Hall Bathroom Reveal

The initial reveal of the upstairs hall bathroom was here, but that was just a partial reveal- I hadn't actually finished the bathroom.

 Here's what it looked like before I got started- blah and boring.

It looked like this after the initial reveal- new paint on the walls and ceiling, new light fixture- much better, but still needed more work.

The bathroom looked like the above pic for quite awhile, but I finally got around to painting the vanity and medicine cabinet and installing hardware. There were no knobs before, so we were always scrabbling around the top edge of the door to open it- very annoying.

I used a cabinet painting system by Rustoleum to paint the vanity and medicine cabinet, but I'm not sure I would use the product again. I think it would be cheaper to just buy some shellac-based primer (like Zinsser BIN), some primer, some paint, and some polycrylic to seal it all. I did that in the master bath and think the results are just as good, if not better. The polycrylic included in the Rustoleum kit has caused a small amount of yellowing, though it's not supposed to. 

The bathroom was looking pretty bland at that point, so I added some color with a shower curtain, bath mats, and towels I found at Target. I love the teal color! I initially thought the whole shower curtain (there'll be a better picture in a little bit) was the darker teal color, but realized when I hung it up that that wasn’t the case, unfortunately. I still like it though.

And then I didn't make any more progress for awhile. So it looked like the above picture. Notice the toilet paper sitting on the counter- I removed the TP holder, but hadn't gotten around to replacing it yet.

Not too long ago I was pushing to finish all the little details around the house (upstairs at least) so I could finally cross them off the list as DONE. I finally buckled down and took care of the finishing touches in the bathroom.

I hung up a row hooks (from IKEA awhile ago) to take the place of the towel rod I removed at the beginning of this project.

I also installed a frame around the mirror, which I think makes it look a lot more finished. I installed a towel hook between the mirror and the window. It's a tight fit, but I think it works better than putting one on the wall on the other side of the sink. The medicine cabinet eats up a lot of otherwise useable space.

Not the best lighting, but you can see the valance I sewed (from a much-larger one purchased at Target) and the 2" faux wood blinds that replaced the nasty mini blinds.

Behind the door you get a view of the ombre effect on the shower curtain, as well as the robe hook I put next to the tub and the hooks on the back of door.

Above you can see the old toilet paper holder. The rod that supported the tp just sat on the little hooky things. Every time we bumped into it, the tp and rod fell to the floor. It was annoying, to say the least.

Here you can see the nice, normal toilet paper holder I installed, as well as get a better idea of the placing of the row of hooks on the wall.

Overall I'm pleased with the results- I love the color of the bath mat and shower curtain (though I do wish it was the darker color all the way up).  The thing I noticed after painting the vanity is that it blends into the wall a bit more than I'd like. I'll probably end up repainting the walls at some point to provide a bit more contrast, but at this point I don't have any ideas about what color. Possibly a light gray? Or maybe I'll do just one wall in a teal that matches the linens. Though that would make it a lot harder to just switch colors in there. So it'll stay as it is for the foreseeable future.

Wondering about the white thing in front of the toilet? It's a squatty potty- it's supposed to help with proper positioning for elimination (how's that for innocuous language?). LMS and I like it, but Mr M hasn't been won over yet. He's got longer legs and is a lot less limber than us, so it's harder for him to use it. 

29 Week Pregnancy Photos

      

I didn't manage to get new photos done at 28 weeks, but since the last ones were really at 24 1/2 weeks, we're still only about 4 weeks further along.

    

Pics on the left are from 24 1/2 weeks, pics on the right are from just a couple days ago. The top right one was taken at a different angle than the one next to it, so it's a bit harder to tell the change in my size.  It's a bit easier to tell in the lower photos.

I can definitely tell I'm getting bigger- it's getting harder to do things like bending over to tie my shoes or to pick something up. Not that I'm complaining- even with the increasing discomfort, I'm still excited to be pregnant.

Travel Trailer Storage Organization

When I tackled the wardrobe in the trailer, I also did a bit of work in the storage area under the bed. It's a nice size space, but things tend to get shoved in, tangled up, and subsequently hard to find.

