A Two-Second Post

I’ve been flying around this week feeling like a headless chicken, if I’m honest. I pulled all the outgrown clothes and baby items down from the attic this afternoon and have an absolute mess in my living room. Hopefully pricing and tagging won’t take too long and I can get this stuff to the consignment drop-off SOON.

I just wanted to say (and remind myself) that I KNOW I still haven’t made all the return visits from the delurker day, and I WILL get to it eventually. In-laws are coming next week for the final stage of the kitchen renovation (countertops came in this week!) and with this kids’ sale and some other things going on, it’s just a little bit crazy right now. Bear with me!

I mean really

This is why I have a blog. So I can show you what I stay up half the night making!

Like this dress… which will actually be paired with a long-sleeved tee and black leggings (and not, you know, jammies):

It occurred to me only very recently to dress my girls differently ON PURPOSE. Their personalities are so different, so why not dress them to fit each girl’s personality? (Madeline’s hand-me-downs haven’t really worked for Adelaide, anyway.)

And since Adelaide is quite the quirky kid (more on that in a later post; it’s still simmering), I’ve had a lot of fun making her a bunch of unique dresses. I loved the 1950’s dresses on this fabric. (Sidenote to Brite, this one I lined.)

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Drew’s at school and Andy has the girls helping him do yard work outside this morning, so I actually have time to sit here and blog! He (meaning Drew) got his first G.I. Joe yesterday. He calls it his “big boy toy.”

It dawned on me last week that he still mostly just has his toddler toys and was very obviously getting bored (and therefore naughty). Any other “big boy toy” recommendations you have for me?

(You know, that don’t have small pieces that I would inevitably step on in the middle of the night…)

A sneak peek

The facelift continues

Andy and I had an appointment this morning for the new countertops! We picked everything out (including sink and faucet), and purchased paint and knobs. I am SO excited. We also decided to install the countertops ourselves. (Should be interesting. But the price difference was significant and we’re cheap.)

I finished the dining room paint last night. We had several cracks repaired and there was also some, um, artwork that needed to be painted over. It’s rainy and gray here today, a perfect opportunity to finally paint my kitchen.

But I need to don my jammies first…

Phase 2, Complete

(Tap, tap, tap.  Is this thing on?)

The drywaller finished up on Saturday morning, and the kitchen is all primed and ready for paint! I haven’t pulled it down from the attic yet; still crossing my fingers it hasn’t dried out. (I’m using leftover paint from when my mom and I stripped the wallpaper in the dining room four-ish years ago.) But still, getting closer!!!

I ran some errands with the kids in the freezing cold on Saturday and then Sarah had us over for supper and playtime after naps. It sort of felt like a daycare, what with the eight (EIGHT!) kids between the two of us. It was a busy and fun day but our house is still trashed, and here it is Monday.

I also made two dresses for Adelaide this weekend (SO CUTE!), and a skirt for Madeline with the extras. I still need a few things for finishing touches and then I’ll post some photos.

On a totally un-related note (except for the fact that she’ll wear one of the dresses to the Valentine’s Tea we’re invited to on Saturday), what are some fun things you like to do with your kids for Valentine’s Day?

Three Months!

Arianna is three months old today, can you believe it?!

A couple of quick updates… our bathroom is about 95% finished. I just have to paint the trim (it’s primed) and touch up the walls in a few spots. I’m thinking about painting the ceiling though, while I’m at it. (It could really use a fresh coat, especially since they fixed a crack and it’s an obvious color difference.) I also have to re-hang the curtain.

This morning we had the drywall man come and look at the kitchen and they’ll be here this afternoon! It should only take a couple of days since it’s really not that much. He’s going to have the cracks in our dining room filled in also. (Which means I’ll be swimming in paint next week.)

I’ve also been doing a lot of sewing and just generally trying to keep up with my kids and the laundry. Andy’s going to the church men’s retreat tonight so my sister is coming over and we’re going to have us a little sleepover. The kids are EXCITED. Should be fun.

Have a great weekend!

It rained. I sewed.

I don’t typically shop for dresses while I’m nursing because, well, they just don’t (usually) work. I’ve been wearing a lot of pants to church, with the occasional skirt thrown in for good measure. (But mostly pants.)

Which makes me a little sad because I LURVE a good dress.

