Why I Haven’t Blogged Lately

The past couple of weeks have been pretty full, and I wanted to share some of the things I’ve been up to! 

My mom came to visit, and like we do every time she comes, we crammed our days with shopping, crafting, and redecorating.  What started with, “Will you help me paint the family room?” ended up with complete makeovers in five rooms of our house! 

Ever since Todd and I got married in 1996, I have enjoyed rich jewel tones and autumn-y colors.  My kitchen was a deep purple and dark green.  My family room was dark green, brown, and burgundy.  My living room and dining room was brown and burgundy.  My bedroom was gold and dark green and burgundy.  See a pattern?  After almost 15 years, I came to the conclusion that I am TIRED of fall colors. 

I wanted to brighten everything up!

I got an awesome set of new dishes for my birthday…

So now my kitchen is teal and green!

I sewed new drapery and mom reupholstered my chairs.

Then…I painted my family room light blue.

And got a bright, happy new picture for the fireplace.

I hung new drapery in a pretty green for the living and dining area, but you will have to use your imagination because right now it is a homeschool/craft room/sewing room/playroom/piano lesson room…warzone.

But what I am most excited about is our bedroom makeover.  Before, I had an eclectic mix of hand-me-down furniture and dark colors.  Now, I have this.

It is so restful and peaceful!  We painted the walls a silvery gray.  I changed the bedding to all white with black/white/green accents.  A new headboard and picture pulled the look together. 

We painted all the furniture black and added new hardware.  I think it looks brand-new!

Thanks, mom, for all your help the past two weeks! 

Kitchen Makeover

When I was visiting my parents last month, mom and I caught the redecorating bug.  She’s been wanting to update her kitchen for a while, so we decided to do it while I was there.   

Mom wanted her kitchen to be bright and airy with a subtle tropical theme.  First we went to a fabric outlet and bought a gorgeous print in the clearance bin.  I sewed it into roman shades for her two windows.

We brightened up the walls with a fresh green color….kind of between mint and light sage.

The hard work came with the cabinets.  They are original from when the house was built in the 40’s.  Their condition is excellent…oak wood.  We removed and cleaned hardware, sanded, primed, and painted three coats of white paint!   It was a ton of work, but so totally worth it when we were done.

Since we were on a roll, mom decided to clean out all her cabinets and donate some older, less used items in order to display things that better match the new decor.  She even added new shelf liners.  We both love the result!

Spring Break

Normally, we travel as often as we can during vacation time to visit family.   However, this year we decided to stay home during Todd’s Spring Break and plan a “staycation” of sorts!  We tried to do something fun and different every day.  It ended up being the best week we’ve had together in a long time!

On Monday, we played golf.  Actually, Todd played golf while I drove the cart and tried to explain to a 5-yr-old why we had to be silent when players were teeing off.  It was a gorgeous day and so nice to be outside in the sunshine!  Grace was the official “flag mover.”  It was hilarious watching her try to lift and maneuver the awkward pole while daddy putted.

On Tuesday, we went to see “Alice In Wonderland” in 3D.  I know, I know.  Probably not the best choice for a 5-yr-old.  There were some pretty intense scenes.  I took her out to the bathroom during one particularly scary part.  She loved it, though!  All the animals and creatures delighted her.  Thankfully, we haven’t heard word one about the scary dragon or river with decapitated heads.  She’s been sleeping as well as usual and talks about the movie happily.  Just sayin’….

On Wednesday, we rode the Trinity Railway Express to the Dallas Mavericks game.  Grace loved the train ride more than the basketball game!  It’s a double-decker train, so we sat on top and enjoyed the view!

 

The Mavs game was tons of fun!  At first Grace was overwhelmed by the loudness, the height of the nose-bleed section, and the screaming fans.

But she soon warmed up and ended up dancing and entertaining everyone around us when the music played.  She also informed me that she wanted to dance “just like those girls.”  (The Mavs Dancers).  Um…..no.

On Thursday we went to Six Flags, along with every other human being in the D/FW area.  I’m not kidding when I say it took us 2 1/2 hours to go one mile on the interstate, park, and walk into the park.  We waited in line for about an hour for each ride we rode.  Good times.

On Friday, Todd took Grace on a daddy date.  Anytime Todd takes her out, you just never know what they’ll come home with.  After a couple of hours, she proudly arrived home with this:

Her first bicycle.  And daddy succumbed to the “Snow White” model because, of course, the most important thing about a new bike is the princess purse that is attached to the front, which conveniently holds lip gloss.  That’s my girl!

And what was I doing while Todd and Grace were painting the town?

I was painting my kitchen!!!

And re-upholstering my breakfast room chairs!!!

And sewing new draperies!!!

