A tale of four tans + more progress

It seemed like a lot of the things we worked on the week before Thanksgiving were silly and thankless.  Coat after coat of paint.  Sanding and filling little nail holes.  More coats of paint.  Never ending it seemed.  But, in the end, it was all worth it.  I guess it is all the little parts together that make up a good whole. 

This is one of the windows in the den, properly trimmed and framed, filled and sanded, primed and painted.  Times two.  We went with the picture frame moulding to a) match the rest of the house, and b) because it is a cinder block wall, plus nail strips and drywall, we couldn't get any stool moulding big enough.  I like the finish :)  It is actually quite deep, about 10 inches...  Hopefully it will make for a nice shelf for drinks?

 This is my new laundry room door.  As you can tell, I have wood puttied the seams and nail holes, but it isn't painted yet.  Nor is the wall behind it; that needed some serious help.  That particular wall was very bumpy, as in accidentally textured.  Problem was, it was a crappy texture, and you could tell that it wasn't on purpose.

 This is my master closet.  Nice and big :) 

My new light fixture (actually it is the same one from upstairs, we just moved it down).  Check out the window behind it though.  Not framed or moulded.  Before.

 After.  This is actually my pre carpet picture too.  We had just swept up, that is why it is so dusty.

And this....  This was a pain.  We knew we wanted to go tan in the den downstairs.  It is time to recover the pool table, and we are actually thinking of going a deep red, instead of the tan that is currently on it.  So, the tan goes with the red and the blue in the master.  But, who knew there were so many different tans.  I brought home several swatches, and hubby and I both picked the same one and I cut in along the base and corners.  Problem was, when I actually got it on the wall, it looked very pink :p  That is the weird smudgy one on the far right.  So, I went and picked one by myself, cut in everywhere, AGAIN, but we decided it was too grey.  That is the one running on the top.  Then, hubby went and picked one that was too yellow (the one in the middle, and thankfully I didn't cut in everywhere on that one).  Lastly I went back and picked up one more, on the far left, that, with two coats, it seems to work well. 

 See?  Check out the framed window against the tan!  And no, I didn't cut in at the ceiling because we are doing crown in that room.  We weren't sure how the drywallers were going to be able to finish that corner, and we didn't want to have to redo the entire ceiling, so we just told them not to finish that corner.  Based on how well they finished the one area they did have to finish, they probably could have done it, no problem.  And now the crown is an extra expense and work.  Oh well.

You live and learn....

First Tree

Another "pretty much tradition" for Thanksgiving is to find a Christmas tree for Pa's house.  They take a walk (and this time the kids all tagged along) and cut down one of the trees on the property.  Then they bring it back and put it in the fabulous tree holder (translation: a large 5 gallon bucket) and proceed to decorate it.  The kids were so excited they jumped right in.  (Only in Alabama can you find and decorate your Christmas tree in shorts and short sleeves)

 But we soon realized the error of our ways, and had to take all the ornaments off to put the lights on.  Kaitlyn had to keep all of hers safe from the other "would be decorators", so she kept them close.

 Nana and Aunt C are so good at putting lights up :)

 Then it was right back to putting up ornaments and beads.

Since D and C are from around New Orleans, they have over the years brought several strings of beads to help make the tree more festive.  While Dylan waited to put them on the tree, he found a different place to put them...

 Getting fuller.

 Taylor had to help with the ones at the top.  None of the rest of the kids are tall enough.

 And there is our masterpiece!

Not exactly designer, but it fits the spirit and the kids loved doing it.  This year, I think I will follow suit.  Which means my Christmas tree will really only be decorated from about halfway down, but, it is the intention that counts :)

Thanksgiving

Most years I take umpteen pictures at Thanksgiving.  Pictures of the food, pictures of all of us together at Pa's trying to fit around the table (which we no longer do), or pictures of us sitting around and enjoying each others company. 

Not so much this year.  We arrived late Thursday night, eventually got everyone into bed, and collapsed ourselves.  Thursday morning we raked leaves, went for walks, and enjoyed the pleasant weather.  We, apparently, wore out the kids, because after a fabulous Thanksgiving "lupper" they all crashed.  This is the one picture I took on Thanksgiving day.  Cute little guy, ain't he?

