101 Update - And Happy New Year!

 Happy New Year to you all!  It's 2024.  How did that happen so fast?  I am still in the Christmas mood and not quite willing to give up my decorations.  Do you take everything down the first week of the new year, or do you wait until after Three Kings day?  Or maybe even later?  One year I kept the tree until almost Valentine's day!  The decorations were down, but I liked the tree and lights.

I realize I haven't done an update on my 101 list in 3 months now.  I haven't really been keeping up with it too much as some new revelations have occurred during that time...

I'm pregnant!

Yup.  Our 8th baby is due in late May.  So I'm not even sure some of these list items will be possible, haha.  We'll see.  

Now, on with the list!

13. Create an Old Fashioned Christmas (more traditional, less ‘stuff’) (DONE December 2023)

Done that this Christmas!  Made the kids their gifts, only one per child.  They pulled tickets and gave gifts to each other as well, and we kept with the pj's and ornament tradition (used squishmallow ornaments and put them with their pjs on Christmas eve, which they thought was fantastic!).  I went back to the old Christmas Bowls this year instead of stockings as that was what my dad grew up with in his more Mennonite home.  We told the Christmas story before presents, which we do each year.  We went to the Christmas Eve service and sang carols before going to look at lights.  It was a wonderful Christmas.  I think simple is good.  I want to continue doing one gift like this.  We have so much stuff in our house already, and they were all so happy with their gifts!

16. Make something we want out of stuff laying around/trash rather than buying. (DONE 7/5)

Finished this one with the Christmas gifts!  We were renovating our office over Christmas as we had purchased a pallet of cabinets at a tent sale for $200, and they had more cabinets than we needed.  So, using that as well as a bunch of scrap wood, I made a play kitchen for the kids.  I also used fresh rags to make a plush Oatchie for my daughter, scrap wood to make shelves for my son, and fabric I had around to make a couple of other plushes for the kids.

25. Fix roof on barn (DONE October 2023)

Yes!  This finished in October!  The roof over the robot area was leaking terribly, and we had to hire someone to build a whole new roof over that 'new' area of the barn.  It is only 6 years old.  Disappointing, honestly.  But the new roof looks so nice!  I look forward to being able to decorate when the decking area and fence is finished on the front.

32. Create free to use items in Cricut design space (7/15)

I made 4 more projects that are free to use.  An advent calendar set of boxes to fill, a 'Nintendo Light-switch', a funny joke sign for the bathroom in the barn, and Mario block bins.

42. Read entire Bible in a year (66/66 books COMPLETE December 30 2023)

Finished December 30.  The whole Bible in a year!  I'm doing it again this year.

43. Make praying for our leaders a habit (do so each evening for a month at supper)

Started that January first.  Hoping I'll remember.  It isn't easy for some reason.

55. Get back to pre-pregnancy weight and 56. Bring down waist to under 30 inches

These two are going to be tricky to do right now.  Seeing as I'm gaining about a pound a week in pregnancy, and losing weight has been harder and harder after each baby.  I got within 5 lbs of my prepreg weight last time before getting pregnant again.   I'll also need to really work on my diastasis recti.  It is pretty bad right now.  Not sure if I can fix it.

61. Put up shelves for laundry room/table area

I started this!  I have shelves up for the laundry baskets and that has helped immensely.  I have so much more I want to do in there to make the space even nicer.  We'll see when I get to the rest.

62. Build a bunk bed in girls room (DONE December 2023)

We were gifted a free bunk bed!  My husband put it up a week before Christmas and the toddler was moved into the toddler bed.  The crib is disassembled in our bedroom right now.  The toddler will be able to move into the other girls room at any point now as we have mattresses for 4 in there as well!  Fantastic!  I still want to change up the ladder system with stairs between the two.  And eventually make the bunk a wooden one instead of the metal bar one we were gifted, but this is fantastic!