  

In addition to painting my walls, I sanded and painted our cabinetry white.  It was a LOT of work, but totally worth it.   It really brightens up the room and makes me feel happy when I cook!

We thoroughly enjoyed the week together, and Grace was sad to see daddy go back to work on Monday.  Back to reality!

Home Again!

We arrived home safely last night from our road trip to Tennessee.  It was nice to pull in the driveway and give thanks for God’s protection on the road.  I-20 was a mess yesterday with heavy thunderstorms, crazy truck drivers, and lots of construction.  There were so many opportunities for bad things to happen, but we stayed safe and Grace stayed happy!

When we walked in the door, Grace ran upstairs to her room and said hello to all her toys, basically making a huge mess in under a minute.  She kept calling me into her room and saying, “Look, mama!  It’s my Barbie doll!  Look, mama!  It’s the ceiling that Mimi painted!  Look, mama!  It’s my Pet Shop house!  Look, mama!  It’s my _____ !”  She was so happy when she went to bed, and she’s still sleeping as I type this morning. 

Today I’m just going to enjoy being home and getting unpacked.  Todd is running to the farmer’s market to get a few fresh items, but I’m going to save my heavier grocery shopping for next week.  Todd is going out of town again tomorrow for four days on school business, so Grace and I will eat out of the pantry and freezer until he returns.  By then, I’ll have clipped more coupons and mapped out my shopping plan according to the new ads.

Today I’m also going to…gasp!…buy some flowers to plant outside.  I have been convicted over the past few weeks about denying Grace the enjoyment she gets from gardening.  Just because I have a black thumb doesn’t mean she has to as well!  My mom and my mom-in-law are both master gardeners, and Grace was thrilled to help them in their yards during our visits.  I want her to have fun in our yard, too, and learn all about taking care of growing things.

So, I got up early this morning and dug out some big planters from my garage.  I’m going to start easy and put some hardy flowers in the big pots and set them on the front and back patios.  I’ll let Grace help me plant them, then I’ll make a little chart on the fridge to help us remember to water them…maybe with Grace’s help they won’t die!

Out With The Old, Part II

Helping my mom clean out her closets last week inspired me to do the same in my own home.  It wasn’t nearly as much fun doing it alone… Mom and I had so much fun laughing about what we actually thought was flattering in the 80’s.  (Hello shoulder pads!) 

I cleaned out my closets a while back when we first put our house on the market.  This week I’m mainly getting rid of anything I haven’t worn or used since then.  And I’m donating the clothes that don’t fit anymore and can’t be altered.  I’m determined to NOT need them again!

Now I have six garbage bags full of neatly folded clothes and linens, as well as a few baby and maternity items I’m giving to a friend.  I went through all my sewing and cross-stitch supplies, reorganizing and condensing into large plastic bins.  Once I cleaned out my foyer closet, I had room to put all my sewing supplies in it to be within easy reach, and the closet still looks almost empty!  All the floors of my closets are empty, and everything looks nice and roomy.

We signed a contract with a new realtor last weekend, and he’s coming to take new pictures in a couple of days.  I still need to pull some weeds, touch up some paint, and clean a couple of spots on the carpet.  But the house looks nice, and hopefully this new realtor will help us find someone who will love it and want it for their family!

Yard Work

I accomplished a major feat yesterday.  I mowed the grass for the first time in my life.  What can I say?  I grew up with two strapping brothers who were happy to be outside, and my duties/chores around the house were confined indoors (hence my black thumb and disdain for sweating). 

When we bought our home, Todd agreed to take care of the outside if I took care of the inside.  Not a bad deal considering the size of our backyard.  But he’s been really busy lately and I was starting to dread receiving “the letter” from our homeowners association asking us to trim our lawn.  (I speak from experience, people.)

Anyway, after wrestling with the lawnmower for about 20 minutes trying to figure out how to get it started (how was I supposed to know there was a little red button?), I began on the front yard.  Since there were a ton of clippings, I had to stop several times to empty the grass bag.  I really wanted to do that cool design on our grass where there are diagonal patterns (how do people DO that?), but I shortly gave up and decided to just do my “square spiral” method where you can just keep moving around the perimeter until you reach the center.

Then I started on the backyard.  Oh. my. goodness.  My original plan of quickly cutting the grass before dinner turned into hubby coming home from work and helping me finish with the weed eater, realizing there would be no supper, then going out to get a Little Caesar’s pizza.  Thankfully, we were done by 7:00 because neither one of us wanted to miss Adam singing on American Idol! 

