A Little Makeover Action

TA-DA! Here it is, the much anticipated chair makeover reveal! There is the horribly disgusting "before" pic and the super-amazing-I-can't-believe-I-finally-like-these-chairs "after". I really can't believe how awesome it turned out. I only have the one done so far, I can't wait to do the three others. One more will join our fishy friend there on the front porch. He is in for a makeover himself so that he doesn't clash so ridiculously and take away from my beautiful "new" chairs. Then the other two will find a new home on the back deck along with a long cushion of the same fabric to top the built in bench on the deck. Should look pretty fabulous. I inherited these chairs along with a black table that has already seen its own makeover day a while back. It now sports white legs and a magenta chalk board top. Anyway, the chairs have been pushed all around the house waiting for me to decide what to do with them. I was almost convinced to give up on them and just donate them to Goodwill when I found this fabric on clearance at JoAnn's and fell in love. I'm so glad I didn't get rid of the chairs now, I knew I could revive them! So, with clearance fabric and a few cans of spray paint, I have four awesome new outdoor chairs for less than $10 bucks a piece! And, they'll look even awesome-er after Mr. Fish gets his makeover and I take a scrub brush to my siding. Eventually, I daydream about painting the shutters and porch railings, too, but all in due time, huh?

The Total Letdown Post

**Excuse Alert** So, I had all intentions of posting last night. But, as we all know, I did not. You see, my next semester starts next week, so before posting last night, I thought I would try to be a diligent student and log on and see if my class was up on the website yet so that I could peek around and get an idea of what I was in for. I was trying to be on the ball, you know get a leg up, a running start...well, that was a bad idea. See, I am only taking one class this semester because it is a six credit class! That means just this one class fulfills my part time status all by itself. Let's just say that the info on the class site was a little intimidating. Actually, I totally freaked myself out and told Zac that it looked like way too much work and I didn't think I would be able to do it. Then, I spent quite a few more minutes freaking out, much to Zac's dismay (he hates when I get all nervous and stress-y). Then, I plopped on the couch and watched "Scrubs". It's my new Netflix addiction. I never saw it when it was new, but I sure am having a grand old time watching almost ten years later, can't believe what I was missing, so funny! So, just in case you're wondering, that was not, in fact, the letdown of the post. The real letdown is that I finished one of the four chairs that I am redoing! Doesn't sound like a letdown, right? Especially when I say that it looks AWESOME! The bummer is that I don't have a pic to share with you yet. I threw my camera in my work bag today, hoping I would have it handy for any picture worthy moment that might cross my path, but alas, it is now trapped in my car and I am unwilling at this late hour to go out in the cold and retrieve it, so, you will just have to wait. I know. I'm very unreasonable, but really, it's pretty cold out there.

Ice Cream, You Scream...

We all scream for Dairy Queen! I guess Nana just can't stay away from her girls for too long, because she came over this evening after her day off to bring over a slipcover she made today for the chairs I'm repurposing for the front porch. They are awesome. I thought I was going to be able to put it together, but realized I need a second coat on the spray paint, so maybe tomorrow. I can't wait to share 'em though! So, after that, Nana asked if we wanted to go out for ice cream. Um, of course we did.

More Progress...

Well, first, let's get it over with and talk about my two day absence. I know, I know. Friday night I was actually invited to a friend's house to just hang out with a few other moms. This never happens to me. I never go out by myself. I was very excited. I stayed out until 11:30. I came home to two crying kids and a stressed husband who still needed to do homework. I forgot all about posting. Yesterday, I worked at the mall until 10:00pm. Laramie always gets to wait up for me when I work at the mall, so when I got home I grabbed something to eat and conducted her bedtime ritual. I forgot all about posting, again. Ok, now that my confession is over, here's an updated bathroom pic. The tub and toilet are fully functional and have both been christened. Zac broke it in last night while I was at work and gave the girls a bath. He said they loved it and didn't want to get out, and he finally forced them out when they started to look like shriveled up old women. Bonus...Laramie loves it because it has the shower head attachment on the faucet, so it was really easy to rinse her hair. For now, the sink is just sitting in its position waiting for me to order a faucet, which I will do once I finish this post so that I don't get scolded by my father again. He's only "reminded" me once or twice that he cannot hook up the plumbing without said faucet. So, there she is. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel...I think!

