Adventures in painting...or trying to paint.

I referenced a story below regarding painting. Or trying to paint. The thing is I ordered this bedding several weeks ago and it shipped quite quickly. I was waiting to get the bedding before I picked out some paint colors. I had really wanted to get this done before our Housewarming Party this weekend. Well, I waited and waited and waited. The darn bedding did not arrive. I was getting nervous, because while I did like the bedding in the picture, I didn't "love" it, and wasn't sure that I'd even like it when it got here.

So, on Tuesday, I decided, to heck with it, I'm not waiting any longer. So, the girls and I jumped in the van and headed to the Cities. I'm still shopping for home decor stuff anyway. We made a stop at Bed, Bath & Beyond and Kohl's. I found a quilt that I just love. And they had TWO! I bought them and headed directly to the paint store where I looked at this and that and that and this, and I made a decision on the paint. I was trying to find a chip sample here to show you, but can't. Yellow and Green. Jonquil and Great Green, to be exact.

Here is the bedding the girls and I chose:
The colors are really beautiful. I love that there isn't really a theme to it so that I can switch things around if I want to. Lots of colors to choose from too. I think I may do some sort of window treatment with pink in it. Not sure though, and I definitely won't have that done by tomorrow.

Anyway, back to the painting. I had already taped off the bedroom to prime. It was a very vibrant blue before.
I had 3-4 hours on Wednesday morning and figured that I could knock it out. NOT! I'm and expert roller, but boy, that edging takes me forever! It was my first time using a brush (which went really well, BTW), but I'm very slow. This is when I called my grandma, who came out and edged everything for me while I took the girls to the dentist. When I came home, after stops at Sam's Club and Linens N Things, she had everything edged and she is GOOD! I called her to thank her for doing it and tell her how fast she was, since I was there when she started. She just said that she has LOTS of experience.

I finished up almost all of the painting on Wednesday night and yesterday, I did the last of it: the top of the ledge and one corner that I had to edge. I also touched up in some of the corners.

So, today, I will put all the electrical covers back on, get the bedding washed and put on and maybe the girls can sleep in there tonight! Some after pics will be coming shortly.

Oh, and if anyone has some ideas on decorating or window treatments, I would gladly accept them! I need all the help that I can get. I'm thinking of painting some wooden letters that spell out their name for over their bed. I also want to pull up the carpet that's on the floor. It's just tacked down as there is wood laminate underneath. Then I need to find a big rug to put between the two beds. What do you think? Any other ideas?

Always a work-in-progress!

Party, Painting, Appointments...

I swear...since we've moved, I've just been running around here like a chicken with its head cut off. I guess it's maybe because now the girls are in preschool and I'm taking them there and picking them up three days a week, whereas, we used to just stay home. But you would think with that extra time by myself, I wouldn't feel like I'm just not getting things done.

Last night I got home after a long day. The girls went to preschool, then I came home and began painting their room (that's a whole other story!). I thought I could knock it out that morning as I'd already painted part of it and it was all taped off, etc. I started edging and 1) I haven't done it that much and 2) I'm not that good at it. But I figured that the only way to get better was to go for it. I used a brush this time and while I really did good, it was so slow. So, I called my grandma and she came over to edge, while I went to pick the girls up at school and then take them to the dentist!

After the dentist (another story!), we went to Sam's Club to pick up some stuff for our Housewarming Party this weekend. You NEVER get out of there quickly. After that, we ran to Linens 'N Things to get a few things for the house. I'm still trying to decorate and get window treatments, etc. It won't all be done for the party, but it's supposed to be a continuous work in progress, right?

When we came out of LNT it was DARK! Drove home, where I started to make the girls grilled cheese sandwiches. I was thinking of too many things, because I wanted to get downstairs and finishing painting, I burnt two sandwiches on the stove because I forgot I was making them!! Thankfully, Brian took over the cooking part and headed downstairs. I finished up the painting in about an hour or so. I have one little bit left to do that I couldn't do last night as I had to tape off an area, but it was still wet. I'm hoping to do that this afternoon.

Today, L & S will go to preschool again and then I'm heading out to the office where I need to install some computer software for my mom & brother. Then it's back home to do a few things and back to school where I volunteer with serving hot lunches. I think after that, I will be able to do the painting. I NEED to get this stuff done before Saturday, as well as, clean, cook, do laundry...all that "fun" stuff!

