June Road Trip

We went on a wild hair fun road trip in June. Trying to take some trips before kiddos are all grown up!  We really like to be home, so this is a bit of a chore at the same time as being fun ad adventurous!!!

First we crossed the southwest on I-40 through the desert to Los Angeles.  By the way the Mojave Desert is not a pretty one...

Mojave desert

 Entering California, did you know you have to have vehicle inspected?

We went through Victorville, where Roy Rogers was from. (Very exciting for girls in car.)

Then over Cajon Pass, which was fun to drive and a bit scary with 4 narrow lanes, and huge semis, and side routes for in case their brakes fail, and a steep grade!  Once through the pass it was our first ever sighting of LA!

I think this is still what it looks like pretty much, just wider lanes....

Then we drove straight to Newport Beach, and it was beautiful, first time for kids to see ocean, and probably the best part of our trip!

Loved having it almost all to ourselves!  Catalina Island in the distance....

This part of beach was lined with houses about 50 or 100 yards back from the ocean:

The next day we went to Disneyland, and none of us would recommend it, although it was pretty fun in the morning...

LOL!!!

But when they say the crowd swells, its no joke at all...Then it was not sooo fun.

So back to the beach...

Balboa Pier (not my pic, it was overcast)

My pic as sun went down..

Kids on Balboa Pier ( it was stinky at the end full of immigrants fishing and sleeping, and whatnot. Surfers in background)

Then we left LA to check out Las Vegas, we drove through during the day and didn't stop....it was not that appealing to us with our 4 kids. I had the feeling like someone could get kidnapped into human trafficing any minute..

we drove through during daytime, so it didn't look like much..

much more awe inspiring at night, but we didn't hang around...

We headed out to Hoover Dam, and were impressed:

Last time i had been there was 20 years previous, and that bridge wasnt there...

uc

water is pretty low

And here are some dam tourist! (the most fun part is how everything is dammed)

And then on to the Grand Canyon, and it was very grand!

We decided after all the pics we had seen, it just doesn't encompass it.  You just have to stand beside it to begin to grasp how amazing....

Then we did a little ziplining and resting in Williams,AZ.  Cute little town, wished every shop wasn't exactly the same with their tourist knickknacks, but it was still really quaint. Lots of restaurants to pick from...

And what we learned, avoid places that are super commercialized...

Around the shop

sorry for photo quality, pics taken with phone...

Clock is a work in progress making it from scrap metal...so fun...

here is green old green cabinet holding soaps/ candles/ moisturizers...

Door is repurposed piece I have on consignment...

fun not too serious coffee cups!

"Paper Roses--sending you sunshine"

I have a friend here in town who is an amazing crafty lady.  After visiting her home, I have was so inspired to personalize mine more. I tend to lean more minimalist style, but frankly coming from her home mine felt pretty blah. So the girls and I have been working on adding more personal art to the house. We have let loose and are having so much fun!  So thanks Pam for the inspiration!

This is Hattie's bird nest flower.....

Ivy's bulletin board makeover!

Ivy's lamp addition.  We learned how to make these babies at our craft workshop at the coffee shop (from our dear friend)!

Hot glue madness.

Seriously, does fabric come any prettier than this stuff?

Another flower addition....

How is this one for texture!! !Made out of an old atlas book..

And feathers -- our latest thing!  After talking about doing a project ALL day with Ruby, we finally sat down tonight and did this one,  Should have taken picture from straight on, it would show the full effect of this "thing."  Finally a way for Ruby to use her paper cutting love!

School Pictures

NOVEMBER 8, 2014

 A beautiful Saturday in November....

                                         10 years old/ 4th grade    Hobbies: basketball, football, soccer, & lunch!   Interests:harrassing his sisters as much as possiblesand taking care of the family cow. Favorite food:  the bean burrito..Currently, Student of the Month at his local elementary!    According to Ruby, "He is a very bad brother because he kicks our sand castles."   Sometimes he is very nice though, and he helps them pick out their clothes or even braids his little sisters' hair.  This past summer he did all the laundry for several weeks!  He also pops out of bed in the morning and gets right outside to do his chores.  He is very aware of the clock and when its time to get going!  He is often pushing his sisters out the door to catch the bus.  He was recently sick, so he stayed home from school; on that day the girls missed the bus!  He also waits to see who is winning before he pics any team to root for.  Clay is not sure what he wants to be when he grows up, but Hattie thinks he should be a wood chopper, or a football player in the NFL.

