Descriptions

I was having Aliza blow her nose and her ears must have been popping.
"Mom, wait". She pushed on both ears with her fingers. "My ears were inside out".

The other day we stopped at Chick-Fil-A and as we were walking in, I asked the girls what they wanted. Adalyn said she wanted a cheeseburger. After repeating the options again so she could alter her request, she said. "Ugh, I guess I will just have a chicken cheeseburger."

Timely pictures of an untimely project

This shelf looks simple enough, right?  This was actually the last and easiest.

  

The crazy-can't-hit-the-studs-and-can't-find-short-screws-so-they-don't-poke-books shelves.  

Things that make me go ahhh

There's just nothing like:

• Windows open on a warm, breezy day. 
• Clean sheets on my bed.
• Towels folded perfectly and shelved with the soft bunchy side turned out.
• A knock-knock joke from the kiddos that makes no sense at all that you laugh at anyway.
• Turning out the lights in the kitchen at the end of each day.
• Watching 4 washing machines wash a week's worth of laundry at once (it's just too bad you have to fork out so much at a laundry mat for this "cheap" thrill.)
• The sound of quiet, but also the sound of giggles.
• Seeing her understand something in school after so long of it being a mystery.  
• Mulled cider candles
• walking across a bare floor and not feeling any particles on your foot. 
• Hearing your kiddo recite a memory verse. 
• Having Louis walk in through the door.
• Putting meals in the freezer. 

Projects and such

You know you're a mom of many, if it takes two solid days of changing clothing out for a new season and you're still not done.  You know you're crazy or stupid if you attempt to change out clothes, declutter, pack things away for a yard sale, rearrange some furniture, and finish a project all in the same three days when you have five kids.

Today, I needed a break.  I picked up the three shelves that have laid up against the wall in the hallway since Louis served on the women's Emmaus Walk.  (I don't even remember how long ago that's been now).  That's a problem I have.  I imagine something to do, and think I can accomplish it in a 2-hour block of time and the reality is, it takes a lot longer to complete than I envisioned.  You wouldn't believe how many half-completed projects I have in my head (and laying around the house).  

So I said to myself, I'm not going to work on clothes switching today...or at least I will get this shelf project done and then pick back up on the clothing deal, afterward.  Because afterall, it should only take an hour or two.  

So anyway, a few weeks back, I picked up three pieces of wood from Lowe's, sanded it, stained it and then it was still tacky to the touch so I left it leaning against the wall to dry for a couple weeks hours. In the meantime, I got some L-brackets, spray painted them "Oil rubbed bronze" (which take time to dry in between turning them over to coat the other side).  

So today, I would attach the dry L-brackets to the untacky stained shelves and hang them up on the wall.  Easy enough.  An hour.  2 to actually put things on the shelves.   

Gathering tools at our house is always a job (because of all the unfinished projects I start and can't seem to complete).  Can't find the tape measure.  Can't locate the drill.  The list of can't-finds is never-ending.  

On one of my jaunts to the garage to get something for this project, I catch sight from the kitchen of Alivia (by the pantry) who has the bag of pancake mix upside down and I see it pouring powder all down to the floor.  I pull a gazelle, leaping across the floor to grab it from her. She managed to dump half a Sam's Club bag (do you KNOW how much that is??!!) of Pancake mix that we just opened yesterday when we had pancakes before CBS.  

So, this is a huge job to clean up. Time consuming.  Tedious.  Dusty. (Have you SEEN the Sam's Bag?)  HALF, I tell you...on the floor.

I'm wanting to get back to my project, so I sweep most, but leave the vacuuming of the runner for later.  

Back to the project at hand,
Feeling pretty DIY-er, I grab the stud finder, locate studs, take wall measurements, transfer the measurements on to the boards.   I attach the L-brackets to the places on the boards where the studs will match up.  I go to attach the shelves to the wall and my screws go through drywall.  I took them out and moved it a hair over.  Still not hitting the studs.  So I had to repeat the process again (unsuccessfully) and finally resorted to removing the L-brackets from the boards and attaching them to the wall first then attached the brackets to the wood.  And you know this all happens without dropping your screws, your level, and the pencil a dozen times each, right?  

The only screws I could find to attach the shelves to the L-brackets on top, were too long and poked through the shelves (thus, creating hazards on top of the shelves).  At this point, I really didn't care because my 1-hour project was well into it's 3rd hour and I hadn't even reached the fun part of putting things onto the shelves yet. After all the long screws were in, Louis comes in from mowing and points out that the screws are sticking out on top of the shelves and told me he had shorter screws I could have used.  I DID scour the toolboxes pretty well I thought.  So then I am off to replacing the screws...because who wants screw tips sticking into books or finding an unsuspecting finger once a year when I dust up there? 

So, now its done.  All three shelves.  Hung.  In between this now, daunting task, was tending to kiddos, fixing lunch (and we did have some awesome 3-minute microwave cream cheese dip, and Louis and the girls ate shrimp cocktail).  What a fun lunch!  I also decided to run some water in the microwave to steam it and wipe out later.

SO while I had tools out, I decided to go ahead and hang up five frames that I spray painted red a few weeks days ago with another project in mind.  Let's do this!  Let me also in between this process, grab things from here and there and add them to the shelves.  Oh, and let me hang up these few frames that have sat here since we moved in.  Oh, let me change out the mantle a little.  Oh, yeah, I wanted those Willow Tree Angels out of the curio and on the new shelf.  ADHD, much?  

Stopping. Something wreaks.  I must follow my nose (and trust me, it wasn't to find Froot Loops).  I come to hands covered in what looked like a paraffin wax hand treatment, only it was brown.  I get Alivia to the bathtub and start the process of cleaning her up and gagging in between.  

I go the family room and apparently, she had done the deed right under her sister who was rocking in the rocker, who casually shrugs, "I wondered what that smell was".  It was also smudged into carpet and smeared onto Aliza's devotional book.  Art.  

Pictures soon (of the project at hand, not the one who tried her hand at art). Surely I can carve out 10 minutes to do that tomorrow.  Along with actually wiping out the microwave instead of running it four times with the bowl of water in there and forgetting to wipe it.