Painted the kitchen...again....

So last year when we moved in I painted the kitchen wall when I say wall I mean the one my calendars are on. It was a beautiful mid night blue, I loved the color but as we closed in our patio we quickly discovered it was really dark in there. So finally this weekend I got the paint out, it is the same blue as in the the window wall in our family room and the top of the walls in the dining room, I worried that it would be too much of the color, but I am really pleased with the way it turned out. What do you think?

Oh and a quick comment on my calendar system because for three white boards they sure are always a topic of conversation with anyone that see them for the first time.

No there is not one for each kid, they are for 3 months, I rotate them as the new month comes up. They have been the best way to keep up with who goes where and when for all to see. It is my "command center" The clips below are are some thing my Dad and I made we saw something like it in Pottery Barn, in an old apartment I had 3 of them done the end wall of my galley kitchen and I put all the kids art work and flyers for school on it, it was a fun was to display their work. Now I use this one for the million things I need to sign and send back to school.....

How do you keep your family organized?

Bachie's sewing chest...

This is my Bachie's sewing chest... (edited to add my Bachie is my Mom's mom)

It is a little unassuming table in my house, I have had it for a few years now. You see back in 2001, my Dad and I flew to Connecticut over Thanksgiving, we had Thanksgiving dinner there and then drove back to Arizona in my parents new mini van. I brought home a few treasures from my family, one being my Grandma's hope chest that Grandpa had given to her when they were first married and this...

My Aunt Jean cleaned out Bachie's apartment she was living in a nursing home, but had this cabinet set aside and since I am the "seamstress" in the family she sent it along with me. Now it was still full of stuff! Some great treasures were found inside...mostly sewing items some old some newer and some sentimental stuff too...

The top opens up here is a sampling of somethings I found....one of the sweetest things was a newspaper clipping of my brother in the picture above you can see his little face in the top right corner of the newspaper. I t would have been from around the time shortly after Poppy had his stroke and they lived in the bottom floor of our 3 family house.
This is the contents of one of the drawers, all kinds of treasures...

Over the years it has been a nightstand to me and I have tucked away a few things...some love letters from Jim, there was ticket stubs from the trip to Connecticut when Abby was baptized, the 4th generation of the family to do so at that church. A heart Abby painted for me after a famous trip to Grandpa's "toy store" aka the wood working store. A picture of my cousin Kathy's sons Tyler made it's way in there, ironically the only one she every really thought Polish words too, she always though he had a nice round Polish face...

So I am thinking about Halloween...

I went to Tim's student teacher conference dressed up in this sexy outfit!

Max was not too happy about his costume last year

Abby looked fab! You see they were supposed to be Frankenstein and his Bride...It's funny because she is so much bigger than he is...

The year before Max was Yoda! He was the cutest Yoda you could have ever seen..

Abby was some form of warrior Princess Amadala

I found a picture where I was a princess, with a huge pink dress from the bridal store I worked at, and Abby was a pumpkin, It was also the last year Tim dressed up! At the ripe age of 5 he was too mature to dress up!

So what will we be this year. I was thinking of going Japanese and Abby and I could be geisha girls and Max could be a dragon or ninja, Pirates would be fun too. My mom had a little dog like toto and I thought we could be the cast of the Wizard of OZ but he is living with friends now...So many possibilities!

What are you going to be???

I saw my Dad tonight...I see him about once a month he pops in to say hi...

Before you say Amy you are crazy your dad is gone, if you knew him you know he isn't. He lives on in all of us but also the full moon....

You see my Dad got me roped into joining him one night with a bunch of guys he worked with to go canoeing down the Salt River at night on a full moon. It was the most peaceful serene time I ever spent with my Dad. Several of the other people with us were in Kayaks, we decided that that looked like more fun. With in a few weeks Dad had found two and off we were on our river adventures. I can't tell you how many times we did it, more than a few but less then 10...I got to spend real time with Dad, the drive out there as the sun was setting, The trip down the river that was more amazing than I can ever explain. We would put in around dusk and there was a nest of bald eagles one year near the top of the river. The first time I went there was a group of wild horses coming to the water for a drink. You could only see their outline, as we got close but I could tell they were beautiful! There would be places between the cliffs where it would be completely dark and you would turn a corner and the moon was so bright it was like someone light a spotlight to lead the way.
This is how I like to think if my Dad as the spotlight leading the way, when things seem there darkest the full moon always comes back around.
So the next time you see a full moon think if my Dad, and know that even when you are going through hard times like the full moon the good comes back again, if we just take the time to notice it....

