A Garden Rake and no Heat

We don't have our heat hooked up yet. Almost, but no cigar. (Where did that "saying" originate from, anyway?) It's been down in the low 40's at night. This morning, it was 58 in our house, when I woke up (46 outside)! My hands are freezing. It actually felt warmer to me when I was outside walking Nikayda to the bus stop! I kid you not. The sun was shining - made all the difference in the world.

I've never felt the urge to get outside in the mornings when it was in the 50's but I sure felt like it today. Come to think of it, I wasn't up, much, in the mornings until now. But we're all adjusting just fine to this earlier schedule and it actually feels really nice. The boys are even getting up a little earlier too.

This morning, I took a few pictures in the entry but I'm going to wait and take more once I get a few things up {for texture. Flowers, linens etc...} I started to decorate in there, last week. Anyone know of a good place where I can find real-looking artificial flowers? I was thinking Joann's or Michaels'... I haven't looked at either place in ages. But I was wondering if there were others. I'm hoping to plug-away some more today - but probably in the kitchen and living room.

The wedding was beautiful. I can hardly believe they're married. {That's an I-can-hardly-believe in a good way.} :) It's a first for me (a brother getting married). It feels so strange to me that I have a brother married. It's so nice to see him happy and married to a Christian wife. Out of the 14 of us only Sara, Emily, and I were married until now. Family weddings are so fun! I only took a couple of pictures. I was waiting until my mom posted before putting any up... We only went for the day. We left late-morning Saturday and got home around 2 in the morning (Sunday).

In the end, I'm so glad we didn't stay the night. Mark and I visited the whole way home - which was nice. The kids slept because it was already after 10 when we left. A part of me really wishes we would've been at rehearsal but I know it was the right thing to not go for overnight. If it was feeling that stressful for me, it was better not to. It's just that I have no idea where half our stuff is right now. Everything's in boxes scattered throughout the house. I'm hoping by the time Ginger & Lars get married (Nov.), things will be a little more in order and we'll make it for Friday night! :)

Too Big for your Britches Little Curtain

I found these curtains at Target. They're Simply Shabby Chic by Rachel Ashwell, one of my favorite lines. Although, I love to drool over the fabrics and prints on her pillows, shams, bedding, and curtains, they tend to be a bit out of my current budget. So after deciding to take a gander through the curtain aisle, I couldn't resist when I found these hanging on the rack, just sitting there smiling at me with a tiny red tag screaming marked down, marked down!

It's a little hard to tell by the pictures but they're a pale retro pink (the bottom picture is probably the most true-to-color). I really liked the 'patchwork' style and the floral prints. Very feminine. They're going in my kitchen, if I can find two more. I only picked up two, originally intending them to be used in the front entry window and the front bathroom window. But when I got home, I realized they went perfectly with the pale retro green of the kitchen.

curtain detail

Oh, hello little blue bird, you've found a home.

The little curtain that was too big for its britches. Looks like I'll be learning to sew before too long, or one of these years. I'll have to shorten this valance, unless I decide to use vintage hankies for the curtain in this window. Sara's running to Target tomorrow and I'm hoping that there will be at least two more left when she gets there. Crossing my fingers! {But not holding my breath.} Even if she finds 'one', that would work too because I could use the 3 for the dining area and then go the hankie-route for this window.

The window's not painted and there isn't trim yet, but I wanted to make it a little more pretty to look at.

Vintage {Double} Metal Bed

I love getting tipped-off to a good sale. (That's "tipped-off", not "ticked-off").

A while back, Jessica (Keith H.) called about a garage sale she thought I might be interested in. {I couldn't find the post about it, to do the link for you...} Anyway, I ended up stocking up on vintage doors and old wooden {handmade} picture frames and a bunch of odds'n'ends. Well, yesterday while we were at Target, Steph (Kevin H.) called and said she was at a sale with a couple of metal beds. {She knew I was looking for them for our kids}. And she had seen some Fisher Price Little People buildings: a market and an A-frame house.

