R.I.P. October 31, 2009

Well, we have spent so many mornings together, I almost gave her a name. She saw me through rainy days and sunny, cold mornings. So faithful to me. As I waft through the now smoky bathroom, I know that she has blown her last warm breath. So long, Revlon hairdryer. It has been a great 9 years. I guess I will just let my hair air-dry today- even though it is 100% humidity…    RIP

Strip and stain October 28, 2009

Sounds like a fun drinking game huh? Unfortunately, it is a long tedious and tiring chore. But oh, so worth the effort! You decide!

 

 

 

And the almost finished product? (still needs two more coats of tung oil, but it will pretty much look the same as this)

Ahhhhh! Next on the agenda will be the dining room. I am also working on the stairs in my spare time. Calligraphy has slowed down, so hopefully  Ican devote more time to the house to get these projects going. Update on the couch slipcover. Ok. Update over. Nothing since I cut out most of the material. I need to purchase the piping so I can start sewing the twill material over it.

Putty (mispelled and corrected for my mom) October 23, 2009

That is some weird stuff. It’s sorta like sawdust foam, sorta like sand, sorta like play-doh. And then it dries to the crunchy, crusty stuff that trails all over the house. The kids and I had the job of filling nail holes today(which I sunk into the wood). #2 and #3 (yeah, can you believe it?) moved all the leftover wood from the living room to the kitchen for the time-being.

 

And for those of you who are wondering what possessed me to allow #2 to touch a bucket of puddy- it was over before it started. He was fired after the first two handfuls of puddy.

 

Here's what #3 was doing. That thing on the floor is a little clay dinosaur that #1 made in 1st grade. She is absolutely TERRIFIED of that thing and will scream bloody murder if you even think about putting it near her. I set it one the floor and she actually walked up to it. She thinks it is real.

 

A close up of the clay dinosaur. Not too scary.

 

And Husband finished laying wood the foyer the other night. It looks so awesome, especially next to the french doors.

 

 

 

Thought I would add this other pic of Husband and #3. It is so cute of them!

 

And also, #1 decided that I needed a break after this week of work, so he made dinner- french toast and eggs.

I know what you're thinking- but there wasn't any Windex in the toast that I know of.

Step it up October 15, 2009

Some more demo happened this week. This time it was the stairs. Actually, it wasn’t too bad. I just ripped the carpet and tacks off of one step at a time and cut back the carpet with a utility knife. Each day the kids would come home from school to see another two or three steps exposed. Even with nail holes and tack marks- they already look a whole lot better than the dirty carpet.

It is totally acceptable to work in your pajamas. Any contracter would agree.

 

BEFORE

 

AFTER

 

On another note- this week is Red Ribbon week at the school. The kids “say no to drugs” and dress up with a different theme each day to support the cause. A couple of days ago they had to dress up in the career they wanted to follow. Well, #2 has wanted to be a chef for about 3 years now, but declined the dress-up day. #1 changes his mind every day, but that day he wanted to be a rockstar. So we gave him a mohawk and he cut out a posterboard rock guitar. What a ham.

Lots of hairspray

 

#3 was totally confused about the rockstar hair. She kept asking "wha' happened to his head??" Well, I guess we dropped him alot when he was little....

Backyard campers October 10, 2009

Last night was supposed to be a Cubscout campout in north GA, but due to work and weather and wiped-out parents, it became a backyard campout. I mean, it’s all the same, right?? The boys did all the work while husband mentored. I watched from the upstairs window (in the air conditioner). #1 pitched the tent in the spot they cleared together that afternoon. They started their own fire and made smores. They read folktales by the fire with Husband and then the two of them headed out to the tent where they stayed the night alone. Husband came back inside to sleep on a real mattress. I think a couple of rain showers passed over, but they stayed out there and came in this morning at about 7AM looking for food. Now I think #1 can check off some Cubscout requirements.

Making fire.

 

Still making fire. It had rained so everything was a little damp.

