Daddy's Girl, but Mommy's Helper...

Our first Comcast bill had an error. (Remember, we switched to high-speed internet and ditched television completely by going to Comcast.) Since Superman set it all up, I asked him to handle calling Comcast. And asked him. And asked him. And asked him. Obviously, I was asking regularly. He came in the door after work the other day and his little Buttercup looked up, smiled, and said, "So, have you called Comcast yet?"

Enough said.

P.S. He did finally call Comcast.

So, Here is the Family Room...

...also known as the Macaroni and Cheese Room for obvious reasons. The redecorating of this room started more than a year ago when we ripped up a hearth that took up all the room that is not tiled (floor to ceiling!)--it was four feet deep and it was all for that little gas-that-looks-like-wood-burning stove. Then Superman had to travel a lot for work and we stopped. I shoved the shelves in place before he got to finish the drywall and it remained that way until very recently. Now, we've added the price of orange paint to our cost, so we're still doing pretty well. Next, we'll add ceramic tile to finish up the floor. (We debated replacing the flooring with something else, but the great flood quickly changed our minds...ceramic tile came through just fine!) After that, I think we'll be done.

This is where we are so far:

This is the view from the doorway and I think I'm pretty pleased (finally) with the furniture layout. To your left is the desk from upstairs and it is my desk. (This kids used to have a desk that ran along the left wall, but we shifted everything to get my desk into this room.) The couch is where the television used to be.


My desk still has piles of stuff on it and around it that I need to a) find a place for or b) get rid of. I'm hoping I'll be able to go with b) get rid of and I've committed to myself that there will be no stashing or stuffing. I must touch the stuff and consciously deal with it.

The television was moved to the corner and placed on the corner unit that lived in our bedroom (even though we no longer had a television in there). As you can see, Superman never painted behind the shelves, so he'll need to finish the drywall and paint the newly exposed wall. While they don't look too bad in this photo, these shelves are cluttered! Seriously cluttered, so I've begun dealing with that. Same thing: a) put it where it belongs or b) get rid of it. I'm hoping to come up with some clever ways to deal with my craft stuff, while keeping it accessible. Fabric is tough! (notice the pile on the floor to the right of the shelf--all my stuff).

Finally, this is now the kids' school desk (the couch used to be on this wall and the television was where the couch is now). I love the way their school books and their computer CPUs fit inside the bathroom vanities (!) we used to hold the melamine desk top up. This desk used to be in Buttercup's room and the desktop needs to be longer for the two of them to share. For now, however, they just need to deal.

So far, I am liking the way this room is evolving. I love that the stove and television are no longer the focal points of the room. I love the way the kids can really truly clean up their school work at the end of each day. I love the way we can all be in the same room doing different things and still feel together.

I know I talked a lot about fabrics, but I decided that really wasn't the problem (which is why I couldn't make myself sew anything...I guess I knew better). Red, black, and white go really well in this macaroni and cheese room. The blinds, which came with the house, set the stage and I like red, as is evidenced by the red rug and the red accessories on the shelves, the red sewing machine covers I've made over the years, and the red throw. Now that the furniture arrangement flows, the colors seem just right. The black adds a bit of drama and the white keeps it crisp. So, what do you think? (Oh, I know many of you could live in a macaroni and cheese room, but how do you think it is coming together?)

The Dining Room is Done

...but I haven't made much progress on the Family Room....sigh.

Here is the completed Dining Room. I am really pleased and, while I'm still not 100% in favor of the current cushion covers, they're really fine for summer. I figure once I'm done with them, I'll use them on the patio to cover those cushions, so they'll get plenty of use. I'm looking to find a nice red fabric with texture or depth that doesn't look "country" or "velour". (I know what I mean, even ifI didn't explain it well.)

It is difficult to convey spatial qualities and perspective in photos, but the room feels roomy without feeling empty. Everyone feels as if they can lean back, scoot out, and generally stretch out without bumping something--even with the table fully extended (which it is not in the photos). We used the same shelves in a different arrangement and actually ended up leaving out one of the pictures. (I thought Superman would cry when he put molly bolts into the walls he'd just patched and painted.) We added the gymnast, which my dad just sent last week, and the recessed lighting lands right on her at night. We managed to keep it "dressed up" without making it stuffy by keeping the whimsy (yes, those are dinosaurs on the floor - they used to be my mom's) and mixing it throughout the room. All in all, it works for us.

Phew! Now if I can just figure out what to do with the Family Room!

Making Your Home Sing Monday!

It is Monday! Are you excited? I am! I feel like I've been on vacation for TWO weeks, even though it has actually been only one and I'm really looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. I think I'm feeling this way because immediately following our camping trip, we ripped apart our house. For most of last week, our house was in disarray and nothing seemed to get done. (Lots actually got done, but not much of the normal stuff!)

