Back to life... tax season is over!

The best part of tax season being over is freedom of time!  I'm back to blogging and have lots to update you all on.  I lost my camera card reader and have been working a ton of overtime this tax season.  My favorite part of tax season ending and when school starts up in September are pleasant weather and time to spring clean and reorganize.

The project this week I was helped on by the whole family.  The kids have been talking about wanting to sleep in the same room for awhile now. We moved here and got a house big enough for everyone to have their own room and now they all want to share. Go figure. If I put them to bed in their own rooms, by morning they are all sleeping in one twin bed.  So we brainstormed and came to the conclusion to mix it up.  The original master bedroom the oldest was in was changed to a bunkhouse and boys' change room, the middle child's small bedroom is now the playroom and the little girls' room is now a library/doll room/girl change room.  We also got rid of two giant boxes of toys, clothes, etc. and I'm $90 richer from the consignment store.  I figure we'll keep the arrangement for a few years before the eldest wants his own room back to try and sneak in the ladies to make out with them, but for now we'll see how it goes.

Room 1-the original master-we rebunked the boys' beds and put in a trundle from our couch downstairs for the girl.  There are two bedstands, the boys share one with two drawers (drawer for each) and V has one with a drawer. Everyone has a collapsable hamper for stuffies (stuffed animals) and the stuffies collection must fit on your bed + the container or you have to start purging. We did not purge this time around as they did last time and going through the toys and having my sentimental middle child give up some things I've not seen him play with in a year was enough for me.  The boys' dressers are in here and there's shelving in the closet for the arsenal (bows, swords, shields, Nerf guns) as well as a rod for hanging clothes-I have 2-1 they can reach, the higher is  for out of season coats, stuff that's just a little too big for them, etc.

 

Room 2-the playroom.  The previous owners used this as an office and it unfortunately has a smaller window than I would like.  The lego table is in there with a fuzzy rug and their misc building and other toys.  I can close the door and my toes can be barefoot without stepping on legos :D

 

 

I'm tempted to move the doll stuff from the Pink room into this room as there is some space and put the dress up stuff in the pink room, but that's a job for another day. We also recently got C a new dresser and the old one is in the garage begging me for  Pinterest makeover to make a dress up armoire, so there's another reason to possibly move the dress up stuff in the blue playroom.

 

The last room is the library/doll room (maybe dress up room, still a work in process!)  V's huge bed is in here and we'll put all our throw and extra pillows on it for a reading nest.  This is still her dressing room and there are books in the white cabinet (mostly C's) in the smaller bookshelf (mostly H's) and in the shelves in the closet (mostly V's).  H had a great idea of designating a shelf (probably the top of the bookshelf with the lamp on it) for library books so they don't get mixed in with our collection.

 

 

 

The kids were so excited when they got home and they helped me go through and put away the last of the toys.  Hubby helped me with lifting, vacuuming, decision making and made dinner while the kids and I finished up!

 

Why I gave up keeping them separated:

 

 

We have a 2nd bathroom!

When we moved in to this house, the upstairs bathroom had been remodeled, but the previous owners who had done a major project every year since moving in (ie: roof, adding a deck, etc.) had moved out in the beginning of putting in the 2nd bathroom downstairs.  They'd finished the basement (most homes here are sold with the basement not finished and the square footage not included in the house sales report) except for the bathroom and laundry room which had plumbing and had been roughed in.  The room is huge.

We thought about doing it ourselves.  Between our light bathroom remodeling experience in our old house and YouTube, we probably could have. However, with the kids all on different school schedules, Paul traveling one week out of the month and curling, swimming and other activities we figured we did not have the amount of uninterrupted time for our basic home improvement skills to finish it properly.  So we had 4 contractors who were all recommended come and make bids.

2 were pretty pricey, 2 were lower and one of those two was optimistic that he could even possibly have at least the shower put in by the time my parents were scheduled to come see the house for the first time, so we hired him.

Things started out well and Erin got shopping (not paying for that-- I've got awesome skills in that department).  Then the floor tiles started cracking.  The contractor told us that the tiles the previous homeowner had left that worked just fine on the shower walls were too cheap and we needed to go get new ones.  With our limited experience, we were skeptical and thought it had more to do with the installation, but bought some one grade higher and they spent 2 days chipping the floor out that they'd spent 2 days on.  Paul did an awesome job finding just enough boxes of instock tile that really matched almost perfectly to the tile already on the walls.  Needless to say it didn't get done in time for my parent's visit.  Because they had to redo the work, we compromised on not having them also tile the laundry room. We also told him we were doing our own painting which knocked $400 off the bid.

