Thursday

Brayton definitely has a creative bug lately. Yesterday he invited his brother to join him and it was really neat how quiet they were as they worked away at the kitchen table creating Pokemon figures out of pipe cleaners (I must say I was speechless at their creativeness and how good they were! I even recognized some of the more popular figurines they created!). Tonight, however, when we were pressed for time, making a speedy supper, running late getting ready for Taite's last EMS music program, all the "awww" factor was gone. Brayton was whining and crying because what he was working on tonight had gone downhill and I didn't have the time to help him. Never mind make supper AND clean off the huge mess on the whole table! All-in-all, we arrived in time at the school for the music program. It's a good thing the show wasn't post-poned another week because the teacher may not have made it as she looks due any day to have her baby :~) As usual, it was excellent and when we got home I told Brayton to get ready for bed quickly because it was already 40 minutes past his bedtime ~ when he informed me (get this) he couldn't get ready for bed because he had homework!!!!! Needless to say, he'll be tired tomorrow which is just great because they have a big 50 word spelling test (a review of some of the words they've had so far in the year).

This morning Brayton had his first of five ortho appointments. When he came out after x-rays, pictures and impressions, he had the look on his face that said "I'm teetering on the edge of tears". I asked him what was wrong, but of course there were other kids in the waiting area, so he maintained his composure. When we were walking to the van, I continued to ask him and he just said the stuff (impression material ~ think very thick dry mashed potatoes at the back of your mouth/throat with a lot of gagging ~ yep, I still remember this crap after all these years. . . which reminds me, I STILL HATE the smell when I walk into that office * * *I'm gagging as I type* * *) tasted bad. I wasn't buying that one either, so when I asked if he was scared, he admitted he was, but when I wanted to talk to him about it, we were in the school and some of his classmates came by and started talking to him, which got his mind off of things and started the school day off well. I feel so badly for him and his fear of the unknown, but also for the pain he is going to have to endure. I haven't had this exact procedure, but I have gone through a few of these same steps and the spacers aren't real fun either, but they will be a piece of cake, I think, compared to the actual stretching and turning of "the key". Please pray for us that we will have the strength and patience to do this. . . We are not looking forward to inflicting pain on our baby.

How cute is this??

Steph found something similar to this on the internet and wondered if I could make one for Josey's first birthday (that's why the '1' is on the front). Here is what it finally turned out like ~ what do you think? I thought it was sooo cute!!! With adding the ribbon bows on the sleeves, it just seemed like the back needed a little something in the middle at the top ~ you know, all the cool shirts have something small like that.

Soooo, I cut out one of the tiny red circles with a little pink heart in it and ironed it on (I didn't applique this one because sewing around such a tiny circle would surely spell disaster, so I left it) ~ isn't that oohhh so cute too??? :~)

Ultimate sledding hill!

Today after the boys got home from school, they had their snack, Brayton worked on drawing some pictures and Taite went downstairs. Then Brayton was rustling around in the mudroom when I realized he was getting ready to go outside. I'm not sure why his desire to go outside is directly influenced by how hard the wind is blowing, but it does! I helped him with his gloves and told him the hill out back would probably be perfect for sledding. He was game for that! So, he grabbed the sled that Grandma got them last year from Sam's Club (they have many more, but none of them go as fast as this one!) and started flying. Sometimes almost literally! Here's a video of one particularly good "run" (that's Taite giggling and laughing, he was trying to get ready to join Brayton but could hardly tear himself away from the window).

Here is how they decided to fix the one sled problem ~ they go down together. My favorite is the very end of the sledding run, on this clip :~)

Finally. . . the pictures

We'll get to the pictures of the project in a bit (I don't feel like fighting to rearrange the pictures right now). Here are a couple pictures of items for sale after our project. All the stuff in this corner hutch is available as is the hutch. The hutch I'm going to ask for it what I paid and if it doesn't sell, we've decided to put it in the trailer until later when we might have more room for it (think boys in college) :~) This part of the project is a little "present" for my husband as he likes less furniture. SO, one night last week, I cleaned up the kitchen ~ got rid of (well, they are actually in boxes at the trailer so I can go through things later and try to sell stuff as some of it's really nice and I'd like to get some $$$ for it) a bunch of things in the kitchen that we don't use! I even scaled down the plastic containers for food storage again and it still doesn't all fit in the island. But, with this massive cleaning, I was able to put everything that was in my corner hutch and big hutch into our kitchen cabinets. I told Chris that I'm hanging onto my hutch because that piece I really do like. The problem with getting rid of these things?? Now I have a few decorations with no place to put them, so if you remember something you really like and want to know if it's for sale, let me know!

