Annual birthday questions

 

Favorite color:  

Age 3 - blue and green and white and red and purple

Age 4 – pink

Age 5 – all of the colors in the rainbow except orange and red

Age 6 - rainbow

Age 7 - gold

             Age 8 - light blue

Age 9 - teal

Favorite toy/game:  

Age 3 - playing with baby things

Age 4 – playing Kristoff or Prince Hans

Age 5 – dragon Legos

Age 6 - Legos

Age 7 - my new Wild Kratts toys 
             Age 8 - Legos

Age 9 - legos

Favorite food:

Age 3 -  mac and cheese

Age 4 – mac and cheese

Age 5 – mac and cheese

Age 6 – mac and cheese

Age 7 - mac and cheese
            Age 8 -  mac and cheese

Age 9 - cheese sticks

Favorite drink:  

Age 3 – moose hair (?!?)

Age 4 – milk

Age 5 – chocolate milk

Age 6 – chocolate milk

Age 7 - chocolate milk
            Age 8 -  ice water

Age 9 - sparkling apple juice and/or milk

Favorite movie:  

Age 3 - Happy Feet

Age 4 – Sleeping Beauty

Age 5 – Finding Nemo and Finding Dory

Age 6 - The Lion Guard

Age 7 - Lion King
            Age 8 - Frozen 2

Age 9 -  don't know

Favorite TV show:   

Age 3 – Caillou

Age 4 – the car one

Age 5 – My Little Pony

Age 6 - The Lion Guard

Age 7 - Wild Kratts
            Age 8 - Wild Kratts

Age 9 - Wild Kratts

Favorite song:  

Age 3 - Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Age 4 – Jasmine ("A Whole New World")

Age 5 – Twinkle Twinkle

Age 6 - Twinkle Twinkle

Age 7 - Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer
            Age 8 - Six: The Musical

Age 9 - John Denver music

Favorite book:  
             Age 3 - You are a LION (yoga book)

Age 4 – Anna and Elsa

Age 5 – My Little Pony (the Pinkie Pie one)

Age 6 - Green Eggs and Ham

Age 7 - Harry Potter
             Age 8 - Warriors

Age 9 - every book I've ever read

Favorite outfit:  
             Age 3 - blue and white

Age 4 – my twirly dress I have on now

Age 5 – sparkly things

Age 6 - dresses

Age 7 - costumes
            Age 8 - pants and a shirt

Age 9 - this snake dress that I got for my birthday

Best friend:  

Age 3 - Eden and Asher and Evan

Age 4 – Eden

Age 5 – Eden

Age 6 - Aleena

Age 7 - Allie
            Age 8 - Allie

Age 9 - Ivy (cat)

Favorite holiday:  

Age 3 - Christmas and Easter

Age 4 – my birthday

Age 5 – my birthday

Age 6 - April

Age 7 - my birthday
            Age 8 - my birthday

Age 9 - my birthday

What I take to bed each night:  

Age 3 - a cat 

Age 4 – pajamas

Age 5 – a stuffed animal like Rainbow Dash

Age 6 - myself

Age 7 - a stuffie
            Age 8 - Wolfie

Age 9 - Wolfie

When I grow up, I want to be:  

Age 3 - a diamond

Age 4 – a princess

Age 5 – a junior ranger

Age 6 - nothing

Age 7 - a scientist
            Age 8 - a history teacher

Age 9 - I don't know

I'm afraid to: 

Age 3 – monsters

Age 4 – bears and alligators and dinosaurs

Age 5 – nothing!

Age 6 - be by myself

Age 7 - kill stink bugs
             Age 8 - go on the walk we did earlier today

Age 9 -  take my feet off the ground without Mike holding me when I'm on a bike

I'm proud of:  

Age 3 -??

Age 4 – Daddy

Age 5 – myself!