Above is a typical view of the storage area when it's not loaded for a trip. Messy and disorganized.

Here's a close-up of the right side of the storage area. There's a bit of a curve, but the folding chairs refuse to stay neatly in it. I have no idea why :)

I did a few things: The first was to cut a few pieces of wood and installed a frame that hangs from the overhead supports for the folding table to rest on. Previously it sat on top of the bins and slid around and got in the way of getting things out of the bins.

Here's the view from the driver's side of the trailer (the back of the storage area, in my mind). The two pieces of 1x2 keep the table from sliding out of the framework.

Here's the view from the passenger side (the front of the storage area). You can see one of the braces that the table rests on- there's another one further back- and a piece of 1x2 to keep the table from sliding forward out of the framework. It's not a perfect job since one of the supports split, despite the fact that I drilled pilot holes, but it works.

I adjusted an IKEA shopping bag to hold some long items (marshmallow roasting sticks, a griddle, etc), then installed some screws for the handles to hang from.

I installed two 1x2s that stretch from the floor to the framework above. These hold the long, skinny things that were always getting in the way: folding chairs, umbrella, etc.

And here's the storage area now: neatly organized (I switched out some larger, more awkward bins for smaller, easier to maneuver ones) and so much easier to find what we're looking for. 

And yes, I fully recognize that I have a problem. 

But life is so much easier when everything is organized :)

Sunday Funny

LMS posed herself in her laundry basket, all snuggled up and "sleeping"

LMS: "Is it ok if I love Nanny more than you?"

Me: "Sure."

LMS: "Because she's more snuggly. Super duper snuggly. And you're not. You only have hair."

Hard to argue with that kind of logic :)

Travel Trailer Wardrobe Update

In my quest to make all our closets more efficient, I almost neglected one: the wardrobe in our little travel trailer.

It's divided into two sections, which makes it hard to hang anything long from the top clothes rod and awkward to hang anything from the lower clothes rod.

Two years ago I put a plastic drawer unit in the lower portion, which worked pretty well, but wasted some space, since the plastic drawers weren't as deep as the wardrobe.

After a lot of thought, I decided to add some shelves and find bins to place on the shelves. That way the whole space could be used- the wardrobe is almost 2 feet deep, but only 13" wide, so it's a bit awkward to work with.

I removed the clothes rod, then tried building a 1"x2" frame to support each shelf, but the 1x2s took up too much space and the bins I'd found wouldn't fit. Since they were the only bins I'd been able to find that even remotely worked, I wasn't willing to ditch them.

Instead, I reverted to my usual answer for closet shelving: the metal shelf strips.

I bought one and cut it into four equal pieces, each 18" long, and installed them in the corners of the wardrobe. Because trailers/RVs are built to be as lightweight as possible I wasn't sure that the thin walls of the wardrobe would support the shelves adequately. After some close inspection, however, I noticed that the corners seemed to have a wood framework that I could attach the shelf strips to.

It was a tight fit getting the clips into the strips, but I did it. The shelves are pieces of 1/2" oak plywood that I didn't bother painting. I'm pretty sick of painting right now, so I doubt they'll ever get painted, and it's just not a big priority for me right now.

Everything fits just right!

We don't need the fourth row just yet, but that time is just a couple months off, so I went ahead and included it when I was doing my calculations.

I found the bins in the bathroom/closet organization section in Target. They're about 13" long, 6" wide, and 6" tall.  I found some plastic shoeboxes that are a smidge smaller (also at Target) to go behind them since there was about 10" of space behind the original bins. We could have left it binless, but it's more convenient to be able to pull a bin out and see what's in it, then to have to go digging around in the dark for the one item you can't quite locate, but know is there.

Yay for organization and being able to easily find what you're looking for!
I think the closets are all organized now. But the shed still needs to be tackled....

St Patrick's Day Ruffle Skirt

When I was making the patriotic ruffle skirt a couple weeks ago, I realized I never posted the one I made for St. Patrick's day. I didn't even take pictures of LMS wearing it, though she wore it on St. Patrick's day. Not sure how that happened, but I thought I should correct the situation. So, only four months late, here's the ruffle skirt I made for St. Patrick's day.

