Abby

Abby & Aris April 2010

Dean walked outside tonight and found our Abby dog by the girls swing set. She had passed away sometime this afternoon. I feel horrible that I didn't realize sooner. I've been so preoccupied with all the yuckies that have been in our house I haven't taken the time to walk outside in the last few days. We took Abby in a few months after Dean & I got married. His ex wife couldn't handle her anymore. She had been rescued from an abusive home so she was never very social with the kids. She didn't like other dogs & tolerated Blu. Despite her standoffish nature we all loved her & she will be very missed. The girls are going to be devastated. I know they will want another dog but I'm afraid they will have to wait. I don't want any animals for a while. I can't stand the thought of loosing another animal. This really is bittersweet. She was very old & blind. She didn't seem to be in any pain but I'm pretty sure she is in a much happier place right now. We'll miss you Abby dog. Have fun hanging out with Blu. We love & miss you both.

Back in a Few

We are fighting a wee little bug at our house. I'll be back in a few days when things settle down a bit. Hope you all are enjoying your pre-Thanksgiving festivities. I've almost finished all of our baking. Tomorrow night I will start all the dough for our cookies. It feels good to have some of this done. I'm not much of a planner but we are having too much company not to be a little organized. How about you, what are your pre-Thanksgiving traditions?

4 Months

4 Months

I have been taking all of his pics right on the 30th until this month but I love how these look kinda vintage so I wanted to share them. Omri is such a fun little guy. He's rolling from front to back & back to front now. He also watches me drink & then try's to grab my cup & pulls it to his mouth. He's always smiling & still a good sleeper. He's getting huge! Weighing almost 17 pounds, wearing size 12 month clothing, & size 4 diapers. Crazy! But he's still a snuggler even though he's growing so fast. I just adore this little man!

First Snow

Best Friends

Our Boots

Mozers

Merris

Thursday morning we awoke to a light dusting of snow! Most of it melted before the afternoon, but you would have thought we had a blizzard with all the excitement around here. I bundled up the two little monkeys & even though it was super chilly outside they played for a good hour in the back yard. Hard to believe it's already that time of year again. Am I the only one with an increased amount of laundry to do now that the days are colder? I feel like my baskets are never empty.

 May I just tell you how much I love our new home? Today we drove through our old neighborhood & visited the old house. I didn't get that pain in my heart. It still made me a little sad to see the old studio/playhouse in the back yard. I walked on the little porch & peeked inside. So many great memories. The grass has died & the garden was overgrown. The whole place felt lifeless. Our new home is finding it's way into my heart. Memories are being made, our life story slowly unfolding and leaving its imprint on each and every inch. I love it.

I have a few plans for this weekend. The first is to finish up 150 invitations for a church party our Relief Society is having in December. They want to pass them out on Sunday, I'm half way finished. I sketched up the last 4 cards I'm making for Simply Sweet Marriage & should have the December card started on Sunday. Looks like I'll be working mostly on cards for the next couple days. Should be fun. Dean & I will be planning out all our meals for Thanksgiving week. His moms whole family is coming! I can hardly wait. We figure if we plan our meals it will keep us from running to the store everyday & eating out too much. I'm excited to try this recipe for our thanksgiving dessert. Maybe it will be a new family favorite. What are your plans for the weekend?

The Ugly Light Makeover

Original light fixture before

I'm pretty sure this was one of the ugliest light fixtures I've ever set eyes on. When we looked at the house for the first times I knew it was the first thing that would have to go. With no budget for new lighting I figured I could at least make it look a little better until we could get what I really wanted.

Light Fixture removed

Dean had to take the fixture down when removing all the popcorn off the ceiling. I thought it would be a perfect time to update this monstrosity.

Disassembled

First I unscrewed the outside part & threw it away. I tried to think of other things I could make with it but I honestly couldn't think of anything. Then I gave it a good cleaning & carefully removed all the bulbs.

Prepped

Once I cleaned it off, I taped off the light sockets & the exposed wire at the top. You don't want to get any paint on either of these things.

Ready to paint

If you have an outdoor workspace I highly recommend this approach. Hanging the light & spraying it went far smoother than if I had to spray it on the ground. I feel the coats were more even & I didn't have to worry about flipping the fixture around.

Light fixture after Ta Da!

Here she is in all her glory. Poor thing, she's a bit small for this space & even hung a little high (we didn't want to go & buy new wire) but she's looking a heckuva lot better than before. What do you think?