Trouble with Doors

We are having lots of trouble with our doors.

For starters, the front door was "accidentally" hit by a rock when Malena was throwing rocks at the house. Seriously? With all the windows in the front of our house, she was surprised when a rock connects with one?  Doesn't rate as an accident in my book.

At any rate, it looked kinda cool for a bit. The crackle look. The wreath for Christmas hid the shatter point. All good.

Until Malena gets in a tiff, walks out the front door and slams it. And - yup - it starts falling to pieces.

This is what it looks like now. Guess I won't have to put a second coat of red on that door after all. Instead, I'll be getting a new door much sooner than planned. Bummer. At least it's double-paned, so we don't have issues with weather, right?

But that's not all. Oh, no. Then there's the garage door. Doug put all that lovely insulation in it, right? Then it got pretty heavy. The next week, there were a few days that the door just decided not to work. So I turned it to manual, and the kids had to raise and lower it by hand - a little more difficult since the door was a little heavier, but still do-able.

Then I mention it to Doug. Never mention a problem to an engineer unless you want a solution. That very evening, he tackles the problem. He tried to tighten the spring, assuming the problem was the new weight of the door.

Well, guess what? That spring broke. The horizontal bar on the wall should have two springs, one on each side of the center line. Now, nada.

He got a new spring, a few days later. And, of course, that was when it started to snow. So he went to work, and got it installed. It does not work, however.

These are the tools of a stymied engineer. See how many he has waiting for him? Yes, he is still working on this problem, two weeks and four snow storms later. We're just parking outside.

On the bright side, Doug did finally get around to finding my scraper. Now I can get all the ice and snow off my car before I drive the kids to school. Notice that I am not actually complaining about this - this is one of the first houses ever that I have had a garage to park in at all. So a few weeks outside is no big deal - but I do miss the covered shelter.

Sigh. Anyone else having door-related issues? Hopefully, I'm not the only one...

Slacker, Here

Doug has been doing a lot of projects lately. Shelving in the garage, making wooden candles to celebrate his brother's birthday, putting together our new bookshelves, and the list goes on.

So what have I been doing? Being a slacker!

Okay, technically, not really. I do have five children to look after, but still. Not much moving on the house front...but I did finally get around to making Bonnie and Malena something nice to wear to church. Malena's is the only one finished (although that hasn't stopped Bonnie from wearing her dress for two weeks running). Are you ready for my paltry offering to the project table? Here ya go...

The skirt is my handiwork. Bonnie picked out the fabric. I asked Bonnie to model her dress, but she was very stubborn - as only teenagers can be - about not getting her picture taken. Maybe when I finish the dress, hm?

This is Sophie being annoyed that I'm only taking pictures of Malena.

Maybe I'll have to make her a cute little skirt too. But since I'm being a slacker, it might take awhile.

Finding Treasure

According to Mary Poppins, every task can be made into a game. Although, you know why Mary Poppins was a nanny and not a mom, right? That's right: she gets a day off every week.

Anyway. I am tired (or as my mom used to say, "sick and tired") of not having silverware. I figure that between what I owned when we moved in, and what I have purchased since we moved in, I have about 36 spoons. That's a lot of spoons.

However, I can't ever find those spoons. Or my forks or knives, for that matter - although the spoons are definitely the biggest issue. So we turned this into a game.

See the bear? That's me.

That's right: find the silver, make some cash. Ten cents, to be exact. Malena also got a 50-cent bonus for finding all of Bonnie's earrings that were scattered all over. The kids got 18 pieces of silverware with a combination of hard work (the boys) and memory (the girls). Now I have 14 spoons. A far cry from 36, but at least it's something.

Oh, and I say "sick and tired", too. A lot. Maybe I should work on that? Maybe when I get a day off every week.

Da Book of House

It's January. Time of organizing. Seriously, just check any home-oriented magazine - this month, they'll be talking about organizing.

So I'm getting on that bandwagon. After all, there's not much to do in January other than plan and empty out closets, right? Okay, other than those million-and-one painting projects I have waiting on me, but still.