JoAnn's only had white and light green t-shirts, so I bought about a quarter yard (I think) of dark green knit to use for the third ruffle. It has a bit less structure than the t-shirt knits, but still worked well.

Like the other skirts I made for her, they're all on the long side, so even if she keeps having growth spurts we'll get at least another year's worth of wear out of them :)

twirly

twirly

twirly

Swimming Lessons

Like the last couple summers, we spent part of June running to swim lessons.

Our swim teacher is an awesome teacher and so great with kids. Two years ago she managed to get LMS to jump off the diving board and I got this great photo. LMS has continued to progress and gain confidence and loves being in the water.

Working on diving form:

Fun with her snorkel set:

Coming in to give daddy a hug and get hime all wet (he was the one holding the camera):

Jumping off the diving rock:

I love the mid-air jumping shots!

Sunday Funny

LMS trying out her snorkel at the spray park

Cranky LMS (missing Daddy and having a meltdown):  "If you don't let me (fill in the blank with whatever it is she wants to do), I'm never giving you snuggles again!"

It's the worst threat she can think of, but also one she'd never be able to follow through on- she likes her snuggles way too much :)

Another version: "I'm never going to snuggle Nanny again!" (as she gives Nanny to me)

I'm not sure what that one accomplishes, other than showing me how upset she is. But it's also not something she would/could follow through with :)

June Goals Re-Cap

very scenic location for our Cub Scout rain gutter/river regatta

I updated my goals in January and here's the progress I made in June.
May's progress can be seen here.

A few goals under Health:
1. Stick to GAPS
As I mentioned before, that's a wash. I would still like to get back on GAPS, but haven't quite figured out how to manage that.
2. Train for and run at least 6 races by the end of 2013 (at least one half marathon, preferably two)
I'm still spending time on the treadmill 2-3 times a week, though I'm definitely doing more walking than running. The first Saturday in June I ran/walked a 5k, which brings my total races to 4: one half marathon, a 4 miler, and two 5ks. I signed up for a 4 mile race the last weekend of August. I'll be 36 weeks and am planning on just walking it. But it's an incentive for me to keep moving and I'm super excited about the fact that I'm still able to move and be active. That was definitely not the case when I was pregnant with LMS.
3. Consistently cross train and strength train
Also a wash at this point.

A few goals under House:
1. Clean up drips and do the final touches in each room
I need to paint the mirror frames in both upstairs bathrooms, then I'm done with the upstairs!
2. Build and install shelves in all closets
All closets in the house are done, and I did the wardrobe in the trailer (I'll post pictures next week). Woohoo!
3. Build homeschool cabinet
Finished the design, but still haven't had time/energy to start yet. I hope to get started on it by the end of July.
4. Build kitchen table
Still haven't had the time/energy yet.

A few goals under Homeschool:
1. Continue to be consistent at keeping to the schedule
Still doing pretty good on this, though I need to get better at getting to sleep earlier and getting up earlier so we can get an earlier start. Unfortunately, eating foods I shouldn't also gives me insomnia. With Mr M home again on a regular basis I'm getting better at waking up earlier- now I need to get to bed earlier too.
2. Be more present
Still working on this one, but I suspect this is one of those on-going ones that never quite end.

A few goals under Habits:
1. Practice the piano and violin consistently
Yeah, these haven't happened yet- no time or energy.
2. Index several batches every week for FamilySearch
Nor this one.
3. Have more meaningful daily scripture study (start journaling as I read)
The journaling just is happening, but I have started a topical marking plan that I've used in other sets of scriptures that I like and is working well for me.

How did you do with your goals this month?

Patriotic Ruffle Skirt

she's standing on a bit of an incline- the hem actually is straight

With the Fourth of July coming up, I thought I'd make one last ruffle skirt for LMS. (I made one for Halloween and Valentine's day, plus one more I haven't blogged about yet.)

I followed the same process as before, cutting strips from adult x-large shirts I bought on sale at JoAnns. Sew the strips together, ruffle them up, then sew them to an old t-shirt base. Using the hem of the t-shirt gives an automatic waist band to insert elastic into.

It's a fairly straightforward process, though it does take a couple hours. The results sure are cute!

