A First Renovation

It just takes us forever to get anything done. But finally, we have a room complete!

It may seem strange to choose the hallway as the first place to work. I will say, there are many other rooms that need care.

When we first moved in, we had trouble getting started. It seemed so overwhelming. I just had a feeling, that if we could get the entrance to our home looking the way we wanted it to, the rest of the house would follow.

This hallway was just dated. It needed to be brightened. There is not a ton of natural light coming in so we had to find a way to multiply the light.

It is amazing what some paint will do for a room. It makes it feel clean and new again. We have spent many nights sanding painting over lacquered trim. See below...

Before.  And...



After!!

So we haven't been able to replace the flooring, which is something I am looking forward to.  But we did manage to lighten the space and make it feel like our own! 

 

We decided against a door for the closet.  We didn't want to take up any room in this small space.  So a simple curtain helps to hide the mess of our coats and shoes. 

 

We didn't spend a ton but Matt does always buy good paint.  He thinks it is worth it in the durability and cleanability :) of the paint.  This is very important in a house of kids.  We want to keep it looking nice for years to come.

 

We also bought some cheap curtains a cheap rod.  Those things don't have to cost a lot to look nice.  Some things we splurge on, like my new sink at the last house.  Where we can save, we save.  Then we can spend more on the things we really want.  LIKE A NEW SINK IN THIS HOUSE! 

 

I am very motivated to move on now to the rest of the house!  Poor Matt.  At least he is a pro at painting!  Stay tuned for more renovations to come. 

 

God willing, we will make our way through this old farmhouse with as little expense as possible while still doing some of the things we really want to do.

 

Tell me, what projects are you passionate about right now?


Linked to New Life on a Homestead's Barnhop!

 

The Blizzard of '13

I know that I have posted many snow pictures this year.  But these are the ones that you really want to see!  No we didn't get 40 inches like my cousin back East.  But for this part of the country, we got slammed! 

 

 I think the official total was somewhere around 11-14 inches.  It was a true blizzard with high winds and drifts that were unbelievable. 

 

We love living here because in 24 hours the blizzard was gone and the roads were being cleared and melting.  We still have lots of snow on the ground but at least the roads are drivable. 

 

Here is our picture journal of the Blizzard of 13!!

 

In the midst of the storm.  We couldn't see very far out of the kitchen window.

The kids and I had pulled all of the riding toys and bikes onto the porch in anticipation of the storm.  Seems silly now!

It is pure artistry!

Much fun to be had with all of this snow.

It was a tremendous weight on everything.

This is our road to the highway.  It was covered in 2 ft of snow!  Thankfully, the next day, our sweet neighbor came to plow us a path out. 

Birdie and I stayed inside for the most part.  It was VERY cold!

 

Matt was the photographer for most of these.  He has a very good eye!  I love this shot.

We may be without a truck for a few days.

The chickens got trapped in their house.  I think it was a good thing.  They would have blown away!

It was really drifting.

Out to the barn.

What a beautiful and fearful thing nature is.  One little storm completely shut us down.  It just serves as another reminder of how little we control and how our lives are in the hands of our Creator.  Blessed be THE NAME!

 

Oh I am sooooo behind!

Life gets crazy.  I stop taking so many pictures and I stop having anything creative going on in my brain.  It is pure survival mode.  I hate survival mode.  It's very draining. 

 

We have been doing a little work on the house but it is slow-going.  Hopefully we will have an update picture in the next few weeks.  But for now.  We are taking it a day at a time.  Enjoying the scenery and loving our country life. 

 

 

 

This little sweet boy with his man hair. 

Oh Miss Micah B! I love your little fuzzy head.

And your little chubby face!

And your eye creases.

This is the newest addition to our family.  We call it the machine or the green machine.  The kids call it the best thing to ever happen to them.  :)  Hours of fun!!

Sometimes Jolie gets annoyed at the boy-ish-ness around her.  But sometimes, she gets into it.

And that is awesome!

That little long-haired angel above decided she was ready for a change.  So she chopped it off!  She had enough to donate to Locks of Love.  That was her goal!