63. Rework office area with new desks and craft storage (Done December 2023)

Like I said earlier, we were working on the office last month.  I love how things are now, even though they are not completely finished.  We have a desktop spanning the entire wall with all 3 computers for school set up.  The open shelves are gone and we have shelves with doors.  I still need to rework a few things, but the main setup is done.  I mostly want to put storage that is open on the walls, like pegboards, or small shelves, things to have some of the supplies in easier reach but not on the countertop.

Moved furniture around

This cabinet was moved to the this side of the window (that took a while).

Took everything off the desks and shelves.

Putting up cabinets.  This is going to be so nice to get everything in hidden storage.

Things are still messy, but we corralled the cords and put in the 'desk' pieces we bought from Ikea to set things up for 3 computers instead of 2.

I created 2 more boxes on top of the craft cabinet which makes things look much nicer.  The one 'desk' table I built out of scraps years ago is in the center of the room for the kids to craft on.  The tool box will be removed from here yet.   I still want to clean up a few more things like the bookshelves and decluttering more of the shelves.  I put a tablecloth on this table and the pencil sharpener, and we've set up all the computers, but I haven't got those pictures on this computer yet.

68. Build a bench for the dining table (Done December 2023)

I didn't exactly build it, but repurposed one that we had in our basement.  I hope to properly recover it by sewing removeable 'sheets' for the top, but for now what I have done is working fabulously.  We finally were able to get the high chair into storage.  

Showing our Christmas bowl setup as well as the gingerbread house we made the 23rd.  No more high chair!

71. Build cute signs for the house/farmyard (2/5) (welcome planter)

I made a funny sign (see above) for the barn bathroom.  I have so many ideas for so many more signs!

So, 27 down, 74 to go.  260 days in... should be done 26!  Lovely!

The Harsh Flow of Time

When life grips you and doesn't let you go, you neglect the things that aren't of vast importance.  And this blog has been one of those things.  I apologize.  I haven't been here since 2018, and it is so strange to see this space again after so long!

Life has hit us hard.  Good things, bad things, all the things.  We've almost lost the farm.  2018 was hard in that way.  My husband's dad became sick and was unable to work on the farm anymore, and my husband has been working extra hard to keep it going.  Summer of 2018 saw a huge heat wave hit the area, and many farms were affected.  Milk decreased, and the animals don't do well, even when you do everything you can to help them.  The bank we were with decided to send someone down in the midst of the heat wave.  He didn't like dad, and had decided we were neglecting our animals (they hold their heads down when hot, and look so sad).  He made an attempt to set the milk board against us.  We were told a number of things by animal welfare that we were to do... all of which we were already doing and had been doing for years except for two things that were not something we could reasonably do in our current barn (I will say, we did end up doing them both, but the one has cost us tens of thousands in repairs over the last 5 years.  Exactly what we said would happen.  We were supposed to be able to build a new barn by now, but the bank lied to us when we signed on 14 years ago).  This guy sent a bad report to the bank which caused them to tell us to pay the mortgage in full right away or they would foreclose on our farm.  We had to sell land, quota, equipment, all to attempt to keep what was ours because one guy (who made it clear in the past that he disliked dad for some reason) wanted to shut us down.  We didn't cave.  Thousands of dollars in lawyer fees later, we were allowed to push the payment of the 7 figure loan for about a year.  I got pregnant during that time, and we had a baby girl, due right around when they wanted the balance.  Thankfully, they allowed another few months, and then because dad was super ill, they pushed it yet again.  We were paying off huge segments of the loan with the sales of land and quota.  Then, at the beginning of the covid19 pandemic, dad died.

I don't even know where to begin when it comes to dealing with the passing of someone close to you.  The kids were devastated.  My oldest son and dad were very close.  My 5th child, Baby Z, the one I mentioned in my last post, was named after my father in law.  In Dad's last weekend, I felt my husband should take Baby Z to visit dad.  I'm so glad he did.  We were blessed to be living next door, and the older kids went to play games and puzzles with mom and dad often (we knew he was dying for months now, so we did what we could to keep the kids from getting sick.  We were told even a cold could kill him).  It was hard.  And then we got the call.  He had asked for my husband.  We knew.  The ambulance was called, he was brought to the hospital, and only one person was allowed in the room with him at a time.  He died alone, when the brothers were switching shifts outside.  

