First Day of School & House Project

Today was the first day of school.  Ugh...I hardly checked anything off my summer to do list.  (sigh)  So, I'll just have to tuck that little baby away for next summer.  (  =

 Because right now I've got more important things to do like take pictures of girl one before she catches the bus and is officially a 6th grader!  Where does the time go?

 Even though girl 2 and boy 1 don't have to catch the bus for another 40 minutes, they walked down to the bus stop with Cardi and I.

Then they were kind enough to pose in front of the expedition for us.

There was some mayhem and some hoopla and right out mutiny after that.  I was planning to drive the younger 2 to school today but Jackson really wanted to ride the bus.  Bella wanted to drive but I thought it was silly to drive her if her 6 year old brother was riding the bus. 

By the way, they moved our stop without telling us.  See the intersection in the very back of this photo?  That's where the bus driver expects to pick up the kids now.  There's no other kids catching the bus there and the bus driver has to pass our old stop any way but that's what his paperwork says. 

I think I will mutiny myself and stay right where the bus has been picking the kids up for years.  Besides, look at those extra kids in tow.  Notice that neither one of them are wearing shoes and boy 2 is still in his spiderman pajamas and he's got a stick and he's not afraid to use it?  I think it's best to stick to the status quo.  Don't you?

Oh and by the way, we got a piano.  It has been sitting in our friends carport for the last 2-3 years so it's needs tuning and some TLC but it was free.  The kids have been wanting a piano for a while.

 It's totally creating mayhem in the livingroom.  Remember this post?  I thought we would be able to put the piano in a corner and have time to figure out the perfect spot for it but it turns out that pianos are heavy.  It took 4  men to move it.    So, we had to decide on a spot quickly.  Everyone agreed that we should move the small couch and put it on that wall.  Have I mentioned I really love that small couch?  The yellow slipcover with all it's patchwork makes me smile.  It also helps to tie the diningroom and livingroom together and not to mention the extra seating. 

So, after the kids left for school and we had finished our first preschool lesson with John and Meredith, I decided to move that piano to the other wall.  The good news is I think it looks much better on the adjacent wall.  The bad news is every muscle in my body aches but it was worth it. 

As you can see from the photos the scale is all off and the dark piano does not go with the yellow sofa so, I decided to paint the piano.

which looks much better in person.  Not bad for my first back to school house project.  What about you?  Got any back to school house projects planned?

All I wanted was to vacuum...

Last year, we decided to take the TV and computer out of the livingroom and make it a reading room.  I loved it.  It was peaceful and quiet (well as quiet as it can be with 5 kids). 

It had this wonderful ambience without the TV or computer blaring.  Our 1940's rental doesn't have a family or media room so it took some planning but we made it work.

Last  week James and I decided we would buy one large family gift (meaning an  XBox ) for Christmas and then maybe one or two small presents for each kid.

So in anticipation of our Christmas purchase, James and I moved this lovely TV armoire that our friend Beth gave us out of our bedroom. 

I was pretty sad to see it leave.  I was even more sad to say goodbye to our quiet livingroom and reading nook and my projectless summer.

Moving the armoire in the livingroom meant something had to go to make room.  So,  I started with our little burgundy colored love seat that James ' colleague gave us when he moved to Washington State.  Lucky man and lucky us because we inherited a bunch of furniture his wife didn't want to drag across country with them.

I also had to move the China cabinet because the only cable cord available in the entire room just happens to be on the wall dividing the diningroom and livingroom. 

Then the bookcase didn't look right on the far wall so I tossed all the books and trinkets in a couple of baskets (which sat there for the rest of the week) and then I dragged the computer armoire out of the sunroom.

And I still hated it. I hated the kids eating in front of the tv and the computer constantly on and the blah feeling I had every time I walked in the room.

And then I gave up and left the whole mess for the fall.