This is going on CL for $75 (for $5 more, they can have all the decorations in the picture too)

Last night after a day of laundry and finishing things up in the living room, we had a picture perfect supper so I just had to snap one! This is the best Chicken Pot Pie recipe and if you've never used the Pillsbury pie crust, it is SOOO worth it because I HATE trying to roll out pie crust and this is the flakiest and tastiest ever! I even served it to my dad once (he's the king of HATING boxed foods) and he didn't know it until I told him!

Okay, here they are:

BEFORE~

AFTER ~
It totally feels like a different house! You can't tell in the picture, but Chris added some things (I'm not sure what) to the fireplace fan that allows it to run without so much noise! Before if we had the fireplace on and tried to have a conversation, we had to talk louder and we've always hated it! Especially after we put the fireplace in downstairs and it has an adjustable fan motor. Last night after supper, the boys went right to the couch in here and we watched TV together, something we've never done before! It just wasn't a place to invite you in to sit and relax, but now it does! We know it's not perfect, but at this point, we can't change the height of the fireplace nor the height of the TV. For the most part if we are watching the TV, we aren't sitting on the couch and if we do, we are laid out on the couch (like last night there was a comedian on who is hilarious!) :~)

BEFORE ~

AFTER~

Chris wasn't thrilled about replacing the ceiling fan, but it seriously needed to be updated with the rest of the room! Besides that, Chris has the fan on in our bedroom almost every night so, 9 years x 365 nights - a few nights and that fan has a lot of hours on it, so the one that we took down will be our bedroom replacement.

So, our room is done, but not finished ~ that will take time, to get the pictures just so and such. First, the picture that I LOVE and we had hanging in the living room before doesn't match now. I had a picture in our closet for a long time, but it's just like a poster now (wrapped in plastic with a piece of cardboard on the back), no mat or frame and last time I checked, it was about $100 to get that done. Chris asked me if I want to go to TJ Maxx and Menards later ~ I was skeptical because he NEVER asks me if I want to go shopping! He really wants to finish these rooms up! We'll get a picture and such (oh and he's finishing up the new handrail for the stairs today ~ oh, so pretty!!), but I need to get with Monica so I can get something for the big bare wall in the dining room and that will take some time! I used to have a picture hanging on that wall but every time we had people over and put the leaves in the table, the picture would get in the way, so words on the wall would be perfect!! Anyway, I'll quit boring you. . .

GO VIKINGS!!! Oh, speaking of the Vikes, Chris is disappointed that the game is so late because he can't sleep after they lose and then lays in bed considering all of the "what-ifs". Some fan he is!! :~)

Okay, a little about the kids:

Taite was sick on Wednesday night, snow day on Thursday and he still didn't feel 100% on Friday, so he had a really short week! On Friday, his teacher sent an email that she (she was out all week with a cold) or rather her classroom and student teacher had 10 out of 29 students gone on Friday. She was especially upset that one parent knew their kid had complained about not feeling well before going to school, but sent them anyway. Well, I have to say that if we let Taite stay home every time he mentioned it, he'd be home about once a week with no real ailments, so I can completely understand both side of this one!

Brayton is still med free!!!!!! YAHOO! He was coughing the other night and Chris and I both groan and think "great, that didn't last long" but this time his nose was just stuffy and it was draining that he was dealing with and after that he was fine (we love nose spray!)

