Puttin' An Eye in It

An eye bolt, that is. Hehe. Sophia's new room is very, very dark. Mostly due to these really cool curtains I made some time ago (back when this room was inhabited by the boys). They have blackout fabric on the back, and they are really scrunched up there on the curtain rod.

This is all fine and dandy (and wonderful, actually) during nap time and bed time. However. Not so good during the day when the kids want to play in there. And I want them to play in there, let me tell you...it's quiet when they are downstairs playing in that room. Better yet, there is little-to-no destruction going on. So. Important to allow the sunshine in that room.

Enter the eye bolt. What is an eye bolt, you wonder? It's one of these jobbies:

First thing, I pulled back the curtains to see where I wanted the tieback. These particular curtains are, as you may have guessed, very heavy. Also, this is a basement room. So I did want them pulled away from the window higher rather than lower.

I took Doug's trusty (and rusty) square and marked my spot. This was a really easy way to measure - I laid it on top of the blinds and it stayed exactly where I wanted it.

The thread on the eye bolt is pretty large, so it does require drilling before you screw it into the wall. Or, if you are looking for ways to get around finding a bit for your drill, like me, you can use a nail first. I found a large nail and pounded it into the wall to make a pilot hole.

I don't actually recommend this method. It did work...kind of...but the nail wasn't quite large enough. So I ended up huffing and puffing to screw in the eye bolt. Here it is, finally installed:

Then I took out some rope. I found the rope at a hardware store in 50 feet lengths. There was also a cutting station if you wanted cut rope, but who wants to wait? Not me. Besides, I'm sure I can find something else to do with this rope. Turns out, the amount I thought I needed (maybe a foot for each side?) wasn't enough anyway (more like a yard for each side!) - so I'm really glad now that the fifty foot roll came home with me.

The rope was fun to cut. It frayed like crazy, as rope does. I had started burning a candle to wax the ends, but the wax didn't work so well...it flaked off pretty terribly. Next I tried burning it over the stove. That worked better, but the white lovely rope turned a yucky brown. Hm.

Stymied, I decided to just try my rope lengths as they were - waxed and burned and everything. I threaded them through the eye bolts and tied them at the ends. That worked a little better to contain the fraying.

Honestly, I still think they should be longer pieces of rope. However, since my kids like to use rope for all sorts of mischief, these will stay as is for the time being. Besides, there is now light in that room during the day, which is the main point. Oh, and I can't even see the yucky burned ends...or at least, I don't notice them anymore. So there we are - pulled back curtains!

Splittin' Up the Destruction Team

Every night is a struggle to get the boys to bed. The girls have the same problem, but since they're old enough to deal with being exhausted, we let them get on with it. Oh, and they don't bug us while they're staying up too late. That's also a big part of us leaving them alone.

The boys, however, run in and out of their room, fight, and keep each other awake. Not to mention bugging Doug and I incessantly and occasionally waking their little sister. Collin swears that Jack is keeping him awake. Jack swears that Collin is constantly coming over to his bed and hurting him. Probably a lot of both, if you ask me. Oh, you didn't?

Anyway, I finally decided to let them have their own rooms. We do have enough rooms. Sophia was relegated downstairs, because she also goes to bed with a minimum of fuss. The least amount of all the kids. Probably has something to do with the cage, ahem, crib.

Moving day!

The mayhem in what is to be Sophia's room. This was the room that looked the worst.

Here is the moving crew. Both were very motivated to move everything as quickly as possible. They spent yesterday separating toys into Collin's and Jack's. They also put everything that Jack owned next to the door. This morning they started asking if they could move stuff immediately after they woke up.

Sophia's old room...

Is now Jack's new room.

Including the house at the bottom of the fish bowl. It's too much trouble to break up for me to move it anytime soon.

Collin gets to stay in the boys' old room. He's very happy with his own space.

It is a little bare...

And Sophia is downstairs in the boys' old, old room. She didn't even have trouble taking a nap in there today. Hopefully she likes it there...and doesn't wake up very much. Going up and down stairs in the middle of the night is not fun for me.

It didn't take long for Sophie to realize that all the stuffed animals are in that locked trunk. Oh, and sorry about the naked baby on the trunk...Sophie doesn't believe that her dollies need clothes. She industriously takes any and all clothing off her dolls. Perhaps she is wishing that she were allowed to go around in her birthday suit?

At any rate, the rooms all look a little design-less. Thrown together. Functional but certainly not fashionable. I'll have to work on that.

And I'll also let you know how the destruction team (Collin and Jack, in case you haven't worked that one out) functions now that they are split up. Hopefully the split totally ruins their game. Hey, a mom can hope!

Half Wall, Half Done

I talked about the cubby door disappearing in my last post. You know what else disappeared? This large blemish on my wall. It went from this:

To this:

Sadly, it is not completed. The project of building bookcases on top of said wall is still in the works. This is what I remind Doug whenever he notices that the wall is not completely smooth.

It is a little bumpy. But, hey, why waste time on something that is going to be covered up with a built-in bookcase? If it was removable, he might have a point. At this moment, though, I just want the project to not be so noticeable.

And hey, it's off my project list and back onto his. Back at 'cha, babe!

