One Last Thing

Last Family Vacation . . . . Um.  We went to Dillon for a few days.  Ate at a taco truck.  I call that vacation.

Last Thing I Cooked . . .  Auntie Inger Casserole. 

Last Game I Played  . . .  I just watched Sweet play Set online.... does that count?  No?  Ok....  we played a roaring game of freeze tag this weekend.

Last Time I Took Public Transportation . . .  That little train in Vegas.

Last Splurge . . . A new bed.  Oh yes.

Things From Pinterest I've actually done....

So everyone knows Pinterest has spawned Pinstrosity

And I love it.

But now I would like to know.... has anyone actually DONE anything on pinterest or do you just pin it and live creatively in a vicarious way?  

The Farmer's Trophy Wife has a board dedicated to it.  (Go ahead... just follow all of her boards... she's that good.)

I've tried a few things and I think I should be documenting it here.

First up.  Um, I didn't pin this because it seemed so insanely simple but anyway....

Scary Doll Hair Recovery. 

Step 1:  Meet my scary-haired child and her scary-haired doll.  Pause to admire my pink countertops.

Step 2:  Learn the backstory....  This scary-haired doll was actually my sister's doll when she was little.  Nice re-gift Grandma.

Step 3:  Start combing dolls hair with a brush that doesn't have those little ball things on the ends of the bristles.  I've heard a wig brush from Sally Hansen Beauty Supply works.  We used the amazing HAIR BEAN.  (No, not a paid consultant... just a satisfied customer.....) Ok... more backstory... I think my mom is offended by the state of hair at our house.  She bought us the bean as a "trial run" to "see if I should get one for your dad."  Then she showed up with hair serum samples.  Then she "accidentally" left her good Sephora brush at our house.  And then showed up with another one in a different style so each girl could have one as a "gift" from Grandma.  Ain't working.... we wear our hair gypsy-style here at the "Stead.

Step 4:  Continue brushing and spray a mixture of half downy and half water on dolly's head.  (I used the lavender stuff.... mmmm..... made the whole toy box smell good.)

Step 5:  Check brush to make sure dolly isn't getting bald.

Step 6:  Mmmmm...... smooth.  Mullet. 

Step 7:   Admire scary '80's mullet-headed dolly....

Step 8:  Take final picture with all products as is blogger protocol.

One Last Thing

Last junk food I ate .  . . carrot cake.

Last celeb crush . . . Daniel Dae Kim.

Last time I cursed .  . . . dog pee causes me to curse.

Last injury I sustained . . . . I jacked my back but that was almost a year ago.... it did take MONTHS to heal.  Oh... and I scraped the HELL out of my hand in the garage over the weekend..... does that count?

Brown Floors

In case you forgot about this stupid project......  While I am proud of myself for redoing the floors for $25 (we'll get to that later) instead of dropping thousands on carpet.... it was not a project for the faint of heart. 

Carpet out.  Check.

Tack strip removed.  Check.

Staples pulled.  Check.

Forget to fill screw holes.  Check.

 Pellet stove removed. Check.

Floors swept. Check.

Floors cleaned. Check.

Floors cleaned with nasty cleaner.  Check.

Thinking to self... WHY did the paint in with this odd color?  WHY?  I liked the "aged brown" look.

 Tape.  Check.

Brushes.  Check.

Rollers.  Check.

Begin process.  

Primer.

Using Brownstone oil-based paint (leftover).  Remember how horrible it smells and how long it takes to dry.

 Here you can actually see everythign.... old brown paint, old reddish paint, primer & new oil brown paint.

At this point I realized I might not love the glossy brown paint.  It is just so... glossy.  And the dog hair clings to it.  Like.  Really.  So I got frustrated and started a new project.  The steamer is rusty.  See that?  So I primed with grey heat-proof paint.

Discovered I really hate glossy paint.  Went to Lowe's.  For $25 I got a gallon of not-glossy LATEX floor paint.  Same brand and color.  Mmmm.  Pretty.  Here are my kids wandering around the house like monkeys trying to stay off the new floor.

 

Old, New and New-new.

 Decided I like the steamer grey for now.

