12th Annual Madsen Halloween Doughnut Party

Guys. I went a little crazy last year with the Harry Potter theme at all. Remember? As we got closer to this year's party I started to get nervous - I just didn't have the time nor the inclination (nor the ideas!) to put as much effort into it this year. There's only so many hours in the day. But, things seemed to pull together in the end and I think it turned out pretty great. I mean, perhaps not floating candles great, but still. At least passable.

Also, the doughnuts were fantastic and all were eaten. (Only some "monster" doughuts were left at the end - you know, the ones we make out of the remnant scraps.) ((Actually, these are extra yummy, I think, because they're edges get all crispy. *nom*nom*nom* True Madsen party-goers know to stay to the end to get these little pieces of heaven.))

Here's this year's invite. I had wanted to have the party the night before, but someone else in the ward decided to have a Halloween party that night. Rude. Maybe we'll push it up a week next year, just to see what would happen... (I really perfer having this party on a Friday rather than a Saturday.)

In true Maren fashion I only took a few pictures of the actual party, none of which seemed to include any of my family. I am awesome.

But I did get this darling Ewok, so I think I'm good.

We had A New Hope on during the party. I thought it'd just be noise in the background and was truly surprised to see so many kids watching intently! Can't beat a classic like that movie.

We also had our usual trivia games. The grammar geek in me giggled every time I saw the sign for this game.

We also did Star Wars Bingo for the kids this year - it went over really well and I was told several times (by the kids) that we needed even more kid games next year. I had originally thought I'd just download the bingo cards online - but then they wanted to charge me $5! What the what?! So I made some for free.

I also found Star Wars puzzles at the Dollar Store. Score!

Also, it was SO warm this year - 76 degrees that afternoon! So the kids had a great time playing outside until it got too dark. There really wasn't a need for more kid games.

We don't really have that much Star Wars stuff, but our friends the Eastsons do - they let us borrow all of their Star Wars toys and it was awesome.

We had an Ewok in a tree.

And a wookie in a chandelier.

And little figures on frames.

And amazing felt pennants.

Crocheted figures guarding the piano.

Storm Troopers holding pumpkins.

And my personal favorite - Darth Vader on the mantle.

I don't know why, but this tickled me to no end.

We also had mini figures interspersed with my pumpkins. I decided the night before to add the text balloons. I was quite pleased with myself. ;)

I'm kicking myself for not taking any pictures of the doughnut table, but for the first year ever we were running a bit behind and people actually came on time, which pretty much never happens! So I forgot. But here's the signs I had for the glazes. The Light Side won. (Which is weird, because chocolate is usually the first to go.)

I also put these awesome signs in the bathrooms. The Storm Trooper ones might stay up for a while. (*cough* ColeI'mLookingAtYou *cough*)

This year I had awesome prizes - each winner got a couple of Star Wars dish towels, a Millennium Falcon key chain, and some Star Wars Pop Rocks. (One of our Missionaries won and thought the key chain was a beer bottle opener. Yes, Elder. I give out bottle openers at my parties. It's that kind of party.)

I was quite pleased with myself with the dish towels, because everyone can use a dish towel and because I think they turned out super cool. Making dishtowels with my Cricut is kinda my thing now.

 

As per usual I photoshopped some of our family pictures. Someone glanced at them and thought we had taken pictures specifically for this party in Star Wars helmets. Ah, no. That sounds like my own personal hell. ("Don't move, kids! I know we've been taking pictures for 45 minutes in clothes you don't really like. But let's just put on these helmets and masks and take a few dozen more!! It'll be great!!") But I took it as a compliment for my (not-so) mad photoshopping skills.

We had a big turn out and I finally got to chat with a lot of the new members of our ward. (Being Primary pianist has it's disadvantages in the meeting-new-people department.) Lots of our regulars were missing, though, and that was a little sad. But overall, we had a great time. The evening ended with Josh and Cole loudly and obnoxiously proclaiming that it was completely unfair they had to go to bed, even though it was past Sunday and we had church in the morning. I'll take that as a sign of a good party.

