How To: Add a Little Spice to Your Living Room

I love my light green walls but I needed a pop of color in my front room so I decided to paint my piano red.


And here is how I did it...


My piano is over sixty years old now. We bought it about seven years ago from a neighbor who had purchased it from a local college. It looked like this....

Not pretty.


So the first step is to sand the heck out of it. (I took the above picture after I sanded it) I thought I did a pretty good job getting all the varnish off. I used 120 grit. Since I was not re-staining it, a good sanding is all it needed. But now looking back, I would have given it a little more sanding love.


Next you need to get some tack cloth and rub all the sanding residue off. 


Do not skip this step.

This is what it looked like after the first coat. It is supposed to look this bad. You want a light coat. I think I over did it a little and would have gone even lighter than this. * the lighting is horrible so the color looks a little off*

You wait a couple hours until dry and then sand. I used 120 grit again. Use tack cloth to get residue off. Apply second coat.

Then sand and tack cloth again before applying third coat.

This is the point I decided to take the front of my piano off. This is what I discovered...

...those would be canning tops. Hmmmm....I wonder who put those in there? No wonder it was sounding funny!

This is also the point I decided that the color I had chosen was to pinky red so I went and got another color.

So I sanded, tack clothed and applied paint two more times. Yes, that would be five coats and random touch ups. But it was so worth it, because this is exactly the spice my living room needed. (These pictures aren't doing it justice. It is not as shadowy as it looks in these pictures)

Those knobs belonged to a cupboard that my great grandma had. Now I get to have a little piece of her in my room and my girls love that they get to touch something that their Abuelita Tina touched everyday. It's their favorite part of the piano...and mine too.

So there you have it, a piano painting tutorial because I know you have all been dying to do this! I have to say that I have done a TON of projects in my life...sewing, painting, building, crafting, redecorating, etc...but this was definitely one of my most favorite projects...EVER!


BTW...I used 2qrts behr paint plus primer. The first color was red velvet...the color I ended up with is "BARN" a Martha Stewart color, I had Home Depot make it in Behr paint because I prefer it... I also recommend using a small foam roller and a small sponge brush. I normally tell people to stay away from the sponge brushes unless you are doing a pre-school project, but in this case they were definitely helpful.

How To Make Sure Your Family Eats a Decent Dinner Every Night

So I am not a "foody". I don't do meals. I prefer to serve either sides or a main dish not both. That would require too much work and way too much thought. So to say that I struggle in this area is a HUGE understatement. Realizing my weakness, and help me to not be a complete failure as a homemaker, I decided to make one of these...

I saw it on a blog somewhere and decided that it was cute and it would look good on my counter. I also hoped that it would help me be better at meal planing and feeding my peeps. I am happy to report that it has helped immensely. Unfortunately the rotation of meals is a small one because I only make like 12 things, but at least it's something right?

I think the reason why this is so helpful for me is because I hate that dreaded question....

WHAT'S FOR DINNER?

Seriously that phrase can suck the joy right out of me. So on Sunday night I look through the recipes I have and look at the activities we have that week and plan accordingly. We don't stick to it completely, it can change but at least I have the ingredients on hand and I know if I need to throw something in the crackpot before lunch.

The craft is pretty simple. 

You will need:

a picture frame with glass, 

a piece of scrapbook paper to fit in the frame, 

a piece of velum, 

and a dry erase marker.

Pick a font and print off the days of the week on the velum. Then put it on top of the scrapbook paper and then into the frame...TA DA! Instant menu. Your kids will love it. They will never have to ask you that nasty question again.

My "Only Exception"

Happy Birthday Aric!

(Aric wanted me to do a post a long time ago about his first steelhead fishing trip but I never got around to it...so here is the picture of the first steelhead he ever caught.)

So today isn't going to be full of celebrations that would reflect how important your birth really was. Instead you will go to work and deal with people (some rude, some not) and try to solve their problems while they have no idea it's your birthday. Then you will come home and kill your knees and back while installing our new floors instead of kicking your feet up and watching a game.  For dinner we will have cereal and soda instead of having a special dinner and birthday cake. Sorry Babe.

Not to worry though...Fun times will be had, and cake will be made...just not today. 

You are awesome. I love you. Thanks for making my "only exception" something I've never regretted.

I'm here.

