Here are the highlights.
Tuesday and Wednesday: I did a lot of work out in the yard. I talked Abby into helping me pick all the dandelion heads all the way around the entire house. I wanted to mow with the mulcher, but didn't want to return all the dandelion seeds back into the grass. So we picked half of the dandelions on Tuesday, then picked the rest on Wednesday.
Several times, Abby would ask if she could go "rest" in her swing, sometimes just two minutes into our endeavors. I was always able to coax her into picking just a few more, and then a few more. :) I even talked about the value of work with her, asking questions such as, "Why do you think Heavenly Father commanded us to work? And what would happen if nobody did any work? What if the farmers never planted or harvested any crops? Would we even have anything in the grocery store to eat? And what if we never washed any dishes or swept the floors or cleaned up after ourselves? What would our house look like?" I was able to share with her how much I love to work and the satisfaction it brings to me. She asked, "What is satisfaction?" I explained that it's a good feeling inside when you know you did a great job and you are proud of what you did. I compared it to when Jesus and Heavenly Father created the earth. They worked so hard to make everything so beautiful and perfect for us to have a place to live, and when they were done, they stood back to look at everything and then they said, "It is good." They were satisfied. And it felt good.
It is such an honor and a privilege to be a grandma. I think about it all the time lately. I really want to be a good grandma. I want to teach my grandchildren important lessons and to demonstrate tons of patience and love toward them. I remember back to my own grandparents and the loving influence they each shared with me.
For example, my Grandma Zoe taught me to take pleasure in the simple things of life, such as a well-cooked meal, or a tasty pie, clipping some flower blooms to put in a vase to enjoy indoors, sewing and making dolls for grandchildren and friends, and how to be patient and kind.
My Grandma Lillian taught me how to work hard and how to take pride in a job well done, how to set goals and achieve them, how to laugh and play when the work was done, and how important it is to stay connected with family members both near and far.
My Grandma Doris taught me how to be an adventurer, to go out and see the world, one place at a time, and how to really soak up cultures and interesting sights even if you can't hop on a plane and go there to see it in person. She also taught me the value of a meaningful conversation, really paying attention to the other person and validating each other, sharing and caring about the other person as you visit.
My Grandpa Linton taught me the value of having a good sense of humor and how to show love as a grandparent should (with a twinkle in his eye at all times). He also taught me the importance of working with your hands to create something useful, such as a good solid wooden swing to hang on a really tall tree, building an outdoor playhouse for the grandchildren to have lively and imaginative fun together, all while keeping up with all the chores that are so demanding when you live on a ranch.
Being a grandparent is an opportunity to try to teach the next generation in a better way, a more loving way, than how we may have raised our own children, recognizing that there is a definite difference between being a parent (having an active role) versus being a grandparent (having a supportive role). So it's not a time to beat ourselves up and think that we did a horrible job as a parent. It's just a different opportunity to teach without having so much responsibility overall. I hope I'm not butchering what I'm trying to say here . . .
As I whittled down my list of outdoor chores early this past week, I noticed that a couple of planks were sticking out from the raised bed we've had for many years. As I was pulling weeds and moving the dirt around, it was spilling out on the sides where the planks weren't fully attached.
I am embarrassed to say that I didn't even know how to get the drill to work properly in order to fix the planter box. But guess who did? My daughter Amber! She helped me get it all taken care of. I learned a lot of things working with my dad last fall in California, but mostly I just did what I was told and got pretty good at that. I also confess that I'm very spoiled to be married to Scott, who just automatically takes care of anything and everything that needs fixing around here. But thank goodness for daughters who know stuff too! :)
I also bought a new lawnmower. I have hated our old lawnmower ever since we got it several years ago. I could never start it without it yanking my shoulder almost out of its socket. It was an ornery old cuss. I told Scott of my intentions of buying a new one, one that I could actually start by myself. I enjoy mowing, just not with that old bleepety-bleep-bleep one. He gave me his blessing and we shopped online together before settling on a nice Troy-Bilt lawnmower from Home Depot.
When I started it for the first time, it was like a dream. An amazing dream where I pulled the cord just once and it started up all smooth like butter!! I happily mowed (mulched) the entire lawn and enjoyed the satisfaction of seeing it all cut and beautiful by the time I was done. I also fertilized the lawns and garden areas and set the sprinklers to start coming on 3x/week until it warms up a bit more.