                                Hattie, 6 years old, Kindergartener.  Best buddy of Ruby!  Hobbies include monkey bars, learning to read, and eating ice cream.  Also interested in smelling flowers, popcorn with butter, wishes she had an ipod because she really likes them.  She loves pretty dresses and the colors pink and turqoise.  She loves pistachios,  eating roasts, watching cheerleaders, and hunting coyotes with her dad.  She is a daddy's girl, and loves to sleep under lots of blankets!  She loves cuddling up with her teddy bear or kittens!  Hattie is also currently Student of the Month of her Kindergarten class at her school.  She loves to have her picture taken, and hates to have her long, long, long, hair brushed out. Hattie has a talent in catching kittens and cats, she has the best luck in catching cats. Hattie really likes foxes, " I like their warm hair, the look of their faces, and the color of their hide."   When Hattie grows up she wants to be a doctor that works on peoples broken arms.

                              Ruby, 5 years old (in 6 days)!  Ruby loves going to preschool, visiting friends houses, having birthdays, and going to games, Her favorite food is macaroni and cheese, she likes to try it at every restauraunt she ever goes to. Ruby often plays with Hattie and likes it when Hattie is nice.  She really really likes to play with her friends.  She often repeats herself so much that she brings the whole family to a state of something and it makes everyone kind of crazy.  Ruby loves horses, even though she does not have one right now.   According to Hattie, Ruby is really good at riding horses(especially her friend Rogie's horse).  When Ruby grows up she says she wants to be a horse runner.  Ruby is a very good little girl.  We are so thankful to have her,

                            Ivy, 12 years old/ 6th grade.   Hobbies:  Reading, volleyball, basketball, old black and white westerns (Roy Rogers), and swimming.   Ivy is currently on the A honor roll student at her jr high school.  She is very good at working, cleaning, and helping.  She loves to wear pretty clothes, and doing decorating projects with her mom.  She loves middle school, and being with her nice friends.  Ivy hates mouth noises, and constant jabbering noises as well.  When she is focused she is a very capable person.  She dreams of driving a bright green mustang or an old pickup truck.  She likes boys, but does not enjoy talkng to them.  According to her little sisters, she is a very good older sister because "she is nice, and she does look pretty."  When Ivy grows up she wants to be a spy, ( Ivy is not sure what she wants to be, but Hattie thinks it would be interesting for her to be a spy).

Bedrooms Redone and Garage Converted

Whew its been a long time since I updated this.  Hope to start blogging again, as I love to have a record of times past by.

Clay's Bedroom:

Walls are glazed with some Ralph Lauren goodness.  Finally a spot for cool NM map!

A few Saturdays ago we made this bed with barnwood from old shed we took down in backyard.  From a shed to a bed!  We do have the windows trimmed out but, they were not yet done the other day when I took these pics.  Navy linen curtains...

Ivy's Room

 These are the new windows in Ivy's room.  We went with our dark taupe glaze in here too.  Ivy was ready to have warm and cozy walls after the blue and white stripes...

 I took these pics without cleaning!  OOPS.

 A much needed bookcase.

 We added crown molding and big trim in here as well. Windows are done in here too.


Master Bedroom:

 This one was what we were working on all summer.  This was a whole entire family project as the kiddos took up the slack with housework and laundry so we could work on this on Saturdays!

 Big south facing windows!  We have not bought anything new for this project, we just spread our house out.  So nice to have more room!

Don't mind the dresser drawers, didn't clean for this!  We just LOVE this color!  I mixed the glaze color somehow with some outdoor trim color and a few other cans after a mess up and a panic and I couldn't tell if it was wonderful or horrible until all the trim was up and the concrete was stained....So glad I left it.  Ralph recommends taping off panels to make it look like fabric panels. I did this in this room but not the kids.

Next on the list is Hattie and Ruby's room.  Its going to be fabulous I think!

Someone needs to be blogging here!

Hattie on her 6th birthday!

Ivy (6th grade), Clay(4th grade), and Hattie's (Kindergarten) first day of school, August 20, 2014

Ivy turned 12!

Clay's 10th birthday, August 17th1