This year I am thankful for family, a hard working husband, progress, but most importantly, being forced to take a break for a few days.  Man was it nice to not have to worry about what I am painting, or cleaning, or staining, etc...  Happy Thanksgiving!

Serenade

We have carpet going in, ladies and gentleman!!!  Thank Heaven for small miracles!  Small, not. Huge!  Monstrous!  Gigantic even.  But it is going in!  And, I couldn't be more excited!!!!  Can't you tell by all my exclamation points?

My children are all very heavily involved, at this point, with watching.  It is the most interesting thing in the world.  And the poor gentleman who is working on the stairs gets a front row seat to Kaitlyn's serenade.  She is sitting right at the top of the stairs.  Singing songs she is making up.  They all occasionally stop what they are doing to supervise.  It is an important job ;)

I knew it wasn't that far away

Dylan wanted to play with his sisters yesterday.  And on two separate occasions I witnessed this (again, in a totally playful, not mad and wanting to hurt you way):

He runs up and pushes his sister, then runs away, waiting for them to chase after him.  To be fair, both of the them were caught off guard, neither were expecting it.  Kaitlyn fell over into the dresser.  I have to admit I expected this one, since she is my clumsy one, and she weighs barely 2 lbs more than he does.  But Kari, who is probably about twice his size, and who is fairly athletic, fell over too... 

We have tried to tell them several times that he will get bigger, and won't be as easy/fun to push around.  Looks like that day came sooner rather than later.

In the words of Homor Simpson:

Dooooooooooo-nuts! 

I am pregnant.  Lets face it.  If I am going to get fat, now is the time.  So when a desire for Krispy Kreme hit the other day, and I happened to be a few minutes away, I went for it.  I was carrying several other things in the house, and I didn't think Dylan could handle the donuts, because the box is kind of awkard.

 Not so much.  He seems to have handled them just fine.

 He looks almost as excited about them as I was!

"Yuuuuum.  Doooooooooo nuts!"

Welcome...

...to the Third Trimester!  Yay!!!  Amazing how this one seems to be flying by.  Someone asked me the other day if I am ready to have the baby, and I had to answer no way.  I am not all that uncomfortable this time, the basement isn't quite done (although we have scheduled carpet installation), and I am just not sure I am ready to handle 4 kids....  However, this is one of those things that once you start, there is really nothing you can do about it.  So, time moves on, and here we are.  At the beginning of the third trimester.  HELP!

For your viewing pleasure:  16 wks

 21 wks

26 wks/ yesterday.  She seems to have had quite the growth spurt.

I passed my glucose test with flying colors, and next visit I get to schedule my c-section...  It creeps ever closer.  Yikes! :)

Progress

Check it out!  It now has a face frame, moulding, 3 coats of paint, drawers and doors.  All it needs are a few minor adjustments so they all open smoothly, pulls and the crown finished around the top!

Voila!  That is what we call "Progress" :)

Random Thought for the Day

Last week I had the opportunity to go to hubby's work for their Christmas Bazaar.  Kari was off school, because it was Veteran's Day, so I had all three of them.  We got several compliments on their cute appearance as well as their behavior.  At this point, I feel like I am leaving the cute/obviously pregnant stage, and fast approaching the scary/looks like she will explode at any second stage.  Once people realized that all three kids were ours, and that I was expecting another, we got some semi interesting looks/comments.  My favorite of the afternoon was: "How do you find time to be pregnant?"  My first instinct was to respond "Well, that kind of thing usually happens after the kids are asleep."  However, not being particularly comfortable with this vendor, I refrained.  And, while I appreciate the sentiment behind it (thankfully, it seemed he understood that having children is a full time job) I thought it was an interesting comment to make.  My all time favorite pregnancy related comment would still probably have to be from one of the higher ups at hubby's work.  Remember when we went to the polo match a few weeks back?  Upon being introduced to the family and my (at that time) growing bulge, his response was "Way to keep the Muslim population percentage down."  Really?