We ate pizza for dinner in the backyard that evening. A nice break from cooking I'd say. :)
When I went to bed that night, I noticed that Abby had left her little bride and groom dolls on my bed pillows. (The dolls were crocheted by our friend Brittany Vance years ago when Amber got married to Weston) When I sent this picture to Scott, he texted back, "What does this mean?" ha ha
I told him that it means we should get married. We already say that to each other quite often during our almost 28 years of marriage. :)
Thursday: It was a cold and rainy day for much of the day. But we did get outside later in the afternoon.
As I was pushing Gwen in the swing (I put a towel on there first because it was a little wet from the rain), she stopped holding on at one point and put her arms out. Concerned, I quickly said, "Whatcha doing Gwen?" She answered, "I'm hying. Yike Kinkbell!" (Translation: I'm flying. Like Tinkerbell!)
I also had the girls pose for a few pictures under the beautiful blooming apricot tree out front.
The girls had fun splashing in puddles, chasing each other, and Abby wanted more than anything to be able to jump up and touch the American flag in front of the house.
My forget-me-nots are also in bloom.
Amber got an idea mid-week to update our living room fireplace. She was able to give it a fresh face-lift and it looks great!
Before:
And After:
It helped that our neighbor next door cut down a birch tree and then happily offered some pieces for our project!!
Friday: Weston and I went to Home Depot to get the lumber and parts to build a swing set for the girls. We've been discussing the plans for weeks now with Scott and other other family members. We got to Home Depot only to get in the longest line I've ever seen there outside. They pace how many people can go inside at a time due to coronavirus restrictions. It took us about 20-25 minutes just to get into the store.
Once we got our supplies, we headed home to get to work on the swing set. Weston put his whole body through the wringer just trying to get the overhead beam into the corner braces, using a sledgehammer and some serious brute force! He said his head was even hurting later that evening from all the pounding he did. Poor guy. But what a triumphant amount of effort he put in!
We decided to build our first campfire of the season, roasting hot dogs for dinner.
We also made a modge-podge version of s'mores for dessert, using an assortment of leftover marshmallows, random chocolate pieces, all placed on random crackers. And it all worked out just fine.
Then back to work. The girls helped Weston put in the eye bolts in the header beam for a way to hang an assortment of swings. I worked out the placement of the bolts for him to drill the holes.
It was a great family day!
Saturday: With the help of our neighbors, Ben Parkinson and Jeshua Sargetis, we were able to stand up the swing set once the second set of legs were secured in place.
Then all that remained was to hang up our first variety of swings. It has 5 hooks and multiple possibilities for different types of swings, hammocks, etc.
Abby is swinging next to her mommy, Amber, who is trying out her new yoga swing.
And speaking of yoga, while Amber was trying out her yoga poses outside, all graceful-like:
I was inside, trying to do some yoga poses of my own.
My big project - that I just started at the end of the week - is to paint my kitchen cabinets. Here I was applying the primer underneath the upper cabinets. Definitely not a job for someone with back problems.
I set up a work area out back to paint the cabinet doors. And while they dried, I would go inside to paint the cabinet backs. The primer that I'm using is from Lowe's and it is a great product! It's made by Val-Spar and is not only a primer, but it's a BONDING primer as well as a stain-blocker. So I don't need to sand my cabinets at all!! I just paint the primer on and then the eventual paint will cling to the primer! Voila! It will be fabulous!
The paint color I've chosen is called "Honied White" (Behr brand from Home Depot). It's a beautiful cream color that will lighten and brighten up my kitchen. I'll post updates as I go along.
Gwen was very helpful in all sorts of ways.
Sunday: We had another beautiful Sunday service in the living room with Weston blessing the Sacrament, Amber providing the activity, and I played the piano. We sang a few extra songs today, adding in some lively and fun children's songs such as "Popcorn Popping", "Nephi's Courage", and "Follow the Prophet".
For the activity, Amber gave the girls each a coloring page with Jesus and Heavenly Father. She asked them questions about how are they both similar, even though they are separate and distinct. An answer she offered was that Jesus and Heavenly Father both love us very much. Then she asked them to draw a heart on their coloring page where Jesus' and Heavenly Father's heart would be. They also both serve us and help us, so the girls drew a heart on the hands of Jesus and Heavenly Father to represent their loving and helping hands. And so on. It was very sweet. At one point, Gwen commented, "And Jesus. And Jacob and Hannah." As if to say that they all belonged together.
