Phase 3 & 4 Complete

Phase 3 of the "Big Project 2010" was to strip the wallpaper and get the room painted. Sounds easy, huh? I told Sweetheart he put that wallpaper up to survive Armageddon!! Finally it came down and I got the room taped and ready to paint. Thank goodness the new occupant was worth all the work!Yes, Kyle was moving back upstairs. I was thrilled! I never liked him 2 floors down and it was easy for him to separate himself from the rest of the family. He would not do this intentionally, but his basement room felt like he had his own "apartment", as he called it. Let me tell you, that paint job was NOT easy. I was certain the orange would cover the green easily and I would not need to prime. WRONG! It took FIVE (5) coats of orange. Good grief that was awful! DAYS later the painting was done and I quickly made up Kyle's new curtains in his beloved Bears fabric.Please note that the oranges in these pictures are WAY brighter than in real life. The orange in the curtains is a regular orange and the orange on the walls is more of a sherbet orange...very soft. Here are some pics of Kyle's finished room....Phase 4 was to move him upstairs.That back wall behind Kyle's bed is all orange with a white chair rail going around the entire room. The other 3 walls are orange on the bottom and a BRIGHT white on the top....the white is showing a tint from the lighting. It all reminded me of being in a dreamscicle! He loves it, as it is the Bears official colors!He slept upstairs for the first time last night and loved it. He had Charlotte in to watch a movie and Zach brought his legos next door and they played for a while. It was a great move and all worth the effort.

Phase 5, and the final phase is also complete, but I will share that next time. Also, the Man Room is all done as I put my next project up on my design wall......I even put 4 blocks together yesterday. Sewing in this room is wonderful. Someone in my comments asked how I would feel being so far removed from the family down here. Well, I think it would be great....a place to escape once in a while. Most of my quilting is done in the hoop in the family room so I spend little time at the machine. Still, it will never happen, as any time I am down here, so are the family.....they follow me where ever I go. ;)

We also got Sweetheart's guitar, mike, and amplifier set up in his area (I always share...and this was meant to be "our" space) and the weights are set up ready for use.Now it is ALL FINISHED! I can start this week fresh. The girls have crochet class this morning so I will take my big quilt along and hand quilt for a couple of hours. What could be better??!!

My New Digs

Phase 2 is complete, and I am officially moved into my new sewing room/office. In case you had not guessed, I am now in the "Man Room" which is the room Sweetheart finished in our basement last winter. I love this room as the color is so peaceful and the room is so large. It measures 13x24 feet. Exactly twice the size of my last sewing room, which was 13x12. At the front of the room is the office area. There is a desk (courtesy of Kyle) and the little TV stand.

One of the down sides to this room is the lighting. It is awful. I have wonderful lamps that really brighten it up for sewing, but for picture taking it is just a glare, so forgive the dark photos.
On the shorter inside wall (the one with the doorway) I have Ugly Betty, my treadmill and will also put my weight bench and weights just behind her. The TV stand is directly in front of the treadmill, so I have no reason to not get on her!!!
The large wall is the sewing area. I did have to store Grandma's table, as the 9 foot banquet table was much more functional for me.
Now I was not liking that look AT ALL. I miss the closet, but the table had enough space to house my boxes of supplies underneath. Still it looked messy to me. I decided to make a "curtain" to hide the mess.
Much better. My grandma's hutch is also being used to store supplies, when in the past, it housed very little in those drawers. My fabric drawers are at the end of the table, which is also the cutting end. It fits perfectly there. I did not want to cover the ends of the table with the curtain so I could have that drawer system there. My design wall is at that end of the table also....you can see it in the corner of the picture.From the other end of the table you can see where the office area is. Also that large white board on the wall....that is the design board, empty for the moment.It is a good move, I think. Now tomorrow starts Phase 3. Removing that wallpaper border that I loved so much, and taping....maybe some paint will even find it's way onto the wall tomorrow. We are expecting 8-12 inches of snow starting tonight, so I think it will be the perfect day to paint! Right now, I am going to get the next piecing project up on that design wall. I'll be back to show you Phase 3 of the big project in the next couple of days. Until then, be blessed!

