The (Big) Birthday Boy

This year for Jared's birthday he repeatedly told me that he just wanted to stay home all day Saturday (which is one of his most favorite things to do) and he did not want any surprises.

So I complied. 

Sort of.

Well.. I mean... we did stay home all day Saturday... and then it was just ONE very small surprise... And I KNEW he would have said it wasn't necessary.. but that it would make him happy.

So I talked to my mom and my brother and made a plan.

Sunday evening we drove over to my Mom's house for a family dinner - just like we do EVERY Sunday - but this time instead of getting out and going in... we all stayed in the van while Mom, Roger, Tyler, Emily, and Bryce all backed out and drove off.

And we followed them :)


And, I'm not going to lie to you, there was some major stressing going on in the front seat beside me. Choruses of "I told you not to do anything", "Where are we going? What's in Wooster?", and "I hate surprises" rang out with abundance. 

But the SECOND he saw the sign, I heard "Oh YEA! BOWLING! Awesome." :)

And he was a happy birthday boy....

Bowling shoes for everyone!

Everybody getting all set up and ready

And I told him I wouldn't share this part, but he laughed and said it was ok... so...

 That right there?

 That was some a SERIOUS wipe out on the Birthday Boy's first turn. 

Haha!

But then he got it down! Check out that stellar form! :)

And the boys had so much fun, too. This was their first time ever!

Holden. Lookin' sharp and lovin' it.

Bridger Dean!

He was excited :)

Emily and Bryce watching Mimi and taking notes.. since
she was the best bowler in our group by far.

And another bowling lesson from Mimi.. this time it was about a "sleeper"

Graham and Daddy

I was... not... the best bowler in our group.

Selfie with the handsome birthday boy

Sticker Books with Mimi in between turns

Awww... Tyler and Emily♥ ;)

Lousy bowling skills aside, I was havin' fun!

The big boys, trying out "the slide"

Helping Bryce line it up.
(which, by the way, is his favorite. He just LOVES to be helped. and, ya know, NOT do things completely all on his own. hehe.)

On a side note, MAN I wish I would have gotten a picture when he bolted down the lane and wiped out. Way too funny.

Papa says, "Oops." :)






Pap Pap and Mimi

We had a great first bowling experience all together as a family!




And then we all went to Applebee's for a little birthday dinner.


And a couple gifts.

He was very excited.

Obviously.

Ha. ;)

31 never looked so good♥





And then a few days later it was REALLY his birthday... so we had to celebrate again. Of course!

Treated himself to a new workout.. um.. thing.
(I think it's called a Roman Chair. But don't quote me. It's basically just ab torture.)

Pizza party and a movie for daddy's special day!

And a couple more small gifts.


A book/card made by mommy and the boys... which turned out so cute...

The Front Cover

Holden's page

Bridger's page

Graham's page
(orchestrated my mommy. I mean, I told him WHERE to draw the circle and lines... but he did do it all himself!)

The Back Cover

A few new polo shirts and a Ninja Turtle balloon - because Graham picked it out

And all the boys with Daddy and his birthday cream stick! 

Happy Birthday, Jared! Here's to one more year of being our Super Hero!♥

Moving Day!

Well.. really more like Moving BACK IN Day.... but still exciting for us! Haha


So, a quick recap.  (Or you can re-read the whole first post... if you're bored.)
 

- This all started because I ordered our first ever NICE set of bedding... and couldn't force myself to put it on in our current, meh bedroom conditions.

 - Here's what our bedroom looked like on the morning of Monday Jan 12.... when I went up to wash the walls and prep... then decided I didn't WANT to just paint over the paneling... I wanted it gone. And Jared said ok. (incidentally, our room seems small because (a) we have a king size bed and (b) it is small. We switched the rooms all around awhile back.... All 3 boys are sharing the largest/master bedroom now... and the 3rd is being used as a crafting/sewing/storage room right now. It just works out better that way.)

- And when I last left you - in this whole bedroom-remodel-blogging saga thing - this is basically where we were... paneling gone, carpet gone, ceiling tiles gone, and in the process of drywalling and mudding:

And NOW... for the REST of the story..... ;)


So here's what happened next...


We finished up the mudding/sanding/mudding/sanding portion of the project - including the ceiling.  And we even had some surprise help with that part from Jared's brother Tyler one day! (Even though I forgot to take a picture, you can trust me. It really happened.)


And then came Cleaning. Wiping down every wall and every baseboard.. widow frame... the entire ceiling...closets and doors...  to get off all that drywalling/mudding/sanding dust.  And, again, there are no pictures (Blogger of the Year, I know). But this time it's just because I am the photographer... and also the cleaner. And it's beyond my current skill-set to clean and snap photos at the same time. (But I'll keep practicing. Seems like this could be a good skill to have. Ya know, DOCUMENT the cleaning... since it's generally completely messed up again within 10 minutes... But, I digress.)


Next, it was Prime Time.

Then we painted all the White: Ceiling, baseboards, and closets... and then the Gray/Tan walls... and we ended up with this:

 (Did you notice that floor yet? Painted partly blue and partly brown?)

 Oh! And somewhere in the middle of all of this I had my first experience with Chalk Paint! I used it to inexpensively transform our dressers and my little night stand. (I made my own - because the Annie Sloan stuff is $$$! - and I found this website very helpful. Just fyi :))

 (I didn't take very good "Before" pictures... but you can see the dressers more if you scroll back to the top and see the general "Before" pictures of the room)

And then it was FINALLY time for the floor!!!


Now, we went back and forth and round and round with what to do with this floor:

Paint it white, like the other third bedroom/craft room floor? (No. Too hard to keep nice. I'm not careful enough... oh, and Jared HATES it. lol... so... there was that.)

Rent a sander and refinish it? (Nope. Too much time, too much money, too much more mess to deal with again.)

Carpet? (No. In general, I don't like carpet. And there is NO other carpet in my house.)

Watch for a deal and put a new hardwood floor over top of it? (No. Money, time, effort, silliness...)

 Just leave it the way it is - bc our bed is huge and will basically cover up the whole floor anyway, and buy a throw rug or two? (No. It is about time that we had at least ONE ROOM COMPLETELY FINISHED IN THIS HOUSE.)

And by now, patience was wearing thin.

And we were tired of sleeping downstairs in the toy room.


So, we revisited paint. And looked up inspiration. Thought about time/money/my abilities - since Jared works all day and this was my fault, er, project to begin with.


And decided to paint. But not white....:

 Proof I helped. Ha.

 It's a super glossy, dark dark brown called Fired Earth (or something)

And I LOVE it. 

2 coats of floor paint, 4 coats of polyurethane, quarter round on the baseboards, new hinges on the closets, and curtain rods up....

 

 

 And yesterday was the day we have been waiting for.... Move (back) In Day!!!!

 It's small. But it's as perfect as we could make it.

And I love it.

 The only thing left to do is put the rest of the handles/knobs on the dressers 

(to replace the ones we've lost and broken over the years) 

but they came in the mail last week and that will be done tomorrow!

And I got to put my pretty new bedding in my pretty new room. :)

(and now all that it's basically the nicest room in our house... I just want to spend all day in there. Admiring my amazing handyman husband's workmanship♥)