My honest review: While I'm happy it's done and know that paying someone to do it means the job was done a year before we normally would have had time to devote to the project, I will not be hiring this particular contractor again.   I think my initial disappointment was that the quality was what I probably could have done myself if I'd had enough long spurts of time available to work on the job and if I'm paying for it to be done I want it better than I could have done it.  They were over budget on time and while they'd work Monday through Saturday, some days they'd leave at 1pm, some days we'd peek in and think, WTH did they do all day?  The bathroom and laundry room were also FILTHY when they left.  I told Paul I would have been much happier with the job if they'd just spent some extra time cleaning up. Instead I did it and I noticed every higher tile, the 2 that were cracked and every other little thing that I never would have seen when I was awed by the job but that I noticed right away because my face was 6 inches from it cleaning.  I spent 2 days cleaning and painting. By 2 days I mean long days.  NOW that I've cleaned and painted it I'm quite happy with it. Now that I'm using it I'm happy with it.  But I asked Paul to stop asking me how I liked it most of last weekend ;)  Today we also changed to a tankless hot water heater so I now have an extra 4x4 foot area in my furnace room for storage.

Here's the end result...

The view from the bathroom door into my laundry room pocket door. Before putting in the pocket door, the door opening was to the right, in the corner, which meant you had to walk around the vanity, this is a much better flow.

 

To the right... I now have a corner to put my freezer in and storage for cleaning supplies. I'm keeping them in the bins until I move out the shelves to tile in there, then I'll organize it.

To the left, my laundry tub, laundry machines and pantry storage above. I took these shelves out of the garage and reused them to add some pantry space to our smaller kitchen. the tank water heater has been replaced with a tankless which is attached to the wall so that back corner is now all free space.

Looking into the bathroom with the pocket door closed, the other door is a linen closet, vanity to right, toilet to left.

 

New vanity and mirror with extra space in the corner for a plant, shelves.....??? The lights and mirror seem a little low because there's ductwork above the vanity area, good thing we're a short family

The toilet and new shower and his and hers towel bars. Both windows have a contact paper that's a privacy screen. Easily installed with an exacto knife and a squeegee.

The shower. Shower bar with jets and rain shower, niche cut in between the studs with glass shelf-big enough for Costco sized shampoo, the window in there is also tiled so you can put stuff up there as well. Doors are Maax Halo 60 inch doors. Shower is 5'x5' with center drain. Gray tile line is same tile that's on the floor.

What does this all cost?  Here's the breakdown, including tax (13.5% here)

Labor & construction supplies (except cleaning & painting)	5,650.00
Door Knobs-privacy & closet	65.52
Molding & Shelving, Baseboards	132.60
Towel holders, TP holder	135.66
Faucet	122.04
Tile (bathroom and laundry)	271.38
Shower body bar-$150 off sale	449.74
Vanity & sink top-48 inch marked off $60 for scratches down by the floor	847.67
Vanity light	90.40
Pocket Door-primed	153.67
Paint-1 gal midgrade Benjamin Moore & 1 quart Zinnzer for molding & doors	70.00
Shower doors	733.37
Mirror	33.90
Accessories	32.70
	8,788.66

 

Reorganization of craft room

My scrap/craft space wasn't working the way I'd unpacked it, so I did a reorganization last weekend.

This tower of Michael's cubes is right on a small strip of wall next to the door, in front of the closet, which doesn't seem to make sense.  In front of the closet?  Oh, yeah.  Top is ribbon, open shelf has a bin with all my Glimmer Mists and glue bottles and my silicone mat rolled up.  The drawer is Stickers, which are in folders by themes (finally ditched the binder I don't use stickers much these days).  Chipboard alphas are next.  It's divided into cubes and I had enough alphas missing letters that I organized them from a suggestion here into cubes by letter rather than font, so look for some mismatched titles from my scrapbooking!  I mostly use them and cover them with embossing powder, ink, paper, etc. so that the colors match my layout anyways, so I think this will work better for me.  Then is a drawer of Jute, Sew Easy stuff, baker's twine...thin stuff.  Then a drawer of paper ribbons like CM, etc.  Last bin ahs drawers of:  Bling, Brads that don't fit in my brad organizer, Adhesives like Tacky Tape, Envelopes, etc. and Misc which is leftover pieces from scrapbook kits, etc. that are fun to look through when I need some inspiration.

