Converse with children

In a family home evening lesson Paul asked Maggie, "When Mom asks you to do something, what should you do?"

"Clean up."
I feel like it's all I ever say to them, and that confirmed it.
"Mom, tell me a story about when you were a princess." She's the only one in the world that thinks I'm the kind of person that would be a princess. It's kind of sweet.
While I was upholstering Axel said, "Mom, all you do is work, work, work. Don't you ever take a lunch?" Axel says all kinds of funny things for a five year old. I think it's because he reads.
"I thought Maggie was right behind me, and to my surprise, she was gone!"
Original was said 'org-inal' for a long time, because he learned what it meant from reading and didn't get the pronunciation right. "Mom who was the org-inal owner of the van?"
Paul is so tickled that Axel reads, he is giving him books to read that he loved when he was a kid. Then quizzes him.
"Hey Axel, are all the giants in The BFG nice?"
"Well not all of them. Actually they're really bad."

"Why are they bad?"
"I can't tell you. It's too terrible."
"Is it because they eat children?"
"Yes! How did you know?"
Now that I think of it, the other book he really likes is Robinson Crusoe. Maybe we should lay off the books where people are eating other people.

Tonight for dinner, I really didn't want to make or eat anything. Isn't that unfair that when I don't feel like eating, it's still my job to cook. We'd had whole wheat pancakes for breakfast with nectarines and mangoes. For lunch a big spinach salad, and fruit for snacks. (My kids are awesome eaters! It makes me love them soooooo much.) I was supposed to make Thai Chicken stir fry for dinner, but just really didn't want to. So I suggested that we go to the grocery store and pick out some ice cream for dinner. Paul and the children agreed it was a good idea. Because it was on a great sale, we got two: peanut butter cup and strawberries and cream. It was a very satisfying day. All natural, full fat.

I love saying to the children at the grocery store, "Look very closely at the label and make sure it doesn't say low-fat on it. We only buy the high fat." I especially love it if we are next to someone who is obsessing over the 100 calorie yogurt vs. the 90 calorie. Come on, if you lift that yogurt one more time, you'll burn those 10 calories, sister. Related: "See, that jello says 'no sugar'. In our family we eat real sugar, look for that jello." Big jock passing by gave Axel an encouraging, all-American smile. "Yeah! Eat the real stuff, Buddy." Thank you football-guy.

This pic is for my cousin Brenda, who wants a belly picture. This one was taken by Maggie, when she was playing with the camera. Her height makes the picture so much better.

And yes, there are still 4 more months of growing to do. I know, it's amazing.

My vision, realized.

Before.

Notice how damaged and scratched the wood is.

Strip all fabric, 1/2 inch cardboard strips, and batting.

Tape off, so just the wood shows.

Sand, chemically strip (with a toothbrush, people), stain, rub-on polyurethane.

Cut out all the fabric pieces.

Make 34 yards of welting.

Sew the front pieces together with their single welting.

Working one piece at a time, put the batting on, trim.

Stretch upholstery on. Staple. Staple cardboard trim, to make nice tight corners.

Pat yourself on the back.

Repeat for back. This time, using your scrap fabric (sometimes it comes in handy to have a cupboard full of fabric I can't throw away) before the batting.

Glue on double welting.

Make cushion: cut foam, glue on batting, make cover, assemble. No pictures.

Finished.

Admire the lines.

Admire the clean fabric against the rich and smooth wood.

Stand in awe that anyone would have thrown out this gem. (Remember I pulled this out of the dumpster.)

Sit.

At this point you may be saying, "Alisha why would you upholster in bright white when you have three small children?" Well I wish I could answer, "My children don't make messes and they respect my things."

The truth is, I love love love decorating in color. Bright, bold, invigorating color. The bad thing is, my color taste changes every 3 years - I've discovered. I don't want to buy a new couch every three years. So I've decided to have white and maple wood, and walnut wood be my staples. All long term furniture will be in these, and everything else will change. A white couch and a white piano means that you can paint your wall bright without being too circusy. Now imagine bright, bold patterned pillows on that couch. Bright curtains, colorful art. You might need a few big white pieces to offset all that color.

The trouble is, how could I possibly have a white couch? I looked at many white couches, and at the upholstery fabric they used. All the ones I saw were slip covers, so you could take them off and bleach the cover. That would not work for my couch.

And then I found......

Crypton

And I fell in love. Completely waterproof, practically impossible to stain. So durable it was first only for commercial furniture (like in doctor's waiting rooms). I covered my two side chairs in crypton first, to live on it for a few months before I invested all that money. Chocolate, ketchup, boogers, all wipe off like I was wiping it off the counter. But somehow, it's soft fabric. Worth every penny. So I saved my pennies, I waited for the 50% off-home-dec JoAnn's fabric sale, I waited for the coupon that would give me 10% more percent off, and I special ordered my beautiful, snow white, indestructible crypton. Unfortunately, despite my strict rules for the couch, it's already gotten dirty, and it came clean effortlessly.

boy

We're having a boy. We're very excited. Everybody knew it was a boy. Here's his little face poking out of the shadows.

Before the ultrasound,

Axel: Mom we're having a boy because that would be fair. Two boys, two girls

Maggie: He'll come out a smiling baby boy.

That sealed the deal, the doctor confirmed it.

We've picked a name: Boone Quayle Reynolds.

He's very active.

Cruise

We went on a cruise a month ago. It was excellent. Paul and I together, bez (Ukrainian word meaning without, that is way cooler that the French 'sans') children for 9 days. Excellent company, excellent food, excellent locations.

Day 1 -driving. My husband is still cool, and funny.

Day 2 - went to church with some friends in Ft. Lauderdale to their half Haitian, creole speaking ward. Perfect start to an exotic vacation. Disembark on the cruise.

Day 3 - Day at sea. Boring.

Day 4 - Cayman Islands - snorkeling, sting ray swimming, star fish exploring.

Day 5 - Roatan, Honduras - playing with animals, tour of Roatan, beach swimming.

The twins were soooo cute.

Day 6 - Belize - cave tubing - couldn't take pictures, no water camera. Really fun.

Day 7 - Cozumel, Mexico - Mayan ruins of Tuluum

Our tour guide was showing us around. Very interesting. Educating us about the Mayan people. He told us about some of the carvings. One of a God upside down, signifying God coming down from heaven. Interesting...

I spotted a guide wearing a shirt with the words, "Mosiah tours", and sure enough he was an LDS tour guide. He gave us the Mormon version. You can see on this temple, 3 carvings. 1 signifies God the Father, 2 - Jesus, coming down from heaven, 3 - Holy Ghost, empty space.

He showed us a carving, stela, found at a different site, Izapa, which looks remarkably like Lehi's Tree of Life vision. Though, not all LDS scholars agree.

I liked it so much, I bought a replica.

We wore our swimming suits just about constantly.

This day was no exception, because the ruins are right on a cliff on the beach. The water was incredible, all week.

It was my favorite day.

Day 8 - Day at sea. REALLY boring.

Day 9 - Driving home. We super missed our kids. Hardee's Thickburgers helped take the pain away.