Ew. Ew Ew Ewwwwww!!!

So a few days ago I started noticing a weird smell down in the basement. I did a few initial searches for the cause but couldn't find anything. Since our doughnut party is coming up on Saturday, and because the smell was getting worse, yesterday I decided to really give the basement a good scrubbing and to find out what was causing the smell. I dusted and cleaned and put baking soda everywhere and then vacuumed that up... and nothing.

The smell was still there.

Then I finally narrowed it down to the bathroom. It was definitely stronger in there. But I still couldn't pinpoint it. It's like it moved. The smell was its own entity.

So I cleaned the sink drain. Nothing.

I cleaned the tub drain. Nothing.

I cleaned the dang toilet inside and out. Nothing.

And then I gave up. Because it was late afternoon and I still hadn't showered and I had other stuff to do.

That night I got Lance in on the search. We had both smelled this smell before but couldn't remember from where. And then Lance remembered: the ceiling tiles! We have a drop-down ceiling in the basement and if those tiles get wet they sometimes get moldy and stinky.

Yes! That was it! Now to find the offending tile.

Only we couldn't. And the smell was getting even worse and even stronger and we were even more certain it was emanating from the bathroom.

Lance got out the ladder and we were looking up in the tiles in the ceiling in there. Nothing. Could it be the bathroom fan? Coming from the vent? Nope and nope.

And then Lance looked around the bathroom and said "Wait, is that pee on the wall?"

Yep.

There was pee all over the wall. The wall less than 3 feet away from the toilet.

Erlack. And EWWW!!!

So I feel dumb for not noticing this before, but not really because 1) I don't ever really use this bathroom. Not nearly as much as the kids do. 2) The walls are a yellowish off-white. And 3) Who in their right minds would ever suspect that the smell is PEE ON THE WALL?!?!  (Well, I might now. And you might, too. But before this little episode? No one.)

So I got to work and basically scrubbed that entire bathroom down with disinfectant and vinegar. Then I steam mopped the floor a dozen times. And then I left a bowl of vinegar in there overnight.

And the smell is gone.

Lance and I are almost positive it was Cole. Spencer's just too old for those kind of antics, and Josh doesn't seem the type. And there's no way Cole will admit to his crimes. (And for all we know, it might not be him. We have a lot of boys going through this house.) So instead of bringing my wrath down on him, I made a little announcement at dinner tonight that went something like this:

"Someone peed on the bathroom wall." *pause for kid giggles* "It's gross and disgusting and not okay. We don't know who did it. But if it happens again, EVERYONE will be punished. Well, except Tess. Because she can't pee on a wall that high."

Yes, by virtue of her gender, Tess will probably always remain blameless for this crime. This did not sit well with the boys. Actually, it wasn't that so much as the everyone gets punished if it happens again. But c'mon, I am not the bathroom police. I'm not a detective. If someone's gonna pee on the wall, then the punishments will come and I'm pretty sure justice will be served some way or another to the offender through his brothers.

It's like I'm living in a frat house. Snack wrappers everywhere, random underpants and socks on the floor, and now pee where pee has no right to be. (I'm cracking down on the wrappers and the underpants and socks, though. And the pee, I guess. But mainly the other things because those have been more consistently a problem...)

Just when I think I'm getting the hang of this parenting thing... someone pees on the wall. (I need to needlpoint that on a pillow or something.)

Primary Program Parts

Yesterday was our Primary Program. I was able to bribe threaten  get these kids to hold still long enough to let me record them saying their parts. You'd have thought I was torturing them... maybe I was, since the Primary presidency had the kids practices for a full 2 hours 2 Sundays in a row, plus a 2 hour practice on Saturday. (A little overkill, if you ask me. You shoulda seen how naughty those poor kids were by the end of that last practice - they had all had ENOUGH.) ((Truth be told, so had this Primary Pianist.))

