I don't need to know...

We're having one of those mornings where the kids (and myself) seem bugged by everything. So I made them some popcorn for a snack and came in to check blogs. Jack and Jules were eating contently but the sound has switched to laughter and what I can only gather as mess making. Popcorn is a snack and entertainment at our house. It's generally smashed into little pieces and it's buying me a few minutes to unwind. However crazy it sounds, if I go in to check on them, I'll break the spell. They won't want to continue their game if I go see what's up. So as long as it's happiness I can hear, I'll let them do their thing. *Someone little left their gum on the desk and now it's on the elbow of my jacket.*

What we've been up to...

I apologize for my boring posts lately.  While sick, I didn't feel like posting pictures.  So here's some stuff that was missed.

A gas station opened by our house and they had a monster truck, race car, and chopper.  Of course, Jack had to go check it out.  It was cold so we didn't stay long but Jack thought the monster truck was HUGE!  He also wanted to know how the driver gets up to the door to get in.  

And now the entertainment center project!!

Here's the primed pieces.

I've got one almost put together.  The backer isn't on yet and there's a glaring white strip in the front that somehow got missed when the black painting was going on.  I'm going to need to touch up a spot or two so I'll just paint it then.  Oh, and put the shelves in. 

But here's the first glimpse:I'm actually really pleased with it!  It turned out way better than I thought it would.  I was pretty worried I was going to have to scrap the whole thing for a bit.  Total cost of project for both sides: $72.

Welcome Home Megan!

Merril's sister, Megan, finished her mission and flew home two weeks ago.  But I'm just posting the pictures now because I kind of forgot about them on my camera.  :)  

We made a sign to welcome Aunt Megan home!  

Now the kids are tired of holding the sign and decided to lay down.  In their defense, it was about 10 o'clock and they were tired.  I don't even want to imagine what was on that airport floor.

Here's Megan and Ma Campbell.  She was very excited!

Sick, sick, sick...

Our family has been pounded with illness lately. 2 1/2 weeks ago we got colds. 1 1/2 weeks ago, Max, Merril and I got the flu. And now Maxine and I have been diagnosed with pneumonia, everyone else is better. Max and I are on antibiotics and getting better but it's been a long time coming. Over the past week, my competancy as a parent has gone in the toilet. Diapers were barely getting changed. Luckily, Juliet and Jack just got the cold and have been spared the yucky stuff. I feel bad for Maxine because she's been sick the longest and was sick during the entire Spring Break holiday. What a bummer. But things are looking up and it's Spring! I haven't worked on my garden yet but it's getting time! I hope you are all doing well!

I hope I didn't make a mistake...

I just put the 4th coat of primer/paint on the entertainment center pieces. Now I wait. I hope it turns out but I'm a little apprehensive. Mainly because I didn't start with real wood. It's just an entertainment center made out of particle board with contact paper. If it doesn't work out, I just spent $70 and 5 evenings working on something I'm not even going to like. Urrgggg. We'll see.

Update...

The entertainment center has 2 coats of primer and 1 coat of black. 2 coats should do it. I hope. And I'm on page 207 of my book and even made the kids dinner *wink to Em.* Yeah!

Books...

I have a book discussion on Thursday. Through twists of fate, I didn't receive the book until today. I'm on page 57. I have 373 pages to go. Yikes.

P.S. I'm not an exceptionally fast reader.

Update...

I planted a peach tree and primed the entertainment center. I hope to paint the entertainment center tomorrow and finish it up this week. Pictures to follow.

So...how's that project coming?

I'm still working on the entertainment center. :) I finally got the pieces marked and ready for cutting. I had to plan, mark, and measure and that's not my strong suit. I like to imagine how it'll turn out and paint.

Today, I took the wood to a friend's house and borrowed her table saw. Merril, overhearing that I was going to use a table saw said, "Be careful with those things. People lose more fingers using a table saw than any other tool." I thought to myself, "Good to know." I was very focused on my hand placement whilst using the saw and am happy to say that I'm using all ten fingers to type.

Then I brought the pieces home and prepped them for primer. Here I'm cleaning some trim.

Here are the cut pieces, ready to be primed.