Because I didn't get home until about 7, last night, I cruised over there this morning. The beds, doubles, were sold. At 10 bucks, I'd a feeling they would be. But I asked if she had any more.

Sure enough.

There was another double in the garage. And it was the EXACT style that I've been looking for. I don't know how to explain it, and I couldn't find it on-line to show you. I'll get a picture later. It's being delivered around 5. The antique shop owners, where the garage sale was being held, just so happen to be our neighbors and volunteered to drop it off on their way home. (He was a gym teacher for 37 years at the school. He just retired). I'm so excited to get it! It needs to be painted but from what I could see, it was in good shape otherwise.

So, it's for Nikayda, temporarily. Now I need a mattress {and that fresh coat of paint} and we'll be all set. I'm on the hunt for a vintage metal canopy {single-size} bed for her. {I've wanted one, myself, my whole life}. This double bed will go out in the bunkhouse eventually.

Here are my morning treasures... they're still dirty, as is our van, but I'm still moving junk from Sara's place.

I picked up the Fisher Price Little People A-frame house (with some furniture!!) and the Little Market (with a car). A white crate. (I love white everything, so I was particularly thrilled with this find). A very old drawer, in perfect condition. (See detail below, 3rd picture). I love that crackled paint with a slightly pale green tinge to it. I also got 2 magazines (One a Martha Stewart Living Christmas Issue and the other a Country Living decorating with white and blue issue). And a handful of vintage Little Golden books. Oh and let's not forget Rainbow Bright! A circa 1983 Rainbow Bright doll. I have no idea what I'm going to do with her but I remember her from when I was little. (Although, I never had one). And she was in excellent condition for 10 cents. Maybe I'll clean her up and give her to Nikayda...

I am so drawn to vintage children's books for their beautiful illustrations and whimsical story lines. You just don't see these styles anymore in the newer books. I already have We Like Kindergarten and Baby's Christmas. I may let the kids look at these two or do a project with them (i.e. frame them to hang on the wall). One of my favorite illustrators of all time, of vintage children's books, is Eloise Wilkin. I love the beautiful, cherubic children that she's illustrated for so many books. The 3 that are illustrated by her are Baby's Christmas, We Like Kindergarten and Wonders of Nature. (At least, I'm 99% sure she did the last one, the page with the author and illustrator is missing).

Kitchen Sink

I have a sink! I'm sitting here trying to figure out how to take a picture of it and make it look clean, without actually having to clean it first. But I don't know any miracles for doing that, so I've got to go clean it before I show you a picture.

Mark finished setting it up this morning. It only took about a week, not too bad for a rookie plumber. ;) We've (both) been laughing about it all week. He's not done much plumbing before, but each day this week he'd work on it, bit-by-bit, trudging through it and it's finally set up. Woo-hoo! We're in business.

I really like it. He was going to put it on a 2x4 stand that he'd planned to rig up but he ended up using maple and I love what he did! I just need to get out the linens and figure out a curtain to go around it. And I'm contemplating painting it but I love how it looks right now {the white of the wood}...although it's temporary, it may be there for awhile. In either case, I need to seal the wood one way or another or it'll soak up all the water.


Oh forget it. Here's a picture. Dirty sink, dirty floor, and all. Just so you have an idea.

The Last of the Toilet Paper

I promise! Not the roll, just the posts on toilet paper. {Man, I hate when there's none left on the roll.}

But I had to show you because Mark hung the holder up this evening and I've lost count of how many times I've nonchalantly sauntered into the bathroom just to stand there and chuckle that I have my very own toilet paper holder. And so you can appreciate how insane I really am, I'll have you know that I was studying it and wondering how often I'd have to dust it with a cleaning toothbrush in order to prevent build-up in all the little grooves on it.

Sad, I know.

I have the matching towel bar but I need to refinish a small dresser to put the sink on. {A five-dollar steal - the dresser. I love it!} It will actually rest on top of the dresser, if all goes as planned. It's a wall-mount little squarish-rectangular shaped sink. It's on the wall right now, so we can actually use it 'til I get the dresser done.

I just picked it up from Sara's barn, this evening.