What made things even harder was that this was in the midst of the shutdowns.  No hugs.  No gatherings.  No funerals.  10 people in one place and no more than that.  And my family was 8 people.  No exceptions.  We felt very alone during that time.  No church family, although I am very grateful to the 2 families who came of their own accord and brought us a meal.   Very few people came to the viewing.  The service was one of the first ones they did online, and so there were bugs to work out, but they managed it.  Two of his own children couldn't come because they lived out of province and travel wasn't allowed.  It was really hard on mom.  

I gave hugs anyway.  

Covid really wrecked things for everyone, and our family was no exception.  Some things didn't change much, however we lost many of our support systems.  Lost friends.  Hurtful things said.  Felt abandoned and alone by our church.  Our homeschool group ended due to the regulations.  Our farm was struggling to get by as it is now half the size it was before while still trying to support the huge insurance payments and such from when it was so much larger.  Then there was the storm that destroyed part of the barn in 2021, and while insurance is supposed to cover everything, the last concrete tower silo was unable to be salvaged and the cost to rip it down and replace it and the feed room was more than the 'value' of the tower by insurance, so we had to pay 5 figures out of pocket, which we really didn't have.  The drought brought a huge increase in feed costs, so that they doubled in only a few short months, and we felt like we were drowning once again.  In fact, I'd say we've been barely surviving things this entire time.

March of 2021, I found out I was expecting yet again!  It might sound weird, but I was terrified.  I didn't want to make appointments.  I didn't want to acknowledge it at all.  I was scared of what people would say and think.  I'm not sure why, but I think my hormones and anxiety were in rough shape due to everything over the last few years already.  It took everything in me to even make my first appointment, and with the mask requirement in most places, I stayed home.  It is hard to describe what I felt.  It made no sense.  In order to make myself tell others, I decided to write a parody song to Shania Twain's 'I feel like a woman'.  I did my best to get excited and not worry about what others would say or think, and it actually worked.  I became excited over time about our coming baby!

Pregnancy is always a crazy time for me, and I went a bit crazy renovating the girls shared bedroom.  Built a few things outside, cleaned in the barn office, found project after project to keep my mind and body occupied as my anxiety was through the roof with everything going on.  I feared giving birth.  I feared I would die.  Nightmares plagued me.  Anxiety was terrible.  It was crippling.  I had never experienced it this bad before.  And then, my husband was sick and anxious himself.  On medications.  Problem after problem on the farm.  Dad was gone.  He was the sole decision maker, and there were a number of things he still had to learn.  It was hard.

I went through a 46 hour labor with my last baby, and oh boy... she did not want to turn.  I didn't know when to go to the hospital because my pushing stage with my 6th baby saw my contractions at 5 minutes apart even while pushing.  I had 2 weak contractions and one strong one with my last 3 babies.  It made things very difficult to time.  I actually had an epidural this last time, and almost had issues with that one, too!  I was exhausted as I hadn't slept in days now, could feel that I was fighting the contractions due to exhaustion, and so I asked for one.  The tech said there was a blood clot in the needle and he had to re-administer, and it was likely I would get headaches due to loss of spinal fluid.  Thankfully, I didn't get the headaches.  

Baby still didn't want to come out, and I was afraid I'd need a c-section.  I usually reach pushing stage and baby is here in less than 3 contractions of active pushing, but I lost count with my last baby.  She wouldn't enter the birth canal.  Not at all.  I remember saying 'I can't' out loud, and then prayed that God would do something because I couldn't do this without Him.  Next contraction, the baby entered the birth canal!  The following contraction, she was out!  Turns out, she was not facing the right way.  She came facing my left leg instead of my spine.  However, none of that mattered in the end!  She was here!  And she was beautiful!  All the kids were so excited to meet her, although they had to wait until we came home as there were no visitors allowed in the hospital at all due to the restrictions.  Honestly, though, I kind of liked it being just me, my husband, and our newest baby.  Blessings in all things, and God knew what I needed.  (I did make a video on YouTube of my birth story, but it isn't made public right now.  Not sure I want to publish it publicly yet.  I might need to make a shorter version for that).

