Catch-up: April and May

APRIL

 Worked on the exterior of the house

 

Watched our Magnolia tree grow

 

Worked inside the house

 

 

Raced some ponies

 

 

Rode a bike

Played with the pup

 

 Made new friends at the mall

 

And the Purdue Vet School

 

 Hammed it up in a box boat

Said hello to an old friend at Columbian Park Zoo

Marched for Babies

MAY

Rode in a ridiculous shopping cart

Fed a giraffe

Celebrated Mother's Day

 

Made progress on the kitchen

 

Matched Daddy

 

Played in a pool

 

Built a fort

 

Ran in a sprinkler

 

 

Happy Holidays

Ok, I confess that I started my holiday decorating early this year.  I started on some projects the week before Thanksgiving and we got our tree on the 17th.  I've really been into the holiday decorations this year.  It's nice to have something to look forward to.  It's also helped me find ways to include Leo in our traditions and to make sure he is always present in our home in one way or another.  

I've made several new things this year, mostly inspired by Pinterest of course.

I made these red berry wreaths from grapevine wreaths and berry garland.

Yes, the ceiling fan is hideous.  Hopefully we will finally get around to replacing it sometime next year.  We also plan to repaint the living room and change the photos above the couch.

 A new Leo inspired ornament.

And the personalized ornament I ordered for him.  I love it!

I think this is the best tree we've had so far!

My makeshift mantle with Isabella's and Leo's stockings.  I made the "Peace" letters,  red berry tree, twine tree, and bronze hurricane candleholder to the right.  I also made the "snowy" candleholder on the left.

 I need to find something else to go here, but haven't found what I'm looking for yet..  I made the glitter tree.

The red berry door hanger I made.  I need to tie a better bow. :)

 Isabella's tree, pink of course.  You can't see the ornaments, but they are Dora and Disney Princess.  She picked it all out herself.

I'm hoping to find some things to add.  We really don't have much in they way of holiday decorations and now that Isabella is older I feel like we need more.  Of course, Sparky the elf is expected to arrive December 1 so that will help

Busy work

Thank goodness for Pinterest!  These little projects are helping to keep me sane.

Installing peel and stick tiles under sinks to protect from leaks.

Making my own spice mixes, from left: Cream of chicken soup, Italian dressing mix, meatloaf, quesadilla casserole, taco, and chili.

Condensed and reorganized my spices.

I ditched the spice rack in favor of more counterspace.  My commonly used spices are now in magnetic tins on the side of the fridge.

I designed a command center for the fridge complete with a calendar, menu, to do list, and a cleaning schedule (which I've actually been following!).

I cleaned up the fridge and setup a new way to display Isabella's artwork.

And I turned old candles into Scentsy-like bars.

All Pinterest inspired, of course.  I have a never-ending list of projects on my to do list thanks to Pinterest.

Bathroom Remodel

I've been taking on a lot of household projects to keep myself busy. One of these was finally starting to decorate the three rooms we haven't really touched: the main bath and the master bedroom and bath.  We started with the main bathroom.  The only problem was that I couldn't do much of the actual work because well, power tools freak me out a bit. Ha!

Unfortunately, I didn't think to take a before photo, but I do have one taken before we moved in.  We hadn't painted or changed a single fixture, so it essentially looked the same, even the cherubs.  You can't see the flooring, but it was white vinyl and was impossible to get really clean.

I did decide to take on one project myself: staining the vanity. (Using the tutorial found here.)

One coat. (These were all taken on my iPhone.)

Two coats.

Clint snuck past me and did the third coat and applied the poly. I might touch it up because I think it could use another coat, and a shinier poly coat.

Ta Da!  I also sprayed the hinges with a satin nickel spray paint. That's pretty much the extent of my manual labor on this project.

Here is the whole bathroom after:

The backsplash:

In all we changed:
paint color
new tile flooring
stained vanity
cabinet hardware
new counter
new faucet
new lighting
new medicine cabinet
new towel bars






I plan to add some floating shelves above the toilet soon. Hopefully soon we will start on our bedroom and bathroom.