Except on Monday, I figured I should vacuum. Because maybe a clean floor will help me love the room more. It didn't. I still hate the room and you know what I hate those beige accent walls the previous tenants left too.

So while my husband was off at work, I painted them blue. Then I painted the fireplace white.  


Then my husband (who really liked those beige walls) came home.   And I had to plead guilty to painting the walls because I was the only one covered in blue and white paint...or that may have been some gray hair.  And then I said, "I'm pretty sure there is something wrong with me. Maybe it's a painting addiction or maybe I can only go so long without a project?" 

And then he smiled and hugged me and said he like them.  So, I think I'll keep him.

And then we all went to bed except I couldn't sleep so I got up at 11 pm and I dragged our burgundy loveseat back into the livingroom.  I found an old yellow slipcover in my curtain box and slipped it on.  It has several holes that I had stitched up previously but it should last a while longer. 

I pushed the computer armoire back into the sunroom (where I made a solemn vow to never move it again...no eye rolling please) and pushed that heavy duty tv armoire all the way to the other side of the room where it will stay until we move. 

And then I slid the buffet table from the diningroom to the livingroom, dragged the trunk from the sunroom  and then I climbed into bed around 1am exhausted.

And then 4 hours later, James' alarm went off.  He rolled over and kissed me and said "Goodmorning.  I love you."

And then I slowly pulled the pillow over my face and said, "I see you haven't gone into the livingroom yet." 

And then I complained that my whole body hurt from pushing and pulling furniture.  And then he chuckled and got out of bed and went to survey the damage.

Then he stuck his head in the door and said "I love you.  It looks good."

And then I rolled over and said.  "Do you love me enough to drill a hole in the floor and reroute the cable for me before you go to work?"

And guess what he did and he never complained once. 

So, here's our new livingroom.  It's bright and cheerful!  I love it. 

I was able to recreate a relaxing sitting area and little reading nooks all over the room.

I borrowed the "Family Rules"  board from the breakfast nook.  Right now the frames are empty.  I haven't decided whether to put family photos in them or to add more rules in each frame.  But I've got all summer so I'm in no hurry.

I couldn't afford to buy new furniture, curtains or paint so I looked around the house and worked with what I had. The best part is I made all the changes for about $75.  I picked up the pillows for $8 each at Dollar General.  I already had the paint from last summer when I painted an accent wall in the laundry room and kitchen.  I picked up some different spray paints for about $15 at Walmart.  I also found the green contact/shelving paper at the Dollar Tree for $1.  It was a great find and helped inspire the rest of the room.

This is what the trunk looked like before.

These 2 photos are the same except for the clock near the fireplace.  I'm not sure whether to keep it or not. What do you think?

I stashed little baskets full of books throughout the room and nestled some old cushions from a loveseat we took to the dump at the end of the couch along with all the old throw pillows from our current couch so the kids could relax reading or watching tv on the floor.

Oh and so I had to play around a little in the diningroom too because I moved the buffet table to the livingroom.  I just added a small shelf and used the same green contact paper I used on the trunk and large picture frame to make a menu board.  Oh and I vacuumed.  (  =

Oh and I may have rearranged the sunroom.  But for now I have sworn off any more house projects.  (  =

Once Upon A Time...

Once upon a time there was a mom who had nothing to do...

So she thought and she thought and after staring at the bright fire engine red wall and all the kids toys scattered about the laundry room. "Hmm...Perhaps I should paint that wall a lovely shade of blue."  And after hours of searching for just the right color, she did...

As she wiped the sweat from her brow, she said to herself...

I really need to paint this wall too...and so she did.

While she waited for the paint to dry, she went to the local Goodwill and found these fun little knick knacks for only $5...

 That go quite well with her new lovely walls...

 After admiring her new walls she thought to herself "I should  paint a chalkboard on the side of my frig and dryer.  Oh and that cute little space at the end of the cabinet  would make a great  Family Home Evening Board."  And so after 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of chalkboard paint and several hours later...She was done...