Anyway, Baby K is a year old now.  We are planning our 20th anniversary already.  I'm homeschooling 5 kids age kindergarten through 9th grade while attempting to keep the farm going.  I've been learning new things, like making butter, cottage cheese, yogurt, and I even started canning this last fall!  And I've joined the ranks of bird owners, as we got chickens last June, too!  I love having my own fresh eggs each morning!

Life is an adventure!  It is incredible to me just how much things can change over the years.  Time has been hard on us, but we are better for it.  And our family is bigger, and I wouldn't change it for the world!  God knows what is best for our family, and I just pray for His continued guidance in all things.  I need more time with Him, as I feel pulled in so many directions as of late.

How is it possible that my oldest is a young woman already?  How is it possible that I've been married almost 20 years now?  How is it possible that I'm turning 40 this year?  How can it be?  I still don't feel much different than I did when having my first baby almost 15 years ago.  How is it possible?

The flow of time is swift and harsh.  One day, you are young and newly married, then you start having a family and you are a young mom, then you look in the mirror and see an older person than you thought you were looking back at you.  How does this happen?

The saying really is true... Time flies.

1. How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before it’s afternoon. December is here before it’s June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon? - Dr. Seuss

Minions For The Basement

It has been a crafty couple of days lately!  Today I took some #6 recyclable plastic, washed and prepped it, and the kids drew on it and we did shrink dinks.  I need to buy some jump rings and chain as I wish to turn Bram's into a keychain, and M's into a necklace with charms.  Wonder if I can get any at the dollar store?

Yesterday the kids spent some fun time with their aunt.  She took them for lunch and then bought them each a Kinder egg.  Those plastic capsules inside look like minions, so I made some!  I even made a video!  I'm working on another video for the shrink dinks. 

 

 

I'm hoping to do more craft videos in the future.  It is easier than doing a book as I originally wanted.  I have lots of ideas for more crafts I wish to do soon! 

 

I really want to finish up the basement soon as well.  I really really want to start reorganizing and making it easier to clean and stuff.  The concrete needs repainting, the linoleum needs to be laid, and the electrical needs moving... I need to prime and paint all the walls... the wall we needed out is removed, and I have one I need to build using the old bi-fold doors to help conceal all the utilities.  I'm so excited!

 

Looking forward to updating with some basement progress... hopefully soon!  I wonder if I built an army of minions, do you think they could finish the basement for me?  :)

The Kids Rooms - DIY Done!

Christmas day, and part of what we did was put up a bunch of the kids wall stuffs, since it had now been a month and the walls were ready!  Stickies, letters, and some of the items we bought and gave to them as parts of their Christmas gifts... all went up in the next few days.  Here are their rooms now (and yes, there will likely be more shelves and such that will go up.  I have some old shelves from when I was little that are perfect for a girls room that I think we'll be finding space for on M's walls)

 

 We found in among all our bedding supplies a few things that we forgot we had.  There was a twin Star Wars sheet set that my husband had as a kid that my son now has for his room.  Also, this huge double sized blanket that lends itself nicely to things.  We bought those hanging plush organizers from Ikea for $5 each and they are wonderful (especially since these rooms already had the hooks on the ceiling from the old 70s style lamps they used to use).

 Got these three shelves and their brackets from Ikea also for $15 total.  Nice.  And they look great!  I had my old lava lamp as a kid packed away, just waiting for the right time to give to one of my kids, and Bram got it for Christmas this year.  He's thrilled!  It is such a fun little thing!  We put up his old clock as well (and now M is asking for a princess/fairy clock).

