Painting Week

Last week was Painting Week. Catherine and Will stayed in WV all week with Mimi and PopPop while I painted like a crazy woman. I seriously worked on the house from 8/9am each morning until 11pm each night. It was an exhausting, yet productive week. I kept thinking "I have to get this done before Catherine and Will get home." There is no way I can paint while they're here. I would have too many helpers :)

So our finished products are:

The Hall Bath--no more peeling wallpaper. yeah! Its updates include fresh paint, repaired grout and caulk, new shower curtain, rod, and rings & a bleached tile floor (which i scrubbed with a toothbrush for about 1 1/2 hours).

The walls in the bathroom in our bedroom were in really bad shape. Last year we put in a new vanity, toilet, medicine cabinet, and fixtures. But we had never repaired where we took down the tile fixtures from the wall. And there was lots of peeling paint. It looks so much better now (even if it is still small). I also painted our bedroom this same neutral color.

The kitchen--no more brass! We replaced the kitchen faucet, hinges, and knobs with oil rubbed bronze ones. A good sanding and fresh coat of white paint and they almost look new. Well, they still have their 45 year old charm, but they look much better :)

I also painted the living room and the hallway the same tan color as the hall bath, no more yellow.

The paint definitely freshened up the house and made it look clean and simple. I have a few more inside projects to finish up this week and then we're moving on to the outside projects in April. Hopefully by the end of April or beginning of May we'll be ready to put it up for sale. Overall it was a really busy week, but it is nice to see some immediate results from your work. I don't get that very often as a mom. It was rewarding to just do some physical "mindless" work and have hours to just think and pray. But I did tell Jay that I'm not painting the next house we buy!

Ready?

Are you ready for warmer, sunnier weather? Will is!

Brooklynn's Birthday Party

We celebrated Brooklynn's 3rd Birthday this past weekend. (She'll be 3 on March 15th.) She is such a funny 3 year old girl. I love that kid. She is so different from any other little girl I've ever known. I don't know how to exactly describe her...slightly mischevious and daring, yet very caring and loving. She is a blast to be with.

She was however, scared of her birthday cupcakes. Thankfully Amanda did a great job blowing out the candles.

Brooklynn got a puppy, Sophie, for her birthday a few weeks ago. Apparently Sophie likes going down the slide too!

Will really liked the pink cupcake. He was shoveling it in with both hands.

Brooklynn opening birthday presents with Aunt Kelly. She got lots of pink things, her favorite color!

Happy Birthday Brooklynn!

March Snow

We had to wait until March 1st, but we finally got snow! It had been raining for 3 days, cold yucky winter gray rain. (Can you tell I was getting tired of it?) And finally last night around 6pm it started to turn to snow. When it started, it snowed really hard. Within an hour there was probably an inch. So right before bed, we bundled up the kids and went outside to play for just a minute.

Catherine and Daddy built a mini-snowman. Catherine thought the snow was really exciting.

Will did not think the snow was so exciting! He did not want us to put him down. Poor kid.

By this morning we had probably a little over 2 inches of snow. Catherine wanted to play some more,
so just she and I went outside to play while Will took his nap. We spared him the drama. Catherine had lots of fun playing in her playhouse, walking through the woods, and riding on our impromptu "sled"--the trash can lid. It's amazing to me that we all get so excited about snow. Something about it is very magical.

(but now I'm ready for spring!!)