Old Desk Becomes New

In high school Rett made a few things in his woods classes. We've been blessed to have them in our home, especially when we were first married because we were so broke we couldn't afford to buy new furniture. The desk, armoire, and bed side tables he made are all super sturdy, solid, good furniture, so getting new stuff doesn't really make sense. Anyway, recently we've been feeling like we didn't necessarily love the oak look. So we decided to paint the old desk.

I didn't take a very good before picture, but I did get one of a few of the drawers.



After sanding everything down, I painted it. And of course it's freezing cold outside so even the garage wouldn't work for painting. I threw down an old sheet and painted in the office.



We decided we would distress it a little. I did a little sanding here and there, banged it up with a meat tenderizer and hammer a little, and put a few scratches on it. Rett, being the outdoors-man he is, decided it would be super cool to shoot it with a shot gun. At first I was super skeptical about him blowing the drawers to pieces. But he assured me that it would just put a spray of little tiny holes where the bb's hit it. Which it did. It still has the bb's in a few of the holes too. I think it's a little more distressing than I had planned on, but Rett's office is pretty much all waterfowl anyway. So, to go along with the birds on the wall, the gun safe, and everything else, the shot gun spray matches just right.



Here's the finished desk. It looks completely different. I love how it turned out. We also spent a little cash on a piece of glass for the top of the desk. But it really was a cheap make over for the good old desk.





So after having our computer on a bar height pub table for a few days, we are back in business. And I have decided I really like re-doing furniture. In fact I've been hunting around the house for anything else that needs a make over!! We'll see what I can come up with!

Hardware Ranch

A couple weeks ago we took Grandpa Kip with us and visited the Hardware Ranch outside of Logan. They have a little elk refuge during the winter time and they feed the elk. They take you on a sleigh ride with horses. The boys favorite part was that we brought some little hand warmers and they didn't even want to wear their gloves but wanted the hand warmers! Cute, cute boys! We had a blast and it was something we will probably start making a yearly tradition of.

Crew's First Duck Hunt

Last Friday, the last day of the waterfowl season, Rett took Crew out on a little duck hunt. Rett said Crew played around a lot while they were just hanging out, but when he saw ducks flying, he did really good at sitting quietly and still. I know, you probably can't believe it, but he doesn't have any camo to wear. So, he's just in his regular snow pants and coat. While they were out, Rett put one of his snow coats on him, so he was hidden better with the white, but apparently it was just a little too big and bugged Crew. But it's still cute. Crew did pretty good and didn't complain about the cold too much. They got two ducks, a drake mallard and hen. Rett had a little sex ed lesson with Crew to explain that the boys have green heads and the girls are brown. Then they stopped on the way home and Crew got to pick out a treat at the store. He was super excited about it when he got home and had to tell Drake all the details. I'm still not sure if Rett or Crew was more excited. I think it's cute that they both were. Crew was happy to do something with just he and Dad and Rett was excited that Crew was excited. Very good bonding time. This pic is from Rett's phone, so not great, but I was glad he thought to take a picture. I'm glad they are finding things they can both have fun with and it seems like it's just a glimpse of what the future will be like with my boys!

Kangaroo

Drake recently has been saying the word KANGAROO a lot. I didn't really think much of it, just thought it was funny that he randomly says "KANGAROO" without seeing one. Then, one day, I figured out what was REALLY going on. Drake was mad at Crew about something and I heard him yelling "Kangaroo, I hate you!" "Kangaroo, you're mean!" "Mom, Kangaroo is mean, go spank him!" (I know, it's great, my two year old tells me when and how to discipline his big brother!) Anyway, I wasn't as concerned about what was going on as I was excited to realize that Drake is now calling Crew Kangaroo! I'm not sure exactly why he started this, but I think part of it is the way Crew has been correcting Drake when he says his name lately. Drake will say "Boo" or "Poo" when he's talking to Crew, and Crew is such a big boy now that he says it "C-Rew". If you separate the name, it does kind of sound like Kanga-Roo. Maybe? I don't know, but now it's my favorite term of endearment for my little Crew.

Christmas Morning

I LOVE, LOVE to see happy little boys in my house. Running around, having fun, with smiles on their faces totally melts my heart. And of course, Christmas morning is no exception. The boys were excited and loved opening presents and playing with their new toys.

Crew and Drake both got new boots from Santa this year. They were really excited that he even got the color right. And I was excited that the sizes were just right, with a little room to grow!



Crew and Drake both got some ranch sets this year from grandparents. I will have to take a picture one day when they have the whole thing set up. It's great, they have a bull riding arena with chutes and all; corrals for the horses with covered stalls as well; a barn; and all the accessories you need to go with them. Cute, cute; and it is so entertaining for them! Hours of time spent already with these toys. Thanks Grandma's for knowing what would make them so happy!

Here's Drake with his new loot. The only thing he hadn't done yet was change into a new pair of jammies. But here he's sporting his new hat, boots, work gloves, spider-man back pack, and holding a cowboy boot piggy bank. What a spoiled boy!

They got some remote control trucks and once Dad taught them how they work, they loved those.