 Got some wall stickers on a great deal at LW before it shut down, and they look fantastic on the walls.  Want to get some cars ones eventually... but those things are pricey!

 M's room got new sheer curtains that have such a pretty texture of flowers and vines on them... so girly and gorgeous!  She loves them.  They were on sale at Ikea for $16. 

 I made her some butterflies with my die cutter and old pop cans.  Yes... pop cans.  I love the iced tea ones with the flowers... green tea or something.  Cannot remember the name.  I kept the flowers on the outside for those, and the rest I showed the silver portion of the can.  They are lovely, and she is so happy to have them!

And here  is her teddy organizer... in pink.  I was disappointed they didn't have red ones for Bram's room, but the green looks nice, too!  The kids are so happy with their new things!  Who knew that doing bedrooms for them would be such a fun Christmas gift?

And no worries... A got her own little bedroom makeover.  I made her name in foam and put it on her door (because otherwise she'll pull it off the wall and eat it if it's at the right level for her) and I reorganized all the stuff that was already in there (especially since she has a whole lot of new toys from Christmas). 

I am wanting to go on another Ikea shopping trip for our own room now... shelves, maybe those picture frame shelves to go all around the top of our room for our collections, books, and photos... some hooks for baby clothes as they would get lost in our closet... perhaps take some art from the nursery and move it into our room for awhile, maybe add a 'canopy' to our bed to make it more 'private' (although I don't think the baby will care.  M would just love it, though!). 

I love Ikea!  At least, I love their organizing things.  ;)

The Paint is Complete!!

So, I know I didn't post last week, but I was very busy trying to put the finishing touches on our bedroom.  You see, after posting about my son's finished paint in his room, we moved the kids into there (it was quite crowded... all four of us had all of our clothing in the same closet.  No joke) and I did my best to empty out their old bedroom (quite the task, that.  Sorry I didn't take pictures, actually.  Too crazy to think about it).  Well, we moved them, and I was able to paint our room.

 

My mom came over and helped me move the last bit of stuff out on my birthday.  Then we took out the few pieces of baseboard that were there, mudded whatever needed it, and on Friday I washed all the walls and started to prime what was needing primer (I left all the old trim around doors/closets/window and just painted them white).  Saturday, I finished up with primer and started what I thought was paint.  Not paint.  Different primer.  Sigh.  Did a fresh coat of actual white paint later that evening (really late) and then on Sunday I finished up the white paint.  Saturday we went to look at paint mistints and I found a lovely yellow color that happened to match a chip I had pulled out that I liked.  I also found a small can of pink for M's room.  So.. for $20, we had paint.  I painted the walls... one coat Sunday evening, one Monday morning (of the yellow) and then I couldn't decide what color I wanted the feature wall.  Was aiming for a dark brown/reddish color, but since I didn't know for sure, we just used what we already had (which actually matched the carpet pretty nicely and lends itself well to a grey/yellow color scheme).  It turned out quite pretty.  Finished painting 3 coats of that (yeah... weird that it needed 3 coats)... and then had issues.  I washed the carpet before bed... took over an hour.  Found out afterwards that the cleaner didn't have the brushes attached.  Had to start all over again at midnight in order to be able to move our stuff in the next day.

 

I cried.  A lot.  This whole week I've been on waterworks setting.

 

Anyway, Tuesday I cut the baseboards (and made so many rookie mistakes with that too... overtired, I swear) and put them in.  Looks so nice with them in!  We moved our bed and bedside tables (I will need to go over the hallways for paint touch-ups now... it happens), and we left our clothes in Bram's room.  Yes... we kept sharing that closet.  It was weird, that is for sure!

 

 

That corner is where I wish to put the 'baby area'... cradle, the dresser will double as a change table (I have cloth diapers in there already, and washed most of the 0-3 month girls clothes which are in there as well).  I want to move the rocking chair down into the corner as well, and perhaps have a bit of a table there for my devotional area.  We were thinking of having a fireplace by the closet since this room needs a space heater anyway, but I don't think we will be able to fit all that furniture in this room.  Perhaps after the baby is moved into the nursery upstairs...

