Office-- almost done

Here's a list of the projects I wanted to tackle in my office:

paint horizontal stripes on the wall
paint the bookcase/ add a back to the bookcase
cut down on the clutter
add a dog crate cover
add a printer cart
add curtains

Well, the stripes are done (kind of).  I taped everything off, painted, and hated the color I picked out; so I decided to paint over it with the base color in a different finish.

original color- a little "swinish"

My intention was to make a subtle difference.  Perhaps it's a little too subtle...

subtle stripes

And to top it off, when I was all finished I re-taped the entire wall to touch up some stray pencil marks and used clear varnish to seal the tape-- BAD idea, folks-- it left a yellow glaze.  So, I still need to touch that up where it's visible.  Oye!


The bookcase is done and I like the glossy yellow a lot!  Don't look too closely, though, because my wood filling/sanding abilities are limited. lol.  The saddest part is that I added a back to the bookcase and painted it grey to contrast the yellow.  In the garage (aka: my painting workshop) it looked fantastic, but against the brownish/grey walls it is barely noticeable.  Maybe I'll add some fun craft paper to them in the future so that it pops more, but for now I'm done.


My favorite last minute addition was a magnetic chalkboard wall.  It was messy and time consuming (4 coats of magnetic primer and 2 coats of chalkboard paint), but I adore it!  It's the perfect place to hang my little artists' work.  I added a vinyl decal to the top of the wall, but I'm skeptical it might fall off because it was difficult to get it to stick in the first place.  Also, fyi, do not use chalkboard markers--even though they say it erases, it doesn't. Buy the colored chalk and deal with the dust!

I selected this curtain fabric, but still need to order it and then recruit my mom to help me make yet another pair of curtains (good thing she loves me).  I also selected this office chair, but I'm not quite ready to fork over the cash for it.  Every night I troll ksl.com and craigslist hoping to find a gently used one.

excuse the sideways pic- feeling to lazy to rotate it

I added a few new accessories like this fancy pencil sharpener (the inner geek teacher in me does somersaults every time I see it), a few odds and ends that I had lying around the house, and a frame for Ruby's artwork. I'm still trying to decide how to style the bookshelves.  Ideas, anyone?  Lesley Larson, why did you have to move to New Foundland?  I need your expertise!

The only other dilemma I have is what to do with the dog crate (which ABSOLUTELY has to stay).  My genius husband made the best suggestion last night.  He thinks I should make a box to fit over the crate and put the printer on top of it.  I LOVE the way he thinks!  One of my biggest beefs with the office was the visual clutter, so his idea is a great solution to cut down on it.  Plus, I'm pretty sure that it will cost less then the printer cart and crate cover I was planning on adding.  I just need to take some measurements and get a move on.

And someday I might replace the fan with a fun lighting fixture, but I'm on the fence about it.  I don't love the way the fan looks and it hardly gets used, but occasionally I do use it so I'm unsure if I want to get rid of it.

So, that's where the office stands-- nearly completed.  Hopefully by the time the holidays roll

around I'll be all done (and of course, I'll post some pictures).

August Happenings

August flew by in the blink of an eye. 

 Aunt Chelsea came to town for a few days, so we pool partied a few times.

Roo's favorite "cool trick"

skinny dipping permitted if you are a toddler

We throughly enjoyed our backyard.

sun bathing with Tyce

romping in the fountain

 
We had the best play date ever at the Thanksgiving Point Children's Garden with our little friend Tyce.

climbing

second guessing her high climb

Mommy got to check out the Salt Lake Parade of Homes with Brooke and Daddy, which inspired her to tackle the office make-over (more on that to come in a future post).  

I love this wallpaper so much I could marry it- lol! Seriously, though, I'm going to put it in the downstairs powder room in the near future.

Grandma Dona and Great Grandma Mimi taught the kiddos the fine art of garage saling (sic).

Wyatt hauling away a yard sale treasure

Ruby proudly enjoying her yard sale treasures (bike basket and streamers)

 
We sent summer on it's way with ice cream, chalk, crayons, and a tea party.

Rainbow sherbet looked better than it tasted to Roo.  She kept asking to sample Wyatt's cookies and cream.

It's always fun until Wyatt starts throwing the crayons on the floor and Scout starts carting them off to the dining room to chew in peace under the table.

Ruby helped me prime our new chalkboard wall-- it was actually lots of fun (even for a super clean freak Mama).

Lady Brooke and Miss Ruby at her first ever tea party.

Not a shabby way to end a really fun summer, if I do say so myself!

First day of preschool

 Last Wednesday Ruby started preschool.  I can hardly believe she's old enough for it!  Man, time flies, doesn't it?!  Anyway, she was more than ready and excited to start going to school.

On the morning school started she bounced out of bed and brought me her new school outfit so that I could help her get ready.  She talked all morning about learning her letters and Miss Cari (who also happens to be a nursery leader).  

After school she was equally excited to tell me about her adventures.  They painted and read stories and played (oh, the collection of toys Miss Cari has!) and even had snacks.  

I'm so glad that she loves going.  It made me a little sad to realize that in 2 years it will be Wyatt's turn and she'll be in kindergarten.  Those will be some lonely mornings (I guess we'll have to have another kiddo by then to keep me company).

Cecret Lake Hike

 Last week Brandon was out late every night entertaining customers and up early every morning preparing presentations; so even though he was in town it felt like he was on a business trip.  Ever the family man, he took a half day off on Friday to spend with me and the kiddos.

We took them to Alta Ski Resort (one of our favorite local hiking spots).  When Brandon went to put the hiking back packs in the car Ruby looked at hers and declared that she didn't need it (we put it in the trunk anyway).  Once we got to the Cecret Lake trail head she once again announced that she'd be hiking by herself.  We wondered, but trusted her.  Turns out that she was a real trooper-- she did all 2 miles and 420 ft of elevation gain on her own!!!!  She practically had us in stitches when she was climbing up the rocks like a mountain goat.  Not only did she use all 4 hooves, but she also made goat noises for us. :)

Wyatt rather enjoyed the trip and the chipmunks until one got a little too close to him.  It was a pretty bold little creature and when it was about 6 inches from Wyatt we firmly said, "Wyatt, don't touch the chipmunk."  Apparently, this scared him because he started crying and ran to us so that we'd hold him.  After that whenever one would come near he'd start freaking out.  Even the word "chipmunk" would send him into a spell.  Poor guy, hopefully it's not an enduring phobia...

It was a great way to spend a summer morning-- one of my favorite recent family memories.