Ten on Tuesday (etcetera)

1. Took the boys to see the new Captain America movie last night. I feel like we're living in a Marvel world lately...boys have been re-watching all the Marvel movies and playing the Lego Marvel PS3 game (that Asher saved up to buy) and watching one of the animated Marvel Avengers cartoons.

2. Micah's been on a self-improvement kick (again). He's working on his form at archery (and angled for a new release to help with that)...having me take him to the archery range more often and trying to build up his upper body and core strength. (Don't be surprised, therefore, if he randomly drops to do 20 push-ups as you're walking behind him. It happens.) ;)

3. He's also been brainstorming money-making ideas. He's determined to increase his weekly income, lol. If it were for a cause beyond wanting more Pokemon cards, I might actually help him more. ;) As it is, we worked out a compromise whereby he's going to make dinner once a week in exchange for a slight increase in his allowance. We'll see how it goes...

4. Micah will also be starting private piano lessons tomorrow. He's stoked.

5. The piano lessons are replacing Asher's clarinet lessons. Asher had his spring clarinet recital on Friday. He did a fantastic job with a song from Lord of the Rings but is now ready to take a break from clarinet for at least the summer.

6. Both Asher and Micah are taking some free 4H classes on engineering on Thursdays. They've only been to one so far but are pretty happy with them. So thankful for our homeschooling community that sets up stuff like this!

7. The playset and dark chair are spoken for, but everything else is still up for grabs!

8. Nathan finished off the last piece of quarter-round in our bathroom over the weekend!! The bedroom/bathroom project is officially done!

9. I had a cold for the past week or two. Stupid head cold. Nothing huge...just stupid congestion and cough that kept me from breathing well and seriously annoyed me. ;) I finally made it back to boot camp yesterday morning, and I'm not dead! Yay! (We won't talk about how sore I am today, eh?)

10. That was all. ;)

For sale

Tackling a little spring cleaning. :) Posting here first and will list on Craigslist in a week or so. For all of these, you'll need to be able to pick them up from SE Fort Collins. 

1. TV/DVD player. Magnavox 20" tv/dvd combo with remote...purchased new about 8 years ago. Works just fine; we're just upgrading. Asking $50, obo. 

2. Two solid wooden chairs. One is darker, one is lighter. Picked each of these up used after much searching for sturdy, basic chairs but have since purchased a matching set. Regular wear and tear but still lots of life left in each of these. Asking $20/each, obo. 

3. King-size bedframe. Purchased this only a few months ago but have since ended up going a different route. In like-new condition, and we also have the (unused) brackets for attaching a headboard that we'll include. Loved how this allowed for more under-bed storage...mattress sits about 14" high. Asking $75, obo.

4. Play structure. Our boys are big enough now that they'd rather have a fire pit, lol. It's seen better days but might still be useful to someone. If you can disassemble and take away, it's yours! Might work well for a chicken coop or rabbit hutch?

Email me if you're interested in any or all of these! ;)

Selfie awesomeness

Oh, and on the way out from Fort Fun, I made all my guys stop and take a selfie with me (using Nathan's longer arm). (It's a testament to how great a day it was that they all cooperated, lol.) This is the one we eventually ended up with:

Not bad. But this was the selfie attempt just before that:

Look at Asher's face! ;) Apparently, looking into the sun makes him SUPER happy, lol. (He's making this exact face in all of the tries from this position, so it wasn't just a single fluke...I defy you to not smile when you see that!)

Awesome.

Celebrating spring

Once upon a time, for years, we celebrated spring by feeding geese. 

Last Tuesday, once our local schools were back in session and not on spring break, we celebrated our own spring break with a day of fun. :) Got day passes up at Fort Fun and spent the day going back and forth between their many offerings...

There was the shooting gallery...

...and miniature golf (Asher was in a weirdly happy mood, lol...I have a whole series of shots like this with him literally dancing through the course)...

...and go-karts. (The younger two rode with Nathan and I the first couple times, with Asher managing one round on his own with the help of a cushion thing. Also, btw, Noah has long legs. His were all bent whilst I was extending mine fully to try to push the gas pedal...I think maybe I needed one of those cushions, too, lol.)

We also went down the giant slide (which did not go over as well with Micah...this was the only time we actually got him down it, the other times he came back down the steps)...

...and spent some time in the arcade. (Yes, we spent a good bit of time at this one...and, yes, we cheated and had three people manning it, so as to make sure to hit all the sharks, lol. We earned enough tickets altogether with the arcade tokens included on our day passes to redeem a bunch of candy on our way out, lol.)

We also played laser tag (a first for me, who, unsurprisingly came in last among us), which was entertaining.

All in all, we just had a great day being together....more expensive than feeding geese, lol, but memorable nonetheless. ;)

Yay, spring! (We'll just ignore the fact that the forecast says there may be snow later this week, shall we?)

Bathroom

And here's the bathroom...

We didn't change as much in the bathroom area but are happy with the results. The flooring extended here, and we painted the walls from green to beige (technically, it's "polished pearl" but it's still beige, lol). We also changed out the towel bars and curtains and replaced the light fixture. Some day, we'll change out the faucets (and maybe the sinks) for bronze to match. :) 

And here are those curtains I've mentioned before...the bathroom window one (trimmed down from a longer sheer on clearance) and the teal-ish one separating the bathroom from the bedroom area.

We still have more to do in both the bathroom and the bedroom in the way of decorating (want to get a plant and some wall things (maybe a clock and some plaques/frames)) but are pretty happy at the moment. I appreciate, too, how emptying out a room and then putting it back together creates the opportunity to see what you really use and need...purging feels good.

Whew. :)