No matter. The program went really well. And I might be a tad biased, but these three were the best. :)

Josh: "This is so easy! I already knew the 4th Article of Faith!"

Cole: *Cole wouldn't talk. In fact, he has started the bad habit of mumbling whenever reading out loud. This was the 3rd take, after me coercing him to speak clearly and slowly. This is the best of the bunch.*

Tess: *Tess was super proud to be the only one in her class to read her part all by herself. She did so great and sounded super cute with that bold but lispy Kindergarten voice. Kindergarten is the best.*

Kids' Bathroom Redo

So I've actually been done with 99% of this dang bathroom for a while, but I want to frame the mirror and keep forgetting to ask our neighbor to cut the framing for me and who even knows when I'll get a chance to do that. I guess I could do it now... nope. I'm downstairs and my phone is upstairs. See the kinds of obstacles I have to face?!

Ha.

Anyways, I kept meaning to take these pictures a while ago, but the bathroom was always in shambles after the kids got ready for school and I didn't really want to clean it all up for a couple of pictures.

Then I realized that I would never take any pictures if I was waiting for the dang room to be perfectly clean for more than 5 seconds. So I wiped down the counter and toilet, hung the towels, and called it good.

First, what the bathroom looked like before:

So I have no real memory of taking this video. Why did I do a video? I don't know. But that's all I have.

Oh - and this picture that shows how bad the caulking had gotten on top of the tub. (It's kinda hard to tell. Trust me, it was no bueno.)

And really, the bathroom was not that bad. I just didn't like it. I never really liked the turquoise paint. (It was better than the Big Bird Yellow it was when we bought the house. But only just.) And the cabinets still had the yellow duck knobs. And the shower curtain and rod were getting pretty worn. And since I have just so much free time now (sarcastic font), I decided it was time to redo the bathroom.

I let the kids choose the shower curtain (well, from a pre-selected group), and was surprised at their choice. I totally thought they'd choose the one with sharks or fish. They must be my kids - they like patterns like me.

The walls are now a much more neutral and calming light grey. I bought the best paint possible, so hopefully it'll stand the test of time. I made these signs in 10 minutes in Photoshop one night on a whim because I found these frames randomly sitting on my office desk. I really like them. Whether or not their instructions are followed remains to be seen. (Blech.)

They also got new towels, which are this lovely dark shade of blue. Cole and Tess were pretty excited about this - they had been using some pretty old and worn towels for a while now. Josh just complained about them, as he is wont to do.

I bought a new rod and even paid for fancy metal rings. They just look so nice and move so well. I figured we could afford the $10 they cost! (That's how you know when you're doing okay financially - you can afford the metal curtain rings.)

I also added a shelf above the toilet. I really wanted to find something cute to put up there with the toilet paper but couldn't find anything I loved at all my usual haunts. (Hobby Lobby, Target, etc.) But then while cleaning out the toy closet I found these awesome plastic dinosaurs. A couple of coats of spray paint (which I already had) later and I think they look great.

I had originally toyed with the idea of taking out the vanity, mainly because of this:

Yep, the kids have splashed so much water all over the floor that over time the side has warped. And I'm not sure what happened when Lance caulked it last, but good heavens. Plus, the current one has no drawers and the cabinets underneath the sink are pretty much a waste of space. But I looked and looked and the only one I could find that I loved had a Carrara marble top and cost just shy of $500.

Nope.

Did you know we're getting an IKEA only an hour away by this time next year? Happy happy day! Maybe I'll find a decent looking vanity there. But until then, this one will have to do.

So instead of splurging on a new vanity I splurged on a new light fixture. It looks SO MUCH BETTER than that old one. (See the video.) I was looking up lighting online and the one that used to be in there literally only cost $20. Not that cheap can't be good, but in this case it really just looked bad cheap. I LOVE these schoolhouse globes so much! They look so classic to me. I wish I could use these in all the bathrooms of our house, but can't justify that expense. Yet.

All in all I spent less than $200 and I think it looks great. Hooray for home improvement projects that turn out so well!