SOON- THE UNVEILING!

I am sitting here on the computer with wide open window and it is refreshing. I took down the drapes in the two rooms this morning to sell at a garage sale that Eve and Mim are doing today and tomorrow. I however went out to play with my friend at Fabric Depot and had too much fun. I totally scored on luxurious fabrics and in exactly what styles I loved. I was able to by everything and then a little more for a fraction of what it would've been to buy already made in what I wanted. Drapes are very hard to find! I haven't really ever noticed that too much until I realized enough is enough and I am NOT going to be conformed anymore!!! I get tired of the limited choices and it makes me thankful for the things that I have taught myself to do. When it came to sewing I really taught myself and I have made scads of quilts and blankets since I was 15. The only thing that really scares me is clothing..YIKES! And that is when I go to my friend who is good at what she does. I really would love to take a course some day in sewing/design, I would have such a blast. Anyway I will have a spectacular

sight to behold soon!~

Busy Swanger-Bees

It has been a little while since I have blogged..we have been pretty busy around here lately. I got really sick for a good week and on top of it had to teach RS...it was a good lesson though so that helped. I have been working a lot it seems lately and sometimes it gets really stressful, but it is a good job and overall I do like it or else I would have been gone years ago. I am getting going on the yard too and my dad ripped out a huge Leland Cypress on the side porch that far exceeded the house.NOT GOOD!! So I am so glad that it is gone and I can get refocused.

I have been able to see some friends lately and I am glad for that, but I have missed my movie nights..lol I am soooo excited for school to start soon and could NOT be happier about it!!! My kids have grown like weeds this summer and so we have been shopping quite a bit. I was able to swing by Knuckleheads before the big sale and got a bunch of stuff for "J"man and a couple things for Eve. I could not believe that she did not fit into even the 7s! She is getting SO BIG! It is truly NUTS! I swear every morning I get up she is bigger. ha,ha

I was thinking about some stuff the other day and realized that Miss Eve is going to be baptized in about 5/6 weeks...and I am going to have a major breakdown...literally! Whenever I think about it tears begin to fall like rain...I never really though this moment would come! You might be wondering what's the big deal?? She is only turning 8, but to me it is life changing. By this simple act I am saying good bye to my baby, to the child that I no longer can "FULLY" protect. I want SO much for her...I want the world..I never want her to experience the pain and anguish that I have and still do experience. I want her to make sensible choices and to listen intensely to the Spirit so that she may be protected as much as Heavenly possible. I say Heavenly because I trust in the Lord that angels watch over and protect my family. I want her to know that the Gospel of Christ is the truth and not to follow or base her testimony on others...because we all have weaknesses and all are imperfect. I want her to know her savior and understand all that he did for her out of pure love. I know that this is so much for a little girl, but she is special..she notices things that other little children don't. She is very perceptive, headstrong, determined and strong willed- I have always felt like this was a bad thing and then as I discovered my faith as a mother I began to think of it differently, it is actually a blessing! I will never lie and say that all has been all well with Eve and that's it's been peachy keen, but rather the opposite because as a first time mother I didn't know how to love and understand her, I would cry almost daily because I didn't know how to handle her. I have since made peace with myself and the many many mistakes that I made earlier on and one's I still do. I am her mother, I am here to help her find herself. She is a unique spirit, full of life, always on the go...if I just help her channel all that it will all be good- well at least some of the time. lol

On to the the pictures..
I put up this picture because I finally finished the bonus room, for now anyway. So the one up at the top is a "before" picture after I had already taken quite a few things out.

I have locked the door and the kids are not allowed in here by themselves..SO NICE! Also it has greatly helped them get back in their beds.


This is my dining room

This is my living room joined together.
I am changing the colors of the drapes and chairs for the table and maybe the side chairs. I went by fabric stores and got swatches that really kind of jumped out at me. I took them out last night and grouped them together and I am having such a hard time choosing which design I like the most.

PLEASE give me your opinions..I have until Thursday night to decide.
So remember I am looking for drapes, chair fabric, pillows.. etc. for 2 rooms!



NO. 1
I like this one so much, but there is a lot going on on some of these which is good and bad, but that is what made me like them in the first place. It would be really happy fabrics. I love stripes and those colors together are so soothing and I can always use that in my life. I love how the flowers make it more of a poly flair too. The bottom fabrics are really thick for chairs. I think I could be happy with this one for a while and that's important. It's cool because they are all so different,but they all go together so well.