So I have written a few posts that haven't quite made it out there because of a number of reasons. Some will eventually make it to publishing, others may not. But this one, I assure you, will make it to "publish".

I have had a lot on my mind the past few weeks and today has been a doozy so I have to write.

Aric and I are in Arizona. We bought an investment property in Surprise. We are so happy about it and we feel really blessed.

We were able to meet with our contractor and get everything in order so that it can be ready for a renter as soon as possible. (Anyone looking for a rental in Surprise? It's 3400sqft and awesome!)

We got to enjoy some sunshine. I didn't really get any pictures of the actual sun, but it was heavenly. However I did get pictures of a different kind of sunshine...

I got to spend some fun time with Natalie and Christy...Sorry Christy but this picture was way better of me and Nat then the other one. Besides you are so pretty it totally doesn't matter that your eyes are closed!

Aric and I also got to share a really neat experience. We met Stephen Nasser, a Holocaust survivor.

He is a family friend of Christy's and he wrote a book about his AMAZING survival. He spoke at a school and we were able to listen to him and get a copy of his book. I'm still reading his book. It is heartbreaking and inspiring. I feel so honored that we got to meet him.

The best part of this trip, besides the frozen yogurt bars and Carrabba's, was spending time with Aric...alone. You don't realize how much you have to talk about until there are no kids interrupting or work distracting. We had a great time hanging out. He was very supportive of my training. He even sat on the curb, under a streetlight in a Lowe's parking lot so that I could be safe running intervals.

We also enjoyed watching General Conference alone, uninterrupted. We were able to discuss talks and enjoy the spirit together. It was the perfect way to end this weekend.

So this evening, we went outside to enjoy the sun and get some reading in since it was our last night of calm before the storm. (our flight is early in the morning and as soon as we land at noon we will be ripping out our floors and replacing them on the main level of our house...yikes!) The calm didn't last long. We got a call from Aric's dad because my mother in law was in the hospital. She just finished a chemo treatment that left her dehydrated and dizzy. She ended up passing out and on the way down she hit her head on the wall. Thank heavens she is fine now, but they are keeping her overnight just for observation.

Love you Grandma K!

Just as we were processing that we got another call. Aric's brother Micah and his wife Sara had their baby four weeks early. They have lost their last four pregnancies and this one was quite dramatic too. So little Kohen is a miracle and we are so glad that he made it here safe and sound.

Love you baby K!

So as I sit here, still processing the days events I feel so present. I am more aware than ever before that God is a loving Heavenly Father who has his watchful eye on each of us. If we trust Him and turn over to him the reins of our lives, come what may, we will be happy and have peace. Even when it feels like the path He is taking us on is uncomfortable and not even close to the direction we wanted to go, if we just hold on tight, the blessings we will receive will be beyond our wildest dreams. My favorite talk during general conference was Elder Paul V. Johnson's talk. (I can't link it yet but as soon as I can I will)
My favorite quote from that talk is...

 "Marvelous blessings are on the heels of great tribulation."

His whole talk is still stirring in my heart. There is more I want to say about that but I think it will have to wait.

Eden's First Mini Olympics

This actually happened last month but I am just now getting the pictures up...

Eden did a great job. The beam was her best event. She also did awesome on her floor routine but I was too busy  chasing Camden off the mat that I didn't get to document it.

She had quite the cheer squad...

...it was Mari and Tessa's (my nieces) turn for a sleep over so they got to come and watch.

Camden wasn't really part of the cheer squad. He was more like the delinquent in the crowd. I was literally chasing him off of the equipment.

These are Eden's gym buddies...Maci and Preslee.

It was fun to watch Eden show us what she had learned in such a short amount of time. She goes for and hour and a half every Monday. Then she comes home and practices all her moves. She improves every week. I can't wait to see what she has to show us at the next Mini Olympics.

"How To Get Your Water From Cold to Hot" and "How To Lose a Challenge to Your Husband"

Okay I feel a little silly writing this post because maybe I'm the only one who didn't know how to do this. About three years ago my water went cold while Aric was out of town. He told me that the "pilot" light had probably gone out and that I just needed to get it going again...

Yeah right! I had no idea what that meant. He told me to read the instructions on the water heater. I did, but I still was intimidated by it. I thought for sure I was going to blow up my house with me and my children in it. I tried to get it going and it didn't work, so I called the water heater guy and $70 later I had my pilot light on. He also gave me a little lesson on how to get my pilot light back on by myself. (Why did that sound so inappropriate!?)

