~~ They're leaving the nest, sew it's time for a trip - or two - or three...~~ D~'s bag ~9/22 ~~

[Terkina]

The stairs doesn't look that bad. You could pain the stairs white.

V did a great job with the poster. I like the note V wrote on the poster for Allison

 

[Sweetly]

Ugh, I just lost my entire post. I will sum it up.

I cried when I saw the poster that V did. It turned out beautifully.
My dd will only be 3 hours away, but still not close enough. However, she will be playing a sport for the school and it will bring her closer this way on occasionally.
The littles are moving back. Daddy's job is bringing them back this way, so that means the move for me is off. Not just because they are moving back, but it allows me to only be three hours away from my dd. For now the move wasn't meant to be and I am fine with that.
Oh, graduation!!!! Hope you bring lots of tissues.
The stairs definitely have lots of old farmhouse charm. Personally, I like wooden stairs. Maybe Josh will surprise you and help.
Have a wonderful day.

 

[FantasiaMagic]

Wishing you the best of luck with the stairs!

I love the poster Victoria made for Allison's graduation, it's so cute!
I hope she has a wonderful ceremony tomorrow!

 

[DMGeurts]

I love the look and the history of the stairs -- I think you'll be able to get them looking great. I need to look for some apothecary jars...I love those! The poster turned out great and I laughed at the note she wrote on it -- so cute and fun!

We've started talking about specific things we can do to prep for the Whole30 we're going to do at the end of the summer and are starting to try new recipes now and making ingredient substitutions. I'm excited about this and hopeful for good results.... Thanks for the continuing inspiration!

I think the pictures make them look better than what they are - there is a LOT of work to be done with them. I am not sure I will even start painting them until after the party, but I do need to get the walls around them painted... It's creeping up on us so quickly - her party is only a week away!

I am excited for Allison to see her poster tonight... I wouldn't let her see it yesterday.

I think I may be jumping into a Whole30 again after this whole graduation craziness is over - I need a reset right now in a bad way.

The stairs doesn't look that bad. You could pain the stairs white.

V did a great job with the poster. I like the note V wrote on the poster for Allison

Yes - I think I will be painting the stairs white... I will get all of the walls painted this weekend/week - but the stairs themselves will have to wait until after the party, I just don't have time left to do them. Oh well - Like I said - I think they look better with out the carpet, so I am satisfied that I took it off - even if they are ugly.

Yes - she did do a great job - I am excited for Allison to see it.

Ugh, I just lost my entire post. I will sum it up.

I cried when I saw the poster that V did. It turned out beautifully.
My dd will only be 3 hours away, but still not close enough. However, she will be playing a sport for the school and it will bring her closer this way on occasionally.
The littles are moving back. Daddy's job is bringing them back this way, so that means the move for me is off. Not just because they are moving back, but it allows me to only be three hours away from my dd. For now the move wasn't meant to be and I am fine with that.
Oh, graduation!!!! Hope you bring lots of tissues.
The stairs definitely have lots of old farmhouse charm. Personally, I like wooden stairs. Maybe Josh will surprise you and help.
Have a wonderful day.

I hate it when that happens - the Dis has done that to me many times. It's so frustrating!

She did do a great job - I am so excited for Allison to see it tonight.

I am glad that your dd will be able to get closer to home a little more often - that will help. Parenting never gets easier - it seems.

I totally understand - I would put off the move indefinitely too... Too many reasons to stay put.

Hahaha... Yes - that they do. I am not sure if he will or not? He mentioned something last night, so he might. We'll see? He still has cabinet doors to hang... :grrrrrr:

Wishing you the best of luck with the stairs!

I love the poster Victoria made for Allison's graduation, it's so cute!
I hope she has a wonderful ceremony tomorrow!

Thanks! I will get all of the walls painted, both in the downstairs landing and the upstairs hallway... but I don't think I will have the time to paint the stairs themselves - there's just too much repair that needs to be done, and not enough time to do it. I am still glad I took the carpet off though - because at least now I can clean them.

Thanks - she did a great job, I am so excited for Allison to see it tonight.

Thank you - today is the day! I cannot believe it! It's very hot here today - not Florida summer hot - but hot just the same. It will be a fun day for sure! Emotional - but fun!

*********************************************************************************************************

Well, I worked out yesterday morning - which was good.

Then I worked upstairs for a while - I made some progress, but I need to make more.

Allison and I picked V up from her last day of school, then we went to the MOA... We had some lunch and we shopped. Allison needed a few remaining items for her trip.

We dropped V off at work on our way home, and we had a nice dinner at the dinner table (it's soooo nice having it back in service)...