Max!

The Top Twenty dog names in the USA

1. MaxDerivative: Maxwell, MaximillianMeans: Large springInspired by: Max Mara - fashion designer label.Famous because of The German Shepherd dog of ‘The Bionic Woman’.

Top boy names in 2005 (the year our Max was born)

165. Max - according to the social security administration site...

It is no wonder that our "boy" Max has many "dog" traits...

My mom got Charlie (a little Terrier) when Max was about 3 months old as a puppy and the two of them are just a month apart and were babies together! Then Mom got Mariah a beautiful Black lab, again as a puppy. You would find Max is the dog cages and chewing on a bone, it was his start of his dog traits.

Now that Max is older (2.5) and mom just has Mariah (Charlie went to live with some friends) but Max calls her Charlie, he is still learning the ways of a dog. After watching the dog pee in the grass he has now decided that, that is a good thing to do! When I come home from work he barks at me right along with my Mariah. If a truck is in the alley you can find Max and Mariah barking along the fence. They are such vigilant watch dogs! Max has even tried to scratch behind his ears with his legs like the dog!

We have a friend whose name is Max, he has said he will teach him in the 'ways of being a Max" I guess we should start that soon! At least before he starts eating off the floor...oh wait too late...

Bathroom..Nesters imperfection...

I have been looking at this bare wall in our main bathroom. This bathroom is a busy place! Jim and I don't have a master, so this is the hub of all things bathroom related in our house! With all the work we have done on the house it has been the most neglected! It did get new floors and a new "super toilet" I say super because it is low water use supper flusher and it is impossible to slam the lid! I know you are all scratching you head thinking how is that possible! I am not sure but I am pretty sure it is magic...one day I may have to a a video if it....or better yet stop on by..anyways back to the bare wall it has been driving me NUTS.... so today I got an easy idea with something I had on hand...












Here is the after I scored (on clearance at the FedEX store like 2 bucks a pack) these vinyl letters and have some in Abby's room and I had lots left over. So here it is the wall is far from plain and boring!
Notice that some letter are tweaked and not always straight...well that is just the Amy touch not always perfect...but a little more fun! LOL.....makes imperfection sound fun doesn't it... so 4 bucks an 10 minutes mostly spent trying to see what words I could spell with the letters I has left voila!

If I am Indian Jones will you be the girl he kisses?

These words out of the mouth of a 4 year old...well almost 5.

There are kids who are special in this world that are not my own...can you believe it?? There are actully quiet a few of them. JT is one of them, if you read my friends blog (on the right over there) the diary of a preschool teacher you will find that many of her funny and gross stories are about JT, yes please don't lick the toilet was uttered from her mouth because of this little boy...

There are kids that come around at just the right time. JT is one of them! I was single and he was born just a month before I met Jim. The first time I met Jim at Matt and Gina's house he was there a tiny baby about a month old. I remember Jim holding him..all cute and tiny . When I see JT, I am reminded of how long Jim and I have been together, he is the living measureing stick of our years together.

My Dad also had a special connection with him. When he would be at an event that Patty had him he would take him and he would fall alseep on his shoulder. When the time came around for Jim and I to get married JT was there. My dad was caught holding him through the ceremony...

Tim has always taken a big interest in him too. Playing with JT helped prepare him to be the great big brother that he is...

I see him most every day when school is in and at least once a week he grabs onto my leg and says mom then looks up and laughs when he sees my face instead of hers...

He came over to play this week. He played with Abby and Max...he helped Jim clean out under

the couch...and made our day just a little brighter!

Abby's Birthday

Today is Abby's 9th birthday! Yep NINE! I can hardly believe it! Grammie got several dresses for church this is her modeling one! She is going to wear it to summer school today!