I “redid” the bathroom countertops in our bathroom that Emma affectionately refers to as, “the duck bathroom”.  We didn’t want to completely replace the counters yet, but I was tired of the 70’s looking cultured marble so I refinished them to white.  They turned out quite well.

Before:

During:

After!:

As predicted, we got some “weather” (as they call it down here) yesterday.  We got some ice and then some snow on top of it.  It finally got cold enough last night to actually stick/freeze.  As you can tell from the pictures, our trees are not used to the weight of the ice/snow.  Our poor magnolia tree suffered some serious loss due to it having the extra weight of the leaves and the ice.  Most trees don’t have leaves in the winter, but since this one does it really tore out some big branches.

Unfortunately when Tim was out taking pictures of the trees at lunch he noticed another problem.  It seems as if the sewer line from the house to the street has backed up causing the pipe in the yard to…ahemm… “back up” into the yard.  Fortunately our plumber was just down the road when we called and he came out to check the problem.  We got it “rooted” and that seems to have taken care of the issue.  The plumber informed me that there was nothing clogging it, (i.e., a toy that a 3 year old dropped in there ;) but it was just plugged up.  All seems to be a go now!

Everett had a 2 month check up today that was cancelled due to the inclement weather (which I am certain the Missouri folks are cracking up at).  It’s amusing, in Missouri they would have had scrapers and salt out during the night and it would have been no thing, but here…the whole town shuts down!

Well, I think we have finally finished Everett’s room.  Here are some pictures!

Okay, so this past weekend I came up with yet another “project” for the house.  This time, I decided to paint the top of our white table black.  FYI, for any of you who have ever considered purchasing a white table…DON’T!! 

It’s amazing the stains that manage to appear on a bright white table top.  If you simply leave a newspaper sitting on the table…voila…it transfers to the table top!  I got tired of bleaching Kool-Aide stains, jelly stains and whatnot…so I painted it black!

I think Tim is going to be excited when we finally  have Everett.  Not just because he’s going to have a son (I mean he’s excited about that), but because all of my crazy “weekend projects” will stop!

On Monday when Tim's mom was here, we went to a local nursery and let Emma pick out some pumpkins.  I also picked out some fall-themed decorations for the front flower bed.  They had beautiful mums so we got two different varieties.  Tim got my decorative flag hung back up, as a storm took it out several months ago.

I also got a new monogrammed flag for our mailbox, and I think it's classy!

A few weekends ago Steph and I ripped out the thorny, ugly bushes along the front side of our house and extended a new flower bed.  It just has mulch for now but next spring, once the bed has been established, we'll plant various pretty green stuff.  We also filled in several holes and low spots in our yard (ankle-twisters, I know from experience) that are now much safer but will look better once the grass grows in.

BEFORE

AFTER

The prior owners of our home decided to lay tile floor in the kitchen, breakfast nook, and extra room that we use as an office.  The problem was, they did a very poor job of it, particularly in the office.  The grout constantly crumbled and had to be replaced, the tiles weren't all evenly flat, and they used cheap tiles with ugly grout to begin with.  Plus, the office seemed like just some other room off in the corner that looked out of place with the tile.

So, we finally decided to do something about it, the low-cost but better-than-it-was-before way.

This past weekend Steph and I put in new floor in the office, at least sort of.  Steph and I cleared the room and our good friend "Brownin" (Bryan) helped me take apart and move the large furniture.  Then Steph and I laid floor leveler "mud" (for lack of the proper term) to even out the grout and tile height.  Then we sanded it, vacuumed it, mopped it, and put peel and stick vinyl "wood" planks down.  We have used the planks before at a previous house and they turned out pretty well.  They look a lot better than some of the peel and stick tiles do, since the wood pattern blends well and looks more natural around the seams since they are plank-shaped rather than square.

Once we added the furniture back in (again with the help of "Brownin" and this time Lucas helped too) and got everything in place it seemed to make a world of difference, at least to us.  It now seems like its own defined space and a proper office area and not just some dingy catch-all before you get to the garage or back patio.  That's not to mention how much easier it is to clean!

You be the judge... was it worth $150 and a few hours of hard work?  We sure think so!

BEFORE WE MOVED IN:

Two years ago, prior to adding furniture and whatnot...

AFTER WE MOVED IN BUT BEFORE THE FULL FLOOR FACE-LIFT:

We painted the wainscoting red and Steph meticulously painted and sealed the grout white to keep it from flaking up as much and to look nicer and we added an area rug to detract from the floor.

Oh, BTW, Emma is way too big for the Exer-Saucer in this photo but decided she would climb into it and play anyway.

FINALLY FACE-LIFTING THE FLOOR:

Leveler in place and then with wood planks down...

TRANSITION COMPLETE WITH FURNITURE:

Complete with a pretty face to boot!