This is hilarious to watch! It's a bouncy toy with a cow cover thing. They call it their bucking bull and LOVE to bounce around for a few minutes and then fall off and say they bucked off the bull. Cute, cute!

We kept Christmas this year really low key. But the boys have lot's of grandparents, aunts and uncles that spoiled them like crazy! Thanks everyone for helping make our little boys so happy! They have more than they need. I am so grateful that they had a fun and happy Christmas morning.

Rett's Elk

We picked up Rett's elk from the taxidermist a couple of weeks ago. Rett was so excited. It was so cute. Just like a little boy on Christmas morning! I was just happy that he was so excited. Of course, we drove home from Utah on Sunday evening and the power was out when we got home. But that didn't stop the guy from wanting to hang it. Luckily the power wasn't out for very long, so we got some lights on, and got the elk hung on the wall. We had the elk at the taxidermist last year, before we sold our home and everything, so it just so happened that our new home has the perfect place for the elk to hang. If you don't remember the post about the elk, Rett and I were together when he shot it with his bow last summer. We were super excited for his first big game bow hunt that turned out so exciting! Here's a reminder picture of the hunt itself.



And this is one of my favorite things about this elk. He has this cool rhino point.

I know there are friends and family out there that think I'm crazy for being involved in the hunting stuff and letting animals hang on my walls. I actually don't mind it at all. Rett and I had so much fun on this hunt together. We created lot's of great memories and were active while doing it. We were able to enjoy the outdoors and some beautiful and amazing parts of nature. And as far as the animals on the wall, they are just a reminder of those great memories. And seriously, if you still can't get over it, I will just say, if that's the worst thing I have to put up with in my marriage, then I feel pretty good about it!

I'm glad there are simple things in life that make Rett so happy. Like slowing down over bridges to check the river for ducks or geese. Or stopping on the side of the road to show the boys deer or elk. Or training his dogs and learning more about how to make such a great dog. Rett is a big outdoorsman, and I wouldn't change that for anything. I love that he has such a great appreciation for animals and the outdoors. I love that he has passion about things in life. And I love that he is teaching those things to his boys as well.

Drake's Nose

A couple of weeks ago, Drake had a fall on a bar stool and smacked his nose right on it. It was sad. It was bleeding tons and he just kept crying and saying "My nose hurts". Only, it's really cute because the way he says it is super cute. It was in the afternoon, around 2 or 3, and I wasn't too worried about it. Rett left and went home teaching at 7, and when he got back, he looked closely, and started to get kind of worried about it. It looked awful at that point. It was swollen so big and so bruised. Since there's not really anything they do for broken noses, we just tried to put ice on it and gave him some ibuprofen. This was what it looked like that first night after it happened. And this picture just doesn't really do it justice.




Here's a week later, when it was just pretty much bruised.



He was a trooper and after the first day, didn't really cry or say it hurt at all. We love the injury pictures. Things like this happen so much around our house that I'm sure I miss most of the pictures, but the ones we get are usually pretty good. Some of our family that is around will get a little uneasy with all the crazy things the boys do. But usually the crazy things are not when the accidents happen. Most of the accidents happen when they are doing the everyday, normal things. I honestly can't believe more accidents don't happen with all the crazy things they do, but that's just the way it seems to be...Knock on wood :)

Crew's Pre School Program

Crew's Pre School did a little program. His 3 year old class along with one of the 4 year old classes sang Christmas songs at a nursing home. It was really cute. But it's a good thing the 4 year olds were with them because most of the kids in his class didn't sing much. Before they started his teacher had the kids say their names. A lot of the kids in Crew's class wouldn't 'say their names, but he did a great job! Crew has had a hard time with his R's and my mom has worked with him every time she's with him to say his name. We were very proud of him that he did so well saying his name! On the way into the nursing home he fell and scraped up his elbow so there was quite a bit of checking his elbow out during the program. Actually, at one point he walked up to the teacher to tell her it hurt, she kissed it better, and he walked back to his spot. And he has a pretty wild kid in his class who was running around that distracted him. Oh, and don't forget that he spent some of the time working on his spiderman hand as well! (You know the one where spider man puts his two middle fingers in and shoots the spider web out of his wrist, yeah, that's the one Crew was practicing making.) And I'm pretty sure there was a yawn caught of video too. Anyway, it was really cute and fun to watch him get up in front of other people. After they were done singing their songs, most of the kids and parents left. But I felt like the reason we were there in the first place was to see the residents there. So I tried to help my boys walk around and talk with a few of them. I kind of had to tell them to say hello and help them get a conversation started. But one man told Crew he had a ranch with horses, cows, sheep, llamas, and pigs, and that got Crew's attention and he talked with the man asking him questions for quite a while. I could tell the boys were a little stand offish, so I kept telling them they were just grandma's and grandpa's who loved little kids and were lonely and wanted to talk with them. I hope that helping the boys have these kinds of experiences while they are little helps them grow up to be good kids who understand that some people are different and we can still be nice and aware of their needs.


