Now Onto Front Porch Fixen Up

Yesterday I had a surprise visit from a friend. I really enjoyed the few minutes she was here as we chatted...just wished everything hadn't been such a wreck! I had plans of cleaning off my front porch yesterday but didn't get to it, after she stopped over I wished I had.

So damn it! Today was the day! I cleaned it off...burned the boxes of my Ltd stuff that I had thrown out there, and then came the fun stuff. I painted both benches that have been sitting on my front porch since last summer when I bought them from a yard sale for $5 each. 2 coats of paint on both took me a while but it was a super great day for paint drying. Next I moved onto another window frame just like the one out back. Painted it to match the benches and then hung it under the porch railing where there are no spindles. That's one reason I like those benches there...it helps cover and fill up the blank space.

When I was done with that I hung a brown curtain I had got from the thrift store behind the right bench and tied it off. Still didn't feel like being done yet especially since today was a day that Evie was taking a 4 hour nap (which is not usual for her). Next I moved onto my bar stools. I sanded the seats to them and then painted them black. I'm doing a wood and black combo in my kitchen. Still didn't feel like being done, so I sanded and painted the seat to my black bench out back that Evie had gotten white nail polish all over.

Phew! Think if it's nice out tomorrow we'll take a break and go swimming.

Pics...enjoy.

Before painting they were just old worn gray wood.

After painting...hard to see cause I painted then a grayish green.

One of the windows behind the benches that I got out of the barn.

Since hanging I've added a swag that matches the curtain behind the right bench.

View from drive way. The orange extension cord is hubby's.

Panoramic view from steps.

Before painting.

After painting. Now the next project is sanding and painting the legs to my kitchen table black and then building a new top out of wood. Think I might need hubby's help with that one.

Back Porch fixin Up Cont...

Ok, so yesterday after we all got showered I put a pull up on Evie...and it was the last one! So I had to go to the store and decided maybe they would be cheaper at Walmart vs Weis. Ok, so not really, I used it as an excuse to go. I wanted to look at Terra Cotta pots and the temptation overwhelmed me especially concerning having to go out anyways.

The nice thing about Terra Cotta is it's dirt cheap. I got two bigger pots and four small ones along with some flowers for around $10. I could handle that!

Jim is on second shift this week and got home pretty late last night. Usually since school's out now I end up staying up til he gets home. I was so excited to complete my back porch there I was at 12:30 am on my back porch putting my pots together. At least it was cool, but the occasional June bug I would have to swat away was a little annoying. Wonder what the neighbors thought if they saw me out there at that time of night?

So, anyways for now my back porch is complete...although I would like to paint the porch itself but not sure what color I would pick.

Updated pics....

I got impatients cause the back porch doesn't get alot of full sun. Debated after getting them if maybe because of the terra cotta colors if I shouldn't have picked out red flowers instead of pink. Oh well, the pink looks good too.

On a side note for lunch today we picked fresh lettuce from our mini garden to go with our sandwiches. It was so good! All the kids ate it up...even Logan!

Back Porch Fixin Up.

Last night after cleaning up supper (which included washing dishes by hand) I decided to do some painting I've been wanting to do. When I was at my parents last I went into the barn behind the house and found some treasures. There were about 50 different kinds of old windows. I've been wanting some for quite some time now for crafty projects. So I loaded up the back of my van with all different kinds of windows and frames.

The kind I decided to paint last night has 9 windows panels with no glass. I wanted to paint it to hang from my back porch. I also found some old metal flower wall hangings one of the last times I was at the thrift store. I didn't like the tacky 70's green that the stems were so I painted them black to match the black motif of what I'm trying to do. I only put one light coat of black on them so a little bit of the green shows through and I think it looks pretty good.

After getting home from church I was very anxious to hang it all since everything was dry. While the kids ate their lunch I was out back getting my decorating groove on. I had so much fun! It was a little tricky hanging everything since the back porch roof and beams are all metal. Seems as if nails don't take to kind to being pounded in metal without drilling a hole first. Who knew! Well, I did some what, but figured I'd give it a try first anyways.

Once I was done I of course, seeing the FB loser I am, immediately took pics and posted them. I so bad want to pack up all the kids for a Walmart run to get some Terra Cotta pots for my solar plant stands I got from LTD. I just picked up everything I had ordered yesterday from Nanny. She's the big LTD lady and I order through her. I've only got one more thing that I've ordered that hasn't come yet. Considering my upcoming beach trip I'd better hold off making a Walmart run. Self restraint isn't one of my strong suits but I'm giving it my best.

