Vanity!

One of Lucy's best friends is a sweet little girl with a head full of very very curly (and gorgeous) blond hair.  This little girl, of course, does not like the constant commenting on her hair.  And, of course, Lucy has become decidedly jealous of it.  She has repeatedly made comments about wishing she had hair like K.'s and that she doesn't like her own hair.  

Enter mommy guilt:  I have clearly done something wrong if Lucy is THAT concerned with how her hair looks verses her how her friends hair looks.  

Anyway....she has been begging me to curl it.  Finally the other night, at the recommendation of a friend, I twisted her hair up into a bunch of mini buns.  This was the result in the morning:

It actually looked better than the picture indicates.  And she seemed to love the results.  There are two problems, though.  One is that it took forever for me to do this -- we just can't make this a part of our nightly routine.  The other is that I want her to be happy with the head of hair she was given.  And, really, a third problem is that I don't want to tell her how to do her hair.  If she wants to curl her hair, then that should be her choice.  And if she wants to color it (some very far off day down the road), then she should be able to do that to.  It ticks me off when someone (anyone) tries to tell me that I should or should not be doing something with my appearance.  Darn it, it is my body, so butt out!

And then all this comes back to what I started with.  The little girl with curly hair doesn't appreciate the constant commenting, but it also effects the other kids.  The other kids hear, in the silence, you aren't pretty and aren't good enough to merit notice.  Just something to think about.  I know people are well intentioned, but commenting on little girls appearances constantly leaves them thinking about their appearances constantly.  (And I am sometimes guilty of this, too, for the record.)

So, I sit here trying to figure out how to balance teaching Lucy that she is beautiful the way she is, but that it is also okay to take pride in her appearance (which means she can wear her clothes and hair in a way that make her happy and comfortable).  I've yet to come up with a good solution.

...and the laundry room after.

Or more accurately, I should probably say here are some shots of the laundry room in the middle of the redo.

I really wanted to paint the room pink or purple or something else fun and different from the neutral grey/blue that we used in the majority of the house.  It's not that I don't love that grey color, because I do, but I just wanted something different in the laundry room as it is a non-public space that doesn't necessarily have to be well behaved or proper.  However, Jeremy insisted on it matching the kitchen, so I'll be adding color in the curtains and other fun touches (whenever I get around to those!).

I have decided that the counter is THE BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD.  I love it!  You aren't supposed to leave things on top of a front loader when it is running as it can throw the machine off balance (plus the stuff will probably just shake off during the spin cycle), so I never had a good place to fold laundry. I got the idea for the counter from here.  We purchased a $40 sheet of birch plywood (that Home Depot cut for us and we have a TON of leftovers for other projects), a $6 package of iron on finishing for the front edge and a $9 bottle of danish oil.  It took two coats of danish oil and then I added 2 coats of a clear polycrylic (which we already had on hand).  For support, we nailed mdf pieces on the side walls (which we painted to match the wall and you can just barely see in the left photo below) and a bigger 2 x 4 along the back.  The counter isn't screwed down (so we can easily access the machines and water shut offs), but it is heavy enough that isn't a problem.  We also shimmed the middle of the counter by gluing a piece of mdf to the underside of the counter and sticking a strip of foam padding on the mdf (to protect the top of the dryer).  We placed this piece over the edge of the DRYER (so that there is absolutely nothing touching the washer) and so that the frame of the dryer can bear any excess weight (don't put this piece in the middle of the dryer, else it will just push the top cover down).  The counter is supported well enough that I can stand on it without problem.

So grand total, we spent about $55 (all the support lumber came from the basement), which is a far sight better than the $400 + we were quoted for a custom butcher block counter.

And, for everyone who is so concerned that I can't reach my cabinets....I previously could only reach the items on the front of the bottom shelf anyway.  Now I can reach the items on the bottom shelf completely and the stuff on the front of the 2nd shelf, too.  Sounds like a good trade to me.