Crew loves going to school. And it's been really good for him too. He's learning boundaries and rules and all kinds of good things. It's helped him be a better boy at home too. Sometimes when we ask him what he learned about that day, he says "nothing". Or we'll ask him to count for us or say the ABC's for us, and he says he can't and he doesn't know how. It's crazy. But the other day, I told Crew he needed to focus and it was amazing what happened. I had to hold his hands and have him look right at me. And he did great counting and with the ABC's. But the second he started to wiggle, it's like he just couldn't even figure out what came after 2. This boy is so energetic. It is really hard for him to stand still or sit still. (Bless his sunbeam teachers in January! I hope they don't skip church because of his class's behavior!) But once you get the kid to calm down a little, he really is amazing. And I'm so proud of him for trying so hard and being so brave at school. And, ok, I'll admit it, I'm also glad he's not the worst hellion in his class :)

Christmas Tree Adventure

For a couple of reasons, we've decided that we're going to get a Christmas tree permit from now on and cut our own Christmas Tree's. I guess the first thing that started this was back in April when we were moving out of our Saratoga Springs home. We had the fake tree in the driveway waiting to get loaded in the moving truck and a very inquisitive child decided that the gas can sitting right next to it must be for dumping on it. Rett's grandma gave us the fake tree right after we got married, so it was kind of old. It came with lights attached to it, but they didn't all work. So I got my arms beat up really bad one year trying to get them all off. Since then we've just re-strung lights on it every year. It was also in my mother in law's basement when she had a little flood, so it got kind of wet and muddy and it's really difficult to clean fake trees. So, it's been through the ringer and was probably ok that it got retired.

Rett also really wanted to start making it a tradition to cut our own tree. I loved the idea because we always had a real tree growing up that we would cut from the mountains behind our home. We had planned to get it the week of Thanksgiving, and then ended up getting snow dumped like crazy, and just didn't get to it. Then Rett's truck broke down and of course wasn't under warranty. Dodge actually knows that there is a problem with that years fuel pump, but of course they wouldn't do an official recall, they just repaired it on a case by case basis for free if the truck had under 100000 miles, even though they themselves say that the fuel pump is only good for 80-120000 miles. Of course we have 104k, so no deal for us. Lame. The dealership wanted to charge an arm and a leg to fix the fuel pump, so Rett found the part and ordered it online and it took forever to get here. With all the snow in the mountains we couldn't really take our car to get the tree. So Rett worked really hard, and got completely drenched in diesel fuel a couple of nights and got the truck fixed. And I was super excited to go up and hunt for our tree.

Rett's worked the last two weekends, so he's been super busy. Saturday he got off early in the afternoon, so we decided to try to get one. We didn't get out as soon as we wanted to so we didn't have much time till it got dark. And let's just say the mountains had more snow than we realized, so with the boys, which was most of the reason we wanted to do this, we weren't going to be able to go very far! Rett got one of his hunting coffins out and we pulled the boys on a snow mobile trail to look for the tree. Then we had to go off that trail to find it. There was no getting the boys out into the deep snow. Some of the time while we were hunting for one, I would fall in a snow drift that would be up to my thigh. It was crazy deep. Luckily we were able to find a decent tree not too far from the trail. So Rett cut it down and hauled it to the sled and pulled it back to the truck. It had a lot of snow on the branches and so some of them are a bit saggy. I guess you could call it a Charlie Brown Tree. But we love it! The boys had so much fun! Crew is the best snow ball thrower ever! They loved their Daddy pulling them on the sled. And they love to plug the lights in every morning and night. So even though it's not a perfect tree, we love it and all the memories we got to make getting it together as a family!


Here are the boys getting pulled by their Daddy! They seriously couldn't have been happier!


Crew was even able to pull Drake a little by himself while we were out hunting for our tree!


So, the closest, smallest tree is the one we picked! It was so pretty with all the snow!


We had to park across the street in a little snow mobile parking area, which was off limits to tree cutting, but pulled the tree back to the truck. We thought it was kind of funny to be pulling the tree past this sign! I think you have to click on the picture to enlarge it to be able to read it.


And here's the tree lighted and decorated! We didn't even use half our ornaments this year. One day this week I came into the room and the boys had almost every ornament they could reach off the tree. That's why the breakable ones are either at the top, or not put up. Everything down low is plastic. I love the plastic ball ornaments. They look pretty and real, but don't break when the boys decide to play ball with them!

Visit With Santa

The boys wanted to go see Santa. And the Preston Library had him there today. It was really quiet and nice. We tried last year or the year before to go to the mall and it was crazy busy and pictures were too much money. We were going to go to our ward Christmas party and see him, but Rett was working on the truck that night and I didn't want to go without him.


I thought it would be cute to put them in matching shirts and their cowboy stuff, but Drake doesn't like to wear it as much as Crew does. So I had to bribe Drake with a sucker after he saw Santa and let mom take a picture to get him to leave his belt and hat on. He digs the button up shirts and boots, just doesn't want the hat and belt on all the time. Anyway, he did good. The Santa decided Drake's hat was down too far, so he lifted it up too far. Drake's hat is covering Mrs. Claus' face. And Santa's hand is covering Crew's buckle. Drake isn't smiling and Crew is smiling so much you can't see his eyes. The picture's not great, but in twenty years, they'll be glad I took it!