The April and May Stuff

April and May happened, didn't they?  I think we did some stuff during those months.  Let's use the pictures, shall we?

 We moved all the furniture from our living room into our garage in April.  It's called Ultra Spring Cleaning.  Just kidding.  But in all seriousness, these awesome dudes from our church, Roots Community, came and got it all done in about a half hour.  They rock.

They did all this work to allow me time to paint the walls before the floors were refinished.  More about the floors later.  Here is an example of the walls getting done:

Here's something completely different:

 We had some eighty degree weather in April.  It was crazy.  Our friend came over and the boys played in the sprinkler.  And they did this, too.

Then the boys and I went to the cabin while Erik went to Vegas for a meeting and our floors were refinished.  My very favorite part of going to the cabin in the off season is having the awesome indoor pool to ourselves.  The boys love it.  I bring a book.  They play.  It is so good.

Another fun thing we like to do is go to the toy store.  Luke has been asking for one of the rubber band shooters for awhile now.  I decided ten and a half was the perfect age for this.  He knows the rules - never at people or animals.  He immediately created a shooting gallery when we got back to the cabin.

 Pretty great.

Then we went home.  And found this loveliness:  

 Okay, so there were a few hiccups, and our homecoming wasn't as smooth as I had hoped.  The floors took longer to dry than anticipated, so we had to delay the boys' arrival a bit.   They would have been unable to get down the hall to their rooms.  And as much as camping together in the basement at the end of a long week sounded fun (and by that I mean insane and disastrous) I instead dropped one boy with my mom and the other boy with Erik's parents.  We stayed in our guest room and received the boys home the following afternoon.  It worked out well.  And the resulting floors are gorgeous.

I don't have a good picture with our area rug, chairs, and cutie new side table.  So, I'll have to blog again soon.  Don't worry...it will probably happen.

The boys earned their blue belts in Taekwondo in April.  Here's a picture of them in class sometime in early May.  I think they just look cool when they are doing their forms.  :-)

Then we hosted some wee folks so their moms could attend the end of the year bible study sharing day.  Here is one who reminds me SO much of Luke at this age.  And this particular individual really wanted to be wearing a glove.  When Luke helped him put one on, he made a friend for life.  Adorable.

In May we made a day trip to my dad's place to do some evening fishing, leaving our house at 2pm and arriving home a little after 10pm.  A long day, but it was worth it.  We had spaghetti dinner and then headed to the lake.  Paul wanted to stay on shore and throw rocks and sticks for my dad's dog.  So Luke and I headed out onto the lake.  Nothing was caught, but that's not what we say after forty-five minutes of rowing.  We caught six, all over four pounds.  Released 'em all.  My dad actually told this tale as we pulled the boat into shore and Luke's eyes got SO big!  My dad chuckled and winked at the guy who had asked.  It might take awhile for my ten-year-old to catch on to the wily ways of the fisherman.  Regardless, it was a lovely evening on the lake with my dad and my boy.

After that, much of my time was spent doing this:

Drapes.  The living room and dining room needed them.  My friend Jena and my husband Erik helped me accomplish this herculean feat.

Who knew there was this much ironing involved in sewing?!?

But they turned out beautiful!

Sheesh, this post in long and random, but I want to include one more event.  On the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, we did something awesome and important.  We participated in the Tabor Trot, a two-mile walk to for Donate Life.  Our friend, Bob Meek, received a heart transplant just over a year ago.  We love this family and when they invited us to participate in this event, we jumped at the chance.  It was a good day.

 Liza and I smile for the selfie while her dad gives me bunny ears.  Like I said, it was a good day!  :-)

 Our family cheesing it up at one of the social media photo ops. 

 The kids taking a break on a bench, seemingly oblivious to the amazing view.

Bob and Liza at the after party - Happy Heart Birthday, Bob!

Sick Luke and Living Room Update

I'm not the mom who takes my kids to the doctor for a stomach flu or a chest cold.  When they are sick, I keep them hydrated and as comfortable as possible.  And I try to make them rest.  But every once in awhile one of them becomes authentically ill, and a trip to the doctor becomes quite necessary.