And then, like an idiot, I got a crazy idea to make my kids' Easter dresses. What...was...I...thinking? Juliet's is almost done. I still need to hem it and attach the buttons on the back. The buttons are little dragonflies to match the dragonflies on the dress. (Suddenly the word dragonfly looks weird.)
Maxine's will be identical except the bodice is pale yellow instead of pink. So the dresses will be similar but different.
And then I'm going to make a tie out of the leftover yellow material for Jack . *chuckle* We're having high hopes for the tie but it might just be hot glued together the night before Easter.

Merril's sister, Megan, is flying home from her mission in Sweden today! We're going to the airport to welcome her home! I'm excited to see her after a year and a half. She's probably somewhere over the ocean about now! Wahoo!

Bowling FHE...

We went bowling for FHE and were able to get the lane with the bumpers in the gutters. I would have had a ton more gutter balls if it weren't for the bumpers. Merril bounced off them a couple of times too. In the end, we had a 3-way tie for first place. Jack, Juliet, and I tied at 99 but no one could bust 100. Merril came in at 90 and Maxine finished up with 80. Jack got 2 strikes and Juliet got 1 strike by some fluke of bowling luck. Maxine was supremely disappointed that she didn't get a strike too. We tried and tried but to no avail. It was fun but I kept wondering when the last time the bowling ball holes had been disinfected. Eeewwww!

Dig a hole...fill it up...

So today, I dug a hole. It took about 2 hours. Reason? I want a fruit tree. I had always planned to plant fruit trees in my back yard. Well, our back yard isn't getting any closer to being completed. If I had planted a fruit tree when we moved in, I'd have a fruit-bearing tree by now! So I decided I didn't want to wait anymore. Unfortunately, our house sits on gravely-rock-sand. (Mostly rock.) If I ever want this tree to have a chance, I was going to have to dig a hole and fill it with good soil. I think this is a great start. The hole is about 2 1/2 feet deep and 2 1/2 feet wide. (I'm kind of kneeling in there, not standing.) I got some sun and some exercise too. I'll let Merril dig later.

Let's go to Vegas...

We went to Las Vegas to trade motorcycles with a guy. Hopefully the new motorcycle will sell for more moolah. Warning: Shameless plug- You can check out the Ebay auction here if you want to see pictures. When he told me he wanted to trade bikes, in my mind I was thinking, "Only if it's a BMW." I lost. It's a BMW 1150 something something something.

Anyhoo, we took the kids and decided to show them around! We tried to eat at the Orleans because they have a fabu Mexican place called Don Miguels. It's closed on Mondays. So we went over to the Paris for dinner. The kids had pizza slices but I had a toasted ham and swiss croissant. Then we had fruit tarts and eclairs for dessert.

Jack insisted on calling his eclair a doughnut. (I think you get thrown out of France for something like that.) Just kidding. French people are very nice as long as you don't go over there shouting, "America is the best thing ever!" Seriously, Americans are fat, ignorant, and arrogant. I love America, I really do. But I think Americans are a little spoiled. (Where did that come from??)

So on with the story, we ate and then walked across the street to watch the Bellagio fountain show. Here we are waiting for the show to begin. I have my classic, "Everyone look at the camera and say CHEESE!" face. But everyone else had a happy face so I can't complain.

Maxine loved the fountain show and stated that she felt like she was dreaming, only she was awake! (Parents score 2 points) Then we walked up to see the conservatory.

I don't have any pictures of the conservatory because it was being converted to a new theme. Maxine was bummed that we couldn't walk inside but settled for walking around the perimeter. It was a quick trip and we'll be heading back soon because Merril's little sister, Megan, will be coming home from her mission in Sweden in a little over a week! WOW!

Ambition...

I have a big projection TV. Merril gave me an entertainment center a long time ago when we used to have a smaller TV. So now the big TV doesn't go with the entertainment center and sits adjacent to the entertainment center, sort of. I want a new entertainment center, the type that has two bookcases and the TV sits on the floor between them. Reminiscent of this:

This picture was nabbed from my sister's blog. Nelson Family

So anyhoo, buying a new one is kind of out of the question right now so I'm trying to make mine work. I intend to take it apart and remove the middle section and then paint it black, to match the TV.

Here's the beginnings of the project. I apologize for my nasty phone picture. I couldn't find my camera. (Notice Chuck: The Evil Sandwich-Making Guy on the TV) I'm hoping to have most of it torn apart by tomorrow and marked for cutting. I still need to call a friend and see if I can use her table saw. It'd make things easier than hacking at it with a sawsall. I'm going to need some trim pieces but the rest should be reusable. So yikes!! I just hope it looks decent when I'm done.