 

Wednesday I got our old room cleared completely (this is to be M's new room), we moved some more stuff around a bit, and we put in the wall panels (with insulation for sound proofing) in on that side of the room.  Took longer than I thought and I did not get to prime like I wanted to.  Ah well.  Primed the walls that needed it on Thursday... first coat.  Early on Friday I primed second coat.  These pics are after first coat, as I couldn't decide if I wanted to prime the second dark green wall and the doors, or just the wall, or just leave it and have less work to do altogether.  I went with the in between... doors stayed dark, and look fine. 

The first coat of pink I mixed ended up looking like pepto bismol on the wall, so I added a bit of a grey/purple to the mix, made as much as I could, and then tried again.  Barely had enough to cover the walls.  I made my own chalkboard paint (measure 3 Tbsp cornstarch, 1/4 cup water, and then fill till two cups with regular old wall paint and you have chalkboard paint... at least I hope so.).  Made a bit of a darker pink paint for that part.  M loves it.  She is so excited! 

She decorated her room straight away.  Nothing is allowed on the walls until Christmas though, as it needs that long for all the paint to completely dry.  Also, we used our old curtains in here for now.  I'd love to do a grey/pink/black/white thing for fabrics.  Like... black and white or grey and white gingham for curtains (or at least the bottom trim of the curtain) would be pretty.

Yesterday I got the majority of the clothes all moved into their appropriate closets.  Moved a lot of stuff, actually.  Worked myself to exhaustion.  At least now all our clothes are in the right rooms.  You should see how much stuff my husband is getting rid of in his clothes!  We can fit all our stuff into one closet without any trouble (although, my wedding dress and some of my costumes are staying in the walk-in closet in Bram's room regardless.  He doesn't need that much closet space anyway.)

Here is my son's room without his sister's bed in it.  Cozy... but with a huge closet space that I'm hoping to store some of his toys in for playtime as well.

Here is his closet.  It has all the bedding stuffs in there right now, too.  That will change, I'm sure.  And all the clothes in diaper boxes that he will grow into over the years.  And some very empty 'shoe' organizers we use for pants, underwear, etc.

Oh, and as if that all wasn't exciting enough, we now have a new infant car seat that my husband picked up on a sale while it was also a no tax day!  Yay!  Graco seat regularly at $150 around here, plus tax, and we got it for $96. 

And add to the excitement, Monday we put up the Christmas tree with lights and the train (which is very lopsided and needs some fixing... somehow... that bracket does not like to stick to the tree very well).  Today the kids and I finished decorating (they wanted to put up every single ornament we own... after awhile I just started cleaning them up as I do not like the idea of having to put these ornaments away after the season is over).  It looks nice and festive again.  M is so excited!  Today we also wrapped a few of the presents (I have more to wrap, just didn't get to them).  Now to haul the decoration boxes back to the basement...

 

Christmas is coming!  Have you started your advent yet?

Cost breakdown of the two into three room renovation:
 - wall panels - $60
 - 2x4's <$10
 - mud/tape $10
 - hardware/electrical <$5
 - paint $40
 - baseboards/trim $60

Total cost - <$185 (and completed in 4 weeks)
Not bad for a complete redo of bedrooms!  Yay!

Bedroom Progress

The last two weeks have been busy!  I've been trying to get the bedrooms worked on, and since we don't have the basement done yet (not even close), we have to attempt to get the work done while the kids are still in their room, and we are still in ours.  First thing we needed to do is move the door in the bedroom from the bathroom to the hall.

 

So, this here is the 'before' picture prior to getting any of the work done (wish I had taken more in between pics... oops)

 

 

And below is the after!  I reused the casings/baseboard, door, frame, inner wall (we moved it over... you'll see in the next pic), etc.

 

Yay!  We have an entry point into the 'third' upstairs bedroom!

 

Below is the bedroom side of the change... with a few in between pics.

