Master bedroom....before.

I took this picture yesterday. I guess it isn't really a before shot as we are already working on the room.

Let's not forget the old fan that John replaced a year and a half ago.

January 2010

It already looks a million times better with the new windows and window trim.

I got one of the new Roman shades installed before we started to demo the room.

For four years, we lived with those green Roman shades that blocked half the window. John hated them as he blocked his view. These hang a lot higher, so the view is better.

Opposite side of the bed.

Junk corner. Grrr.

Master closet door on the left, master bathroom on the right.

Here's a real before of that side of the room:

That's right. The sink was in the room, and the person in bed (the room was empty when this picture was taken) could have a chat with the person on the pooper.

We had the bathroom redone before we moved in. Now the view into the bathroom is the sink.

I got new dining room curtains. Don't mind the piles of crap. Hello, Ellie!

Yesterday morning, I got started. I cleaned out half the junk before I even took any pictures. Ellie and I carried it all into the dining room. I took out all the little stuff, the black trunk, the ottoman, the bedside tables. I was feeling good. Then I just could not get the rocking chair. I got it out of the bedroom, down the hall, and needed to make one more turn into the dining room. No matter how many times I tried to flip it (almost impossible) or pivot it, it just wasn't going. I had to get John's help. He made it look so simple.

Next up was ripping out the old trim. It was going pretty well. The girls were playing in the bed. I was the voice of fake puppy and fake kitty. There was a baseboard that was stuck. (skip to the end of this paragraph if you are easily grossed out!!!) I pulled. I tugged. I used the hammer and crow bar again. I pulled really hard. It came loose, but moved so fast and with so much force.......it hit me in the.......toenail. It ripped it all the way back to the nail bed. Holy heck it hurt. I couldn't play fake puppy. I told Mary to get me a band aid. I put that sucker on and took the rest of the baseboards out. I took the band aid off and looked. It was nasty. Gah. I'll live.

Then Mary wanted me to paint so I'd keep playing puppies and kitties. I edged in the ceiling. I rolled it when John got off work. After Ellie was in bed, I cut in the wall paint. I filled the nail holes.

John started installing the new trim this morning. He has the doorways almost done. He's off getting more 1x4s and quarter round right now. I'm hoping to roll the walls tonight.

The kids are "resting" aka fighting. I thought for sure Ellie would nap today (it has been a week), but she did not.

Outside we go!

one thing off the list

Woot! I made this!

I don't think I even cried once.

I even got brave and pieced the back.

On Mary's bed. She's sleeping under it right now.

Mary loves it. I think that she can actually appreciate the time and effort I put into it. One thing off the very, very long list I am currently trying to tackle.

The bedroom windows are painted. The bathroom window too. Mary's door is touched up, as are the hallway bathroom doors. This morning I got paint for the bathroom and the bedroom. I worked all day on making roman shades for the three bedroom windows. I ran out of little ring things that go on the back though, and I don't have enough cord either. If only JoAnn's were open at 11pm on a Sunday! John's going to hang the first one tomorrow night. I want to make sure I like it before I sew the little rings (40 per shade) on the back of the other two.

This week my main focus (in addition to taking Mary to/from camp every day, grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc) will be clearing out as much junk as possible from the master bedroom. John has a four day weekend, so we are going to try to get as much done as possible on the bedroom. I cannot wait to paint it! I've had this paint color picked out for almost a year.

Who are these kids? Where did by babies go?

After seeing a kid potty at my Dad's, Ellie asked for one. I thought it was worth a shot as no other potty training attempts had worked. I got her one on Monday, and she loves it. By loves it, I mean she uses it! I think the last time she had a diaper on (in the day time) was Tuesday. I believe my diapering days are OVER. No more washing, drying, folding (sometimes) or putting them away (rarely). No more packing half a suitcase full of cloth diapers for every weekend trip. We still have the night time thing to work on, but it's still a huge step for Ellie. It was like magic! And she can go all by herself. She can get her pants down and back up. That took forever with Mary. I was expecting a fight with Ellie. I had made a couple previous attempts, but she just wasn't ready. This week it just clicked.

Off to bed before midnight.

miles of white

White paint that is.

I made the bed just for this picture.