Last night, Allison and I dropped off her graduation poster at school - I kept it covered so she didn't see it.

Then we went to Michael's... I am trying to find something for the wall that the China Cabinet is on - but I am not having much luck - it's looking like it will be bare.

After - we went to Home Depot... I purchased a few more roller refills... Some more oil based paint for the stairs... A paint edger (I didn't know there was such a thing - that would have been helpful a few rooms ago...)... Oh and a fun accent color for one of the walls going upstairs - the rest of the walls are going to be painted the same color as the living room. It was fun to get that stuff - especially a new color of paint. I love paint.

I thought Josh was working on hanging cabinet doors while we were gone - so I was excited to get home... I got home to him in bed and no cabinet doors hung. Grrrrr..... It's 4 doors!!!!!! I really want this done. If they don't get hung today - I will do it myself.

Today is the day!

I am going to work out this morning.

Then I will work upstairs for most of today.

This evening is Allison's graduation ceremony... I am so excited for her! Such a big day!

And then I will be painting again all weekend.

I hope you all have a great day!!! Pixie Dust to all!

D~

 

[Born 2B a Princess]

The graduation poster -- is that a tradition that your girls' school does? What a fun idea!

I've never been to MOA but it's on my list of places to go!

I'll be interested in following along if you do another Whole30 after graduation...I've been pinning Whole30 recipes, shopping lists, etc., like crazy! Right now I'm trying to figure out if my beloved flavored olive oils (lemon especially) and grapeseed oils (lime especially) are compliant...and my flavored balsamic vinegars. I love raspberry balsamic vinegar with lime oil on a salad....and using mango pulp or peach pulp balsamic as a glaze for grilled chicken. I bought many oils and vinegars from a shop about 30 minutes away and you buy by the ounce so it's not prebottled, so I need to find out if they can tell me what's in them so I can figure out if they'll be compliant.

Question for you -- my August trip will be the first time we've flown to Orlando -- how do I go about making arrangements with Magical Express?

enjoy graduation tonight -- such a special day!

 

[Clio]

Enjoy Allison's graduation tonight. She did a good job decorating her cap. When my daughter graduated they weren't allowed to decorate their caps. Victoria did a great job on the poster. I think allison will like it.
The stairs aren't as I thought they'd be. Painting them white will look good.
Our inventory went well. We managed to cut the shrink in our department in half. I'm not quite sure how we'll top that next year but we'll try.
Tomorrow's the Color run or walk as my daughter and I call it. It's supposed to be in the 80's with a chance of rain. At least it's along the lake shore so it should be a little cooler.
Have a great day.
Liz

 

[kbarrett]

Love that you are tackling the stairs reminds me of myself and my husband! Everytime I get on a roll on projects he gets to his breaking point and I an on my own, which sometimes is the most satisfying then I get to do things my way!
Congratulations Allison, hope you all have a wonderful time!

 

[tatar63]

Congratulations to Allison on her graduation tonight ! I love her decorated cap, how fun that they can do that. Her poster Victoria did is also great. You and your girls are all very talented .
I am loving your kitchen and can't wait to see the final results. Taking the layers of carpet off of your stairs looked like a rough job with all the staples .

Enjoy tonight, you are a wonderful mother who has successfully raised a beautiful girl (inside & out). Don't forget some handkerchief 's .

Monica

 

[FantasiaMagic]

Thank you - today is the day! I cannot believe it! It's very hot here today - not Florida summer hot - but hot just the same. It will be a fun day for sure! Emotional - but fun!

That's great you have good weather for Allison's graduation!
Congratulations to her and her class, enjoy the evening!

 

[Iamthequeen]

Congrats to Allison! And to the beginning of a new chapter in her life.

I like your stairs - they have character and old houses should have character. I pulled the carpet off my stairs, hoping that I could stain them, but they are not stain grade stairs or even paint grade stairs - they really need to have carpet on them, but I cleaned them up as much as I could and then painted them and added a carpet runner. That will do until we put new hardwood floors in - the stairs will be done at the same time.

 

[4myBenandEllie]

Congratulations Allison!

 

[DMGeurts]

The graduation poster -- is that a tradition that your girls' school does? What a fun idea!

I've never been to MOA but it's on my list of places to go!

I'll be interested in following along if you do another Whole30 after graduation...I've been pinning Whole30 recipes, shopping lists, etc., like crazy! Right now I'm trying to figure out if my beloved flavored olive oils (lemon especially) and grapeseed oils (lime especially) are compliant...and my flavored balsamic vinegars. I love raspberry balsamic vinegar with lime oil on a salad....and using mango pulp or peach pulp balsamic as a glaze for grilled chicken. I bought many oils and vinegars from a shop about 30 minutes away and you buy by the ounce so it's not prebottled, so I need to find out if they can tell me what's in them so I can figure out if they'll be compliant.

