Yippee! Yippee! Yippee! Yippee! Yippee!.....

....Yippee! Yippee! Yippee! Yippee Yippee! Yippee! Yippee! Yippee!!!!

Have I effectively communicated my excitement yet?

And what is the absolutely delightful reason for my excitement?


We have a piano! This little beauty was waiting for us at D.I. today. It was $300, is in good condition, and came with the cushioned bench and a big box of piano music. I knew as soon as I saw it sitting there in the furniture section that I really wanted it! I had to check it out first, of course, so I played a few songs on it. A cute young girl of about 10 sat and listened to me play, which was pretty neat.

I was overall quite pleased with the piano; it could probably use a tuning, but is definitely playable as it is. The only flaws are that it has a few dings and scratches on the woodwork, and the very top key sticks. But I don't mind those things one bit. I never use that key anyway. And this way I don't feel as though we have to mince around the piano and never let the kids touch it or they'll ruin it - it's already comfortably broken in. I just say it's previously loved. :-)

So having decided that it was a decent piano at a decent price, I coaxed Jeff into agreeing to buy it (actually, once I decided I wanted it, the poor guy really had no choice). I told him it could be my early Mother's Day gift, and I don't expect anything else for that day, except maybe some candy.

Getting it home was a bit of a challenge. Well, actually getting it from the van to its position of glory in the living room was the challenge. But thankfully, we have a houseful of strapping Polynesian boys and men living right next door to us, and they cheerfully agreed to help. It took Jeff plus another man and two teenage boys, a moving dolly, and a blanket to get the piano out of the van, up to the door, through the door, and up the seven stairs to the living room. Apparently it's very sturdily built and quite heavy - I was getting exhausted just watching them do all that work! Yeah, we definitely need to bring the neighbors a big batch of cookies or a cake or something, to thank them for their help.


Sigh. We have a piano. I'll sleep happy tonight.

I Have Learned...

I have learned that a bad haircut is not the worst thing that can happen when a young child gets her hands on a pair of sharp scissors.

I try to keep scissors out of the kids' reach, but we aren't always as careful about that as we should be. The kitchen scissors were somehow left where Thomas could reach them, and reach them he did. Zaylee, being a watchful and helpful big sister who knows that scissors aren't for little boys to play with, tried to take them away from Thomas. However, in doing so, she somehow managed to slice the pad of her finger (the part with the fingerprint).

The screaming and crying brought Jeff away from the cake he was baking, and me away from the show I was watching. We knew as soon as we got a good look at her finger that she would need stitches, so Jeff took her to the ER. I got to stay home and clean up the red stains on the carpet and in the bathroom. And finish the cake Jeff started.


Zaylee ended up with 8 stitches. And a fancy cake with pink frosting and chocolate sprinkles, to help her feel better.

I don't like Spring

Totally inexplicable, yet totally undeniable. I just don't care for Spring.

I don't know why. I know that there are so many reasons to love this time of year:

The apple tree in the back yard is blooming!


I have daffodils popping up in the front garden area!


The weather is great - the kids have been playing outside almost every day and they love it!


Impromptu picnics in the back yard!



I have the clothes line set up, and am finally able to line dry the clothes and diapers, which I've been looking forward to all winter!


So why don't I like it? Spring is wonderful and lovely and pretty and all that, I just can't get excited about it, it gives me a weirdly unpleasant feeling.

Yeah, I'm strange. I've pretty much accepted that by now.

Mega Giveaway Going On!

You may have noticed, I started an Etsy shop recently, and the link is in my sidebar. My shop is part of an Expectacular Mega Giveaway over at Jewelry By Solange & BeadieandThings, and what an awesome giveaway it is! 45 Etsy shops have contributed prizes, everything from gift certificates to their shops, to pieces of jewelry, to art, and a variety of other things. I have offered a lace cuff bracelet from my shop. I'm excited because this will give my shop some much needed and appreciated exposure, and because giveaways are just plain fun! Head on over to this Mega Giveaway, and enter to win one of 45 awesome prizes!

New Haircut

Well, it's that time again. I finally reached the point where I couldn't stand to keep my hair long, and I always just threw it in an unflattering ponytail, so I got it chopped off. I think this is the shortest I've ever had it, and I totally love it.



Now if I could just convince myself to wear a bit of makeup...

Audrey Makes a Speech

Just a fun little moment with Audrey I captured just now between sessions of General Conference. She sure has a lot to say!