Ok. I can't believe I just posted not one, but two pictures of toilet paper on my blog.

Keeping You Up-to-Date

I've been sorta taking-it-easy, this week. Not a whole lot of sorting or organizing has been happening.

*Yawn*. {Streeeetch}. (No, I didn't just get up from a nap. I wish!)

{And no matter how many times I snap my fingers, the boxes won't unpack themselves.} Oh where or where is that Mother Fairy when I need her? ;)

Well, anyway, on that note - not a lot of change has been happening but I promise to show pictures once things start to look different. So, the mess that is posted on my blog down below is the mess I continue to look at myself, for now.

Toilet Paper Holder and Mild Shock

I was sitting here pricing out toilet paper holders and oy-yoy-yoy! Do you know that at Target you can get this one for $44.99!

Holy Hot Tamale!

I'm looking for this style and although I do really like this particular one I can't believe that it costs this much.

A humble little toilet paper holder. Who would'a thought.

My sister Sara had bought one in a similar style so I called her. She said she found hers on clearance at Target and paid nowhere near that and couldn't believe they cost that much either. I'm having a little sticker shock right now. All of the ones in this particular style (with the open end) cost upwards of 20-something bucks.

I'll be watching the clearances too.

And to think I thought they'd be around 10-15 bucks. Lol! :)

The Battle Cry of the Construction Queen

Don't throw that on the floor. I just vacuumed!~

{The cry that's echoed throughout our house lately}.

Don't throw that cereal on the floor. I just vacuumed!
Don't walk on the floor. I just vacuumed!

And even an occassional: Don't throw that frog on the floor. I just vacuumed!

{Thank goodness it was only a toy frog.}

Come to think of it, I believe I'm the Vacuum Queen rather than the Construction Queen.

******************

I made pizza bagels for lunch today (at 3 p.m. - we're still on a late schedule). I'd just gotten off the phone with mom, and was trying to figure out where the remainder of the block of mozzarella had disappeared to.

So. I asked each of the kids if they'd eaten it. I went down my short little row and ended at number 3, Carter. The guilty party by far.

He was standing there watching me as I asked the other two. Although {at 23 months} he is much too young to have a guilty look on his face, he looked at me and right away, pointed to his mouth, "Cheeeee!!!".

Oh the honesty of the innocent.

Has This Ever Been Done Before?

Has anyone ever shown pictures of their crazy move-in mess in a public place, for all the world to see before?! I think my aunties are going to faint if they ever see these pictures. (And many of my relatives)! ;)

Come on in! I'm warning you, there is a bit of a mess to be reckoned with...

(Above) This is the entryway. I was standing in the kitchen when I took this. The front door is to the left (not pictured). You can't tell from the picture but the entry is the palest blue you've ever seen. Almost white in some light. The blue is the bathroom ("Caribbean"). The basement door is to the right (insulation on wall going down).

(Above and below) This is the living room. It's white, as is the loft. The sitting room is the pale blue room in the back (where we are currently sleeping). Yep, that's our kitchen table and the highchair in the middle of the living room!

(Above) Nikayda's room through the doorway in the sitting room.

eta: No. She definitely doesn't sleep in a crib! Lol! All of the kids are sleeping in there, for now.

(Above) The loft, from the living room. There isn't a rail up yet. Mark put in a temporary wall going up the stairs until he makes the rail. We're just blocking off the stairs for now.

(above photo) My kitchen chairs.

(Above) The living room and in the back is the dining room. Or what will be the dining room. My little computer table and PC in the corner where I'm sitting right now. We have a vintage window that will go in that opening (by the computer) that we found junk-picking in Michigan. I need to paint it white first.

(Above) The kitchen taken from the dining room. The sink will go under the window. I have a couple of cupboards to put there until Mark builds the counter. I want a butcher-block style. No cupboards. Eventually, we plan to put windows along this whole corner. Notice my tiny fridge...

(Above) The doorway is the pantry. There will be a peninsula growing off the wall here. The dining room/kitchen color is a green-blue. (The sitting room is a blue-green. Get it? - They're very close in color. One's more blue. The other, more green).

