December 22, 2011 - Clean House + Happy Kids = Happy Momma

I have been busy! Okay, WE have been busy! We painted our Living Room this past summer. We also put in new carpet. I love the color!I painted my lamps a bronze color to match the decor. I love it!
Dale bought me the small end table and the desk that sit on either side of the couch. I LOVE them!And the pillows, I can't forget the pillows. He bought me those too. They all came from our local Antique store here in Derby. I am just a bit addicted to that place.So, while I was taking pictures of my uncluttered Living Room, the kids were playing quietly in their room. I love it!James and his trains.Clara and her dolls.Happy kids! Happy Mommy!
(Abbie was sleeping in her bed!)

October 31, 2011--Our House

Here is what our house looked like back in 2004.This is what it looks like now in 2011.Just a splash of color on the bricks and shutters, and viola!It looks completely different. Dale and I LOVE it! It is totally us!
No more white!

Here are the projects Dale's been working on lately.Dale built a new house for our chickens.The new one has more vents for the warm summer.And a roof that you can lift for the nests (and yes, he did finish painting it).Look eggs!
Also, the side roof opens up for easy cleaning.Lucky girls!

Clean House

Side Note: Its always feels good when you can get the house cleaned, laundry put away and the dishes done.
Now, if I can just get the bathroom clean.

5 Days! What a Change!

Dale and I have been amazed at what all this rain has done for our garden. The tomatoes are loving it. We added a few more Yellow neck Squash. We actually moved the Squash from our planter to the garden itself. This way the garden looks fuller and we can occupy some empty spots.We have also added a few tomato cages. With all the wind we've been getting, our tomatoes were taking a beating. Our green beans are getting big enough that we've added poles for them to climb up. Dale and I found some coupons online for some free plants. So, we got some Spearmint and Chocolate Mint to grow in a small planter. What can I say?! Dale and I are really excited!!!!

Our Garden Update!

It's amazing how much our garden has changed in just a few weeks. We haven't had to water it as much because it has rained so much.Dale and I went to pull a few pieces of grass out of our garden. Other than that, we are extremely pleased as to the progress. We have planted:
Bell Peppers, Green Beans, Carrots, Cucumbers, Lettuce, Spinach, Onions, Tomatoes (Cherry, Grape, and Big Boys), Zucchini, Yellow neck Squash, Strawberries, Cantaloupe, and a bunch of flowers. We can't wait to see what we actually get.

Our Garden

We started to prepare for a garden. At first, it seemed ideal that we would just get a few packets of seed and some dirt and start from there. Well, that is never enough--especially for Dale. He has put a TON of work and effort into this garden, and it is amazing as to what it looks like now.It's always fun to get the family involved. Clara had a lot of fun helping daddy, dig up roots and clear the area. Meanwhile, James would inspect everything daddy tossed over by him.Clara was so proud of herself as she began to turn around in circles with the shovel. She thought she'd help loosen the ground that way. It really only got her dizzy.They are so cute!These are some of the cucumbers that I planted. It is amazing to see how fast they sprouted. What's amazing too (and sad) is how fast they die in a small frost. This is part of how it ended up looking. Dale took more pictures of it completely completed!More sprouts! These are all Bell Pepper plants. Dale informed me that we really didn't need this many of them. Oops!Living Green! A garden and a clothesline! I love my clothesline! As a child, we never had a "working" dryer. The broken one always stored things inside. So, before Dale bought me this clothesline for our anniversary last year, he asked me if I would ever use it. Uh . . . yeah! Now, with as much laundry as I do all day long, it has certainly earned it's value!

Before and After (Part 3)

Our old Library wasn't really being used except to collect things. This is the neatest it has looked in several years. The famous wall of books!My "junk" . . . I mean, craft corner.After!!!!

This room feels a whole lot bigger! It took me some getting use to but I am planning on re-painting the walls.The wall of books-GONE!!My junk corner-GONE!!! Funny! Dale's hats didn't even move!My dresser has it's own wall. I will probably never move these rooms again, especially by myself. We are talking about getting carpet in the future. It will be Dale's turn to do the moving then.

Before and After (Part 2)

Meet Clara's old room. It was really hard for me to switch rooms with her. I remember how much time and effort Dale and I spent into getting the room ready for her. Every time I look at the purple trim, it makes we cry and realize she is almost 5 years old.Door view.Standing in front of the closet view.Her dresser in front of a perfectly unused window!AFTER!!!!

Our new Library! This view is standing in the doorway. Those bookshelves were horrible to move. Needless to say, if anyone needs to borrow a LDS book, I am sure that Dale has it.We can now use the window that was blocked by Clara's dresser, although the closet can never be used again as it is being blocked by our roll away bed.One of the highlights of moving the rooms is that all the windows can be opened in this beautiful 70-80 degree weather.

Before and After (Part 1)

I decided to rearrange my house!

As those of you who knew me growing up (and now), I like to change things. Even my childhood rooms never stayed the same. My poor dad would spend hours measuring every inch of the room and furniture so that he could map out (on graph paper) where everything was going to go every time we moved.

So, I got the itch to move things around a bit in our house. We've lived here for almost 6 years and I was getting tired of the same old routine. As a side note, my brother Tom and his wife bought a new home and I was feeling a little jealous. We aren't too big for this house yet, but I am really wanting a basement.

So, I started with our room, as you can see our queen size bed took up every bit of space in there. Squeezing our two dressers together near the closet. I thought about condensing them down to one, but Dale has WAY TOO MANY clothes.

With the door closed view.AFTER!!!! We moved Clara and James into our old room. It feels like the room got a lot bigger!She has a TON of room to play!Remember our "two-dresser wall"? There it is with one dresser and James' crib. I was able to hang up more pictures that I didn't have room for before. Next thing on my list for her "new room" is to paint the walls. Clara says she wants blue and pink striped walls. We'll have to see about that!