This week, however, things are pretty much back in order, with the exception of one room and I can handle disorder in one room! So, for Making Your Home Sing Monday, our house will be singing and doing the Hamster Dance! Why the Hamster Dance? Because it is this silly little tune that accompanies Buttercup's screen saver and since the room I'm working on is the family room, I'll be hearing it whenever her computer switches to the screen saver. (Plus, everyone is upbeat and silly this week because we're having visitors at the end of the week!)

Mom's the Word wrote about choosing not to overlook those daily tasks that are so important to the well-being of your home and family and I'm right there with her this week. For my family, falling out of our routine is so easy to do and really so detrimental to the family rhythm. The children's moods just seem to deteriorate when we live in a fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants manner. It all starts with letting the "little" things go. Pretty soon the little things have become big things and it takes much effort to turn things around. I hate that! So, for this week, before things get bad, I'm getting us back into our routine. Bedtimes will be enforced, Superman and I are headed to the gym each morning and the family will have breakfast together each morning. Superman and Charming will head off to work and Buttercup, Valiant, and I will take care of our business: schooling, the yard, and the house. Lots of play will be happening, too, because the neighborhood kids are home and the neighborhood pool is open. Chores will be done BEFORE play...no excuses! It seems like so little, but these things make my entire household run more smoothly and my family is much happier. The truth is, it always comes back to me and I can't ignore that.

For more Making Your Home Sing Monday, head over to Mom's the Word and see what everyone else has got going on today!

Buttercup and Valiant hope you have fun watching the Hamster Dance. (Just remember, this is my reality!) Have a super week!

Be Joyful...

May your walls know joy; May every room hold laughter and every window open to great possibility.

Maryanne Radmacher-Hershey, 1995

Photo: Cute House

It's Summer...Has Your Neighborhood Been Overrun By Ninjas, too?

The neighborhood has been taken over by ninjas. Apparently, "Ninja Tag" is the name of the game and the neighborhood kids have jumped on the bandwagon. Two cul de sacs full of children raiding the closets for black/dark clothing and running around like thieves in the night. Running around in sweaters, hats, and gloves...ah, that is what summer is all about!

Valiant and Buttercup are up for the challenge.

Friday Photo Flashback

Well, I'm squeaking in under the wire, but it is still Friday, so I'm posting my Friday Photo Flashback. Alicia at More Than Words hosts this party every Friday and, so far, I'm still managing to join in the fun. (It was iffy this week as my scanner wasn't hooked up until last night and boxes still need to be located after our big rearrange.) Head on over to see what everyone else dug out of their photo boxes...it is always a treat.

Fortunately, I found one of my favorites to share with you. It speaks of the past and the future, all at once. This photo takes me back and makes me wonder where the time went. The mouth is the same and the eyes are the same, but everything else has changed. Man, those were the days!
This is a picture of Charming when he was roughly one. He was big...seriously big...he wore 2Ts and 3Ts by the time he was 12 months. Those shoes? Those were his FIRST shoes. The lion in his lap? That is "Mr. Lion", who was hand delivered by his then 15-year old Uncle M who visited (under duress--his parents took a trip to Greece) when Charming was six months old. Mr. Lion still lives with us, but is now cared for by Buttercup, who feels Charming shirks his familial duties where Mr. Lion is concerned. (Poor Uncle M had to spend time with Charming's babysitter as Superman and I had no time off and plenty of bills to pay. Not a fun trip to Southern California.) Ah, well...those were the days. Who would have guessed that sweet baby boy would tower over me a short 17-years later? Okay, we all did, but still.

So, that is my flashback for you this Friday. Thanks for sharing the trip down memory lane. I loved it.

P.S. LA: Your mom sent that outfit to Charming. Pretty "charming" wasn't it?

The Dining Room - Still Working on It!

So, if you read the previous post, you know I cannibalized two leather chairs from the dining room to complete the living room. (Mr. R was kind enough to pretend to sleep after his Father's Day dinner to demonstrate just how comfortable these chairs really are. Wasn't that nice of him?)

Admittedly, the chairs shouldn't have been in the dining room, but since we turned our designated living room into our dining room, it was the only room they'd fit into.

Now, what will we do with the dining room now that we've taken those huge chairs out of it?


This was the dining room before. Functional and attractive (at least to my eye), but crowded when it came to holiday dinners and Game Night. I'm excited to have the chairs out of there, but thinking we'll be struggling with the room for awhile. This is the plan so far:

Placed this neat little table on the wall where the chairs had been, took down the wall shelves on the two walls, and shifted the buffet, the red rug, and the dining room table to be more centered in the room. Right now we're thinking that the wall with the fish picture will get two shelves back up, but the wall with the flower picture won't. But maybe I should put the shelves on either side of that picture, too? I can't decide.
I love being able to put my extra chairs in the dining room, but I don't have fabric to recover those two cushions, so my search continues (plus, I loved the fabric I made the seat covers out of, but I'm not sure I love it in the room...I think it is too busy). It just isn't working for me. What do you think?



So, this is the second room my little idea messed up. Notice all the spackle? Because of our cats (remember this?), the shelves were extremely well-anchored into the walls and removing them left big holes. Poor Superman!