What a bruiser!

We had to document this. Porter got his very first black eye. And the funny thing is, he gave it to himself! There was no fight to referee or bully to scare away. There was no maiden in distress or toy snatched away. He was standing in the kitchen (new floors, remember?) and then he was down. Poor little guy took the brunt of the fall with his cheek. He was very brave - after he stopped crying. His cheek swelled up instantly and was bright red. This was over a week ago that it happened. I took these pics a day or two later (under the guise of photographing his "dwives") and they don't do the "black eye" justice. It was dark blue, then moved on to black. Now it has gone into the yellow/brown stage. I know this isn't his last from what folks tell me about boys; but no fun, nonetheless!

The party.

No, not just a party. It was, as The Cat in the Hat so eloquently put it, the Mother of All Parties!

Sydney has been known for her larger-than-life celebratory habits- but this was the end-all. Maybe the wood floors causing a cavernous echo had something to do with it- but, wow!, those girls were loud! I believe there were 21 girls in all, maybe 22. Sydney planned the entire soiree by herself (otherwise I would have had a heads up on the quantity!) But she was a great hostess and I think they were all entertained thoroughly!

She had them go on a scavenger hunt- quite successful!

1st place.

2nd place.

3rd place.

4th place.

5th place.

Then into the backyard for some build-your-own nachos.

After that, they came in for gifts...

All the party guests.

Gift time. These girls were very generous! Too generous. But Sydney really appreciated all the happy birthday wishes!

and we finished the night with cake (which she made herself!) and ice cream.

The whole gang!

Until 13......

Priest/Laural Prom

Friday, May 8, 2009. Our stake held it's 4-stake Priest/Laurel prom. I wish my camera hadn't run out of batteries! I will have to add some better pics from some of the other folks that helped out. But this is just a small preview. It turned out beautiful. It was a lot of work- took a lot less time to take down than to put up! But, from what I've heard, the kids all enjoyed it. So check that off the list and hope I can enjoy it next year as a Mom instead of a decorator!

Lorilee playing interior designer for the day- nice job!

A blurry pic of the painted window scenes. So cute!

Whistle while we work! And work. And work. And work.

The finished ceiling.

The ACTUAL day.

May 12, 2009. We had celebrated with grandma and grandpa the night before. But this was the actual day- HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SYDNEY! I brought home doughnuts for breakfast and made her favorite, shephard's pie, for dinner. She finally got to open the package from Oma and Auntie Elizabeth, Uncle Tom, Andy and Josh. It sat on the counter far too long for her! So she got some fun stuff from all of them- some games, a cute pencil case, book, etc

She also received a gift from Auntie Terri and Uncle Brian, Abby and Paxon- a movie gift certificate! She is excited to pick out something fun to go see! She got a funky wallet from her sisters and some new clothes from Mom and Dad.

But most fun of all- was a new 12-year old hair cut and PIERCED EARS! Our house rule is waiting to age 12 to get the ears pierced. You know, show us that you can be responsible and so on. She tried to get me to do one day early so that she could wear them to school ON the birthday, but rules are rules. The regular ear-piercing person wasn't in, so I got to mark the dots on her ears and a manager pierced them. She picked a cute pair of gold hears with a crystal in the center. Can you see it?

It took two tries to get the hair cut right, though. The first time, she described what she wanted and came out with a Dorothy Hammell bob- you all remember those, don't you? Well, not so cute anymore. So the next day, after wearing pigtails to school, I took her back and, utilizing that satisfaction guarantee, got her hair fixed. Yeah! She loves it. She looks so grown up. And it doesn't hurt that she thinks when she straightens and flips it out, it looks just like Alice Cullen's. It fits Sydney- a little pixie-do. So 12 down and who knows how many more to go. Happy birthday, Sydney! We love you!

And... we're spent!

We gave ourselves a deadline. Sydney had her birthday party Friday night and I didn't want to have it with our pantry spread around like it was. So Friday night it would be. The part we were waiting for finally arrived and Larry was able to finish the floor Thursday night. Then Friday we completed the pantry and loaded it all back in just in time for friends to arrive. It's done. It's finished. And we LOVE it! I am so grateful for Larry's hard work- it turned out better than we imagined!

The Kitchen.

Said part. (Grrrr!) But looks awesome!

Another view of the kitchen.

To the pantry: Like I have mentioned, this entire project began with wanting a new pantry. The cheap wire shelving was sagging and could hardly hold 12 cans. I pictured more of a butler's pantry: counter tops, deep solid shelves stocked with food galore, and under-counter storage for the one-year supply. Fast forward- I'm getting what I want but I'm still trying to pinch the pennies. So instead of the 12' solid butcher block, we opted for a less-expensive version. Home Depot carries 2'x4' butcher block table tops. We purchased 3 of them and Larry pieced them to form our counter top. Again, I envisioned a dark stained counter with the white shelving. Sample after sample of stain just wasn't cutting it. So I purchased some new stain and made another attempt- BINGO! Now to get the seems even. Thursday I decided to take this on myself or we wouldn't meet the deadline. So I got out the belt sander and went to work. Needless to say, the belt sander being a powerful tool, took a little too much wood off in some places and not enough in others. What was I going to do?! Distress it, that's what. So I googled distressing and was reminded of what I've seen many times on my home shows. I hammered my counter. I beat it with a bag full of nuts and bolts. I put some nails in the end of a piece of scrap wood and pounded away at it, too. All in all, I think it turned out pretty darn good. Yes, I can still see the seems, but I love it. Larry was pleased when he came home as well. It could have been the VOC's talking- there were an awful lot of fumes in that tiny pantry! And did I mention that he put power in the counter??!! Yes, my super husband spend a good day under the house and in the attic to bring power to my pantry just because I wanted it. Now our microwave plugs right in without the unsightly extension cord running behind the door and into the kitchen! Yeah! We are both very happy with the end result. I still have to hit the grocery stores to stock these bad boys, but it's finished and so are we! (until we find the baseboards we want.... and wrap the windows and door... wait, that would mean new doors, too...)

The pantry counter top.

A closer view of the distressing.

Plenty of under-counter storage room- here come the buckets!

My new pantry in all it's glory!