Last Push

 The past few months have been a bit crazy - as most of you readers have figured out.  First, my house was taken apart.  Then my car had problems.  Then my cell phone broke.  Finally, my camera died.  Well, my car was repaired and I got a new cell phone.  Three days ago I got a new camera (which I still need to adjust the settings on - sorry about some of the following pictures...), and now I am happy to report that my house is almost back together.  My ulcer can finally begin to heal.

This weekend was the last push before the carpet guys came on Monday at noon.  We HAD to be ready.  No ifs, ands, or buts about it.  Aaron and I needed to be at full power and go all out.  He was NOT supposed to get the flu.  But he did.  Poor guy - he somehow managed to work through it though (you can imagine the gory details) - and I am proud to report that he is THE MAN!  I didn't take any pictures of him though - nobody wants their picture taken in that condition.

So, what did we have left to do?  Take the remaining furniture outside.  It looks so sad out there, but everywhere else was already full.

 Then, while Aaron napped, I pulled staples out of the floor.  The former owner's fascination with fasteners was again made extremely clear.

 The biggest job was to screw down the floor to eliminate the horrible squeaks.  My knowledge of power tools has now increased:  I can both drill holes and put in screws!  Poor Aaron, this part was especially brutal for him.  This is a Borrower-height view of our floor mid-way through the job.

At last we finished, and Aaron crashed into bed, where he had belonged all along (I really hope I don't get those germs).  These are the rooms on Monday morning, waiting for the carpet to arrive:

Doesn't the trim and the Oakmoss paint look amazing?

Coming soon: The big reveal - carpet in, furniture in place, and maybe even some stuff on the walls!

Paint the Walls Green

Four years ago, we had a plan for the changes we wanted to make to our house.  We were SURE of our plan and went out and bought paint for the master bedroom.  One can of Oakmoss and two cans of Guacamole.  They were lovely.  

Then, the plan changed.  The paint cans went down into the basement, then they got dusty, then they got pushed into the back corner.  Oh well, great plans always change.  

Fast forward a few years, and a few plans, and those cans of paint finally got dragged back out.  They even got opened!

And got painted on the walls of a very different master bedroom. 

There it is, the oakmoss paint:

I'm still in love with it.

And, as I type this post, all the painting in the house is finished - bedroom, closets and living room.  Now, while Aaron is finishing the doors and trims I can start to decorate.  If a little bit of oakmoss paint can make me happy, hanging stuff on top of the green paint will make me ecstatic!

Gratitude

That's my brother-in-law, Jeremy.  He's a carpenter, handy man, and all-around good guy.  He came up for a week and helped Aaron out with the beginning stages of our massive project.  Then he went away to Africa for almost two months to check out a possible location for he and my sister to serve as missionaries.  When he got back to the States, he got started doing some remodeling jobs he had lined up.

Then, one day he happened to notice that our remodeling project was not progressing very speedily and he started showing up at our house to help out.  I should mention that he's a pretty busy guy who lives more than an hour away.  And it isn't like he was just sitting around his home, twiddling his thumbs and thinking deep thoughts.  He's a generally pretty well booked (I saw his calendar).  But, he showed up anyway.

Suddenly, the drywall was getting finished, walls were primed and wood trim started appearing.  Not only did he work like a mad man inside, but to "take a break" he raked the front yard.  He even made time to have a nephew-uncle outing.  God really blessed us with this addition to the "Schouten Inlaw Society."

Thanks so much Jeremy!  Not only did you get a lot of work done yourself, you also gave us new energy for the final stage of this project.  I'm thinking of naming that closet the "Jeremy B. Memorial Closet" in your honor, as a perpetual reminder of how much we owe you (and a few other people, too).

A Few Thoughts on Bibs

I have four kids, so I feel like I am a bit of an expert on the subject of bibs.  When you've served as many meals as I have, you kinda get a feel for the subject, ya-know-what-I-mean?  I have a few general complaints: 

1) Most bibs are too small.  They may do fine in covering the postage stamp area directly below the chin, but they miss those areas like the rib cage, stomach, and lap.

2) Most bibs are pastel in color, with maybe a cute saying, but no pattern.  No matter how expert of a laundress you may be, those cute pink or pale blue bibs turn grubby grayish-brown awfully fast.

So, I started making my own bibs about half-way through the bib stage of my second kid.  They are still in pretty decent shape, and since I used fabric with bright and dark colors, they aren't that grubby.  HOWEVER, they are definitely on the girly side, so I had to make some new ones before "Chubba" (as his big sister calls him) could officially begin eating his first solid foods.  If these don't hide banana stains, I don't know what will:

So, the moment to try oatmeal mush for the first "official" taste finally arrived.  I say "official" because he has "technically" tasted it several times already, but since there were no pictures of those events, they didn't really happen.

Here we go - first taste:

Thinking.....thinking.....

and the verdict is...."MORE, MORE, MORE!!!!"

Yep, solid foods are a definite go with this little guy.  I'm sure the bib had a lot to do with it.

Brynnie's Turn To Make a Project

I try to be a fair parent.  I really do.  But, I guess with Ian doing all sorts of "stuff" for school, Brynnie was feeling a bit left out.  She's been asking and asking to do several different projects and I have continued to put her off.  One project that she particularly wanted to try was inspired by her first invitation to a baby shower.  The Shower Hostess had decorated the tables with very cute pink tissue paper flowers and the little hostess-wannabee decided she HAD to have some for her tea parties.  When another "not right now, Brynnie" brought on a flood of tears, my guilty conscience hinted that maybe bedtime wasn't an absolute essential that night.

We folded,

fluffed

and celebrated the results.

I guess I'm forgiven for dawdling...at least for now.  But I better not keep her waiting too long for the next project.

My Son the Engineer

It's been a while since I've posted about a kid project on this blog.  So, since school is back in session, and I officially have a student, it seemed like the ideal time to post a first "School Project."  For our Social Studies curriculum this year we are using something called Road Trip USA.  During our lesson on Delaware, part of the information covered was on the Delaware Memorial Bridge (the longest twin suspension bridge in the world), with the option of a project building a suspension bridge.  My junior engineer perked right up at that, and began making plans and then design modifications before we even completed the lesson.

The building began after supper, with sticks, cardboard and yarn as the building materials.

The project was a big success!  The finished product remained on our kitchen table all weekend, until the play dough bases started to crumble and generally get in the way.  However, the Memorial Bridge was further memorialized in digital form, to be stored for the ages.

***

And in other news, the "Front Hall Closet" doors got hung.  It may not seem like much, but since we have never had an actual coat closet before this is a major household improvement.  Next comes the hanging rod!

At Long Last

Well, we've been home for a while now, so I'm sure you all are wondering why I haven't posted.  In keeping with the rest of my summer - in which my house, my car and my phone all malfunctioned in some way, my camera also died.  It's hard to do project updates without a camera.  However, the internet is always there for me.  Below is the paint color we chose for the living room:

Yes, that is a bagel.  I just love paint colors named after yummy food.  

Below is what we have been doing with that paint color.  The living room, two closets and the hallway have been primed, sand-textured, and painted in the last week-and-a-half.  Thanks to all you lovely people who helped (specifically my mom and my brother).

In addition, I've been painting in the basement, which is another update waiting to happen.  The school room didn't get finished in time for the start of the school year, but it's getting there.  Since we didn't actually live in our house for most of the summer, I suppose we can manage to do school every day in a room not specifically designed for it (i.e. the kitchen).

I'll be getting a camera soon, and then I can post some real update shots.  Until then, you'll have to be satisfied with internet-supplied substitutes.