New bathroom--reveal

One of the things that our house desperately needed was a second bathroom.  My parents always talked about putting one in, but never did.  Fast forward to today.  It was high on our list when we were figuring out the renovations.

We decided to take the old family room, which was quite large, and create a powder room, a laundry room and a mud room.  The laundry room is just about finished (we'll save that for another post) and the bathroom got (just about) finished up over the weekend.  Yeah!  The long weekend should help make the mudroom a reality by Sunday--fingers crossed.

J continues to work like a machine.  He installed the toilet/shower/sink, put down the tile on the floor, tiled the shower, painted, hung the lights, and on and on and on.  What did I do?  Ahem....sewed some ric-rac onto the guest towels and "foo-fooed" (is that a word) it up.  Big score was on the mirror which I found at Goodwill for $7.00.  I seem to be finding more and more there--I'll blame Pinterest.

Enjoy the photos (especially Uncle and Aunt C)!

Here is what the family room looked like for a couple of "before" shots.  Now, before La-la goes nuts because the room is suuuuch a mess, I'll throw in that these pictures were taken on moving day (before the movers had gotten down there to finish packing).  So a huge amount of stuff was piled in there...

This above pic is the side where the bathroom and the laundry room are now located.  The door on the left is an old closet that was taken out.  The door on the right goes into the garage.

You can see the door into the garage peeking out to the far left of this picture. This shot is where the mud room is going. 

And...here it is!



My little contributions--again Goodwill for the frame ($3.50 but it was marked 50% off for the day--I found 2) and the towels.

There's that bunting that I love.  The frame was up in the attic holding an old wedding photo of my Nana.  Don't worry--we saved the photo but put the frame to better use than just collecting dust.  Inspiration fround via Pinterest....here.  Chicken wire was lurking around in the garage.  Fabric was from a top I made.

My Goodwill mirror--like a phoenix rising from the ashes of yucky faux gold to gorgeous red.

The shower stall with the subway and glass tile.  Love!

Hello Monday!

Somehow October has come and (almost) gone.  Yow-za!  As I type this, the wind is howling and whipping up the lake, the waves are rolling and the rain is beating down.  In all honesty, I love this type of weather--especially the sound of the wind.  I'm not so sure that I'm going to love it if it is still hanging around on Wednesday like they are prediciting.  Trick-or-treating in this mess?  Yuck.  That is nothing, however, compared with what they are predicting the East coast is going to face.  Scary stuff.

Enough about the weather, how 'bout some hellos?

Hello Spidey!  Are you looking for some tricks or treats?

Hello Fall Festival gorgeous photo back-drop made by our uber-talented babysitter.  She just happened to make this while all the young ones were taking their naps.  Can you say vision?!

Hello secret hide-out.  Nothing like a couple of blankets and chairs to transform the family room into a cozy little nook.

Hello babydolls one day and Tonkas/monster trucks the next. 

Hello tools that are waay too loud.

Hello wind, waves, water and rain!  Hello to someone not being up for the 'adventure' of a walk out in blustery nature!

Hello November--you're certainly making an entrance, aren't you?!  For some more hello's, go check out Lisa's blog.

Hello!

It has been a few weeks, but we're still here!  How about some hellos to start off a new week?
Hello to a new walkway up to the front door!

 

Hello to the ability to create and imagine...with just a few 2x4s.

Hello to alfresco lunches--I'm not sure how many more of these we'll have!

Hello to power tools and helping Daddy.

Hello to days off from school and a visit to the stable.

Hello to being healthy and saying goodbye to a nasty tummy bug that hit all 3 of us at once!

Hello to cat naps...there's nothing like the sight of a sleeping child, is there?

Hello to grocery store splurges that make me smile.

Hello to glorious sunrises that remind us that every day is a new beginning and a gift from God.

Hooking up with Lisa and all her Monday morning hellos!



Death by Chocolate

I have a confession to make.  I have a sweet tooth.  Big time.  I especially have a sweet tooth where chocolate is involved.  Dark.  Milk.  Even white.  I'm not too picky.  Mmmmmm. 

So, when I am preparing a dessert for a larger group, this is one of my go-to recipes.  Death by Chocolate.  Did I already say Mmmmmm?!  Super easy.  Tasty.  Only 4 ingredients.  What's not to love about that?

I know there are a million different variations of this floating around, but here's mine.

Ingredients:
1 box of 9x13 brownie mix
3 pckgs. of chocolate mousse (I could only find Dark this time, but Milk would be delish too)
1 12oz. tub of Cool Whip
1 pckg. of crushed Heath pieces

Bake the brownies as directed on the package and set aside to cool.  Please disregard the old, yucky pan!

Whip up the mousse and let sit for designated time as per the instructions on the box.

Once both of those are cooled and set, you're ready for construction.  Cut the brownies into small squares and begin to layer at the bottom of your trifle bowl.

Next spoon on some of the mousse.  This time, the grocery store only had Dark Chocolate mousse, but I actually prefer Milk Chocolate for this recipe--kinda balances out the taste and provides a bit more contrast.  Totally up to you though.

Next spoon on the Cool Whip and sprinkle on the Heath pieces.  Continue layering brownies, mousse, Cool Whip, and Heath pieces until you reach the top.