LMS trying to fly

24 Week Pregnancy Photos

I've always been fairly self-conscious about my body. I may be short, but I am not petite :)

In recent years I have become much more at peace with my looks and don't stress nearly as much as I used to about my perceived imperfections.

In looking back through some photos of the time I was pregnant with LMS, I could only find four photos of me pregnant- two the day of my baby shower (about a month before my due date), one the day before we went in for the induction (LMS was a week and a half late), and one of me sitting in the hospital bed, waiting for something, anything, to happen.

about 5 weeks before my due date

the day before induction

in the hospital

Seriously? Four photos?

I may not have a cute little "bump"- I look more like I swallowed a beach ball- there's just nowhere for the baby to go but out, but that shouldn't stop me from documenting the fact that I was, in fact, pregnant.

I don't know if you've seen/read on various blogs about the push for mothers to make sure they're in the photos more, regardless of our looks (stressed out, hair and clothes not perfect, etc). I read about it a couple years ago and realized I was definitely guilty of taking lots of photos of Mr M and LMS, but many times I did not hand the camera off to Mr M so I could be in some of the photos.

I've been trying to be better about that, which is why I've posted several self photos of LMS and I when we're doing things and Mr M isn't around to take a photo for us. I need to be in the photos too.

Except that lately I haven't been taking as many photos. Mostly because we're not doing exciting things like going skiing, but still....

So a couple weeks I had LMS take some photos of me. They didn't turn out the best, but hey, I have photos of me 24 weeks pregnant with this little guy, which is way better than what I managed with LMS.

(I mentioned LMS took the photos, didn't I?)

My goal is to do at least a monthly profile pic, but we'll see if I actually stay on top of that :) I just hit 27 weeks, so in the next week or so I'll try to get some more photos posted.

Best Birthday Present Ever :)

snuggled in the back of the car, waiting for the movie to start at the drive-in theater

Last week was my birthday. 

Coincidentally enough, Mr M arrived home the evening of my birthday after being overseas for most of the last year. 

Best birthday present ever!

First Grade Year End Evaluation

First grade officially ended Friday. Yay!

Last year I posted an evaluation of our kindergarten year, and I wanted to do the same for our first grade year. Like last year we followed the curriculum recommendations in The Well Trained Mind, and overall they worked out well.

Some first grade books and some second grade books

Math: Just like last year, we ended up switching curriculum part way through. I liked RightStart Math (though each lesson was a bit long), but again, it just wasn't working for LMS. I decided to back off and give Life of Fred a chance- instead of books, manipulatives, and other stuff, I just bought one book. There's four in the first set, but they can each be repeated several times to make sure all the concepts are solid. I bought the first one to see if it was a good fit, then bought the next few books in the series.

Each chapter is part of a story that involves math concepts and using them in real life, and at the end of each short chapter there's a few questions for the child to answer. It's so different from the other books we've tried that I was afraid it would be too light-weight and not cover enough or give LMS enough practice with each concept. It's working for now, though, so I'm not going to change things up just yet.

LMS went from dreading math to saying it was one of her favorite subjects, along with history. Both of these subjects are essentially stories that I read to her, and then she answers questions that I ask her. Hmmm, perhaps she's an auditory learner? She loves listening to books on cd too...

Reading
Even though she knew how to read at the end of last year, after using Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, we used Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading this year so LMS could learn the rules and exceptions for pronunciation of words. Her ability to sound out words and read stories has grown so much from using OPG. We haven't actually finished it, so will continue using it in second grade. In addition, I read various books to her and she read various books to me. Listening to so many audio books has helped her in her oral reading skills. She pays attention to punctuation and uses the appropriate inflections. She even tries to change up the voices a little :)

Writing/Handwriting
We used Writing with Ease 1 to work on dictation and reading comprehension. I thought it worked well and it was easy to tell when LMS had been listening and when she'd been zoning out. For handwriting we used Zaner-Bloser 1 and then started 2C. 1 covers printing and 2C reviews printing then starts cursive. We didn't quite get to the cursive section before the end of the school year, but we'll just continue with it in second grade.