I realized I had a narrower hamper sitting in my basement which I was using to hold wrapping paper rolls.  I swapped it with my old one and found it would slide between the wall and my machine.  The trash can in front in for our wet towels/rags.  Yay....no more dragging around the hamper!  And the bonus is that you can't see that corner from the kitchen, so even if the door is open the room will look much neater this way.

I didn't think to take a before picture of the opposite wall, but here is an after shot.

We previously had an itsy bitsy foot long plastic organizer to hang mops and brooms on.  I love that the new hooks (hung on a piece of painted mdf) look so much better, plus give me a TON more space (including getting my step stool off the floor).

Now to paint those doors...

Laundry room before...

I am surprised to find myself saying that the laundry room project is mostly under control.  The room is totally functional once again.  The main thing missing at this point is the cabinet doors -- they are sitting in the basement waiting to be painted.  I haven't even looked at them yet, so it may be a while.  I need to do some organizing and decorating (the most dire need being a new window covering), but it looks really good.

Since I haven't taken pictures of the (mostly) finished product (and I am just way too lazy to do it tonight), here are a few of the before shots.

I HATED the way this room looked.  And, really, I spend a lot of time in there so I should like it.

Note the hamper and step stool in this picture (not to mention the super cute handy man).  I quite literally had to move the basket and stool out of the way EVERY TIME I opened the dryer and then had to move them back so they weren't in the middle of the room.  I managed to fix that problem, which makes me a happy girl.  It is the simple things, people!

 Maybe tomorrow I will be motivated enough to clear the laundry out and take a few photos.  Or maybe not.  Yoga is the number one priority for tomorrow...my shoulder is acting up again, so I need to go.

And on a completely unrelated topic, here is a shot taken out our bedroom window last week (you can see the edge of our lawn and then the empty lot next door):

We have had a LOT of deer this year.  I think we counted something like 8 the morning I shot this photo.  And they were BIG and came right up to my house and ate my bushes.  I'm told human hair deters them, so maybe I should try that around my shrubs before they damage them.

Happy Birthday, Ross!

Last week we celebrated Ross' 6th birthday, which seems absolutely hard to believe.  I'm going to be honest here -- I am not a baby person.  I love other people's babies, but I am usually quite happy to hand them back and head home sans baby.   And I really did (and do) love my babies, however it has been a relief to me as they have outgrown that stage of life.  I know that isn't a popular mindset, but it is what it is and I'm not apologizing for it.  A room full of teenagers is far less intimidating to me than a room full of toddlers.  Anyway, what I was trying to get to saying is this:  I'd like to freeze things just the way they are right now.  The kids are independent enough that I feel like I can breath again, but they are still kids -- the boys still come barreling off the school bus with a huge smile and yell "mooooommmmmyyyyy" all the way the the front door.  Lucy is quite happy to be mommy's little helper.  And heavens, Hannah is getting too close to being grown up.  Really, where is the pause button?  

So, yeah, I'm a little sniffy over Ross' birthday.  How did he get so big?

Here are a few of his birthday shots.  I am, as usual, digging the black and white. 

Of course, he had to throw a few silly pictures in, too.

To my disappointment, Ross requested angel food cake with strawberries (which is Jeremy's usual birthday request).  Not that I don't like that combo, but I will be making it again this week for Jeremy and it doesn't leave any room for decorating.  I did talk him into letting me flavor it lemon, so that it wasn't exactly like Jeremy's.  I liked the change, but Jeremy gave it a thumbs down and told me to leave the angel food cake recipe alone.

I also found it very interesting that the kids got in a conversation that night about what they all wanted for their next birthday.  And, no, they weren't discussing gifts, but what they wanted for the meal.  (Ross requested steak this year, by the way).  I'm glad they enjoy my cooking, because I sure do enjoy the process and it makes it so much more fun to have appreciative customers!

The last project...

