Idaho Trip--Projects, Projects, Projects

I spent a whirlwind weekend with Heidi and her family. It was a welcome break to be Gran for a few days.

I asked Heidi to pick out a few projects for us to do while we were there, and Sam added one of his own. His project included a quick trip to The Home Depot for a few supplies.

 These two were on sale, and we couldn't resist picking up a few to take home with us.

 Jonah was too little to experience cart fun. This baby is the best natured kid I've ever seen. Just chills out and watches the world go by . . .

 Saturday morning, Sam grabbed his assistant and they got busy.

 Can you see the Grant Tetons on the horizon? The best view ever out their kitchen window.

They cleared the leaves away and started the real work--building a sandbox.

 Ellie liked being outside with her daddy, but Nathan was dedicated to getting that box built.

 While out there, he may or may not have witnessed his dad's encounter with a field mouse.

 He loved stepping over the first layer of boards--in and out dozens of times.

 When it came time to add the second tier of boards, Nathan got quite concerned that it was too tall for his little legs to clear. Daddy later added a landscape barrier and sand, and Gran provided the pails and shovels.

 It was a pretty quick project that will entertain those three kids forever. Sand is one of the miracles of childhood.

 Heidi and I got started disassembling the gallery wall in the living room.

But we didn't get far. I have a fear/disability when it comes to assembling gallery walls, and my daughter is not much better than I. Lucky for us, Sam took a break from the outside work, and within minutes, he had the pictures arranged. All we had to do was pick which pictures to enlarge for the frames. This sounds like easy work, but it took quite a while to decide which picture for which frame.

Jonah was sick and needed Mama to hold him, so he supervised picture selection.

Isn't it fabulous? I wish I had picture of the before, but I didn't think to take one.

 We managed to squeeze two more quick projects in before I left Monday afternoon:

Hanging her menu board (no excuses now for lack of planning, right Heidi?)

 And creating a command center in her kitchen.

Sam brought the license plate back from his mission in Spain and it's perfect at the top. The two clip boards are for a cleaning schedule and food storage/shopping lists. The red square is a magnet board for quick notes and stuff, alongside a can for pens and pencils. The two painted cookie sheets on the bottom will be Ellie's and Nathan's chore charts. Heidi has graphics she's going to attach to magnets so they can see what they need to do each day. I loved this use of cabinet space in her kitchen, and it helps bring more color into her sunny kitchen to boot.

Don't worry. It wasn't all work with no play. We managed to make it to "Cinderella" on Saturday afternoon, even after Sam accidentally locked his keys and Jonah in the car. Lucky for us, it was in the garage and it was warm and Jonah had a bottle. He was in there almost 30 minutes before the locksmith arrived, but he just waved and smiled and laughed at us as we checked on him through the window. It's amazing how much faster a locksmith will come when you tell them a kid is locked in the car.

After the movie, we had to stop by Big Jud's for hamburgers and fries. It's not a trip to Rexburg without Big Jud's.