Backyard

After living here for over four years we are FINALLY getting our backyard in!  I'm so excited!!!!

We (Aaron mostly) prepped the soil by raking and pulling weeds, raking and pulling some more weeds, and then raking some more...

I sectioned off some areas where I don't want grass and will eventually (hopefully really soon) will have trees and shrubs.

Here are some BEFORE SOD pix:

And here are some DURING SOD pix:

Are you catching my vision?

We still have a lot of doing left (planting trees & shrubs, bringing in gravel & maybe bark, hefting & placing super gigantuous rocks, killing some not-so-pretty sagebrush and weeds, back-filling walls, decorating patio, lighting...the list goes on and on).

...so the AFTER pix will have to wait.  

Next year we will finish the upper part of our backyard where we have all the shrub oak and wild grass...yay!

Herriman Days Parade!

We always look forward to Herriman Days.  This year it was a lot earlier than normal AND we've had cooler weather than normal, so the HEAT wasn't an issue.  It was perfect parade-day weather!

 The girls and I had a good spot!

 Kaeli and Violet

 

Sara and Rylie 

The Scouts started out the parade,
and we cheered and hollered for Sammy!

 There's our boy!

Summer-Time-Craft-Time

 

 Painting plaster magnets!

First Grade Opera!

Rylie's class worked really hard this year getting ready for their opera.  They studied Ancient Egypt this year so that's what it was all about.  The kids wrote the lyrics to the songs (someone else put them to music) and made the props.  And of course, the parents came up with the costumes.  It turned out so GOOD!  I was impressed.

 Rylie played two parts; an Egyptian Slave and a Mummy.  Since she wasn't going to have enough time to change she wore her mummy costume UNDER her slave costume. 

Here are some snap shots of her big night:

Congrats to Rylie!

She did a fabulous job!!!

G is for GRADUATE

Sara had her preschool graduation last week!

(She still has another year of preschool before kindergarten, but we like to celebrate the little things :-)

  

She was so excited to wear her "Hawaii Dress"

and have her toe nails & finger nails painted.

She is such a

CuTiE!

pRiMaRy RoCkS!

Sara brought this home from church and it made me laugh!

lucky SEVEN!

 Our sweet Rylie is SEVEN!

And we're so LUCKY to have her in our family!

She is such a good sister, and she's growing up so fast!

Rylie is smart and spunky and silly!

She has always been very strong-willed,

even from the start!

She knows exactly what she wants, 

and has such a strong sense of right and wrong.

Rylie has a very strong and amazing spirit!

She is destined for amazing things!

We love her to pieces!

Piggies

 

 gottta love 'em!

Introducing...

So I have been pondering this idea for quite awhile....  I love to do projects.  I love to do art.  I love to create.  BUT I rarely have had time to do these things as much as I want.  A few months ago as I jotted down my new year's resolutions, making time to do these things was at the top of the list.  I know that when I make time to create I am so much happier and feel so much more complete. Sooooo creating a blog where I can record my creations was a natural step, because it gives me accountability to make time for these projects and blogging is just one more creative outlet.  I will keep SMARKS as more of a family blog and the Eclectic Nut as my Artsy/DIY/Creations/Project (not sure exactly what it really is) blog.

Check it out and let me know what you think...for reals, I would love your feedback!

www.eclecticnut.blogspot.com

Hula Baby

 

 

Board & Batten

Look what I've been up to?
This weekend I put board & batten in our front room!

We bought primed mdf from Home Depot:
Header: (2) 5-1/2' x 6'
Verticals: (11) 1-1/2 x 8'

After a tutorial from da hubbs on how to use a chop saw and a nail gun, I went to work.

It took a full day, but it was totally do-able and FUN!
Here's how to do it:

1. MEASURE
Measure out the wall for the vertical boards, using painter's tape to mark it. Making sure that the boards won't cover any outlets or light switches. There are 10.5 inches between each vertical board. But I really only measured every 12" keeping in mind that the mark would line up to the left of each board. 12"-1.5"(width of board)=10.5". Then I marked where the header would go, using a level and pencil.


2. HEADER
Measure the header (I used two boards) and cut the edges at 45 degree angles where they join. Using liquid nails I glued the header in place, checking with the level to make sure it was all good. I used the T-support to hold it in place so I could nail it. (Holy cow mdf is heavy!) I used 1.25" finishing nails. Then with a pencil I marked on the bottom on the header the 12" increments for the vertical boards.


3. MEASURE & CUT VERTICALS
Line up each board to the marks on the header. Number each board on the back along with the length it needs to be cut to. Measure each board individually because the may need to be cut at different lengths. (I didn't want the vertical boards to hang over the existing base board, so I cut 45 degree angles leaving 0.25" blunt edge, so it didn't come to a point, at the bottom of each board. That sounds confusing so refer to the picture below).

When the bottom cuts are done, measure and mark each board according to their individual measurements and cut them to length.

4. GLUE & NAIL VERTICALS
Line up each vertical board to their place and make sure they'll fit. One at a time, glue the board with liquid nails, lining it up to the mark on the header and checking with a level. When it's good and level, nail it in place.

5. CAULK & PAINT
Fill in nail holes and joints with putty. Caulk around all the boards with paint-able caulk. Sand the putty places. Tape off the walls and paint. And then paint again...

TA-DA!


My decorations are still a work in progress.
As soon as my basement is finished the piano is moving downstairs and I hope to replace it with a cute chair and lamp.

Oh, and a hutch will replace my armoire...some day.
I search ksl classifieds weekly for "the one", to refinish just the way I want.