Oh, and tomorrow is Sydney's one year follow-up appointment with the cardiologist. We need to pick up Brian at 11 and head into Minneapolis for the appointment. S is getting a echocardiogram, chest x-ray and EKG tomorrow. Then we'll meet with Dr. Bass. Hopefully all will be good with her Amplatzer.

Thankfully, we don't have dance tonight (ANOTHER story!). That would just be one too many things this week!

Maybe after the New Year, things will settle down.

BRRRRRR! It has turned COLD!

Well, at least for a day or two. Yesterday we even had snow flurries! Yikes! On October 11? So when the girls and I saw this...


we decided to do this!


Lindsey and Sydney were having a good time helping me.



We had a family birthday party last Sunday and had a great time. The girls got so many nice gifts. They love their Leapsters and their new doll house w/twins! Here are all the pics from their birthday. Birthday Pics

I've been busy working on decorating my kitchen/dining room. I ordered some Roman shades for my dining room and kitchen window and tab-top panels for our patio door (or a doorwall, as those in Detroit would call it!). My mom and I also hit a flea market last weekend and I picked up several things that I now have displayed on top of my cabinets. I can't wait until I have it all done so I can post pics! I'm also ordering the new flooring and countertops tomorrow, and it sounds like it will be installed the week of October 30th! YAY! I'm VERY excited!

What a BEE-U-TEE-FUL day!

Gosh...it is absolutely gorgeous out today. Blue sky this morning, not a cloud in it. A few are starting to come around now, but it's been breezy and warm, about 72 degrees. This is my favorite time of year. The girls went to school this morning and I went out to the shop for a few hours. It has been so nice working in the family business one or two mornings a week. I didn't realize how much I missed getting out with other people, and not just socializing, but actual working, using some of those brain cells in a different capacity than I have been for the past four years. I definitely can't complain that I haven't gotten "ME" time in the past. I do plenty of things for me, but working in a way that uses your brain differently, where people ask you questions because you are the one with the answers, has felt really GOOD! I've NEVER gotten that excited about keeping a clean and organized house!

Anyway, after hanging at the shop for a few hours, I went back to town to pick up the girls from school, but I first made a stop at the building supply store where I've been shopping for flooring and countertops. Currently, I have three rings of countertop samples in my possession and six different flooring samples. I had seven flooring samples yesterday, but returned four today, and picked up three more. I think I'm making some progress on narrowing it down. IT IS SO HARD! I didn't think it would be that difficult picking out this flooring, but it looks so different throughout the day, in the morning and day light, versus the evening, versus night when I have the lights on. UGH! But, I think I'm down to four that I like (well, three), but I think I like two of them better than the third. The three that I like are:

Toasted Maple Plank

Blush Cherry Plank

and Carmel Walnut Plank

I can't find a photo of this though.

The first two are definitely my favorites and I'm leaning towards the maple.

My cabinets are on the darker side, sort of like this color:

Sierra Oak


They have quite a bit of grain to it. That's why I'm trying to go with a more subtle grain in my floors. I think if I went with the oak floors, it would just be too much. I have quite a large space and it's very open.

So, that's where I'm at with the floors. I was told that I maybe wanted to go lighter with the floors if my cabinets are darker, but I didn't really like how it looked. I don't like the really dark colors, but more along the same tone/color that I have in cabinets, just a different wood. Any thoughts? I could use some opinions.

As for the countertops, fortunately, I have a good idea what I want, so sifting through HUNDREDS of little chip samples hasn't been too bad, otherwise, I think I might have gone MAD!

These are the two that I've narrowed down to so far. I'm leaning towards the ButterRum Granite, as it's a stock color and would be the least expensive. I'm also planning on going back to a stainless steel sink. I really prefer stainless steel. It's a cast iron in here now and I don't like it. My appliances are all BLACK.

Butter Rum Granite

Mesa Sunrise

Which do you like?

That's what I've been pondering today. After I picked up the girls and went home, we had lunch and then went outside to play. They rode their bikes and we went on the "playground" in our backyard. I love the bench swing. I swing on that and the girls run around and slide a lot! LOL! Then we came inside and had some quiet time and they watched Zaboomafoo. HUGE hit around here. I keep a bunch of those DVR'd so we can watch anytime. Now, L & S are out with the next door neighbor girl, Lily. She is six and comes over to get the girls to play quite often. They have a good time together.

I've started not napping L & S again on certain days. So far, it's been going good. We had no nap yesterday and they went to bed at 8 p.m. and were out by 8:10 p.m. They slept like rocks until 6:30 - 7 a.m. VERY NICE! On the days they nap, we've been having issues with actually GOING to sleep, waking during the night, and getting up VERY early. I think they are definitely moving towards not requiring quite as much sleep as they did this summer.

