going on

Since it's much too hot to go outside and do anything but sweat, we're staying inside and trying to find stuff to do. This mainly consists of me looking around and seeing how filthy our house is. When did my carpets get so dirty? Why are the baseboards so dusty? Seriously is it to much to ask anyone to vacuum the blinds? The kids are really loving this and look forward every morning to see what new chores we will do that day. I caught Ava googling "African rain dance" yesterday so the deep cleaning would stop. (not really).

I did sew some clothes for Molly yesterday. She loves them. The little pink dress was supposed to be up for sale but she wouldn't give it up. So I made another one to sell.



Here's when I told her to smile:


Brian picked up the new Wii Sports Resort so we'll be doing that this afternoon.

I have to get ready to take Lauren to the orthodontist as one of her brackets fell off while eating cereal. She now knows to not eat cereal. Lauren just got her braces on two weeks ago. Grae thinks they are cool and even put some silver Christmas tree beads over his mouth to show Lauren that he had braces too.

We finished putting the pergo floor down in Grae and Molly's room and I took pictures accidently deleted them off my camera. I'm going to try to recover the images today and will post pictures. The difference is amazing!

dresser

So I don't know where the before picture is but here is the after picture. We picked this up at Goodwill Outlet for $15. It is a very solid, dovetailed drawers, vintage dresser. $15!!! I already had the mango paint from the mistint bin at Lowes for $2.00. The drawer pulls came with it and I just spray painted them red (that I already had around here too).

Imagine this dresser as a pale wood color with burn marks all over the top. Bad shape. Surprisingly the inside of the drawers look like they had never been used. Perfect shape.



This dresser looks great against the green walls in Grae and Molly's room. I love finding things and fixing them up.

remodel

We're working hard on Grae and Molly's room. So far we have the old trim off, the new ceiling and window trims on and of course the new green paint.

Here's before (when it was my office). Excuse the mess, we were moving stuff around. I loved the colors of blue and orange but the paint was in bad shape and I wanted a new color.




Notice the jolly roger on the door. We're replacing this door and I thought Grae would like that for now.






We painted the ceiling a smoke blue and painted the ceiling fan to match. The window air conditioner is only there through the summer. It gets so hot in that room.

Our new flooring came in so we will rip out the carpet and replace it with wood. Then we will do floor trim and then I can have fun with accessories!

sad day

Today is a sad day for me. My little Mr. man Grae is turning 4. No way. He's growing up and I don't like it. He is just a joy to everyone in the house. Really.

He's a sweet and affectionate boy who likes to leap off the highest object in the room and then exclaim "I'm alright Mommy." or "Mom" as he's taken to call me as apparently that is more manly.

Grae thinks everyone likes him and I mean everyone in the world. He is at that stage where he thinks out loud, to the embarrassment of anyone around. For example, we had a nice lady come to look at a piece of furniture we were selling on Craigslist. Grae ran into the room and then quickly ran out again. He told his sisters that he was disappointed because he thought the lady would be pretty. But he added that she was wearing a pretty dress.

He's excited to be growing up and wants to learn to ride a bike this year, and climb walls like Spiderman and fly like Superman and fly an airplane, and.....

Here's what his dad bought him. Notice that the kid was talking at the time. He talks all the time.



They are watching Wall-E right now as I'm about to go paint his bedroom. No school today, we've declared Grae's birthday to be a school holiday. Yay!

Happy Birthday Grae-man. We all love you so much.

bisky

See this tree. It is no longer there. While this tree provided great shade, it also dropped sugar ALL.OVER.EVERYTHING. Our neighbors weren't very fond of it and asked us every year when it was coming down. And see how it tips toward the neighbors house? They weren't to fond of that either.

So we hired Badger Tree Service to come and take 'er down. I was so hoping that some guy in an old beat up Datsun wouldn't show up with his rusty chainsaw and some rope. Nope, these guys were super professional and had their own truck. With their name on it!



These pictures were taken through a screened window in Lauren's room so they are not the best quality.



These guys were amazing to watch. They worked perfectly well together. It was like watching a chainsaw/chipper/brute force ballet.



