Suzanne McGrath Photography

Six on Super Bowl Sunday

Did you watch the big game?  I had it on TV but probably only actually saw one or two plays!  I also didn't really notice any good commercials.  Am I sad about it?  Not at all!  I still had fun.

1.  We had good friends over to watch the game.  (Our Okoboji friends!)  In total, we had eight crazy kids running around tonight.  We had a great time.  I made meatballs for subs.  And we had a bunch of other munchy food.  Now that's my kind of night!  

2.  I gave the hubby the Steve Jobs biography for Christmas but I hijacked it.  I'm nearly done and I have to say, it's been a great read!  It's really fun because I grew up in this era and I recognize all the major markers in history.  Pong?  You bet!  The first Macintosh computers?  For sure - in school.  iPod?  iPhone?  iPad?  They were all in the last 10 years so it's been very interesting.  He definitely wasn't Mr. Nice Guy but learning all the ins and outs of these devices has been fascinating.  I highly recommend it.  

3.  #3 had her kindergarten check-up last Monday.  She was so brave.  She cried a little while she got her three shots but she rallied quickly.  I was very proud of her.  And to celebrate we stopped at Dunkin Doughnuts before I dropped her off school.  I know she liked her doughnut and hot chocolate but she LOVED spending one on one time with me.  And that was precious.

Here is the shot I took on my iPhone.  I altered it slightly to put in my Project 365 album:

4.  I have a really, really sad story to tell.  You see, I was so excited to get my iPhone last month.  I loved it and it was fabulous.  Yes, I'm talking past tense.  Yesterday, I absentmindedly put it in my back jean's pocket.  You know where this is going, don't you?  Yep.  It fell in the toilet.  And then it got stuck.  I couldn't get it out.  The hubby finally got it out and ran upstairs to blow dry it.  Right now it's sitting in a bowl of rice.  But I feel like I've lost her.  And although I didn't have insurance, it wouldn't have done me any good because it doesn't cover water damage.  

I can either buy a new one withOUT the subsidy or I can use my old Blackberry.  Neither option sounds very good right now.  And I'm currently without a phone.  I'm giving her 4 days to dry out before I officially lay her to rest.  Please wish me luck! 

5.  #1 and I each tried a new recipe this weekend.  She made these chocoloate covered chocolate chip peanut butter cookie dough football shaped cookies and I made these dill pickle french fries.  I would classify both a success.  Try them!

6.  #1 and I made the trek out to Lee's Summit yesterday to pick up a $10 brass chandelier.  Don't adjust your glasses.  You read that right.  Brass.  Chandelier.  But don't worry.  It's going to be awesome!  I'm going to put it in my laundry room after I spray paint it bright red.  The hubby thinks I'm nuts but I can't wait!

All right, folks.  That's all I've got.  It's been a long day.  Have a great week and please say a little prayer for my iPhone.  Just kidding.  Kind of.  But not really.

Six on Sunday...Random Thoughts

This will be another random installment of Six on Sunday.  In no particular order...

1.  I was all set to run this morning when the thunderstorms interfered.  I mean, I had set the alarm clock for 6am hoping to get outside by 6:30.  However, almost right at 6:30 it started really rumbling and then the rain came down.  I didn't actually make it out until 8:00am after the thunderstorm which meant it was about 100% humidity and just gross.  I only made it 7 miles.  Oh well.

And the reason I ran on Sunday?  The hubby ran yesterday and I needed to stay home with the kids.  This is what he found when he got home around 7am.  Yep.  We were already outside playing!

2.  I have talked about Project 365 on here previously and promised an update.  It's going in fits and starts but I'm still glad I'm doing it.  Below is an example spread.  I love that it includes things beyond simply pictures.  It's random stuff from our lives at the time and I like to mix it in every now and again.

3.  This week is our staycation.  As in, we are not leaving our house.  As in, I'm TOTALLY EXCITED!  We have all kinds of fun stuff planned.  We're going to Worlds of Fun, Schlitterbahn, Science City, the Nelson-Atkin museum, and Cinderella at Starlight.  We're also going to do other things like ride our bikes for bagels, go out for Peach Wave, you know - fun stuff.

4.  I'm also excited to have the week off to work on some projects and get some things wrapped up.  

• I need to hang the second headboard in #4's room
• I need to put the final coat of paint on our new-to-us dresser for our master bedroom
• I need to put the final coat of paint on an adorable little table to use as a night stand for #4's room
• Lastly - and the biggest - we are building a window seat in our front room.  I have the design plans all mapped out (in my head) and we started working on it today!  I'm going to make a series of boxes with drawers and top all of them off to make a window seat.  Of course I'll post pictures when we're finished.  This is where it's going to go...