One paint job done and one sick kid

The painters finished up yesterday around 2:30 ~ that gave me approx. 1 hour to clean before the boys got home. The floors were covered in dust from spackle. On the stairwell, where I had painted to a line, they couldn't sand off the line to paint over it seamlessly ~ Chris used the power sander and both guys who were here tried sanding it smooth as well. Why is it that no one would recommend paint from Menards, but if you use it and need to get rid of it, say along a line, it WON'T come off??? The painting looks fabulous and we love the color. It makes the fireplace look even better because the paint goes so well with it! We hung the TV last night, but I can't find any type of mantle scarf that I like. Chris thinks the mantle is too high from the fireplace, so I showed him that if I have something draped over the mantle, it will look more proportionate. Now, to find that "something" (the piece I used for demonstrating was too short and more of a table runner is why I can't use that). Oh well, I'll keep looking. While we were putting the living room back in order (the furniture was all piled up again and most things moved out of the painting area), Taite was downstairs and didn't make it to the bathroom. He leaned over the side of the couch and threw up on the carpet and couch. It's so hard to remain un-upset as you are trying to pick up the puke without rubbing it into the carpet. . . So, today he is missing school, but with the weather the way it is, I'm thinking the 2 hour late start will turn into a cancellation which will mean they'll reschedule the music program scheduled for tonight and Taite won't really miss anything! :~)

So long white and my poor baby. . .

Well, once again, the furniture is in piles and our house looks weird (even the Schwan's guy who stopped tonight was looking at things like "what the heck") all in anticipation of the painter coming tomorrow! Yeah, no more white walls and no more 1/2 a stairwell painted! Just as a recap here is what will be "Dry Dock" after tomorrow: kitchen (above and below the cabinets), dining, living room (paint matches the stone perfectly!) hallway, stairwell and entry. I am exhausted from cleaning for the painter (weird, I know) but have you cleaned above your kitchen cabinets??? YUCK!!! Is all I have to say. The only down side to having all this prep work done for the painter ~ my husband loves the empty house look. In short, we have too much furniture for his taste. The only down side is that if I got rid of my pieces that I love: china cabinet, corner hutch and bench my grandpa made out of an old bed, then I wouldn't have places to store my off season dishes, percolator coffee pot, the no spill sippy cups that a niece or nephew might need sometime when they are here, laser tag guns, can coolies, etc. ~ so you see?? There really is no way to get rid of all of this stuff. . . :~) Oh, alright, if I cleaned out some things that we never use to put the things we do use in their places, I might be able to get rid of a few pieces. I'll think about it.

So, today the phone rang and as soon as the lady said "Hi, this is ______ " I remembered that I had forgotten Brayton's orthodontist appt!!! UGH! She quickly told me that they had a 1:45 appt available if we wanted to come in then. I guess it's better to have gone than to ignore this issue, but my baby has to have a mouth stretcher put in. The plus side? It might mean no braces later, however, that is not guaranteed. Some kids need braces later, some do not. It takes a total of 5 appts to get fitted, get them made, put them on and approx. 10 days to use the key to screw apart the appliance (that's what they call it) to make the roof of his mouth wider. After these 10 days, they replace the appliance with a smaller piece that will keep the mouth in the position the stretcher put it. Not fun and we are not really looking forward to it. The appts. are every week for the next 5 weeks and we start on Thursday which is just x-rays, pics of his teeth (thought that's what the x-rays were) and I think that's all for the first appt. It's at 2:00 which is good because from what I read at this website: www.harmonorthodontics.com/palatal1.htm the appliance (still don't get that term. . .) takes some getting used to. Apparently, when your tongue doesn't touch the top of your mouth, your natural instinct to swallow doesn't engage, so you gag when eating. It said to start out with soft foods and you will get used to it. I'm thinking if he has the gag reflex really badly, I will pick him up for lunch every day for the "spreading" days just so he doesn't have to worry about embarrassing himself in front of his classmates. I mean, really, can you imagine? You are gagging AND panicking ~ it could turn into a disaster! I sure feel for the little guy and he is not looking forward to it. We are trying to look at the positives ~ Chris read that some kids are able to breathe better through their nose because it opens up the back of the mouth more, which makes sense. Oh, speaking of breathing, on Saturday when we picked up Brayton from his sleepover, he was obligated to run some errands with us when we realized we didn't bring his neb to do (which he does as a prevent in the mornings). We thought it might be a good opportunity to see if he did okay during the day or if he coughed much, then we would know he still needs the neb. AND this is day #3 that he hasn't had the neb in the morning and no excessive (actually, no coughing at all!) coughing!!!! YEAH! I realize most of you won't get too excited about this, but where the studies are really conclusive on the long term side effects of this inhaler in children, we think this is HUGE!! Chris is constantly asking me if Brayton is growing because he is concerned about that being one of the side effects. Speaking of side effects, we believe (actually my husband gets all the credit for this one) that too many doctors dismiss side effects of drugs and patients don't pay enough attention to the changes in their bodies after taking a medication. After awhile the patient is taking a handful of pills because they haven't made the connection and the Dr. is treating side effects with more drugs, causing more side effects! Do you see the vicious cycle?? Okay, I'll step off the soap box for now, but just think about that for a bit and see if it doesn't improve your life! (side note, but kind of on the same thing ~ Chris' stomach has been upset for a while now and he's finally figured out that when he drinks cows milk and eats dairy products is when it's the worst! Soymilk and no cheese ~ no problems!)

