Yardwork for Grandpa

We spent most of Saturday helping out with yard work at my Grandpa's house. He is now home, but is in hospice care. The only medicine he will ever get is maintenance chemo, so we are hoping it will continue to work. However, his counts are going higher again. :(  You can follow his journey on his caring bridge site.

The workers!

Anyways, since he is in hospice care, a lot of the family got together to help with yard work. I didn't really do much besides follow Macyn in her power wheel and watch her, but DH helped out a lot. After the work was done we all came inside and had a nice meal with some chit chatting. It was nice to have a family gathering all supporting my Grandpa. He was happy that everyone was so willing to help out.

Macyn and cousin Liam

Doll House = Done!

We originally had planned to give Macyn her dollhouse for her birthday, but since we weren't super busy this past weekend and was an extremely well behaved child, we decided to give it to her early. Let me tell you, this has kept her busy all weekend! It is nice to see that it doesn't matter to her if it is home made, if the beds are made out of cereal boxes or the couch made out of kleenex. She loves it all the same as a store bought one. Here are the final pictures:

Finished house! Includes baby room, bedroom, loft area, and living room.

When we gave this to her she exclaimed "A BARBIE HOUSE!"

How she arranged everything :)

Here is the lowdown of all the supplies used:
 • Peel and stick floor tiles (leftovers) - Free
 • Purple shag rug from the dollar store ($6)
 • Walls - gift bags and scrapbook paper ($3)
 • Paint - leftover from Macyn's nursery -Free
 • Chandelier was a Christmas ornament I found at Walmart ($2)
 • Furniture was made out of cereal boxes, kleenex boxes - Free
 • Materials for furniture was used out of my mom's old fabric scraps.
 • Stuffing for the pillows and couch a giant bag ($3)
 • Flatscreen TV - template I desgined - Free!

So with a grand total of $14, I think this was a pretty cheap way to make something Macyn loves. It was such a fun project to do!

Cabinet Progress

We have half of the upper cabinets finished and hung! I am happy with how they are turning out so far. Will be even happier once our kitchen doesn't have to be torn apart 24/7!

Double Trouble

"Two Macyn's in the house!" - Macyn

2 years, 11 months

Hard to believe in 1 short month our little "baby" will be 3 already! The only bummer is, I don't think she is anywhere near being out of the terrible twos yet. In fact, I think they might just be getting more terrible. We have even begun attending a parenting class on how to deal with different situations while gaining your child's respect, etc. Some of the tactics seem to work, and other times it seems like a lost cause. I know it will be tough, but hopefully if we stick to it we can have a fun loving toddler to last all the way into her teenage years!

Besides that, she continues to grow! All her size 3T pajamas are too short, same goes for her 3T pants. It's hard to believe that a 2 year old is wearing size 4T already! Maybe one of these days her growth will slow down a little bit. She seems to have grown out of most her summer shoes, and I may have to buy a new set of shoes once winter rolls around (in addition to her fall shoes).

She has been really into Barbies and will play with them for quite a while. She also likes to sing with her Toddler Silly Songs CD in her room. Or, she frequently asks to go outside and drive her car around the house and ride her trike. We haven't mastered the pedaling on the bike yet, but it's coming!

Mornings are always a challenge as she never wants to go to the bathroom or put her clothes on. Unfortunately it sometimes turns into a wrestling match between me and her to get her dressed. She has a short fuse and will often resort to kicking, hitting, biting, and screaming if you try and dress her. Mornings can be quite stressful! And then some days, she is a perfect angel.

Her favorite things to watch on TV lately have been disney movies, Micky Mouse Clubhouse, and Cailou. We try and limit how much she watches, but she watches at least a 1/2 hour a day in the morning. 

She is growing up so fast, so I better get her birthday party planned. She says she wants an ice cream party....so I am open for ideas!

AND I think I may start to do every 2 months updates. It will be a little easier with how busy we have been!

DIY Dollhouse - the "Dutch" way

At work we are going to be moving into a new building shortly, so we have been busy purging and throwing stuff we don't need to bring over there. In one of the giant mounds of trash, I grabbed an old floor stand made out of corrugate. These are the types that you can see in convenience stores, etc. that hold bags of candy or other items. Here is a "before" picture of it on its side. I only had the top part, not the base.

Floorstand on it's side

I was trying to figure out what I could make or use this for. And then it dawned on me - how about a Barbie house? So I brought it home and tried debating if it would work or not. I figured out a "floor plan" which includes 2 bed rooms, a living room, and a storage area for accessories. I then deconstructed the floor stand, removed some of the grids, and grabbed the utility knife to make my own pattern to make the grids more sturdy. They were a little flimsy, but I added more strength by adding tabs and reinforced cardboard to make it a little stronger. Sounds complicated, but I do similar things as part of my job, so it wasn't too difficult.

Grids removed, and rooms created!

Once I had this floorplan established, I painted each room a different color. I used leftover paint from Macyn's nursery. I then laid some carpet and tile. I used some peel and stick tile that was leftover from my bedroom in high school, and I picked up a purple shag rug from the dollar store for $6. In fact, the tile made the shelves stronger.

 I still need to "wallpaper" the walls, create furniture, and possibly some curtains. So, here is a rundown of the supplies and cost so far:

* Floor stand = Free

* Paint = Leftovers

* Tile = Leftovers

* Carpet = $6 (and I have over half left)

Actual money spent so far  = $6. .....and just think, this thing was going in the trash!

....to be continued.

Labor Day Rundown

Here is a quick rundown of our fun-filled-super-full weekend!

Friday Night:

We primed all the lower cabinets in our kitchen. This included wiping them all down, removing all doors, handles, and hinges. We gave it two coats of primer and let it dry overnight to be ready to paint in the morning. (Make sure you check out our new range - woo hoo for 5 burners and matching appliances!)

Saturday:

Painted 2 coats of paint on lower cabinets. We also primed 2 coats on about half the doors - front and back. Let me tell you, this is time consuming!

I needed a break from painting, so I decided to try a pinterest project where you paint letters onto glass votives. The paint didn't stick to the glass so I gave up. I did, however, try another idea I saw on Pinterest. This included filling a vase with pine cones, and using a toilet paper roll in the middle so you don't have to use so many to fill the vase. I then filled the rest of the top with ribbon, and added flowers. I like how it turned out, but I wish the flowers were taller. I think I am going to switch out the filled vase for the Christmas season as well.

Sunday:

We decided to visit my Grandpa in the hospital. Macyn wasn't exactly an angel, but tolerable. Better than when she pees her pants when we put her in time out (that's a whole 'nother story). But, Grandpa was happy to see her and us. I am not quite sure what the next steps with his Leukemia is, but all I know is they stopped his chemo, and he has 90% bad white cells. His total white blood count is 300. Earlier in the week they told him if he decides to not treat his AML, he would have 2 weeks is all. This makes me nervous knowing how his blood work is turning out. That being said, we are still taking it one day at a time, praying, and hoping for the best.

Monday:

We decided to hit up my hometown parade. It was a parade full of fire trucks and random stuff. Seriously one of the longest parades with nothing that memorable. There were some clowns, horses, and Steve King was there. I always think its kinda cool to see him in person instead of only on CSPAN or the town hall meetings I get on my phone all the time. I also made the 125th brochure for the town. I was asked, and I think it turned out pretty well. I also had to draw out the map - it was tedious! (It is a gatefold, which is why it looks weird flat)

We also had some good home made ice cream in the park and checked out the craft fair. It was a very busy, hot weekend!

Macyn and myself waiting for the parade to start