Age 6 - mommy and daddy

Age 7 - building Lego sets
            Age 8 - all the Legos I have

Age 9 -  being me

Something I do really well:  

Age 3 - cookie monster

Age 4 – watch a movie

Age 5 – Legos

Age 6 - cleaning my room

Age 7 - keep on trying
            Age 8 - Legos

Age 9 -  read and/or play Legos

This makes me happy:  

Age 3 - an Easter bunny

Age 4 – when I have love around me

Age 5 – doing Legos

Age 6 - hugs

Age 7 - when staying up late, going to sleep
            Age 8 - Legos

Age 9 - Ivy (cat)

This makes me sad:  
              Age 3 - a cow hit me

Age 4 – when someone hits me or bites me or pinches me or kicks me

Age 5 – when it's nap time

Age 6 - when somebody hits me

Age 7 - getting hurt
            Age 8 - Wolfie not going to bed with me

Age 9 - when a playdate ends

Favorite time of day:  

Age 3 - movie time

Age 4 – playing with Eden

Age 5 – lunch time

Age 6 - dessert time

Age 7 - dessert time
            Age 8 - 3pm

Age 9 - 3pm

Dream vacation:  

Age 3 -??

Age 4 – to the princesses! (i.e., Disneyland)

Age 5 – Disney World

Age 6 - to Mitra's house

Age 7 - living in a jungle and swinging on vines
             Age 8 - to go to Florida again

Age 9 - seeing a green anaconda

Favorite thing to do with Mommy: 
             Age 3 - play with her

Age 4 – play Candyland

Age 5 – cuddle

Age 6 - be outside playing tag

Age 7 - read books
             Age 8 - snuggles

Age 9 - snuggle and/or read

Favorite thing to do with Daddy:  

             Age 3 - play with him

Age 4 – play Candyland again!

Age 5 – play Legos

Age 6 - build Legos

Age 7 - build Legos
             Age 8 - read Warriors and do Legos

Age 9 - practicing archery

Bitter cold

It has been bitterly, bitterly cold for the past week. Last Saturday I had a zoom call with friends (who all live in more temperate climates), and I showed them this forecast:

Yes, it was a forecast for an entire week of below zero temperatures. BLECH. But I decided to just put on my big girl panties and deal with it. I do live in Montana, after all!

On Thursday, however, my car decided it just wasn't worth it and it threw in the towel. At -19 degrees, it just wouldn't start. So I drove the truck back up to the house and called in for an unexpected day of PTO.

Thursday turned out to be a lovely day at home. I finished a book and read another full one, did some yoga, rearranged my bedroom, and witnessed Mike and Rose doing EFC. Lovely!

photobomb from Doug!

 

By late afternoon, Mike convinced me that I should just preemptively admit defeat (on behalf of my car) for the next day as well. The "high" temperature was still supposed to be below zero on Friday, and the low overnight was supposed to be in the -20s. So I called in and turned off my alarm for the next day. I always feel guilty when I cancel work, but given the forecast I think my body was also looking forward to a brief reprieve, and I appreciated a good night of sleep with no anxiety about starting my car the next day!

Friday was a lovely day in which I didn't cross the threshold of our house even once! I deep cleaned my bedroom floor, read another book, and then had a sleepover with Rose :)

Saturday was still cold, which made it a great day for baking. Somewhat hilariously, Weather Underground called -2 "warmer" than Friday. Yes, technically, I suppose. But not in any really meaningful sense, since -2 is still freaking COLD!

Today (Sunday) was marginally warmer - we actually got above zero! HOORAY!! But the bad news was that Mike noticed that my truck had a flat tire. Like pancake flat. UGH. So I "helped" him to change it. Then I drove it down to my car to make sure my car would start.

Mike was convinced that the 30 degree increase in temperature would mean that my car would start with no problem, but he was wrong. Turns out my battery was completely dead. Ugh. (So glad I didn't realize that on Monday morning!) Rose and I took a "quick" trip into Great Falls to get it replaced, and found out that everyone else's batteries were also dead, and most stores were sold out! Thankfully we found ONE in stock battery for my vehicle at the THIRD store we went too. And this was just an auto parts store so the guy said he wasn't supposed to actually replace it for me, but I succeeded at looking pathetic enough that he did it. I'm so grateful!

