I finally did it!!!

Remember a year ago when I got my piano? My free piano that I had literally been praying for for a year and half? The first thing my bratty little brain thought after that piano was delivered was, "Man... I can't wait to paint it and make it look better!" It was a fine piano. It really was. There were a few scratches and dents on it and it was my least favorite wood stain but as far as free pianos go, I really lucked out. So for months I would go back and forth, "should I paint it?"

 "If so, which color?"
 "Who will help me?" 
"What if I screw it up and end up hating it?" 
I can't tell you how many times I went to look at paint colors, or went online and added chalk paint to my virtual shopping cart and then got cold feet and logged off the computer. I made excuse after excuse and finally just realized that it is just a piano. And it was free. If ever you are going to paint a piano-paint one that was free! Plus when else am I going to have the funds, the free time, a friend that is willing to help and a kitchen floor that I don't care that much about getting paint on? As far as painting piano stars go-mine were all aligned. So I just bit the bullet and did it.

Carissa helped me pick out the paint and then last Friday we took the plunge. Honestly, it was way easier than I thought it would be. I didn't take it apart. I just taped the keys and we took off the easel. It only took an afternoon to paint the whole thing. I would say I did two coats of paint and then one layer of clear wax. The dark wax was stressful and it took a few days to grow on me but now I love it. I am excited for when we move into a house with different colored walls. I think the piano will pop more against a darker wall. Until then, this will have to do.

The process...

The materials...

I chose Old Ochre

This small can of paint is the biggest size you can buy. It's like $40 and you will stress that you won't have enough to get the job done. But not only did I get two coats on both the bench and the piano out of this can, but I also have some left over! A little goes a LONG way.

Where you can get them...

The amazing guy who just smiles and says, "okay" when I tell him I want to paint my piano, or the old wicker chair I pulled off the side of the road, or my kitchen table, or the free entertainment center I talked him into helping me load. I believe that behind every paint addict is a patient spouse...

The Party

Due to...life, we had to postpone Easton's Birthday party one week. This was quite confusing to him at first. For about a week he walked around thinking that on the 9th he turned 5 and that on the 16th he would turn 6. I could tell he was torn between being excited or scared to death. A week is not enough time to experience being 5! I guess I am a little to blame, apparently he caught me in a moment of complete distraction and asked me if on the day of his Birthday Party he would be 6. Apparently I said yes in an effort to answer his question and go back to my business. I don't recall him ever even asking me...
but I do know that if you try to converse with me when I am working out, deep cleaning or sleeping I will tell you whatever you want to hear so you will go away. Oops, my bad!

This was the laziest, most half hearted attempt at a party I have ever thrown. I booked the pavilion at our favorite park back in July and then just sort of procrastinated and waited until the last minute (the night before and morning of) to go buy party supplies and cupcakes and everything else. I had no plan. No games, no itinerary, no prizes. Nothing. I knew we were eating grilled hot dogs and at some point we would do cupcakes and a pinata and presents, but that was it. Lesson learned. Because I was kind of a nutcase at the party and honestly, if it weren't for our friends, Tiff, Dean and Heidi the party would have been a disaster. They did SO much to help us that day. All of these pictures are courtesy Heidi. All the structure and order and complete lack of chaos was because Tiff was there with her level headed brain. And the only reason the pinata worked out was because Dean ran home to grab rope and worked out a pulley system and took over the whole pinata experience for us. Kendrick deserves credit too-he ran to the store multiple times for me that day and sat in front of a very hot grill on a 90+ degree day grilling hot dogs. Oh, and quick shout out to my mom who went to several stores with me on a hunt for a Toy Story related pinata, only to finally give up at Walmart and chose a present shaped pinata. Then, probably because she sensed that I was stressed out, she went ahead and bought Kendrick and I some shirts to help distract me from my stress. New clothes are such a great way to distract me! I am lucky that I have such awesome people to help me.

As I said before, there was no structure to this party. So I will try my best to put these pictures into some sort of order. But just know, there was no order that day...

Pin the tail on Bullseye!