Here's our favorite young guy: "Biscuit". At least that's what everyone was calling him. Or "Bisky" as Grae kept yelling out the window (as in "Good job Bisky.")



After one particularly brave and noble cut, which landed the branch perfectly on the ground without ruining anything, we all broke out in applause. We couldn't help it. Of course the window was open and the men could see 7 faces watching in admiration and hear the wild applause. I wonder what they thought of it.

Anyway, after only 2 hours, the tree was cut down and the whole yard cleaned up. Seriously, there are less leaves and junk then when they started. The company is coming back today to grind the stumps down. Graedon hopes Bisky will be there.

So now we need to get the area ready to plant a new, normal tree there. And when I see "we", I mean Brian of course.

makeover

Me: "Are you scared of this color?"
Brian: "Nope, I don't get scared anymore."

The above is the color I'm painting my new desk. We found it on Craigslist for $50.00. It does have all the drawers but I forgot to put them back in for the picture. The back room (which is currently my office) will be Grae and Molly's bedroom. So I have to move my stuff into our bedroom.



I love the rounded corner. It looks very 30's or 40's.


I have one coat of the green paint on and it looks like it will need at least 2 more. I skipped the primer coat and now am regretting it. Oh well. I need to find some funky drawer pulls and I may cover the drawer fronts with some fun paper. We'll see.

art class

The saying "those who can't do, teach" aptly applies to me today. We decided to add art to our school schedule. I feel it is very important to create and be creative just as our Creator is.

I lack drawing skills so we picked up this book Drawing with Children" from our favorite book store, Exodus Books . It takes you step by step and builds skills so the kids can be confident in their drawing.

One thing the book stresses, and I wholeheartedly agree with, is to buy good quality supplies. Fortunately we have an art store in downtown Hillsboro and were able to purchase our supplies there.



Our lesson today was following directions and then envisioning what you wanted to draw. For example: using a broad tip marker, draw one line from a border to another border. Then draw three circles on the line.


Not all members were so keen on the idea. I bought Grae and Molly washable markers.



Grae: "Mommy does this look like an elf?"
Me: "Yes, Grae. Good job!"
Grae: "It's not an elf."
Me: "Oh, then why did you ask?"
Grae: "Because, it's Laura from Little House on the Prairie."
Me: "Okay Grae."

ellie and a bird

I made this dress for Ellie for her birthday. It's good to be a sewing mama.

The dress is very wrinkled from the car ride to and from church.







And this is what we found in our backyard.


Isn't he cute? It's a baby Blue Jay. He was on the ground behind our swing and we weren't sure where he belonged. Brian put him back in the tree after Lauren discovered another baby Jay on the branch. This kids wanted to keep him but we told them the bird belonged outside and would probably die if we tried to raise it.

Then they asked for a dog ;)

my dining room/sewing room

I don't think I ever showed my dining room/sewing room. I painted it peach,green,yellow and then settled on gray.

The frames were cherry colored but I like them lime. Matches the curtains which are made of Heather Bailey's Pop Garden (I need to get a picture of them.)





See how I hide my machines. So clever ;)

We have a new room we're redoing and I'm so excited. I'll be posting progress pictures soon.

grae

So Grae was playing with his Playmobil's with Lauren the other day. Lauren's playmobil was the pretty princess in need of rescuing and Grae's the brave knight.

"Help, help me, oh brave knight." said pretty princess.

"No, I need to rescue someone prettier." said the not so gallant knight.

We're so proud.

---------------------------------------------------



Grae walked into my office and laid his head down on the chair beside me. He looked sleepy and I told him to go take a nap in my bed.

"I'm not tired." he said.

I beg to differ.

my prodigy

hamburgers

Ava and I discovered an amazing baking blog and poured over it for about 1 hour. She decided she must make these.

Oh my were they good. I don't like cake as a general rule but love brownies. So I forced myself to try one and ended up eating two. They are low carb...yes they are...look at that burger.

Please excuse my photo skills. They pale in comparison to Bakerella.



The girl who made them.