Well this morning I turned on the faucet and there was no hot water. Aric was at work and I needed a shower. I had just read Christie's "How-To" post and thought I would throw this out there as my offering...

"How To Get Your Water From Cold To Hot"

Do not settle for a cold shower while you wait for your man to get home.

Go to your utility room and find your water heater. (The round gray thing.) Then get on your belly to make sure the light is out.

You have to look closely at an angle, you should see a blueish purple flame...

Nada.

You read the instructions all the way through just like the sticker says...

Don't be intimidated by how scary this looks.

Turn this knob to the left, to "vacation"...

Then turn this knob from on...

...to off, by turning it to the left. Then wait ten minutes. The ten minute wait is really a good idea. This is so you won't blow yourself up.

After ten minutes, turn it to "pilot".

Now get back on your belly and look through the hole. Push the red button down and push the black button until it clicks. If the flame doesn't come on and stay on, push the black button again up to three times. If the flame doesn't come, turn blue dial to off and wait ten minutes before you try again.

I had to do it twice before the flame came on. You have to get on your belly and look at an angle to see the flame. Once it's lit you have to keep holding the red button down for one minute. Then let it go and put the blue dial back to "on". When you turn off the light in your utility room you will see this sweet little blueish/purple flame.

Now wait about 20 minutes and then enjoy your hot water...

Now take the $70 you saved and buy yourself something fabulous!

Now the fun one...

"How To Lose a Challenge to Your Husband"

Have some left over pineapple glaze that has turned into thick, nasty goo...

Accept your husband's challenge "If you eat that I'll give you fifty bucks." 

You underestimate how awful the texture is...

You spit it out and feel defeated while your husband laughs at you. You decide to challenge him, knowing he could NEVER do it, if you couldn't...

He takes it like a champ and proves that when dangled something he really wants, he can put his mind over his body.

Waaah Waaah I lose. Aric wins.

Public Service Announcement...For Reals.

(How could I not use this song)

I have been wanting to do a post about dyslexia for a long time. It is a big part of my life and I want to tell you about it. Bear with me, this is a long post, but the information is priceless, and could be life changing for someone in your life.

First, a little HISTORY...

I studied mostly Early Childhood in college but had an emphasis in Special Ed. I spent a couple years working as a reading specialist. I also spent a couple years working with autistic children but mostly I taught pre-school. When I had Maya I only taught part time for about year and then I called it quits. I loved using my education to do pre-school co-ops for my kids. I got to put together the curriculum and it was so much fun. In fact I even considered publishing it but I got distracted and let it go.

Fast forward five years...One of my friends was telling me about her 1st grade son who was struggling with reading in school I gave her some ideas, but in the end she wanted me to tutor him. So I spent the summer tutoring him and making up curriculum as I went along. It was a success, I got him caught up and it was a great experience. After that I started tutoring other kids during the summer. Most of my students were children of my friends, or friends of friends. It was so rewarding to get these struggling kids caught up and seeing their self esteem come back. I never advertised because really it was not meant to be more then "helping" out a friend.

DISCOVERING DYSLEXIA

Well a couple of those kiddos I tutored every summer for a few years. We got to a point two summers ago that I was stumped. There was no more I could do for them. These kids were going into fourth grade and I had run out of ideas on how to teach them. Their needs had outgrown my skills. I felt terrible. I explained what was going on to the moms and didn't know where to send them. Then one day my friend Kerry, one of the moms, told me about a conversation she had with another friend about her daughter's issues. That friend sent her to a dyslexia website. She called me right away and told me to check it out. I was stunned. I knew instantly that these two kids were dyslexic. I couldn't believe that in all my years of studying and teaching I had hardly any information on this learning disability.

So I immersed myself in reading and watching whatever information I could get on dyslexia. My friend Kerry and I got some dyslexia curriculum and started teaching from it. It was amazing to watch these "otherwise bright" children who had been struggling for so long, finally get the instruction that they needed to succeed.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO KNOW...

Because dyslexia affects 20% of our population. It is the most misunderstood learning disability. Most teachers and administrators DO NOT have this information. Why? I do not know! It is insane.

