Here's the most controversial to date of my house projects....the new trim was ok, hubby agreed that the old stuff was cheap looking and the stained pine looks much better. The bathroom in the basement was fine by him...it too was pine stained to match the trim (I'll post pictures of that one another day)...he didn't fight me much on the black cabinets upstairs because staining them made them too light for between the sink and the floor....the kitchen Island however, well he still isn't so sure about it. Me on the other hand...I'm actually liking my kitchen again, it isn't an oasis of ugly monotone oak cabinets when I hate golden oak to begin with!

Here's a rather rotten picture of before...flooring going right up the back of the island. I've honestly hated that single part the most since we moved into the house!

This point is where I was glad I ripped into it while daddy wasn't home...the girls and I were having fun ripping it apart. It made more sense to me to have the bigger of the two for pots and pans than baking stuff...so apart the entire thing came!

And I had a great idea for the inside...which meant while it was in pieces it was easier to remove the shelf than try and be careful once it was all put back together. 

And now it's not looking so horrible anymore, and the back is a whole lot better than seeing the flooring go all the way up! You can see the original color in the background...

Here's one of my favorite parts of the island re-do...no more standing on my head to dig out the pans I want! the girls think the drawers are great too...one of them crawls in and the other pushes the drawer in and out

And the finished product...I absolutely love it! It was a 50ish dollar change that made a world of difference in my golden oak nightmare! 

The island followed the crown moulding that I had wanted to put up for quite a while too...I did that first to make sure the black didn't totally ruin the kitchen...it was easy to put up and would have been easy to rip back out to replace with matching crown. 

Ignore the mess...that was mid re-do...no bathroom upstairs, and the kitchen was about half functional...the island, while that was where everything lived while we were using it! 

The saddest part of me liking my house again is we need a bigger one so all this was done just to sell it! Hopefully someone else likes it as much as I do, it's a 100% improvement from when we moved into our builder grade, white walled, finish quick so we can start another house to make more money expensive investment! 

So here's the reason for the lack of posts lately...I got 95% of the list done before we had a house of people for thanksgiving and I think if you asked any one of them they wouldn't even be able to point out the unfinished parts! Yay for mommy! 

Here's our main bathroom before....

they're the only two pictures I actually have from trying to get rid of the vanity and mirror...

and here's the inbetween...

and our bathroom now....we absolutely love it!

The pictures really don't do the tile justice...they're gorgeous! 

And bonus to me wanting a smaller vanity, now we can actually open the door while someone is at the sink without getting squished or losing a toe! Besides, it just gives the girls more cupboards to empty! Our bathroom went from hardly any storage to storing everything that had to be kept in a closet right outside the bathroom...where you had to leave a trail of water and hope nobody was looking if you forgot to grab a towel! And don't even get me started on the heated floor...that is worth every penny we spent! 

It came and went and I didn't turn into a pumpkin...

I wasn't super duper excited about turning 30...all I could think of it's OLD, 

when you say it everyone is like "oh" you're no longer in your twenties...I've heard over and over all the stuff you're supposed to quit doing...and the list goes on and on. 

So when I looked in the mirror last tuesday morning I didn't look any different, no gray hair, no wrinkles that mysteriously showed up while I was asleep...nothing looked any different so I figured it wasn't going to be as bad as I had predicted. Only war stain I had was the pink finger from the frosting mishap on the cake I made for my own surprise party...yep, I knew!

I had such a good time that night it's quite possibly the best birthday I've had since I was in gradeschool!

Here's a rundown of the last few big ones...25th (golden birthday) I waited and waited at home for the farmer boyfriend I had to finish for the day so I could go out for supper. Something about the threat of snow and field work don't go along! 

21st...I was sitting in a store called The Tile Shop in Eden Prairie MN I believe getting the rundown on DIY kitchen counter tile. The explanation must have worked well because a month or so later my mom's countertop was gorgeous porcelain tile instead of putrid yellow 50's laminate. Followed by supper at a restaurant not far from the tile shop because it got late getting the rundown. 

18th...well that one wasn't so shabby either...I hate to admit it, but the only thing I wanted to was to see 98 degrees in concert. They just happened to be in Mankato the weekend after my birthday, so with mom's credit card in hand, a hotel room reserved, one of my friends and our tickets we girl tripped it to Mankato and had a teenage girls' dream of a time. A hotel room to ourselves, some nice eye candy to watch and the next day we hit the mall...that one was kind of spendy!