So I was thrilled to find this dress from Target because it is a button-down “shirt dress.”  (Great minds think alike, my fellow-nursing friend Sarah also bought one!)

(We don’t go to the same church, otherwise we might have to plan out a wearing schedule.)

Anyway, I ordered it from Target’s website and held my breath that it would fit.  It came two days ago and fit great except the length.  It was that weird in-between knee and tea-length that does nothing for me.  So I spent all afternoon yesterday hemming it to the knee.

Unfortunately as I was finishing up tacking down the lining, a fold of the dress fabric got caught up under the needle of my sewing machine and when I ripped that mistake out, there was a tiny (but gaping) hole.

(Congratulations, you just cost yourself two more hours!)

(And yeah, I lost my waistline with Arianna. Sniff.)

(I know you love the jeans.)

The other thing I did was add some elastic to the sleeves, so they are gathered and a little capped, instead of sticking out a little bit like they were:

(Yes my mirror is dirty.)

The best part is, as Sarah mentioned, the dress will go right through spring and summer. AND it was less than $40.

Sigh.

I love a good dress.

Phase 1, Complete

I had a post all ready to go yesterday and then realized I couldn’t publish it because I was going to review a product that’s over $40. (BlogHer ads contract; can’t review anything over $40 on a page where the ads are shown.) So I didn’t post it. I may try to figure something else out for the review, we’ll see.

And then I spent yesterday pulling wallpaper down, taking my kids to Kids Night at Chick-Fil-A, running a few errands, picking up a Starbucks for me, pulling more wallpaper down, and going to bed. (Late.)

I was right back up on my ladder after the kids’ morning Bible-time and breakfast today and I JUST NOW FINISHED!

THERE IS NO MORE WALLPAPER IN MY KITCHEN!!!!!!

Oh, happy day.

Further Evidence

I mentioned in my last post that wallpaper in an old house is most surely hiding SOMEthing… look what I uncovered on Saturday:

When you tap on that hideous floral I-don’t-even-know-what-to-call-it, it moves. Which means there is a hole in the wall behind it. Same with the CARDBOARD AND TAPE.

Last time I checked, CARDBOARD AND TAPE were TEMPORARY solutions for problems like, I don’t know, holes in walls… and yet it was covered up with wallpaper. Which tends to be a little more, um, permanent. I was a little surprised.

(Okay, not that surprised.)

But really, it just confirms for me that I need to have the drywallers back. There are a lot of patches that need to be fixed under the cabinets and the walls really don’t have corners, per se. (A wall ends and another wall just sort of begins.) It’s more than I can do in any decent time frame.

So I’ll have them come back after I finish clearing the walls of fruity wallpaper. And THEN I’ll break out the paint.

Farewell, fruit

(Why do I do these things to myself?)

As you can see, I ripped out over half of one wall of wallpaper once the kids were in bed last night. Thankfully it’s the kind that comes off very easily when wet.

I’m not sure why most of it was olive green and then there’s that patch of mint above the sink. I should have known that wallpaper in an old house is most surely hiding SOMEthing.

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My sweet sister-in-law gave us a new membership to the children’s museum that she got from work (they don’t have kids yet). We met my friend Sarah and her kids there yesterday morning. Andy came along for crowd control – between the two of us we have eight kids, six and under.

He was even kind enough to paint their faces:

Maybe “paint” is too generous a term. ;)

It’s the little things.

A couple of years ago I bought a laundry sorter and it has served me well. I’m a stickler when it comes to separating and washing whites, colors, and darks (even pickier than my mother) and I’ve always appreciated having a load ready to go without having to wade through all the laundry to figure out what I have.

It’s been driving me crazy though, more recently, since the mesh separators have all ripped and the sides were also seeing their last days:

(Sidenote: the tearing was more likely from children climbing into the unit. I do not have particularly heavy laundry.)

Not to mention it’s made of this coated fabric stuff (read: non-breathable) that had molded in some spots on the bottom. Ew, I know.  Oh, and the separators didn’t even go all the way to the bottom so things like bitty baby socks would roll into the wrong section.  (Which the Type A in me found irritating.)

So, all that to say, I’ve been wanting to change it for a while. I went to the fabric store and bought a few yards of white denim and then finally figured out a plan of action. It took me two days to finish but I am THRILLED with the end result.

