a moving experience

Posted on April 25, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

Some snaps and notes from our moving days…

8am Eyeliner is wonky. I really could use a shower but husband called to confirm the plan for the piano placement. So instead I straighten my hair, fill the to go mug, and head over to the new house.

10:30 Kids move from doing schoolwork upstairs to an empty bedroom

…while we tag team checking in boxes and Alannah directs mover traffic in the lower level

11am First casualty, a big green glass demijohn bottle. Sigh.

Some comic relief

noon lunch break.

Alannah drives Moira to work. Husband and I muse about the possiblity of nodding off.

3:30pm three books randomly fall out of a box. One happens to be the title an adult son asked me to please read. (Soon, I promise)

4pm B is worn out. Abbie is reveling in that moment when you find the box with your toys.

5pm A child reports, "I hear swearing in a bunch of different languages," which confirms my hunch that they have begun to move the piano. God bless them. That was no picnic.

7:30pm Take out pizza and salad for the family. Make a cold meat and fruit plate for myself.

Now comes the unpacking.

on trusting yourself

Posted on April 22, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

While we are in the throes of moving in I am bumping this post (click on the word "this" for the original post link) from nine years ago. Has it been that long?? It seemed important at the time and I had no idea how much more those words would need to be said almost a decade later. It is still my firm belief that life is not a crisis and childhood is not a disorder. It is still my firm belief that we do well to stay on the same team versus seeing each other as opponents (whether the "other" here is our spouse, our baby, our friends).

So here's a virtual high five to us, Moms. You've got this. Go team!

**One disclaimer though – this post does not suggest c-section is never appropriate. It often is necessary and life saving. However there are also many factors impacting contemporary American c-section rates so women are encouraged to research thoroughly and make the decisions best for them.

life, lately

Posted on April 21, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

I hid out strolled leisurely through Walmart tonight picking up beverages and snacks for the moving crew that will be spending the next couple of days unloading our household goods from England. We closed on our new house last week which makes three homes and three hotels in the past two months. Soon as we got the keys in hand we began an ambitious run of renovations and DIY work trying to get done anything easier to do when the house was empty.

That makes a girl tired.

So yes, Walmart. For an hour I just walked around. Slowly. By myself. With nothing to clean/paint/move. Nice. Very nice. : )

What follows is just a highlight reel because it's 11pm and that aforementioned truck will be arriving in 9hrs.

First there was a freak snow. Though we don't mind freak snows when they stick around just long enough for a photo op and then promptly temps return to the 60s. East coasters, my apologies. Sincerely!

Brothers. Near and far.

Then came the keys, the keys to the most awesome kitchen I have ever had.

Ever.

We looked at what felt like a hundred houses. Many had gorgeous interiors and postage stamp yards. Some had funky interiors and large but treeless yards. One by one they left us cold and there was a last minute search for rentals, none of which was handicapped accessible nor took pets. In the end we found this fabulous neighborhood begun in the 60's and added to over the next 50years. Trees, hills, and an array of homes, none of which looked alike. Some old, some new. Ours is more one than the other but it had great bones and the major systems were solid and updated. It felt like home.

The views that sold us…

And the exploring that followed.

and the most awesome kitchen was next to the not awesome 90's wallpaper AND stencil job. The stencil from hell basically that climbed down onto wallpaper, over trim, and up onto the ceiling.

Why? Really?

There has been a lot of painting. Miles of masking tape.

Maybe I exaggerate. It just seemed that way. Gah, I need a manicure. My nails are embedded with spackling compound. Gross. Sorry.

I have a clicker. 'Cause I have a garage. First one since 2002. Which was one of the few we have ever had.

And the world's most awesome kitchen sits above possibly the world's most hideous family room fireplace. The 80's, people. It was not kind. As late as 2007 (per my resurrected reno mag) Better Homes and Gardens asserted that "a wall of mirrors reflects light and doubles the square footage of the room."

To borrow another 80s/90s bit of advice….

So we have just embarked on quite the adventure, commuting back and forth to family in Colorado and falling in love with – and updating – a new old house.

More to follow!

Checking in

Posted on April 18, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

Hello friends! I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth. Big changes are well underway. We travelled to CO to see our sons and daughter in law. Then we closed on our new house. We immediately dove into some remodeling projects we will be sharing soon. (Today’s adventure – wallpaper removal!)
Will be taking a new turn with this space as our focus turns to home improvement for a time. We are learning so much and having a grand time. There is a major case of old house love happening. Hope you will join the fun!
Back soon.

Exploring – Wheeler Creek Trail

Posted on April 8, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

I fell behind logging some of our hiking adventures. In retrospect now though Wheeler Creek is probably my favorite trail so far. It is just outside Huntsville, UT and runs 11 miles. We didn't see all 11 miles, mind you, but probably got a third of the trail explored.

The nice thing about this hike is that the trail – at least from the trailhead up about 3miles – is so wide. Though it is a steady incline it is also regular walking the whole way, not too much actual climbing. After the last few hikes which entailed a fair amount of actual climbing and hoisting and well, sucking air for some of us, this one is remembered fondly.

