What Have We Been Up To

I finally decided to hang some cute tin sayings I found at Reel Deals in Pocatello several months ago. When I held them up to the wall I was disgusted to learn they were the wrong tan for my walls. I debated what to do, and finally decided on this... I took painter's canvas, painted it pink or ivory (depending on if it was for the girls' room or ours) and then mounted the saying on top. I think it worked out okay...

When we were first picking out everything for our house, we were disappointed in the lighting selection and disgusted at the outrageous prices. We knew we wanted dark lighting and fans; so we decided we would do it ourselves once we got settled. After a couple of outrageous electric bills, we determined it was definitely time to install some fans. While at the store we found lights for the kitchen and entry that were perfect for our house. So Nate has spent the last week or more installing and renovating all the lights on the main floor.

I hated this light over our dining room table (the way it looked is down below). The center is glass, but it didn't light up. Plus it was way too small for the area. I got the idea to paint it pink and hang it in the girls' bedroom. Nate thought I meant pastel pink, but I figured if you're going pink, might as well do it right. Anyway, I love how it turned out and as you can tell the girls do too.

Here is the new fan for our bedroom. We wanted something simple and light. Unfortunately as I was pulling the glass out of the bag, I immediately broke one of the pieces of glass. I guess it's back to home depot for me.
This is one of our dim cave-like lights. It used to be silver, but Nate painted it black to go with the rest of the house. These lights were throughout the house, and in the bigger rooms they just didn't put out enough light. We replaced them with fans and then are painting and swapping out the bigger size for the littler size in the rooms where they will work.
This is one of the new version for the hallway. It matches the entry and dining lights. Although it's pretty small it really lets out a lot of light, and for the hall we figured it is nice to open up the space.
This is our light over the stairs. I've always liked it, but it was silver...
Now the silver is replaced by black, and I love it even more.

Really this light wasn't bad, it has now been painted black and will be replacing the dim lighting in the front room as soon as Nate can get to it.
This is our new entry light. It is quite a bit bigger and matches the other new ones.
Here is that chandelier. See it's just kinda ugly where the center is glass but doesn't light up. It also looks just way too small.
Here is the much prettier chandelier and the nice new fan for the family room. It is so nice to be able to just turn on a fan instead of having to turn down the AC. And the best part is, we will be able to see each other. Neither of us wanted to spend a winter where it gets dark at 5pm with those horrible lights. It is nice to be able to finally have enough light.

Well, that's what we've been doing around the house.

Kayla has been loving kindergarten. She's making lots of new friends, and Friday she even got to go play at one girl's house after school. It's crazy that she's learning to read already, but she says she's old enough.

Allie is working on learning her sounds. Kayla is teaching her preschool several mornings a week (I'm not welcome). It is really cute because Allie will draw a picture and tell me it is for her "teacher."

Nate is in the air right now flying to Vegas for just about 36 hours. A Komatsu 930E haul truck was built for a mining trade show, and now they need to drive it across the strip. He has to be there in case they have any problems. He had to buy a clean tool bag to pack his meter and a few basic tools so he could put it inside his luggage. I'm sure he had to pay extra for an overweight bag, but oh well, they want him to have the tools.

I'm just trying to get everyone where they need to be with food in their stomachs and a reasonably clean home. The girls and I have gotten a lot of extra time together alone with Daddy working. We've been having fun reading lots of loooong books, cuddling, playing, and doing some projects together.