So that was my four-day weekend. Unexpected, with some highs and some lows, but delightful over all. 

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Before and after for realz

After I did my last blog entry, I started to worry that I was too harsh with the decor in our house. So I wanted to clarify that Mike and I LOVED our house enough to buy the place, and we just wanted to make the place over in our (my) style. It's no criticism of the previous owners - their style was lovely (for them). So in honor of the former owners, here's a quick before and after of the house when we placed our offer vs today.

 

Main living space (living room/dining room)

2016

 

 

1/21

And the opposite direction:

 

2016

 

1/21

 

Kitchen

2016

  

1/2021

 
Bathroom/Laundry Room  

2016

 

 

1/2021

 

Rose's bedroom

2016

1/2021

Upstairs

2016

 

 So there it is! The bones of the house that we fell in love with, now transforming into more of our style. I love the cooler hues of the blues/greys, and the openness that we've enhanced.  I love our house!

before and after...and after again

Back in September 2017, just a month or so after we moved in, I did a blog post showing how we were starting to make our new house into our HOME. I realized as I was painting our bathroom floor yesterday that we have done a TON of work on our house since that time, but only a few haphazard house updates. And even though we are still in the middle of some projects, and still have several additional projects planned, I figured now was as good a time as any for long photo update!

Outside of the house

This hasn't changed at all, other than some wear and tear. So here's the (relatively unchanged) photos from 2017.

from the "front" driveway, looking northwest 

from the "back" driveway, looking southeast

Wait a minute! I just realized one change we did on the exterior is we replaced the little Juliet balcony with a greenhouse!

Oh, and we also added a chicken coop!

 

Eventually we plan to: 

* paint the house and quonset white

* add decorative shutters to the windows 

* replace the shoddily constructed deck

* somehow make the house seem more welcoming from the outside - upon arrival from either direction, I think it's hard to tell which door to use. So I would like to find a way to make that more obvious.

 

 

 

Main living space (living room/dining room)

Since we all spend so much time here, this is where most of the work has taken place. As you can see, we replaced the dining room light fixture, replaced the yellowing sheers with grey curtains, added a ceiling fan, painted the yellowy walls a crisper white (with slight blue undertones), removed the wall to the basement and replaced it with an open railing, added a floor rug (to muffle the sound down in Mike's bedroom), got a temporary "new" (used) table, built a small bookshelf for under the far window, and moved the wood stove to the basement for better heat circulation.
 

8/2017

 

9/17

 

1/21

The reverse view of the main living space, looking back at the front door:

 

8/17

1/21

Eventually we plan to:

* replace the new ceiling fan, which is already starting to die :(

* get a new living room couch (we've had this one for almost 20 years!)

* replace the dining room table

* spray paint the new chimney so it's all the same color 

 

Kitchen

This is an area where we have big plans, but haven't done a lot so far other than fill it up ;)

 

8/2017

9/2017

1/2021

Eventually we plan to:

* replace the ugly track lighting

* get a bigger fridge (that doesn't have to be manually defrosted every month or so!!!)

* open the space up so it's no longer a u-shaped kitchen, which means at least moving the stove and replacing the countertops, at which point we might as well redo the whole thing (especially since we need a new fridge anyway). And if we do all that, we're going to have to redo the flooring of the entire main floor as well, so this step is going to be a ways out into the future, unfortunately.
 

 

 

Bathroom/Laundry Room  

This is the space that has gotten under my skin the most since we moved in. Nothing was centered, everything was yellow or brown, and nothing coordinated. Not to mention the wooden toilet seat, which triggers such a strong disgust response in me!

So far I replaced the toilet seat (hallelujah), got rid of the valence (and replaced it with thermal curtains to keep the hot summer sun from beating in), painted all the walls (including the wood wainscotting) the same crisp white as the main living area, replaced the ugly tri-fold medicine cabinet with a simple mirror, removed the off-center shelf above the washer/dryer, removed the fake silver panels around the off-center shelf, removed the leaking utility sink (which will eventually go into the basement bathroom, whenever we get to tackling that project), replaced the crappy old washer with a larger and more energy efficient one, added a "ladder" to hang dry clothes inside, replaced the curtain rod and shower curtain, and also painted the ugly tile floors!