(Above) The dining room and kitchen, taken from the kitchen and looking toward the dining room.

Yep, there is a bit of a mess.

I only hope that as the weeks pass, a prettier picture will unfold! First, I need some rest. I didn't get much sleep last night either. We were up until 3:30 and then I was up off and on until 5. I had to go to the bathroom and I was cold. (It got down to about 50, last night and our boiler isn't hooked up yet for the in-floor heat). I didn't want to get up because it was so chilly. But I finally did at 5! And then the kids got up early. (See post below).

But we're here and I can not even begin to explain my excitement. Over 6 years of waiting and it's finally here! Looking back, it was all worth it; all of the struggles and stress that we've endured. It was all worth it! I'm so happy that I can say that now. I get emotional, still, when I think that we have our own home. I get choked up when I think that this is finally happening. I'm so overwhelmed (in a good way) and so, so happy!

My life is truly just beginning.

;) Uh-oh! Let's see how happy I am in a few minutes. ;)

Mark just asked if I'd care if he sets up his speakers. (He's putting in a speaker system eventually (it's not done yet so he's just using other speakers today). That was his priority! I'm not fond of loud music. He is. I'll let ya know how this goes. ;) And he likes country music. I don't except for old country.

But, seriously, I'm excited that he's doing it because at Christmas time, it'll be nice to have. I don't tend to have the radio on very often. Pretty much never but I love listening to Christmas music.

Well, there is our house, in a nutshell. I'll try to post periodically as it all comes together. Or should I say, as it all unravels? Because it's about to get a whole lot messier before it gets better!

eta: Aaaaand. They work just fine! (the speakers).

{In a whisper: Unfortunately}.

I am a Woman Warrior

...hear me roar.

I did it! I moved all of my junk to our new house! Carter had chicken pox. Abram was sick with a fever. But we did it! Sara watched my kids yesterday. I'm SO grateful to her. I wouldn't have been able to do it without her. Having the kids out from under foot, for even a day was tremendous. We're all tired and ready to settle in. For the night.

Soon. There is still much to do. Namely scrubbing down the bathroom. The kid's beds are set up in Nikayda's room and I want to shuffle some stuff around before hitting the hay.

I'm so excited that we have a new PERMANENT (yes, that's in capital letters ;) address.

{At the moment, I hope I never have to move again. :) Although, truthfully, I've said that every time I've moved}! I'm excited, exhausted and overwhelmed both in a good way (glad the move is over/excited about having our own home FINALLY/life is just beginning) and the not so good way (SO much to do yet) - but it's all good. I'll get a picture for you soon. Of the mess that is my new home.

You can't see the room that is my kitchen/dining room as I wanted everything stacked in there. There is still so much to do construction wise around here - everything in one spot was easier for me. I don't have anything that resembles a kitchen yet - just a little fridge (from our rental, that we bought from our landlords).

Oh lets be honest here! Technically all the stuff isn't in the kitchen. There is plenty in the living room and sitting room and not to forget the basement which is loaded with junk from various junk-picking excursions in Michigan within the past couple of years.


I was just thinking that this is my 10th move since I moved out of mom and dad's in 1997!! NUTS. Mark and I've been married for almost 6 1/2 years and this is our 6th time moving (counting when he moved into the house that I lived in when I was single). This is the first time that I've moved all of my stuff by myself. (Mark did the heavy lifting with the furniture and his brother Hans lent a hand at the new house with some of it).

;) Don't ever move. Stay put. Settle in your roots. Yeah RIGHT. I love the change ~ or I did when I was younger. Now I'm getting too old for this moving business. ;) But every move was fun (once the moving part was over. ;) I'm ready to settle down and plant those roots. I say I'll never move again. Until next time.

But I really hope we never do because I love it here already. Especially because I have no more drunk neighbors partying until 5 in the morning. There was another party at the house next door, last weekend. I didn't post about it because it's been so busy around here. But I got home at 1:30 a.m. after working out at the house, with 3 sleeping kids, and there were teenagers milling all around our driveway. The police came sometime after 4 a.m. I'm so glad someone FINALLY called. Maybe that'll put an end to it...for the other neighbor's sake. Especially our sweet elderly landlords. (They're in their 80's). I'm going to miss them. They were some of the nicest landlords that we've ever had.