The right side of the closet stays open while scrapping (the left has altering and projects for "someday" as well as extra office supplies)
Bottom shelves have books-inspiration, instruction manuals, etc.  Then lower left above books has my wishblade and my laminator. The baskets contain left: Cuttlebug and embossing plates Right: Misc stuff too big to go elsewhere-grungeboard, silk flowers, wood panels, etc.  Top two have unopened colored cardstock, a bin of Washi tape, Boxes have rubber gloves for stamping, Tag maker and metal  outsides, crepe paper, quotes & journal spots.  Top has envelopes and in progress scrapbooking, very top is sewing stuff.

This is my stamping/cardmaking station (I could scrapbook here, but arranged items accordingly and this sturdy desk from the basement of my old, old house can handle stamping better than the lightweight one I'm using for scrapbooking.  This huge cassette tape holder was from a thrift store or library-got it at REstore for about $45, it's solid oak and heavy, it's about 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide.  In my old space it sat on a foundation ledge, but here I was scared to attach it hanging to the wall and it would be too tall for me to reach items at the top. I put lesser used items under the table and right in front of my stamp area are:
Top: Glues, paints, etc. too tall for the shelves
Top left to right:Brads in clear containers with little inserts that look like tic tac containers-Oriental Trading company bead holders
Paint
Flock and specialty glitters, distress paint and reinkers
Stickles
Paint supplies
Glitter
More paint supplies
Embossing powders and supplies
misc finishes, sticky stuff, pens
small inks across the way
large wood stamps
Above this table is a pendant lamp from IKEAto help eliminate shadows when working. Underneath is CTMH blocks and Power cord attached to light since this particular light has no on/off switch.

In between the stations....  CTMH stamps are in envelopes on the desk above the drawers in DVD holders from Container store.  SU! MArkers are between the CTMH stamps and the big shelves.  My PC tool turnaround is in front of the CTMH stamps.  In the drawers of the desk-top drawer is a divided drawer with stuff I use a lot but is too small for the turn around... adhesives, distressors, etc.  Middle drawer is portable straight trimmers, CM shape CCS, CM photo trimmer with blades in the drawer, bottom drawer has large foam stamp alphas, ATG and embossing tool, X adhesive and babywipes for clean up.
A cupholder/trashholder between the tables.  A cassette holder is attached to the wall for SU! inks.  The sideways wood magazine holder has chalks and pastels, etc. in it.  The CD holders from Container store are attached to the wall and contain SU! and misc stamps I've moved from their wood blocks and replaced with EZ foam to make them flat they are in empty CD holders from the office supply store.  On top of ink storage are two bins, one for circle stamps and one for some misc foam stamps.  On top of the big wood shelves are SU! Clear stamps in their DVD sized containers.
The table I'll use for scrapbooking.  I have a 12x24 grid mat that I leave out to help me place for 2 page layouts, pictures are in a basket, the pail has misc small stamps.  The big paper trimmer and Cricut are also over there.  Under the table are my Cricut cartridges and a big plastic container with drawers that holds punches. Predone layouts and borders are also under that table.  Cricut mats are between my rolling CM bag which holds extra albums and pages under the printer next to DH's desk for work, which has office supplies, etc. in it.  The cabinet doors on the wall hide the electrical panel.

Where Paul works

Futon for guests to have their own space when staying with us.  We put chair floor protectors on the wood floors for protection.  My MIL had some spongy stuff for under wood floors left over from their basement and I used them under the floor protectors to cushion the little spikes that are supposed to grab carpet.

Sorry to my grandpa, but I've commandeered the toy box he built the kids to hold paper in it because it's got wheels and is just the right size!  I can move it over to my area to work if I want and when guests stay, I can close the lid so they can put luggage on it.

It's right under my dry erase/magnet board of flowers (they were selling these tins at Staples full of office supplies for something like 25 cents)  There's also a CD player & speakers for tunes, the shelf for CDs was my grandmother's. I used it for Glimmer mist previously.  This is directly across from my stamp area.


That's the tour! 

So much going on!