Leaves

I have mentioned before that we spend a lot of time in the basement right now.  I have, right?  A lot.  Of time.  In the basement.  Anyway, the majority of it has been at night, so I don't feel so bad about neglecting my children.  But, Saturdays are basement days too, and now that it is pleasant enough to be outside, the kids love to go out.  This past Saturday, they "raked" leaves while mommy and daddy were painting, nailing, cutting and building.  I say "raking" because it now looks much like it did before they started, but at least they had fun.

Apparently, one of the kids discovered that if you got buried in the leaves, you would get "warm".  So they took turns being the bury-er and the bury-ee :)

Kaitlyn was first.  Needless to say, it wasn't as productive of a day as it could have been, what with all the breaks to observe the children being cute and whatnot :)

 Yes, there is a child in there.  And, it looks like Kari is enjoying herself an awful lot.

Dylan wasn't all that enthused about being buried.  However, I love the hat, so I'm not going to complain. 

 Who knew that all it would take for my children to be happy would be some dead plants.  With my black thumb, I could have provided those things a long time ago!

 She pulled her hat down because she didn't want the leaves to get in her eyes :)

 I'm telling you, that face is hard to resist.  We are in for so much trouble!

 It looks strangely like Kaitlyn is about to impart some Hocus Pocus or something.

 So proud :)

 Then they both wanted to get in on the action, so they called over daddy.

And it appears he didn't mind that much either.  I love how Kari is totally putting her face forward, ready for the leaves.

 It is hard to tell from the picture, but there is something hiding in the leaves.  Can you guess?

Daddy by his proud mound.

 Dylan finally got in on the action, but it was towards the end, and only with his cup.  He also didn't go all the way under.

But that is his prerogative, right?

Maybe next week I should introduce them to the joy that is cleaning toilets!

*The hidden picture is of their shoes :)*

Tile

A few weeks ago, I mentioned I was kinda tired.  I was tired because hubby and I had been staying up until 1 or 2 in the morning to finish the tile in the bathroom downstairs.  We didn't get it started until after the kids were in bed.  And, of course, for some reason, things always take longer than you think they will.  It was a week of sleepless nights and tired days, but it got done!   Then, we kept moving with other things and the tile got kinda dirty and left by the wayside.  Well, I really wanted to share some pictures, so I swept up a bit and took pictures last night. 

This is the view from the bathroom door.  You are looking straight into the shower. On the left of the shower is the door into the toilet.  On the right is the door into the closet.  In front of the toilet area is the cabinet/sink area.

 A close up of the tile and the little accent detail we put in.  When we were trying to decide how to do the bathroom, I was having a pretty hard time.  Hubby suggested I find something I loved, and then basically design the bathroom around that.  Well, I found this tile at Home Depot, and that was my starting point.  It is a pretty dark brown with some copper accents.  It also lead to our decision to go venetian brown for the faucets/accessories, etc.  It required cutting off the corner of every one of those darn tan tiles, but with a jig made by hubby, it went fairly quickly.

 We wanted the accents to be quiet and understated.  I think it came across quite well :)  Also, I like the light (but not pastel) blue on the walls.

 I didn't really want to pay for that much tile, so we continued to use it as an accent around the shower.  See that band around the top?

 This is the seat in the back of the shower.

 The little insets in the wall for my shampoo and things :)

 Just another shot of the insets and accent border.

 This is the toilet area.  Minus a toilet.  That will come along shortly :)

So, that is why I have been so tired.  That is some of the progress we have made.  Now it is sealed and ready for other things.  As soon as we get some other things done first :p

Helpers

We used a sticker chart at church for a while to keep track of and encourage the kids to read their scriptures.  We laminated it before we wrote names and things on it, so we could possibly re-use it later.  I brought the charts home, fully intending to remove all the stickers and names.  I just hadn't gotten around to it yet.  The kids could hardly leave it alone, however, and while I ruminated on telling them to leave it alone for the 8,000th time, I thought, "Why not?"  So I assigned my children the task of taking off the stickers.  The project was a soaring success:

 

They thought it was a privilege. 

 I didn't have to do the work. 

And it kept them quietly working together for probably 30 minutes.  Joy.

I told them we were not, in any way, fashion, or form, keeping the stickers, so they could do with them what they liked until it was time to throw them away.  Each child, of course, is different.  But, it usually makes me giggle to see how much. 

Dylan:

 Kaitlyn

 Kari