Grammar
We used First Language Lessons 1 for grammar. I liked the memorization activities (several poems throughout the year) and it reinforced concepts that were also discussed in Writing with Ease (abbreviations, punctuation, etc).

Spelling
We used Spelling Workout A then moved on to Spelling Workout B.

History
We used Story of the World: Volume 1 Ancient Times for history. We both enjoyed this book even though we didn't do most of the extra activities (crafts and such). It would have been nice to do them, but I just was not that on top of things. We used the worksheets that go along with it and LMS liked those- especially the maps. We didn't do any of the tests, but we will in second grade. One of the moms in our park group organized a history club using SotW that the kids all enjoyed.

Science
As recommended in The Well Trained Mind, we used the First Animal Encyclopedia for the first part of the year. When we finished it we switched to Great Science Adventures: Discovering the Human Body & Senses. I really like the idea of GSA, but the directions aren't quite as clear as I'd like (there's lots of folding and cutting of papers to make lap book-type folders). It is quite flexible though- it's very easily marked so you can go more in-depth for older students and less in-depth for younger students. LMS also had a blast at her Nature Class.

Japanese
I had a hard time finding a curriculum for teaching elementary kids Japanese, so I made up my own. It wasn't as effective as I'd like, but it was a good learning experience. LMS worked on the hiragana chart (for longer than she needed to, probably. oops) which she didn't really enjoy. Then we started watching dvds and she liked that a lot better.

Religion
LMS listened to and read aloud scripture stories. I'd like to add some scripture memorization, but we haven't quite gotten to that point.

Music
LMS continued her violin lessons, where she's made great progress.  She also attended Irish class (a continuation of the day camp she attended in the summer) and among other things, did some singing and tin whistle.

PE/Sports
LMS participated in fall and spring soccer, ski class, swimming lessons, a 5k and two fun runs (Disney and the one at the beginning of this month).

Art
The Well Trained Mind recommended a couple books that we tried out, but I wasn't too impressed with them. Maybe in a year or two. So we didn't do anything formal, but I have a plan for second grade that will involve weekly projects. I do feel like I've dropped the ball on this one, but at the same time it's been fun to see what LMS comes up with on her own.

Proof of Progress
In our state we don't have to provide proof of progress in kindergarten, but from first grade on, we do. This can be through standardized test scores, a written evaluation, or a portfolio. I fully intended to have LMS take a standardized test this year since I feel it's very important to know how to take them and be familiar with the process. However, with our ongoing food issues and switching math curriculum again,  I thought that might not be the best option this year. Hopefully next year we'll have those issues worked out and it won't be a problem.

Our local school districts don't tend to like receiving portfolios (it's more work for them), and honestly I think portfolios could give the schools a lot more information than they need, which would set a bad precedent (they start thinking they need certain things/information, even though they don't).

While discussing proof of progress at one of our weekly park play groups, the subject of evaluations came up and one the other moms mentioned that if you had a masters degree or higher you could do the evaluation (though not on your own child). A friend in our park play group has a phD and offered to do  the evaluation for us. This turned out to be a great way to go. LMS already knows her and we just talked about the different subjects we covered this year and how things went. Later she wrote the evaluation and I'll send it to the school district in a couple weeks.

The biggest triumph of the year, in my opinion
You know the saying "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink"? The same applies to schoolwork. You can teach a child the skills, but you can't make them learn them and/or use them, like reading. LMS reads quite well, but it took her awhile to discover the joy of reading. She just wasn't quite ready to make the jump from picture books to chapter books. My overachieving, ocd side really wanted to push her into it, but my practical, more in-tune side recognized that that was not a good idea. So I sat back and let her progress at her pace, not the pace I dictated.

In the last month or so she's really grown confident in her reading skills. One day she decided to read Little House in the Big Woods during quiet time. A few days later she had finished it and moved on to the next one. She's now halfway through the series and I have to remind her to not stay up late reading. This actually makes me very happy, since I remember being about her age and reading books under the covers by the light of a flashlight :)

It's so gratifying to see her developing a love for books and reading. If I had pushed it on her, she would not be reading for pleasure. But since I let her go at her own pace she's discovered it for herself.