She (the landlord's wife) brought me dinner yesterday when I was packing and cleaning. And today she stopped by with watermelon in the afternoon, "to cool [me] off," she said. :) She's so thoughtful.

Enough rambling, for now. I don't even know what I'm saying at this point. I'm so tired!

Thank you all for responding on the screen name (I may have said that already...) Have a great rest of the weekend!

Oh yeah, I was going to tell you that every time we've moved Mark says I have too much stuff. This time, after I moved it all by myself, he just asked me,"So, now do you think you have too much stuff?"

Nope. Never. Junk is fun!

{I just don't want to move ever again}.

Moving

I just added a post below ~ but I put this one back at the top.

I'm taking a little break from posting, this week. :)

At least, I think I am. I mean, I'm going to try. What do you mean. ;) I'm not wishy-washy in the least.

I'm going to try to refrain from sitting in front of my PC for the next several days in order to empty this house out. I don't know if we'll have a phone or internet immediately upon moving. We haven't even talked to the phone company yet...and I don't know if there is a delay from the time you tell them until the time they actually do the transfer. Whoops. Lol! :) Oh well, we have our cell phones if there is.

But.

Wait!

What will I do without my internet?! (...'cause I'm sure there won't be anything else for me to do... ;)

Have a great week! :) (I may sneak in here from time to time...you know me...) :)

eta: The phone/internet will be transferred on Friday! Perfect timing.

New Email Address

I've changed my email address. I will be closing down the one that many of you have w/ my name, in a few days - maybe longer (with this move going on). :)

My new email address is whimsicaljunk[at]yahoo[d0t]com. (I'll work on getting it permanently on my blog later).

The name I've come up with for my little junk business is Whimsical~. Then I'll have {refurbished junk} in small print beneath it. :) And of course, my slogan is:

{Changing the world one piece of junk at a time}.

I'm so excited! Now I can work on some scrolling letters for the design part of it. This fall, I plan to get out the pens and work on the design for a sign, tags and business cards. I once read that the more you talk about your business dream, the more it becomes a reality. I hope that's true! :)

I'm expecting a frantic, crazy week. I'm single-handedly (w/ the help of three small children, one with chicken pox ;) moving all of our stuff to the new house - trip by trip. :) (Mark will bring our trailer by in a few days for the furniture). I'm extremely excited and anxious to be on the-other-end! The big part, to me, is getting out of this rental. But everything about this is so exciting for me, I'm almost giddy. :) I've enjoyed every bit of the work from cleaning up the yard (that will be endless ;) to cleaning out the house to scraping the mud clumps on the floor, and believe me, there were many! Lol! (Mark said, "What do you expect from a rookie?") right down to packing up and moving. It's been the most fun and rewarding exercise I've ever done.

Edited to add: This is Mark's first big tape job. He taped and mudded our remodel-job in Michigan but only one or two of the rooms. So he got a lot of practice with our house! It's nice because he usually has someone else do the taping and mudding on his jobs ~ eventually, he'd like to do them.

Paint Progress Report

The paint is up in the living room and the loft area and it's not as bright a white as I thought. I mean, it's bright white, make no mistake. But I like it. Even though it isn't what I'd intended. I love the pale blue ('Retreat') of the sitting room. I got to see that last night.

Mark's favorite color so far is the bathroom ('Caribbean'). It's a bright, deep, aqua ocean blue color. It's darker than anything else in the house and I like it. It's unexpected as compared to all of the other pastels, yet I think it 'flows'. We feel like it does because it's still in the same blue palette. I just hope it doesn't look out-of-place to everyone else. But really, that shouldn't matter. Right? If we're happy with it, that's what counts. :)

The upstairs bathroom (in the loft) is going to be a pale yellow. I love the color of sunshine and dandelions, which are one of my favorite flowers. They really are. I always feel the need to stress that because so many people don't appreciate them. Lol! :) But I've always loved them. I love fields, and in most cases, yards, of dandelions. They look like sunshine.