I started yesterday. Our bedroom has 3 windows (one is off to the right in this picture). The master bathroom has a small window too. I got them sanded down, the hardware off, taped them, and primed them yesterday/last night. It is slow going. And the windows have to stay open for a couple days. Next I break out the paint. Every job I've done recently, I quit before it was all done. In addition to these windows, I have to paint:

A final coat on both the hallway bathroom doors.
A final coat (or maybe 2) on Mary's door.
Two windows in Mary's room.
One window in Ellie's room.
Kitchen window over the sink.

Then once John puts in the new baseboards in our room there will be more to do. Why on earth did I wait until mid summer to start my summer painting? I'd love to get Ellie's ceiling painted. And the master bathroom (including the ceiling. My poor neck and shoulders!). The master bedroom is getting done. I'd love to do that ceiling too. It's a big room though.

Fighting! Darn kids. I need a referee whistle.

When in doubt, ask a five year old.

Almost done!

I finished quilting Mary's blanket! It isn't perfect, but I did my best. I thought about running another set of diagonal rows the other way, but in the end it was just too much work. My original inspiration only had quilting lines going one way, and I liked the simplicity of it. I still didn't know what color to bind it off with though. I took Mary with me to pick something out. When I saw the blue in the store, it seemed too bright. I wanted a lighter blue. But Mary loved this one. It's perfect with the quilt. I am so glad she picked this fabric. It has little light blue flowers on it. I'm working to blind stitch it on. I'm about half way done. I should be able to finish it up tonight. It seems this project has taken forever! I cannot wait to wash it up and give it to her.

(and then start the next project of course!)

John worked on the house a bit while we were out of town. I have so much new trim to paint. I'll be painting the windows in our master bedroom and bathroom first. John still has wood left, so he said that we could go ahead and put in new baseboards and door trim too. Then I can paint the bedroom! I'm so excited. It feels like a long time since we've done a big house project. I have some big plans for our room. New window coverings, a new bed skirt, painting the side tables, new lamps (if/when I can find something I like). Busy, busy! I really want to get my log cabin blanket done too. I'd love to get it all done by Ellie's b-day which is when I started knitting the blanket last year.

But for now, dirty laundry is calling. Fun stuff!

Sewing room

I'd love to have a sewing room. Maybe some day when the girls move out. I usually sew at the end of the dining room table which works out well. But for Mary's quilt, I needed a different set up.

I've moved the table over to the wall. I only have one side up, so there's plenty of room for the girls to play.

Ellie has found every pillow in the house. She has a pile of blankets and toys there too. And stickers. She never has enough stickers.

Mary's been coloring or making a "nest" of her own in the other corner. Then they pretend to nap! Haha.

I get to sew in 2-3 minute intervals and then get a snack, change doll clothes, get more craft supplies, change Ellie's diaper, spell something for Mary to write down, etc, etc. After an hour, I give up and go cook lunch. There's definitely more playing than sewing going on, which is fine. It is fun to all play and work together. I'll be able to work more on it at night. I worked last night until I couldn't see straight.

And the quilt? I haven't cried or thrown it in the trash. I have become an EXPERT at ripping out seams. I think I did a good job pinning to together (I used about 250-300 pins). I started quilting it in the middle, running a diagonal row from one corner to the other. It was nearly impossible to shove half the quilt all bunched/folded up through the middle of the machine. So impossible that the back of the quilt puckered up in several places. By the third time I'd done that row, it looked pretty good. I think I have six rows quilted now. I'm doing them three inches apart. It's getting easier now that I am not in the middle of the quilt. The girls and I are going out of town tomorrow, so I won't be able to work on it for a few days. When I get back and recover from our trip, I hope to finish the quilting in about 2 days. Then I'll have to do the binding. I have no idea what color to use. I went and looked at fabric on Sunday but nothing caught my eye. I don't think I want to do pink, red, or green. I want something that pops. Maybe a print? Maybe a plain turquoise blue? One of the fabrics has stripes, and it has some blue in it. Gah! I don't it to be wrong.

Rest time (Ellie has given up naps yet again and probably for good) is over. Going outside to play ball and swing.

I've been busy!

I didn't mean to neglect my blog. We went away for Memorial Day weekend, and it feels like I haven't caught my breath since.

