my own little product endorsements:

After a lovely dentist visit with a screaming child, I got  to work on a project that I am copying from a source that I cannot seem to recall.  It is a art gallery for the girlies, complete with frames of different sizes that are empty but have a metal clip attached to the wall inside the frame.  Don't you worry.  As soon as I get the clips in the mail, I will give you all fabulous pictures.  I have been collecting frames (mainly gold intricate ones) from Goodwill and today I spray painted away.  Because I am a top notch wife, I did not paint them red as I was inclined to do and stuck with white.  I figure that the texture of the different frames is enough for me and I would have hated to have them burn in an accidental fire while I am out of town next week.  So here comes the product endorsement.  I always use this great spray paint from Fred Meyer's because of the beautiful colors it comes in and have thought it to be a great can of paint, until now.  I found, hiding in my garage, this can of paint.  This was after I had already spent a good 1.5 cans of paint on my frames, that were succumbing to much beading a dripping.  (Yes, probably due to user error, but keep listening!)  I pulled out this great can of paint that claims that it covers with twice the coverage and after using it, I must disagree.  I think it is at least with 3 times the coverage.  It was amazing.  I spraying this to my many layers with the other paint and that was the end of my project.  It was quite magical.  The moral of the story?  Always buy rustoleum 2x's spray paint because: IT ROCKS!

The next product up for review: The shark.  Sounds menacing, eh?  You have to be menacing to tackle my stinky dark wood floor.  The good: Reusable pads, it uses water instead of some expensive and stinky cleaner and it cleans my floor easily and well.  The bad: With all the steam, I was a little hot by the end of it.  Maybe next time I will open a window.  Maybe I will be able to keep my floor one level above disgusting now.  Only time will tell, as the shark still requires a person to operate it.  (Unlike my scooba, that either ran away with the roomba to elope or was stolen by our stinky movers.)

Lessons for today: If you want to spray paint (which you should because it is SO fun!), use Rustoleum 2x.  If your floor is gross like mine was 15 minutes ago, use the shark.  (I feel like there should be jaws music playing)  You won't regret it.  And if you do, please still be my friend. :)

juggling

Sometimes, I am lucky to just keep all of the balls I am juggling in the air.  Most of the time, I am busy picking up the balls that I keep on dropping.  Today was one of those days full of juggling, yet enjoyable.

What have we been up to?  Yudu-ing with Kylene.  Picnics in the backyard.  Gardening.  Cooking up bok choi (from our garden).  Cleaning.  Laying out my zig zag quilt, finally.  Watering the garden.  Washing off Lilly, who plays in the mud while I water. Watching Monsters vs. Aliens at McMenamin's.  (dinner and a show for $31.)  Cleaning the footprints from everyone who played in the mud while I watered the garden.  Weeding.  Bedtime.  Hanging out with Chris while laying out my zig zag quilt, again.  Piecing my zig zag quilt.  Blogging.  Back to piecing.  Sleep will be next on the list, theoretically.

camp recap

Yes, Chris came for his nightly visits. (I think he felt challenged after my comments about his disdain for camping.  That and he likes to play with fire.)  Our days were filled with hikes and bike rides that inevitably took us down steep trails and finding an alternative trail back up that was always just as steep. 

There were butterflies and caterpillars found, beaver sightings, a little bit of horse stalking (all for Hannah!) and scenic views.  For anyone that hasn't been to Stub Stewart: Go! (Just don't rent a cabin when we want to be there.)  When you look around you, all you see is tree covered hills as far as the eye can see.  Breathtaking, I tell you.  

The girls all rated the trip at a 9 out of 10, with their reasoning for their one point deductions varying from mosquito bites, minor injuries or the 30 minutes of rain that we had on our last day.  I think our trip was a success if that is all they can complain about.  Rachel was off bike riding for the majority of the trip, although I think she needs to learn an alternative to bribing her friend's big brother to carry her bike back up the hill.  We enjoyed identifying all of the many varieties of wild flowers and even found out (at the end of our trip) that we shouldn't be picking them.   Stub Stewart Park, we will be back.  (After I recover, that is.  Nevermind.  Star Party this Saturday night...if the weather cooperates we will be back before Stub Stewart recovers)  And we just rented a yurt for the beginning of July at the beach.  Dutch Oven, dear, we have a date.

the signs of an over photographed child

How you know your children have had their pictures taken one too many times:

When your three year old asks you to take a picture by accurately mimicking the sound of your shutter clicking. 

When your daughter gets dressed in the morning with her photo shoot all figured out, down to the outfit, props and location.  If she starts figuring out the lighting, I will be scared.  

 

A few pictures of our little adventure, with a promise of more tomorrow:

out on another Kang adventure

After our run in with Stub Stewart state park for the lovely star party, I (on a whim) made reservations at one of their cabins for two nights.  Fast forward a month or two and our party has increased two families and we are in the process of loading our car for our little adventure.  This adventure includes my first fire starters that I made last week, my 6 year old virgin dutch oven   (that will come back nice and worn in), my new charcoal chimney and 5 (yes, you read that correctly) bags of marshmallows.  What could go wrong as long as we have those ingredients? 

Wish us luck and we will see you again on Wednesday. (or Thursday if I am completely wiped out from all of this fun!)  The only ingredient missing?  Chris.  He, conveniently, has to work. (or something lame like that!)  Chris has a love/hate relationship with camping.  He loves putting bugs on people and playing all sorts of camping related pranks on people, but he hates pretty much everything else involved. (especially the lack of indoor plumbing.  Even if they have bathrooms, his idea of going to the bathroom in the middle of the night does not include needing a flashlight.)  I digress.    Luckily, I think he can still make it to heaven because Gordon B. Hinkley's son once talked about how much his dad hated camping.  It can't be too big of a fault, right?   (I think I just heard Chris sigh in relief)

niftiness

Yes, that is us on our very own place mats.  Who would have thunk of it?  Paige, of course.  I am still in awe of the ingenuity of it all.  There will be no fighting over which one belongs to who, that is if I ever let anyone use them.  And let me just say that it sure is fun to have such a fabulous surprise waiting for you in the mailbox.  

new items at our house

No, you probably won't find a ton of gap clothes for your children in near perfect condition when you are out garage sale-ing in our town.  You probably won't find the latest and greatest baby gear, either.  But if you are seeking great vintage items for your home, Forest Grove is the place to be.  Last Friday, we hit the jackpot!  We found this classic "Telephone Table", that was just a small piece of material away from being perfect for our entry way.  We came across a Country Sale, that was very much so just that.  After going further and further into the country, I was happy to see the drive pay off as we came across a whole bookshelf of vintage Little Golden Books that were priced at a quarter a piece.   On the non-vintage front, we scored two sewing machines (in great condition) for $5. (Not $5 a piece, but $5 for both of them!)  As soon as Rachel and Autumn get their room in order, we are going to start working on a sewing corner for them.  I must say that I think our garage sale day was a great success and made me love Forest Grove that much more.