Yes, it's done!

An extra guy came on Friday to speed the fireplace along and they finished it!  We had some minor adjustments to make while they were here, so they didn't finish until 5, but they "got 'r done"!  Chris had asked that they put the stone right up to where the TV bracket and dish box are, just in case the TV doesn't cover as far as we would think or if we ever didn't want a TV there and hung a picture (originally the guy left a space just smaller than the TV in the recess that didn't have block).  After they added more block, we got to talking and they had only left space enough for the bracket, but to hang the TV you have to slide the bracket into place so we needed extra space above the bracket (here's a picture so you can kind of see what I'm talking about).

Here is a picture of the fireplace, mid-day on Friday.  I have decided (to my sister's dismay) that we are not going to post a final picture until the painting is all done!  It will kind of a "final reveal" since I don't really know how I want to decorate the mantle and we can't hang the TV yet, the carpet isn't stretched (still undecided if we do laminate now or wait and have the carpet restretched now) PLUS there is a 2x4 holding up the mantle while it sets up and we can't take that down until Monday ~ same with hanging the TV, wait until Monday. 

This is another thing we had them change on Friday.  If you looked at the fireplace from the front, the guy had built the wall out assuming the fireplace was centered perfectly on the wall ~ it's not!  The only problem is you don't notice it until they have all the block up. . .  They ran out of corner block so when we went out to the kitchen we were admiring the block when Chris noticd that you could see about an inch more of black from the fireplace on the right side compared to the left!  We panicked because the wall was all built, the mesh stuff attached, etc., etc. . .  Well, after thinking about it a little, we decided to ask them if they could pull off the stone on the right and add more mortar behind them to "bump them out" and it worked!!  Now you will never know the wall isn't perfectly built!  (side note, the right side of the pictures is at the end of this post ~ Blogger changed a bunch of things and now I can't get the pictures to work for me like I want!!  I don't have time to fix it either ~ headed to town for more supplies and maybe a new ceiling fan for our living room!!!)

Steph found this really cute idea on the internet for Josey's first birthday.  You cut fabric out in the shape of a '1' and sew it onto a shirt, then embroider the birthday girls' name over the '1'!  It is super cute and I could hardly wait to get started!  Yesterday Chris went to Menards and I swung into JoAnn's.  I found this super cute  (do you feel like you are watching Sesame Street and the word of the day is "super cute"?  LOL) Valentine's fabric and it's fitting since Josey's birthday is in Feb!  It even has irridescent sparkles on it and you really can't tell in the pictures but the embroidery thread I found is irridescent too!  They don't recommend it for embroidery, but I wanted to try since there wasn't anythying else that would look as cute!