(To see the old sewing room click here)

A Full Day

Yesterday was very busy, but a fun kind of busy. The morning was routine. School, housework, and I even machine stitched a few seams on the Peter Rabbit Challenge. The afternoon brought my older kids and grandkids. Bud came to help his dad move the large solid oak (weighs a ton) entertainment center from the master bedroom down to the Man Room. I am told by Sweetheart that the kids are allowed to use the Man Room to watch movies and play games. He is more generous than I am! While they did that, Rachel, Emerson and I ran to Joann's for a quick fabric/yarn fix. I needed some border/background fabrics for the Peter Rabbit quilt and Rachel wanted to get some yarn for a baby afghan for her new niece. I ended up with this...and a few extra pastels to add into the mix....I have so much dark facric and hardly any pastels, so I really could not work specifically from my stash. You can never have enough fabric, right?

I never go to the yarn section, so it was kind of fun to see someone look at yarn the way I look at fabric. Rachel ended up getting this gorgeous purple for her new niece.

She is still working on the lap blanket to donate to the retirement home through my church. I love the colors....they match my family room!!!! Just kidding, I am so proud of her.

We also picked up some dishcloth yarn and a book of patterns. The pink is for Rachel and the varigated is for Charlotte. I love knitted/crocheted dishcloths!!!

From there we headed across the way to the Christian bookstore. Little TJ needed a Bible. He had the one I got him as a baby....just a 10 page baby Bible with a cloth cover. Yesterday he got his first big boy Bible. He was not at all interested until he realized it was the same as the Bible we read here at Grandma's, which he LOVES!!!!!
It came with a carrying case too!!!! That he did not care for at all!!!
It is such an unbelieveable honor to purchase a Bible for someone!! I always feel so good doing it, whether it is for a Toddler or an Old Timer!
So while we were off having fun, Charlotte stayed here to watch the little boys (Zach and TJ) and the BIG boys moved that entertainment center, TV, and furniture. The Man Room now has pink chairs, though Sweetheart thinks they look good in there (I agree).

This morning the kids were carrying clothes baskets filled with video tapes down to organize in the door of the entertainment center. I overheard this conversation:

Zach: What does psychotic mean?

Charlotte: I am not sure, maybe you should ask Mom.

Z: I think it might mean "crazy".

C: I think you are right.

Z: In that case, doesn't it seem psychotic to you to carry all these tapes down stairs?

The kid is always looking to expand his vocabulary!! He told me the other night, "Could you please alert me when you are going to turn the light on?"

So what is next for Sweetheart? He wants to finish the furnace room also. It is a large room down stairs and he wants to wall off the furnace, sink, water softener and water heater. This would still give us a nice size L shaped area for workout equiptment. LOOK AT THIS>>>>

That is my TREADMILL, Ugly Betty, under that mess!!!! I gasped out loud when I saw it. Sweetheart assures me it is just fine!!! If not, I better get a new one! The finish of the furnace room will not be complete...no finished ceiling at this point and a cheap indoor/outdoor carpet, but that is fine with me. I also found his very next project. I have had this old antique chair for years. It is broken at the base...it is actually a glider/rocker.

Now that the entertainment center is out of my bedroom, I have room for the chair. Hopefully it will be in there before the end of the day!

Right now the kids and I are going to watch The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe. It is part of literature and we will read the book together starting next week.
No school tomorrow as my sister and I are going with my Mom to the doctor...your prayers are appreciated. Nothing too serious I do not think, but we need to hear that from the doctor. After the appointment, my mom, sister, and I are going to a special luncheon....I will share later. It is a "God thing"....you will see.

Have a blessed day and bless someone else!!!

"I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living."