Hooked

Here's what I did to be productive this evening. I hung up a couple hooks that I scored for $1.50 a piece at Hobby Lobby waaay back when we first moved into the house (read: a year and a half ago). They, along with countless other odds and ends (mainly picture frames) have been hanging out in the closet in my office waiting for a home to be found for them. Well, hooks, today was your day. See the hooks on the opposite wall? That is a cute little wall plaque thing-y with three knobs across the bottom that my mom bought me a while ago (ironically also from Hobby Lobby). It sat on the shelves above my desk for quite a while after she gave it to me. I thought I would hang it in my office, but finally realized this little wall was the perfect spot for it and a perfect place to hang necklaces. I couldn't believe the transformation of this weird little alcove with just one little wall hanging, it totally changed the look. Once my full length mirror got displaced out into the hallway when I rearranged my bedroom, I decided this little alcove would become a cute little "dressing nook". My plan is to find something smaller to replace the dry sink (I'll return that to my parents for now), hopefully something that still provides a little storage, but is about half the width, therefore allowing my mirror to fit into the space with it instead of randomly sitting pretty much in the middle of everything. At first, I thought about painting the hooks. They're kinda dark for my taste, but I wanted to feel accomplished tonight, so I thought I would at least get them hung, and then realized they actually match the one on the other wall, so I guess I'll leave 'em be...for now.

Givin' It All She's Got

So, normally, I just snap a few pics each night to get one for the blog. Sometimes I've just taken one. Tonight I took a lot. Thirty-one to be exact. And that's not counting the ones I deleted because they were just that worthless. Both girls were up waaay past their bedtimes, so I wanted to take advantage of that, you know, at least make lemonade of the situation, and get a pic of the two of them together for once. Well, that didn't pan out so well. The picture capturing gods were just not on my side. And neither was my camera. Oh how I long for a fancy schmancy-er camera. The shutter speed on my little guy is just too slow for the likes of toddlers. Even on sports mode. The FinePix people definitely did not take that into account when they created this camera! So, anyway, I thought this one was pretty cute. Look at that little face. What determination. See that leg in the back? Almost looks like it's growing right out of the side of her head? She really wanted to climb onto the footstool all by herself. And, by golly, she did. She's becoming quite the climber the past couple weeks. I'm definitely gonna have to keep an eye on this one.

Daffodils

Who doesn't love a good daffodil? They just make me smile. My sweet little girlies picked these for me over the weekend from our backyard. And then picked some more. And a couple more. It's a good thing our yard has a lot of daffodils, because they don't stand a chance against Laramie. And of course, where Laramie goes, Irelyn follows. But, I can't really blame her, I totally understand how she just can't resist those happy sun-shiny blossoms. Each time she brought me one she told me it was 'cause I was "the best mommy in the world". It is absolutely humbling to hear her say that. Most of the time, I feel like I am barely keeping it together!

Night Night!

Tonight, Irelyn decided she was ready for a big girl bed. I was helping Laramie get ready for bed and when we were finished, we found Irelyn up in Laramie's bed... all tucked in...with the bible...saying "book, book". She was all ready to go to sleep there, and of course, Laramie thought it was the greatest thing that her sister wanted to go to sleep in her bed. That girl is just dying for the day that I finally let Irelyn out of her crib because she wants to share a room soooo bad! I'm gonna have to ponder that one when the time comes. I think it might actually be good for Laramie to share a room with her sister. In my perfect imagination world, I envision it helping Laramie not be so upset to go to bed and be "by herself" every night and maybe she would start sleeping in her room all night long. On the other hand, Irelyn is really pretty great most of the time at going to sleep, so it could be a bad influence on her...I imagine the two of them having midnight tea parties and such. Oh, well, I've got a while more to ponder that one.

P.S. Lots of progress around the Cotton homestead this weekend, maybe I'll post some pics throughout the week!

I'm Sensing a Pattern...