If you enlarge this picture, you can see the sparkles.  We are going to get a black shirt, put the one on it in the pink heart material and Josey will go across.  I'm going to play with my machine and see if I can't get the 'Josey' to be a little bolder or wider.  I'm still pretty new at this embroidery thing and the pictures on the touch screen of my sewing machine don't really make sense, so I have to look everything up in the book.  Which reminds me, I better tell Steph to grab a couple of shirts, just in case!  They are only $3 at Target this week, on special!  No better time to try ~ hehe :D  Wish me luck!!!

Oh crap, they changed the settings on blogspot and took the spell checker off!  WTH?  I need that! :~)  Please forgive any spelling errors!

It's been one of those days!

Geez, yesterday and today have just been those kinds of days. Everyone we deal with has some sort of problem they need fixed, sorted out or changed. You know when the phone starts ringing at 7:30, it's going to be that kind of day. . . Well, an upside is that we get to work from home and can monitor the fireplace progress and answer any questions or make changes as he goes. Today seems like a ton of progress (yes, it is only day 2 :D). It really has taken shape and he even started to put up some of the block. He scraped on all the cement and then told Chris he normally lets that sit a day before adding block, but since he's behind, added some block. . . Right after he'd left, Chris thought there was a crooked piece and sure enough, it was falling off. Chris was worried that one of the big ones would go, but so far, so good ~ I'm sure that will happen at say. . . 2 am! He said he likes to piece together random stones so you get a feel for how each section will look. I love how random the sizes are on the block! To get that, though, he was doing a LOT of chiseling with his hammer on the ends of the block. Tomorrow he said he'd bring the mantle and hearth! We had a lengthy discussion about the hearth as far as the size, depth, where the splices will be, etc. The reason we have to have splices is because the fireplace sits on the floor so the thickest mantle we can get is 1 1/4" and those have a tendency to break. They really wanted to have the hearth thickness match the mantle thickness, but this doesn't matter so much to me since occasionally we'll have little ones over and the thinner the mantle, the less chance we have of someone falling and hitting their head. You can't not think about those things after having kids :~)

So far this year, the bus situation has been very good. We ask the boys specifically about the bus ride (the question "How was your day" is too vague apparently) and there's nothing to report! Both bullies are still in the front seats and causing not so many problems.

Taite is extremely excited about going to Japan. So much so that he asks us questions about "main songs" or their motto or other odd questions he comes up with. After the questions he always follows it up with "I CAN'T WAIT TO GO TO JAPAN!!!" Brayton doesn't say much, but I'm sure he'll be just as excited when it gets closer :~) We all need to get some chopsticks and practice with them! They get offended if we automatically start out with a fork and don't even try the chopsticks. I was looking at our schedule again and the one day they have set aside for Disneyland, they also have us moving to a totally different city, so I'm not so sure we'll be able to see more than the entrance to Disneyland ~ LOL. At least we have prepped the boys on that one! Most times once Chris gets to Japan and then has to get to Nisshin's office, it is a somewhat lengthy journey between bullet trains, buses, etc. And I guess they all drive like maniacs, so pray for our safe return. ~ hehe

I suppose, I'm ready for some time away from my computer (giving the boys haircuts and trimming nails tonight doesn't count!) so I'm going to grab my book and relax. . . good night

Just in case. . .

Just in case you don't check out the boys' blog, you have to read about Brayton's Mitten project! It is too funny! Here is the address: http://justtheboyz.blogspot.com/

Wednesday Jan 13

I bet you've been waiting ALL day for this. . .

Here's the update: There is good news and bad news.
The good news, the guy (yep, only one) doing our fireplace is very meticulous in his work, which leads us to the bad news ~ he won't be done until Monday and not Friday like originally planned. Chris and I are both happy with having it done right rather than quickly. To make room for the 1/2 a wall he built and so he could lay down plastic and floor covering, we had to take apart the sectional. This is only temporary that we only have 2 dining chairs to use, so that's okay.


Wide open spaces. . .

Here is what the kitchen looks like without the border. It looks really pinky/peachy which I hate now but when the border was up, it looked okay.

He's here. . .

