Life with Austin!

Banisters & Stairs!

They're not done yet. They still need the paint grade risers and side thing painted and the trim, but I think they turned out fabulous!

My audition! (Long read!)

Okay, so my agent sent me on an audition on Tuesday for a print ad. That's a modeling job. (Are you kidding me?) I am not a model. I am an actress, and an over animated stage actress at that. But to appease my agent, I went. Keep in mind that my stair guy showed up that morning and ripped all my stairs out so access to my upstairs and bedroom was prohibited after 11:00am, it was a relatively sunny day so I had thrown on Capri's and flip flops not really comprehending I wouldn't' be able to change before my audition @ 4:00.

Well, our lovely Utah weather changed from cool but sunny to cold and snowy! I could have gotten a ladder, climbed up on the addition and crawled through Rylee's window to access my closet but the pelting snow made that an undesirable choice so I just put on Devree's sweat jacket and ran up to my agency. I get there and I am really out of my element. I sign in and am told to go sit on the swanky red couches around the corner where there is a Bill Blass fashion show blaring on the TV. Not to mention about seven size three models waiting, all with their huge portfolio's of glamorous head shots of various poses and teeny tiny feet in 4 inch heels.

And then there's me, Mormon mother in Capri's, flip flops, her daughters sweat jacket and my head shot that my cute cousin did for my real estate cards two years ago! Ugh! If I could have slithered down between the cushions of the flamboyant red couch I was sitting on I would have!

Anyway, I get called back and walk through the gauzy, billowing curtains that separate the audition room from the rest of the very contemporary and upbeat office and find two very young artsy guys on another swanky red sofa. One is named Sage I think the other was Aspen. (I am towering over them- as they are sitting.) There's no mark (the X we stand on to audition for film) and no camera to look at and so I sit on the other swanky red sofa as the explain what they're looking for. I'm surprised they're going into this much detail with me as I'm sure they took one look at me and thought "Next!". In a nutshell, they're advertising for a company called flowers4mywife.com a website that husbands can go to to pre-purchase flowers and submit dates like birthday, anniversaries, mothers day etc for flowers to magically be delivered on time for each occasion. They want me to pose as the wife who's husband forgot to send her flowers. Ha! This isn't even method acting for me. James is so not into flowers. He'll plant me a rose bush, remodel my kitchen for months on end, install claw foot bath tubs for me to soak in but he doesn't do flowers. (I am laughing inside thinking how funny it would be if I was plastered all over billboards with my "you didn't bring me flowers" face for James to see!) Anyway, its a full body shot and I have to stand there and make all these stink eye faces, and poses (it's quite embarrassing after a while) and I'm thinking any minute they'll say "Okay, thanks don't call us, we'll call you!" But they're gentlemen and continue to let me stand there making "you are so in the dog house" faces and poses until I just stop. Then they say "That was great, thanks." Which I'm sure they say to all the silly women making stink eye faces at them. I leave. On the way home I call my sister and tell her of my mortify experience. I know in print you look like twenty pounds heavier so I tell her. I think I would have got the job if it was for a company called "Flowers 4 My Fat Wife". We laugh. Then she tries to console me with no it would be Flowers 4 My Realistically Proportioned Wife. Sisters, aren't they great!

The next day, my agent's assistant calls and tells me I got the booking. The what? What does that mean? It means I got the job! I'm like "ARE YOU KIDDING?" She's like, I didn't tell you, you won the lottery. (Obviously my exuberant disbelief transmitted through the phone!) Anyway, I was cast as the "Valentines Wife" and the shot is this Thursday from 9-12. I can not believe it. You could have picked me up off the floor!

To make this long story short,(or at least shorter) at about 3:00 my agents assistant calls and tells me she's very sorry, the shoot has been cancelled. Something about the artsy guys have had a miss communication with the owners and they're hoping to reschedule next month. So today, right now, I could be in hair and make up making stink eye's at the camera and instead I'll be packing up the rest of my kitchen to get ready to move out our appliances for our floor finishing tomorrow. Oh, such a glamorous life I lead!

Finally Painting & Floors!

We're finally looking like a house!

Here's my green wall! I think I like it, time will tell!

Austin Before And After!

Well, TWO haircuts later this is what my boy looks like!

