Ella's Room

Here is my little sweet girl, all dressed up and ready for a picnic. She begged me to take her picture in the garden and I obliged.

With all the summer activities I am really struggling to get things done! I am the Mom Taxi for much of the day and the sun and heat really wear me out. Not a lot of blogging getting done, obviously! (or much of anything else, really!)

We did finish Ella's room and I just realized that I never posted about that! We completed it before summer started and other than refinishing the dresser, painting the bookcase and labeling the bins (I am tired thinking about it) The room itself is done! I can't find "before" pics of the kids room when they shared it, in fact, I can't find my camera at all right now. Ugh.. don't get me started!

Here are the pics of the finished room... I was going to paint the bookcase a shade darker than her walls in the same tone pink, but now I am thinking that there is an awful lot of pink going on in there (I am wishing that we had painted it a soft blue, but oh well) So, now I am thinking that the bookcase should be white. Any opinions?

This is her room as you walk in the door... I went from the right of the room and around for these shots, to help you get a better sense of the space.

This is her doll house to the right of the door as you walk in. At first we had it on the opposite wall but it was way to chaotic to look at when you entered the room. I just noticed the picture frame on the wall that is wood colored, I am going to paint it white.

This is her bed and her name over it. It was really hard to decide what to put up in her room. We still had all of the decor from her nursery, but it felt too babyish (I am saddened by that) But the frames went up, one has her cross stitched birth announcement that I designed and stitched. One has her hand print (that will most likely change, later) and the other had a photo of her feet, we put in a recent portrait of her instead, but I don't like the dark background in it. It will do, until I find something else. I would like to make a pressed flower picture with her, and I am hoping that we can collect some wild flowers during our vacation for this purpose.

A straight on shot of her bed, with the closet behind me. I used her crib comforter on the foot of the bed to add some color and pattern, and it is perfect for napping under.

Her dresser, which we are going to repaint in a sour cream white to match the other furniture. We are going to change the trim from blue to the mint green that you see on the pillow on her bed. I found the angel at a little shop in town and just loved it, so did Ella.

The kitchen and doll area. I wish that there was a way for it to be neater, but there just isn't. I also wish that the kitchen was pastel (Ella does too) but when Santa brought it, he thought that we were going to have it in the family room forever.

The bookshelf. Perfect for toys, collectibles and of course, books. White? Pink? Green? My Aunt Trudy and I created the floral arch for Andy's and my wedding. I had thought that I would have a pretty living room some day to hang it in, but our living room is NOT the place for this. It seemed to fit perfectly in Ella's room. There are lots of dolls packed away that were mine that are collectible and I think that they might find their way to this space, someday. (the ugly air freshener is gone too) ...And the bins will get labeled before summer is over.. they will, they will, they will.

Well, there it is.. her new (very pink) room. Now, to finish up the furniture and move on to the bar in the family room!!!! (and the cabinet, and the trim, and the baseboards, and.....)

Ommmmmmmm... breath...... Ommmmmm

The noise is getting to me. My head is buzzing from this constant humming. It is like when you stay in a hotel and the wall a/c unit is just blowing....
We had dinner with the in-laws again and got clean and shiny before coming home. Thank goodness that they are just a few blocks away. I have thought about the hotel, if even just to escape to, but... the kids would just be crazy there. Besides the fact that there are literally NO hotels around here! I would have to drive at least 15 minutes but more like 30 to get to a decent one, and that....is a pain in my patooty! We have eaten out a couple of meals and will be reimbursed for those too, but we don't want to "abuse" the system.

Today, the kids had the neighbor kids over for most of the day and they all played outside and had a great time! I made the menu (?) and a grocery list and realized that if the washing machine was going to be moved on Monday, I had better do ALL of the laundry TODAY. This included several extra loads of warm weather clothing pulled out of storage (it has been in the 80's here) and some bedding too. I can't see my couch or coffee table now, they are buried in clean folded laundry!