A few more projects to post from when Paul was gone and I was keeping busy...

We needed a chair reglued but with the curve in it, a clamp wouldn't hold, so bungie cords were used...

I painted our breakfast nook chairs... we have a very beige and white house and I figured some color to match our dishes might be nice.  It was a PITA and it's not a very professional job, but they sit behind this big counter thing and you can't tell they aren't perfect and the kids love them, so there!  I used about a can of spray paint per and used Rustoleum no-prime paint.  They also show food and crap on them way less than the white they were before. I also put some scraper things on the bottoms of the legs so they scoot easier.

I also replaced this receptacle/light switch.  Should have taken a before.  The light switch was this 1/2 flat toggle thing and the receptacle's 3rd holes were both broken, so the entire time I was sawing and sanding to make that bench the plug would fall out of the outlet.  Now, the upstairs of our house is aluminum wiring. If you don't know, in the mid-70s builders decided aluminum was cheap and  accessable and why not wire houses with it?  Um, cause it corrodes and stuff faster.  Anyways, so it's not just changing out, you also have to make sure you buy the right parts-most of them at the store say AL with a cross through it, ie: don't use on Aluminum.  You have to find ones good for copper and aluminum.  Which means there was one option on each part and they were only in white (I was going to stick with Almond since it's in the garage and bound to get grubby, but whatever)  and they were not quite the most expensive (commercial grade) but close.  Then I sanded the connectors to take off the anti-corrosion coating from the aluminum wires, then I put some anti-corrosion goop and connected up the parts. 

I also made up this laundry room stand from 1/2 a closet shelf organizer that Henri's not using-he's in the smallest bedroom-9x9 and we put his dresser in his closet so he has more floor space and I put in some Creative Memory Pod organizers.  Each has a name on it so the kids can put away their own laundry and bring down their dirty clothes.  The top red one is for ironing, lol, like that's ever going to get done!

I'm also cooking more since I don't have my freezer of meals at the ready and cooking  healthier, trying to drop some of my "moving" weight from eating all the chocolate instead of moving it...  this was so easy. I took some frozen fish, thawed it out and pan fried in a little olive oil with garlic spread powder from Costco, yum!  The beans are from the farmer's market, cooked just a little, with tomatoes from the plant in the backyard, basil in the backyard and some cubes of mozerella. The longer you let it sit the better it tastes.

I also put together a device charging station.  Next to this bookcase (those are binder clips holding the chargers up the back of the bookcase so they aren't hanging out and don't fall behind the case)  is a plastic bin with drawers and more chargers, headphones, devices that will fit in the drawers.

I also built a deck stair.  Just one.  The deck is 14 inches off the ground and was quite a step for the  little ones.  At the third hardware store I visited, a guy drew plans for me and another cut the wood for me, I just assembled and attached to the deck. It was a little expensive but heavier wood than I was going to originally used and some of the work came with it, so whatever!

It is about 12 feet long, so I took a 6 inch by 2 inch by 12 foot board, they cut up a 6x2x 8foot board for me into supports-I attached these every 18 inches with deck screws.  Then I took what looked like 1/2 a ladder and attached the 12 foot board to the exposed footing posts of the deck. Then I attached another 6x2x 12 foot board, now it looked like a doll ladder attached sideways to the deck.  I then capped it off with a 12x2x 12 foot board (sorry no pictures!) to make the step, so there's a box basically attached to the side of my deck.  I then watersealed the deck and step.  Which is good because we've been having some thunderstorms at night. I also replaced the weather stripping around the backdoor and painted the exposed pine that was used when the window frames in the kids' rooms were rebuilt after moving them down 6 inches when we were residing.

Right before Paul got home, I got a call that my grandpa who had fallen the week before was having issues with his speech and I started worrying and debating going home.  I have been able to Skype with him and he seems to be getting stronger every day for which I am so, so grateful.  We just got here to Canada a month ago and Paul was due to arrive home after 10 days away.  Paul got home and I got to spend some time via Skype with some scrapbook friends at the retreat I normally go to every year.  It was good to see them, esp since I'll also miss the annual convention we go to together due to my parents coming to visit.  We decided we need to Skype and scrapbook more often :)

I tried out the scrapbook and card group that meets at the library for 2 hours once a month.  There were about 6 ladies and it's facilitated by a woman who is about my age who works at the library.  We share supplies and tips and ideas and it was fun, I'd definitely do it again. I also found out about a card-making class once a month and book clubs that are coming up.  Between that and some extra time due to Paul being home, I made a few cards up from a paper pack that needed to be finished off... not enough 12x12 paper left to make scrapbook pages, but there was one whole paper and a 6x6 paper pack pad... Valerie helped me do the finishing touches...