Presents!

Cupcakes!

Pinata!

Duck Duck Goose!

Red Rover

A whole bunch of pictures of Tay and Hay per their request

The sweet Birthday boy and my sweaty self

Other than when that last picture was being taken, I didn't get a chance to really talk to Easton that day. We had friends in and out all afternoon and that evening I took Tiff for a pedicure and then we had dinner with neighbors that night. I didn't get to talk to him about his party until Sunday morning. I asked if he liked it and he said he did...but that he wished he had had a Buzz Lightyear Pinata! I felt so bad.
Next time little man, I will get you WHATEVER pinata you want and I will have it weeks in advance!

Trying to trick Tiffany

Last August we started hiking up the canyons around our house. We promised ourselves that we would start hiking much earlier in the season this year. And while we did attempt a hike with our friend, Carissa back in March. It was still pretty chilly then and the hike itself wasn't my favorite. I prefer to be in the canyon, among the trees and streams when I hike. I don't love hiking in spots where we can see The Salt Lake Valley the whole time. And that was the last time we hiked this year. Lame! So on Saturday we decided to hike up to Cecret Lake near Alta. Kendrick invited our neighbors, the Espnoza's along. Apparently his invitation to Tiffany included the promise, "It's like a mile there and back. It's not hard at all." Tiff is one of the strongest and most hard core exercisers I know of but I just don't think hiking was on her weekend agenda. We truly didn't think that we would be gone hiking for more than 3 hours. And we were unaware that there are two parking options for the Cecret Lake trail. One that makes the trail to the lake only 1.8 miles and one that makes the trail to the lake 2.8 miles. We unknowingly chose the 2.8 mile trail. So all in all we hiked nearly 6 miles that day. I was so happy! What a great workout! I'm not sure how Tiff felt...she sure made a lot of smarty pants comments about Kendrick deceiving her and tricking her into coming with us. But I am so glad the Espinoza's came. Easton did awesome because he had Dean to talk to the whole time and it was just fun to have friends accompany us on a hike. This wasn't my favorite lake we've ever hiked too. Mostly because I don't like hiking to watershed lakes where we can't touch the water- it's cruel to hike up to water when you are hot and tired and be told you can't touch it. I think the kids were rather bummed too. But we did see some Moose along the way and we even stopped to play on a chair lift, so that was fun! And afterward we gorged on Mexcian food until I was sick. All in all it was an awesome day. I wish we could hike every Saturday. It is my favorite form of cardio and I love being up in the mountains with my cute family.

On Monday, I had the car because I had a Dr. appointment, so when I got home Carissa and I decided we should go for a hike up Corner Canyon in Draper. Again, we invited Tiffany. Kendrick and I took the kids to this trail last Spring and I swear it wasn't hard at all. It felt more like a nature walk. So that's exactly what I told Tiffany it was. Well I wasn't aware that there is a waterfall over there that you can hike to and I wasn't aware that there are some much steeper trails in that canyon. Also, it was like 90 something degrees out so it was just too bloody hot to be hiking. The kids all whined and complained and us ladies each switched off carrying baby Allison in her backpack since Carissa is pregnant. We never made it to the waterfall. Carissa's hiking app wouldn't work and the kids were complaining about all the steep hills and quite frankly-I hated towing that backpack around! It was painful. Point of this story-by the end of the hike I had lost all credibility with Tiffany. I think she was convinced that I was trying to kill her. I don't dare invite her on another hike before summer is over even though she is actually a lot of fun to hike with. After the hike up Corner Canyon we went swimming at Carissa's in-laws pool. It felt so good! My big kids are becoming quite the little swimmers. I'm starting to wonder if they need swimming lessons at all? They dive and jump and swim under water and tread water just fine. Even Easton surprised us all and got off the stairs and actually got wet this time!

I intend for us to keep hiking for the remainder of the summer and even through the fall. We are so lucky to live just minutes from hundreds of really neat trails! Hopefully Tiffany will develop amnesia and we can talk her into at least one more hike before the summer is over...