Does this look familiar? If not, refer back to March 9's post. Today we really made some progress around here. Zac was off today and is off again tomorrow, which is awesome and something we're definitely not used to. He's worked Saturdays since we've been married and lately has been working both weekend days pretty regularly. We definitely made strides in the bathroom, and should keep up the pace tomorrow when Uncle Steve and Aunt Gayle come back to install the new plumbing on our awesome claw foot tub. We finally moved it into the bathroom at the end of the day today, and it. looks. so. good! But, I've held myself off from another update pic until it's all installed, so you'll just have to wait. On top of all that, Zac got my car's bumper fixed finally (from when I had a little run in with Bambi this winter), changed the oil in both of our cars, I made it to the bank, grocery store, and JoAnn Fabrics (very important stuff), and mom and I even decluttered the basement a bit....whew, what a day! I love days like this! Oh, yeah, and...(drumroll, please)...Irelyn peed on the potty for the first time! I can only imagine how exciting that news is for some of you non-parent types, but believe me, in our world, it's pretty stellar. Finally, around six thirty, Irelyn and I ran back to the grocery store to get an onion that I forgot the first time, while Zac started cooking our chicken fajitas (which, apparently were not able to be consumed by my husband sans onion, hence my return to the store for him. I could've managed just fine without!) Anyway, Laramie was "starving" before I left, so Zac gave her some of the mac and cheese she had requested while I was gone, and this is the picture I came home to. Yep, that's her bowl full of mac and cheese, notice the hand still gripped tightly...and Laramie totally zonked! She runs full speed until there's just nothing left.

Everyone Loves Uncle Steve!

He's quite the popular guy. This is Laramie and Irelyn with my Uncle Steve. He and my Aunt Gayle were babysitting a friend's son, and brought him over to hang out with the girls tonight. That's Landon. And of course, our dog, Doc Holliday couldn't bare to be left out of the love fest. He's such a baby. Uncle Steve's the best. He (and my favorite aunt) even helped me finish my grouting duties in the bathroom tonight so that we can move full steam ahead tomorrow on the bathroom. Pretty soon, we'll have a tub in there! Can't wait to share a pic. I was going to give an update peekaroo tonight, but, seriously, they're just grout lines. And skinny ones at that. It would not an impressive picture made. Well, that's about all she wrote. The girls had a late night will all the company and excitement about. I actually just got Laramie to bed about twenty minutes ago! So, I'm gonna go relax for a minute before hittin' the sack myself. Sweet Dreams!

Happy St. Patty's Day...

From the Cotton Family! Here's our two cute lil' lassies wearin' o' their green for yas today. Finally a cute pic of them together! Seriously, how do some people get great pics of more than two children sitting politely all together while all smiling at the same time and everyone looking like they obviously just got dressed two seconds before since they are not the slightly dirt covered specimens that my kids usually are? I may never know. This is definitely an accurate representation of my kids. In fact, I'm pretty stoked with this one. A) They are both in the pic. 2) They are both smiling. Yeah, that was a happy face from Laramie. Refer to yesterday's post if you aren't sure. And there's a sweet little bonus pic of Irelyn for ya. I thought it was one of those rare, really good pics that I somehow managed to take without knowing it, so I had to post it. Besides, she deserves a bonus pic today since everyone thinks her name is Ireland!

Laramie's Many Faces

Well, I fully intended to get a good pic of both of the girls together tonight, but I was in the shower with Laramie while Zac was giving Irelyn a bath, and by the time we were out, he had her in bed already! So, a squeaky clean, freshly jammied Laramie decided to give me a little photo shoot of some of her "faces". First was her "happy face", then "sad face", and finally "silly face". Notice the no-eye-contact in that last one? That's because the Phineas and Ferb theme song came on TV and apparently is irresistible. Seriously, Irelyn falls victim to it too. She will actually hear it from another room and go running towards the TV. I have to admit, it's pretty catchy.

On a side note, what does everyone think of the new updates to the blog's look? Personally, I love 'em! Much more shiny and happy. Not that the old one was bad, but I like these tweaks even better.

Bathroom Update

Well, nothing really noteworthy happened around here today, so I decided to give you a bathroom update. I know it's not really the best picture, but you get the gist. And that way, when it's all done, it'll look that much better. Anyway, we've got the floor down, ceiling up, new light fixtures, beadboard on the walls, tile on the walls (we're still working on grouting it), and looks like today my dad framed in that window and put up the ceiling molding. A job well done. I love how he does the windows with the rosettes in the corners and the ceiling trim with the corner blocks to look oldschool like the original part of the house. It's starting to really progress, I can't wait until I get to put all the finishing touches and see it all come together! So, what do you think so far?