NO. 2

I LOVE this one! I do have concerns though...like maybe it's too bright?? Would I like it for a substantial amount of time? But the colors look so pretty! Looking at them just makes me smile! The one with the fans in aqua and turquoise also have other colors involved on it as well and they look beautiful together on the fabric. It would be another way to incorporate colorful accessories. I love the honey comb-ish one in lt. aqua and it's really thick so it would be good for chairs. The brighter aqua one with the chocolate sprigs is so rich and liquorish and the one on the bottom left is so elegant and would be more than perfect for the dining room drapes being that it is fancy and it has a silk/shimmer effect. And I am a girly girl so sparkles and shimmers are my thing. Another big reason why I like these colors is because it was my wedding color and we already have some things in the china hutch that matches. Aqua/blues was also my favorite color when I was little and it has always stuck.


NO. 3

I like this one a lot too! The colors are more muted, but soothing. They have modern and classic flairs along with traditional. And I like to mix it up. The dotted one as well as the stripes would be great for drapes and the other two are perfect for chairs. I asked Geoff what he liked and he said "I don't know why, but my eye keeps on catching that one" and pointed to the cool modern one on the right. The one thing that I don't like is that this color is really similar to the accent color in the family room and I don't want too much of the same color, but there is so much in these fabrics that it wouldn't be that noticeable.


NO.4

The lighting really is screwed up on this one so sorry. I didn't notice until it was already downloaded, but imagine it much, much brighter. The thing with this one is that it is something I would've never done! The two on the left are the same fabric, but there was so much going on it was hard to picture it all. I like how intense and bold these colors are. There are quite a few drawbacks though...the colors don't really go with the entry colors, but wouldn't exactly clash either, I don't' have that green really anywhere, but it is such great fabric for chairs- totally cool! And the orange one on the right is GORGEOUS!! It is amazing as drapes ( I saw them at Fabric Depot) also the one on the left is so dark in the backdrop it is like cocoa been chocolate, which is really pretty it's just we already have mocha furniture and Brazilian Cherry floors and I am afraid of how much sun it is going to suck up . I want something lighter and brighter and most of all cheery and different.



We went camping for the first time EVER up around Olympia! We went for just a couple days and nights and it was really nice to get away. The first morning it rained and that just bit! So we went shopping for a couple hours (thanks to Bump $) for some new shoes for the kids because theirs where already all nasty. I DO NOT LIKE DIRT!!! I do however enjoy the festivities of camping..the air, the nature, the silence, the fire, the moonlight, the family talks, the games, the s'mores, the flashlights/ lanterns, the tents, but what I don't like..the dirt, the potty situation, the hard ground, the pine needles. I think the good outweighs the bad. It is just so hard when you have a bottle feeding child who is on the brink of being done and has already started the terrible twos. The story with our kids is that Eve got hers around 12 months and it really kicked in at 18 months and Jack never got them and just skipped over it and got the irritating 4s lol. Well, now I have this little baby boy Tiger who is as ornery as ever and is taking after his older sister. Boy am I stressed sometimes..along with work and all I really don't think we could handle another one anyway at this rate. I will have cold sores for the rest of my life!!!


Mim, Jack and Eve setting up and coloring.


We got this tent 2 years ago at Costco and I am sooo glad...I love it!! It is huge! We fit 2 queen mattresses inside and still could fit 2 twins and enough room for bags still, and it is two rooms too!


Just playing around.


He loved looking and exploring and making Mommy mad.


My boys!


They loved playing in the tent..maybe we will set it up at home before summer ends.


Eve discovered this huge dip a site away from our and Bump brought up a bike and she had such a blast riding through it. Even Manti took off to play there all by himself while we where all doing stuff , I was taking Eve to the bathroom and Geoff thought that I took him and some kids brought him back and asked Mim if that was our baby..THAT WAS SCARY! He keeps us on our toes constantly! I said after that we are getting out the monkey! (a child leash)

We went to the library a little while ago and got a huge stack of books and brought them. It was so fun reading to the kids over the campfire.


HELP! I'm stuck!! lol
Parents learned....THE TENT IS NOT THE SAME AS A CRIB.

This is how Mim does breakfast camping= MCDONALD'S.

SO CUTE!!
One Saturday our friends the Dooleys where able to come up for a couple hours and hang. We miss them a lot since they moved up north and it was so good to see them and all the growing girls.


These are projects that I just finished last week. I made the board with the hooks.


I put up the turtles.