The motif I'm going for is Terra Cotta and black accents. It seems that I can't get enough of black! I love it. It's so sharp and clean and am using it for a lot of my accent colors here and there. I have another wooden window frame exactly the same that I want to paint and hang from the front porch. Might do that one in the dark chocolate brown I have or maybe even the dark sage green I also have.

When I came in from the outside to lay Evie down for a nap, I took one last long look at it all before coming in and said to the kids, "now if only we could get the inside looking just as nice". I have all kinds of plans and projects going on inside my head that time and money aren't allowing me to complete when I want. Patience is also not one of my strong suits. I want everything done now! The next big project is getting the set of bunk beds from my sister in-law and finishing the kids bedrooms. The girls room all I have to do is finish painting the trim and the boys room I have all the painting to do. Haven't even gotten the paint for their room yet...just the samples of the colors I want. Plus the curtains I want to make for the boys room and my kitchen. At least I have the material for the ones in my kitchen. Just got to get together with my one friend to help since I want Roman shade curtains and have never made those before.

Ah...so much to do...so little time. I need to get all my friends together for a girls painting party and get it all done at once. Maybe if I provide some good food I can talk them into it. Tee-Hee.

Here's some pics of my handy work...enjoy!

Before painting

After painting and hanging.

Before painting

After painting and hanging

My solar plant stands. Since I don't have any pots Mr.Turtle will have to do.

My infamous bench I re-did that Evie put white nail polish on. Still have to get out the remover and take care of that.

The girls enjoying the serenity of my "cozy sheek" back porch.

NO! Say it ain't so!

Filled my dishwasher yesterday, added the detergent, turned it on...and then it came...nothing. No light...no sound...no swooshing of water. NOOOOO!!!!! Sheer panic ran through my entire body...the thought...the picture...myself standing there...dare I say it...WASHING DISHES BY HAND! This is not happening...breath shortening...chest pounding...heart sinking.

Call me a spoiled brat if you will, but 6 people's worth of dishes everyday...needing washed...a broken dishwasher...worst nightmare! Now if my washing machine broke down there's laundry mats, but when a dishwasher breaks down there's no dishwasher mats. Then, another thought of terror hit me. I'm now going to have to unload it and wash every single dirty dish in the stupid thing. Walls closing in...floor falling out from under me...life as I know it falling apart!

Ok, enough flair for the drama. This sucks and worse case senerio is I'll have to save up for a new one and then just take it with us when we move from here. My hubby is even handy so maybe he will be able to figure it out before getting to that point.

When we first moved in here it was coming from a place where I had a portable dishwasher that for the last 1-2 years we lived there didn't work and was just used as extended counter space. Longest 1-2 years of my life! I was so excited when I saw this place had a built in. Every single time in the 2 years we've lived here and I've gone to run it, I've said a little prayer, "God, keep my precious dishwasher working, You know what it means to me." Silly as it may be it's been one of my biggest fears about living here, because we don't own the place or the dishwasher and our Landlord is less then ambitious, shall we say, concerning things needing done with his rentals.

In the short years I've been on this earth I've learned to, expect the unexpected, that nothing...I mean...nothing lasts forever (which in some cases is a good thing), and one of the biggest...you do what you have to do.

One last thought...yes it's going to be a royal pain not having my dishwasher...BUT...I have two older children who can reach the sink! HA, problem solved.

My Child Needs Meds. !!!

Ok, Evie has been the subject of many of my postings...well...here we go again. As if her mischievous ways weren't bad enough to deal with another problem has arisen...sigh.


At the beginning of this year we put Evie in a toddler bed and it went fine. At nap time I'd have to maybe go in a couple times to put her back in her bed but even that was short lived. At bedtime we'd put her to bed, give her a kiss and a hug and that was it...asleep.

Now bedtime which used to be my sigh of relief...get my wits back...relax from the stress of dealing with her all day....gone! She refuses to stay in her bed no matter how many times I put her back in and even spank her for getting out. She takes her pillow and blanket and lays down right in front of her door...and this is usually following a good fit of crying and screaming. When I lay her down I give her a kiss and hug and by the time I reach the door she's crying for another hug. If I go and give her another hug it just starts all over. When I leave the room that's of course when the screaming begins. If I hear her stop it's only because she's laid herself down at her door. Besides that she's been waking me up in the night any where's from 3-6 times. She wakes up screaming and pounding at her door and when I go in and ask her what's wrong she says she wants a hug. The one night I battled with her for three hours at bedtime and when she finally did go to sleep she ended up waking me 6 times that night!

