Unused Muscles

This winter has been a difficult one. Matt and I have had a lot of stressors in our lives and there were (are still) endless weeks of discouragement, grayness, uncertainty. I'm afraid I haven't been graceful in the face of these trials and many a day I've not coped well.

It's taken a toll on our family as well...mostly because we've been so stressed that the girls have reflected this in their behavior. Emily started contradicting and arguing with me a lot, Charlotte has started throwing lots of tantrums (she is turning 2 next month) and Nathalie...well...let's just say that there were some days where I have literally not seen Nathalie EVER be that wild and out of control.

But we're getting brief glimpses of hope. It's March. The sun is out this morning. The bathroom is almost done. Some of the other things are starting to wrap up. I could have this baby girl next month.

Two nights ago as I was saying personal prayer with Nathalie, there was a brief ray of sunshine. Nathalie doesn't like to say personal prayers because we ask her to think of things to say. She would rather say her standard two-sentence prayer which never varies. But on Wednesday night, after another long and difficult day, Nathalie said a beautiful prayer. And when she finished I smiled at her and praised her for saying such a beautiful prayer without being prompted by me.

In that moment I realized that Matt and I haven't been smiling much at all, especially at the girls. And so I smiled at her again. And she threw her arms around me, saying, "I love you so much, Mommy."

So yesterday I tried to smile at them more. I discovered that a little smile can go a long way to improving the hard days. And that my girls love smiles.

Here's to smiling more.

Help! Where do I go from here?

 Okay. I just finished painting the walls in our laundry room. Because it's small, we opted for white. Matt thinks we should repaint the cabinets white too (they're kind of dingy).

 But I don't know. Even though the room is small, I think white on white on white is boring. Sure, it might look clean. But would this room look better if the cabinets were painted another color?

I'm kind of thinking a pale sage or a light gray. Whatever I paint the cabinets I will paint the front of the sink too.

So what is it? Is this space too small for color? If it isn't, what color should I use?

Sunday nights

 Sunday nights are my favorite nights of the week. Right now Matt and I are working hard to get things around the house done. Or Matt is at work. Either way, most every night at our house is spent painting, caulking, renovating, organizing, etc. I often stay up way too late, just trying to finish "one more thing".

 But Sunday nights. Those are beautiful. I don't do any home projects. I don't do any laundry. I just basically clean up the house and enjoy my evening.

 Sunday nights I can remember how much I love my girls. Even when they're crazy and sing at the top of their lungs during every hymn during church (without knowing the words, so it's just "the the the" on some random tune as LOUD as possible).

 Sunday nights I remember that my family does relax occasionally. And sometimes we even have fun! Sometimes we even spend money and have fun!

 Sunday nights I remember that as old as my girls may seem, they're only 5, 3, and 1. And they get tired, stressed, irritated, just like I do. And that they need their own Sunday nights (or whatever day), where we take a break from stressed-out-Mommy and at-work-Daddy, and focus again on loving our family.

 Sunday nights I take time to breathe. And think. And love. Time to just be me.

Sunday nights I remember that I love this life. And I love brownies too.

(Final scores from bowling: 120 for Matt. 98 for me. 95 for Emily. 85 for Nathalie. And that was with the bumpers up. For all of us! Our "family sunday night" this week was actually Thursday but I'm still enjoying my sunday night tonight.)

A Girl's Life

 I love having a reader. She reads to Charlotte a lot, especially if I need a small distraction for her. Oh, I love these girls.

 Granny and Grandpa sent a Valentine's Day package....with princess restocking supplies! Boas, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, crowns, princess shoes....there are feathers all over my house!

This Emily, all dolled up. We have worn tiaras and earrings to places lately, but I typically put my foot down about the boas. Charlotte LOVES the high heels.

For their Valentine's party, we made our own valentines again. This time we made "capes" for the lollipops and the capes said, "You're super!" Nathalie's capes were purple hearts and Emily's were pink hearts. And the lollipops were pink, of course!

Getting closer...

 Here is our bathroom now. Drywalled and mudded. And filled with girls, one of them nekkid!!

 We added a bright light in the closet and it makes a huge difference.

And the new tub insert-- Matt picked it out. It looks nice, especially because it's not a bajillion pieces that don't match schlepped together. We were only without a shower for about 4 days.

This week: sanding the drywall, priming, painting and maybe even putting the vanity and mirror in!! Who's excited?!

Facelift with Botox

 Remember our outdated, cheesy bathroom? Complete with shoddy trim work from the scrap bin?

And painted, textured, plastic paneling that was bowing?

 Don't forget the faux marble seashell sink! Well, no longer! This bathroom is undergoing serious cosmetic surgery.

(The pics are dark because we didn't have lights hooked up). We ripped off the paneling and cement but left the intact lathe.

 We removed the vanity, shower insert, lighting and "trim" (if you can call it that.) When we got to the wall behind the toilet and vanity spot, we discovered fun stuff. For example, we found that the cement only came halfway down the wall. And the lathe that remained was, in some cases, hanging from only one stud. In other cases, the lathe was actually several smaller pieces of lathe nailed together to span the distance between studs.

See the "newer" framing on the right half of the wall? That's there because the half of the wall behind the toilet isn't level with the half of the wall behind the vanity. So whenever the first renovation of this bathroom happened, they added the newer framing to make the walls "level". But they weren't completely level, so the plastic paneling covered that up. Matt and a friend had to redo a little of the framing and add some shims so the drywall would be level.

More pictures to come tomorrow of the newly drywalled bathroom!

And you thought I was slacking...

 Remember our bathroom? Remember the shoddy trim work?

Remember the plastic, bowed, textured paneling?

 

 And the faux marble seashell sink? Well, no longer!  No, now it is undergoing a facelift, complete with Botox injections.

This has been an adventure. Our house is 65-70 years old. We ripped off the paneling and cement, but left the lathe if it was in good condition. (See picture of the closet door).

 The wall with the vanity and toilet on it is a disaster. Some cement was there, some was missing. Some lathe was still intact, most was hanging off one stud or another. Some of it (the lathe) was even a set of small pieces nailed together to span the distance between studs. The wiring was still knob-and-tube.

Some of it (the lathe) was even a set of small pieces nailed together to span the distance between studs. The wiring was still knob-and-tube. Do you see the newer framing in the above picture? That framing makes that half of the wall close to level with the half where the toilet is? Matt and our friend had to reframe and put some shims in to make the drywall level.
 Do you see the newer framing in the above picture? That framing makes that half of the wall close to level with the half where the toilet is.