so, i've been working on more 'house' projects.  i am actually getting a little sad that i'm almost done setting up this new house.  time to move again?  ha!  just kidding!  i will find a way to deal with the no-more-decorating-blues that does not involve moving.  anyway, here are the last couple of things i've been working on:

1.  we did our 'black and white' wall in the playroom (in virginia, these pictures were in the hall going up our stairs)--this wall may not look like much, but it took loren and me the better part of one day, and involved way too much measuring and math and changing of minds.  luckily, we are both really pleased with the results.  you can't tell what the pictures are of, but they are a collection of pictures that we have gotten in all the places we've (loren) have traveled/lived.  this is loren's brainchild--i just get the pictures framed.  

2.  the big empty room is finally getting furnished!  we still have to get couches (a work in progress) but at least this one wall is done.  loren made the mistake of telling me we had 'plenty of money in our checking account' (transferred from savings to pay off our car....), and i figured he wouldn't mind a few dollars missing.......so i went out yesterday and acquired the necessary accessories to finish this wall.  

3.  thanks to my artist sister (joanne) i had 5 fabulous original prints waiting to be framed and hung.  i've been saving this long hallway in my house for them, and i finally got them framed and finished yesterday!   i begged loren to help me hang them last night, and then i just sat there looking at them forever, in post picture-hanging bliss.  the photos do not do these prints justice--there's not a good place to stand in the hall to really see them all.  anyway, joanne gave these to all the sisters at our sisters' weekend back in october--they are prints of some art she did in high school.  go, joanne!!!!!!! (she had to really come out of her comfort zone to do this....and now i'm blogging about it for the whole world to know.....)

anway, i did not mean to ramble on for so long about my various 'things' (and should i feel guilty that i write more about my house than my children? i'll write about them next time). and, i don't know why they pictures are posted in the wrong order.  it appears i need help controlling my blog!

madline's birthday

i suddenly realized that i hadn't said anything about madeline's birthday (jan 17th)--oops! my poor middle child. she did have a fun day, though. we were very brave and invited some new friends over for a cupcake decorating party. our new neighborhood is great--lots of fun kids. anyway, here are some pictures of my little 7 year old baby! she told me today that she's being extra good now that she's 7, because she's almost 8, and ready to be baptized.

too much 'wicked'?

i was cutting gretchen's hair today, and she said "oh good.  now i look just like glinda.  i'm gonna name one of my childs glinda when i'm a mom".

it has been surround-sound 'wicked' at our house lately--i can't escape it--i go to bed with the songs in my head and wake up with the songs in my head--i guess that's what happens when your children listen to the cd at least 10 times a day!

i guess i should be grateful it's not high school musical anymore?!

my boy

just when i was convinced that pace was all boy, i caught him wearing one of the girls' shirts, carrying around a purse full of paper dolls.  don't tell loren!  (madeline and gretchy confessed that they'd put m's shirt on him, but the purse and dolls were his idea).

i can be a fun mom, too

okay, so i know that deep down inside, some of you think that my children are deprived because of my somewhat unusual eating habits.....(it's okay, i'm not offended).........so, just to prove that i can be a fun mom and a weird-eating mom, i made donuts today!!!! alright, fine, they were vegan and low fat, but they were still darn good!  anyway, this was a huge deal for me because i'm not a very adventurous cooker, and this involved not only trying out a new recipe found on the internet, but also buying a donut pan--this is the only fancy cooking thing i've ever owned (besides the apple slicer ellie gave me--but is that really a 'cooking' thing?)!  my children were very pleased and were probably wondering where their real mom went to.  so, here's a picture of the final product--just in case it never happens again, i want proof!

a sign i'd rather not see

so, today while i was driving i saw a sign in my neighborhood along one of the many canal/ponds we have here in (South) florida.  the wording of this sign disturbed me. this is what it said:  "it is illegal to feed or entice alligators".  i am not concerned that i am going to break this law, as i have no desire to feed or entice alligators in any way, but i am a little worried this means that i might come across an alligator who could be wanting to be fed/enticed/etc.  i have been assured that there are not alligators lying around nilly willy, but this sign does not seem to support that claim....

it seems to be that if you see a sign saying "don't feed the ducks" that there are ducks in the area......

i'm just hoping the alligators don't get word of the sign and feel inclined to put in an appearance!

this was one of the best parts of our utah trip! the kids had so much fun. i have to say, though, that i am glad we left the snow far, far behind us. i like looking out my window and seeing green! ...and not having to wash a million pairs of wet jeans/socks/gloves a day!

visitors welcome!

just a quick note to let everyone know that 

visitors are always welcome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

that would be very cool if you could find cheap tickets and come see us.  i would be more than willing to host a book club here.....

the house

per request, here are some pictures of the house. it's been fun setting things up, but we still have a long way to go, so ignore the empty spaces/pictures propped against the wall, etc. and the out of focus pictures.

the kids love everything about the house. so do i, for that matter (if i ignore the ants). it's technically all one level, which is fabulous. there are two steps to get 'down' to the playroom, so gretchen calls it the 'basement'. i guess she feels no house is complete without one! any way, here's a little glimpse into our florida (South) lives. maybe some of you will come see it in person?

in case any of you are still checking this blog, i wanted to let you know i'm back in action!  after much drama we got our internet hooked up yesterday, and i am ready to reenter the blogging world.  and now that i can finally post something, i can't recall any of the millions of things i've been storing in the remember-to-post-this section of my brain.  sooooooooooo, for now, i'll just do a quick update of the last month.

things we've learned about in florida:

1.  where we live is called South florida.  emphasis on South.  nobody says "welcome to florida".  it's always "welcome to South florida".  even in fast and testimony meeting. 

2.  South florida is warm.  the day we moved in the kids brought me a huge box filled with all their winter clothes.  they declared they would never, ever need them again.  

3.  South florida has a lot of ants.  tons of ants.  millions of ants.  all wanting to come into our house.  many have succeeded.  i am trying to get used to it.

4.  we have a fancy little toilet in one of our bathrooms.  there is a special french word for it, but my kids call it the "bottom washer".  it's one of those ones that you kind of hover over and it rinses you off.  i do not plan on ever using it.  but my children (gretchen) enjoy trying it out and then gleefully reporting on how it went.  pace just likes to turn it on and watch the water squirt up.

5.  school uniforms are not so bad, after all.

6.  most people here own a horse, a golf cart, a dirt bike/4 wheeler, or motorized scooter, and their children are all allowed to drive/ride these on the same road that i am driving my real car on.  it's caused my children to give up on their when-can-i-have-a-cell-phone quest and start a new when-can-i-drive-a-golf-cart one.  the answer is the same:  never.

7.  i should have paid more attention in my high school spanish class.

well, that's all for now.  i still have to go back and do some posts from christmas, but that will have to wait until later.  i am not used to sitting down for so long, and i feel lazy!  up until now, every second of the day has been spent unpacking, organizing, hanging pictures, etc.  i think there are only 20 or so pictures left to hang.  yippee!