Peace

Reagan is very fond of anything with peace signs on it, and she has a peace sign theme going on in her room.  Last year, she received a peace sign template/sticker/collage kit for Christmas, and it finally got put to use last night.  It is definitely my fault that it took so long to get this done; she needed me to cut the template and hang it on the wall for her!

Here is the template:

Reagan cracks me up; she makes the funniest faces!  AND, yes, that is Kate all blurry in the background, and YES, it was interesting trying to do this with her present!

Once I put the template up, I gave Reagan the stickers and let her do her own thing.  I offered advice, but she took it or left it (mostly left it) and did a great job on her own.  I did my best to keep Kate out of her way because Kate REALLY wanted to "help" and she REALLY wanted to take the stickers off after they were placed on the wall!  Reagan had a lot of patience with Kate though, and let her help a little.

I think it looks very pretty on her wall, and since it is above her bed, I'm sure it will help Reagan to have very peaceful slumber!

Chair Socks

I was reading Mini Manor Blog, a design/decorating blog, (you can stop laughing now) when I came across the idea for chair socks.  They are so cute!  I love them!  AND, they are now dressing two chairs and protecting our wood floors.

Simple things make me happy.

Dining Room Makeover

This is how our dining room used to look:

We used it once, maybe twice a year, and the rest of the time it served as a dumping ground for whatever was cluttering up the kitchen.  We decided to make the space more useful for our family, and it is now a study room/mudroom.

California Closets installed the new desk and the lockers.  The room is already being used regularly and we are VERY happy with it.  

Finally!

House Update

After three days without any progress, the trim was painted today.  As you can see, our windows and doors are still covered with plastic!  Just a few more days!!!

Our House - Rhino Shield Continued

The guys worked over the weekend.  They covered every door and window with plastic and applied primer and whatever else they put on the house to get it ready for paint.

Remember when I whined about the noise of the sanding?  I think that was more tolerable than not being able to see out any of the windows!

Supposedly, they have about three more days of work.  Unfortunately, it is supposed to rain most of the week:

MonMay 21

65^°

58^°

Showers

CHANCE OF RAIN:

70%

 

WIND:

E at 10 mph

Details

TueMay 22

74^°

59^°

Showers

CHANCE OF RAIN:

40%

 

WIND:

SSE at 7 mph

Details

WedMay 23

74^°

57^°

Showers

CHANCE OF RAIN:

40%

 

WIND:

SSE at 7 mph

Details

ThuMay 24

70^°

59^°

Few Showers

CHANCE OF RAIN:

30%

 

WIND:

SSE at 8 mph

Details

• 10 Day Forecast

 I hope the rain stays away and the work is done this week!

Oh, one funny thing...every time the crew chief comes to the door, he asks for Tom.  He says, "your husband?".  I guess he thinks I am not allowed to make any decisions or write checks!

Our House

We are currently in the middle of Rhino Shielding our house.  Yes, I know that rhino shielding is not a verb, but it is for the purposes of this post.  So far, they have scraped all of the paint off and now they are sanding the house.  I thought the scraping noise all day long was annoying, but it was so much more tolerable than the sanding - it sounds like I am trapped inside of a huge bee's nest!  I will be so happy when they are done.

If you are not familiar with Rhino Shield, they use a ceramic based paint and guarantee it for life.  Disney, Nascar, and the Lizzie Borden house are some of the big name clients of Rhino Shield.

This is a picture of our house right after we moved here in 2009:

We are sticking with the same color scheme, but our green is a little more green than the original color.

The main color will be Benjamin Moore Caldwell Green:

The trim color will be Benjamin Moore Popcorn Kernel:

Our doors will be Benjamin Moore Parisian Red:

Choosing paint colors (especially knowing they will be there for a very long time) was very stressful, but Tom did a great job painting color after color on the side of the house until we were happy and confident in our choices.  

I will post more pictures as the process continues.

A Bed Fit for a Princess

R has a bed fit for a princess, and she LOVES it.  Grandma and Grandpa gave her this gorgeous bed as an early birthday present, and I could not resist sharing this picture.  I have to tell you that her bed is so comfortable that I am always tempted to snuggle up next to her for the night. 

Tulips in Bloom

You may remember that I received these beautiful tulips free in exchange for telling you about nursery decor at CSN Baby.  Well, they are finally on R's walls.  I love them!  Tulips are my favorite flowers, and I think these are fantastic!  R also has some wooden bins with tulips painted on them, as well as a tulip print that will eventually be hung in her room.  What do you think?

Arts and Crafts in our New Home

This is the arts and crafts center in our new home. This area is in the finished part of our basement. I love that this section has a tile floor for easy clean up, cabinets for storage, and a SINK!!!!!! Woo Hoo! Arts and crafts have left the kitchen! Soon, we will have some artwork on those walls!

Hello from our new kitchen!

I love our new kitchen. It's white. I hope it stays that way. I also love the way the sun fills the room in the morning, not that you could tell from these photos. I love the cabinet space (see the wall of tall cabinets in the top photo), the shiny granite counters, the island that makes cooking so much easier. I am so happy here.
A house is not a home until you bake something in the kitchen, so we are looking forward to baking molasses cookies this weekend. I can smell them already!