Luke was overnight at a friend's house Saturday and when we arrived at noon on Sunday to pick him up, he was lying on the couch in his pajamas.  Luke doesn't stay in his pajamas past 8 am.  Ever.  I'm nearly always in my pajamas later in the day than Luke.  One touch of his forehead told us we were dealing with some fever.  When we got home, the thermometer revealed the 102.5 degree truth.  He didn't even try to stay up.  He went straight to bed.  And started coughing.  Boo.

Long story short, the fever stuck around for three days and the cough worsened.  We saw the doctor this morning, and he listened to the boy's lungs.  Turns out the left one was congested and wheezy.  The thought is that either Luke is either having an asthma flare-up induced by a virus or he has pneumonia.  Or maybe it's both.  We were given new inhalers for a steroid and albuterol, along with a prescription for an antibiotic.  The doc said we could wait and see if the cough worsened and the fever continued before giving the antibiotic.  And we came home.

Within a few hours, the 102.5 degree insanity had returned.   Advil and peppermint oil were administered because I think both western medicine and alternative medicine rock.  And I decided antibiotics were a brilliant idea.  We started that business, along with the new inhalers, after dinner tonight.  I'm praying that that business will be effective, and our boy will be back to his old, crazy, too-loud, overly-active self soon.

I would like to publicly thank Jesus Christ for using my friend, Holly, to save my life yesterday.  On day three of being basically shut in with one sick kid and one healthy kid, she brought us two bins of "new-to-us" toys and a bag of books.  It gave Paul something new to do and Luke something new to watch Paul do.  That in combination with the audio books that the Daddy-Man picked up for us the day before have made survival possible.

Here is a picture of the people doing the things.

It kinda trashed the living room, but it was TOTALLY worth it.  Luke is able to play quietly in his less-fevered moments, and Paul can easily play in front of Luke when he is on the couch.  Win/win.

So that picture has a bit of a teaser for those of you who are following the living room remodel...the new chairs came.  I think I have a better picture to share.  Lemme go find it.

There.  The chairs.  In front of the new wall.  Lovely. Lovely. Lovely.  The remodel has largely been put on hold this week because you don't paint when your ten year old is lying on the couch being feverish and unhappy.  However a few of the bits that I had ordered online arrived, so I was able to add one more component to the room this afternoon.

We have owned this print since Dave and Lynne downsized in 2000.  It hung in our house in Puyallup and was actually something Baby Luke loved to stare at for minutes on end.  But it's framing needed updating.  I did this myself, people.  It's not perfectly done, but I love how it turned out.  Erik will add the hardware to the back soon and it will hang above the mantel.  Pretty.

Changes

I have never been the person who places high value on interior decorating.  I'm not actually sure why that is.  Too busy?  Maybe.  Too intimidated?  Probably.  Too cheap?  Definitely.  Regardless, a few months back a dear friend heard me speaking disparagingly about the fake wood paneling in my living room.  Ugly.  That's about all I could say about that business.  Oh, don't forget outdated.  She mentioned how much she loves interior decorating - it's her hobby.  It feeds her soul.  We were sitting in my 1972 meets 1991 living room at the time.  I glanced around and decided to take the risk.

Me: "Wanna help me make this room pretty?"

Friend Jena:  *squeal of delight* YES!

She started the pinterest board and the journey began.  I had already found a fabric that I really loved for new chairs.   Once I forwarded a picture to her, she had all the inspiration she needed.  Erik and I decided it was about time to spend some money on living room furniture for the first time in our married lives.  For real, people.  Sixteen and a half years with hand-me-downs, for which we have been SUPER grateful.  But buying furniture isn't a sin.  Coveting furniture - yes.  Overspending on furniture - yes.  Finding an amazing President's Day Sale and getting two chairs for what you thought you would have to spend for one - not. a. sin.  And that's exactly what happened.  The new chairs don't arrive for another month or so, but here is the fabric in front of the test paint section of the fake wood paneling.

The chairs will be the "pop" in the new room.  Most other elements will be in tones of white and grey.  This will be the accent wall.  The other walls will be a light grey.  Here are some other "in process" pictures.

I used a LOT of primer to cover that paneling...and I might have taken a few days off school to paint.  Teacher work days.  Those are a thing still?  Right?

Wanna see the entire wall finished?