Question for you -- my August trip will be the first time we've flown to Orlando -- how do I go about making arrangements with Magical Express?

enjoy graduation tonight -- such a special day!

It is pretty neat... I love that their school makes this a really special celebration - individual and exciting for them. We had a hard time choosing a school district when we moved here - as we had a choice of 3 districts and several more elementary schools, because we over lap with so many borders... It was a tough decision for us, but I knew which ever school we chose, that the girls would graduate with that district - as I had to change schools so much while growing up, I wanted my girls to have that feeling of belonging somewhere and having a "home"... We were so concerned that this school would be too big for what we wanted for them - and it's definitely a bigger school, but it's within a pretty close knit community, and because it's bigger, it offers more opportunities for them. I was thinking about this yesterday - as this was a huge deciding factor when we purchased this house... And how, as a parent - I was almost successful in my promise to myself - in which I would never make my girls move around a lot and switch schools a lot like I had to. They switched schools once, when they were in 2nd and 3rd grade (respectively) when we moved here... And It did warm my heart a little bit, the boy who walked in next to Allison last night, and the same boy she sat next to, has had a locker next to her since 5th grade... I know that's kind of dumb - but I wanted them to grow up knowing their peers and having roots. It felt good, knowing I achieved that.

If you ever make it to MOA - please let me know... I'd love to finally meet you!

Believe me, after seeing pictures of myself last night - a Whole30, or something drastic like that is VERY necessary right now. Sigh. I am lying to myself if I think that all of this house work has been enough activity - on top of walking - to keep myself in shape. It was super disappointing to see pictures of myself last night.... But in the same breath - this is where I need to hop back on the wagon, before it gets super out of control. Lots of meal prep will be happening.

I hope you are able to figure out your oils... I believe the only approved oils for W30 are Olive and Coconut, so I think that rule right there would put those oils out of the program. There are many things, which I love, that are not W30 approved... And I look at it like this... It's only 30 days - I can do anything for 30 days, after that, I can eat it again. So, it's not as if you have to take these oils out of your life forever - Just find a good substitute for 30 days. You can do this!

I am going to pass your question off to Suzi... The last time I rode ME was back in November - but Suzi coordinated that trip and I had nothing to do with the ME portion at all. The last time I actually coordinated ME was in August of 2014... So, it's been a while. I have no idea if this has changed any since then... So, I'll let an expert help you.

Thank you - it was so bittersweet... It was so emotional watching her walk in... I choked back many tears of pride and happiness - along with a bit of sadness. But what it comes down to, is that I am super proud of her, and I cannot wait to see where her life takes her. It was a great night.

Enjoy Allison's graduation tonight. She did a good job decorating her cap. When my daughter graduated they weren't allowed to decorate their caps. Victoria did a great job on the poster. I think allison will like it.
The stairs aren't as I thought they'd be. Painting them white will look good.
Our inventory went well. We managed to cut the shrink in our department in half. I'm not quite sure how we'll top that next year but we'll try.
Tomorrow's the Color run or walk as my daughter and I call it. It's supposed to be in the 80's with a chance of rain. At least it's along the lake shore so it should be a little cooler.
Have a great day.
Liz

Thank you Liz... We had a good time... It was hard and a bit emotional - but it was fun and I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

I think this cap decorating thing is somewhat new... I don't think, until recent years, that the cap/gown rental place (Jostens, in our case) has allowed the purchase of caps... But now you can, at the end of the night, purchase your cap when turning in your gown. I think it's really cool to see everyone's individuality show through.

I hope she likes her poster... I'll find out in a few minutes when she gets home from her lock-in grad party. I wonder if my child (who cannot stay awake past 8pm on any given night) survived the night - awake?

Good luck on your color walk/run today!!! It's super hot here - we had to turn on our air yesterday - hopefully it's more comfortable where you are.

Love that you are tackling the stairs reminds me of myself and my husband! Everytime I get on a roll on projects he gets to his breaking point and I an on my own, which sometimes is the most satisfying then I get to do things my way!
Congratulations Allison, hope you all have a wonderful time!

Hehehehe... I think Josh met his breaking point weeks ago... I flat out told him that he will work until the week before the party - after that, he can do whatever he wants. So, I think he has been secretly praying for this weekend to come. LOL I also told him that the kitchen HAD to be finished by this point. And it is, finally!

It sounds like he had a good idea for me about how to repair that one patched toe kick - and he may help me with that? I hope so - I really wasn't looking forward to doing that. But I think it will happen after the party.