News from Scott:
A week ago or so, Scott told me that there was a possibility of him being delayed in coming home. The potential was that he might be up to a couple months late. The reason why is that due to the Coronavirus, the military placed a freeze on all comings and goings through June 30th. This could affect Scott because in order for him and everyone else to come home, typically they need replacements. And if the replacements require training prior to coming overseas, then the soonest they could begin training would be July 1st. Scott had to go through 2 months of training prior to heading over to the Middle East, so . . . . .
But since that news bombshell hit, there have been more promising updates that give me hope of him returning much closer to the expected timeline (late July-ish). We are just waiting for something substantial and concrete at some point, with the hope of something to count down toward. Scott thinks that we should know something solid by June.
He also reported that they had an abrupt change with the chow hall crew. The cooks that have been there for months are from Bangladesh, and have done a really great job. Scott said he could ask for just about anything that could be cooked up on a grill and they would make it for him. There were multiple selections for his two meals a day, all of which were tasty and enjoyable. But last night there was a change, and the change was the opposite of great. The Bangladesh crew can't come over to work anymore because of the coronavirus (at least that's the theory), so now there are military cooks instead. His meal earlier today was only one choice, a beef stew over rice with broccoli on the side, and he said it was horrible. He is not happy about this at all.
Some of his housemates have just done their own cooking the entire time they've been there, so this doesn't affect them at all. But Scott has been very comfortable going to the cafeteria twice a day for something delicious, and now he's not sure how to proceed. I gave him a couple of suggestions, including getting groceries and cooking for himself, or paying one of his roommates to cook a little extra for him. He's still thinking.
He's just starting to really want to come home. Even more so with all the projects going on around the house lately. His favorite thing is to tinker around the house, fixing stuff and checking on stuff. Thank goodness for video technology on our phone calls or else he would be going crazy! As it is, I take him with me to Home Depot or Lowe's regularly, I show him all the projects I'm working on, and I try to include him as much as possible. Then he feels like he's a part of what's going on, even when he can't be here in person.
But let's be honest here, having him here in person would absolutely be THE BEST!! So now let's just hurry this whole thing up and get him home!!
Tuesday and Wednesday: I did a lot of work out in the yard. I talked Abby into helping me pick all the dandelion heads all the way around the entire house. I wanted to mow with the mulcher, but didn't want to return all the dandelion seeds back into the grass. So we picked half of the dandelions on Tuesday, then picked the rest on Wednesday.
Several times, Abby would ask if she could go "rest" in her swing, sometimes just two minutes into our endeavors. I was always able to coax her into picking just a few more, and then a few more. :) I even talked about the value of work with her, asking questions such as, "Why do you think Heavenly Father commanded us to work? And what would happen if nobody did any work? What if the farmers never planted or harvested any crops? Would we even have anything in the grocery store to eat? And what if we never washed any dishes or swept the floors or cleaned up after ourselves? What would our house look like?" I was able to share with her how much I love to work and the satisfaction it brings to me. She asked, "What is satisfaction?" I explained that it's a good feeling inside when you know you did a great job and you are proud of what you did. I compared it to when Jesus and Heavenly Father created the earth. They worked so hard to make everything so beautiful and perfect for us to have a place to live, and when they were done, they stood back to look at everything and then they said, "It is good." They were satisfied. And it felt good.
It is such an honor and a privilege to be a grandma. I think about it all the time lately. I really want to be a good grandma. I want to teach my grandchildren important lessons and to demonstrate tons of patience and love toward them. I remember back to my own grandparents and the loving influence they each shared with me.
For example, my Grandma Zoe taught me to take pleasure in the simple things of life, such as a well-cooked meal, or a tasty pie, clipping some flower blooms to put in a vase to enjoy indoors, sewing and making dolls for grandchildren and friends, and how to be patient and kind.
My Grandma Lillian taught me how to work hard and how to take pride in a job well done, how to set goals and achieve them, how to laugh and play when the work was done, and how important it is to stay connected with family members both near and far.
My Grandma Doris taught me how to be an adventurer, to go out and see the world, one place at a time, and how to really soak up cultures and interesting sights even if you can't hop on a plane and go there to see it in person. She also taught me the value of a meaningful conversation, really paying attention to the other person and validating each other, sharing and caring about the other person as you visit.
