He got it in his mind...

A few weeks ago, Owen got it into his mind that he wanted to buy a Lego set that he could put together during conference.  He picked out an expensive one and then went to count out his money that he has been saving.  He was short.  Really short.  But he wouldn't let it go.  For two weeks now he keeps asking me for more jobs so he can earn the money.  For the most part I have happily encouraged this, but I was coming to a point where I was running out of age appropriate jobs around the house and yard and the relentless pestering.

He was pretty funny, because although he is more than willing to work, he wasn't really thrilled about the $5/hr wage I was giving him.  Many a time he would say "Dad gets like a 1,000 dollars an hour and I get only $5.  That's not fair!"  Life isn't fair Owen.  Better get used to that now.

Several days ago he presented me with a list of jobs and the amount of money that I should pay him for each job.  He had added them all up to make sure that he earned enough.  Although the idea was great, the prices were a bit inflated.   When he is not working, making up jobs and payments he goes over and over in his mind how much he needs to earn before he can buy it.  He also keeps asking me if I think he will make it. "What is your best guess?" he says.

Finally I got desperate and posted a request on our neighborhood Facebook page asking for anyone that would be willing to put him to work.  I got a couple responses and Owen went to work for one of them the other day.  From what the neighbor told me, he worked non-stop.

He's so close.  Here's hoping that he earns enough!

Perfect!

I love Pinterest.  I really do.  Anything you want to learn about, decorate, look at or be inspired by, it is there.  It is also a maximizers worst nightmare.

I have been planning for many, many months now to paint my bedroom/bath blue.  And I even knew what color I was going for.  A soft, blue, gray, green color that changes in the light.  Nothing loud, obnoxious or "baby" colored.

So I looked on Pinterest for inspiration.  And I found it.  Loads and loads of colors and pictures all claiming to be the "perfect" color.  I got to the point that I would pin any color that looked like the color I was going for just for the sake of pinning.  Heck, why not? 

The problem starts when you stop looking and start buying.  What looks great on a computer screen rarely looks great on the walls in your own bedroom.   So, I picked out a few colors that I thought would work, looked at paint chips taped to my walls and finally went to the paint store to buy samples.

I put them on the walls and those gorgeous looking colors looked like they came straight out of a baby nursery.  How do you pick?  How can colors look so different from a computer screen to a paint chip taped to the wall, to the paint on the wall, to the entire room being painted in that color?   

So, I went down to Sherwin Williams and picked up a few more samples of a few other colors that looked like what I wanted.  Offhandedly, the guy pulled out a fan deck from Restoration Hardware and showed me one that was similar to what I had picked out. Since the sample cans were on sale I bought them both.  I then told myself I would not buy another sample.  I would pick from what was on the wall.  I won't tell you how many samples I bought, but it was more than 5 and less than 10. :)

And the one I chose?  Restoration Hardware Silver Sage. Yes, the one the paint guy told me about. Not any of the ones I had pinned on Pinterest. 

By the way, all of the colors on the Restoration Hardware fan deck were gorgeous.  I may consider using them in the future.

And you know what?  It is perfect.  I love it.  It is just what I was looking for.  I should have saved myself hundreds of mouse clicks and several paint samples and just went down and asked the paint guy.  What a relief!

Don't you love it...

when you work on a project for 2 days and while you work you watch the rest of your house fall apart before your eyes?

But, I got my bedroom/bath painted and cleaned.  Very glad that is done.

Now, I can pay attention to the rest of the mess.

And this one turns 12

They grow up so fast!  So fast!

He is 12 now and is a great kid!  So glad he is part of our family.

His birthday was on the day Owen got sick, so we had to modify plans a bit.

 

I slipped away from Owen for an hour to take him out to lunch at 5 guys.

Instead of going out to dinner, we brought dinner home.  Dickey's BBQ was his choice.  He requested that I make a double layer cake, but I didn't grease/flour the pans well enough, so the cake wouldn't come out.  I fully admit I am the worst cake decorator around.  He was a good sport though and the cake was still good!

Sick Boy

We thought we had gotten through the winter without any major sickness, until Owen came upstairs one morning last week with a nasty cough and a runny nose.  He was down for 3 days.  As soon as I realized he was staying home from school, I knew exactly what he would ask me to do.  Make him chicken soup.

Several sicknesses ago, he asked for chicken noodle soup.  I didn't have any on hand, so I whipped up a batch using canned chicken, chicken broth, carrots, onion, celery and parsley.  Nothing fancy about it.  He thought it was fantastic and gobbled it up.  Now it is a sickness tradition for him.

And he turns 15

I'm a little late posting, but Taylor did turn 15 about a month ago.  We celebrated with the Larsen relatives and Scott's parents at Famous Dave's.  Taylor and Scott's mom share the same birthday and my Dad's birthday is the day before.  He turned 70 this year.

Taylor has finally gotten around to taking the drivers test for his learners permit.  He passed, which means he is excited to get on the road.  I'm not so sure about this next stage in my life.  :)

A Snapshot

I was sitting in my chair looking at my "command central" white board this morning and thought "That is the perfect picture of what has been going on the past couple of weeks around here."

"Click"

And now I am here.

1)A months worth of "must remember to get at the grocery store" lists.

2)Reminder about Bennett's 7th grade orientation coming up.  7th Grade!

3)Reminder about Bennett's immunizations that he needs before 7th grade.  Haven't taken him yet even though I've had this reminder for quite awhile now.

4)Information about Owen's wax museum project coming up.  Martin Luther King is who he is supposed to dress up as.

5)Chase's calendar that he gave me for Christmas

6)Chase's homework, ready to be turned in...if I remember to get it into his backpack

7)Paperwork for the rental car.  Scott and I got into an accident a few weeks ago with the van, so I've been driving the truck and Scott's been driving a rental until it is fixed. I'm done driving that truck.

8)My monthly dinner menu.  Need to make a new one for March.

9)Chase's lady friend phone numbers.

10)Coupon for paint.  Planning on painting my bedroom the next few weeks.  Might as well get the paint on sale.

11)Flat Stanley reminder -  Who knows if I'm going to get this done.

That's pretty much the bulk of it.  Have a happy week!