Dyslexia comes in different degrees mild to severe.

Dyslexics usually have a higher IQ then the rest of us because they have to work harder and find different strategies to survive in school.

When kids struggle with reading they get put into a reading program at school that is phonics based. This is the worst thing you could do to a dyslexic child.

The best way to describe, in a nutshell, how a dyslexic processes our language is this...When we are first taught letters we learn their shape and sound individually. For ex: when we are asked to sound out the word cat we say C-A-T. A dyslexic doesn't hear each individual sound and identify each letter. They think "CAT" is the sound. So when a poor dyslexic kid is stuck in a reading recovery program that focuses on phonics they are just more confused than ever. They need an Orton-Gillingham based curriculum that focuses on phonemic awareness and auditory discrimination.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

If you are a mom, an aunt, a grandma, a teacher or a friend and you know a child with THREE or more of these warning signs....

Speech Delay - Doesn’t speak by first birthday...understands, doesn’t talk.

Difficulty learning how to speak multi syllable words - cinnamon, spaghetti, hamburger, butterfly...

Early Stuttering - Difficulty with sound recognition L and R, M and N, S, Sh and Ch.

Chronic Ear Infections

Difficulty learning how to tie shoes

Difficulty learning difference between “left” and “right” - Following directions in general are hard to difficult.

Left Handed - left handed population have higher odds of having dyslexia.

Late developing dominant hand - By the ages of 3-4 they should have established a dominant hand. Mixed dominance is also common, one hand for writing, the other hand for sports.

Difficult with alphabet memorization - Should be able to do it in 8 months...name of letter and sound.

Difficulty spelling last name - Hard time writing all three names...first, middle and last. Difficulty with memorizing address, phone number, days of the week and months of the year.

Odd Reading - Can read word on one page but doesn’t recognize it on the next page. Seems to know phonics but cannot sound out a word.

Terrible Spelling - Doesn’t stick...can study very hard but still can’t remember the words. Cannot do inventive spelling. Leave out the vowels.

Handwriting/Dysgraphia - Odd pencil grip. Can’t make letters sit on the line. Odd beginning and ending points. Difficulty copying off the board. Difficulty learning cursive. No punctuation or capitals.

Dyslexia in Family Tree - Dyslexia is genetic. Someone in the family has it, most times it has gone undiagnosed.

These are the classic dyslexia warning signs. One in five children have dyslexia...

ONE. IN. FIVE.

If you know a child who has three or more of these signs, that child needs to be tested. This can be tricky but if you or someone you know needs help finding a tester leave me a comment or email me and I will help you out.

If you live in the Spokane, WA/Coeur D Alene, ID area, Susan Barton, a leading expert on dyslexia and founder/developer of Bright Solutions (the curriculum I use) is doing a FREE seminar this Friday March 4th. Go here for free registration.

WHY A BLOG POST?

So that I can do my part to get this information out there. Maybe some of my readers might read this post and realize that they know someone who has dyslexia. My comments are few these days but I have stat counter so I know there are some lurkers out there that don't comment...SHAME ON YOU! 

So that parents who have children who struggle and just keep failing no matter how hard they try, can get some answers and become advocates for their child.

So that more teachers and administrators can get educated and help these kids.

Maybe just maybe this little blog of mine could help change someone's life.

My children are fortunate to not struggle with dyslexia, rest assured they definitely have their own issues, but I have seen first hand how dyslexia, undiagnosed, can destroy a child's sense of self worth. I have also seen how, in a short amount of time, with the proper instruction, a child can have their lives turned around and have their self esteem rescued. I didn't get into the education business for nothing. I love kids. I want to help them. Knowledge is Power! (thank you school house rock for that one...)

There are very few things that I am this passionate about...don't even get me started on a conversation about dyslexia or I will talk your head off for sure! But since I can't sit for hours and talk to every person that reads my blog, here is a website that has some great information and free webinars you can watch.

http://www.brightsolutions.us/

Thanks for listening, I know this is a whole lot of information for one blog post. So to reward those of you who actually made it to the end of this post (and because I can't do a post without a photo) here is a ridiculous picture of me dancing for your viewing pleasure.

Because this is what I would be doing everyday if every kid who needed help actually got it.

Yay for knowing how to deal with dyslexia!

Sing it Whitney!

HOLLA!