Spring Break and Shattered Dreams

    First we've been enjoying Spring Break without the spring like weather which has been a bit of a bummer but we still accomplished much and the kids didn't seem to care and still enjoyed the break from school and homework.  I especially loved the break from homework!!  Kayli got to go to Florida with her grandparents to spend a week at Disney World so she's really been having fun and had much better weather and I'm sure she'll be happy to post about her trip in the near future, so stay tuned for that photo shoot.

    With spring break came big dreams on my part.  I convinced Greg to take the majority of the week off.  I had hoped he'd take the whole week off but this didn't go as planned but I got three days anyway so I started with small dreams of several "Honey-do's" I've been wanting done like, painting Kayli's windowsill, hanging up the kids photos in a new location and painting the three new doors we bought for the basement bedrooms and storage room.

Greg slaving away



Before paint on Kayli's windowsill





after paint

McClane hanging out on Kayli's bed while the work festivies go on all around him.

 

My two boards after I've painted and antiqued them



The finished photo project now hung above the stairs and viewed from the kitchen

More painting for Greg.  (Does he look thrilled or what?!)

     So now that these projects were done I started getting bigger dreams and thought, "Hey, why not paint the whole basement and put up bead board along the bottom third of all the walls.  That shouldn't be too hard, right?!"  Needless to say, I don't know what this really means but Greg does and he wasn't quite as enthusiastic as I was probably because he knows who's really going to have to do most of the work but he's a fantastic husband and deep down has wanted to fix up the basement but we've both been holding out hope for new carpet but that's a much bigger dream and one that will still be in dream mode for a while longer.

   Anyway, he at least entertained the idea and before I knew it we were shopping for bead board, molding and paint.  He secretly was getting excited to put up the bead board after watching several "how-to" videos online and talking to a couple different people who've done it in their houses.  I however didn't realize all the work this really is and found myself vacuuming out the entire garage before we could paint to help prevent dirt and dust from getting into the paint.  Then it was filling in little nail holes with wood putty before we could paint and of course these require sanding after they dry and so much more.  My biggest problem is Greg's a perfectionist and I'm not so much and I'm always worried he's going to come behind me and cuss my work but of course he never does but he will fix it if he can and I try not to take it personally.  I had really hoped this whole project would be done by tonight in time for Kayli's homecoming but that was a pipe dream at best which is why my weekly title is "shattered dreams".  Right now one wall is nearly done and that leaves 3 more plus the hallway area and that's not even including the fireplace/mantel that is a project all by itself.       

      Come to find out the previous home owner, instead of fixing the wall after installing the fireplace just decided to build a top piece to the mantel to hide the crappy sheetrock repair he did so I either have to live with the funky mantel piece topper that I don't love or find something else to put above the mantel because Greg has informed me this is not a job he's willing to do anytime soon so for now I'm opting to paint the entire mantel piece, bottom and top, all white and see how that looks with my yellow walls and white bead board and hope it pleases me enough to live with it for a few more years.

     Now of course with it being spring break, we didn't want the boys to entirely miss out on some fun so we made sure to add a treat or two to their week.  There was the Texas Donut breakfast one morning and the Burger King lunch another day.  They were hoping for a play place at Burger King but our new Burger King doesn't have a play place but it did have free food coupons so they had to live with just food and drinks but I don't think they were too disappointed.

I love this back drop at the new BK.

Brock would just like ketchup to dip his fingers in.

Brock couldn't be happier with his plate sized donut

    There was also some napping this week and some naps were in stranger places then others.

Brock so tired he could fall asleep like this.

McClane wondering how he got the shaft and is stuck on the floor while dad enjoys a comfy couch nap.

   There was also some brotherly love.   

   And if all goes well this basement will be all done and back in order by next weekend as long as my whip cracking goes as planned.  (Pray for Greg!)  The trick really is to just threaten to do the work myself which Greg can't allow so he'll do it himself a lot quicker so I don't have a chance to follow through on my threat.  So stay tuned for b-4 and after photos on next weekends post!