dining room make over

so…shall we start at the beginning! I took this picture during a walk through….when we decided to move we went from neighborhood to neighborhood with our realtor….we knew we wanted an old house, walking distance to a downtown area.  We immediately fell in love with one street, which was actually in the same neighborhood as our realtor. Knowing that the owners of this house tried to sell a couple years ago…she decided to ask them if they were still interested in selling…yes!! there were!!! for the right price of course!!!
they used this room as their den or TV room, not in the picture off to the right was a HUGE big screen…and the floors were painted red, walls yellow,weird border and green velvet curtains!

the ceiling had some water damage….this should of been a warning for us……

oh my goodness!!! look at the colors!!! so the first thing we did was re-finish the floors…what a difference!!! the door on the left goes to the front foyer and the door on the right goes to the living room…and yes the living room was half painted pink and half wallpapered.

and then we painted….EVERYTHING!!!  we had our whole family helping us paint before the movers came with our stuff….i think when it was time to paint the dining room, my father and father-in-law were ready to paint one morning but i didn’t have a color yet….so i took the left over sage green from Caroline’s room and they went to work!!!  We had the chandelier moved and voila…this room became our dining room….and the dining room became the playroom…are ya following???

Before:

During:

my inspiration…our white wedding dishes, an embroidered runner, and blue antique dishes.

oh…i heart blue!


it took forever to trim…2 windows, 4 doorways and a paneled ceiling! and of course along the way there were lots of repairs…to the trim and the ceiling…lots of character in this old house…lots of character!
please excuse the horrible pictures…i haven’t a clue how to take indoor pictures with out a flash that washes everything out.
After:
we went with navy walls and white trim. still need to find a rug.  
still have to paint the door below…that one goes to one of the porches.

we still have yet to put up the last of the pictures…a mirror will go up above the table here….when we have holiday dinners the side table is set up too.

the Hancock furniture was handed down to us from hubby’s family….

still a work in progress….but good enough for now!!! right after i took these pictures i started filling up the dining room table with stuff for our vacation to the beach!! I don’t know why the dining room table becomes “packing central” but in the next couple of weeks, when ever i get a spare 5 minutes I’ll keep adding more stuff to the table…piles of clothes, towels, travel snacks, beach stuff…you know…we bring it all!!!

Monday Love

we are loving this song...posted over at Nie Nie
cooper likes the dirt bike part, Caroline likes the ballerina
i love the message
don't forget to click off the blog music at the bottom!!


and our new favorite cookie....Irish Lace

1/2 cup unsalted butter
4 Tbsp flour
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup old fashioned oats

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2.  Cream butter and sugar, add vanilla, flour and oats.
3.  Drop batter by small spoonfulls onto baking sheet, 6 per pan.
4.  Bake for about 10 minutes, or until cookies are flat and brown around the edges.
5.  Cool on pan for a couple of minutes....cookies are so yummy when they are warm!!

i would post a picture but i seem to be having technical difficulties!!! ughhh!!!!
and shall i mention that it's SNOWING!!!

Irish Eyes are Smiling!

the leprechaun came last night…..and filled their shoes with treasures!

Cooper and i got right to work on a special treat!!

  

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!!

Rainbow!!!

the kids decided that they needed a rainbow if the leprechaun was going to visit…..so out came the roll of paper!!!

i can’t remember what they were saying in this next picture but i know they were bickering about something.

and then i let them at the pile of old magazines that i am throwing out…..

and adding them to our rainbow……we totally needed this burst of color to brighten the gray/rainy days we have been having.

  

if you have little ones who love art projects check out Dani’s blog Pineapple Paintbrushes…she is posting an online kid’s art class….but only posting the classes for 2 days after she posts them….or you can purchase the whole course as well……her classes are so amazing and i only wish we lived next door!!

a March ramble.

i am not a fan of March.

way too long, lots of rain, and everything is BROWN.

here are a few pictures i took back in January…when i still liked winter…..enjoy while i ramble for a bit.

* my painting project is taking FOREVER. it took me ALL week to paint just the ceiling….hoping to make better progress this week!!

* 40 bags in 40 days update….i have cleaned out my closet and the kids’ rooms….i think i could clean out their rooms every week and still get bags to throw out….why do they have to keep EVERYTHING……every sticker, every box, every trinket, every paper….my plan is to revisit their rooms when they are at school.

* my car is going to be swallowed up by the potholes this spring.

* i feel guilty for even complaining…there are no words for the devastation over in Japan….the enormity of it all totally freaks me out.

* this week i was daydreaming online about living here.

* and then there is the constant WORRY…the kind of worry that keeps me from sleeping at night.  Caroline is an average student but i fear that because she is a well mannered, quiet student…she gets overlooked, and unchallenged, and placed in groups to be a “role model” student.  Underachieving students are entitled to extra help and support, overachieving students are invited to “special” groups to join…..but what is the public school system doing to engage MY child??….i want the very best for her….and i worry when other people don’t see her POTENTIAL!

* i just finished reading “Pillars of the Earth” by Ken Follett, over 900 page novel…..i might not pick up anther book for awhile….

* can’t wait for St. Patrick’s Day….the kids love the idea of a leprechaun…..they will place a pair of their shoes outside their bedroom door to have the leprechaun fill them with new socks and gold coins….does anyone have any special tricks/customs/traditions for this day??  i saw someone in bloggy land made rainbow waffles…how cool!

 

did i mention how much i dislike March???

i’m ignoring you

so sorry

but i’m ignoring the kiddos and hubby as well.

thats what happens when i start reading a book, i can’t put it down until i finish. I’m 700 pages in and i have circles under my eyes from staying up late.

and then there is that little project we started….i was never a fan of painting ceilings….and now I’m really not a fan of painting paneled ceilings!  I have a 2 hour window each afternoon when both kiddos are at school…and this is where i have been.

hubby and the paint guy thought it would be funny to NOT tell me that the paint was tinted pink…and dries white…haha.

I did put the book down over the weekend….basketball award ceremony! Caroline’s 3rd year playing!

  

and Cooper’s 1st!!!

 

and on Saturday we headed to an indoor water park for the day….i have a love-hate relationship with places like this…..

i love that we were able to shed our 5 layers of clothing for the day, i am not a fan of crowded places.

i love that there were smiles like this ALL day, i am not a fan of 10 year old boys who cut every line!

  I love that we spent 8 hours having non stop fun, i am not a fan of public bathrooms with slimy floors.

I love waterslides, i am not a fan of waterslides….let me explain….i had to talk caroline into going on the big waterslide thinking this could go either way….she wanted to go first, and i was next in line. She went without hesitation. I went down thinking this would be a piece of cake..

i was wrong.

i found myself PLUMMITTING down at an alarming speed!!! I was zigging and zagging WAY too fast!!! And my first thought was “oh my goodness, Caroline must of been so scared!!!” “what if she fell off her tube!” “she is never going on a waterslide again” “if she is crying is there someone at the bottom to help her!” As fast as i was going i couldn’t get down fast enough…and to my surprise….

she was at the bottom  cracking up!!! she LOVED it!!! and wanted to go again….

so i did too…can’t be bad the second time right??…i know what to expect.

i was wrong….i went faster.