So... door going into the bathroom above, and now the door goes into the hallway (below).  And yes, I cut the wall out where the door frame used to be, and my husband and I took and moved it over (I think I posted about it last week... but I'm just so excited that I'm posting pics again).

 

There's baby A! :)

We also put up the wall frame, and cut some panels to make a wall.

 

 

This will separate the bedroom into two.

 

Notice the purple wall color?  My son will be taking this room, and he wanted red and grey (in keeping with a cars theme).  I went to the basement and found out we actually HAD red AND grey paint!  Yay!  Didn't need to buy any.  However, the red paint wasn't enough to cover the wall in two coats.  :(

 

This last week I did a lot of mudding and taping, sanding, etc.  I've never taped before, so it was a bit of a learning curve.  My husband has pictures of that on his phone... I think... I don't have his phone, haha.  So, no pics. 

 

I finished sanding the mud on Saturday, only to find that it needed a little more mud on the bedroom side (I was not going to worry about it so much on the bathroom side, since that is a closet).  After mudding a little more, I was able to sand just before bed.  Sunday I cleaned up all the drywall dust, washed down the walls, and primed the first coat.  Yesturday I was thrilled to be able to prime the second coat of primer on the mudded wall (and the 'new' wall and the closet door I never painted in all the years we've had it up, haha) before the kids woke up!  I did the bathroom before making breakfast, and then later in the day I painted the rest of the bedroom, finishing the second coat of grey (and cleanup of paint supplies) around midnight!  YAY!  (I think I spent a good 3-4 hours painting yesterday).

 

So, here's the pics of it now!  The red still needs a second coat, and the closet doors in the first pic are going to be red, too (they are primer white right now). 

 

Haha... I never noticed that the bedroom door was in the way when I took this picture.  The red wall is a lot bigger than that.

 

 

The above pic of the black wall is the 'new' wall that wasn't there before.  It's done up with chalkboard paint.  :)  I want to put a ledge all along that will hold chalk and brushes (and contain any chalk dust that flutters down instead of it all getting on the carpet).  I may just buy one from Ikea to make it a little easier on myself.  We'll see.

 

I am excited to get this done!  My husband is getting more red paint today, and I'm hoping to, just maybe, get some of that magnetic primer, too (it is pricey... a 1L pail costs $30-40, and it only covers 25 square feet.  It will be enough to do a road along the wall (kind of like a wavy border), plus maybe some fun things on M's side of the room.  I want to put magnets on the bottoms of some of my son's cheap cars and put them on the magnetic road after all is done).

 

I am so excited!  Things are finally looking like they're happening!  I want to go through the kids stuff today and get it all ready to move upstairs so we can wash and paint that room before we move into it (and yes, we'll be using up plenty of the paint we have in storage rather than buying any new).  Then, after we move downstairs, we can paint what will be M's room before moving her in.  Carpets need to be cleaned in between everything, too.  Glad I have a carpet cleaner right now!

 

So far, this renovation project has cost a grand total of $90 (for the 2x4s and panels for the barrier wall, some mud and tape.  Everything else we already had and reused).  With paint purchases, I'm expecting it to total about $150 or less... unless we decide to buy another color for our bedroom.  I'm not sure if we need to buy any baseboards as I know we have a bunch in our workshop... I'll have to check when we get that room empty enough to put stuff in there.

 

Hooray for cheap renovation projects!!  Now if only we could get that basement done.  (actually, the farm's insurance company contacted us to say that we HAVE to get rid of our oil furnace and replace it with gas or electric by the end of 2014 or else the farm insurance will be affected.  My husband is working like mad to try to get the hydro company to finally answer us on if we qualify for their programs or not.  We've been working at this for well over a month now with no answer, and they didn't even know the information they needed when we asked them in the first place.  They now told him they need some papers he has to drive into the city for, and pay for as well.  He gave them what they asked for when he called them weeks ago, and they went and changed it on him.  Sigh.  I think qualifying is riddled with trials so less people try to get into the program.)