There is too much stuff on that mantel, but we haven't worked on accessories yet.  The color of the wall helps so much.  The side tables will be painted white and have new lamps.  We also plan to paint the brick and the tile around the fireplace, as well as the insert.  I haven't decided yet about the mantel.  A lot will depend on what it looks like against the hardwoods...insert Amy's girlish squeal of delight here.

We have always known that there were hardwoods under the carpet.  It's in the closets.  Getting them refinished has just never been at the top of our list.  That all changed when our good friend Michael came over to take a look at the possibility of removing the shelving that enclosed our entryway.  Take a look:

It's not terrible, but it always made our entryway feel cramped.  Dinner parties were always filled with people squishing between these shelves and the backs of chairs.  So, Michael tore it out for us.  The same day he came to check it out.  And we all discovered the absolutely pristine hardwoods underneath it.  While he was at it, he mentioned being worried about damaging the terrible, poop-brown tile in the entryway.  I informed him that it would eventually go, too.  No time like the present!  So, he tore that out, too.  And found PRISTINE hardwoods underneath.  Are you catching a theme here?  Wanna see a picture?



Michael and Jan are part of our Roots family.  That's our church.  But it's really more like family than church.  (Friend Jena is part of Roots, too.)  These folks came over spur the moment and did all this work.  Michael even left to go grab his belt sander so we could see what the floors would look like without the gross glue.  Beautiful.  That's how they look.

We are going to hire professionals to do the actual refinishing of the floors.  Our buddy, Kale, runs his own business and they do this type of stuff.  They'll be coming in April to rip out the carpet and do the refinishing at a very reasonable price.  Blessedly, Erik will be out of town at a business meeting and I will be in Sunriver with the boys during the work.  We will, however, have the joy of removing all the furniture from our front room during the two weeks previous to the work and painting all the walls.  Pretty sure we are going to beg our friends for help with all this, too. ;-)

So, it's going to take a few more months, maybe four to six.  I still need to pick the grey color that I want to paint the other walls.  There are LOTS of little DIY projects that Jena and I need to attack, but finding time is a challenge.  And we might not be able to afford a new couch for awhile. I tried a slipcover - too slippy and messy-looking when people sat on it.  Honestly, who doesn't sit on their couch?  So, we will save our pennies and shop around and wait for the right sale.  And when this room is finally done, I am so confident that it will be stunning.

I can't tell you how excited I am about this, folks.  This is the room where I drink my first cup of coffee and have my first conversation with Jesus each morning.  It's always been a functional room, but never a beautiful one.  Sometimes beauty matters.  Especially when the ugly can be remedied fairly inexpensively and with the help of good friends.

Mostly Christmas Awesomeness

The last two weeks have been so relaxing and mellow for us.  Erik has been off work since December 23rd.  We have had lots of family time and celebrating.  I'll do my best to use the pictures to catch y'all up on all the fun.

We started what I hope will become a new Bangsund Family tradition on Christmas - a new puzzle!  Erik and I saw this Legend of Zelda themed puzzle online over a month ago.  It was a must have.  We weren't really sure when it would make an appearance, but the boys' restless behavior on Christmas told us it was time!

We all worked together on these 550 pieces, and it was epic.  The only struggle was that both boys wanted to put together the Link (hero and all-around awesome green-clad character) pieces.  Once we solved this issue by telling them to do it together, it went pretty well.

 I don't actually have a picture of the finished puzzle!  But maybe next year.  :-)

I also don't have a picture of the boys posing all dressed up for church.  But I gave them their new slippers shortly before we left, so I have those pictures.

 You can't tell, but they are Wookie-themed slippers - Star Wars - HUGE around here - the kids like it, too.  ;-)

 Also Wookie-themed, but slightly different.  Oh, and Luke has tape on his toes because I'm fairly certain he broke one of them running through the house about a week before this shot was taken. Yep.

After this, we went to church with Grandma and Grandpa, ate a beautiful dinner at their place, and opened more presents.  And I failed to take a single picture.  Sometimes it's just nice to enjoy the moment.  It was a lovely evening and we were blessed with lots of great gifts, including Storm Trooper Hanna Andersson jammies for the boys and a sewing machine for me!

