Paint Dilemma

I had a very difficult time making a paint selection for our hallway and living/dining room. After totally loving the green that I used in the family room and kitchen, I just couldn't find a beige that I felt the same way about. So, we went through three paint colors until I was happy!

Again, sorry for the phone picture, but you can see our wall looking like a camouflage treatment with all the paint colors on it.

The winner was Relaxed Khaki from Sherwin-Williams. This paint, their Duration matte, was our favorite paint from the whole project. It covered extremely well and was great to work with. Highly recommend it (especially when it's 40% off).

Here it is on the walls:

Apples for Everyone!

Each year when Sharon and Chaz come to visit, we end up buying more apples than the previous year. It's becoming an obsession!  But it's always a good time.

On their way to the funny farm:

Someday the girls will be too little to pick up. But not this year! 

You can see the rain moving in - luckily it held off until we got in the car.

We enjoyed a family game night with Sharon and Chaz. I have to give Chaz props for being E's partner. If you've ever seen her "sit" through a typical game you will know why... 

I'm Floored!

We found an amazing deal on our Shaw flooring online. It even had super cheap shipping, provided we could have it delivered at a commercial location. Doug's office was perfect.  He drove the van to work on the day it was set to arrive, but it was a no show. Our contact called the delivery service with Doug on the line and lit into the person about it. Doug said it was one of the most uncomfortable conversations he's ever had to listen to! Unfortunately, our advocate's persistence didn't make much of an impact as the flooring was a no-show the next day as well, but at least we got a full refund of the shipping cost.  Finally, on the third day I got a call that it was in. And it would take two trips. Cuz it weighed 2,000 pounds. Yeah.

Luckily, Doug found a friendly forklift operator to help unload the skids from the truck. Our van hitch was 4 inches from the ground with half the flooring loaded! But we got it all safely home and stacked in the garage.

This is what it's supposed to look like (excuse the phone pic). It's called Sawmill Hickory from Shaw's Timberline laminate flooring line.  I am somewhat nervous about having laminate in the kitchen, but I love the durability of this product and the look. It has beveled edges on the individual planks and some texture and distressing that makes it hard to distinguish from the engineered products. Not to mention the price... We paid SIGNIFICANTLY less than the $3.99 "sale" at the flooring store.

I've got to make a decision on the paint color for our living room/hallway/dining room area before Friday. We plan to do the demo and floor installation ourselves. Can't wait to see it all come together!

Renovations - Part Two

And it just keeps coming! After finishing the family room and kitchen, we spent a good day going through the wall until to organize and empty it. It is incredible the amount of stuff we had in there!

The office desk got a similar treatment and the computer has been temporarily moved upstairs to the guest room:

This is an example of the damage on the walls in the dining room. When we bought the house (11 years ago!) this room was covered with wallpaper that did NOT want to come off.  Doug spent hours and hours and hours with a steamer and every conceivable concoction to remove it. It was a nightmare.  After all that work, it left us with some damaged drywall but not enough motivation left to repair it. So, we painted right over the mess and it's been peeling and bubbling away ever since.

Drywall Doug to the rescue!

My hero! *swoon*...

To truly repair this wall you'd need to skim the ENTIRE thing with drywall compound. We're just hitting the worst areas with the knowledge that at least it will look better than it did before.

Who really notices drywall imperfections, anyway? Nosy busybodies, that's who!

Back to life uncover. Sadie's kennel is in the middle of that mess. She has not been too keen on all the upheaval in her house. Wait till she sees the flooring...

I'm Feeling Blue...

for blueberries!  Who doesn't love fresh blueberries?  After doing some online research, I decided to give it a whirl.  Our local garden shop was selling their blueberry plants for 50% off and told me it was a perfect time to plant.  They look like dead twigs stuck in a bucket, but I am hoping that they develop into leafy bushes of deliciousness.

They sell two varieties of blueberries in each container for cross-pollination.  I am now the proud owner of a Blueray and a Bluecrop plant.  I know that they like full sun and acidic soil.  They will likely need some special fertilizer and I won't be able to harvest any berries until the second season. The bluecrop variety is supposed to grow 4-6 feet tall! We spent quite some time debating the perfect location for the bushes.

Here is a glimpse of my garden to date. Very green! The oregano has bolted (lower left) but the basil keeps on coming (lower right). With all the rain we've enjoyed, the lettuce and green onions have sprouted and are on their way. Hopefully we'll be enjoying those in salads in the next few weeks.

The boards are battened.

(Sorry for that title, but it's more original than "Board and Batten Completed.")

Yes, we did it! After several weeks (yes, weeks) of living with dropclothes and drywall dust, our family room is sporting a brand new look.  I love it - crisp and clean and updated.  I'm really loving all the farmhouse decor that is in style now and this is our attempt to bring a bit of it into our home. Doug likes that it is comfortable and not "froo froo".

I picked up an old window at an antique store. Not sure where it will end up, right now it's on the mantel. We are still thinking about painting the brick. Right now I am considering painting them all to match the dark brown bricks. Other option is to whitewash them all. Your thoughts?

We rearranged the furniture in here, too. Did you notice the "new" couch? It's my old apartment sofa with a twill slipcover. And now I'm going overboard by putting a blanket over the slipcover to protect it... Yesterday I took advantage of the Labor Day Sale to order a comfy chair and ottoman for the corner opposite the blue chair to make a nice little reading nook.

In the kitchen, the green really does pop the cabinets. We also painted the ceiling in both rooms, so that also did a lot to brighten up the space.

Can you tell I bought some new knobs for the doors?

We splurged a bit on these fancy switch plates, but I think they were worth it.

I removed all the photos and things on the fridge and have been asked at least four times if we got a new one! It makes a big difference.

Well, that's it! Wish my camera was operating better, but this is the best it gets.  We have hickory flooring on order and have already begun doing some drywall repair in the dining room, prepping to paint. Stay tuned...

Indiana Sunset

Who says Indiana isn't picturesque?

Back to Preschool!

Hard to believe I am starting my third year of homeschooling preschool.  This will be the final year of homeschool, as E will be headed to public school next year for Kindergarten. It should be the easiest year, since I am reusing the same curriculum that I did with C two years ago - the Letter of the Week.  I have all my lesson plans, print-outs and manipulatives saved by letter so the prep will be minimal. I also have a much better perspective on how much (or rather, how little) is needed to properly prepare E for Kindergarten at public school.

How does E feel about it? Well, let's just say that we hadn't been home five minutes from walking C to first grade when she asked to do preschool. :)

The first week is an introduction week, where we do activities related to the whole alphabet.  E is older than C was when we did this curriculum and she also is way more advanced in reading then C was. I will have to come up with all new sight words and probably do more focus on math.  I plan to be much more relaxed with E and not pressure myself to fit in all the activities each week.

Here is E enjoying the first week of preschool: