It's My Birthday...

...and I'm still cleaning up from the weekend. 

But here's a peek at my fun.

First, I got a kiss from George (no picture available).

Then, from Jake...

 

And from Henry...

Finally, from my love...

Yes, that's a tool bag.  YAY!!!!

xo

Guest Posting on 4mothers1blog

This was never my intention...but I was honored to be asked.  A guest post?  Me???

It's live as of today.  Check out 4mothers1blog to see it. 

Where It All Began

EEK!

Home Stretch

Company's coming in two days.  And...

I.  Am.  Tired.

Thank you to my mother-in-law and step-father-in-law for taking George on a holiday last weekend so I could finish painting the baby room on 3.  I am happy to say it's complete.  Including pictures hung on the wall. 

!!!

8 craigslist posts, 4 trips to goodwill, 3 garbage days, 2 trips to BMV (2nd hand book/video store),  2 recycling days, 1 trip to the dump and a few "free" pitches to the curb.  We are ready for guests. 

Sorry, blog.  The big reveal will be for their eyes when they get here this weekend.  I need a few "ahhh" moments in real time.  But...I can't keep it all under wraps....

No More Green

George is currently sleeping soundly on 3.  As would I.  Why?  He now has the most "finished" room of the family.  Which simply means I have imminent plans for the big boys room and (gasp!) the master bedroom.  Aka: the most overlooked room under this roof.

Guest on 3

Ready for my brother and his wife.  It's never been a more comfortable room.  Which is good, because an expectant woman needs comfort :)  !!!!!

Guest on 2 - Late Afternoon

The afternoon light in this room is amazing.  Not conducive to a siesta, but gorgeous, nonetheless.  My parents are excited to be back in their "new" guest room right next to the main bathroom.  Don't think I didn't employ any strategy there. 

Picasso's "Guernica"

Before we decided to change our first floor, we dug out a bunch of old posters waiting in the wings, intending to frame.  We pulled a few out and decided to pull the trigger.  This was a winner. 

I bought this "Guernica" print when I visited the original mural at the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid, Spain.  It traveled with me overseas, through many apartments in many cities and finally to Toronto.  Yesterday, it found a home in our main hallway.  And I love it.

More Picasso

The Expedit organizers in our dining room have had more attention than necessary.  Their function outweigh the fashion factor.  But another set of Picasso prints were framed along with "Guernica," and found their place above each organizer. 

Does anyone else sense a Spanish theme on the first floor or is it just me?

Basement Art

Lastly, the basement.

It is the holy grail of the house.  Anything and everything that enters must be of the highest order.  Hence, the etsy prints from Mr. City Printing that we LOOOOOOVE. 

You can see Chicago, IL above.  There are three in total.  If you can guess the other two, then you know our story. 

I am exhausted and elated all at once....if our guests arrived in 5 minutes, our house would be able to handle it.  Thankfully, we have another 48 hours to remove dust bunnies, buy more pillows and stock up on booze.  Just because I'm from Wisconsin, it doesn't mean we only know cheese. 

Stay tuned for pictures of Wysocki's in Toronto 2012!!

And, yes, I'm in love with Instagram.

5!

How did this happen?

First Born

5 Years Old

Yesterday was my middle child's birthday.  I didn't get to post ON his birthday because I was too busy BEING WITH HIM on his birthday.  As a middle, that rarely happens.

Celebrating

I spent the afternoon with him at his playschool.  We decorated cupcakes.

Henry Sandwiches

Then Henry chose dinner: meatball sandwiches on buns with ketchup.  George added to it by having everyone watch Raffi on youtube over...and over...and over...and over.....I'm now singing Robin the in Rain in my sleep...

3 Boys!

Then we took the requisite kid pic.  Doesn't George look scared there?  I would, too.

Birthday Cookie

Finally, daddy came home so we could get high on sugar sing Happy Birthday.

First Blow

Silly Face with Mommy & Jake Photobombing

 
Birthdays are an excuse to overload on sugar at this house.  We kinda go crazy, but just for one night.  Cause for some reason, the leftover cookies & candy seem to disappear by morning...hmmmm....

Opening Presents

This year, I took Jake out to buy Henry a special present.  Jake's finally old enough to keep a secret.  And Henry loved what he chose.  A super bouncy ball.