To the book. Long time ago, when we bought our first house, my mother-in-law told me about a book where she kept all the measurements of her house. And other stuff, just to keep it all together. I've had one for every place we've lived ever since - even apartments, believe it or not.

This is typically what it looks like - papers sticking out and everything.

What do I put in this book? I started with my mom-in-law's suggestion and got measurements of all the rooms. Then I drew them out. And it kinda snowballed from there. Now I have it a lot more organized (although I realize that the apparent disorder of the photo above belies the whole "organized" assertion). Here's what I have in my book:

Plat map and Google Earth photo
The plat map I got from our closing documents. Never had this for an apartment, but it's kinda cool to see how your property looks in relation to all the others in your neighborhood. Plus, it has measurements and orientation. 

The Google Earth picture I heisted from our city's planning department when I asked them about fence regulations. They actually just gave it to me, but heisting it sounds so much cooler, especially given our bad feelings about the fence regulations.

House and room layout (measurements) 

Each floor is detailed, and each room is measured out and given its own page.

Our top floor. I also have a page with the basement.

This section is the main reason why I use sheet protectors. See all the little pieces of furniture?

I use graph paper to measure not only the rooms, but also each piece of furniture. Then I use clear shelf paper - the sticky Rubbermaid kind - to "laminate" the pages. Then each piece gets cut out, and a little piece of tape is put on the back. Now I can move my furniture by placing it on the protected pages - without ever lifting anything. Until I find an arrangement that I want to try in real life, that is.

This is an extra page that has all my extra pieces of furniture on it.
By extra, I mean: I haven't placed them on the correct pages yet.

Planting information

This is the section where I detail what I'm planting. I was really good at this the first year we moved in. Not so much last year. We'll see about this year. What I am good at: putting pictures of landscapes I love. There is also a handy seed list and "when to plant" list that I got from a local nursery. Good reference material, that.

Maintenance stuff

There is a section for all the maintenance stuff I am (or should be) doing. I've even put in an article from This Old House to act as a reference of things to do. This is a new section for me - since most of our homes have been places we were not going to stay, maintenance had little interest for me. Updating, renovating, yes. Maintenance? Not so much. So there you go.

Tear sheets 

This is the fun part, where I tear out ideas that I love from magazines. I try to write on the sheet why I tore it out...otherwise, I have a really hard time remembering. Of course, then I just throw it away, and it's one less page to keep. So whatever works for you. 

It's also a place where I sketch and file ideas. Note that I keep a pencil tucked in the binder (away from prying little hands), and that the sketch I'm showing you is not actually in its section. I have to keep some things handy so that Doug can look at them whenever he's looking for a new project. This is what I keep in the front pocket - along with all the other stuff that just needs to be filed.

All these sections are separated using pocket folders. I like these because I can tuck stuff in them, too - stuff I want to be handy, stuff I need to put in sheet protectors for future reference.

And all these pictures were taken on a shelf from one of my painting projects. It is now primed. So see? I am getting to those painting projects...slowly...but I'd rather look at any books you keep for your house. Do you have any additional sections? Any other ideas that should be in mine? I'd love to hear it!

The Paper Project

In my imagination, there are no more papers in my house. Everything is digital, or printed in bound books. The former (digital): all bills, taxes, and any paperwork we want to save for any reason. The latter (bound books): pictures, scrapbooking, and - of course! - novels. Oh, and reference books for Doug. Can't forget that.

How am I going to do this, you ask? Using a scanner and a CD-burner. So I asked for a scanner for Christmas. After we returned from California, I finally took it out of its box. And...started scanning!

Where to start, where to start? Pictures, of course.

Many moons ago, I started scrapbooking. At the time, my mother's photos were all in a big box, completely unorganized and just stashed in every which way. She told me to take whatever I wanted, since she would never get around to doing anything with those pictures, anyway. Which was true, actually - although my oldest sister did organize what was left of them into four large photo albums many years later.

I took her at her word, and now have many photos. Some of which probably should be shared with my brothers and sisters. So this is where I started. This will probably be a years-long project, but why shouldn't I share what I've already done?

Ah, old pictures. They really bring you back. Anywho, I'm hoping to make all the old pictures that include other siblings into CDs that I can pass along. We should all get to share these memories, right?