P.S. The actual coloring is not really that blah looking, I'll chalk it up to bad lighting and my less than stellar camera skills!

I Did It Again...

Totally forgot again last night. Totally unacceptable, I know.Here's hoping I do better in the second half of the month.

Anyway, nothing too exciting around here tonight, just Laramie being silly and showing off her bedtime snack. Mmmm, oreos. Love 'em. In fact, I think I might go have one too. Nighty-night!

This Old House

Norm would be proud. Today I learned to tile. Ok, who gets the This Old House reference? I used to think that was the most boring show my dad could possibly watch when I was little! (I mean, seriously, Norm is just a tad bit dry, No?) But now, I would be glad to watch. Yes, Norm, I apologize for all those times I left the room when you were on, I should've stayed and soaked up your expertise. I stand corrected. So, my dad's been redoing our bathroom for us for the past couple weeks, and I keep telling him that I wish he had taught me more about carpentry and home improvement while I was growing up, because, well, just what will I do when he finally gets old and I need something built/fixed? So, today, he taught this gal to fish. (And by that I mean tile. You follow, right?) And Laramie helped. Of course, her attention span didn't last quite as long as mine, but she had a blast while she was doing it. Of course, she also had a blast rolling down our hill outside...so happy to be outside! It was beautiful today! Well, we just quit about an hour ago because we were two pieces of tile short, so I'm gonna go relax for a minute before I scoot off to bed. My goal is to get there at a reasonable hour since we have to "spring forward" in our sleep tonight. Maybe tomorrow after we finish and get it all nice and clean I'll post a finished pic!

F is for Friday

...'Cause that's the grade I get. F. I fail. I was soo mad when I realized this morning that I had gone to bed without posting! Laramie and I were at my mom's pretty late last night, we were subbing for her Bunco group. Laramie was exhausted and I took her straight to bed when we got home, Zac was already in bed by the time I tucked her in, so I just decided to go to bed too, and I. just. forgot. As Laramie would say lately, "Rats!" Oh well, even though I lose, I'll keep trucking along...on with today's post...

Ridin' In Style

Check out Zac's new car accessories. Oh, how parenthood won't change you....Yes, my friends, those are two pink carseats in the back of my hubby's red 1989 Toyota Supra. What a daddy won't do for his girls.

I'm not trying to give Zac a bad rap, he's actually been wanting to get carseats for a while now, but we just never wanted to put out the extra money since there was hardly ever a need for them to ride in his car. If he was off with them during the week, they just stayed home. But, with his new job and sometimes being off two weekdays now, and those off days coinciding with preschool days, we, I mean I, had to bite the bullet and buy another seat for him. I have to say, just as a side note, he was totally stoked with the color choice.

So, today Laramie got picked up from preschool in style. I'm sure all the kids will be talking about it next week. Laramie loves her daddy's red car, even though she's only ridden in it a few times. And even though she once mistook our friend's $200 red Toyota Tercel for it. (That one made me giggle...a lot. Zac didn't think it was so funny.) And today was Irelyn's first experience with the Supra. I wonder how she liked it?

(OK, I realize I should've taken a pic of the whole car, too, cause if you don't know what it looks like, it's not quite an oxymoron that it now houses two pink carseats, but, seriously, it's snowing outside and I'm not going back out. No, I mean it, I am wearing slippers.)

A Hard Day's Night

Sometimes, you just gotta give in.

Laramie hates to go to sleep. My mom can hardly ever get her to a take a nap during the day anymore. You have to counsel her through going to sleep every night. After a story, a bible story, prayers, and laying with her for "just a couple bits". Even then chances are pretty good she will start to unravel when you start to leave the room. But tonight, she was watching Despicable Me for the thousandth time while Zac and I were getting dinner ready. I came into the living room to get her for supper and this is what I found. Asleep. All by herself. At 7 o'clock. Poor little punkin'. I mentioned yesterday that she wasn't feeling good. Zac found her asleep on her bed yesterday by herself when he thought she was cleaning up a mess she had made. That's pretty much unheard of for her to just lay down on her bed and go to sleep. Hopefully the extra zzzz's will do her little body good and she'll be ready for school in the morning. She was soooo bummed when she had to stay home yesterday!