Thank you - it was beautiful and wonderful... Emotional and bittersweet... Everything all wrapped up in one.

Congratulations to Allison on her graduation tonight ! I love her decorated cap, how fun that they can do that. Her poster Victoria did is also great. You and your girls are all very talented .
I am loving your kitchen and can't wait to see the final results. Taking the layers of carpet off of your stairs looked like a rough job with all the staples .

Enjoy tonight, you are a wonderful mother who has successfully raised a beautiful girl (inside & out). Don't forget some handkerchief 's

Monica

Monica!!!! I was actually thinking about you yesterday and wondering how you and your family are doing? I hope you are well. I am very much looking forward to seeing you again in a few months!

Thank you... I am very proud of them!

Thanks - I've been holding off sharing on FB, so I can share here first... be prepared though - to be bombarded in both places today. LOL

Yes- I am still a bit nervous about those stairs... but, once I realized that I MUST paint the ceiling and walls before I even touch the stairs - I realized that I won't get to the stairs before the party. So, I am just relieving myself of that obligation. I will work on painting those walls/ceiling this weekend, and I'll be done with projects. Then I can start on cleaning. Thankfully, because of all this remodeling - there isn't much at all that I have to clean. Just the bathroom and my sewing room, really. Pretty manageable, IMO.

Thanks Monica... I choked back many tears - but I was successful choking them back, it wasn't easy. There are NO choking anything back at the airport in 2 short weeks - I will be a blubbering mess.

Thanks for stopping by - it's always good to see you here... I hope you are well and enjoying baseball season.

That's great you have good weather for Allison's graduation!
Congratulations to her and her class, enjoy the evening!

It was super hot, so we had it indoors - which ended up being good, because we had some pretty rough weather right before... And it was much cooler inside the school.

Thank you so much - it was amazing! A little sad, but I was so full of pride.

Congrats to Allison! And to the beginning of a new chapter in her life.

I like your stairs - they have character and old houses should have character. I pulled the carpet off my stairs, hoping that I could stain them, but they are not stain grade stairs or even paint grade stairs - they really need to have carpet on them, but I cleaned them up as much as I could and then painted them and added a carpet runner. That will do until we put new hardwood floors in - the stairs will be done at the same time.

Thank you Tess.

LOL - they definitely have character... I really do take comfort in the fact that there's 130 years of wear and feet going up and down these stairs... I think it's pretty cool. But they are ugly. LOL I totally understand that - and it makes sense to do yours when you redo the flooring. I still don't know what we are going to put at the landing below the stairs - it's a very small space. I'd LOVE to open it up to the living room - it would be sooooo awesome... maybe once we get through the party?

Thanks for stopping by Tess - it was great seeing you!

Congratulations Allison!

Thanks so much!

***********************************************************************************************

Alrighty - so yesterday was a big day in our house! The end and the beginning of so many things.

First things first... I went for a walk. I didn't work out, but gosh I love those walks. After seeing photos of myself last night though - I need to step up my game, and quickly, before I get too out of control. I am looking at starting a W30 again... even if it's just for a week to put myself back on the right path... I'll be the first to admit I've had too many sandwiches in my life lately - as they are easy with out a functioning kitchen.

Then I came home and worked upstairs until noon. I was able to get everything done that I needed to, although I will still have to put in a few hours today - which I don't normally do on weekends. But I have a SUPER heavy work load next week - which was foolish on my part, but I need to stay caught up so I can devote the necessary time to prepping for Allison's party next week. No rest for the weary right? LOL

And, finally, finally, finally - I have cabinet doors on my kitchen cabinets, so I can show you the whole thing. I am so very happy with it! I just love it so much - I cannot believe this is the same kitchen! It has so much personality and so much character, which totally fits with the age of the house. I feel like it has some really classic and vintage elements - yet it has some classic and modern elements too... I am so happy with it. And I love how bright and useful that back corner is now - putting in that over the stove microwave was one of our best decisions. I hope it was worth the wait. (I still have to arrange the open cabinet though)

On a side note - the coffee nook isn't set up yet... The floor is a little awkward in that space, so I need Josh to level it out before I can set stuff up the way I am planning. And I forgot pictures of the dining space, I will try to do that today.

We had to turn on our air yesterday because it got so hot here... It was quite funny, because the dogs found ONE air vent and decided that was the only air vent in the house, and no one else was getting any of the cold air. LOL

And then, last night, was Allison's big day... My heart swelled with pride for her. I choked back the tears when she was walking in... but the smile on that girl - she is just amazing, and totally my heart.