The Delivery Debacle

As we all now know, heat loss is Doug's nemesis. He spent last winter worrying about the house and all the heat it was losing, which led to more roof insulation and a cabinet door for the cubby in the kitchen. Then he was worried about his detached garage, which we call the shop, or the "Doug-out". He purchased all the insulation for that space, and installed it in the roof and over most of the walls. Not sure why he hasn't finished that - but whatever. Now he has turned his attention to the attached garage.

Watch out.

It's a Birthday, Baby!

Doug's brother and sister-in-law were a little anxious last night. You see, Doug has four brothers. All of them are pranksters. And the brother in question turned 40 this morning. Watch out.

Luckily, he didn't have a whole lot to worry about...we just made some candles to "plant" in his lawn...along with the large "40" to lean against the house, of course. We even made a family party out of the painting of said candles:

Collin was the mix-master, finally realizing that all pigments lead to brown.

Malena was into special effects, painting multiple colors at one time.

Bonnie was working on her painting master impression, putting small squares of color to make a cohesive whole. Needless to say, she didn't get many candles painted, but the ones she finished were pretty amazing.

Even Doug got into the painting, although he took a break here to take a picture of us. Where were the little ones? Sick and asleep early, thank heavens.

Then this morning, the celebratory items were taken to his brother's house (a good 45 minutes away) to start the day off right.

I love how the snow makes the candles look like they are floating on a giant birthday cake. The house itself could be a "topper", no? The painted flames even look pretty real in this picture, though I can't wait to see pictures taken in the light of day. The best part? Both brother and sister-in-law were thrilled.

The Wall of Books

My books are like a security blanket for me. I love having them, I love having them near, and it really bugs me that they are downstairs and stacked two deep on the only set of shelves we have indoors.

It also bugs me that there is a blank wall in my bedroom. Yup, let's fix those two things by adding a wall of bookshelves, so we can have all our books at arm's reach.  Whaddya say?

Mounting the Headboard

My kids would read that title and think: "Whoa, the headboard is for riding, like a pony?"

Anyway. Many moons ago, I created the awesome upholstered headboard at the top of the bed. No, I am not bragging - I just really, really like it. It was just propped up behind our bed, though...which made for problems with the curtains. They would get stuck behind the headboard, and when Doug would "gently" pull them closed, the curtains would tumble to the floor.

Funny, that never happened to the curtains on my side of the bed.

Whatever. I told Doug how I wanted it mounted: horizontal strips of wood, attached to the back of the headboard and to the wall, then screwed together. No, he didn't understand it either. I drew a schematic, and he perused it for about two seconds before shaking his head and saying, "Nope".

He came up with vertical wood strips, screwing into the back of the headboard. Then the headboard is again propped against the wall, but without curtain issues.

Sophie was helping to mark where Daddy needed to drill. What a good helper.

What a great guy. See the space behind that headboard?

And in other news, the toilet is back in (hooray!)...

And the shelves in the garage are complete. Or, I should say, up. Not finished, because Doug wants me to paint them white. Those painting projects are really stacking up...I should get to that soon!

They really are amazing shelves. Doug keeps eyeing things around the house: "Do you think that should go in the garage?" I think he's really very proud of himself. As he should be. Have a great weekend!

He's a Shelvin' Man

Doug was a busy boy while I was in California. Oh, we were in Cali to get stuff for him, so don't feel badly that he was left with the three youngest children. I certainly didn't.

He kept himself from going stir-crazy with three young'uns by putting up shelving in the garage. Not a bad way to fill one's time...

And a great way to make use of wasted space.

You can see the shelf he put up a while ago, way up in the never-never there...

It doesn't look quite so forlorn anymore.

And - of course - what are shelves without stuff on them? Camping gear, and other junk.

And more junk. Which we can now see and make use of as we see fit. Hehehe. Better yet? Doug can use the garage without tripping over things. He can also store "family stuff" in the main garage instead of taking up room in his already-crowded shop (have I mentioned that it is a 3-bay garage?!?). At any rate, they're lookin' good, honey!