Present from Mommy

I got him Ants in the Can.  We spend Tuesday and Thursday afternoons together while George naps and Jake is still at school.  There's no better way to spend that time than playing some good, healthy competitive games.

I think I have to step it up, though.  Guess who won last night...?

Painting 3

Benjamin Moore's "Cloud White" is slowly taking over our house.  It had us at hello during the basement renovation, so why not repeat what we like through the house?

Especially when George's new room on 3 (our term for "the 3rd floor") looks like this:

Ikea Green

Yes, that would be the perfect shade of green to match the Ikea duvet cover that sat on the bed when the house was staged to sell in 2002.  We loved it so much, we kept it. 

Actually, keeping it means we ignored it for 10 years.  Time to come to terms. 

And that time was Saturday morning. 

Only Primed

Over our regular weekend "donut day" cup of Tim Horton's coffee at 7:15am, Steve said, "You're gonna paint George's new room this weekend."  He wrote out a schedule of how I was going to get it all done in 36 hours and the childcare he would provide. 

Then I reminded him of a birthday party the boys were invited to on Sunday...and the presents that needed to be bought....

Before

So I got the first step done - primer.  It's a big difference already.  What wouldn't be a big difference from that green?

Now

It doesn't feel incredibly bigger, like the 2nd floor new guest room did when we painted Cloud White over deep red.  But it's still a nice change.

Cut the Room Twice

One thing I did differently - I cut the room with a brush, then rolled the walls, then cut again.  I wanted the primer to do the work instead of the finish paint.  I'm much happier with the results this way - there's far less color around the edges.

Before - Patched Nail Heads

Because we love our guests so much, I also ordered new blackout roller shades for both rooms on 3. 

The newspaper you see above is placement for the fabric.  The trim and window are completely askew, so any shade is going to look wonky.  I just wanted to make sure the shade width would cover the window opening at the top and bottom.  Old houses!

Now - All Primed

So, where is George, you ask?  Poor guy is in a pack-n-play in the new guest room/old baby room.  Think he's confused?  Actually, he's lucky.  His Grandma and Pop offered to take him for a holiday later this week while I get the trim and walls finished. 

Thursday can't come soon enough!

Dining Room Revision

Again, temporary.  Meaning cheap.  Disposable even. 

Ok, that might be going a tiny bit too far.

Before

After

The Drona (fabric) baskets are the cheapest IKEA has to offer.  And since I needed 10 to add to the 2 I had, that $6.99 price tag was right.  Combined with the $79.99 Expedit I bought to complete the set, this temporary organization/storage situation cost $150. 

I threw in some black Kassett boxes (lookin' a little grey in the pic above!)...so add $13 to that total. 

The styling is not done.  That fake flower has goodwill on it's name...I just like the height. 

Next up?  Craigslist.  Let's hope someone's searching for some wicker baskets!!!

Dining Room Addition

No, this is not a trick.  We're still moving forward with plans to fix our first floor. 

But until we start the demo, we have to live with what we've got.  And that means dealing with this.

Chaos

With three little kids, I can't have piles of stuff.  But I have no storage space.  George ends up walking into the kitchen with an empty wine bottle, found in a bag shoved under the extra dining room chairs covered in deck chair pads. 

Not good.

But we're NOT buying anything new for the first floor.  So I scour the house. 

Better...

And top it up with more IKEA that can be repurposed in other rooms.

Getting There

This post is less than impressive, because it really isn't showing much of a finished product.  But what I'm proud of is this:  the Expedit organizer on the right is from the big boys' room, using baskets I found in the 3rd floor purge. 

Gold star for shopping in my house. 

And thank you to my husband for having the same idea as me...buying a second (inexpensive) Expedit unit for the left side.  (the poorly functioning cabinet that was there now resides on another floor)  We can never have enough Expedit in this house with so little storage and many kids...I lied, we're stopping at three.

Plus, should we decide to part with them, Craigslist also loves Expedit ;)

My next step is deciding on baskets and managing the stuff sitting on top of the units.  I want to not see anything but pretty. 

Right now, she ain't pretty.  But that nice, clear tabletop sure is...