 

So on to my current moving to Canada issue.  Trying to get a driver's license.  The website states that I just need to exchange my US license and bring proof of 2 years of experience as well as something to prove my address and I can get an Ontario Driver's license!  This is necessary so I can get insurance (3 x as expensive because the minimums are $1million) so we can register the car in Ontario.  We've successfully imported the car through RIV program (Registrar of Imported Vehicles), registering is the next step and must be done sooner than later.

 

So I ordered my driver's abstract before I left WA so I could get insurance, etc.  My license was issued 3 years ago, so should be no issue there for driving experience.  I printed out what I got online from WA DMV.  Ontario won't take it.  It must be mailed to you or gotten directly from DMV.  I leave in tears (it had been kind of a frustrating week with Paul gone and a small bout of homesickness). I call Paul and tell him to go into the DMV while he's in WA and get one. Luckily he also keeps his receipt because Ontario driver's licensing asks for it (remember their website says NOTHING about even needing an abstract)  I show them the one I brought last week. She holds them side by side the ONLY difference is the seal is slightly different color due to my printer. She takes them to her supervisor side by side. Still won't accept it, but they'll take Paul's with the receipt. The kicker? I take the kids out to the car and am about to send one in with the utility bill I took out with me when he arrives with his temporary license.  "How did you get the address on it without the utility bill?" I ask.  "Oh, they just took my word for it."  Unbelievable.  So if I ever get mine mailed to me from DMV, you better believe I'm bringing it in a sealed envelope and praying I can keep my trap shut about how annoying this is.  And sitting there until they give me a license. 

 

Now we can get insurance (we still have been advised to keep our WA policy until I get ON license) and get our plates this week.

 

 

Entry Way cabinet

We have a really nice, big entry way and I love that the garage entrance, front and back doors all lead to it. In our old house we had FOUR entrances to the house, all with shoes at them. Took forever to find shoes in the morning!

I wanted something that we could use to charge our cell phones on by the door (we're lucky enough to have an outlet in the entry way) but also started thinking it may be nice to have a bench there since the only place to sit to put shoes on is the stairs leading up to the living room.  So was trying to decide between a console table or a bench.


I found this at Canadian Tire for about $60-$70. It's ok, but it is pressboard, needs assembly, etc. I figured I could put a drawer/basket in the smaller compartment for charging cell phones in.

Then I happened upon Goodwill when I went up north. I was considering another piece when this came in to the store...  The thing is SIX FEET LONG thank goodness I didn't have the kids in the car! It's also solid wood (red mohagany color according to the stains at the store).

 

it was too tall for a bench, but was solid wood and only had a small flaw in the corner...

 

So I loaded it up and took it home. I took the feet off, did some fancy fixing to clean up the flaw and put some gel stain on it because it had some small stain flaws on top, plus, to take the feet off I put it directly on the garage floor and scratched it up rather than putting it on a moving blanket  like I had an inkling to do :(.  I got the gel stain in red mohagany and only did the sides and top-the front still looked good.  A few tips. The gel stain when it says "let sit 3 minutes and wipe off" is serious.  The kids distracted me and I had to step away longer on the sides and it was streaky and not the even, glossy beautiful tone on top.  However, because it was still sort of wet, I was able to take a scratchy kitchen sponge, wet it and scrub off the stain and try again and it ended up alright.

I used some of the wood from the front of the leg that had an angled edge and made a patch for the part I cut out of the front where it was splintered off.  Then used red mohagany wood putty (both from Minwax so they match) to fill in the gaps since I pretty much had just a jigsaw to try to piece in the wood.

This is how it turned out. We are going to look for some cushions for the top of the bench today. Hopefully a 2x6 foot or two 2x3 foot :)

Can you even see the flaw?

How about now?

I drilled a hole in the back for a power strip for charging cell phones, etc.  I may need to make the cut out in the back of the drawer a little bigger so the drawer can roll in and out easier as the cord really needs to be in the space that's behind the bench where there's a gap due to large molding... there's not much space behind the drawers to store it.  Luckily the drawer slides are on the sides, so I can cut larger and not worry about the slide being affected.

