Den

What do you call the room where your family sits to watch TV, play games, visit, etc?  Den? Family room? TV room?  We generally refer to it as our den.  For the most part, this room is done. (For now!)  It did require a good bit of work!  First my dad had to knock down the brick chimney, brick by brick.  I think that was his least favorite job of the entire remodel!  And we got rid of 3 chimneys... Then of course the floor joists all had to be rebuilt, so all of the flooring came up and was built nice and strong.  Then we had to redesign the fireplace/TV wall and have it built.  That wall is the divider between the den and Audrey Grace's room, so we had to figure out how to work her closet and bathroom in and all that.  Then I showed you how my dad and Ben built the new mantel here.   Ben and his buddies also scraped the ceilings to make them smooth which makes a huge difference in my opinion.  The walls are Sherwin William's Chatroom Gray.  I love this color.  It is the color of my brother's bedroom at my parent's house, and actually has an army green look to it.  We used it in the study too. (You'll see that mess room one day.) So here are some pictures of our den.  Sorry about the sunny spot!

BEFORE

AFTER (Gotta love Blues Clues! :)

BEFORE

DURING CONSTRUCTION

AFTER

Of course we still have stuff we want to do in here.  One day we will have crown molding, and Ben has dreams of a coffered ceiling like this.  

I haven't decided how I feel about it yet.  I like them, but I'm worried it will make the den feel more like a cave since it's not a very big room.  The windows also need replaced, and then we will install plantation shutters.  I love love love plantation shutters!!  That is why I'm holding off on window treatments...I'm not sure if I'll do any or not.

We really like our den and spend a lot of time in there as a family.  It's a very cozy room, which is exactly what I wanted.  Even though we have things to do still, we are happy with it and just excited we will have a completed floor and a mantel for Christmas this year!  Take a look at last Christmas...

Santa came....but he didn't bring hardwood floor. :(

No beautifully decorated Christmas mantels here....

Good thing she couldn't have cared less! :)

Our Den

Hey folks! Did ya think I disappeared again?  Nope...I've been here...just not with a whole lot of extra time lately!  Starting this past August, I started keeping 2 other babies at home with my own 2 babies.  It was my solution to desperately wanting to stay home with my kids, and also feel like I contribute at least a little financially.  For the most part, it's going well.  There are days where I want to pull my hair out, but the kids are all good babies.  That feeling of wanting to pull my hair out stems more from the fact that I don't usually get a chance to brush my hair...so it's gross and I'd rather just pull it out and be bald to save time. :)  A typical day for me goes something like this...
5:45-wake up and try not to breath so I don't wake my babies
6:00-1st baby arrives (I don't call them 1st baby and 2nd baby...but I'd rather not use their names on here! LOL)
7:15-2nd baby arrives
7:30-walker wakes up
8:00-audrey wakes up
8:15-get all kids to the table for breakfast
8:30-fix breakfast, spoon feed 2 children, give a bottle to 1
9:00-clean up breakfast
10:00-walker is ready for his morning nap
11:00-baby 1 is ready for a nap
12:00-get all babies back to table for lunch
12:30- (repeat breakfast routine with lunch)
1:00-walker ready for nap again...
2:00-baby 1 and 2 ready for nap again...
4:00-baby 2 gets picked up
5:00-baby 1 gets picked up
5:30-start dinner
6:00-eat dinner
6:30-clean up dinner
7:00-bath time
8:00-BED TIME ;)

By this time, I am so exhausted, I normally collapse somewhere.  Oh yea, and don't forget to factor in anywhere from 6-10 diaper changes PER CHILD per day.  You do the math.

In my spare time (hahahahahahahahahahahahahha), I do have several projects I've been wanting to work on.  Here is what is going through my head right now..

-I am about 2 years behind on my scrapbooking...haha.  Who would like to come do my job for a few days and let me just scrapbook until my heart is content? No takers??

-I have also started sewing a simple little Christmas dress for AG.  Because clearly I needed something else to do.

-I really want to learn how to smock.  Just not sure WHEN that would happen.

-I had plans to work upstairs getting everything organized before I pulled all my Christmas stuff out.  BUT-considering I decorate in the middle of November, I'm not sure it's gonna happen.

-I need a bigger car.  My "mid size" SUV only holds 2 carseats, and it's tight.  I would love to be able to take the kids to the park one day since baby number 2 that I watch can walk now!  A Tahoe is definitely in my future!

-I bought a treadmill this summer and was really enjoying running using my 5K app.  Then August came and now I'm wondering when I can fit a run into my day.

-Pinterest depresses me and just reminds me how little free time I have.

-Coffee. That is all.

I will be showing you some pictures of our "finished den" soon.  We still need new windows (in the entire house) and plan to install plantation shutters in the den and the study one day.  But, for the most part, the den is finished.  Here is what it used to look like.

During construction

We're Back!

Thank you all for sticking it out with me for the last 6 weeks or so!!  Now, after a heart surgery for my son and 2 stomach viruses in 3 weeks for my daughter, I finally feel like our family might be put back together. I am excited for the summer, and looking forward to showing you some more projects, and hopefully getting a few new ones completed!!  I have a lot of new pictures I can't wait to share!  And I hope you won't mind the occasional squishy face picture in there...

We left off with the mantel project.  Ben and my dad had it pretty much built in 1 day, and then we just painted and put down the tile!  And of course Ben had to go buy a new TV that fit the space better after his buddies picked on him and said our old one was too small.  So here is how our mantel looks now!

Here is a close up of the tile we chose.  I LOVE it!!  It brings all our colors together perfectly!!

Didn't they do a great job?  Not too shabby for a weekend's work!  Look for a new project to be posted this week!!

A Homemade Mantel

Still here and STILL pregnant.  Only 6 more days until we meet this little man unless he comes sooner!  Today I wanted to share another project with you, but it's just a quickie that was done over a weekend.  We had 2 big holes cut into our den wall for the TV and the fireplace, and desperately needed a mantel!  My dad is a pretty handy carpenter if you haven't learned that yet, and I was honestly hoping Ben would learn a little something from him through helping with this project!  I have to say, I'm quite impressed with the results!  Considering they just started drawing, cutting, and nailing one Saturday morning, it turned out pretty darn good!  We got lucky because my parents had an extra mantel in their garage they weren't using, and it was the perfect fit for our den!  So they just built around it!  Here are a few pictures I took of the process.  Once again, Ben had a "vision," and I think it was achieved!

I'll post the finished pictures soon!