This is a result of today's work. He has framed in with mostly metal studs, built an arch and recessed where the TV will go. He was also kind enough to leave a gap that he will work around so Chris doesn't have to move the outlets, phone line and cable things for the TV (the spot where the black cable is in the back). He even put in a little shelf so our Dish receiver will fit in the opening. Tomorrow I think he puts up mesh stuff and maybe some kind of pre-stone stuff (not sure what it's called, but like mud kind of stuff). Friday he'll put the stone up, the hearth in and the mantle up. Monday is grout AND the painter comes!!! Yea!! We weren't rejected ~ he called tonight AND his bid is even lower than the first guys bid we got! Plus this guy comes recommended! We can't wait, now I need to figure out what type of paint we want ~ no VOC, low VOC or what the painter normally chooses. I'm not sure how many days he'll be working, but he did say it will definitely take 2 coats of paint.

Just a few things. . .

Tonight we did some more 'prep' work. To Taite's dismay (he really liked it) we took down the border in the kitchen hoping that our painter doesn't reject us. . . He came out to look at what we want painted and said he wanted to "think about it" ~ ohhh, the pressure! Will we get rejected? Were the walls not perfect? What could we have done better??? Hopefully he calls tomorrow like he said he would.

Speaking of tomorrow, we got the call confirming that the guys will be here about 9 to start work on the fireplace! EXCITING!!

Okay, here are a couple random things:

Last weekend Brayton thanked me for buying him new socks! Yes, I said 'socks'! What 7 year old is happy with socks? Apparently Gold Toe makes a mean sock ~ LOL. I ordered them from Kohls when we had 30% (by 'we' I mean, me, my mom or my sister had 30%) :D because they don't carry any taller socks in the store. Don't they know its winter out there???

Now, I saved the best for last! I love our families tendency to be together and have fun. This is especially true during supper lately. We talk and laugh at each others jokes and each other too! I'm a firm believer in being able to laugh at yourself! So, anyway, I digress. . .
On Sunday Chris was trying to figure out the wiring in the living room upstairs above the fireplace. To do this, he brought up the 19" TV from the exercise room because the TV we bought for above the fireplace doesn't fit in the current opening (which is what the fireplace guys are going to fix ~ did I mention they come tomorrow? hehe). Taite had seen us holding up the new 37" TV above the fireplace so when Chris asked him to watch the 19" for any changes, Taite was completely surprised at the size of the TV! Here is kind of how it went:
"Is this the TV?! NO! Is this. . . MOM! Is this the TV we bought for up here? What happened to the TV? Is this the TV? No. . . Is it. . ." At this point, I was laughing rather loudly. Taite wouldn't turn around as he faced away from me, embarrassed. :D I told him the new TV was somewhere else because it doesn't fit in the space and he was laughing just as hard as I was in the end. And that's what I love ~ a good laugh with someone I love. . . * * *sigh* * *

It's been a productive weekend

Friday night we had a beer at work (a perk of being self employed and living only 2 miles from the office) when dad stopped in to visit. I called my mom about something and she was disappointed that she wasn't included in our little get together. I packed up and went to share a glass of wine with her (dad & Chris followed awhile later) and the whole thing turned into a Bon Voyage party! Why, you ask? They are on the boat as we speak (or as I type and you read) headed to the Caribbean! We are extremely jealous because of the low temps and lots of snow we've had lately! My dad was nervous (he hates water), but I'm sure it will all turn out to be a blast! I'm so excited for them and their adventure! Their first shore excursion is in a Jeep doing a jungle tour (how cool??)

Yesterday we ran some errands and one of those we did was to get a fan for our fireplace upstairs so it can run without drowning out all other sounds upstairs! The fan that came with our fireplace is only an extremely high setting so we don't use it because it is so loud. My fear is that we'll get this whole fireplace front redone and won't use the fireplace due to the fan. . . My husband assures me that won't happen, so I hope he's right because we also got the new flat screen for above the fireplace. We have to have the TV and mounting bracket for when the stone guys come ~ I'm not sure if they put the bracket up or just want to know the sizes of things. . .