Last night Jim was up for bedtime cause he didn't have to be into work til 5:30 instead of 1:30. She was even giving him a hard time with it and he's the one she usually listens to better. Finally we put her toddler bed in the other kids bedroom thinking it might help if she weren't in a room alone. It helped in that she wasn't screaming when we left the room but over the next two hours the kids kept complaining that she wouldn't shut up! Finally she got into their bed and was jumping on every one. So, just so everybody could get some sleep we put her in with us.

I don't know what to do with this child anymore. I've never loved something so much and yet wanted to be done with it at the same time. I've had plans of setting up a bunk bed in her room so her and Deb can share the bedroom...not sure if having someone in there with her will help or not. Seeing that she's never given me trouble like this before I'm just frustrated to know what's causing all her distress with bedtime.

Tonight they will be going to their Nan and Paps to spend the night and all I can say is thank God! At least I'll get one night's break from it all. I'm sure she'll be fine over there cause she usually sleeps with either her Nan or her Pap.

Before, dealing with her just caused emotional and mental exhaustion...now I can add physical exhaustion to that. I was reading on the back of some Benadryl I got for the dog and it said * do not use to make a child sleepy * Well, there goes that plan. Just kidding...but seriously :-/

The Days of Disney Princesses are over :-(

My two older kids Logan and Debbie are 10 and 8 now. They were born two years and two weeks apart exactly. Both born in the month of March.

Logan's favorite shows used to be Max & Ruby, Dragon Tales, Elmo's World, and Rugrats just for a few. He used to call Elmo Melmo. Now it's Ben 10, Adventure Time, Mad Tv, and Family Guy if we'd we'd let him watch it!

Deb used to love anything Princess, Sesame Street, Dora, and Wonder Pets. Now it's anything Justin Beiber (which I can't stand that little prick!), ICarly, Victorious, and Wizards of Waverly Place for just a few.

Where did my little babies go? Yesterday we took the kids to Little Pine and stopped at the country store in Waterville for drinks. There were two younger guys standing out front and Deb was just starring at them. Boy crazy already!? The other day I said something sarcastic and Logan laughed cause he got it. I felt sad and proud all at the same time! He's even made me laugh using some of the same dry sarcastic wit I use.

When it comes to Deb Jim's ready to put his shot gun of choice on layaway and with Logan I'm ready to put a down payment on that military school. Logan is 3 short years away from becoming a teenager and Deb is only two short years behind him.

Talk about starting to feel old. Not sure where I find myself falling with these older kids. I've been a mother to toddlers most of my adult life, so this adolescence I'm finding myself in leaves me feeling a little unnerved as the journey goes on.

Good bye Melmo...good bye Swiper no swiping...good bye my Logie Dogie...good bye my Debbie Doodle. At least I still have my Jer Bear and Eviekins...for a little while yet.

I can't think of a title so I'm just going to say, BLAH

I stuck to my guns. Evie threw a fit at nap time because she kept wanting a hug after I had given her several. When ever she gets into trouble she always throws a fit for a hug. I have this fear that over time with as much as she gets into trouble that she will start to feel like she's no good and is unloved, so I give it to her. This need for hugs at times of misbehavior I fear has been her manipulating me not wanting reassurance of being loved. Evie screamed and threw a fit for almost an hour before falling asleep. Going through that wasn't just hard for her...sniff...sniff.

Afterwards I felt really bad...not because I stuck to my guns and didn't give in, but because I've let her go to the point of needing to go through that. It's ultimately my fault for letting it go this far and getting to the point of her screaming bloody murder for an hour. I put her through that.

Sometimes I find myself taking the lazy road to parenting. Parenting one can be exhausting enough let alone four and I use that as an excuse to pick and choose my battles...ignore what I want...deal with what I want. One of my biggest faults is not doing what I need to simply because I don't feel like it.

Occasionally things around here get behind because it's been crazy busy, but majority of the time it's because I don't feel like it. That's a big sign of immaturity on my part. Selfishness as well. Here I have a husband who has to work up to 18 hours a day even when he doesn't feel like it and all I have to do is keep a house clean and kids in order. I even get to do it on 8 hours of sleep where as he's usually going on 4-5 hours sleep.

If I were living 100 years ago when life was really hard I would've never made it. I'd be in the corner of my little house on the prairie curled up in the fetal position.