My Grandpa Linton taught me the value of having a good sense of humor and how to show love as a grandparent should (with a twinkle in his eye at all times). He also taught me the importance of working with your hands to create something useful, such as a good solid wooden swing to hang on a really tall tree, building an outdoor playhouse for the grandchildren to have lively and imaginative fun together, all while keeping up with all the chores that are so demanding when you live on a ranch.
Being a grandparent is an opportunity to try to teach the next generation in a better way, a more loving way, than how we may have raised our own children, recognizing that there is a definite difference between being a parent (having an active role) versus being a grandparent (having a supportive role). So it's not a time to beat ourselves up and think that we did a horrible job as a parent. It's just a different opportunity to teach without having so much responsibility overall. I hope I'm not butchering what I'm trying to say here . . .
As I whittled down my list of outdoor chores early this past week, I noticed that a couple of planks were sticking out from the raised bed we've had for many years. As I was pulling weeds and moving the dirt around, it was spilling out on the sides where the planks weren't fully attached.
I am embarrassed to say that I didn't even know how to get the drill to work properly in order to fix the planter box. But guess who did? My daughter Amber! She helped me get it all taken care of. I learned a lot of things working with my dad last fall in California, but mostly I just did what I was told and got pretty good at that. I also confess that I'm very spoiled to be married to Scott, who just automatically takes care of anything and everything that needs fixing around here. But thank goodness for daughters who know stuff too! :)
I also bought a new lawnmower. I have hated our old lawnmower ever since we got it several years ago. I could never start it without it yanking my shoulder almost out of its socket. It was an ornery old cuss. I told Scott of my intentions of buying a new one, one that I could actually start by myself. I enjoy mowing, just not with that old bleepety-bleep-bleep one. He gave me his blessing and we shopped online together before settling on a nice Troy-Bilt lawnmower from Home Depot.
When I started it for the first time, it was like a dream. An amazing dream where I pulled the cord just once and it started up all smooth like butter!! I happily mowed (mulched) the entire lawn and enjoyed the satisfaction of seeing it all cut and beautiful by the time I was done. I also fertilized the lawns and garden areas and set the sprinklers to start coming on 3x/week until it warms up a bit more.
We ate pizza for dinner in the backyard that evening. A nice break from cooking I'd say. :)
When I went to bed that night, I noticed that Abby had left her little bride and groom dolls on my bed pillows. (The dolls were crocheted by our friend Brittany Vance years ago when Amber got married to Weston) When I sent this picture to Scott, he texted back, "What does this mean?" ha ha
I told him that it means we should get married. We already say that to each other quite often during our almost 28 years of marriage. :)
Thursday: It was a cold and rainy day for much of the day. But we did get outside later in the afternoon.
As I was pushing Gwen in the swing (I put a towel on there first because it was a little wet from the rain), she stopped holding on at one point and put her arms out. Concerned, I quickly said, "Whatcha doing Gwen?" She answered, "I'm hying. Yike Kinkbell!" (Translation: I'm flying. Like Tinkerbell!)
I also had the girls pose for a few pictures under the beautiful blooming apricot tree out front.
The girls had fun splashing in puddles, chasing each other, and Abby wanted more than anything to be able to jump up and touch the American flag in front of the house.
My forget-me-nots are also in bloom.
Amber got an idea mid-week to update our living room fireplace. She was able to give it a fresh face-lift and it looks great!
Before:
And After:
It helped that our neighbor next door cut down a birch tree and then happily offered some pieces for our project!!
Friday: Weston and I went to Home Depot to get the lumber and parts to build a swing set for the girls. We've been discussing the plans for weeks now with Scott and other other family members. We got to Home Depot only to get in the longest line I've ever seen there outside. They pace how many people can go inside at a time due to coronavirus restrictions. It took us about 20-25 minutes just to get into the store.
Once we got our supplies, we headed home to get to work on the swing set. Weston put his whole body through the wringer just trying to get the overhead beam into the corner braces, using a sledgehammer and some serious brute force! He said his head was even hurting later that evening from all the pounding he did. Poor guy. But what a triumphant amount of effort he put in!
We decided to build our first campfire of the season, roasting hot dogs for dinner.
We also made a modge-podge version of s'mores for dessert, using an assortment of leftover marshmallows, random chocolate pieces, all placed on random crackers. And it all worked out just fine.