Posting about the laundry room project reminded me that I hadn't posted about the last project we completed (and by we, I mean mostly me)...our bedroom.

Here are a few before shots:

(Note the uglier than sin brownish/yellow shades on the light.)

Beyond the fact that the walls were really nicked and dinged up (or just badly painted in the first place), I just HATED the color in our room.  It was just so yellow and dingy looking.  And, well, I'm not a yellow/dingy/warm color person.  I like light and bright spaces.

Here are a few after pictures:

I LOVE how it turned out (though there are still a few stray items to take care of).  The blue walls help our furniture not look quite so golden/yellow (I would have loved to replace them with something new -- and king sized -- but I could hardly justify it, as they are perfectly functional).  Notice that the light shades are no longer yellow, thanks to a good long soak in vinegar followed by a lot of elbow grease.  The ceiling is painted two shades lighter than the walls, which I am really quite pleased with. I think the colored ceiling helps the crown molding really pop out.  One of my favorite changes is the new curtains!  I feel like they really pull the room together.

Now, I would LOVE to replace that dingy old armchair in the corner that Jeremy staunchly refuses to part with.  It is wretched, so I will not take a close up of it.  Those were one of those "live and learn" purchases.  We should have spent twice as much and got the matching leather arm chairs for our sofa (which still looks remarkably good after 10 years of heavy use and abuse).  Someday there will be a nice chocolate brown leather armchair in that space, so please just try to envision that when you look at the pictures.

Oh, and the picture over the bed is my own artwork inspired by a Pinterest find.  I will have to take a closeup shot and give details on that project later.  I am quite happy with it, though I wish I had gone up another size or two on the canvas.

Really?

So, I took this picture ages ago, but just came across it while taking pictures off the camera (apparently I haven't transferred pictures off my cheap point and shoot since October!).  No fears...Jeremy was driving while I was snapping pictures!

REALLY?  I'm not sure what surprises me more...that this person put this on their car or that someone printed it for them.  Now, I know that I've misused the "2" words before (along with a slew of other typos), but I would thoroughly proofread something going on the back of my car (wouldn't you?). And then there is the missing apostrophe.  Ugh...this just makes me cringe!

Taking 2012 out in style...snort!

You know, Jeremy & I are a really exciting couple that likes to live on the edge.  Want to know what fabulous plans we have for this New Year's Eve?  After tucking the kids in bed this evening, we tore the laundry room apart so we could start a mini-renovation project.  For the last hour and a half, we've been working on taking the cabinets down and moving them up farther on the wall in order to make room for a shelf below the cabinets.  The cabinets were SUPPOSED to be moved all the way to the ceiling.  However, we discovered that the walls or the cabinet are not quite straight enough to do that.  So, we are calling it "good enough" with moving them up a good 10 inches.  (For the record, the cabinet has been moved and Jeremy is currently working on replacing and tightening all of the screws.)

I just do not want to start another house project right now.  At the same time, I want to get the laundry room done because of two reasons:  1.  it is the only room left on the main floor that hasn't been painted and 2.  because I really really REALLY want to get some kind of a counter installed in there.

For whatever reason, the cabinets in the laundry room (and basement bathroom, for that matter) are of a different (and very ugly) finish from the rest of the cabinets in the house.  So, as part of this project, I will be painting the cabinets (hence the reason I wasn't too scared to move them -- I can caulk and paint over any damage we might inflict).

The worst part about this project is that we can't just tear it apart and leave it that way until it is finished.  I have laundry to do...lots of it.  So, the washing machine will need hooked back up tonight.  And then it will need pulled out again to put the shelf in, and when we put the counter in and when we paint...it is just a vicious cycle.

I'm betting this project will take a good 8 weeks to finish, as I can't see having enough time to finish it all at once (either because I just don't have time to work on the project or because I have to clean up the project to do laundry).

Here is to hoping that 2013 has a more exciting end than 2012.  Happy New Year's everyone...may 2013 be a blessed year for you and the ones you love!