Buzzed and Lit Up

The twins are getting big enough now that they are wanting to be with big brother all the time and want to do what big brother does and have what big brother has. For example, when I went to cut Caleb's hair the day before school started in his requested buzz, Zaric climbed right up in the chair after him and proudly declared "me too." How could I resist? It was sad for me, being the Mom that I am, but I obliged. Afterwards it was a little more reluctant Zaden's turn, but I have to say they do look adorable.

Example #2. When I took Caleb shopping for some new school shoes, the twins were so taken and excited by the light up Sketchers he picked out that I tried some on them. I almost didn't make it out of the store when I had to take them back off. They were so upset. But I searched high and low and found a deal for them on the Internet and viola, they all 3 now have matching Sketchers.When they noticed Caleb had his on this morning, they were pretty fit to be tied until Mom got theirs out too and they have been happily lighting up the house all day long. They even napped in them.

Aren't they adorable?

For Sale

So here's the big news! 8 years and 3 kids later we have decided that it's time for a new chapter in the Ouren Household. The Ouren Household as in a new house! After lots of talking and looking around we have decided that we are outgrowing this house with every day that the kids get bigger. We started by contacting a Realtor and have been scouring the valley looking at homes for almost 4 months as well as doing updates and repairs to this house. We haven't officially found one to move into yet, but have found a couple with potential. However, this one has to be sold to make it all happen.

We loved this house and it was a great starter home for us and we hope it will be for someone else as well. If you know of any young families looking for that perfect starter home, send them our way. And we'll keep everyone updated on this process as we go through it.

Officially a First Grader!

It's official, we have a first grader today who will go to school all day! Caleb was excited this morning to start the day and picked out his new glow in the dark Star Wars shirt and his light up Sketchers for his first day outfit. He got a little nervous once we got there and Mom had to stay with him until his line went into the classroom. Here he is at home and in his desk in the classroom.

He had already gotten to meet his teachers when he attended a summer camp 2 weeks ago for his Chinese Dual Immersion program. He has a great time at camp and is already spurting out words and working on drawing symbols. Here's the work he brought home from camp.

I thought it might be fun to help some of you learn along as we do. So here's Chinese lesson #1.

Hello- 'Nǐ hǎo (knee how)

Good Bye- zài jiàn (sy gen)

More words and possibly video tutorials from Caleb as we learn more. Stay tuned.

West Valley, Wyoming?

In the 8 years we have lived here, I can only recall the wind blowing in West Valley one time as hard as it did yesterday. If I wanted damage like this, I would move us to Wyoming. We sat in the kitchen and watched as the wind picked up the trampoline and crushed it into the back of the garage. Mike went out later and tipped it back down and untangled it from the swing set. Good News: no damage to the house that we have seen. Bad news: the saftey net and poles to hold it up are most likey toast. We'll see when we have some help trying to bend them back if they are salvageable or not. But wow, what a storm.

Schade Reunion 2010

Every year the Schade side (my side) of the family gets together for a camping trip and family reunion. Some years we have tons of people, other years not as many but no matter what the year, it's always a good time. This year the boys got to go down with Papa a couple days early and play in the dirt to their hearts content. Mike and I got there on Saturday morning for the big festivities. We played Bingo, ate great food, won some goodies at the auction and had a good time visiting. The kids got to do even more, they played Bingo on their own, had a fishpond, got cotton candy, and animal balloons as well as hit a pinata, have water fights and play in the water and mud, and climb the mountain. They had a great time. We had to leave Saturday night before the talent show which was a little disappointing. But next year we will be able to stay for sure. Enjoy the pics.

A Camping Adventure

This weekend was camping trip #3 for us this summer and lets just say that whoever put the camping curse on me this year better quit. It seemed like everything was going wrong again this trip. Here's some of the Good, the bad and the Ugly.

The Good: Spending time with family, playing games and laughing a lot, great food, a good morning hike through the red ledges, watching Eagles soar above while on the ledges, finally finding the hot springs, and kids playing and running off pent up energy.

The Bad: Papa forgot several things. They herded a bunch of cows through camp. A hike that was only supposed to take a few minutes turned out to be over 4 miles and an hour of hiking both ways. Zaden crashed off a trike and skinned up his face pretty bad and Zaric crashed off a bench and got a knot on his head.

The Ugly: 3 of our trailers (or parts in them) broke. Caleb crashed on his scooter and we ended up running him to the ER for him to get 3 stitches in his chin and a random naked guy in the river during the above 4 mile hike.

That being said, enjoy the slide show mostly of the good. :)

Rain Dancer

We have been liking our little micro summer rain storms we have been receiving the last few days. Zaden maybe most of all. This is my little rain dancer. We had music playing in the garage while we painted the coffee table and he loved dancing in the rain and we loved watching him. He even made Mom go out there and dance with him a couple times.

And of course he also figured out the best part of a rainstorm. Catching the raindrops.

Coffee Table Redo

We finally had a free weekend to do whatever we pleased, so of course I filled it up with a little weekend project. The coffee table in our family room that we have had for 11 years has been steadily showing its years of service and dings and scratches. We had been trying to figure out if we wanted to send it to the DI, try to sell it cheap to someone or fix it up ourselves. I finally decided last week that we were going to do the 3rd option. I have never refinished a piece of furniture before so wasn't sure what we were in for. But off I went to Walmart for the supplies and this is how it went.

Step 1: We started with the stripping. (don't all good things start that way?) ;)

Step 2: We sanded, and sanded. Sorry no pics.

Step 3: We painted. A dramatic change from the dark walnut to the black.

Step 4: We distressed.

And finally Step 5: We glossed.

I had a hard time getting a good shot with the lighting in that room. But here's the results of the drop leaf coffee table both in it's out and in positions.

Overall, I love it! It looks so much better in person and so much better in that room. We also learned a few things along the way and are ready to tackle so more long overdue projects. Also, I realized while we were sanding that this was the very first piece of furniture that Mike and I ever bought together. I thought it was sweet that we were then refinishing it together. Awwwwwwww. I am so glad we opted for option 3.