I made this family home evening sign. I have since put up hanging letters for our first names in turquoise with ribbon.


I needed this sign to help remind me of what is important so I snatched the writing in Utah and made this one too. I love the style of writing and the bottom part too.

Well thanks for your time and looking over the blog. I hope to be much better about blogging on maybe a weekly basis at least..that will probably happen once school does.

Lyrical Notes

Man it has been pretty busy here lately and yes...I have put a lot of it on myself!

I go through these periods where I have to clean and organize because I get such stress from the "clutter" (well for me it is clutter). I guess you could say I am definitely NOT that bad compared to others (about rif-raf), but this need has gotten worse lately. I like to be in control of my home and I HAVE to know where my things are, but when you have 3 young children you can only do so much. I like being an organized person and I feel so much happier when things are not thrown everywhere.

Miss Eve has quite the problem with this and I do admit that when I was her age I did the same thing and my sister Amber would get so mad at me. It makes me laugh now because my family all thought they would have a real problem with me because I had such a lazy streak growing up. Now as an adult I have to remember to get LAZY! It is funny how life hits us....and how much we change and how we all have little corks about us that we struggle with.

Overall it has been going better for me and I am being honest with myself and my family with my emotions and feelings. I know that it is really hard for G to understand me and my thought process at times, but it is what it is and I can only help it so much. I am trying to concentrate on the blessings in my life, all that we have....and so much that others don't. It makes me closer to my Savior, to want to help others even if it is just lending an ear, because many people are going through hardships. I have many family members who struggle so much and it is so difficult to "be there" for them because it hits too close for home. I am trying to understand what Christlike love is and how it applies to ALL. It is a difficult concept to grasp at times.

I often go to music to find peace. I have several LDS artists' cds and they have helped me so much. There is one sister who is my favorite, her name is Mindy Glendhill. As far as I know she has just 2 cds and they are amazing! The first one brought me to my Savior when I was on my spiritual journey and now the second is bringing me to myself. The songs..words her voice..are filled with the Spirit and every time she brings me to tears. I am so thankful for people like her who use their talents to help others. When her second cd came out I thought it was a little weird and very different from the first which is extremely spiritual ( even with a couple hymns). I kind of forgot altogether that I had the new one and I got it out after I got back from Utah and thought I would try it out again because I love the fist album so much. As I somewhat listened through the hustle and bustle of the morning routines I found her words! Tears struck me again. It is so crazy how you could listen to something or read something and then sometime later read or listen again and the words just jump out at you with so much meaning. I have had some real lows lately with some highs and I wanted to post the lyrics that really touched me.

Feather in The WIND
"I'm a feather in the wind I'm up and then I'm down again and oh, the places I have been to Heaven's gates and 'round the bend but things are never what they appear to be 'cus everybody's trying to grab a hold of me.....
I'm a reflection in the glass ' cus I can't keep from looking back and all the pieces that I lack are stuck inside a broken past.......
so I will dig a little deeper than what the eye can see and if anybody asks I'm making friends at last with my reflection in the glass..
'cus so many different pieces make up the whole of me so hold me in your hands and take as I am.."

Riddle
" I'm gonna rock your world gonna blow you away 'cus I'm a flash flood storm on a summer's day..

Joni Mitchell song that Mindy sang (Both Sides Now)
"...I've looked at clouds that way but now they only block the sun they rain and snow on everyone so many things I wouldn't have done but the clouds got in my way Ive looked at clouds from both sides now from up and down and still somehow it's cloud illusions I recall I really don't know clouds at all....
but now old friends are acting strange they shake their heads they say I've changed well something's lost but something's gained gained in living everyday I've looked at life from both sides now from win and lose and still somehow it's life's illusions I recall I really don't know life at all.."

My favorite.. (HARD)
" Why do I promise I'll never turn back when one step ahead steps right into the past? And I'm back to the start where my head's taken over my heart again Twisting and turning I'm tangled and torn too broken too bent to be fixed anymore Half crazy for home like a castaway prisoner of war It's hard to believe that you could love the hardest parts of me and it's hard to conceive the way your love unravels me It's not that I don't want to give you my heart It's just hard Some mornings it's hard just to get out of bed when the ones that I love are shaking there heads and like a fly on the screen I'm just buzzin' between my life and my dreams It's just hard..
So bring on the fire that feeds this desire to be unbreakable 'cus it's make me or break me So please make me wake up to something more 'cus it's just hard to believe...

I Need Help!!

Where oh where could my creative space be...???