We'll do some more updates once we replace the bathtub (since this one only holds about 8" of water, making it the most disappointing bath EVER for anyone over the age of 10), but until then I can actually say that I'm super happy with how this space has turned out!!

8/2017

 

 

Close-up of the yellowy pink tile (AFTER having JUST been cleaned), in case the first photo didn't fully convey its heinousness:

Ta-da!

 

 

1/2021

 

 

8/2017

The "eventually" list here only includes:

* replace the bathtub (which will also require redoing the floors too)

* move the old utility sink pipes so they are in the wall rather than sticking out of the middle of the floor

 The Back Hallway

This is another space where we haven't done a ton other than fill it in :) We did remove the cabinet that kept nailing us in the forehead as we came around the corner (and replaced it with a pan rack), and Mike added a bottom shelf on the right.

8/2017

9/2017

 

2021 photo is pending, once all the 

bathroom stuff is returned from my 

floor painting project....

 

 

 

The Back Pantry (aka "Bart's room")

Again, all we've done is fill it up! We also discovered that this is a great place for seasonal storage, as it can be used as a back-up fridge or freezer at least 6 months out of the year.

8/2017

9/2017

1/2021 (due for another cleaning/organizing - LOL)

Rose's bedroom

Rose has been busy transforming her space into her own....

8/2017

 

9/2017

1/2021

She wants to paint her walls, but I told her she needs to have everything taken down from the walls and the floors cleared in order to paint. So we are at an impasse. (Maybe some day she'll want to be more clean/organized?)

 

Upstairs

Now we move into "my" domain :)  

Let's start with the stairs up to the loft. As mentioned before, we took out the old basement wall and replaced it with a railing. This allowed us to add a "gallery wall" of photos that we can see from the living room. Mike also removed the spindles to the upstairs (at my request) and replaced them with the more chic wires.

8/2017

2/2021

We're still in the middle of finishing the new upstairs walls, so we haven't fully removed the weird open shelves at the top of the stairs. We added the double French doors, and eventually the wall to the left of the new doors will be all bookshelves.

Here's another look at the beautiful (IMHO) open stairs:

Okay, so in my loft, the biggest thing (other than adding the wall that the bookcase will be on) has been removing the interior walls that used to divide the loft into 4 small areas. The loft still has "zones" (for exercise, my closet, my bed, and for sewing), but it's now a very spacious - yet still cozy - space that I absolutely adore. Seriously, my bedroom is just perfect for me - I am thankful for it every day.

 

8/2017

 

9/2017

1/2021

Here's another look at the 4 "zones" that used to be separated by walls:

The sleeping zone:

8/2017

 

 

1/2021

 The closet zone:

8/2017

9/2017

1/2021

The sewing zone:

(sorry these photos are not from the same angle)

9/2017

1/2021

The exercise zone:

(also not all from the same angle, sorry)

8/2017

 

9/2017

1/2021

The things yet to be done upstairs:

* finish the bookshelves on the outside wall of the loft

* paint the French doors (they just came primed and I think I want them white, but I'm going to wait to paint them until I'm definite

*hang the curtains to cover the French doors when I want to block out the summer sunlight at night

*paint the wood floor so it won't keep giving me splinters when I walk around where there's no rug

 

BASEMENT

From here on out, there are no "after" (i.e., 2021) photos, because this entire floor is a work in process. Every area is currently "under construction" as we try to make the space more livable from both an aesthetic as well as a functional perspective. So, more to come on this entire level at some unknown future time...

Basement - entryway

8/2017

 

9/2017

Basement - Mike's bathroom

9/2017

Basement - TV area

8/2017

9/2017

 

 Basement - Mike's bedroom

8/2017

9/2017

The end! :)