Andy got the room painted and it looks GREAT!!! We just have to put in new outlets and covers and get the ceiling fan changed out! The carpet goes in tomorrow and the bed should come soon! I am really excited about getting this project done...we are into the fun part now, decorating and moving him in! NEXT I get to obsess about Ella's room and what to do in there! I also took on a third job :1.the church, 2. cleaning the gym, 3. babysitting. Yup! I had a friend approach me and ask for a friend of hers! Twin girls that are in first grade at Gavin's school need to be watched for about a half hour a day, three days a week. It will be some extra money and might be just the motivation we need around here in the morning! I will meet the girls on Wednesday and they will start coming next week.

It looks like our date is still on for tomorrow and I am really glad... Andy and I soooooo need some time together. It has been so rough around here for the past six months and we need the time to re-group and remember that we are a team. I am glad that we are going to hike, it is more like something we would have done before kids. We never really went to movies and dinner much when we were dating, I don't know why that has been our fall back date. I guess because it is easy when you are tired. We are going to try for day trips more often, that is so much more "us". Besides, it's a little bit easier to get a babysitter... and ... it doesn't make bedtime strange for the kids.

This week will be one full of newness and some challenges, but I am feeling better about taking them on. Today was actually one of the most relaxing that I have had in quite some time. I just worked on what needed to be worked on and didn't really think much beyond that. I do have to start organizing my scrapbooking stuff for this coming weekend, but I will carve out time for that on Thursday. I am worried about all of the work that needs to be done at the office and how much time I have missed already this month but, so long as I can get in and put in some solid hours this week, I should be fine. We have decided not to go to Family Camp at the end of the month and although I am sad, I am mostly relieved. It is one less thing to plan, pack for and spend money on. We might start work on Ella's room that weekend!

I will remember to breath and take some time outs and know that this will be over, before I know it and I will have some beautiful rooms to show for it!

The Kitchen

The kitchen... ah... the kitchen....

Andy has been working ALL week and it is not done! It was a big job and he did not do it in the most organized way. That is not a criticizm...hey... I am so grateful that he has been working so hard on it! I am just tired of not knowing where my forks are! Besides, I am really scared that it is going to drag on forever now that he is going back to work!

Poor guy did not get a single day off during his Spring Break to play! He got to go out to dinner and coach a baseball game today, but other than that, he has been in the kitchen! The doors need one more coat of paint each and then they all need to be hung and the handles put on. The bar did not even get started, but we hope to work on that a little bit each night next week.

Of course, it is like "When you give a mouse a cookie..." Now that we have painted the cabinets, we don't like the wall color and we are thinking that we need new cushions for the benches at the table and of course new curtains. If we do that we will need new curtains and pillows in the family room, and we want to take out the panneling and paint and of course the cushions on the window seat would need to be re-apholstered.... oh, and I really want a new desk and we found a great new couch that would look better with the room layout!

Whew... we took a step back from all of that and decided to go forward with re-doing the floor into the kitchen, laundry room and our bathroom (all connected) and then... we will see what we can do next....

I wrote that last night and today, after church Andy put another coat of paint on the cupboard doors...some need one more coat. Next we started hanging cupboard doors, only to discover that the hinges added 1/16th of an inch to each side of the door and they would not close. Andy has spent most of the day cutting out a groove in the side of the cabinet so that the doors will hang right. Unexpected problems with house projects...I sure do wish that we could pay someone to do this stuff for us, but then we would miss all of this "adventure"... yes, you do note a hint of sarcasm there.

Andy just told me that I have to take everything out of the spice cabinet that I spent 2 hours cleaning out and re-arranging last night. I told him to hang plastic and be careful not to get dust in there... that seems to be working. We did get the handles on the drawers, well, not before putting one very off center, but really - nobody will notice.... He is working away and I have been trying to pay bills and entertain our poor neglected children.

Ella is so tired that she put on her pajamas on at around 3:00 and announced that she was going to bed...I wanted to join her...she didn't of course, but I guess she cut out one job for me tonight! We are going to my in-laws house for dinner...thank goodness, because I can't cook in the mess! Maybe tomorrow I will be able to post that the kitchen is all done and put back together! I will hope.....

I apologize too, if this a massive wall of text, but I have fixed it 5 times and blogger just keeps leaving out my spaces... ugh....