Otherwise, we're enjoying the shade the tree backing to our yard offers though we're getting a lot of wildlife. The misquitos are thick, I've seen 3 snakes, a bunny, tons of colorful birds (and get to listen to them!)  a blue fuzzy spider (ok, tons of spiders, but my husband was right... now that we're in the house after it being empty for 2 months, they seemed to have moved on. I cleaned out our storage area under the entry way and only saw ONE in the entire time I was down there).

This week I got the master closet and storage are organized, moved the futon from Carter's room down to our office so guests can have their own space, mowed the grass in 90+ temperatures.  Tonight is the start of our small town's Summer fest with a kick off at the farmer's market.  The farmer's market is only 5 blocks away and every Thursday night, we just haven't seemed to make it over yet, so I'm hoping tonight's the night to check it out.  After cushion shopping I really need to do the cleaning though... floors, bathrooms, etc.  I can only seem to do projects OR keeping stuff cleaned, not both, lol!

Busy in the garden

I have a nice side garden that leads from the front yard to the backyard, but after I cleaned it out it was a little bare...

2 days and way too much money later (they are all perennials, it's an investment!).....

my $5 hanging baskets...

Our first 10 days in Ontario

It took me until about Tuesday to get almost everything unpacked.  We worked hard!  We arrived on Friday in the evening and I unpacked the kitchen.  Saturday was the living room and dining room except for wall pictures and including the toy area.  Paul had mostly unpacked the bedrooms with his family before we arrived.  Sunday was the storage area and rec room.  Monday was the office.  Tuesday was putting away all the little things that got put in misc boxes or I wasn't sure where to put them.  Wednesday and Friday of last week were mostly filled with grocery shopping and yard work.  Thursday was a holiday for Paul but not here, so we left the kids with my inlaws and got some business taken care of... things like the passport office, etc.  Saturday and Sunday were lots of yard work, mostly weeding, mowing, spreading grass seed, etc.  Monday (yesterday) I spent the morning doing paperwork-finishing up and double checking my immigration forms, sending in payments and forms for the import of the van as well as meeting with the pest control people.  Seems when they cleaned out the attic and added insulation, they failed to do the garage.  Paul popped his head up there because it's been an absolute sauna with all the heat and no insulation and said it was an absolute mess up there.  So Wed morning they'll be coming back to clean up the mess and put some insulation up there which should help with the temperature fluctuations in the garage.

The little ones and I walked all around town-getting immigration photos taken for me, mailing my immigration paperwork off (yay me!) getting a library card, buying more grass seed, and getting gelato.  Took about 1.5 hours of walking around, 30 minutes or so to eat the tiny bowl of gelato.  The afternoon was spent washing all the roadtrip grime off the car (though 2 rainstorms did a good job on it-it wasn't that bad), spreading the grass seed, rototilling the garden so I can plant some things and generally puttering around.

Today I spent all morning working on paperwork-sorting the stack of mail that I've been shoving aside as it arrives from my mom's, my inlaws, my post office box and that we brought.  I've been paying bills, filling out forms, inputting bills (trying to find out how much we need to live each month here), banking as well as going paperless for as many bills as possible.  Since we only get the mail 1-2 times a week because it's at the post office box, I figured this would help get the bills paid, esp. since I see us going less and less as the winter progresses!

We've fallen into a bit of a rhythm.  I try to get to bed at a decent hour so that I'm the first up. I like to spend 30-45 minutes puttering around (usually outside if it's not raining) then get some coffee and make a green smoothie for breakfast and do any office related stuff first off before Paul starts working in there (he's working for his company from our home office).  Then I hear the kids wake up and go upstairs, get them breakfast, dressed, chores done, make sure the kitchen's cleaned up, then the kids play some video games while I do some indoor chores of house set up that are still lingering-mostly hanging pictures, sorting through piles of things, organizing closets and things that we unpacked, but didn't organize.  We have lunch and then either go out or work outside if it's not too hot and the kids will ride bikes in the cul du sac or hopefully I can move them to the track right next door to our house at the school.  Sometimes we head to my in-laws for a swim.  The post office and library are just a short walk into the town square.  We have dinner, clean up from the day, sometimes go back outside in the cool or to my inlaws, then bedtime for Valerie.  The boys have been staying up on "summer time" while dad's at home to play video games with them.