Christmas morning, I was the first person up, around 6:15am.  It took me about ten minutes to get the table set for our celebration.  Chocolate birthday cake with peppermint frosting, worship packets, Christmas dishes, and the World Vision Gift Catalog to pick birthday presents for Jesus.  This start to our Christmas morning celebration never disappoints.  It is always cool.

 The people arrived on the scene around 8:30 a.m.  How sane is that?  We sing the songs, read the scriptures, and eat the cake...YUM!  Then we each get to pick a present.

Looking through the catalog, Luke piped up, "Mom!  Look, you can give a sewing machine - just like you got from Grandma and Grandpa last night!"  So I can, buddy.  What a great idea.  A sewing machine gifted to a woman in the third world provides a sustainable livelihood for her and her family.  It's food.  It's safety.  It's well-being.  It's perfect.

Paul picked a very cool water pump that is operated by foot, the pedals for which look a lot like an elliptical.  I think Paul probably thought it just looked fun!  But he was also jazzed to know that it would provide folks with clean water.

Erik picked $1,200 worth of medication for not nearly that much money.  It's super cool to be able to pick gifts that match with our passions.

Meanwhile, Luke was quietly reading a page in his catalog that has always been there, but drew his attention this year.  The page tells the story of a girl who gets trafficked.  I didn't actually realize he was processing the story until he said, "This.  I want to give this.  Safety for a girl."  When my boy read those three paragraphs, he immediately decided that he needed to do something about it.  This is the man I pray that I am raising, a man of integrity who sees the injustice in the world and takes as much action as he possibly can.  I have never been so moved by one of my boy's choices.  I'm pretty sure at that age, I might have just ignored that page because it was terrible and sad and uncomfortable.  Luke doesn't want to ignore it.  He wants to help fix it.  And that, friends, is awesome.

Once that sweet tradition was done, it was time for our gift giving to each other.  Okay, here's the deal.  While we were on vacation alone together at the cabin earlier in December, Erik and I completed a little online questionnaire about our love languages.  You know, the way each of us communicates and receives love most effectively.  So, quality time was my first love language, and receiving gifts was my second.  Well, folks, let me just tell you that I knew about that secondary business and always thought that I should just pretend that wasn't a thing.  Because it felt kinda selfish.  But then we read more about it.  It's not about big, expensive shiny things.  In fact, those don't count unless there is time and thought behind them.  Gifts matter when they say, "I've listened to you.  I know what will delight you."

This is the part where my husband rocks.  Erik will be the first to admit that coming up with gift ideas for his wife is hard.  The ADD mind struggles to remember the conversation where the wife mentioned the thing that would delight her on Christmas morning.  And people, I have let go of this business in a lot of ways.  So, when Erik surprised me on Christmas morning with not one, but THREE thoughtful, meaningful gifts, I wept.  For real.  Wanna see what he got me?

That personalized glass ornament of a piano hanging from the lamp commemorates this year, the year I started lessons again and we got an acoustic piano.  Cried when I opened that business.  Did I mention that I started collecting the old style glass ornaments two years ago?  And then there is the piano music...from Jane Austen movies...that I love.  How awesome is my husband?  Super awesome.  He nailed this BIG time.  I already knew that he loves me, but for whatever reason, when he buys me meaningful gifts, my heart sings.

And then the kids opened their gifts!

Paul got this Lego Dimensions thing in his stocking.  He was pretty impressed.

 Both boys got these cool Star Wars cups in their stockings.

We continued the tradition of giving each boy three gifts corresponding with their hearts (toy), souls, and minds...although I did cheat a bit this year.

Both boys received piano music this year as their soul gift...because music feeds the soul...right?  Luke got music from "The Legend of Zelda" video games and Paul got music from Mario video games.  They can't quite play them yet, but they LOVED listening to me pick my way through them.  SO fun!

 Paul got this robotic dinosaur as his "heart" gift.  We were together in Kohl's at the very beginning of December when he spotted it.  I don't think he ever thought I would actually get it for him.

 And then Luke opened this Nerf blaster, something he saw and loved on the same Kohl's trip.  I don't know if their love language is receiving gifts, but I LOVE paying attention and getting them at least one thing that shows I was listening.  And folks, sometimes I'm sad that we never did Santa, but when it all comes down, I'm super glad my kids know that I know them and give them good gifts.