So, this is what I learned yesterday:

1. I should wear gloves when working the lawnmower for such an extended period of time or I will wake up the next morning with painful blisters on my palms.
2. I must avoid wearing shorts and sandals to mow the lawn.  Getting a tan is not worth the ant bites and flying debris stings.
3. Mowing the grass is an upper body workout.  There are muscles in my arms that I didn’t know existed.
4. Apparently I’m allergic to cut grass because I had to stop and take Benedryl after hives came up on my hands and arms.
5. I do not begrudge the lawn moving company that we used to employ the $40 they charged to cut and edge our grass.

My Handyman

My husband is a man of MANY talents, but unfortunately he did not inherit the "fix it" gene. He will be one of the first to admit this. We have been putting off fixing the tile problem in our shower, but we had to stop procrastinating this weekend. The realtor is coming Monday morning to take pictures of our house for the advertising, and everything needs to be in working order.

Home Depot is an awesome place. They hold "handyman" classes to help people like us learn how to fix things ourselves. This morning, Todd got up early and went to a class on installing tile. He came home an expert. It took him about an hour to replace the broken tiles and re-grout everything. It looks good as new! I am SO PROUD of him. It would have cost a lot of money to hire someone to do it for us. While he was fixing the tile, I gave the master bathroom a fresh coat of paint. The end result is very nice.

I also weeded the flower bed this morning and sprayed Round-Up around the perimeter to keep the grass from growing in the bed. I inadvertently sat in an ant hill while I was weeding....lets just say I haven't danced a jig like today since I found a DVD of Barry Manilow's Copacabana on EBay.

Getting a house ready for sale is exhausting. I sure do appreciate my mom helping me while they were here the past few weeks. I hope all this work is worth it in the end!

Designed to Sell

Mom and I have been working hard to get our house ready to put on the market. I knew those hours of watching "Designed To Sell" on HGTV would come in handy! Mom worked the carpet cleaner the other day, and my carpets now look very nice. We've been cleaning out all of my drawers and closets. Many things have been thrown away, donated, or given away to friends. When the time comes to pack the house, it should be much easier now!

Today we are painting the laundry room. A few years ago I had the harebrained idea to paint it a bright turquoise. I wanted something bright and cheery.....I figured if I was the one doing laundry, I could pick the color! Now we are painting it a more neutral khaki color....very much improved.

The house still needs to be staged. I need to take down most of the family portraits and clean up the fridge. I need to move our leather chair upstairs into the master bedroom and create a "reading nook" with the extra space in our room. Moving the chair out of our small family room will also give the appearance of more space. All the baseboards need a good scrubbing and paint touch-up. I need to reduce the amount of toys that are downstairs. I need to organize the gameroom/office area upstairs. And, I need to donate or sell some of Grace's older toys.

My goal is to call a realtor by the end of the week and start the process.

Oh, I forgot something.....we still haven't fixed our shower! I'll go to Home Depot to finalize what we need to do. See this post for our shower story.

I'll let you know how we progress!

Update

I forgot to mention this in my last post, but Grace is back to her normal self today. No fever, and definitely no lethargy! She has enough energy today to more than make up for yesterday. I guess it was just a little 24 hour bug.

Also, I need to brag on my husband for a minute. His brakes started going out on his SUV recently. We were quoted over $300 just to replace the back brakes at our local dealership. With the help of a friend who enjoys working on cars, Todd replaced his brakes (both front AND back) for a grand total of just under $40. He was very proud of himself and enjoyed sitting around in his grease-stained clothes and face/hands/arms/legs before reluctantly taking a shower.

I'll have to admit he looked pretty cute.

Home Improvement

The other day while Todd was taking a shower in our master bathroom, a piece of large tile fell off the shower wall and crashed to the floor. Upon inspection, we realized that behind the tile was an empty space with rotting insulation. While neither one of us is a handyman, we at least knew that something was definitely missing. Shouldn't shower tile be applied to some type of water-resistant board?

During Todd's lunch break today (between a morning parade and an evening band march-a-thon) we had a family outing to Lowe's Home Improvement Store. The fix-it guy (or in this case woman) chuckled when we told her the story, then informed us that we had been duped by shoddy contractors when our house was built in 2001. She said that since the early 60's, all shower tiles have been applied to water-proof boards. Anything less is unacceptable. How did this pass inspection????

UUUGGHHHH!

So......we have to remove all tiles and the shower door/glass. Unless we want to pay for new tile, we have to carefully clean and sand the old grout off our tiles to make a smooth surface. We have to purchase and cut to fit waterproof boarding. Then we have to re-tile, re-grout, and re-install the shower door/glass.

You know, we don't mind the normal home improvement projects that come with home ownership. But, it is very annoying to pour time and money into a problem that is a direct result of lazy and greedy contractors.

Moral of this story: When shopping for home builders, cheaper is not always better. We went for a less expensive builder that had a pretty good reputation in our area. Oh well, there is a reason they were cheaper.