So, sweet dreams, everyone!

Guest Photographer

Cute one, huh? Well,of Irelyn anyway! I have to give picture credits to a guest photographer. Today's pics come courtesy of our very own Laramie Grace. She is always asking to use my camera to take pictures, and she's not half bad. I'm always surprised how often she at least manages to get her subject in the frame. I think it's pretty good for a 3 year old!

And now, I'm off for a slumber party with the guest photographer...her daddy told her she could sleep in our bed because she has been sick today. I hope she doesn't puke on me in my sleep.

Planting Peas

Ok, so, I didn't actually take this picture today. But, before you judge, it was taken just a few days ago, so it's not like I'm pulling some ancient pic out of the archives and trying to pass it off. Second, once again, the little one was asleep before I got around to remembering my blog since Laramie and I had to go out pretty late and get something for her to take to school tomorrow because it's her day to take snack. That's a big day in a 3 year old's world. Plus, this is a very cute pic and I wanted to share it. This is Irelyn planting her first seeds, with just a little help from Daddy. They are peas, which are great seeds to plant when you are going to have tiny fingers helping you out because the seeds themselves are not tiny. We all had a great time doing this at the dining room table the other night and the girls have been lovingly watering them with a medicine syringe ever since. That's another great tip for gardening with kiddos, by the way. I found one of those little syringes they give you at the pharmacy and I fill a cup of water and let the girls fill up the syringe and they squirt one syringe full into each seed cup. Works like a charm. No mess and no drowning seeds! I love doing stuff like this with my girls. Laramie loved to help with the garden last year, and we can't wait to plant an even bigger one this year and get Sissy's help! Hopefully, our peas will survive and we can post a pic of our seedlings in a few days. Keep your fingers crossed!

Today's Project

Ok, really, is the weekend over already?! Ugh. Well, I hate to say it, but my brain is too tired right now to try and come up with very many clever things to say, so this is kind of a cop out post. I almost forgot entirely, so I give myself kudos for pulling through at the last minute. No snickering. It's self motivation. So, here's what I have for you. A picture of our new old TV cabinet. As always, I forgot to take a true "before" pic (the beige spot on each door are the remnants of some really awesome rooster stickers that we sanded off), but at least I remembered to snap this one before I started painting it. I was going to post a pic of it with its first coat of paint, but decided I would just wait until it's completely done. That'll be more exciting...right? Yes, let's go with that.

Night, all! Here's wishing you a good night's sleep, cause I always seem to sleep ridiculously bad on Sunday nights. As if Monday mornings aren't bad enough on their own.

Many times I feel like Laramie gets lost in the shuffle as the oldest child. Anyone else know what I mean? (Hope I'm not the only one!) You know, like when I hear us telling her to hold on "just one more minute" because the baby needs something right now, or asking her "can you help your sister...". So, every night after Irelyn is snoozing soundly, Laramie gets some much deserved Mommy and Daddy time all to herself. She gets to pick the night's activity. The most popular are watching a cartoon (the current fave of both girlies is Phineas and Ferb...not a bad choice for something we're going to see a million times, if Mommy and Daddy do say so ourselves) or playing Wii sports. I think it's probably been a couple weeks since we've played the Wii, so I was kind of excited that it was tonight's pick. Of couse, our gaming fun is owed all to Zac's sneaky battery-picking operation to swipe enough double As from the girls' toys to operate our Wii remotes, since the second one died today. Parenting is all about creative solutions. So, tonight's pic is of the little punkin in action. She's actually not half bad. The pic is of her bowling, where she insists on running from the couch all the way up to the TV. For whatever reason, it's the only way she can ever seem to release the trigger at the right time to actually get her ball to go down the lane. Whatever works, right?

Irelyn's Debut

YAY! Let's hear it for small victories. That's right, people, we took a picture before Irelyn was asleep tonight! There she is, in all her adorable glory, my un photographed little peanut. My goodness, I say this with complete objectivity, of course, but she really is just darn cute, don't ya think?

