The Wall

One of the things on my list of crap I want my dad to do while he's here to keep him occupied things I think would be fun to do with my dad while he's here was a flower bed around the front of my house.  My house is all garage from the front and I wanted to try to draw your eye to the front door area.  I thought that a large flower garden would do the trick.  I sketched out what I wanted and then submitted it for approval-to Dee and my mom.  Dee gave the go ahead, but Mom made some changes.  This is what we started with-YUCKY! and TRASHY! 

We decided on a brick and went to the Depot to pick it up.  They gave us the use of their truck for one hour for free.  So, as soon as they loaded it up, the clock was ticking.  We made good time on the road and then.....we had to unload.

That's a lot of rock.

We made it back to the Depot with six minutes to spare.  All that speeding as a teenager has really paid off later in life.

Side Note:  When we came back from the Home Depot, Jensyn had fallen asleep hiding from my mom.  I asked what happened and she proceeded to tell me that she had chased Jensyn all over the house, trying to get her dressed.  Jensyn was screaming 'Mommy dress me, Mommy dress me!' which my mom took as 'I want Mommy to dress me!'  So, since she knew that I was very busy and pressed for time, she was insistent that she would dress Jensyn and it would be fine.  Jensyn ran and hid and when my mom found her, she was asleep.  Apparently Grandma had stressed her out so much, she finally just fell asleep.  I very calmly explained to my mom, she was actually saying, 'Mommy already dressed me!'   I guess my choice in clothing looked too much like pajamas.

At this point we had to take a break to go to Leighton's Character Award Ice Cream Party (and no I don't make it a habit of sending my child to school in her pajamas, it was Pajama Day as well.)

This little one IS quite a character, I guess that's why she got in on the Character Ice Cream Party.  (or maybe because she's so cute!)

We came back and laid the first row, and then it was cake from there on out.  Of course, I say that because my dad laid the first row.  He makes everything look so easy......then you try to do it by yourself!

He did have a lot of help.

See, A LOT of help.  Wait, she isn't helping?  

 Dee got home and cut the last couple of bricks so they would fit into place.  He then took the wheelbarrow into the backyard with his helpers.   See, they are still helping.

This is what the final wall looks like.  What?  You can't see it?  That is kind of the idea.  It blends in so well with the foundation brick.  I am very excited to fill it with dirt and plants.   

UPDATE:  It only took us forever to fill up the bed with dirt and we have planted a few plants.  It needs a lot more and I will slowly fill it in.  Now I am itching to do the other two beds in the front yard.  Mom and Dad are coming to visit in October!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!



We thought they needed a little girly touch!



Two Down, One to Go

What do you think of when you see this smiling face?

Well, after her first orthodontist appointment, this is what I think of.

She starts out with having eight, yes eight, baby teeth pulled. Dr. Hixson did say that when we were all done, she would have a beautiful, toothy smile. I am going to hold him to that.

The Painted Walls

We have lived in our house for almost four years.  In those three plus years, I have only painted three rooms, (the three smallest.  And when I say small, I mean small: the half bathroom, the laundry and the girls bathroom.  I think I only needed a gallon per room, if that!  Well, the kitchen-family-dining area combo was in bad need of a paint job.  I had washed the walls down to sheetrock in several places, that wasn't very hard considering we have the worst builder paint EVER!

I decided on a couple of colors and brought them home.  The little paint chips are never enough, so I bought the samples at the Depot-LOVE them!  Well, everyone hated my favorite, so I went back for some different colors.  We lived like this..

 And this..

 And this...

And this..for quite a while.  I'm talking months, people!

 I still couldn't decide. There is such a range of lighting in this space, one entire wall is windows and yet, it can seem so dark in the kitchen sometimes. Once I finally decided on a color, I waited until Dee was away on a business trip.  He is a little like a cat and doesn't do well with either change or chaos, so it is best to do it while he is gone.  I did as much prep work as possible with the girls awake, but after the fourth time of cleaning caulking out from between Jensyn's fingers and out of Carly's hair, I put the girls to bed at 8:00 and began to paint.  This is what it looked like around midnight.  I HATED it!   But, I had just purchased five gallons and there was no going back.

 This is around 3:00 a.m.  I'm liking it better, but there is so much more to go.

 And this is 7:00 a.m.  I was just finishing the first coat and thought I would be able to rest for a couple of hours, not realizing the time. 

  I made the girls breakfast, took them to school and then got back to painting.  I didn't dare to paint through the night again, for fear I would fall off the ladder and the girls would find me in the morning, so I cleaned up and went to bed shortly after they did.  I was able to finish the second coat while they were at school the next day.  Dee came home that night and I finished the woodwork.  We moved the furniture back and enjoyed how clean the walls looked. 

 I started hanging some things up and was not liking my E-A-T.  I am going with a whole new scheme in the kitchen.  I am over the apple thing.   I still love apples, I just don't want them EVERYWHERE.  I have plans of painting the table and chairs black and thought maybe a change of paper to black and white. 

 That didn't do the trick, so I tried painting the shelf black.   There that's better!

Now, I just have to paint the doors, touch up a couple of places and find/make and hang up the rest of the wall decorations.  Oh, and paint the rest of the $*#%$#@* house, woodwork, doors, ceiling, outside shutters, and front door.  Tell me again why I want to own a home!?!

More Exciting than Christmas

My parents got here Tuesday night. The girls were so excited for their arrival. They had a hard time going to sleep. They knew that when they woke up Grandma and Grandpa Doll would be here. At about a quarter to five, Leighton came downstairs to ask if it was okay to wake up Grandma and Grandpa. She was followed by the other two, who were just as excited. I made them wait until 6:30, since my parents (or I) hadn't gone to bed until two. They ran in and there was a lot of jumping and squealing involved. Jensyn took a little while to warm up, but once she was warm she was in the bed and making herself at home.

The funniest part is that the girls never get up before eight on Christmas morning!


Side note: When Carly was little my parents would always take the late flight in and the early flight out. So Carly would wake up and they would be in the guest room and then she would go to sleep one night and in the morning they would be gone. I always wondered if she thought it was a magic room.