#638 - Andes Creme de Menthe Cookie

 

Girl Scout Thin Mints

+

 

Andes Mint Thins

=

 

Andes Creme de Menthe Cookies

Amazing!

#637 - Before and After - Kitchen

 And now for the kitchen before and after. Below is the entrance to the kitchen.

 

 Before (above and below) - notice the brown vinyl floor (it has padding under it, so it was bouncy when you walked on it), dark brown paneling, lacy window curtains

After (below) - new vinyl flooring, and we added a door in place of the window 

Before (below) - fan with shoe strings to turn on the light, cabinets from the 50s (that look like they are from the 70s), they had grease caked on them from the past 60 years.  Notice the awesome pot on the counter - yep the one the previous owner's left and I broke and turns out it is worth a lot!

 After - recessed lighting (fan is gone), new lower cabinets and counter (the old lower cabinets had rotted out),  added an above stove microwave, took doors off the upper cabinets and painted them white, painted the wood paneling white, new fridge and put it in the left hand corner.  Again, notice the orange pot above the sink and we have a portable dishwasher now.  And the poster, love it there.

 

Before (below) - old fridge

After (both photos below) - chalkboard wall (which my boys love, but it never gets really clean), more counter space since fridge is in the other corner, shelving on the wall.  Notice the quote.

 Love - the door instead of the window, more counter space, more light.

I don't really mind the cabinets without the doors, it makes me keep things clean.  Just don't look in the bottom cabinets.

Cost - this is a guess, but I'll try:

Dishwaher - $300
Microwave - $150
Lower cabinets/counter - $1,000
Recessed lights - $100 (but took some wiring that my husband was able to do)
White paint for cabinets and wood paneling - $50
Vinyl floor - $300
Shelving - $30
Door and trim around door - $200
Fridge - from my sister in law

#636 - Before and After - bathroom remodel

 

 Before (above and below) - dark wood paneling, awesome tiles in the tub and on the floor (but they were broken in lots of places), old cracked sink/vanity, sliding shower door, old tub, oh and there was flower wall paper on the ceiling, large purple flowers (see photo above) - you have to look 

really hard, it matches the flower on the trash can)

 During (above and below) - we basically gutted the whole thing)

After (both pictures below) - new everything (except the toilet), we even got a new toilet seat

Things I love about our new bathroom - we raised the shower head and put the handle to the shower high so the boys can't reach it; we also put inserts in the tile to put shampoo/soap (I need to take a picture of this), the diagonal tile on the floor

Things I wouldn't do again - we used the wrong grout on the floor, so it is super hard to clean; we got a whirlpool tub - another pain to clean

Cost - ??? - it's has been a while so I don't know, but we did buy inexpensive tile at home depot and the an inexpensive vanity at lowes

#635 - Before and After - Kids' Bedroom

 

I love before and after photos of homes.  So, I thought I would share some of our home.

BEFORE (below and above) - green paneling, green striped wall paper, low curtains, dark green light

 

AFTER (below)  - wall paper gone (there was 4 layers), grey walls with hand painted letters/numbers (one day this will be painted over in grey), white light, crown molding, tall baseboard, honeycomb blinds

 BEFORE (below)

 AFTER (below) - notice the chalkboard painted on the wall and we moved our wall unit a/c to the window that doesn't get any direct sunlight and secured it with a board (were saving for central a/c)

Before (below) - green wall paneling, mirrored tiles that went around their dresser, pink closet, with 1 hanging rod

After - grey & white walls, crown molding, tall baseboard, white closet with a closet organizer (thanks dad!)

I have this last picture as my desktop picture on my computer.  Not because it is the most amazing transformation, but for 2 important reasons.

1.  It is clean - and it feels so good when it is clean.  99% of the time it is messy!

2.  I love this area of the house.  It is where I get to cuddle with my boys after they have taken a bath, put on their jammies  and gotten ready for bed.  We read many stories here, talk about our days playing, crafting, baking, eating, playing, watching spiderman, etc.  It is a good place!


Cost:
grey semi-gloss paint "oops" paint from Home Depot - $5
wall paper removal supplies - $10 (plus lots of help from our friends - thanks!)
crown molding/base board - $300 (this is a guess because it has been a while)
glossy white paint (for trim) - $15 (but we've used this on all our rooms)
chalk board paint - $12 (but we've used this in our kitchen too)
light - $25
closet organizer - $150 (guess again)

#634 - red & white stripe pjs

These red and white pj bottoms would be fun to wear on Christmas Eve, or any night of the year.

Too bad they are sold out of my size.

Saw these over on Elise's blog.

#633 - Little People Nativity

Little People Nativity = amazing!

Kids get to play with it and learn the real meaning of Christmas.

Funny story about this Nativity = Oster and I were playing "nativity".  You know, Mary and Joseph are going to be taxed, she rides on a donkey, they knock on doors and there is no room, Mary has a baby in the stable, the angel comes, shepards come, 3 kings come, the end. 

Well, I let Oster tell the story to me and he got it right until the very end when he said, "up yours!"

WHAT!

I calmly asked him, "what does that mean?"

Oster, "it just means you are saying goodbye"

I guess we'll be watching a little less Elf in our home this year.

#632 - exception to every rule

Ironic...I think the universe is speaking to me.

#631 - RIP MAC

Sad to hear about Steve Jobs!

And some random thoughts:

I can't believe I haven't blogged for almost a month.

Longest I've ever gone without blogging since I started in 2008. (that's sort of scary)

I sort of missed blogging, but sort of didn't.

Parker spilled water all over my MAC and I haven't gotten it running again, any thoughts on how I might salvage it? (one reason for my lack of blogging)

I got to visit my family for 2 weeks in September, so much fun!  (another reason for not blogging)

I really wish I lived closer to my family.

But I do love living close to Pepe's family.

I have lots I want to share, so hopefully I can get my computer running again soon.