And then there is the hearth.  It is pink.  A new one is $350.  Do I splurge?  Do I live with it?  Do I spray paint it?  WTF?

It goes here.  Also.... still trying to find a cute tv console in my price range to store games.  Sigh.  Turns out I don't have a final-final picture.  Maybe later.

One Last Thing

The last time I cried . . . .  Probably in frustration over how small and poorly laid-out our house is.  Seriously.  Sometimes it brings me to tears.

Last greeting card I sent . . . I can't even remember.  I just don't do cards.  I want to do cards... but I don't.

Last indulgence . . .  haircut.  Yesterday afternoon.  And bonus points for next indulgence.....  a fall-flavored latte at Starbucks.

Last song that made me rock out . . . Cee-Lo.  Forget You.  Always.

Last TV show I watched . . . Revolution on Monday night.  But I plan to watch some later tonight.  I do.

Bannack Montana

Can you tell how hot it is just by looking at them?

The fabulous tour guide.... no really.... he was a tour guide there when he was in college.....

The first of many "geez mom" photos.... I don't care.  Someday you will be begging me for copies of these photos because you love each other so much.

Welcome to town.

I think at this point we were pretending to be the scouts looking for bad guys.  

Right before I pointed out he was posing in front of an outhouse.....

Cute girl.

Bug trying to be a cute girl.....

Snapped a photo just as Bug realized, "I have to go pppooottttyyyyy....."  (FYI... the outhouses aren't bad and they have hand sanitizer in them.  Of course she had to poop.... travel has a laxative effect on that girl.....  so do football practices.)

Jail baby.

Smile Cute!  Photo Op #546.... are you tired of your mom with a camera yet?

Uh-huh.  Show me how you really feel.....

I'm actually afraid I will find this when we take out the flooring in the kitchen.... my house is about this era.....

School kids..... Hot actually taught a class here when he was in college.

These are my people....

One Last Thing

Last chore I did . . . . 5 minutes a room.  But I got everyone involved.  We do what we can in 5 minutes in each room with me yelling out instructions.  "Shoes in the basket!  Hang up the phone! Wipe the table!  Water bottles to the sink!"  That's the dining room.  Then on to the kitchen, laundry room, bathroom, living room.  We end with everyone doing 5 minutes in their own rooms and then we have a snack.

Last thing I bought . . . . new shoes for Sweet on sierratradingpost.com

Last time I cursed .  . . out loud?  Just a few minutes ago.  The deer came up on the porch, walked across in front of the door, down the steps onto the deck and ate my f-ing container gardens. 

Last text I sent . . . . via cozi.com.....  Football Game is on Field 5 at 6:15pm.

One Last Thing

The last prank I pulled . . . .  Can't say.  But I did "pin" some good ones to give my niece some new ideas.......

Last person I kissed . . . . Sweet & Tuff.  Before that Bug & Daddy. 

Last vacation I took  . . . We went to Dillon for 3 days.... does that count?

Last album I downloaded . . . . Lumineers.

Tequila Saturday Night

Apparently Tequila make me cook....

I won't lie.  I cleaned the pantry yesterday and found a bottle of tequila with just a tiny bit left in it.... so last night I made a margarita.  And then I made taco scoops for dinner.  And a potato casserole thing.  And potato soup in the crock pot.  (Yes.... I also found some almost-past-prime potatoes and onions in the pantry. 

And it was all lovely and meals are planned for at least a few days.  Musta been the tequila. 

At what age do you let kids start cooking?  I mean really cooking?  Last night Sweet was in charge of the scoops.... I browned the beef and chopped the cheese into big chunks but he used the salad shooter to shred the cheese and he lined up the scoops, filled them with meat & cheese, preheated the oven & put them in the oven.  I took them out. 

Then we played our favorite new game.  Cafeteria.  They get trays and line up and get food.  Scoops, apples & yogurt last night.  It was pretty fun.

All three kids were playing nicely.  I rounded the corner to grab a basket of laundry and found the girls, dressed in scarves & Great-grandma's high heels.  The big one had a nerf dart gun.  The little one had a flyswatter.  And they had their brother trapped in the wicker laundry hamper...

Welcome to my house.