Well, I best go make my Schwan's order up. I hate to be scrambling when he gets here. Brian arrived safely in Las Vegas. Not sure I mentioned it, but he is there for the week for work. I have a busy week on tap too, and THEN...(drum roll) I will be joining my honey for three days in Vegas without the kids. They are going to my brother & SIL's and the girls are ALREADY talking about it! They can't wait and I'm excited to get away with Brian too!

Life...is just happening...

I really need to carve out just a few minutes each day or so to just post a few things here. It seems like I just let it go and then I have so many things to say; some things get written about and others just get lost into my memories.

As I said, life is just happening; day to day things that are keeping me busy. I'm still trying to get settled. We're in somewhat of a routine, but I still have piles of boxes around to unpack and basically nothing on the walls yet. I think we may have a housewarming party in November and I'm hoping that will help me to really crack down and get things organized.

I am planning on having new laminate wood flooring put in the kitchen and dining room and also new countertops and a sink in the kitchen. I had someone come out last week to measure so I can start getting some quotes. I've somewhat narrowed down my countertop choices and I'm going to check out some bigger flooring samples to see how it will look. There is NO WAY that I can pick out stuff from a 2" X 2" sample! I'll have to find the samples and post a few of them. Maybe I can get to that today.

The girls are LOVING school. They look forward to it each week and I really like the consistency from going consecutive days. Last Friday wasn't our day, but we went on a field trip to the apple orchard. It was a cold, rainy, wet day, but we still had fun. The absolute BEST part is that I invited my grandma to go with us on the trip. I just can not portray to you enough, the joy and delight in my grandmother's face when I invited her along. And my girls were so excited that great-grandma Marcy was coming. We met at the school and we had to go inside so the girls could show her their classroom and meet their teacher. THIS is why I wanted to move here so badly. I think I would live in a shack and work in a barn to be able to give this opportunity to my girls and share their lives with my grandma, their grandparents and extended family. To me there is nothing more important than that. And now we are close enough to do those fun things, planned things, spur-of-the-moment things like popping by the high school to watch my nephew's flag football game or having a garage sale with my mom, aunt, grandma, SIL and niece...ALL things that we did this past weekend.

Anyhoo...I need to get some things done around here, but just wanted to give a short update. Like I said before...I have lots more to say, but today we are home and it's laundry day. I also have the Welcome Wagon person coming over this afternoon. They bring a basket and folder of stuff, coupons, gifts from the local retailers, etc. Isn't that the coolest? I'm sure there will be lots of things that we can use.

New House Pictures (finally)!

I finally got all my house pictures uploaded and updated the captions. It took awhile as I had quite a few pictures to go through and then I tried to put them in some sort of order. I decided just to upload them to Yahoo. Click HERE to check them out.

We have a little work to do, but for the most part, it's really been updated a lot! Especially the bathroom. It's so pretty. I absolutely love the tile. I love all the colors in the main rooms, so I have no painting to do, other than the girl's room (which used to be a boy's room). We have new carpet throughout the house, new tile, and all new appliances. I even have one of those new Maytag front loading washers (need the matching dryer though).

Oh, and I have to tell you a cute story. I guess Sydney likes the colors in the house too. At the breakfast table the other morning this was part of our conversation:

Sydney: Momma, WE'RE in a storybook!

Me: We are?

Sydney: Yes, momma. We're in the Land of the New House...with all the beautiful colors. We have beautiful colors in our new house, momma!

A few things that I DO intend on changing is having laminate wood floors put in the kitchen/dining area and new kitchen countertops. The downstairs bath needs some work, but we're not worrying about that at this time. They didn't have many window treatments, so I need to work on that too, especially the big window in the dining room. Ideas? Suggestions? I am open.

At some point, we will also be putting in a wet bar and cabinets in the family room. It's already plumbed for that. I think that will just finish off that family room area. I am so excited about the custom oak cabinets built in in the family room too.

There is also enough extra siding in the garage rafters that we are planning on adding a third stall to the garage at some point. Plenty of space and since we have the siding, it makes sense.

I just can't wait to get everything on the walls, out of boxes, and put away. Then I'll be able to post some after pics too! I'm really enjoying having all this extra storage. It's made quite a difference for us going from 5 people to 4 in the house and then going from 1800 sq. ft. to 2700 sq. ft.

We're home.