Green Velvet

Yep. That's right. It's spring and around here that means our grass is emerald green and oh so lovely. A few years ago we decided to invest in Chem-Lawn to spray the yard; we aerated; we seeded. We did it all again. And it has paid off. Each spring we get repaid with a lovely carpet made of green velvet.

So, here it is:

Onto other exciting news-of-the-outdoor variety...

I learned how to mow about 3 summers ago. AND I LOVE IT. I grew up with 3 brothers and my family kept to very traditional roles (boys outside, girls inside) so I never had to do much in the way of yard work. However, my interest in mowing was stirred a few years after we had kids. Michael would be gone all day to work while I was (by my choice, I admit) "stuck home" with the kids all day. (Don't let me fool you--I truly love what I do, but sometimes you do feel a little "stuck.") Then, he would come home and need to mow the yard(s) (we adopted my mother in law's yard after she moved to our subdivision a few years ago). I then had to stay indoors with the kids while he mowed.

I decided he was getting the better end of the deal! When you mow, you see, you get to be outside and nobody can bother you!! Mowing the front yard? "Kids--move to the back!" Mowing the back yard? "Kids--move to the front!" You can't hear anyone crying or asking for dinner and you don't have to wipe anybody's bottom while you mow. It's a WIN-WIN-WIN situation for a mom who's been at the children's beck and call all day.

Once I realized that, I fell in love with mowing. I'm not afraid to admit it. I truly love to mow. I mowed when I was 8 months pregnant. I mowed a week after I had a baby. I mowed in the heat of the summer and in the cool of the fall.

[complete aside: Will just cracked an egg on the dining room carpet. Pardon me while I clean up that mess.]

Anyways. This summer, I've had to give it up. We are too busy. I can't mow during the day because Will is in too much trouble without a watchful eye. John is involved in baseball and that takes up several nights a week, plus a good chunk of the day on Saturday. Michael has church meetings and works late often enough to interfere with my mowing needs.

So, we hired the neighborhood dude to mow for us & my mother-in-law. His lawn company maintains/mows all our neighborhood common space and he does neighbor yards as well. He came the first time a few weeks ago and did a stellar job, I have to admit.

Then we waited. And waited and waited. Yes, there were some weather issues....yet we waited through those and still no mower blade graced our lovely lawn. Our yard had the jungle look going on and we were probably one day away from getting a letter from the Homeowner's Association.

I started to lose sleep over this issue. Seriously. Ask my husband. I woke him up in the middle of the night a few nights ago filled with worry over the lawn company and how let down I felt. The next day I dropped a note in lawn dude's mailbox.....and so today was the day he chose to come. I watched out the window, wistfully, as they took over the chore I had grown to love. I was a wee bit jealous that they made it look so easy.

I'll bet you're now wondering what the downside is, right? It wasn't that I was missing out on the task that I enjoyed nor that it was costing us money. The downside is that I can't control when they come to mow....as in NOT DURING NAPTIME. Will's nap was cut short by about 2 hours when the two mowers, weedeater, and blower all powered up at the same time. So, I was left holding the bag on a very fussy baby for the remaining 6 hours of his day.

It's been a very long day.

Last time, I promise!

Ok, I have blogged about our home improvements WAY past the point of deemed appropriateness, but since so many of you have asked...I will post, for the last time, I PROMISE, pictures of our new furniture...the completed look downstairs.

In case you're a new reader, I'll let you catch up for a minute.
First, click here to see some befores.
Now, click here to see some durings.
Now click here to see the afters.
Now...proceed below to see the final, final, afters:

New table & chairs! We got a "gathering" height table--bar-height. I love it. It's so comfy to sit around and chat. It is a 48" square table, or you flip the sides up to make it a 60" round. Had some family in town this past weekend and we were able to sit 7 around it with plenty of room to spare. I figure we can get up to 9-10 around very comfortably. This is a VAST improvement over our old table that struggled to seat 4 people. I need to have a party!!!! Wanna come?

The breakfast bar.

Bed, Bath, and Beyond Shopping Spree

I got a hefty gift card to one of my favorite spots for my birthday! (Thankyou Pat & Sally!).

So, Monday, I decided to go see what I could find.

Boy, was it fun. I was like a kid in a candy store. Or a woman in a home decorating store. Same thing.