(And yeah, with the cost of fabric and supplies, I could have bought a new one. But I would have been in the same predicament two years from now and frankly, my version is a million times better.  And it holds a lot more volume.)  (Which the lazy Type B in me loves.)

Back in its home in the laundry room, (and filling up fast):

Like I said, it’s the little things.

Half therapy, half practicality

I realized something about myself yesterday.  I always have a million things going on, it’s just the nature of my life right now and that won’t change.  There is always going to be something that needs to be done.  But if I don’t have a fun little project or two to squeeze in on the side, I get a little depressed.  It doesn’t really matter the craft — making pretty things, taking photos, sewing ridiculously frivolous girl clothes — they’re all therapeutic for me.

So, all that to say, here’s my latest quickie project. Arianna is a spitter, she spits up after almost every feeding. None of my other kids were like that. (And no, I’m not worried about her weight because of it, she’s quite round.) We fly through bibs and burp cloths for her. (And shirts for me, ew.)

Dolly lent me a few of her tiny-baby bibs, one or two of which were made by her sister-in-law. I had to get fabric for something else yesterday so I picked up a few scraps to make a few more bibs. I just laid Dolly’s out on the fabric and cut around it, adding in a 1/4″ for seams. Easy, easy, easy. Cute, cute, cute.

And we’re already using them. (Ew.)

The back is terry cloth so they’re nice and thick. My favorite is the gray/black/multi one in the middle.

DPP Day 19: Her Scarf

I finished it last night. Just in time, too. BRRR.

Still posting with the December Photo Project.

DPP Day 11: Warm & Bright

Two years ago I made Madeline a little scarf for the winter (when we lived up north and it was cold).  She’s been wearing it a lot recently and I decided I needed to make one for Adelaide.  I thought this bright multi-colored yarn would be fun for her dark pink corduroy coat.

That photo was right before I ripped the whole thing out and started over, making it a bit narrower.  I also didn’t like how the colors were lining up so uniformly.  It looks much better this time.  I’ll post another photo when it’s finished.

Posted in conjunction with the December Photo Project.

Snags

It’s always something! Andy and my dad were up the majority of the night trying to get the tub and shower walls in. They ended up having to rip out all the dry-wall under the window for more space and then also the window sill and trim. But the good news is the tub and bath walls are in place and secured to the studs.

Bad news is there have been some plumbing snags. So we’re working on that. (And by ‘we’ I totally mean ‘them.’) The toilet is back in, which is, you know, convenient.

Pray for us today! My folks were supposed to already have left but have bumped their trip back to tomorrow. And we really need a bathroom.

Where We Are – DPP day 1

So I promise not to post pictures of my bathroom every day of the December Photo Project. But for today, it’s where I am.

Oh, and the new tub, star of the show. (Which my dad is currently trying to get in place. He just ripped out the sheet-rock below the window to get enough room.)

Also, I took a shower at my neighbor’s this morning. I just felt the need to tell you that. (A commenter on yesterday’s post asked if we have another bathroom. We do not.)

Two Men & A Tub

Our house was built in 1950. This project desperately needed to be done.

That would be our 300+ pound cast iron tub.

Micah took it to a scrap metal place and got $18 + change for it.  ($5 per 100 lbs.)  Lunch money.

Here is the current state of affairs:

That used to be my bathtub!  You can see the hole in the floor where my mom accidentally fell through the rot.  (She’s totally fine, don’t worry…she was just completely taken by surprise.)

New bathroom coming tomorrow!

(And if my hair looks a little greasy, now you know why.)

Change o’ plans

We started to paint the bathroom yesterday, and stopped. I was scraping off some of the peeling paint and dry-wall by the tub and the next thing I know, I had a huge hole where the water (my kids splash a LOT) had basically rotted out that part of the dry-wall.

And then later my dad and brother poked at it some more. Now we have a hole in the wall down to the stud. So we’re going to be doing more demolition and replacing that part of the wall, possibly the whole tub/shower, the sub-floor under/by the tub and the linoleum. A little more than we signed up for in this painting project.

But it needs to be done. There are so many places water can get behind the walls and under the floor. (Which is, you know, NOT GOOD.)

Needless to say, we won’t be painting this week.

(But we WILL be eating a whole lot of turkey. Thank you and amen.)