paint and bricks

Thats exactly whats going on here

This kitchen saga might be getting boring to some of y'all but because its in the center of my house and my life-any small improvement is like a small victory!

Lets talk paint first -after I agonized over several greyish paint swatches

see;
                           
 we ended up going with "ashes" by Behr (the one over the plug outlet)

I'm really in love with it:)  I did have trouble taking a picture that captured the true color but this one is almost right
we (and by we I mean my sweet husband and his brother)  used a sander with a grinding pad on it (I'm sorry I have no idea of the technical terms here)
                        

 and then painted a thin coat of lacquer to seal it and avoid dust fallout-especially since there will be shelves next to one of them. I would have taken pictures but it was crazy dusty and smelled like burning hair.
                          I actually didn't know about the plan to seal the bricks but am very pleased with the results-smart guy I'm married to

We should be moving right along now-we purchased beaded board for the back-splash and should be started on the floors soon!  So get ready for some more play by play on the kitchen and thanks for bearing with me...

Monday

It was one of those mornings.  Its a Monday-so negative 10 points just off the bat and we were up late doing kitchen remodel stuff.  That kitchen stuff resulted in a thin coating of dust over the entire house that I really NEEDED to clean (seriously I get antsy if my house is dirty) So I had a headache, a bad attitude and alot to do.  Mix in a dash of needy 3 yr old and you have a potentially disastrous combo.   After the first awful hour of the day (Gwen whining, Me griping)  She stood next to me and said " Mom lets make a skirt!"  a bit of an odd request-not something we've ever done before. Instead of  "not now" "OK" came out instead:)  Ignoring the dust on the floors (and everything else) and the dishes in the...bathroom, we instead pulled out the scrap bag and made a scrap skirt!!

it was very easy-I tied 2 knots to mark how long it needed to be to go around her little waist. (ugh don't look at my floors)


then we (I) cut strips of fabric about 1" wide and double the length of what we wanted the finished length to be.  Then while Gwen handed me strips of fabric I knotted them on to the waist ribbon. 

I found it easier to knot each end to a chair.


 
and Voila!!


look at that smile:)


30 min of knot tying was so worth it.  The house eventually got cleaned and the rest of our day was so much more pleasant!



sometimes you just have to ignore the dust and mess and sit in it to give your little darlings some one on one attention!

coping

How am I surviving without a kitchen? Meet Mr and Mrs paper and plastic.

It really hasn't been that bad. If anything its a lesson in how little we need to function. It is NOT convenient-but its not impossible. Cooking happens here


with the microwave, foreman grill, (i've used this for EVERYTHING-even eggs) and the electric skillet.. Oh and the crockpot!

the pantry

the umm...place where the dishes go...

Making healthy meals is a little trickier. I have to microwave rice instead of using real brown rice but overall its been...doable. Maybe Im just feeling charitable because I know this is a temporary situation. Although my husband likes to try and rile me up by saying " do we really NEEED a sink??" Uh yes. The answer is yes. because the very worst almost intolerable part of this whole ordeal is this. washing dishes in the bathtub.

Technology hates me. True story.

Hello there blog.

I didn't neglect you on purpose-It was my stupid computers fault. I couldn't upload pictures and nobody likes posts without pictures. The devil machine-aka computer- also ate the browser...somehow...so I was going way old school on internet explorer. I mean ollld school-it was pixelated. I know. Internet explorer doesn't like blogs apparently. I may or may not have mumbled obscenities in its general direction.

Well now its fixed. And the computer acting like a moody twit was probably due to the fact that I had 8 million pictures saved. (they are now safely stored on disks-thanks to the Man)

anyway-I'm back!

and in my absence there has been house improvement! Do I have a kitchen!?? No.

BUT I do have a sweet little girls room! We needed some sort of clothing storage for Gwen's room (hers is the only one without a closet) We found this wardrobe at our trusty Ikea and it works like a charm. Of course adding a rather large piece of furniture sparked a rearranging frenzy and now we have this:


It really starting to come together and is my favorite place in the house right now:)


We also implemented this job chart
which of course I had to make fancy. Its been wonderful in aiding our morning routine and really helps start our day off right. Alot of them are things that would happen anyway but now she does them eagerly and on her own. We have get dressed, fix hair, brush teeth, clean room, make bed, laundry (she takes her laundry basket to the laundry room) school and playtime! The cards are pieces of laminated scrapbook paper and the sparkly things are be-jeweled round magnets. The metal board was a steal at Hobby Lobby in their spring clearance-I think it was less than $3! It has also been helpful in reminding me to sit down everyday to do school with her - I've worked out our system for that too and so far its working well.

to quote my mother; " Children need the security of a routine. The familiar sequence of events in a day helps little ones feel safe; the world is not chaotic and unsettling, the world is orderly and predictable. When a child knows what to expect, and life proves him/her right, that builds confidence and trust. A happy secure child is a joy to behold!"

Plus giving her 'responsibilities' is setting the tone for our family. I want to teach her that part of being a family is working together to take care of what God has given us:)
yay I'm so happy to be blogging again!

I'll be back later to show you how I'm coping without a kitchen