5.  #4 is in her big girl bed!  Yep, after more than 10 years, we were finally able to take down the crib.  Woo Hoo.  The transition was super easy.  We went to my folks house for the 4th of July and they didn't have a crib.  (My mom got rid of hers after Christmas.)  At first, I was terrified.  How would she sleep?  Would she wake up a lot?  Would she EVER fall asleep?  And you know what?  It was great.  She didn't have any problems at my parent's house and when she got home, she went right into her big girl bed.  Sweet.  It's really nice to be out of that stage.  Now, I just have to get her out of diapers:)

6.  I shot senior pictures tonight down in the West Bottoms and Loose Park.  Despite the gross weather, it wasn't that bad and I know I got some GREAT shots.  I can't wait to post them.

Have a great week.  I know I will!

Six on Sunday...is it really May?

I'm back for another installment of Six on Sunday.  As normal, this is always random, stream-of-consciousness.  Here goes!

1.  I am thankful to be running again.  It is such a great feeling to be able to get out and move again!  My knee is better.  I don't think it's 100% better, but I'd give a 90% rating.  

Today I combined one of my errands with my run.  I figured why not kill two birds with one stone?  What did I do?  I ran to my neighborhood Von Maur to buy make-up because I had run out.  The challenge? There was no way to match the Super Balanced Clinique foundation to my face since it was beet red.  Oh well.  We took an educated guess and I ran back home with a bottle of foundation in my hand.  Classy!

2.  I've talked about Project 365 before on here.  I thought I should provide an update.  (I don't have pictures of my album yet, but I'll get to those in a couple weeks.)  I am keeping up with it - in fits and starts.  This weekend I spent some time downloading my everyday snapshots to Costco.  I had printed quite a few, but still had a ways to go.  It really is fun and exciting.  I'm enjoying taking photos of the ordinary, every day events.  For instance, I took a picture of my Blackberry.  Just think how much cell phones have changed over the last 20 years!  In 20 years my BB will look like some sort of relic.

I'm also putting things in there from magazines, pictures of the TV shows we (mostly the girls) watch, and current events.  I've put in the bibs from our half marathon - just bits of our every day life.  Fun.

3.  I was able to attend #2's soccer game ALL BY MYSELF yesterday!  That was a real treat for me because it meant I was able to actually watch the whole game - no chasing two-year-olds.  I brought my trusty 7D armed with my dad's lense to shoot some images of #2.  Despite the FREEZING temperatures, I had a good time.  Here are just a couple.

This one is my favorite!

She is #17.

After editing the photos I realized she loves soccer because she had a huge smile in every picture.  She also had her mouth open wide every time she kicked the ball!

4.  Project updates.  

• I bought an AWESOME mid-century telephone table (I think that's what it was used for back then) for $5.  The top of the two tiers are veneer but I don't care.  I've already painted it.  It just needs a couple coats of white.  I'll debut it next weekend.  I am going to love it.  It's going in #4's big girl room.
• Since I had the great green paint for the telephone table, I took the liberty of painting the back of #4's bookshelf.  The bookshelf is really tall and the green will provide a great pop of color to the solid white.  I can't wait to rip the tape off and put all the books back!
• I finally finished the dresser for my niece's room.  I was able to deliver it this afternoon.  It actually fits her room really well.  She has a "glamour" vibe going on in there and the white and silver works.  Here it is:

• We are getting new siding on two sides of our house: the front and the south side.  Well, it's a perfect time to replace two old, crappy windows.  In order to measure for the windows, I had to rip off the trim pieces.  This is what I found on my front window:

See that black stuff.  Want to know what it is?  Mold!  Yep - our front window was leaking and we didn't realize it.  Thank goodness we're replacing it.  I'm just pulling that whole 2x4 out and putting in a new one.  I'm not even going to clean that off!

We found out windows are expensive.  (I had forgotten that part.)  I'm not going to tell you how much they cost because I like to focus on the positive.  Like how much we saved.  Yep, we opened up a credit card at Home Depot to save 10%.  That was a savings of a hundred bucks.  Sweet!  Now we just have to get the windows installed.  Yuck.

5.  It's official.  #4 is FINALLY talking!  WooHoo.  I left for three days, came back, and boom!  Talking.  She's even putting a couple words together.  She is still not very clear, but she will say "my shoes" or "dada's shoes."  She is saying all her sister's names, which she definitely wasn't doing a week ago.  It's so nice.  I hope she continues to just snowball in terms of growth.  

6.  I spent a few minutes last week (when it was still warm outside) shooting some of my flowers.  It was actually kind of fun to shoot something different.  They are so beautiful this time of year.

OK, kids.  That's it.  I'm done and my bed and book are calling me.  Have a terrific week!