The only thing left to paint is the bathroom in the loft and all of the floors. The kitchen/dining room floor is painted as of last night. 2 a.m., to be precise. I never did find out what time he got home. He called around 2 to say that he'd be awhile. Carter was up. He wasn't feeling so great. (Runny nose, couldn't sleep). My mistake! He's been in the house a lot lately and there is still so much dust to clean up. I was cleaning, last night, and kicking it all up. I feel awful about that. I'll just have to be more cautious from now on.

I plan to post pictures but it may be a while - as in, a few weeks. I want to get moved-in and all before I try to start taking them. This next week is going to be so crazy and so exciting for us. I've gotta run now to bring stuff to the house. Suzy took my kids for the afternoon. What a treat! :)

Have a great weekend! :)

Rambling Happy Thoughts

A long rambling about the house
By: a happy girl

I'm sitting down, real quick, to say that I'm liking the pretty pastel paleness of the interiors of my new house. If you've ever wondered what it'd look like inside a cotton candy castle, come on over!

Love it. :)

At the moment, I'm leaning toward dark floors...again. (I tried finding the post that connects with this but I have a bazillion under the "House" label...couldn't find it...not enough time. Gotta move stuff. But I tried.) :) Basically, for anyone who needs to catch up, I've gone from wanting white floors (love white), to a very dark stain, to white floors (my latest reasoning: so I can see any stray ticks that land on the floor), and now back to very dark stain. The dark will ground the whole house so-to-speak. So at the moment that's what I'm leaning toward. Again.

BUT...

Mark is painting the raw floors for the time-being. (We'll put in flooring later.) And we went with "Navajo white" for some rooms and a pale "beige grey" for the others. It was ten bucks a gallon. We went with it. ;) Actually, we really lucked out because I wanted to go with white on the raw floor - just to try it out! Very light. The whole house would be SHOCKING to anyone if they saw it undecorated. It is so incredibly bright. And happy.

I think it's happy.

I have some ideas to ground it and pull it all together, though, during the decorating process. Think red. ;)

I've always wanted a retro, cottage-y, beach house-style house. I married the greatest guy in the world. He could care less about decorating and interiors. I am the luckiest girl on earth! Unless, he absolutely doesn't like something, which is so, so rare, he doesn't care. In fact, I'm not sure if there has ever been something that he absolutely was opposed to. I was surprised when he told me that he liked the color of our new kitchen, after he finished painting it. I'm not quite sure if most people would like it. And I don't even care (I say that as sincerely as possible) because I love it. :) But I was really glad that he liked it.

He's the guy who let me do pale-purple in our living room once. And he liked the warmness to the place after it was painted. See? Aren't I lucky. But, rest assured, I have no pale-purple plans for this house. I'm over my purple phase. For now. I used to LOVE it. Now, it's pale retro blues and greens. And red. I love bright red. Fire engine red.

Oh and the living room and loft? White. We went with white, after all.

Mark started to the cut corners in the living room last night, and when he came home, told me that it's the same color as the primer.

Whoops!

I almost panicked. But I quickly checked myself.

I didn't want a stark-white. I wanted a warm white. In my desire to avoid a dingy white, I went bright white. We thought it looked like a warm, bright white when we picked it out yesterday. Oh well. It's only paint. We can change it in a year or ten. I don't even care because we're finally getting a house! I'll just make sure there is a lot of color on the walls by way of frames and pictures. I'm sure that won't be a problem. ;)

Just a little disappointing because when we painted our remodel job in Michigan, we had used the most beautiful creamy white I'd ever seen. Mark loved it too. So, we wrote it down to use in our house. This house. Do you think we have any idea where that piece of paper is at the moment?!

Luckily (or is that unluckily?) white needs to be repainted fairly often. Hopefully, by the time it needs a new coat, we'll have found the slip of paper. Or a similar shade of white by means of a paint chip. I call it almond white. No idea why. It just sounds like a good name for it. But it's not the right name.

One more week!