Except, she REALLY needed to repaint this wall white but her feet were killing her so she went to bed instead...The End.

Weeks in Review: March 14 - April 9:

It's been a while since my last "Week in Review" post but you probably have a good idea of what we have been up to...  On St. Patrick's Day we celebrated with green pancakes for breakfast.

I think Meredith was not as impressed as I was with the pancakes...

Let's just say she liked the chocolate chip pancakes we had for dinner the night before...ummm...I like pancakes...

James, Bella, and Meredith went on a father-daughter hike, while Cardi had a yard sale with some friends.  She made a whopping $5.50...

Meredith looks very excited!

Cardi turned 10!



We hosted a slumber party!

After drooling at a gorgeous white general store wall unit that cost $1500 at Pottery Barn, I decided to use one of the 72 inch white bookshelves I had purchased from Walmart for  a whopping $25 for the laundry room to get a similar look...which meant I needed to buy some cute picture frames (Yay!  For the Dollar Tree)! 

Which meant I REALLY needed a new desk/buffet table...which meant I got busy sanding and painting the one I already had...

Which didn't turn out too bad...

which then inspired me to repaint this diningroom chair...

which meant I also had to repaint this one....which led me to this...

which inspired me to finally getting around to doing our family chore chart...

which I love and finally finished yesterday.

which then reminded me that I wanted to have the "Love More" slogan above our door as a reminder to us to love each other more...I just remembered I forgot to take a picture of the finished board which has the clothes pins (which I also had to paint) on the ends as well.  Which reminds me after I painted the table, chairs, FHE board, and clothes pins...I painted the wall the board is on as well as painted over the red accents in the kitchen.

I got bangs...HATE them!

Discovered a new favorite breakfast...

Discovered Meredith had a new place she liked to hang out...

Oh, and stash things...It took me days to find John's missing shoe!

Bella got to have  a fun playdate!

We went to a REALLY cool park.  It was SO cool that it deserves a post of it's own!

Spring means birds singing,  mowing lawns ...and impromptu picnics even if it is just the kids and I having crackers and lemonade.



I can't get enough of those sweet faces...even the silly ones!

We listened to General Conference and had snacks...We started paying the kids  an allowance to do certain chores...which worked for a about a day...They were a little more motivated when I told them they would have to buy their own snacks...thus was born the Moberly Company Store...I made $4.75 in 20 minutes!  Boy, can those kids get busy when they have the right motivation! 

Jackson added an inch warm to his collection of bugs!

And then he added this guy...Love the feet in the background...

I have to say one of my favorite things over the last couple of weeks was just sitting in the back yard listening to the birds chirp and the kids playing.  Meredith fussed when Jackson first put her in the swing...

 Jackson wanted to twist the swing to see if she would like it.  It didn't look like it was going to work...But then,

Simply priceless...I have to say Jackson is a great big brother!  He is always thoughtful and let's John have the first turn whether they are swinging, eating a snack, or picking a movie...

And he always makes time for Meredith.

On Friday we had a birthday luncheon for some great ladies in our ward...too bad I was having SO much fun I forgot to take pictures until most people had left.  But these great ladies stayed and we had an opportunity to just hang out and talk...I hope we can do that more often.

Meredith did a great job entertaining the little guests.  This is our friend, Bianca's little boy, Jackson.  I think Meredith may be a little sweet on him...

And of course, if you haven't heard already, this was the highlight of the week at the Moberly household!  Yesterday, we attended the Oak Ridge Children's Museum Art Show where Bella's artwork was chosen to be on display.  There were SO many beautiful art works on display from the various schools in the community! There are A LOT of  talented kids around here but of course we think this little artist is the most  talented  (OK I know..We're biased)!  It's too bad I didn't think to charge the batteries in our camera!  But, just like that REALLY cool park that gets its own post so too does the Moberly household artist of the week...I just wish I could have taken more pictures!