A work in progress

Our house is 8 3/4 years old.

Sounds silly, I know, but we moved in when it was completed in Feb. of 2006.

Grace had just turned 6 and was HIGHLY upset that she couldn't have her 6th birthday party in our new house. (We had it in the rental house we were living in.)

She was even more OUTRAGED that Evan did have his 5th birthday party at our new house in March.

We'll let bygones be bygones.  It's water under the bridge and 8 3/4 years later.

That being said, along the way we've upgraded many things...(our house was a modular spec home that was moved here and we added the porch along the front and the garage.)

We've changed light fixtures, door handles (from brass to nickel), I've painted all the kitchen hardware (from brass to hammered black,), we've painted doors, walls, and added a patio.

When our house was put together on our land, it had aqua shutters which have faded badly over the years.

Since Brent was working on making all our windows more airtight, he decided it would be a good idea for the kids and I to paint all the shutters.

So that's what we've been doing for a week now.  (in our spare time, which is why it's going so slowly.)

 I got the paint to match the front door I updated last fall, and each shutter took 2-3 coats. 

I painted the first coat on the last 4 today.  22 shutters total.  Slow work friends, SLOW work.

The kids now tell me since Brent has put up two of the sets, that the house now looks like a ketchup and mustard house  (yellow siding, red shutters.)

Funny.

Since the windows are being fixed, that means the inside of the windows needs fixing too.

Brent has taken off all the skinny fake oak trim (which I HATE in new houses) and we will replace it with thicker trim, painted white, and the inside wood around the windows will all be new too.

Yeah, more painting.  (insert sarcasm here.)

Right now, we just have ugly windows inside.

We're moving in stages people. 

Time and money are always the issue.

At least SOME areas of the house are staying the same.

I have more plans, but they are slowly being processed.  In my mind, and on paper.

I'm also in the midst of planning a 50th wedding anniversary party for my in-laws.  That is also time-consuming.

I guess this is what it means to be home owners, right?  Always changing, always updating, always maintaining.

We'll keep you posted.

Renovation

The other day the kids and I were running errands.

Out of the blue Grace says, I think I want to paint the desk in my room.

"OK." I said.  "Um, what color?"  (Her taste is running a little on the ecclectic side lately.)

Her room right now is aqua.  A very BRIGHT aqua that she picked out, and which came out even brighter than I thought it would.

When we got to Lowes she picked out a pale pink.  I was very hesitant as to what the final outcome of these "accessories" in her room would be.

After chores and strawberry picking and a Church meeting for me Monday night, she and I went out on the porch to start painting.

We started with her desk, which led to her desk chair, and a magazine rack, AND a bookcase.

We let everything dry overnight until the next morning, when I heard it raining hard, and ran out to the porch to move everything in before it got damaged.

While I was busy today, Grace (taking a cue from me I guess...) moved everything back into her room and rearranged it as well.

It doesn't look as bad as I thought it might.

While we were painting, I took pictures for the before and after.  She said to me, "So, this will probably be on the blog, right?"

"Yes.  Probably." I replied.  "Are you ok with that?"

"Sure." she said.

Good, cause here it is.

Snippets

Each and every minute of each and every day is important...

insignificant or not.

Like the two different post offices and ATM run I accomplished this morning BEFORE work.

I felt pretty good about it.

If I might say so myself.

Each snippet we get is life.  Good and bad, ordinary and extraordinary.

Like starting the day with coffee and a spelling review for Ev.

While definitely NOT Evan's or my favorite thing to do, it helps him get ready for his test on Friday of each week.  He has to memorize 20 words and their definitions.

We do it EVERYDAY.

My coffee, helps me get through it, in my favorite cup.

All the while dreaming about a place I'd rather snuggle up in instead of going to work...

Only to get groceries after work, and come home to more laundry

while Brent makes breakfast for supper before he takes the kids to church...a job I thought I was going to have to do, but which he graciously decided to do.  (25 minutes each way is NOT thrilling.)

Instead, I tackled a couple loads of laundry, filled the coffee pot for the morning, ironed my work clothes, packed my lunch, folded clothes, and then took time to "take a walk" in the basement with my workout playlist in my ears.

Only to turn the corner in the basement to see my seeds sprouting...such a great sight.

All the while it looks like this outside.

Snippets.

I'll take them all, good and bad.

What a combination

I had a custom order to do this week for a lady getting married.

She found me through my ETSY shop and asked me to make her some chippy yellow chalkboard frames for her "vintage themed" wedding.

She chose two of my favorite colors for the frames.

Yellow and Grey.

I was excited, and a little nervous.  Will she like them?  Will they fit with her theme?

But anything chippy can't be bad, right?

Especially if it's Grey...

or Yellow...

or both...

They turned out really well, and I plan on making more for the shop.

I've got some ideas for color combos.  What color combo would you pick?

Monday Monday

Sometimes Mondays are just ho hum.

I'm not sayin' mine was fantastic, but it wasn't all bad.

Since I have a new job and I am totally IN LOVE with it, everyday of the week is much better.

It actually flew by for me today.

I had a lot of paper work to do at the office.

I also decided I needed to brush up on my instagram skills since I'm totally new to it, but want to love it all the same.

I want to learn how to edit my pics, and do all the cool stuff with them that I see others doing.