 

Swoon worthy, I tell ya!  Enjoy:)

Scrappy bunting...a tutorial

Lately I've been bitten by the bunting bug.  Try saying that 3 times fast!  If you're on Pinterest or skulk around any crafting blogs, you've probably come across some of these beauts.

craftaholicsanonymous.net

 

They are bright, cheery and colorful.  What's not to love?!

So I decided that I'd stop merely pinning and start doing.  Novel thought, eh?  Hence a tutorial was born!

So what you'll need are:
--various material scraps (I cut mine into 3x20 in. strips)
--a cutting mat
--scissors or a rotary wheel
--twine, thicker string, cord, clothesline, etc.
--2 nails/hooks

Let's get started!

First, determine where you want to hang your bunting and then measure your twine (or whatever you're going to use).  I decided that our newly renovated laundry rooms was in dire need of a little bit of somethin'.

Sorry, no picture here..!

 

Then pull all of your fabric scraps out and take a few minutes taking a stroll down memory lane--remember making this into a pinney top?  that into ruffled pants?  this one into a dress?  Once you've done that, figure out what colors you want to use, which fabrics work well together, whether you want a pattern or a similar color theme.

Next up, start cutting up your scraps.  Like I said, I (loosely) measured mine to be 3x20.  It doesn't have to be exact because the beauty of this is the scrappy look.  If you're a little short, no biggie!  I ended up doing 4 of each print and I had 16 different prints.  You can lay them out in the order that you like or maybe you'll decide to just make it totally random.  It's cool either way.

Then start tying on the fabric to the cord.  I liked mine closer together, but you can certainly make it look more loose.  The pictures show how I made my knot.

 

 

 

Keep tying on until you've come to the end of your cord and then voila!, you have a cute scrappy bunting to hang up!

 

Everytime I look at it I smile.

Forever Family Day

Yesterday was the anniversary of our Forever Family Day.  4 years!!  Wow--the Noodle has gone from a toddler to a little girl.  Time does that, doesn't it?  Doesn't show any signs of slowing down either.  Hmph.

Any-hoooo, we had a great, relaxing day just hangin' together.  Bee-u-ti-ful weather too :)

 

First off, the Dragon Boat Race.  This is a tradition in China, but we're fortunate that there is a competition here in our (larger) hometown.  We headed down to the river to watch the boats and cheer on the participants. 

It is so cool to see everyone rowing in unison, to the beat of the drummer.

Then back home to bake the Noodle's cake.  Her request?  Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and sprinkles.  O.k., I can definitely handle that!  This year I decided to forgo the stacked round cake...cake boss I'm not and each year I get so frustrated that the cake looks like a cat mangled it rather than a nice, smooth work of art.  Stupid, I know.  So I just decided to go with 9x13 boring, ol' rectangle but spice it up with a little bit of bunting (care of Pinterest, of course!). 

Finally we headed out to our favorite Chinese restaurant for some yummy dinner, but not before someone took a quick cat-nap in the car.  Everything was delish and we all just barely saved room for some of that cake.

Each year when Gotcha Day rolls around, I am again blown away with the workings of the Lord.  Not that I'm not reminded each day, but somehow, on this day it seems even more crystal clear.  One orphan.  On the other side of the world.  Two people, here in America....waiting.  Hoping.  Praying.  He had this planned out before the 3 of us were even born.  Really, from the beginning of time, it was His plan that we would be a family.  Forever. 

'"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," declares the Lord.'--Isaiah 55:8

Before and after--home edition

As you all know, we bought the house that I grew up in (at least spent most of my childhood in) from my parents earlier this summer. This was a great opportunity, but one that came up a bit sooner than we had originally anticipated (we had previously planned on doing all of this next year). You see, we had always joked with my folks that they should let us know when they were ready to move, but they always responded that we should let them know when we were ready. Long story short, it ended up that this summer was right time, so we all jumped!

The "before" shots...

The top one is technically our side yard, but that's where the garage and driveway are, so it gets the most useage. The second is the front of the house.

 

Before we moved, we knew that there were some things that we definitely wanted to do to the house.  Primarily, adding a second bathroom, moving the laundry room up from out of the dungeon basement, pushing back the garage to add a workshop and building out over the garage which had a flat roof.  This house, like our old house, was built back in the late teens/early twenties, so while it has a lot of charm, there were still some upgrades that we felt were necessary.

What does that mean, exactly?  Well, basically we hired out the big stuff (framing, plumbing, HVAC, electric, drywall), but J decided he wanted to do the "finish" work i.e. windows, trim, painting, flooring and built-ins.  I give him so much credit--every night, since late May, he has been working on some project or another on the house.  Weekends too.  It isn't easy to work your "day" job and then come home and start another, but he's more than happy to do it.  Says it is therapeutic for him.  I don't totally get it, but that's o.k., 'cuz he's in his element, things are getting accomplished and the house is slowly but surely taking shape. 

Some people have asked how my parents feel about all the changes we've done to the house and thankfully they're totally fine with them.  They're excited to see J's vision become a reality.  Me too!

The "after" shot of the side yard with the changed roofline and room over the garage.

The front of the house remained the same (see above).

Here's the "back side" of the house with the extended garage.

In all the photos, you'll have to excuse the yard and grass (or lack there of).  We had some trees removed and of course this hot, brutal summer with hardly any rain certainly didn't do any wonders for the landscaping.  Add in work trucks parking all over the grass, and well, there you have it.

 

But still...........we're soo excited!!