 

Six on Sunday

The Oscars on right now and I'm here.  Blogging.  Is that dedication or what?  Actually, if you answered, "or what", you'd be correct.  Before we had kids, we used to see a lot of movies.  We'd go to matinees on Saturday or Sunday afternoon, or heck - both afternoons!  But now?  After four kids?  I don't think I saw one grown-up movie last year.  Seriously.  I don't even remember RENTING a grown-up movie.  Therefore, I'd only be watching the Oscars to check out the dresses and I can do that online tomorrow.  So....that leads me to yet another installment of "Six on Sunday".

1.  We had a really busy week.  It wasn't a bad busy - it was actually a good busy.  Tuesday night I had dinner with two old friends.  Not that they're old - just that we've been friends for a decade!  It was really fun to hang out for the evening with two like-minded women.  So fun.  Wednesday I drove the swim carpool.  While I don't enjoy hanging out at the Y for two hours, it is a nice opportunity to be able to read my books.  Thursday night we ventured out in the yucky weather to attend a spaghetti dinner.  It was fun, I got to catch up with another old friend, and I didn't have to cook dinner.  Now that's a big win in my book!  And then Friday night I only had two kids at home which made for a very productive evening of organizing my Goodwill donation and therefore organizing the garage.  And last night?  We had a "family playdate" with #3's two best friends and their family.  Phew.  Did you catch all that?  A busy week!

2.  Speaking of Friday night and only having two kids at home...#3 went on a double date!  With her dad.  (#1 has swim practice.)  Her school had a Father-Daughter dance.  She picked out her own outfit without any help from anyone.  And her dad even busted out his suit!  They went to dinner at Nick and Jake's with her best friend and her dad.  And after the dance they went out for ice cream.  That's a better date with her dad than I get:)

I do have to give her props on her outfit choice.  Her Converse actually matched the sash of her dress.  Now THAT'S style!  Plus, since she danced away the night, her choice of shoes turned out to be pure genius.

3.  I tried so hard to get my long run in this weekend.  My running group decided to stay indoors so I inserted myself into my friend, Carmen's, group.  I was so pumped to run with her and her posse and try something new.  However, our hopes were dashed at the last minute.  Carmen picked me up shortly after 6:30am on yesterday.  (And if you know me well, you know I AM NOT A MORNING PERSON.)  We drove 20 minutes to the meet-up spot, started putting on our hats, gloves, etc, when some guy pulled up to us.  We thought we were parked in the wrong area.  Turns out, the streets, sidewalks, you-name-it were all icy.  Darn.  The run was cancelled.

SOOOO...not to be completely outdone, I decided to run at the gym.  I had pumped myself up, loaded the iPod with a new playlist, and drove 10 minutes to the gym.  I hopped on the treadmill around 2:15.  I was feeling good.  I figured I could do it.  10 miles wouldn't be so bad - afterall, it's less than two hours.  However, at 2:45 a voice came over the speakers.  "Attention gym members, it is now 2:45 and the gym will be closing in 15 minutes.  Repeat.  The gym will be closing in 15 minutes."  All I could think of was, "Are you KIDDING me with this?  Seriously?"  So I cranked up the speed and barely managed to fit in 5 miles.  50% complete.  Nuts.

4.  I am now officially a member of the Project Life community.  I want to document our year by taking one photo per day.  I have to admit, after putting together a December Daily album (that is awesome, by the way!), I barely picked up my camera during January.  So I'm not off to a great start, but I figure I will be able to make it up.  I am now focusing really hard on taking at least one picture per day - even the hubby is getting behind it!  

5.  Are you wondering what the pictures will be from this weekend?  Well, we were really productive!  I am so proud of us because we were able to achieve a nice balance.  The kids all had activities or played with friends and had a really fun weekend and we managed to refinish a kitchen table!  

Remember the dead mouse table?  My sister actually told me it resembled a swear word.  But not me.  I knew it had greatness potential.  I don't think my hubby was so sure.  But, he was willing to give it a try. We sanded the heck out of the table this weekend AND even stained it.  It's now gorgeous.  The color is deep and rich.  I simply love the clean lines - which is 100% my style.  Here is #1 helping us shop-vac the dust after one of the first rounds of sanding.

And here she is after the stain was applied.  You can see the side closest to the camera is where the stain has been wiped off.  The glossy side shows the stain right after I applied it.  (And yes, you see laundry in the corner.  I could have photoshopped it out, but that wouldn't be keepin' it real.)  

Don't you love the color?  I am so glad my dad told me we didn't have to paint it.  I originally thought we'd have to paint it because it's not solid wood.  It's actually a wood veneer.  However, the veneer is really thick which meant we had enough wood to work with to sand it down.  There were some nasty stains and water marks, but the hubby did a GREAT job sanding them out.  Once we get a few coats of poly on her, she's going to be a real princess!  I can't wait.  If it works out, I'll post another tutorial!

All right folks, that's all for now.  Have a terrific week!