Today we removed items off the walls and started filling holes for the painter. No, we still haven't met with him, but want to be ready for when he can come and paint! The walls look extremely white with nothing on them! Chris loves it, but I hate it :~) He sees "clean" I see "boring. . ."

The one other thing I want to change on the fireplace is the gold around the door on the front. I hate it and since you can't just paint that a different color and the black on the fireplace is a shiny black, we have to paint everything. Chris prepped it today and removed all the things he could so we can have it painted and ready for Wednesday!
Here are all the pieces he could paint in the garage. We only have one can of high heat paint, so hopefully not too many coats are needed.

Chris taped over the glass of the fireplace ~ we could remove it but I didn't want any over spray to get inside the fireplace. I know ~ Chris said it wouldn't do anything, but I didn't want us to regret anything later! This is the monster TV we took out from the opening above the fireplace ~ man, that thing was heavy!!!

Chris getting the plastic all down and the components above the fireplace covered up above.

Chris was trying to perfect the paint job on the fireplace when I reminded him that most of it will be covered up with stone once the front (mantle, stone, hearth) is complete.

I'm glad we were able to get all of this done ahead of time and don't have to work on it during homework time and stuff this week! I'd better go get my bread mixed up for supper. Did I mention that I have everything for that all ready too?! Greek-lemon roasted chicken, herbed beer bread, fruit salad and waffle cookies (they are actually made in a waffle maker ~ first time on those, but the batter was good ~ hehe) YUM YUM!!!

Na na na na, Hey hey hey, Goodbye. . .

What are we saying goodbye to? Our 'blah' upstairs!!! We are tentatively scheduled to have our fireplace refaced and redone. This will include recessing a spot for a new flat screen (getting more modern) and there will be a new stone hearth and mantle and stone from the floor up to the ceiling. They are also going to build it out, so the stone looks much deeper and the fireplace recessed (looking) and I can hardly stand it!!! We also finally got a hold of a painter that was referred to us. He's closing on a couple houses (the last painter we were contacted by was home in the middle of the day, middle of the week ~ not a good sign) and then will come and give us a bid. Lastly our hopes would be the flooring upstairs, but we're not holding our breath that we'll have enough money for that one yet. We'll be so "in awe" of color on the walls and stone on the fireplace that we won't even notice the floor! LOL

Here is picture of the stone I picked out with paint samples on the left corner (these are some, out of 4 colors, that I had been debating about so I think it's a sign!) next to the fireplace. The stone looks very colorful until they put the grout or whatever they call it when working with stone is on. Then it lightens it way up so that's why I'm going with more color. We are also thinking about painting the fireplace to cover up the brass color. We'll get a couple new handles and it will look totally different. Oh, did I mention that they are going to create an arch above the TV opening to resemble the arch on the doors of the fireplace??? Can you stand the wait??

The hearth that Chris put in (the tile) will be replaced by one piece of stone and it will match the mantle.

Take one last look ~ this will no longer be. . . (nope, I won't miss it either! hehe)

Yesterday when we went to town to get stone samples, we had to get some things at Office Max and I was thrilled that the camera I was eyeing up to replace the one he broke at the Vikings game was still on sale AND we had the bag from last Sat's paper so we got another 15% off!!! Yeah! Chris said he wouldn't have replaced the camera, but it was really my fault it was in his coat. He didn't want to put it in his pocket and I insisted, so you can see my point, right?? Anyway, I got the camera a couple steps up from the one he had before (I got the prev. on clearance so there are none to be found in stores) and it was only $13 more (2 MP higher than the old one!). Not bad, I don't think!

I suppose, I'd better get going ~ before my battery dies on here.

Quick note ~ school bus is going good. The bullies are back on and only yesterday did the "lesser" bully stare at the boys and try to trip Taite as he got off the bus, but Taite didn't even know the "more" bully was on the bus after school so that was good!

Tonight Brayton was working on a review sheet for a math test he has tomorrow and he was concerned that he wouldn't do well on the double digit addition so I printed him off some practice sheets and he's now a pro ~ what did we ever do without the Internet???