watch out for that ..... !!!!!!

Oh swearword, as Kaitlyn would say. :)

Wells finally got his driver's permit renewed and we are all out driving now. Trying to get 40 hours with two kids is HARD!! I've had to double my anxiety meds. :) Well not really, but some days. It's fun to listen to them correct each other as they are both strong drivers in different areas. Wells can do everything really well, except he cuts corners on turns...any type of turn even the turns for parking (watch out for that car!!). Kaitlyn has to talk to herself to do everything correctly. She is getting better at everything except slowing down SLOWLY. Fast stops? check! Slow decrease is speed (watch out for that turn! kid! UGH!!!).

We are hoping to have them driving on their own in the next couple of months. Then we just have to decide whether or not they get their own car. What do you think? car or not?

let the dating begin!!

I have such good news! Both Kaitlyn and Wells have dates to the Sweethearts' Dance on February 12th! I am so excited for them both, FIRST DATES! Kaitlyn filled balloons with confetti and then put her name in a couple of them, stuffed them all in a garbage bag and wrote on it "It would be a party if you would go to the dance with me". He told her yes yesterday but said he would figure out a fun way to answer back for sure. No, she is not going with her "almost" boyfriend. He was asked by another girl before Christmas!! Wells was asked by one of Katilyn's good friends. He was a little freaked out about it all. When I asked him if he was ok, he asked what he had to do. I told him it was a girl's choice dance so he just got to go along for the ride! He likes that idea.

What's funny is that none of the girls can legally drive non family passengers and one of the girl's parents insist that someone over 18 drives. So, one of the parents will get to play chaperone all day long. It will be interesting to see what happens. I'm so excited for them both!!

after carpet

This has been a long time coming but finally...here are some after pictures!! I really wanted to get more up before I took these so I will have to finish up my small adjustments and post some more!!

 This is my new favorite corner. You can see thing on my shelf, my beautiful wainscoat, and all the paint colors. I want to get 1-2 ladder shelves for the very corner. Will be thanking Glen for his amazing Christmas present for those!!

We moved the piano to a new wall. I love it here. I am going to paint four pictures with yellow flowers to place on the wainscoat around the piano. They will be fabulous!! :) 

Down the hallway and into the bedrooms. It is amazing what a new color of carpet will do. Our house really looks different. And we just love how squishy the carpet is!!

 The corner downstairs where the bookshelves used to be. I'm loving the blue wall...loving. We haven't pulled everything back out and are enjoying the room. I really do need to unpack though. We through away one truck full of stuff and I want to get rid of another.

Just another picture of the downstairs. We moved this big couch down and took the love seat up to better fit our needs. Everyone loves watching TV now cuz there is enough room for all of us to sit.

I still have a lot to do, mostly little things to finish everything up. Melinda told me to concentrate on one room at a time and get it the way I want before moving one. Sound advice! I'm starting with the living room. The next pictures should have curtains and yellow flower paintings!

before carpet

Because we are putting in so much carpet, we had to move basically everything but the kitchen, bathrooms, and Kaitlyn's room. Thankfully, we had another bedroom and storage room in which to dump our stuff. Here are a couple of pictures of my kitchen right now. This morning I had to literally climb on the table to find my computer and power cord.

Right now, I am hiding behind the mattress by the fridge so that I am out of the way. They are promising a better place to sit soon but I don't see it happening right away. Lee is supposed to be bringing me some lunch so I don't have to try and cook anything in this mess. I hope he comes soon!

updated pics of upstairs

Here are some amazing updated pictures of the upstairs. Can we say we love the red? :) I will obviously need to paint the windows white but this is that wonderful corner of windows.

 A pretty good picture of my ledge/shelf. It turned out soo pretty!! I took it this pic from the floor last night because all our furniture is moved and I was sitting on the floor.

So, we repainted this wall. The color I had was just not what I wanted! I really wanted a little more yellow and a better contrast with the white trim. I fell in love with this color and so we had to paint the walls all over again the day before carpet delivery. I know, I'm crazy. But, thanks to my amazing sister, Melinda, we were able to get everything done!! I could not have done it without her. I owe her BIG TIME! Be thinking of a project that I can help you with Melinda because I do owe you.

downstairs paint complete

Here are some updated pictures of the basement.



Here you can see the new whitish wall with the new blue wall. I have to say, I'm loving the blue wall.

And, now we know why there was a cabinet in this corner!! We will have to get a new cabinet in to cover these pipes but won't be able to do that for a couple of months. Notice the pretty pinkish paint on the right wall we get to cover up? At one time, our entire house was PINK!!!

Before - downstairs

I am going to start working on the downstairs in earnest this next week. I thought I would post some before pictures before I get started. This room should be easy as it is just removing the built-in cabinet, painting, new light fixtures and carpet. Stay tuned for updated pics!

Below is the hole Kaitlyn made in the wall one day. Yeah it will be patched. :)

 The light fixtures I will be replacing.

A picture of the built in cabinet...and Wells.