A fun and cute Then n' Now for you all... With her dad. 8th grade graduation in 2012 and High School graduation.

And then a bunch of family pictures... My favorite is the girls with both dogs.

And that was it. Allison had her lock-in grad party last night, and she just got home. She said it was a lot of fun - but she is going right to bed, I am sure.

Today - I will be working upstairs this morning, trying to finish this week's bag. And then I will be priming/painting the stair walls and upstairs hallway for the remainder of the day. It is my goal to get that space totally done by Tuesday. Which will leave me 3 days to do a deep clean on the remainder of the house - which there isn't that much to do, since we've been cleaning as we go along. It's really just the main floor bathroom and scrubbing kitchen floors.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Sending Prayers and Pixie Dust to all!

D~

 

[solana131]

Question for you -- my August trip will be the first time we've flown to Orlando -- how do I go about making arrangements with Magical Express?

Hi there
We use Magical Express every trip. We just love it....no driving, no worries about luggage, it's simple and fast. I've heard horror stories about having to wait forever or missing flights on the return....but we have always had great experiences with it.
As far as how you sign up?? You can do it when you first make the reservation. But if you already have a room or package booked, you can just call Disney and say you want to add it. They will ask for your flight info and send you luggage tags. You get 1 tag for each person traveling, so if you need more than one suitcase for each person, just tell them and they will ship extra.

There is also a direct number for Magical Express, but the one time I tried that, it wasn't connected to my reservation properly. So I just call their regular reservation number now

 

[disny_luvr]

Your kitchen looks amazing! Nice job by you and your hubby.

Congratulations to Allison on her graduation! She must be over the moon excited.

 

[Born 2B a Princess]

Hi there
We use Magical Express every trip. We just love it....no driving, no worries about luggage, it's simple and fast. I've heard horror stories about having to wait forever or missing flights on the return....but we have always had great experiences with it.
As far as how you sign up?? You can do it when you first make the reservation. But if you already have a room or package booked, you can just call Disney and say you want to add it. They will ask for your flight info and send you luggage tags. You get 1 tag for each person traveling, so if you need more than one suitcase for each person, just tell them and they will ship extra.

There is also a direct number for Magical Express, but the one time I tried that, it wasn't connected to my reservation properly. So I just call their regular reservation number now

Thank you so much!! I really appreciate your help!

 

[Born 2B a Princess]

First, congratulations to Allison! Such a special, exciting day for her -- and for all of you. I completely understand what you mean about deciding which school district/schools they should go to. I grew up in a military family and went to 14 different schools...including 3 high schools. I didn't want that for my kids. We moved to a different state just after our oldest daughter's kindergarten year, so she did first grade through high school all in the same place....went to one elementary school, one middle school, and one high school. We moved the summer after she graduated, and so our younger daughter went to one elementary school, two middle schools, and will have one high school when she graduates. I did fine growing up in the military and moving a lot, but I was happy that they didn't have to change schools. I love the close relationships they developed with friends and teachers over the years.

Your kitchen is absolutely gorgeous. SO gorgeous! Seriously, you couldn't have found a nicer countertop than the one you and Josh created. It's gorgeous. Your color palette is soft and warm and inviting and the coffee corner, when that is set up, will give it just the right pop. So fabulous. Congratulations on a job well done!

Thanks for to you and Suzi for the Magical Express info. I made a note to call and get that taken care of as soon as I get our airline tickets purchased. I keep hoping the prices will come down just a bit.....it's so frustrating checking all of the websites daily (at least once) looking for good airfare.

I got our FP+ reservations made this morning for our August trip. Surprisingly, I was able to get everything at almost the times I wanted except Buzz Lightyear -- can you believe there were no FP+ reservations for Buzz available in the window I needed them???? I thought that was odd. And right now the calendar says MK will close at 10 pm that night. I'm hoping they add some hours...10 pm on a mid-August night seems really early....

Have a great day!

 

[Tinkercc]

Congratulations to Allison!!! How exciting. I'm dreading next year when my son graduates from High School. Ugh!! Your kitchen looks amazing! All of you hard work early paid off! Have a great weekend!

 

[tatar63]

Wow! I love your kitchen and am so happy it is done for your sake . The countertop is so special, just amazing! I have enjoyed following along on your projects . Also looking forward to your coffee nook.

I bet Allison will sleep all day, I hope she had a good time!

All is well with my family.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Monica

 

[3timesmom]

Congratulations to Allison!!! She looks so happy.
Your kitchen looks AMAZING!!!! Those countertops are fantastic, everything came together so nicely…you did an awesome job!!!I LOVE it!!

 

[Terkina]

The kitchen looks amazing.