Daddy and Birdie making pancakes.  I just love a baby girl in a nightgown.  I can't believe that she is getting so close to her 1st birthday!

 

We had another good snow and the green machine came in handy...

for dragging little boys around in the snow!!

It was a big day for the boys.  And maybe for Daddy too.

Snow and play

Even though we have so much work going on here, we still make room for fun!  Life would be so boring if we didn't.  With 5 kiddos, we have lots of opportunities to enjoy what God has blessed us with.  Namely, each other! 

A beautiful, snowy morning!

Levi had no problem enjoying it.

The kids were up and outside by 8 on a Saturday morning.

Asher wanted to include Micah in the fun.

Bowls of snow!

 

 

A few days later we are back to warm!  Daddy loves when the babies wear overalls. 

Baby didn't mind it at all. 
(Yes, she is used to cameras of all kind in her face.)

Micah loves her puppy Fuzz.

Zaddok is a great big brother,  So sweet and tender.

January's plans.

The first few weeks in January are always my blog book time.  This year was super easy!  I used Blog 2 Print and it formatted the book just like my blog.  The pictures aren't was big as I wanted them to be but it saved me 2 weeks (or more!) of work.  It is expensive to do but it is a year's worth of photos.  If I was printing them and scrap booking I think I would spend much more.  I encourage you to try it.  Even if you don't blog, you can do photo books with captions.  It is really a neat way to document the years.

 

Looking forward, we have sooooooooo much to do!  There are many things we have on our list to get done before the weather changes and we move outdoors.  Some of our list is reasonable.  Some of it will get bumped to next year's list. 

 

We have started inside the house with some texture and painting.  There are many rooms in our house that needed that extra smoothing on the walls before getting a fresh coat of paint.  Old houses have nails that will start bulging out of the sheet rock or wallpaper that just needs updating.  Take this for example...

Some of this came off very easily.  This wouldn't budge.

 

 

This is what we are calling our book nook.  When it is finished, it will have new paint, a cozy chair, lamp, and shelves full of books for our kiddos to get lost in!

 

The boy's room is awesome!  It's plenty big for the 3 boys and all of their stuff.  We have a pretty good vision of what we want it to look like.  So Matt started to texture.

 



It's just a thin layer.  Enough to cover some imperfections in the wall and give it some interest.  See that bead-board?  We decided to take it down.  It was only on one wall and didn't really fit. 



 

This is what all of our faces looked like when we removed it.

 

Matt had some repair work to do.  Luckily there was drywall and tape in the barn.

 

There were 2 holes to patch and more mud to apply.  Much to do!!  Soon, painting!

 

Last blog of 2012.

It's been 10 years since we spent Christmas Day with my husband's family.  We usually switch years with my family and his but we always have Christmas Eve and morning in our own home.  This year we traveled to Ft. Worth, Texas for a cousin holiday.  We have 12 kids all together.  It's a bunch of little people.  (Some are not so little anymore.) 

 

We had so much fun.  Nothing fancy.  Just time together, cooking meals with the girls, playing games, talking, singing and telling those kids to be quiet!!  We really didn't see much of them.  They all found their group and stayed busy.

 

It was a very merry time.  So blessed with families who love each other.  It makes time together so special. 

 

This is the oldest cousin Ethan with the almost youngest cousin Levi.  Levi thinks Ethan is pretty special.

It was definitely a house full.  But we all seemed to fit just right.

On Christmas Eve, Uncle Brad read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.  It was pretty sweet.

Cody, "The Fonz" and Kyle.

Micah got to be a little (chubby) girl reindeer.

There were some Just Dance competitions going on.

Ever played Minecraft?  It's a little boy's dream.  Building and creating then destroying.

Caught you Kyle!  Bust a move.

How that girl loves her Daddy.

Asher needed some space the second night we were there.  I told him he could move into the other room and sleep under the tree.  So he did.  Literally!

As 2012 fades out and 2013 dawns, I pray peace and blessing for you all.  We here on the Prairie look forward to new things.  New gardens, new animals, new paint, new adventures.  We will bring you along with us as we go. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you.  May he make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.  May the Lord grant you peace.