I am going nuts over here trying to figure out what to do about a space that would be mainly for ME. I have posted pictures of my dining room with the table full of stuff all over it before.

I always wanted a dining room, but now that we have been in the house for 6 years we notice that it really doesn't get used all that much. Even when we have family over they migrate in the family room and I am the one that usually goes in the dining room sometimes all by myself. I do have a full set in there with a beautiful lighted hutch. The set is all solid cherry wood and it pretty good condition other than a few slight scratches on some of the chairs. I will be honest saying that it is NOT what I ultimately wanted, but we got it from a friend of a friend who let us buy it and pay month to month. I reupholstered the chairs when we first got it to a navy swirly fabric. I am really getting tired of the fabric.

The problem lies within the two rooms being open to each other so it needs to flow. A year ago I painted a lot because we were going to move ( ya that obviously didn't work out) , so I neutralized the dining room and living room with the same wheat color that is in the entry. I am soooo glad I did that!! I love how it seems more open and calming.

So now I am wondering what to do and have an extreme case of the itches...the itch to CHANGE!
I redesigned most of the kitchen, nook and family room 1 1/2 years ago and I still LOVE it! I love the color, I discovered that I LOVE COLOR! I NEED COLOR! My mood changes dramatically with color and when I am having one of those days I need something to bring cheer to my life. MY LIVING ROOM AND DINING ROOM DO NOT DO IT FOR ME RIGHT NOW! If anything the colors depress me! They are dark read and chocolate brown...don't get me wrong I love me some dark chocolate, but when there are two extreme colors together with such depth balanced on Brazilian cherry laminate throughout- it is tooo much!

I NEED CHANGE!!!

I am thinking so many things and my head is spinning trying to find this space for ME and figuring out how I want to change at least 2 rooms. I didn't mention that we have too much furniture so that is another issue is downsizing! ( I have already started to do that outside!)
I like simplicity, it makes me think better and clearer.

Here's the deal, these are my thoughts and I need your input. Also my sisters are coming in the end of October so I need to get this done before then. I also have "the big project" that I have started, but am having a harder time doing it because I don't have the space and that one I want to get done before they come too! It seems like I get nothing done nowadays and the summer is getting nearer to the end and I need to get going. I have to get motivated!

Here it is-

Where do I put a work/creative space for ME?

Dining room?

Pro-There is enough space for what I would need... a table, some kind of cabinet or shelving, getting rid of big furniture that I don't use that much except for doing projects on and it's never what I really wanted anyway, getting a new open hutch that I want in white which I LOVE! buying things that will go together better, the view is to my garden.

Con-Then I don't have a formal dining room, when people come over there is not as much extra eating space

Living room?

Pro- I have enough space, the computer is already in there, I have a lovely bay window view,I can reupholster the dining room chairs in a new fabric to coincide and keep the dining set, I can get rid of furniture, bring in color, I would be down stairs, the colors that I am thinking about would go with the entry of which is shares a wall

Con-For both spaces they do not have an enclosed space with a lock, when home teachers come we will have to go into the family room lol,

The Bonus Room- almost 300 sq ft.

Pro- locking door, space is upstairs where there is a big TV, I can do projects when up there with family

Con-Only so much space between having a full bed and day bed trundle, computer, treadmill etc. only so much space!!??different colors than what I was thinking and I might just change anyway ( I put in lavender because I though for sure I was having a girl with Manti..ha,ha)

As you can see I am an utter mess right now!

I already have a sort of mild aqua with wheat going on and so I am considering expanding on it a little with variations. I hate how I am at a store and I love something, but it is bright and so I don't get it..WHY THE HECK NOT? I loved it! So what if it's bright! If it is an accent it accentuates the room and if done correctly makes it look more completed. I am wondering about bringing in some SOFT orange, I LOVE that color! It is so soothing and wonderful. We love orange now that we have a TIGER, It is his signature color (from Steelmagnoias)

I have been embracing Geoff's heritage one step at a time and I love the poly style that you find when it is tasteful and elegant, the flowers- GORGEOUS!! I forgot that I made this beautiful poly patchwork quilt that I got out when we went to the beach last week.I t made me think..also I just put some hibiscus flowers in vinyl black on my entry wall and I want more. I just made a board with a hot pink surf board in vinyl for Eve with crystal hooks. The boy's room in all in deep mixed with bright colors in classic surfer poly style with a plane flair (South Pacific baby!).

PLEASE leave me your comments to help me decide what to do!