Then my mom came over and we had lazy brunch, followed by presents.  Here she is opening the ornament that I made with the boys' picture.  She's pretty thrilled.

Okay, so this past summer Luke read the ENTIRE Redwall series in three months.  That's 22 books written on about a seventh grade reading level.  He loved it.  And my mom noticed.  She bought him the first 12 books in the series and gave them to him on Christmas morning.  He was beyond thrilled.

 That stack of books has made for a VERY quiet Christmas break around here.  Lovely gift, Oma!

Then the boys hugged Oma!

Christmas evening we enjoyed time at Uncle Bob and Aunt Cindy's but again I failed to take pictures.  We had a great time catching up with family and laughing really hard at the crazy antics of gag gift boxes.  So hilarious!

That's the Christmas business.  I think I'll save the rest of vacation for another post.  :-)

School Today

School in December is nobody's favorite thing.  Seriously.  That tree goes up, and all I want to do is plan presents and play piano.  Period.  But today was a beautiful example of how schooling looks different for us in December but is completely legit in my opinion.

Our day began with me needing to rouse both boys from sleep in order to leave the house by 7:45 a.m. to be at the nearby elementary school in time to deliver 6 bags of groceries for the Backpack Buddies kids.  Paul wasn't just reluctant.  He was kinda ticked.  So, I stopped and had an important conversation about serving even when we would rather sleep in.  All I had to do was quietly explain the purpose of the bags.  It's food so those kids can eat over Christmas break.   And he was all in, folks.  With a smile on his face.  It didn't hurt that I promised pumpkin bread from Starbucks at the end of the trip.  Service is rewarding, people!

We arrived at the school and delivered the bags, Merry Christmasing our way through the building.  It was so good.  And educational.  The lesson?  It's not always about us.  Sometimes we have to climb out of our warm, comfy bed in order to do something for others.  Good lesson.

When we got home, post-Starbucks drive-thru, it was time to practice piano.  Music.  It's school around here.  It counts.

Then they went downstairs and played while I practiced piano.  Soul-care for the teacher.  Also important around here.

After that, I called them upstairs and read to them from Johnny Tremain for about an hour.  History and literature rolled into one!  They were entertained, and we are all learning lots about Boston during the American Revolution.  That's just cool.

Now they are playing chess on the living room floor while I write this blog post beside them.  I can hear them strategizing and problem solving.  It's all school.  I know it's not traditional.  And yes we will get back to math and spelling and vocabulary in January.  But sometimes learning is best snuck in between the everyday stuff.  It's almost like I'm preparing them to learn in real life situations rather than just a classroom.  Right?

Here's the pic:

Piano Tuning

We got the piano tuned today.  Why is this blog-worthy?  What's the big deal?  Let me explain.

Most of you already know at least some of my backstory, growing up below the poverty line in suburban America.  It's miraculous that we owned a piano, and I am SO grateful for the church that sold it SO cheaply to my mom the Christmas that I was seven years old.  It was magical.  They snuck that beast of an upright grand into the house on Christmas Eve, and I was overjoyed the next morning.

And I played it untuned and without a treble C (it had fallen and couldn't get up) for all of my growing up years and through college.  When Erik and I moved into our little starter house in Puyallup, we brought the piano home.  And I tried to get it tuned, but having been moved unprofessionally multiple times (it had been rolled up the street on one occasion and had fallen over in the back of a pick-up truck once), the sounding board had cracked.  Irreparable to our newlywed budget.  So it sat.  I played from time to time.  But mostly I just mourned.  It was playable sort of, but I was playing a well-tuned baby grand every Sunday at church now.  My piano just hurt my ears.

Eventually, shortly after or right before (my Mommy Brain can't recall) Luke was born, we gave it away.  I placed a classified ad (yep...in the paper...it was 2005, but we were in the suburbs and who knew craigslist existed?) offering the piano "as is" and free to a good home.  The man who called me let me know that he takes pianos, fixes them up, and gives them to underprivileged kids who want to learn to play.  Okay.  So, that was perfect.  He came and got it.

