What have we been up to lately, anyway?

I know, I get busy with other things, and the blog gets ignored. I will fill your plate with new pictures though. We had a great weekend on the coast - Lincoln City and then down the coast to Florence for the Super Bowl Game.

On Saturday, it was nice-ish, so we headed down towards Depoe Bay to this hidden beach area off Highway 101. The beach there is covered in sand and pebbles, but has some agates that you can find! (Stay tuned for pics from this beach...we went back on Sunday.) {We didn't have our camera out on Saturday, sadly.}

Saturday night, we turned in early. {It's really tough to get both those kiddos down and it makes you get sleepy trying to make them sleepy.} On Sunday, Deacon came up late morning so we took him to our favorite spot. {Even the dogs love the ocean water!}
Casey in mid-shake...it doesn't matter how cold the water, she is in it every time! Here's Deacon and Hil, out enjoying this lovely spot with us!Love this shot, had to add it. =)

MacKenzie came too with her new boyfriend, Mack. (They are both named MacKenzie, pretty funny ey?) He's a nice guy, we approved. heh, heh

Here's Cody playing in the seafoam.

I try to not touch the stuff, but Cody loves blowing these "bubbles."

It's pretty thick stuff, and there was a LOT of it.

Here's Brian posing with Codes. I don't think he had his shoes off on this day or I'm sure this photo would have caught him playing in it with Cody.

Poor Deacon was trying to get a shot with Cody, but Codes must have though "Unca Deacon" was trying to take him away from his beloved foam. Done with the foam and heading off to wash it off in the water. Here's Caitlin, sitting off on her lone rock. I wish we could have caught her walking up to it. She was pretending she was Godzilla or something, tossing all the rocks in her way off to the side. (Can you see the two rocks towards the bottom middle of the pic? She had tossed these aside and tried to pick up the rock she is sitting on. It was rather funny, but she wouldn't reenact it for me to take pictures. Bummer.)Cait-o was brave enough to jump off this log to her Daddy who was standing below. I think her brother is ramping up her competitive nature. She's now getting gutsy like Cody has ALWAYS been. I miss my cautious little girl (sometimes). {Though I'm really proud of her too when she battles those fears of hers.} This is me, throwing a found stick for Casey. I'm telling you, your arm would fall off before this dog would get tired of chasing whatever you throw for her. She SEARCHES for sticks as soon as we get to the beach. She tends to be good at finding one too.

Cody making use of our sand toys.

Abby standing guard??? ha, ha {Doesn't it look like she's thinking, "What you lookin' at?"}

This was a great time. The sun was shining, little wind, and family abound. As Caitlin likes to say, "It was a great, great day!"

Chicken soup for the Dad deprived

Sometimes the thing that really hits the spot is a taste of a memory. While I was growing up, my Dad always made soup...the best soup around and that's no joke. It helped that his mother, Grandma Nabozny, made the best doggone homemade noodles this side of Poland. Well, before my parents came to visit us in November, I found these really great noodles ~ Made in Germany ~ at the Cost Plus store. They're somewhat close to Grandma's in size, but nothing can truly compare with noodles that someone you love has painstakingly made from scratch. But, they might be the closest I have found for my chicken soup.


Well, I went to the local market (not the huge chain store where I always buy WAY TOO MUCH, just a little grocery store that has good produce prices) and picked up some carrots, celery, leeks (I love them, and only use onions when I have to), and parsnips. The parsnips remind me the most of my Dad's soup. For some reason they are like sweet carroty potatoes (or something along those lines). My Dad adds them sometimes and it makes a difference, truly. Here was my masterpiece:

It certainly was as good as it looks! Yum!

Oh yeah, and Dad, I found this at that same local market. I haven't tried it yet, but I'll be thinking about you when I do! hee, hee

Out with the old...

Deacon came and helped us with our shower, which had been broken for quite some time. (Sorry Mom and Dad!) He fixed the shower, then he so generously helped us pull out our old sink (notice the chipped, rusty drain and extra hole) and faucet (you could never really efficiently turn the water on and make it the temp you desired). He helped us put our new sink in (which we purchased months ago) and gave us this really nice Moen faucet (because the replacement faucet we bought truly was a piece of junk cheapie). Thanks Deacon! Look how great it looks now!

and thank goodness for in with the new!

