Colors and Patterns of the late 1800s

We were treated to a personal tour of an old Mansion today...

:. Catching the Holiday Spirit .:

I'm still trying to figure out where September and October went and suddenly the calendar tells me it's DECEMBER!! I guess I've been around these past few months but it seems they've just flown by. 
In trying to be a little more in the groove of Christmas, we've been a little crafty around here lately...

Someone had a BIRTHDAY!!!!! 

It's Been Almost a Whole Month...

...since my last post. Really??! Where have I been? What has been happening that I can't take just a few minutes to sit down and talk with you? Well, here is a little run-down: 

piano practice, play practice, and practicing his French horn take up a lot of this boy's time...

art + friends = fun!

and even a little more craft time. 

Oh yes, we had some fun dress up days in the middle school to work on...

Then there was a night of cheering! (Preceded by the week of practices!)  

We had great fun with Grandma & Grandpa while they visited for Grandparents Day. 

Tis the season for concerts to start again. We've been to a few already. This picture shows P's first Jazz Band Concert! 

Volleytennis is nearly done. We have 1 practice and 3 games remaining. Its been a great season! 

{ the many faces }

When they are this little, you just don't know what to expect...but I could read this look very easily today:  Mama, you think you got it past me, but you're wrong. I just decided to eat it this time.

At times, quiet... and other times, not so quiet...

 A bubbly personality- she loves people. She loves to be in charge of people. Maybe someday she will be.

She always has a secret...if you want to have one too, just ask--often times she'll share if you catch her in just the right mood...

Goofy. 
Silly. 
Sad. 
Scared. 
An Actress.  

Did I mention messy? 

 --this part is not an act. She's a natural  ;)





(And check out this photobomb! -love it!)

Here she is as our waitress.












And she is also happy. Did I tell you that yet?

During the Day, While Everyone Is Away...

 My floor gets transformed...

 And in between carefully setting her toys out precisely where she wants them...

She pretends she knows a lot of gymnastics... 

...and then she gets back to business...

This is her class. She arranges them differently every day. She know just where they should be, and if they are goofing around or if they are helping her that day. 

I let her be. She prefers it that way. When I try to play along, many times she comes "out of character" and loses her train of thought. So I let her be. 

Sometimes I even have something fun to do myself! (This is the beginning of a mug rug.)  

A *Before* and *After* Show and Tell

We've lived with these cabinets in the bathroom for...how long have we been here? 

Not a real big space, but plenty can go "aesthetically wrong" even in a small space. (Is that a word even?) 

Anyway, some guys we know from church took our bathroom from this...

...To this in just a few short days. Too late to turn back now! So you can see that the only thing we kept from the old bathroom is the tub. It is still in very good condition. 

  

And then a day or two later we had this! Ready for Eric to paint in his spare time...

Which happened to be after dinner as this was the week that the teachers had to be back in school. ugh.

So excited for the new flooring here-- thanks to another church friend for helping me out with the linoleum. (If you live nearby and plan to do remodeling or flooring anytime soon, ask me for their numbers! I do recommend!)

Here is also a peek at the vanity we purchased. --Which, by the way was quite the hassle. Glad I don't have to do that often. 

*Voila!*

Oh look, I thought I was all ready to write this post about my new bathrooms, and here this picture doesn't even have the door frame or the mirror! *sigh* I guess another time I can show you all of that. With the base board, mirror and door frame in place it really does look nice.

And the other side of the room-- complete! oops, that isn't true either! I can see that the window is still the old window in this picture. (sorry for not catching these things!!)

I really love the feel of the linoleum and the height of the vanity. The old vanity was a little short. I guess the standard height has changed since 30+ years ago. The shower curtain was a little long, so I trimmed 4 inches from just above the band at the bottom and then put the band back on. I'm thankful I know how to do that!! 

And here we go again! After finishing the upstairs bathroom we decided to "go for it" with the one downstairs. This was mainly because we knew it would be far less work and time. 
 This is a *before* shot. Sorry, I forgot to get one with the old vanity in the room. Scroll back up and see the one that was in the upstairs bathroom-- they were the same except this room had a mirror across the whole wall. 

This picture is especially for my Dad. We talked about how this hose came out of the wall from the side and how it would (or wouldn't?) fit behind the drawers. Well, they didn't have to change anything-- the manufacturers of the vanity must have known that they should leave 6 inches open behind the drawer (SERIOUSLY?! These were obviously not made by a woman! I could have used those inches for the stuff I want to put the drawer!) Anyway, it all worked out with no problems and I guess I am glad they gave me the "extra space"  .

Uh-oh. Nothing ever goes 100% smooth. We had trouble when we went to paint this wall. It is hard to see in this picture but much of the paint is peeling up or cracking and flaking off. AAAHHHHHH! There were a couple of moments of frustration. 

Success! Finally the paint stuck to the wall like it was supposed to, phew! Since Eric often paints at night there is no natural light in this picture-- so the color definitely looks different. It is more of a grey than the light green I see here on my screen. 

*After* 
And of course we had to get a new vanity and counter top for this room as well. This one did not have a back splash attached or that came with so we had the guys put just a little bit of tile around it-- I love how it looks! 

Again, no mirror in the picture. Actually, truthfully, its been nearly a week and I still haven't found a mirror for this room. It is on my list of things to do this week-- I'm just not entirely sure what kind of mirror or how big of a mirror I want. 


Anyway, that is all. This was part of our excitement at the end of summer-- ripping out bathrooms and showers and going to the pool each day hoping that people couldn't tell the difference.  ;) 

This remodeling was part of what kept us busy at the end of the summer. So glad to be back in the routine of school and homework and piano playing. We are enjoying our new bathrooms-- although I will tell you that Chloe told me that the faucet downstairs is a little darker than she thinks it should be!

I