Furniture Fix-Ups

The front of our couch seat was wearing out, so I cut the fabric off the back of the couch and sewed it onto the front.  (Someday I'll staple some coordinating fabric onto the back :)

My friend's puppy got bored while she was at work and destroyed the couch she had saved for for years.  She was brave and trusted me as I cut out a 1 yd square of fabric off the back of her couch.  She sewed a piece of coordinating fabric onto the back, while I sewed a "patch" on the front. 

The finished product!  (Good thing our living rooms are so small that our furniture has to be against a wall :)



The Paul Family's CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE

Day 1 - OCEANSIDE BEACH - So great - especially after spending 10 hours on the road!






Victoria & Brayden made a city for the tiny crabs Daddy & they dug up. Brayden was sacrificing his body to protect the city from the incoming tide.












Alan rented a 15 person van

2nd Day - SEA WORLD!!!

Before and After Shamu

Too tired to even finish her cracker

DISNEYLAND!!!!

Sweet Baby #5 - Laura
All decked out (thanks to the Aunts & Uncles) & Ready for DISNEYLAND

Brayden got picked from the audience to star in a Western

The babies got tired of waiting in line to see the princesses, so I took them into a store where they picked out a few things. Mommy talked them into waiting until she took them shopping later.

Boo-a-ful Audrey

Audrey got a Rapunzel dress and a cape for her birthday. I caught her admiring herself in the fireplace screen.

A Non-Political Tea Party - The Best Kind!

While Mommy was in NYC, and Daddy and Brayden were going hunting (which was an adventure in itself - ask Alan about how to clean up projectile vomiting), Victoria, Audrey and Ellie got to have a sleep over at Grandma's & Grandpa's house. Victoria suggested we have a tea party with water, "but what can we use for sugar cubes?" Being the quick thinking Grandma that I am, I came up with Chex cereal. (?) So the girls were delighted with their "tea and sugar cubes" and had several helpings. (Note Audrey's "Rapunzel" braid on the back of her head.)

Lucy joined our tea party, but didn't know how to hold her cup correctly, even after Audrey showed her how it's done.

Saturday morning we went to see almost 89 year old Bestah Mor and then we went school shopping. Victoria found a cute long shirt that had EVERYTHING, including stripes, a ruffle, sequins, a picture of a horse AND a necklace chain with several charms (sorry, Mommy!) Audrey found a cute summer dress, but alas, they only had a size 2. Audrey had to have it and Grandma just wanted to get done, so yes, I bought it for her. Victoria found another one exactly like it - same size and all - and we got that for Ellie. After lunch at McDonald's, it was back to Grandma's for naps. I was just going to lay down with Audrey for a minute, but an hour and a half later I woke up and realized that we'd left Victoria to entertain herself! Fortunately, Aunt Kat, then Grandpa and Tracie arrived to keep her company.

Oh, and Friday night Grandpa said, "Ellie, tell Grandma what's in your pants." Ellie scrunched up her face, held onto her bum and said, "Poop!"

Most Relaxing Spot on Earth!

The little boys, including Brayden, Austin, Josh, Maysen and Gavin found 3 goose eggs that had washed up on the beach (along with a HUGE dead carp that Brayden discovered). We all told them to put the eggs right back where they found them, because they were probably rotten. But, Brayden and one other kid took them into the boys’ shower with them, forgot about them being wrapped up in their towels, and yep, when they picked up their towels, the eggs fell on the floor and broke. The smell was horrible and we could smell it really strongly in the ladies’ room, too! So we told them they all had to clean it up and at one point, Austen came out with toilet paper stuffed up his nostrils.

Funny, funny Ellie kept telling everyone, “Hey Kiate!” with a mad face and then immediately smile at them. She said it to me today, so Mommy put her in time out. There was no way she was going to tell me she was sorry, although she did give me a hug, so she had to go back to time out. The second time was a charm and she told me she was sorry.

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