I want to love my new android phone.

But who has the time?

So, without further ado...here are some pics.

Some new pillows I made for our couch when I wasn't making them for my etsy store.

Grace doing pretty much what she does whenever she finishes her homework...

My favorite corner of the living room..

The vintage looking juice container I found at Goodwill, but which I use for a flower vase instead...

My new magnetic "bulletin board" that I found at a flea market this summer, but which I've embellished a little bit...

And lastly, our new favorite drink...plain water filled with lemons.  I can hardly drink plain water anymore...

So that's my Monday in a nutshell.

Was yours good?

Why not?

This gorgeously cool weather we've been having has made me want to bake.

All the time.

My freezer is getting full of goodies.

Maybe I'll be ahead for Christmas this year instead of behind like I always am.

I've kinda made it a goal over summer break to  unofficially "fill my freezer" with meals.  I'm also filling it with produce/fruit that's in season, but I wanted to do some meals as well.

I don't know why, but sometimes it's a lot easier to pull a meal out of the freezer than to plan a menu during the work week with sports, meetings, etc.

Today, the kids told me the cookies in the cookie jar were getting hard.  I made them last week, but I guess fresh cookies don't last as long as the processed ones we buy in the store.

I remembered that I recently "pinned" a recipe for cheesecake cookies on Pinterest.

The kids requested that I try that one.

It was the easiest recipe ever!  You can find it here.

It literally took me less than 5 minutes to whip together.

It was like a mini chocolate cheesecake in your mouth!

I didn't have cream cheese in a stick on hand, so I used the whipped cream cheese I had.  It worked just as well...I'm assuming.  I also used mini chocolate chips instead of regular sized ones.

The cookies were a hit.

I'm keeping the recipe.

A Sunnier point of view

The first week of summer break has flown by at a remarkable pace!

We got a lot accomplished, with much more yet to do.

I'm trying to pace myself.

Awhile ago I mentioned that I wanted to repaint the living room.  It's been a very dark brownish/grey since we moved in 6 1/2 years ago.

This week, I finally did it.

I chose Valspar's Kia Caramel as the color.

These pictures unfortunately don't do the room justice.  Every time I wanted to take a pic, the light streaming in from the windows distorted the color...so try your best to visualize.

It's definitely BRIGHTER than I expected, and the room looks alot bigger.  I'm still getting used to it.

The pictures on the left are the before....

I also rearranged the furniture and the things on the walls.  I may do more with that.

My favorite place in the whole room, though is this...

I tried hard to not buy anything new.  I just moved things around and used them in a different way.  Like the berries on the lamp behind the couch...

and the tin Monopoly game box I got at a garage sale years ago.

I still have the desk area to rearrange and fix up before I show it.  I also have more colorful pillows to make for the couch, and a new organizer to make for the desk to hold bills, address books, etc.

But what do you think about the color?

Get out of jail free pass...and some changes

I feel like I've been given a get outta jail free pass.

School is done.  My days are not monopolized by a set work schedule.

NOT that where I was working was bad...I LOVED the people, loved the school...but my house/projects/garden/DIY crafts have suffered greatly all year.

There just isn't enough hours in every day to get things done after work.

Sad but true.

However, now I feel free as a bird.  Free to set my own schedule and do the things I need to accomplish (even if it's just my "own" to-do list.)

I'm starting with rooms.  Something will change in each of the rooms in the house.  It might be small and insignificant, like getting rid of clutter/things not needed anymore...but in other rooms, the look will change as well.

The living room will get a dose of light buttery yellow paint once I nail down the right color.  Grace's room will get some TLC (I'm living with a pre-teen who thinks first the world revolves around her, and second that the room is just one big closet, which means the closet is not the only place where clothes dwell....ah, she's got another thing comin' this summer and she doesn't even know it!), Evan's room will get a mild make-over, and so will our bedroom.

For example...in Grace's room, since she is SO into fashion and New York City (don't know why this particular city keeps popping up in her vocabulary...) we will try this simple craft with her desk.

We will tweak this a little bit.  Her desk is white, but it has big drawers, so I'm thinking I'll use my cricut to make her vinyl New York city names to put on the drawers.  She seems "warm" to this idea, meaning it might change on a moment's notice.  She also wants her room rearranged (a girl after my own heart...I can't stand things the same for too long), and I'm sure there will be many posters from her magazines put up on the walls.

Evan is a harder sell.  As a boy, his room is a dilemma to me.  He is right now into comics, and after I took him to see the new Avenger's movie a month ago, he's into playing with his iron man toys again.
So, I'm thinking this will be framed in his room somewhere...

and maybe I will take the Sunday comics we get once a week and mod podge them onto an initial for his wall.

(an E of course...)
and maybe I'll take the current wooden desk organizer he has and mod podge some comic book pages onto that too.

His will be a gradual process, but I'll post pics with both rooms when done.

All in all, I've got some big ideas floating around in my head, and it feels good, cause I've finally got my craft mojo back.

Oh, and a case of bronchitis, but thanks to my doctor friend in Sunday School class, I've got some meds for the weekend to help me feel better.

Tomorrow, it's gonna be 93 degrees.  Yuck.  I think I'll get some frames spray painted!

What are your weekend plans?