The first hair cut was a trim of the long shag, but much to Austin's dismay I had him back in the chair for a haircut that his Dad wouldn't say "You paid how much for this?" I think he looks great! He likes it too even though he won't admit it.
So, I had a funny/sad Austin moment yesterday. I was standing in a very long line at Costco and there was this cute little blond boy in the cart ahead of me giving his mom kisses. He was about three years old. In an effort to make casual conversation I mentioned that my boy was turning 14 this month and to enjoy this little boy kissing you in public while you can and then out of no where I am bawling! Tears are coursing down my checks, I'm like a leaky faucet. I apologized to the mom and her mom and they're trying to comfort me. I was so embarrassed. I don't know where that came from. I have a great relationship with Austin and I enjoy my children more now than I did when they were small. I guess somewhere inside me I just really miss my little one's? Or I'm going through the change? Or something? Weird.
I told my family the Costco story that night and after dinner Austin came and smothered me with kisses just like he did when he as a little boy. Except now he's taller than me and picks me up instead of me picking him up. But I still love him just a much now if not more and so enjoyed being smothered with teenage boy kisses! Oh, great, I'm leaking again. Maybe I just need chocolate!

Yet, another kitchen update!

Well, after two mud guys we are ready to paint! In fact we now have the ceilings and upstairs hall and staircase painted but last night I started with my "green" accent and I hated it, so now I'm in a quandary with 3 gallons of green paint.
I am the biggest chicken when it comes to color. I even buy white twinkle lights at Christmas. My children think I'm so boring. I won't say boring.....more like neutral!

April Fools Day!

Pretty nails hu?

Well, let me set this up. Rylee's friend told her she was going to paint her little brothers nails Monday night as an April Fool's joke. Rylee so badly wanted to sleep over to help her friend but being the mean mom that I am and that it's a school night and the little brother in question was only in kindergarten, I told her I'd help her do this to Austin. We waited until we heard Austin's loud steady breathing, snuck in by the light of the Game Boy and he said "What are you doing in my room?" I made up an excuse that we were looking for the Game Boy and left.

We waited.....went back in, this time he's snoring. His hands are under his covers and this time Rylee brought a glow in the dark star that is giving off about as much light as nothing. The cat came in with us, jumps on Austin's bed, we shoo her out, creep back to the bed and hear."Who's in my room?" We freeze. Austin repeats "Who's in my room?" I can't help it, I start snickering. "Mom, what are you doing?" I confess, we're trying to pull and April Fools joke. To which he replies "It's not April yet!" All this time Rylee is hiding under the bed! We slink out and Rylee is crushed. Don't worry, we'll get Dad! He sleeps sounder. We'll James is in a talking mood. It's 10:45 (normally I'm lights out @ 10:00 due to my early alarm @ 5:00) and he's still awake and since I'm awake, he's talking to me. Finally I just whisper. James pretend your asleep and be a good sport! I had to wake up Ry, she'd fallen asleep waiting!

Well, some Dad's are just cooler than other Dads! What can I say? Rylee was thrilled (so if any of Ry's friends are reading this-don't tell her that James was in on it!) Not to mention, he brushed them on his under clothes before they were dry. So we have a lovely white G-shirt with a red stripe down the front!

The best part was we were out of nail polish remover and he had to wear this shade to work and get some paint thinner to remove it. (Ha, ha!)

Austin gave us grief for waking him up and announced that the worst holidays are Aprils Fools and St.Patrick's day. They're just "lame" holidays. (We're still planning on getting him somehow today!)

Easter 2008!

This year I had to talk Kambree & Austin in to dying eggs. The each did one for this photo and Devree and Ry did the other 22!

For James's Birthday this year I bought us tickets to see Terri Fator (fabulous ventriloquist and comedian) in Wendover and an overnight stay @ Day's Inn. He's birthday was February 10th and I scheduled this for March 22nd thinking our kitchen would be finished and we (especially James) would deserve a much needed break! I didn't think to look at the calendar for the following day and take note that it was EASTER! (Who would have guessed the Easter would be MARCH 23rd!!) Our tickets were non-refundable and even though our kitchen is still weeks away from completing we still needed a break so we went! And we had a fabulous time. Our children spent Easter Eve @ my Mom's and then we came home in the morning, hid eggs and set out baskets and called the kids home! (Thank goodness for late church!)

Easter Sunday Outfits!