The trail wound up the canyon with views of the mountains all around and the stream running alongside. There were mountain bikers and the occasional fellow hikers but by and large it was much lower traffic than many of the other trails we have hit. Making a note to self to return especially as the trees turn in the fall.

Setting the table – spring

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

The home we are renting is furnished and actually furnished quite nicely. Most people would find this to be a great convenience and it really is. Except….it means there has been little opportunity for me as a diehard hunter/gatherer decorator. Since Christmas life has been transient and on the go. By Easter I was itching to make SOMEthing, to carve a tiny bit of personal creative space. The table seemed promising, so one girl and I ran out to see what we could make on a small time and resource and space budget. This is what we came up with.

Though I love bright clean color in other spaces it seems that at home I am drawn to earthy, subtle tones, much like the woods and trails we frequent and much like the old faded treasures we have collected. Probably no surprise we kept walking past the bold candy colored decorations right on towards the garden department, picking up bits of natural materials as we went.

We came home and smoothed out a $5 roll of burlap then topped that with an oblong grapevine wreath. Into that we stuffed some spanish moss. We tucked in a couple plaster birds and speckled eggs. It worked great for Easter dinner and will be perfect for some weeks to come.

Because we are all about simple, especially this month, we made an Easter dessert that fit right in. We picked up storebought vanilla cupcakes from the bakery and topped them with malted eggs. Cheating? Maybe. It all came together in minutes which meant more time on the trail – where my kids run back to show me more of same. (tiny nest dead center) Do you see a theme coming together here?

Win, win.

it is established

Image | Posted on April 6, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

what we will remember

Posted on April 5, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

It's not about the eggs. The thousands of plastic eggs scattered across the soccer field were there just to hold joy for a little while. To bottle it up and spread it around some. They did that well. Little faces watched expectantly for the ridiculous bunny to start the race. Little people were ringing the edge of the field in anticipation, hearts racing when the whistle blows. There was the happy surprise of a new bunny erasers and hair ties. The bliss that is a balloon tied around your wrist. There is always time for that, even during weeks like this, so we got the older girls settled and resting (wisdom teeth out yesterday) and slipped out for an hour to make memories.

It will be a simple holiday here. Semi-homemade. We have girls who are still under the weather and a big month ahead. It's all about easy and fun right now. I figure they aren't going to remember if I nailed that recipe or if their dresses were perfect. They are going to remember if they laughed. So we are laughing. : )

Triduum

Posted on April 3, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

The day passed preparing eggs for dying and discussing the Last Supper. We prepped some material to make some small skirts this weekend. Tomorrow will be a big day. The older girls have a double header at the oral surgeon's office in the afternoon to have their wisdom teeth removed. The timing couldn't be helped. One was absessing and the other is starting work soon. So it was deemed best to just knock the procedures out together. At 3pm Good Friday, a coincidental time to suffer. They are in good spirits though, and looking forward to having this behind them. Their brothers are looking forward to seeing how they handle their IV sedation. Not gonna lie ; )

Some quiet work for the little people….

3D Good Friday constructions here.

Jonah Project here and here

Last Supper

Last Supper youtube for big people and little people

Coloring page we modeled our notebook pages after here. Lots more here. We are finding coloring pages to be good drawing guides.

Beautiful watercolor project for Good Friday here.

Vintage radio broadcast of the Stations of the Cross here.

Fridge art downloaded from a Facebook group. Can't find the original source.

We are still in the temporary house but decorating is therapeutic for me. When we realized we would be here for Easter I went out and picked up some things for a centerpiece. I was going to set it up ahead of time but when I got this far decided it looked remarkably like a crown of thorns. So, here it stays until Sunday. The rest will transform it then.

Weekend menu for two:

I should turn in my crunchy mom card right here shouldn't I? It is what it is though. I bought Campbell's and smashed potatoes in a box and Jello. Because…double wisdom tooth extraction. Heck *I* may be eating the jello before this is over. ; D

taking notes

Posted on April 2, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

There has been a lot of notebook love going around here. I am loving it too in this latest incarnation. The younger children all got simple bound sketchbooks just for lesson time. Unlike the millions of drafts and doodles on printer paper, only the very best work gets done in the notebook. Unlike the millions of pieces of printer paper, the work stays together.

Bound books for the win.

The girls picked up Grandma Chickenlegs during our long awaited first library trip locally. I probably wouldn't have picked it up myself but it ended up being a good read. Tess was quick to tell me the story had elements from both Hansel and Gretel and Cinderella. We talked about story elements and found some printables. My heart isn't in printables at the moment, partly because there is no printer and partly because of those millions of pieces of paper thing. We ended up making our own simple pages including those things mentioned on the posters.

We've made a page a day since and I hope to share some more.

Starry Sky Journal

Reflections from Starry Sky Ranch

Monthly Archives: April 2015