So here's one of the pictures you don't so often see on my blog...my girls are a whole lot cuter!

Thank you iPhone for the awesome picture, and thank you to everyone that gave up their evening to help me celebrate! 

I guess 30 isn't so bad after all...

Ok, so it's been almost 3 months, life has been absolutely nuts, and I'm still in the middle of one BIG project. Fortunately I remembered to grab the camera from upstairs and don't much feel like working on house projects today so I decided to finally post Haddie's first birthday pictures. 

Our little bug turned 1 August 6 (see how far behind I am!) 

She turned one on her own terms, independent, adorable and toothless!

She now has 6 chompers that she "sprouted" over a period of about 3 LONG weeks. My baby was cranky, really really cranky about those teeth!

Anyway, here you go!

You can tell how unsure she was at first (she's totally girly and doesn't really care for getting dirty) then decided the frosting was too good to waste. I waited to give her the big cupcake until it was just us girls at home so we didn't create a big mess with a house full of people, but again she wouldn't just rip into it, she took a few tastes then was done....such a little neat freak!

Well, with everything except dirt that is....she eats dirt like candy....dirt of all things!

In honor of little miss birthday girl this will be in pink...to match the rest of her party. 

I can hardly believe my sweet little thing is already a week away from one year old! 

She's got spunk, smiles constantly, and is determined to do her own thing....well everything except walk that is, it's easier to squeal until her big sis comes and gets her. I don't know how many times a day I tell Syd to put the baby down that she's not a toy.

Haddie absolutely adores everyone that will smile at her, hold her and play with her. She has gorgeous blue eyes that melt you, just like big sis and is the lowest maintenance person in this house as long as she's not hungry, dirty or tired, but will let you know with auntie Caley's blood curdling squeal if she's not happy about something.

Here's to my itty bitty birthday girl! 

It's so much easier with kids that don't know you/will listen to you!

Syd didn't understand the concept of she's the oldest, she can sit and smile for periods of time that Haddie can't, so she needs to sit pretty while I try to wrangle a smile and a sitting position out of her sister...

Here's a few NEW pictures, like hot off the press...and I will start printing them at the other place in town after the runaround I got at the big store...absolutely rediculous!

It's amazing what a roll of sweetarts gives you!

I'm home, but it feels like part of me is still back in the mountains somewhere...

What a trip! It was absolutely gorgeous out in the mountains, we hit 3 states other than our own at some point. Only 3 of the 5 of us were carsick at some point. Average sleep per night=4 hours. Awesome hotel "suite" to keep the kids entertained in. Mountain views everywhere you look. One rock, lots of little girl souvenirs later and more gas than I think I have put in the Suburban to date and we're home. I still have piles of laundry in the basement, mostly because I've been too tired to think about all the trips up and down the stairs...thank you lack of sleep! 

Morale of the story...I'd be in the first Suburban going that way to do it all over again. I don't know why people move out of the mountains. Everywhere you look is green and gorgeous. The air smells of nothing but clean and trees. The water, although rushing, is crystal clear. There are more animals than humans in most places...and everyone you meet is kind. Yeah, absolute perfection. Then there's the roads. Pavement...perfect, they're kept up, it's the path you follow that's the problem. I'm happy to admit the windey little road through the bottom of some very popular mountains had me seeing more than one yellow line, and I was probably the shade of one of the trees we kept passing. A 40-mile trip took us almost 3 hours if that gives you a hint. You no more than got up to 50mph and were slowing back down for 3-4 curves back to back...uggh! I'm getting woozy just thinking about it!

Ok, so to the pictures, these are from my phone cause I didn't feel like going through the hundreds on my camera yet!

Name those beautiful peaks! We could see them from Laramie and I wanted to get to them so bad I bribed both drivers to keep going a particular direction...

And this one is past those beautiful peaks. There are very few places you'll find ice covered lakes and streams at the end of June, and we just happened to find one of them. I hardly took my eyes off the outside because every turn you went around it got more beautiful. I could live there easy...the problem would be the lack of every modern convenience you can think of!

Thank you Colorado for the amazing pictures!