Then back to work. The girls helped Weston put in the eye bolts in the header beam for a way to hang an assortment of swings. I worked out the placement of the bolts for him to drill the holes.
It was a great family day!
Saturday: With the help of our neighbors, Ben Parkinson and Jeshua Sargetis, we were able to stand up the swing set once the second set of legs were secured in place.
Then all that remained was to hang up our first variety of swings. It has 5 hooks and multiple possibilities for different types of swings, hammocks, etc.
Abby is swinging next to her mommy, Amber, who is trying out her new yoga swing.
And speaking of yoga, while Amber was trying out her yoga poses outside, all graceful-like:
I was inside, trying to do some yoga poses of my own.
My big project - that I just started at the end of the week - is to paint my kitchen cabinets. Here I was applying the primer underneath the upper cabinets. Definitely not a job for someone with back problems.
I set up a work area out back to paint the cabinet doors. And while they dried, I would go inside to paint the cabinet backs. The primer that I'm using is from Lowe's and it is a great product! It's made by Val-Spar and is not only a primer, but it's a BONDING primer as well as a stain-blocker. So I don't need to sand my cabinets at all!! I just paint the primer on and then the eventual paint will cling to the primer! Voila! It will be fabulous!
The paint color I've chosen is called "Honied White" (Behr brand from Home Depot). It's a beautiful cream color that will lighten and brighten up my kitchen. I'll post updates as I go along.
Gwen was very helpful in all sorts of ways.
Sunday: We had another beautiful Sunday service in the living room with Weston blessing the Sacrament, Amber providing the activity, and I played the piano. We sang a few extra songs today, adding in some lively and fun children's songs such as "Popcorn Popping", "Nephi's Courage", and "Follow the Prophet".
For the activity, Amber gave the girls each a coloring page with Jesus and Heavenly Father. She asked them questions about how are they both similar, even though they are separate and distinct. An answer she offered was that Jesus and Heavenly Father both love us very much. Then she asked them to draw a heart on their coloring page where Jesus' and Heavenly Father's heart would be. They also both serve us and help us, so the girls drew a heart on the hands of Jesus and Heavenly Father to represent their loving and helping hands. And so on. It was very sweet. At one point, Gwen commented, "And Jesus. And Jacob and Hannah." As if to say that they all belonged together.
News from Scott:
A week ago or so, Scott told me that there was a possibility of him being delayed in coming home. The potential was that he might be up to a couple months late. The reason why is that due to the Coronavirus, the military placed a freeze on all comings and goings through June 30th. This could affect Scott because in order for him and everyone else to come home, typically they need replacements. And if the replacements require training prior to coming overseas, then the soonest they could begin training would be July 1st. Scott had to go through 2 months of training prior to heading over to the Middle East, so . . . . .
But since that news bombshell hit, there have been more promising updates that give me hope of him returning much closer to the expected timeline (late July-ish). We are just waiting for something substantial and concrete at some point, with the hope of something to count down toward. Scott thinks that we should know something solid by June.
He also reported that they had an abrupt change with the chow hall crew. The cooks that have been there for months are from Bangladesh, and have done a really great job. Scott said he could ask for just about anything that could be cooked up on a grill and they would make it for him. There were multiple selections for his two meals a day, all of which were tasty and enjoyable. But last night there was a change, and the change was the opposite of great. The Bangladesh crew can't come over to work anymore because of the coronavirus (at least that's the theory), so now there are military cooks instead. His meal earlier today was only one choice, a beef stew over rice with broccoli on the side, and he said it was horrible. He is not happy about this at all.
Some of his housemates have just done their own cooking the entire time they've been there, so this doesn't affect them at all. But Scott has been very comfortable going to the cafeteria twice a day for something delicious, and now he's not sure how to proceed. I gave him a couple of suggestions, including getting groceries and cooking for himself, or paying one of his roommates to cook a little extra for him. He's still thinking.
He's just starting to really want to come home. Even more so with all the projects going on around the house lately. His favorite thing is to tinker around the house, fixing stuff and checking on stuff. Thank goodness for video technology on our phone calls or else he would be going crazy! As it is, I take him with me to Home Depot or Lowe's regularly, I show him all the projects I'm working on, and I try to include him as much as possible. Then he feels like he's a part of what's going on, even when he can't be here in person.
But let's be honest here, having him here in person would absolutely be THE BEST!! So now let's just hurry this whole thing up and get him home!!
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