Psalm 27:13 (NAS)

A Housekeeping Post

It has been a while since I shared a housekeeping post. I spent many hours during the last 48 deep cleaning my hard floors and working in my kitchen. There is nothing like a clean kitchen! The kitchen in my home is open to most of the house, so I can not close a door and hide the dishes or mess. It must stay clean at all times. I try to keep it that way, but sometimes it gets away from me. One thing I always do, is to make certain I always get up in the morning to a clean kitchen!....always. I have, on rare occasions, woke up to this.... Yes, those are dirty dishes hidden under that towel. I trick myself and it works for me. Like I said, this is rare. Floors are another area that are big in my house. I have lots of hardwood and vinyl. The hardwood goes from my front door throughout the entryway and down the hall and into the eating area all the way to the back sliding door. I have 3 rugs in this area. I found crumbs and french fries under one of them yesterday!The rugs had been washed recently, so I gave them all a good once over with Hazel (my beautiful red vacuum cleaner). I lay my rugs on the carpet to vacuum them as the grip is better some how. Not sure why, but they stay put though the process...plus they need to be off the floor so I can wash it!
The big rug under the table and chairs (I did not count that one) is moved seasonally. It is not time for that yet. By lunch time, my floors were spic and span!!! I use Murphy's Oil and Tea Tree Oil on my hardwood floors.The kitchen usually gets the same, but this time I used Lysol....I know, but I had it from our bout with the stomach flu and felt a good antibacterial clean was in order. I would not do this every time.Sweetheart and I SOOOO want to replace this floor with ceramic tile or more hardwood...I vote for hardwood...he votes for ceramic tile. Either way it will have to wait. Until then I take care of the vinyl daily with my electric broom and at least a spot clean. Every week (sometimes twice) it gets a deep clean. That means the floor is mopped, plus the edges are all wiped clean.

Once the floors were done, I spent the rest of the day quilting! All work and no play, ya know! My house was also cleaned per the Monday schedule in my HMB. More deep cleaning took place today. The frig was emptied out and deep cleaned. My son was here to help remove a shelf I have never been able to get out. Finally, that red something-or-other was cleaned from the track!

The pantry was also emptied, wiped out and re-organized.Ok, so that bottom shelf could use some more organizing. It's clean! The counters, appliances, and ceiling fan/light fixtures all got cleaned today too. Tomorrow I will wipe down the cabinet fronts with Murphy's Oil and swipe the top of the frig and call it "deep cleaned" til next month. Like I said at the beginning of this post, a clean kitchen is such a good feeling...and no I do not need to get a life!...it is the truth! I will get up tomorrow morning to a shiny sink and fresh towel and wash cloth waiting for me. No dirty pans shoved in the oven (yes, I have done that too!), no sink of dirty dishes, no cluttered counter tops, and sticky floor. No stinky smell of garbage or rotting food. Just a fresh smelling, sparkling kitchen.So now that the housekeeping part is out of the way, I have been able to get several more hoop fulls done on my sister's quilt. It is looking like I will meet my deadline. I have also played with the hexagons.
Bud, Rachel and the kids came today. Bud helped his dad lay carpet and do trim. Even TJ pounded a nail or two into the trim work! These pics are not good, but you get the idea.
I will get some better ones once the "Man Room" is put together. The carpet was neither of the choices I shared in an earlier post. It is more like the carpet Charlotte liked in the lighter color. A nice Berber loop. They are taking my large television and oak entertainment center out of my bedroom (it was my idea) and adding a couple of wing back chairs I have in storage. I think he plans to put the treadmill in there too. Here is the thing...it is a MAN room....those chairs are PINK! What can ya do??? Pink and brown will look good together! I assume he will re-cover them in the near future.

Well, my day is done. It was a productive one. Tomorrow I have a morning of cleaning, homeschool, and books for the library project. By afternoon, I plan to quilt and relax until Awana time. Praying your day is full and blessed!!