Every year we go t0 Ft. Wayne for Memorial Day weekend. There's always a big party at John's Grandma's house on that Saturday. Then we spend the night at a hotel and drive home Sunday. The weather wasn't the best this year (chilly and rainy), but the girls had fun so it was worth the trip. We got home Sunday and goofed off a while. Then John started to clear the storm damage up. I decided to help. I would pull the limbs back to John, and he'd burn them. The girls helped/played/ate snacks. It was crazy. I'd grab what I could and pull them 50? feet. It felt good. I'd turn around and the pile was still so HUGE. It seemed impossible. I'd get more. And more. I must have made 100 trips. That was just the apple tree and the cherry tree we lost. Mary and Ellie would pick up small sticks. Finally the girls and I went in and ate dinner. John kept working. That night, we hurt. My arms hurt, my legs were on fire. My feet hurt. Everything. We both had sunburns too. Monday we started again after lunch. The girls weren't as happy to play by themselves, so I didn't do as much. John put in another 6 or 8 hours. I'd help when I could. We got the ash tree cleaned up. Then John took Tuesday off work and went to it again. Mary was at school, and Ellie and I were doing our thing. I'd look out, and John looked exhausted. It broke my heart to see him so worn out. It was hotter than heck, and he'd been at it for 3 days. I could barely move from being so sore and tired. I couldn't imagine how he felt. We got it all cleaned up though. John still has to split the wood, but it's all piled up along the edge of the yard.

I hit the US 40 yard sale a couple times this year. First the girls and I went. Then I went alone last Saturday. I didn't find much this year. I took 40 towards Dayton. I planned to go look for some bamboo shades for our living room windows when I was done yard saling. I went to Target with no luck. Then I was off to Home Depot. I got to the isle and saw the blinds. And then I saw this:

I took this cell phone pic and emailed it to Mom right after I put them in my cart.

Was $36, now $6.80????? I looked at the tag about ten times, then took a picture. Then I stuck the blinds in the cart and rushed to check out (after emailing Mom) just in case it was a mistake. Four blinds for the living room for less than the cost of one! Woot! John hung them right up for me when I got home. Pictures to come soon--maybe when we paint or maybe if I ever even clean the room!

By Sunday night, I was getting the itch to craft. The problem though is that my crafts seem to be getting more and more difficult. Ellie's blanket nearly killed me. My new project? A twin size quilt for Mary's bed. I was so intimidated by it that I didn't want to start.


Here's what I had as of this afternoon. The pattern is called a coin quilt. The coins are the little squares of fabric. They form a huge line, then are bordered by a plain (white) strip on either side. The quilt has 175 coins each cut 4.5 inches wide by 3.5 inches tall. There are seven coin strips. Tonight I finished sewing all thirteen strips together. I still need to do the two outside white strips, and then put a white strip across the top and the bottom. When I got everything sewed and pressed tonight and turned it over, I couldn't believe I made it with my own hands. I cannot wait to see it done. I still have a long way to go (making the back, basting it together, quilting it and binding it).

I told myself I would go to bed early tonight. I went to bed at 12:30am last night (this morning!?!?!) so I guess if I went to bed now it would be slightly earlier than that. I'm so tired I can't type or even remember if I had anything else to say.

Goodnight.

What a week.

I think that's all I can say. What a week. On Saturday, I was happily taking pics for my blog.

Ellie's new blanket on her bed.

Quilted table topper.

On Sunday, John and I had four hours to ourselves! We weeded and mulched some of our flower gardens. Monday after work, John mowed the entire yard. It started to storm.

Trees crashed down. The power went out for 21 hours. We were fine. The house was fine. Yesterday John and his Dad started cutting up the mess. And what a mess it is.

The apple tree is still standing. I hope it lives.

The dayliles we worked to weed and mulch.

Back side of the apple tree.

One of the debris piles. Maybe 3-4 high in places.

More of the garden we worked on Sunday.

I just realized that while some hostas are still standing, there are some that are just GONE. Right between the wood in the foreground and the smashed daylilies. There was a row of hostas there.

Ellie on one of the logs.

These little guys made it!

Ellie on another pile. Plenty of firewood this year!

One more look back at my garden. I keep telling myself it will be back next year.

The wind hit that side of the yard just right I guess. The rest of the yard is fine. We lost small limbs, but nothing major.

These hostas made it pretty well. The meter housing did not.

The power line pulled so hard before it broke that the meter box (not the meter) got damaged. The roof got torn up where the line goes into the house. Nothing major. We already are dealing with the insurance company.

And so, my week. A lot of clean up work for John, but we got lucky. We are safe. Nothing fell on the house.

Hopefully I'll be back with some crafty posts in the near future.