 

Brothers in the tent

 

]

Nighty night.

Lighten up October 10, 2009

Hi. Compulsive craigslister here. Since I am in the process of putting together a new dining room, I wanted to reconsider the light fixture. The one I have is o.   k.     But it leaves much to be desired. It used to be blind-you brass, but I spraypainted it silver last year and antiqued it. Then I bought some little light covers which helped it alot. But it is very “builder” looking and not very representative of us. So when the PERFECT light fixture came up for sale on craigslist and the seller was practically GIVING this $1500 (I looked online to see the value), I made a deal!

This is the current light. I guess I should have turned it off before I snapped the picture. Looks like UFO's flying over it...

 

New light. HEAVY as a 12 year old boy hanging from the ceiling! I am not sure how to hang it because of the weight, but I will figure it out.

 

Close up shot of the pale blue crystals. They are actually made of recycled Coke bottles. I just love that. The rest of the chandelier is a dark brown antiqued, braided metal.

Wilkommen October 7, 2009

That’s what a foyer should say. Our’s doesn’t. And we are working on it. I thought it would be neat to post some before pictures so that when I show a spectacular reveal photo (one day), you will be astonished at the transformation. You know, like on of those home shows, but without a gay designer…

Standing in the family room looking towards the front door

 

Standing in the dining room looking towards the formal living room

 

Standing at the front door looking towards the family room

 

Yeah, I know this looks like the Blair Witch Project, and if you look closely, there actually are like a hundred dirty handprints on the walls. This is sort of a hazard, but I just try not to think about it.

 

Husband decided to rip up some carpet on the stairs to see what was under it. Boy, am I rubbing off on him or what?!!

 

YAY!!!!! There are actual wooden treads under there. So here's the plan...Paint the rises the same creamy white as the woodwork and the treads will be stained the dark brown. And I want to stencil something on each rise. I know, I have to make it complicated, right?

 

Oh, and if you want to see why it is taking so long to get this floor going in the foyer…The subfloor had to be reinforced from underneath the crawlspace.

Don't worry. We didn't move to West Virginia and become miners. Although it certainly looks to be so...

 

Mom- if we find any copper or iron ore, we will be sure to put it in a ziplock bag so that you can use it for one of your silly 17 step projects....

Thanks for the present!! October 7, 2009

Thanks, Papa for the birthday present. #2 really liked the Legos- but the biggest hit of the day, was the bubble wrap you sent. Could you send even more next time??

 

I’m so behind October 7, 2009

I am really behind on posting. Lots has been going on and it seems that we have been very busy. Progress on the house, progress with calligraphy, progress with organizing money and kid activities. Summer was so long and lazy and now fall has brought action-packed weeks that leave us wiped out by the weekend. Even the kids get tired.

Little miss #3 is trying to weed out her nap. The obvious happens. Tired baby stays up past naptime so she won’t “miss” anything and then has a temper tantrem and then utter exhaustion ensues. Anyone with a two year old can relate, I’m sure. The following pictures are from a couple of Sundays ago. She wanted “shawshlit” which is “chocolate” in case you didn’t know and mean ole’ mommy wouldn’t give in. She ranted and screamed and kicked for about twenty minutes. After it got quiet I went downstairs to see what was going on (refer to the post “Quiet is Bad”). Here is what I found.

 

 

Yeah, you’re seeing things right. She slept for almost two hours in the middle of the kitchen table- in the bright sunlight. Jeez. What a piece of work!

Birthday on Friday September 21, 2009

#2 had a birthday on Friday. We let him pick a friend and a restaurant, so of course, he picked his new love and we went to our favorite pizza buffet. This place has a game area too, where you buy tokens and earn tickets that get you nothing except plastic army men and bouncy balls. But they have a killer cinnamon roll cake thing that is to die for. After pizza, we came home and had cake. Since neither of the kids like the icing on store-bought cake, I usually end up making one. My artistic talents stop right before cake decorating, but it really tastes good.