In case you ever thought you'd like to ask me the following question: "Ellen, pray tell. What would you buy if you could buy anything in BB&B?", here is the answer:

1. Yankee "Fragrance of the month" jar candle: Spiced pumpkin. Oh yes.

2. A cozy throw. This is divine. Makes me wish it would hurry up and get cold outside. (Dang October being all 85 degrees on us!)

3. A new trash can. But not just any trash can, friends....this one has a LOCKING LID. Why, you might ask, is a locking lid important? Because 1 year olds are far worse than any stray dog ever thought about being when it comes to an open trash can.

4. This was one of those last minute check-out line purchases: a microwave food splatter guard!!! I say it's just the part of me going green. I usually put a paper towel over our dishes as they reheat to avoid the splatter, but that's just a waste of paper towels, now isn't it? So, now I have a lovely splatter guard to keep my leftovers on the plate and off the sides of my microwave.

So, there you have it. That's how I'd spend a gift card at Bed, Bath & Beyond. I still have some money leftover too....will have to go back WITHOUT THE KIDS (yes I was sporting all 3 on Monday) and buy something a little less practical and a little more fun.

Ta Da!!!

The floors....they're done! So, so, so glad. Thought you would be too, so I'm sharing pics with you.

New table has been ordered and will be delivered on Thursday.

It's finally here!

The new flooring has arrived!

The contractor shows up at 7:30 tomorrow morning.

This weekend, I sold my Pump-it-up substitution furniture on Craigslist and have my eye on a few new pieces already.

I saw my life flash before my eyes as Michael, our friend Victor, and YOURS TRULY moved the piano up a flight of stairs. I have never prayed so hard in my life. I was at the bottom of the move, pushing Michael's back up the stairs....trying very hard NOT to think the following thought: "I am a dead woman. If this instrument slips...I would be at the bottom of the heap: Victor, a very very heavy piano, and my own dearly beloved husband."

Carpet was ripped up last night (thanks again for the help Victor!).

Now, all I have to do is keep my kids off the plywood/staple-y floor downstairs for the next 96 hours until the new floor is in place.

Counting down...

Home Improvement

We're almost ready to take the plunge: I have been LONGING to re-do the floors downstairs for quite some time and we've just about saved up enough to do it (Thank you, Dave Ramsey). So, naturally, I thought I'd document the changes here for the world to see.

Here's what we're dealing with. These are the "BEFORE" pics, mind you, but once you see them, there will have been no question about that.

First, let's look at the current flooring situation so you can truly appreciate what we've been up against:

This is just a little sample area that is a true & accurate representation of the rest of the carpet. Maddy thinks we have polka dot carpet.


The "transition" from kitchen linoleum to living room carpet. No, we don't even have any pets.

Here's a cushion from the upstairs couch that we'll be replacing with Good Couch from downstairs. My children think we live at "Pump it Up" because they bounce around on the couches as if they are trampolines. The springs have busted out of the bottom of it and it's so faded. It's BROYHILL, though, people! It was supposed to go to college with John (slipcovered, of course). And, now I'm getting ready to sell it at the neighborhood garage sale next weekend for pennies on the dollar. I'm going to have to get real mean when we move Good Couch from downstairs up to the bonus room. No food, no bouncing, absolutely no fun whatsoever on Good Couch.

Here's Good Couch. (Sorry for the bad lighting--I don't pretend to be a photographer.) He'll be moving from our future "Warming Room" up to the bonus room.

Here's the piano and the red chair (again sorry for the lighting--it looks pink! Also, please ignore the Webkin on the floor. I don't know how that got there. We don't normally have toys on the floor in our house.............................) Both of these pieces of furniture will be moved upstairs to bonus room to make way.

Here's the main reason we want to re-do the downstairs though--as you can see, the eating area is small and restricted by the carpet boundary. We are going to do all laminate flooring (it looks like real wood, now!) and will be able to move the kitchen table into toward the main room down there. We're thinking of making it one big kitchen-y room/hearth room/warming room...We'll get a table that is large enough to seat our family (involving no folding chairs for the dad) and then some...get a couple of club chairs and an ottoman by the fire place. So cozy!

If you've walked into my house lately, this is what you've seen--flooring samples all lined up as we have all but prayed over this major decision.

Here's a table & chair dining set that I like.

So...you can now look forward to updates on this project as we go. Can't wait to post the AFTER pics.

EDITED FRI AFTERNOON: When I asked Michael on the phone if he read my blog today, he said "yes--the pressure's on now. I guess we're committed to doing this, huh?" Aahhh...the power of the press! I shall get my new floors yet!