We have to be out of here by the 25th. Now, would be a good time to start packing. But. I haven't. I've started moving stuff though, if that's any consolation to anyone. Me? Anyone? Who does this affect anyway?! Lol! :)

And my sister-in-law Suzy offered to watch my kids tomorrow. I can't say how much that is appreciated! It's so much easier to focus with the kids out of my hair.

Ah! The art of procrastination. At least, I'm staying true to myself during this whole process. I always did work better under pressure!

Well, Paint Me Blue

Paint colors continued...

That title has nothing to do with anything and everything to do with nothing.

Huh?!

Maybe the fumes are getting to me.

And I haven't even opened a can yet.

Ok. After standing on my head, turning the lights on and off, sitting on the roof (the neighbors wore off on me), opening and closing one eye, juggling ten kids (at one time...maybe it was only three...anyway...), holding my breath for ten seconds, standing on one leg and balancing a spoon on my nose (truthfully, I've no idea how I did that last part...I don't know how to do that), I think I've finally figured out which paint colors I'm going with.

Man! That's a lot of work.

But it's all worth it in the end, if you're happy with the colors you choose.

Which I can't be certain that this will be the case. This time.

I mean, I'm preeeeetty sure I want a pale, icy, minty bluish green color with absolutely no grey tone to it. More blue than green. Definitely not the other way around, for the living area and entry way. I chose it because I thought the name was fitting.

Retreat.

See. I know what I'm doing.

Mark's picking it up as we speak type read.

Whatever.

So, here goes nothing!

Oh and I went with a pale, icy, minty greenish blue for the kitchen.

Following?

Trust me. There is a difference albeit very subtle. ;)

And I picked "Caribbean" for the bathroom. Doesn't that sound fun?! Just a few shades darker than the paleness of the rest of the house. I don't want a dark bathroom so I'm sitting here cringing, all the while hoping that it's not too many shades darker and that it will flow with the house. Mark and I thought it would. By the looks of the eighth-of-an-inch paint chips.

We're jumping in head-first. As I mentioned before, we don't take too many precautions with stuff like this. Call it a little reckless, perhaps, but I'm not too worried because the leftover paint can still be used for projects if it doesn't work for the walls. It's still the right tone, if the shades off.

I think I could get use to living in a place, surrounded by colors like "Caribbean" and "Retreat".

I've always wanted a beach house.

Paint it Easy

Picking out paint colors is so much easier when you don't think of it as a marriage proposal.

I realize that finding the perfect color is a very serious commitment. But really. It's not like a marriage. It's really not. Unlike your spouse, you can change it if you want to.

I find that there are far too many colors out there to choose from. And I love colors. It's just that when I'm given so many choices, I start to feel...overwhelmed. I mean, which blue/green do I really want to stare at for the next few weeks. Few months. Few years. How do I decide. Do I go really pale and risk it looking too washed out. We've experienced this before, with our kitchen, when we lived in Michigan. I wanted a pale minty green color. It ended up looking washed out and we always said that we should've gone a shade darker. We'd probably have liked it better. Yet, on the other hand, if it's the right color it may turn out to be the perfect shade of pale bluish green that we're looking. How do we know. Or do we go with a little darker shade and risk it being, well, too dark.

I know you can buy those little sample containers of paint so you can test out the different colors, but I still need to know the direction I'm going before I start stock piling samples.

So I'm trying to convince myself that this is not, in fact, a big commitment even though it feels like it. Have I mentioned that other than that place in Michigan, this is the first place we've been able to choose paint colors for our walls (and we've moved many times). And have I mentioned that I tend to complicate things far more than necessary. It's not intentional or anything. It's just what I do. In fact, I've gotten quite good at it over the years. I am at the root of most of my own stress. But then again, aren't we all.

Actually, truth be told, I narrowed down the paint colors when I got back to the car. Before I even headed home. I knew it would ease things up a bit for me if I just stuck to the few that really caught my eye. But now the problem is...there are too few blue/greens to choose from. The hardware store only had about three chips with varying blue/greens on them {that looked to be about the tone I was looking for} and I'm not feelin' it. I may need to go somewhere else. Or just pick one and like it. And the latter sounds like the easier choice here. :) Why throw a hundred more colors on the pile.