Then came the electric piano my dad gave us about two months later.  I'm not kidding.  We were without a keyed instrument for less than a quarter of a year.  God knows us, people.  He knows what feeds our souls.  God knew what I needed.  My dad brought the electric piano to our house, and I knew it for the blessing it was.  And folks, I do love that instrument and am SUPER thankful to my dad for giving it to me.

But it wasn't a real piano.  And until a few weeks ago when we acquired this beautiful instrument from Uncle Bob and Aunt Cindy, I didn't realize how very much I have missed playing a real piano.  It's different.  It rings differently.  It physically hums.  It sings with me.

And then Taylor Mackinnon arrived today at 12:30 pm to tune it.  I greeted him at the door and he had a  warm smile on his face, reminding me just a touch of Santa Claus.  No joke.  The boys were downstairs playing and I left them there.  He got started and eventually the boys came roaring up the stairs, but I cut them off in the kitchen.  They could hear Taylor tuning.  And I told them they had to be silent.  Ready for another Bangsund Family Christmas Miracle?  They were.  Silent.  Like the night in the song, people.  I couldn't believe it.  They stood by his side and watched him work.  He didn't shoo them away or even looked askance at them.  In fact, at one point when swapping between registers, he engaged them in conversation and told them that they should encourage me in my lessons because having a mom who studies piano is great.  So, he works for Concord Piano Services (503-648-5247) and everyone should hire him.  Just sayin'.

As he was finishing up, I realized that in the thirty plus years that I have been a piano playing person, not once have I lived in a house with a tuned acoustic piano.   Tears.  Blessedly, I was in the kitchen and the poor man didn't need to witness that Amy Craziness.  But seriously, folks, I am so abundantly grateful, to Bob and Cindy for parting with this beautiful instrument, to Dave and Lynne for gifting me with the birthday money that started me back to piano lessons, and to Jesus Christ for creating me with a heart that loves music so much and gifting that matches that passion, allowing it to feed my soul.

Okay.  Of course I took pictures.  Pretty sure Taylor thought I was crazy.  ;-)

 I didn't time how long they stood there, but it was definitely longer than five minutes.

This is the reason that the treble B and C were sticking together.  This had been dropped into the piano at some point.  Both boys were in the room when Taylor pulled it out.  And Luke immediately said, "I did NOT put that in there.  I promise, Mom."  I had a hard time not laughing.  (I found the sticky keys while the piano was still at Bob and Cindy's...pretty sure it was one of theirs...not mine...whew!)

And now an attempt to share how much I love this instrument.  This is a super short, twenty-three second clip of me playing my current favorite passage.  I promise not to become one of these people who posts tons of videos of myself playing the piano.  But this kinda reflects some of my joy, and I wanted to share it with all of you.

More December Fun

Bangsund Christmas traditions continued last weekend as we procured our Christmas tree and decorated the business out of our home.

We went to the tree farm we go to every year, owned and operated by Don Schneider.  It's the free toy place.  My kids still love it, so we still go.

The weather was not great, so I quickly picked a tree.  My main goal is always a skinny tree because our living room just gets REALLY crowded with anything other than a mildly anemic, Paris runway model version of a Christmas tree.  Know what I mean?

Here's what I found:

It's so slim, it doesn't really show from behind the boys.  Dang!  Luke is going to be taller than our tree in just a few years.  Oy.

So we (meaning Erik) cut it down, the boys picked their toys from Mr. Schneider's free toy shed, and we headed home.

Then came the fun, new Bangsund Family tradition.

Luke Bangsund helped his father put up the outside Christmas lights!

By this I mean that Luke did ALL of the ladder work.  All of it.  Erik stayed on terra firma while the ten year old climbed the ladder and did all the gutter clipping and tensioning.  What just happened?

Like this.  Crazy, huh?

Over the course of Saturday and Sunday, our little tree was decorated by mostly me.  I'm still not super comfortable letting the boys touch my grandmother's antique ornaments.  Maybe next year.  They did get to decorate the tree in the basement...that's cool, too, right?

Here's how our upstairs tree turned out:

I hadn't put the tree skirt on yet, or eliminated the boy legs from the area, but you get the gist.

And now, one of my favorite pictures of the season so far - Paul doing his spelling by the light of the Christmas tree this past week.

He found this location all by himself, and I love it.  Even spelling is better by tree light!