Disappearing Act

A guest arrives, and notices something right away in your decor. Unfortunately, it's not supposed to be something that is noticed.

Such are my cubby doors in the kitchen. Everyone noticed them. You can see why:

There are certain things that should just "disappear" into the background. These doors finally got painted and replaced...and see the difference?

That's right - they are so nondescript that you wouldn't see them unless they were pointed out. Case in point: a friend came over and remarked on how many things were done...because she couldn't see the projects anymore! Ha!

Finishing anything up at your abode lately? Enjoying seeing a project "disappear" into the background? I'd love to hear it!

Oh, and in case I don't tell you tomorrow...thanks for reading - you are all my Valentines!

It's Prime Time!

Yes, I've started in on all the painting projects. Sloooowly.

Keep in mind that this is partially by design. Roll your eyes if you must, but it is pretty true.

For example, let's take the bookcase that Doug made for our bedroom a few months ago. It is pretty redundant, now, since there are lots and lots of bookcases in there from my IKEA trip. However, it is still very serviceable.

 

So one day in January, I bring out the primer and rollers. Jack, who was grounded that day, decided to pitch in and help. Honestly, it was great - he did all the rolling, and all I had to do was watch and catch a drip or two on my paintbrush. He did a great job, don't you think?

 



Then we have just let it sit. This is why: bookcases that are not cured properly between each coat will stick to whatever you put on there for the rest of its life. True story. And it takes anywhere from a week to a month to cure completely.

Then there are the cubby doors. Here is where we last left them:

Basically an eyesore. But functional. So I finally got around to getting them down (the biggest headache, although it wasn't really that big of a deal) and priming them. This time, Sophia tried to help by laying on them while I was patching and sanding. She was a little dusty, but thought it was great fun.

And finally (at least for now), the half wall and the wall behind it. This is the first thing you see when you enter my house, after passing the broken glass in the front door. I know, it's quite a funhouse these days (as opposed to a fun house, get it?).

This also took a lot of patching and priming. The board on top of the half wall is just plywood, so it's pretty imperfect. And I definitely don't go for that in my front room. So I went so far as to prime it twice.

 

I was impressed by the effect. Not as good as an actual paint job, but I have read that some professional painters use as many as nine (9!) coats of primer so that the paint is really bonded to its surface. It's supposed to make the finished paint job look so much better.

 

When I showed Doug my handiwork, though, he informed me that this board will have a good veneer on it so that it will be perfect. Argh. Wasting time is not something I like to do. He assured me it wasn't in vain, however...the veneer isn't going on "anytime soon."

 

I'm guessing it's in his five-year-plan.

Takin' Responsibility

My nemesis is socks. Truly. They are left on the ground, stuffed into couches, kicked under beds, and consequently partner-less once laundry is done.

To date, I have used several methods to deal with the sock issue:

• Yelling: not very effective. And Doug doesn't appreciate it.
• Garment bags: Argh. The socks that were unmatched (I folded all of them as they came out of the dryer at one time) were stuffed into a garment bag hanging in the laundry room. When it was full, I emptied it and matched anything that went together.
• Baskets: Slightly more effective. The kids each have a basket in their own room (my mother had one for the entire household in the hallway, so this is strange to me), and there is one in the kitchen - go figure. There is also a basket just for socks near the master bed, so that Doug can toss any socks he takes off in the middle of the night into the basket when he steps on said socks in the morning. Finally, there is a sock basket for all socks as they come out of the dryer. This is the black hole of socks.

Now that my kids are old enough to be working for their laundry, and are also contributing to a bunch of unmatched socks, it is time for another strategy.

This one also has to do with baskets. Instead of one basket at the end of the cycle, I have one for each kid.

Snagged these at Lowe's for $4.99 each; originally over $12!

One of these days...there will be cute tags. For now, these'll do.

All laundry that belongs to said kid goes into his or her basket. It is the child's responsibility to match any unmatched socks (or leave it in their basket for the next go-around) and fold anything that is not folded. Ideally, I should just toss everything in there and everyone should fold their own stuff. I'm working on my control issues so that can happen. Right now, though, I will probably continue to fold everything myself - and match what socks I can.

Oh, and they do have to put their own stuff away. Much easier for them to find their stuff. The basket lives in the laundry room, though. What do you want to bet this becomes my newest fight? Ah well, better to track down five baskets than dozens of socks...I'll let you know how that goes.

A Beautiful (and Not-So-Beautiful) Sight

Last week, I showed you our sad front door, with the cracked glass. I also talked about how sad I was about my garage door.

Well, here's the not-so-beautiful sight (I like the bad news first, so we end on a good note):

A taped window

Sophia scared us all when she started eating the shards of glass from the door. You see, they looked a lot like the ice that is all over the place. Yikes! Luckily, none of the pieces made it into her system. Malena spent a few minutes taping up the door so that Sophie wouldn't have any more glass/ice to chew on. Looks horrible. Any ideas for me out there?

Now for the beautiful sight:

Sophia turned on the lights for me while I was taking pictures

Yes, the car is back in the garage. Just in time for the weather to warm up a little and the snow to stop. I was so excited that I watched that door go up...and down...and up...and down...well, you get the idea.

A garage may not be a necessity. It is, however, a really wonderful luxury. Thanks for getting it working (again), Doug!