We can always repaint...

Sunday Afternoon

Being that we didn't go camping, we spent Sunday afternoon together. As a family. Just us. It was so nice. We rarely are together lately - for the sake of being together. A family. So that was such a treat. We've been so busy with the house and all so when we're together, we're working. It was such a treat to just enjoy each other's company for the day and have fun. :)

We went out to eat for lunch. Then we headed over to a park so the kid's could enjoy some play time and we could relax. A little. They keep you on your feet when you're in a park, running from one jungle gym to the next. ;) But it was fun. Then we went out to our property for the late afternoon/evening and explored. This has been our usual routine as of late. We really enjoy strolling around the property. It's so relaxing and such a treat! Notice Nikayda's bucket, she and I rock hunt while we're exploring. We both love to find pretty rocks. (We'll use them in the house and in the gardens when they begin to take shape).

This place is going to be so good for me. It's soothing. When I'm there, I notice things like trees and rocks and leaves. Things I haven't paid attention to in years. It has a calming effect on me to be outside, in the woods. I never knew that. I haven't spent time in the woods since I was a young kid running around at mom & dad's house; running around in the great outdoors and taking time to explore the fields and ponds too. I was appreciating how I'll be able to explore and relax. Outside. Every Sunday, from now on, if I want!

Aapo decided it was "hot" out - hence the lack of shirt. Lol. :) It was in the high 70's. Beautiful but definitely not hot. ;)

While they were out for a walk (on our driveway), Carter just stopped all of a sudden and burst into tears. Possibly because he was trailing behind. Possibly because he missed his nap. And possibly because he's Carter. ;)

So, everyone turned around and went back for him.

And everything was right in his world. Once again.

Workin' Boy's

We're just about ready to paint! So, today was a good day to look at paint colors. (We rarely {try to} stay two steps ahead of ourselves here. It's our thing). In our usual custom, Mark told me, at lunch, that I need to let him know the paint colors. So off to the hardware store I ran. Well. I could've run but I drove.

It wasn't that hard. Really. There were only about two hundred and five shades of white. But luckily for me, only about five of them were a bluish/greenish white w/ more blue than green. And I already knew the color for Nikayda's room. (Still need to buy a sample to test it out though...) I don't want a million different shades around my house (although, I do like that), so it should be much easier. And I'm planning an accent wall. I never wanted one before (only because a lot of people have them), until a few weeks ago, when I decided it'd be fun. What the heck. Fun is good! So the wall along the steps leading upstairs and the whole loft will be one accent color.

I think.

We'll see...

You know, a while back (this past winter) the girls went out for coffee and I was talking about having everything white in my house. The walls, decor, furniture. Everything. And one of my friends was shocked. "Really?! You always wear such colorful stuff!"

Lol! I was laughing. And I keep thinking about that. I'd never thought of it before. I love colorful purses, scarves, costume jewelry, accessories. But I wanted a white and pale blue tone, overall, inside my house. It's soothing. Calming. Just what an anxious, frazzled chick needs for a nice comforting home environment. ;) But I'm laughing again, as I'm getting closer to moving in because I'm slowly incorporating more color into the scheme. It just may end up pretty colorful, after all. Maybe I just wasn't cut out for white. Time will tell. I'm going to let the color scheme unfurl on it's own. Let it take shape as it will and see what happens. I'm going to let it be me because it's my home. And most importantly, I want it to *feel* like home.

And switching subjects here, the boy's love to help out at the new house.

Mark's already got a couple of carpenters-in-waiting. ;) So far, there's definitely an interest! Lol! :) (We're crossing our fingers. ;)

Following in Daddy's...

...toolbelt?!

Aapo found a new favorite toy at the house...

Dad's toolbelt.

Fastening the belt.

Scootching to the wall.

Proceeding to look for a certain tool.

Ah! He found it.

He set to work, measuring the wall. With dad's chalk line. (He improvises when necessary). ;)