Were officially a traveling circus! 3 1/2 hours got us to valentine nebraska where we ate and were totally unsatisfied with our meals...our food was mostly cold and the portions for the price were rediculous....maybe that was just our attitude after waiting over an hour for food in a restaurant with 20 people in it. Way to start the trip out well! Thank the lord for smartphones and lots of room for toddlers to run their energy off, after all what does a place that makes you wait that long for food expect! Arrival at reStaurant 7:00 pm...departure 9:00pm...and the journey continues were up 5 full (well sort of) bellies and two crabby babies that have been strapped in too long...only 6 1/2 hours to go! iPhone in hand Laramie here we come! Maybe when I haven't driven half the trip and have some sleep I can figure out how to post pictures with my beloved iPhone....to be continued

Project 1...check! (that was the playhouse)

Project 2...check!

That was this fine piece of workmanship. I actually had to have a little help with this one.

The headboard is only a few inches shorter than I am, and outweighs me...I have all I can do to scoot the frame myself without any part of the bed in it!

So it's a little taller than I had envisioned, and the footboard is a little taller than I had envisioned but it sure is pretty! The master bedroom finally looks like a bedroom instead of a bachelor pad with the bed just thrown on the floor. I finally sleep higher off the ground than my baby...and the blue isn't so overwhelming anymore! I think I can finally say MY room is about finished, needs a few more things on the wall over the bed, but other than that it's about done...oh and a ledge in the windowsill...

It's only the last room in the house to be finished! 

Next up for the list that never ends....

Bathroom vanity, and get the trim cut and finished already! 

And I suppose since I'm so quick now that I have the process down get the ugly oak trim out of the last 2 windows in the house and replaced with sheetrock and a nice ledge...

If those two weren't so necessary it would totally be Syds Kitchen but that got put down further when the basement flooded so she's been making due seeing how many of her toys she can pack into the inside of her playhouse and still fit in herself! 

See, the list just never ends. And you think stay at home moms have it easy!

I"ll be the first to admit I'm out of time these days. Hopefully the rat race is over for a few weeks so I can finish up some of the projects that are laying around half started....biggest of which is my new king size bed! Next in line is a bathroom vanity for guests in the new basement. Yep, only a month overdue...So I've been really busy!

Here's what you all come here for anyway....notice the personality differences when you look through the photos, you can really see it!

This one of Syd cracks me up, it's actually a fairly accurate representation of her...baby medusa! She flat out refused to look at me so this is a side view of her. 

This is Syd's new pride and joy. We couldn't find one garage sale-ing so daddy went to wally and brought this home one sunday afternoon, and you could not find a happier baby on the block!

And this is my latest creation. Lil' sis wanted something different for graduation, so this is what we came up with...ok so it was more me than her, but she picked the colors! This little baby holds close to 100 cupcakes! and the zebra pattern was hand painted on the cake by yours truly! It's supposed to have a cute little bow with it but humidity and food don't mix well, something about 2 inches of rain in 2 days makes for a hot sticky weekend!

Oh, I almost forgot...today is the last day, so if you're reading this can you help out my little cutie?!! Hadleigh is in the local cutest baby contest. Huronregional.org has a contest going on that you can visit and vote for your favorite....Please vote for Hadleigh!

I'm done....done with a lot of things actually...read into it as you desire, I know you will!

The biggest project and the most beneficial for me is the one that comes to mind right away!

 HERE IT IS!!

Well, minus curtains, a kitchen for inside and the cute little door that I envision yet, but it's busy season in this house.

Ok, so we know I live in South Dakota, we know what happens here...I started this in march, so the majority...ok 99.9% of it was built in my kitchen. It's open, the slider isn't used in the winter and there's no good spot for a table, but there was a nice big open area calling out for a playhouse. Yes, this mom is a serious over achiever! It was built without much more than lifting and "how's it feel...smooth enough?" during the sanding. I'm unbelievably proud of this one....would build another one if the price was right to do so....and not change much. Ok, so honestly I'd probably sell this one cause I WILL NOT do another closet, that thing was a logistical nightmare...building, sanding...painting...assembling...everything! 

 And with 2 walls up Syd has already moved in....and was told that she had to be super careful, it was only clamped together...she played in it like this for a good week while I assembled more walls and waited for more wood. 

 Mostly complete, and taking up more of the kitchen every second

And the most time consuming part of the entire process...Literally! The painting! 

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask me, I'll do my best to answer! 

It's taller than the plans at http://ana-white.com that I referenced for a few parts, just so I knew my oldest darling would get more than a years use out of it...the railings are taller too, it's completely 1x6 boards up the front.   Thanks to Ana and the PB kids catalog for inspiration, and a lot of imagination and making decisions as I went!