Paul's been working about 11am-7 or 8pm since his company is on west coast time-the office door is closed while he's working or in meetings.  He has the Surface set up on Skype so people can stop into his cubicle and talk to him face to face.  Some meetings are by phone or by Skype.  A lot of meetings are at 10am and 4pm Pacific time.  He comes up to have meals with us.  The kids and I eat breakfast at the breakfast bar, then we have lunch and dinner at the dining table.

So far it's been very pleasant-every government office or building has had helpful, happy employees in it.  Our neighbors have brought over wine, essential oil bugspray & gingersnap cookies to welcome us to the area.

We were walking through the schoolyard to the post office and ran into the new principal at the boys' school.  He seems very energetic and friendly and was glad to meet a few students who are new just like him.  He was there with his father looking over the school, picking up trash and seems quite a go-getter.  We've seen his car there every day all day this week (my kitchen windows look out on to the schoolyard).

I'll show you around...

We were able to get the van in the 9.5 foot garage.  Yes, we all get in and out one side, which is fine for now, since we need to get the garage door remote working, the passenger usually gets out in order to unlock the front door and open the garage door anyways.  We also have our tool chest and garbage cans and strollers in there.  Bikes live in the covered part of the deck for now...

The backyard looks way different with leaves!

Before...

 

the poor side garden was covered in Morning Glory when I arrived after 2 months of neglecting it (I did weed it in April)  now after a rototill of the top it's ready for some color

 

 

 

The kitchen has less storage than our old, particularly missing the pantry.  But it's working ok so far...  The TV next to coffee maker will probably get moved-previous owners left it and we seem to get a couple of channels.

 

 

Where we eat breakfast...

 

 

Dining room is a very useable size.

 

 

 

Living room fits our nice furniture.  Paul was hooking things up for the tv. Former owners left wall mount.  TV watching and Wii will probably be mostly upstairs, unless we're watching after the kids go to bed, then we'll watch in the basement where our room is and the Xbox is.

 

 

 

The living room and dining room form an L so we've turned the corner into a play area.  Legos and such are in there.. we're hoping to get a 5x5 foot rug to anchor the place and make it cozier (we have no carpet except a stair runner in the house)

 

 

My linen closet is holding up nicely, esp since I have much more storage in the bathroom than our old house... the cabinet is larger with more drawers and we have a nice sized medicine cabinet. The linen closet holds extra blankets (sheets are kept in bedrooms), towels (towels in bathroom hang from a 2 level 5 hook (so 10 hooks total) on the back of the bathroom door right now as we have no towel racks in there).  Some spare toiletries and medicine box are in there as well as our new canister vacuum which fits nicely on the floor in it. My aprons are hung on a hook on the back of the door since I was having a hard time fitting them in the kitchen.

 

 

 

My first home improvement project was putting some frosty contact paper on the windows for privacy,this looks out to the elementary school!

 

 

The kids' bedrooms seem to be working out, though I'd like to find some small, basic night stands for them.  I may end up making some if I can't find what I like.  I think the futon in Carter's room will move into our office for guests and a desk for homework will go in it's place.

 

 

We removed the closet doors from the master closet as our "walk in" closet with the doors you had to walk into sideways.  The curtain hides it and makes it easy to get in and out of.  We used one brown silk panel. I like it, but if I'd thought it through more I could have probably just used one of our old curtains with clips and rings on it.  Oh, well!  They may work well in Carter's room.  So far I've had to shorten this curtain and the one in Henri's room as well, so the sewing machine has been broken out.  I'll probably move to putting clip rings on the top of them so the kids can slide them easier and will be less likely to pull the curtain rods off the walls.

 

 

We've hung pictures!  I did this wall over the stairs (it's a darker color, so it's an accent wall anyways by using freezer paper-I laid out some strips of it that I had on hand and taped them together, then laid out where I wanted the frames on the paper and marked them, then I measured where the hangers should go and marked those.  Then I used pushpins to put the paper up at the ceiling put my hangers into the paper, then ripped the paper around the hangers.  Easy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 So, it's looking like someone lives here, not like someone just moved in :)  there's still projects for home improvement and organizing (kids bedroom closets and our storage area under the entry way are a priority!) but it's starting to feel more like home.