I Might Turn Into One of "Those" Blogs

Long story a wee bit shorter.  We wanted to sell our house and move.....but, times being the way they are.....we are stuck.

So, I am finally (after 3 years in the house) painting and hanging pictures and making this place my own.

Part of making this house work for us is sort of re-purposing how we currently use the space.  If I pull this off, I may even get my dining room back and actually be able to eat in it and not just use it  doing school.

I have just started the projects....but I am already excited about what I see.

The people that lived here before us had no children.  None.  The whole house is painted with flat (read.....non-washable) paint.  So, number one, our walls are digusting.  Number two, the house feels very formal and fancy.

I am not, nor have I ever been formal or fancy.

The drapes that came with the house are really nice....heavy, tapestry type fabric.  Pretty.  Formal.  And, definitely NOT me.

(Ignore the picture of A-girl modeling and wearing make-up.....just focus on the curtains.)

Here is the kitchen....which didn't have the full down to the floor draperies....just the topper thingie.

So, I took them all down.  Boy, did it open up the space and make it seem lighter and brighter!

In some parts of the room, there is a chair rail with kind of a burnt orange-y color underneath.  The trim throughout is sort of a creamy beige.

(Pedicare night at our house...complete with reading material!)

So.....here is what I have done so far....



I have painted the trim white....and done a primer coat on the orange stuff....I think I will keep the bottom white....it looks clean.  I can paint it a high gloss enamel so I can wash all the gross stuff that ends up there right off!

Anybody have an opinions about America's Finest Paint?  I am on a budget....so I went for that option. 

So, just a warning....I might turn into one of those blogs where I post all the pictures of my projects and paint color choices and DIY stuff that goes wrong.

Fair warning.  I am a little obsessed.

Is This Horrible?

I saw this posted on Facebook by a friend of mine.  I read it. 

Laughed out loud. 

D-man heard me laughing and came over to see what I was laughing about.  I said something about how funny it was.  He read it over my shoulder and said, "Well, yeah....but it has a lot of bad words."

So, I said, "What bad words?".... then proceeded to start reading it outloud......which then made him repeat over and over...."Mom!  Stop!  It sounds horrible when you say it."

Rainman and I don't curse.....really.....ever.  I rarely even think them in my head.


So, my question for you....is this horrible?  Should I have not let my 14 year old son see it?  Hear me say it?  Am I a bad mom?  (maybe you shouldn't answer that last one)



Sorry, I still think it is really funny.

Have You Ever Slept in a Wigwam?

After Oops! this isn't Route 66 adventure,  we headed to Holbrook, AZ.  To.....

Sleep in a WIGWAM!!!

We had done this on our last Route 66 trip too....the only difference this time is....we got 2 teepees instead of one.  Everyone had gotten a little bigger since last time....plus we have added V-girl to the clan.  So, all the kids sleeping in a double bed like last time just wasn't going to work. 

So we split up.....one adult per wigwam....then all the girls decided they wanted to be with Daddy....so I got the boys.  Since we have 4 girls and only 2 boys....I think I had the more comfortable night's sleep!

They are a super cool place to stay.  Small.....but cool....obviously, the walls are slanted, but that also means the shower is slanted....the mirror in the bathroom is slanted.....the wall for the toilet is slanted...

We decided to do something else that we had done the last time we were in town.  Go bowling!  Since our last visit the ownership had changed hands....and it was really quiet....and a little smelly in there.  But we had fun.....and we had the whole place to ourselves!

A-girl showing her stuff.....with the bumpers up!

Great night of family fun.  Expensive night of family fun. Two games for our family cost over $60!  Isn't that unreal? 

Oh, well....we headed out to dinner at this place....

The Cars people also ate here back when they were researching the movie and even include Joe and Aggie in the end credits of the movie.  It is sort of a dive....crooked, wonky floors, mismatched tables and chairs, out of things that were listed on the menu.  But, the food was good and the service was quick....so no complaints.  Although the owner of our hotel said she would recommend a different place to us next time....someplace that more of the locals go.

After our bellies were full, we headed back to the wigwams for a little fun.

I think A-girl is on her tippy toes.....

Trying to do the domino thingie without anyone getting hurt. 

Then we separated and went to our separate wigwams.  Then the boys and I spent like a half hour trying to get a decent picture of the three of us.

Oops!  No D-man.

Oops!  No A-man.

Plus there are countless blurry ones, and ones of me with a really bad double chin....


I am not showing you those...


Here is my favorite....although it is still slightly blurry.....

And A-man looks like he is being stabbed.....and is about to hurl.  But, the important thing is....I look good, don't I?  The blur gives me a nice soft touch....and the best part.....no double chin!!!

The kids goofed around a little bit in the morning before he headed out.

Shadow stabbing.

Before heading out of town, we swung by Prospector Joe's Trading Post.  Which was just an old abandoned Ember's Restaurant that Prospector Joe now lives in and sells/trades things out of.  Prospector Joe was the only other person at the bowling alley the night before (he came to visit with the new owner and have a cup of "Joe").  We chatted with him a bit and he invited us over for coffee in the morning.

We stopped by his place and got a few treasures....like A-man's cowboy hat...said our goodbyes (we didn't end up staying for coffee....because he had to get his wood stove going to be able to brew it...plus, I don't think he thought we would really stop by....so he wasn't really ready for us) and headed out of town onto our next adventure.