My Family

I took this photo out side of my house last night. We had a storm  roll in, the wind was crazy, the sky was dark and depressing, and then the sun peeked out behind the cloud. It was beautiful, the photo does not do it justice.  This is a little how I have felt the last few days.  My life was very stressful while Matt was sick and in the hospital, Matthew and Maleeya both got strep throat, Mckeely go the stomach flu. With our lives still a bit crazy we rushed off for a wonderful week away at the Grand Tetons for our family vacation, it was wonderful but exhausting as well.

I am home now, trying to catch up on the last 2 weeks of work.  Laundry, bills, yard work, cooking, cleaning and being a mom.  Oh ya and keeping up my blog….  To say the least I am a stressed out mess.  I try to be super woman and “do it all”  but some days it is just not possible.  Last night I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders.  Then I walked outside to take the trash out, and saw the beautiful sky, it took my breath away. The wind was howling around me but there is was, the vibrant rays of sun shine shooting out from behind the cloud.  Call me crazy but that was all I needed to perk me up, to let me know I was doing ok.  What a beautiful world we live in….even if a storm is rolling in!

Well it was a wonderful week away from the busy everyday life.  The first day I had total withdrawals from my blog I had to force myself to not think or worry about it.  But as soon as we got to the Grand Tetons, all I could think about was having fun with my family.  The kids had so much fun, fishing ( we only caught one fish all week, which we threw back) painting rocks, swimming, looking for all the wildlife, smelling the flowers. Most of all just having a whole week to do nothing but spend time together. Thanks to Matts family for a wonderful week filled with memory’s! I feel like I need to sleep for 24 hours to catch up on my sleep,  unpack, and get back to normal life.  Thanks to all those who helped me with guest posts while I was gone! These are a few of my favorite photos from our trip.

Have you ever wondered why I am so Thrifty?  Well it is because that is how my parents raised me.   My mom posted her latest project on facebook, and I just had to share it with you all.  I love that my mom can turn her old junk, into something beautiful.  Here is her post….(thanks Mom for letting me share this with my readers,  I love you)

I needed a cabinet to put our CD-DVD player in. This is my old sewing machine cabinet that I got for my High School Graduation present.

This is a old nightstand I got about 20 years at a yard sale. It was pretty junky even back then but I needed something and didn’t have much money. The years haven’t changed that. I decided to add the two cabinets to make a CD-DVD cabinet.

Okay, watch the transformation. Larry added a little 5 inch addition and I started to paint every thing. I had to take them apart and sand them all down and then I crackled them to make them look old. I took the top of the sewing machine cabinet and made another top with a little back on it.

Here is the new top and the door for the 5 inch addition.

transferring the pattern and beginning to paint.

Paint the branches and leaves first. I added the flowers next. Looking better all the time.

Next I did the doors for the lower cabinet. They sure look alot better than when I took them off.

Larry watched my progress pretty close. I guess I get to do this for our Heritage Cabinetry Business. Who would ever have thought that I would paint custom cabinets for other people’s homes. ( that is my Daddy! love you)

I doesn’t look like much yet, but just wait, it’s getting better

So we stacked it up to give us an idea if it was going to turn out. Larry put a coat of Lacquer and glaze on it, two times. Then take it apart again and put on the hardware.

Finally the hinges and handles are on.

I put the CD-DVD player in and it works good. Can’t even tell it there when the door is shut.
Yeah! I love to paint and I do it best when I am stressed. It relaxes me and makes me happy.

Thanks for letting me share this Mom, it turned out so pretty!  Do you see those logs in the back ground, yes my parents built our log house almost 30 years ago.  They cut the trees down and everything.  It took a lot of hard work, and love but now they have a beautiful home.

My Mom lives in the Middleton area and still teaches tole painting classes. If  you have ever wanted to learn how to paint, she will be happy to teach you.  To sign up or to find out more info you can email her at dashby425@hotmail.com , make sure you put Painting class info in the title of the email.  She won’t open mail from people she does not know.

Did you notice I was gone most the day???  My day started out at 4am with my son Matthew waking me up telling me his throat hurt, Matt tossed and turned all night still in lots of pain from his surgery ( so it kept me up too).  My little Maleeya woke me up at 6 am saying “juice juice” so I stumbled out of bed and decided to face the day.  Only to find out our site is having issues and my computer has crashed and will not allow me to access my own site.  I had to get Mckeely to an early morning dentist appointment, stop in at Costco and order 750 muffins for a church activity this weekend.  Pick  medication for Matt….rush home only to find Matt in pain trying to fix our site.  Matthew crying telling me still does not feel well, so I take him to the clinic to find out he has strep throat, which make me worry because of his heart.  Plus when he fevers he normally has seizures as well.  I went to Walgreens to fill the prescription, and had to wait 30 mins.  So Matthew enjoyed me pushing him around the store while he ate some icecream.  I came home to find out Matt was able to fix my computer ( thank you!!!) got the kids dinner and put in bed.  I am tired, grumpy and suppose to leave town for vacation tomorrow night, but I think we are going to have to wait a least another day.

But I made it……Kids are asleep in bed, Matt is resting on the couch and I am about to go join him.

Good Night!

Many of you know that my son Matthew was born missing half his heart (hypoplastic left heart syndrome), he is my little miracle and I thank Heavenly Father for him every day.  He spent the first 3 years of his life a very sick little boy in and out of hospitals all across the western states.  He is now 7 and doing well, but he is somewhat delayed and really struggles with things like buttoning his church shirt.

Sunday I was trying to get the kids dressed and out the door to church.  Once again Matthew was following me around the house telling me I can’t do it, help me mom.  I was trying to get myself and 3 kids dressed and feeling very stressed ( Matt was a work)  I ran in bathroom to grab a brush to do the girls hair.  When I came back my 4 year old Mckeely was helping her big brother with his buttons.  She was telling him, it is ok I will help you

It was just one of those moments that pulled at my heart.  As she has grown she now takes on the “big sister” role and is always taking care of him.  She is almost a big as him now too….I love being a Mom!