So, actually, Zac snapped this pic of her while we were all getting ready for bed tonight. That's her, half jammied, searching her shirt drawer for the perfect long sleeved number to really set off those purple woolies. Yes, that's right, my 18 month old already has fashion opinions. She insists on picking out what shirt she will wear to bed. It's actually kind of cute. As long as it's not too late and as long as she hasn't decided that she will practice her favorite new word, "No", and go through each shirt in the drawer, still coming up empty handed when she gets to the bottom. Normally it only takes two or three suggestions. I did put my foot down tonight when she wanted to sleep in a hoodie. I know, I'm a pretty mean mom.

Well, there you have it folks. Irelyn's debut. It was worth the wait, right? Just look at that smile:)

Pale Sunshine

Ok, guys. I realize I took a pic today, and here it is posted, but seriously, I give myself a D- for the day. Once again, no pics of the cute girlies and I definitely did not succeed in taking a pic during the day. Now, I haven't come here without my fair share of excuses. First off, I never promised a pic of the girls each day, I said something from our lives, right? Second, Laramie found herself in a sort of predicament which led to her going to bed a wee bit early tonight. And third, I really did want to update you with our new paint color, pale sunshine. Although, I admit, this pic really does not do much justice. The color is actually much brighter than either mom or I was predicting when we at Home Depot last night, but it's still a very nice, happy color, which is what I wanted. And I wanted to stay pretty light because it's such a small space, but I don't think this is too bad. My only concern is that I didn't want too bright of a yellow (I was actually going for an almost white with a yellow tint kind of look) because we painted our awesome claw foot tub a brighter yellow and I think it's kind of a hard color to coordinate. So, I hope these two shades live happily together. I'm going to go to the garage and
stare at the tub and ponder that in the morning.

Reno!

Ok, so today's pic surely isn't as cute as yesterday's subject, but still exciting none the less (and, of course, both of the wee ones are already asleep since we're going on 10pm!) Anyway, I thought I'd post a pic of our bathroom renovation that is currently underway. My uber awesome dad, is of course, contractor extraordinaire for this project. And, as is standard with his projects, we stripped 'er all the way to the studs and are completely rebuilding her. Today he told me how much he loves working on a century old house, what with the wide array of eclectic workmanship that's been added over the years and charming way that nothing is level...or, did he threaten to never work on my house again after this project? It's a gray area. I'm sure he was just kidding, you all know what a jokester he is, right? Anyway, after a minor set back involving several curse words, a lot of that notorious head shaking that my dad does, and that tiny window, I think it is safe to say that we have finally rounded the corner from demolition to construction! YAY! I don't think a house ever seems so big until you have to go upstairs every time you have to pee. Actually, Laramie told me today, "I think Uncle Steve was kidding, he's not going to put our toilet back, is he?" (Uncle Steve is our fabulous plumber/electrician contractor assisting on this project...and many others. I did mention he's my favorite uncle, didn't I?) Anyway, I think the project's gonna really start rolling now. Mom has been commissioned to put a lovely shade of pale yellow on the walls tomorrow, which is actually the reason I did not take today's pic before my living subjects were asleep, because we were at the Home Depot at 8:30 picking out paint!

Maybe tomorrow I'll try to take a pic before 9pm...but don't get your hopes up.

Well, here we are. March 1. Day numero uno of my self imposed little experiment. So here's the breakdown so far...first, technically I have adhered to both vows I committed to yesterday. As you can see, I have taken a pic and learned how to post it on this blog. Pretty impressive. (Actually, I shouldn't try to get so much credit for that latter part, it was ridiculously easy to figure out how to post it, even for yours truly, Ms. Technologically Challenged!) Now for the bad news, which I could just keep to myself and everyone else would be none the wiser, but, I almost totally forgot about even taking a pic until my hubby reminded me at about 9pm. Yikes, that was a close one. Unfortunately, my poor second born was long asleep, so still no more pics of her, but luckily, I still had one gorgeous subject awake and actually in an unusually cooperative picture taking mood. Maybe it was the two scoops of ice cream that her daddy gave her while I was feeding the baby that left that chocolate evidence you can see in the pic? Or, maybe it was that she was trying everything in her mighty little power to keep bedtime as far at bay as possible? Well, whatever the reason, I thought this was a pretty cute pic. So, here she is, my Laramie Grace.

Day One, check.