home improvement

 After 10 years, the living room is (moslty) done!

Baseboards are in. Trim is painted. Holes are patched.

Above and below are 'before' pictures.

 It was a really big job. Took us the better part of 3 days.

 A whole lot of cleaning happened, too.

 We had some help, but the kids mostly just stayed out of the way.

Which was fine.

 Tah-dah!

The color is called mt. olive and it is a goldish green.

We still need to paint the fireplace, which will be a light brown, I think.

We also have to figure out window covering, and maybe a rug, but other than that.......

we're done in this room for the next 10 years.

My home garden

 My home garden has a different crop of spring flowers than the school garden, and A LOT fewer vegetables. I've got bachelor buttons and larkspur.  

 The only things I've planted this year are a few sweet peas in January. Sheesh. I could have been picking beans and zucchini by now, but nope, didn't plant any yet. I did just put in 5 tomato plants yesterday. Maybe I'll see some fruit by August.

 Fortunately, the strawberries that went in a few years ago did really well. There is nothing like a warm, sweet, right off the plant juicy berry.

Again, my 'weeds' make me look good. But you can't eat them. The house looks pretty, tho, with vases in nearly every room. 

The other new bedroom

This isn't the best picture of these agreeable sisters, but it does show their new walls and carpet. Green, orange and dark pink! And, they did agree on the colors and the bunk bed.

Peach, lime and raspberry sherbet!

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Starting to make June birthday cakes today. Happy Birthday John!

Redecorating

Okay, maybe hanging a new shower curtain doesn't count as redecorating, but it sure makes this room look better.
Isn't this fabric cute? Target online.

Henry's room got a complete makeover. New rug, new paint, new bed/desk! I love the carpet and wall colors (licorice and faded ink), they are so calming and very mature. The bed/desk is from Ikea. The curtain is from our stash of beach towels and is temporary.

It was quite an adventure clearing out the kids rooms. They have a lot of stuff. They all lived downstairs in the sort-of-finished garage for a few weeks while we painted, removed a closet, patched a ceiling leak and had new carpets installed. The contents of the kids rooms were in every other room in the house. That wasn't fun. but it was worth it. Soon we'll be finishing up the girls room. Yee-ha.

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Henry's regular season baseball wrapped up last week with a championship game that they won!

Way to go SB Bronco Padres!

The Swamp Creature

Due to the recent rains, our grass has decided to grow very fast (and very green). After John mowed yesterday, Mae jumped right in and made grass-cuttings cupcakes. Chlorophyll was everywhere.
Look at those fingernails.

After the cupcakes were destroyed (by kicking each one into an exploding green firework), I carried her straight to the tub. Poor Lucy was the next to bathe.

We just got this cool 'thing' (I really don't know what to call it) from Wisteria (they call it 'kitchen storage', but we don't keep it in the kitchen so that doesn't work). It seems to be sturdy enough to hold all this. Someone keeps putting a grapefruit on top. Must be Mae, as she is the only one in the house who believes that grapefruit deserves such elevated status.

And this is what I see when I look to my right when I'm sitting where I am right now, at the computer. The light has to be just right, of course, either early morning or late in the afternoon (I think the light actually reflects off the car windshield at this time). I'm never not amazed by the incredible display of shadow shapes. I've tried for months to get a picture and this is the best I can do. Hmmm, the grapefruit is gone. Mae??

Sneak peeks

I think I mentioned this project a while back. This is our door chime made from Grandma Elizabeth's old buttons. It makes such a pleasant chatter when the doors moves.

A small bit of the new bedroom. We are not moved in yet, but we spend a lot of time standing in this room staring at the walls wondering what to do next.

I'm not sure how the color will come out on your monitor, but on mine, the shower looks pink. It is not, but sometimes it thinks it is. We'll have to work on that. I wasn't planning on a pink and green bathroom.

Ice Cream Social!

One night for desert we decided to have ice cream...in cones. Since it wasn't too warm out, the girls got some blankets to sit on and cover up with. Matilda enjoyed the fun as well, without ice cream.

Sleepy Garden

Sleepy garden is about two different things.

Isabel does this new thing in the mornings. If she gets up before everyone else she lays down outside our bedroom door. Most of the time we find her reading books to herself. This morning she was sound asleep. Very sweet.

The Tomatoes are Coming...The Tomatoes are coming. We are getting quite a few tomatoes a day. In this one you can see a few ripe ones, a few getting ready, and a few just getting started.

So it turns out that the mystery plant is a pumpkin for sure. It is starting to get pretty orange. We have 2 big ones and 1 small one so far.