Like Mother, Like Daughter

We had been done with the floors for less than 24 hours, all the tools put away, furniture put back, totally relaxing, when our daughter comes downstairs. It went something like this

"Daddy?"
"Yes."
"Can we build a stage for my American Girl dolls? I have a plan!"



He cringes as he hears those 4 little words, but the look of excitement on her face won him over. She pulls out a very detailed(for an 11 year old) plan showing exactly what she wanted it to look like. how big it should be, materials list...She is prepared! They head outside to begin. I LOVE to watch him interact with the kids, he's patient and kind and explains how to do it and lets them help. He is such a Great Daddy.



Of course it is only a matter of time before I have to go see what's going on. I observe quietly and then I HAVE to offer some suggestions. This does not go over the way I had planned. I am sent inside. I pout. I am summoned to explain my suggestion and then I am sent away again. They finish and it turned out cute, cute, cute!

Now it is my turn to help. I get to make the curtains. She goes through my stash and decides on green, to match her room. We measure and cut and iron and sew and in no time at all we are done. We hang the curtains and the stage is complete.



Notice the microphone. She made it with 3 straws, electrical tape, aluminum foil and a rubber band!


It is so refreshing that she is happy to "make her own", and it only cost $3.25 for the tension rod!! Like Mother, Like Daughter.

The Rest of the Floor

I know you've been anxiously awaiting the debut of my floors. They are so pretty and at a glance they look like wood. They have totally changed the look of my kitchen, for the better.

Look at the floor! I know you're looking at those shades, do not get distracted by the beauty of those shades.

 

This was my view for several days!!

 

Doesn't that look better? They really are almost an exact match, it just doesn't photograph very well.

 

Just a shot to show how easy it is to cut. We used scissors for those unsquare places. A rotary cutter and straight edge were used for the cuts that would be butted up against another board.

 

 

One piece to go!!!

 

Like the Supervisor? He was around helping throughout the project.

 

The last piece is down!!

 

 

Thank you Hubby for all your hard work on your days off! It looks GREAT!!!

 

Some floor progress

Well, we started the floors this week and we are almost finished! It has gone really well. No fights, no tears, no temper tantrums, it must be a success!!

Here are the before pictures (of the floors, I'll show the before of the kitchen later)
 
 

The first thing we had to was fill in that big split in the floor. We trimmed the sides to make them even. Next we cut to fit sections of a peel and stick vinyl tile.
We secured all the edges with the staple gun. Not sure if this is the "proper" way to do it, but it worked! (Sorry I didn't take more pics, I'm new at this)
 

Next we snapped a chalked line and laid the starter row.
 
 

Hubby continued laying the strips in rows, staggering the joints. He'd lay a few, then roll them with the rolling pin. I would recommend buying a cheap rolling pin for this, as it will get glue on it!
 
 

Hope you've enjoyed the progress! I'll reveal the rest soon!

Valentine's Treats

Well tomorrow my kids are having their Valentine's Parties at school. The only requirement is a card for each person in the class. Simple enough, go to the store, buy 2 boxes of Valentines, some candy and we're done, right? Not exactly. For some reason I feel the need to MAKE all 39 Valentines. I don't know why. Do 2nd graders really appreciate the fact that I cut and glued each individual card? I DON'T THINK SO!!

 

Do they admire the cuteness of the hand-dipped and sprinkled Peep? NO, they are only concerned with how fast it can be unwrapped and eaten.

 


Then why do I spend hours making Valentine's their parties? Because it makes them HAPPY! It makes me HAPPY! I love to see the look on their faces. I love to hear them ask for extras because they "just can't wait". I love the smiles that come when I give in and let them have one. That is why I do it, because I am Mom and that's what Moms do. I only hope that when they are grown, they will remember the homemade Valentine's and the Love that went in them.

 

Better Late Than Never

Well, I finally decided to hang one Valentine's Day decoration. Nothing fancy, just cute! Made some salt dough hearts on Saturday, painted them on Sunday, and have spent most of Monday morning carrying them around, trying to find a place to put them! This is why I only decorate for Major Holidays (Christmas). Anyway, it turned out cute, so now I'll enjoy it for a week! Happy Valentine's Day.

Look What I Did Today

Today my daughter had her friend birthday party. Her birthday is December 28, so it only seems appropiate to celebrate it on the 1st of February! Yesterday we baked the cupcakes and today we decorated them. Tye-Dye frosting and chocolate Peace Signs! Just PERFECT for an 11 year old girl.

The Unfinished Project

I know you are on pins and needles waiting for me to tell you about my big unfinished project! It's my ....drum roll...... Kitchen floors! We have known since we bought the house we were going to replace the floors. There was never any question, it was a matter of when!



I knew I wanted hardwood floors, should be easy. Not so much. They needed to match the existing wood floor in the entry, dining room and hall since they would be next to each other for about 4 feet.

Have you ever tried to match 13 year old floors? So after lots of "not quites", I finally found "close enough". The perfect long weekend was coming up (that would have been Labor Day '09), to install the floors. I assumed the store would have them in stock, so I waited until the middle of the week to place my order, only to find out it would take 10 days to get them in stock! Oh well, no floors for me.


So, here it is almost February and still no floors. But I have made a decision. I am not going with hardwood, I am going with......FAKE WOOD! I found a blog, Pink and Polka Dot, and she did her floors with peel and stick vinyl planks from Lowe's. They look fabulous! I ran to Lowe's and bought some planks, laid them out, and they match my existing floors to a tee!! The plan is to put them down over President's Day weekend. I'll post pics when we are finished.

I can't believe I made a DECISION!!! Hopefully I won't change my mind again.