Ahhh, it's like we're living in a hotel! heh, heh, ha, ha

Viola! a la Inspired by Brenda

Brenda always redoes everything, the paint on her walls, the color of the doors, adding a porch, switching around furniture, changing her room from craft bliss to quiet study, and I was just plain inspired to do SOMETHING to change our house too. So, I've picked out paint swatches and I'm itching to change some wall colors (but Brian is being a wee bit more resistant than it seems my brother-in-law John is). Now, as background knowledge, Brian has been pestering me to finish a project I started about three days before Christmas. However, I'm just not quite crafty enough to be inspired by the kitchen table, so Brian allowed me (and helped me as well) to design a craft space for Caitlin and myself. So, I'm blogging about it. I've finally decided to try to get organized in my craft space so I can do more crafts, no two bones about it. I think it's going to help because I'm already thinking about things to create. Plus, it always helps to revisit your long unseen paper pile to remember those ideas you had so long ago...

Anyway, I was (when we had cable) a crazy fan of "Designed to Sell" on HGTV. I seriously watched it every Sunday and loved the ideas. They all appeared so simple that it seemed I should be able to do something creative in my own space, while I still lived here. But, I think I lacked the follow through necessary to actually embark on and complete these types of projects...until NOW. I saw something similar that the designer did with a spare room and it's closet to add versatility as an office. I'm using mine for crafting.

Well, here are the before and after photos. {Brenda, hope this does you proud!}

Here is the "before" photo...a barren closet, desolate with just one lone shelf to keep it company. (Sorry, I just finished reading "Into the Wild" by Jack Krakauer.)

Then, I took a little trip to Lowes for a hallway door (yep, just a cheapy, but it works really well surprisingly), some 1 x 3's as braces, and some nails. Brian got out some of his woodworking tools and away he went creating a one-of-a-kind masterpiece for my artistic endeavors. ha, ha, ha

We made this fabulous custom desk. We had to call Deacon a few times to figure out what "bar height" actually was. Did you know there are two heights considered "bar height"? One of them is 42" (which is what we chose for this desk) and the other is 36" (I believe, but don't quote me, just call Deacon). I wanted it high enough so that Cody wouldn't get into everything on my desk on a daily basis. I think this is going to work!

It took us the entire day to get it all done (mainly because we didn't really start until 1 p.m. in the afternoon), but LOOK AT THAT! I used this amazing little label maker and WENT TO TOWN organizing and then labeling where everything actually was placed. Should make my scrapbooking pursuits a little easier. (Oh, by the way, a big thanks to Brian who went out at 8:30 p.m. to look for a space/height appropriate chair for my desk. This one I put together - with the drill - in about ten minutes. It swivels and has a cushioned chair - just perfect!)This final spot, along the wall to the right of my desk, is Caitlin's spot. I organized and labeled all these shelving units as well, but still have to figure out how to arrange and organize Caitlin's art supplies. She has so many and they get all over the place so fast that it's hard. But, I'm hoping that since she has space in here with me, that she will keep her things tidy and away from our dining room table. What do you think?

{Yeah! It's a new year and I already have one project under my belt. Can't wait to get my hands on some paint!}

By the way, those of you who I've told could come visit now that we have a "spare" room again, there's still space. All of these items I've arranged so we can move/shift them quickly to restage our "guest" room. So, come visit and check out our new space!

Parade

Again, I'm behind on my posts, so I thought I would post a few of my "older" photos to try to get caught up! So sorry all you LOYAL fans of "Artistically Denied." ha, ha, ha

This is the parade we have tried to make a tradition (since Caitlin was two) the day after Thanksgiving. It's always so fun with Cody and Caitlin enjoying the "small city" feel, as it's nowhere near as crowded as the big NYC one they have every year. But, it is filled with lots of fun and interesting characters that the kiddos love to see and hug and high five and scream at, etc.

Caitlin and Cody just enjoying the show (but waiting for the next group to walk by).

Ahhhh, the ever so lovely snow things. I really couldn't tell what these were exactly, but both Caitlin and Codes wanted to get some hugs from those big, fluffy, white, marshmallowish people. Cody wanted to hug those big lady bugs, but I don't think they could see him with the eye holes way up high and he down so low.

Caitlin really enjoyed the bands and music. She was dancing through most of it.

A Raggedy Andy hug...what those would have been worth when I was young. Now they seem so much like mop heads or something. They were nice enough to stop and give our kiddos a hug though.

High fiving the gingerbread people. They were very friendly. I think they gave us all some sugar. ha, ha, ha

Finally, the big guy himself...Santy Claus. I had forgotten that he always ends the parade, so we were waiting through this big lull in the parade and I was ready to go. The lady next to me was astonished that I wasn't waiting to see the final float with Santa Claus on it. Whoops! We stayed.

Giving Thanks!

I am so behind on my posts! Sheesh! We have some pictures from our wonderful family Thanksgiving dinner that have been suspended in cyberspace or somewhere equally undefinable. BUT, I am choosing to find those pics and lay them out in my blog. Yeah!Here we are getting ready to eat! My Dad made the Thanksgiving turkey, stuffing, and pierogi style mashed potatoes. Almost ready...Brenda and I are still tring to get everything out on dishes, Brian is floating around with the camera, but the big reveal is almost here!

Viola! Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, salad, green beans and fizzy juices. I don't even think anyone overstuffed him/herself. (From left: John, Sam, Brenda, Me, Cody, Grandma, Grandpa, Grandpa Del, Caitlin (goofball), Josiah, and Caleb.)
We had to give thanks for our parents being able to share Thanksgiving with us. It would have been super if Diane had come as well, but we were shocked and amazed with Del being there! It was great for Brian and Brenda to get a chance to see him. (He only lives three hours away, but we see him less time than we see my parents every year!)

I have to give thanks that we really love our family members! My kiddos genuinely enjoy their cousins, Aunts and Uncles, Grandmas and Grandpas, and they love my kiddos right back!

The AFTER photo!

Remember how nice my fridge looked on the day before my parents arrived? Well, I had to show the AFTER photo, just so you can understand. There's about five blocks of cheese in our "crisper" drawer. My Dad goes to Winco just about every day because they have such good bargains (quite a good bargain on cheese if I understand correctly). Plus, we've had bacon EVERY DAY (brown wrapped items on the second shelf). There's also a bunch of leftovers - though luckily, we use this up quite well with so many people in the house.

This is one of Cody leaning casually against the fridge so we won't notice that he is trying to break in while we are not looking! We're on to you Codes!

Cody's first REAL haircut

Okay, I'll admit, I have no control over Cody sitting still. And when it comes to cutting his hair, it's definitely treacherous, to say the least. He acts like he can feel each lock being cut and they are all bleeding profusely. Needless to say, it makes cutting his hair about as far from fun as you can possibly get.

Here he is as the "before" photo...trying to help us put the bunk beds (that we are just setting up as separate twin beds) together.

Here he is at the barber shop. He doesn't know what's about to happen, I'm certain.

Now he's starting to get it. Though we had given him some medicine before he went because he's had a slight fever lately.

This is when it really hits him.

It was all worth it though. Just look at this cutie pie! I had to include the photo of him in his new red pajamas. I just thought they were completely adorable. heh, heh

Cleaning it all out!

My parents are coming. Have I told you what our fridge was like growing up??? FULL! ALWAYS!!! So, I had to make room for all the cooking my father does when he's here. We had to throw away, recycle, clean, etc. so we can have some room for the new homemade, yummy food!

I started with the first shelf! I'm ashamed to say it takes me quite a prod to get this fridge clean. Good thing my parents are coming...it's very motivating!

It's not like it's even hard, truly, as long as the kiddos are busy sleeping! It just takes a little soap and water and VIOLA! all clean!

Here we are - All clean! All this food is fresh and ready to be eaten. What do you think??? It's crazy how much room you have once you clean out all the old stuff. Why do we let those dark corners (ha, ha) exist with old food? I'm not even sure. You just forget about it right? Out of sight, out of mind! Well, I just want to say, "Mom and Dad...we're ready for you!"