More Renovations

The guest cottage originally had a wall airconditioner/heater.  Since we're not there all of the time, that just didn't work for us.  We didn't want to leave the heater running all of the time with no one there, but needed to keep some heat in the building so that the pipes wouldn't freeze.  So last winter, Phillip put in central heat/air for this one room.  Now...big hole in the wall...what to do?  Phillip put wood on the walls in our basement a couple of years ago and it looks great, but it took a lot of time and was expensive.  My great idea....take a 1/4 inch thick sheet of plywood and cut into 6" strips and apply to the wall like he did the "real" wood.  Plus, this is thin enough, that it butted right up to the trim and he didn't have to redo the trim. 

It looks fantastic!  To finish, I mixed 1 part latex paint in the color used on the other walls and 1 part water.  I then dry-brushed this mixture over the wood.  The result is that the wood grain shows through, and the color blends with the other walls.

AFTER pictures to follow when the entire renovation is complete...

The Reno Project

Phillip and I have been working on the guest cottage at the lake.  Our plans started small, but as usually happens, the plans have grown.  I decided to paint the cabinets in the "kitchenette" because they were this ugly, cheap, white laminate with faux wood trim.  I wish I had a "before" picture, but I didn't think about it at the time.  We painted them black, which required 2 coats of primer and 3 coats of black.  I don't have the knobs on yet, but they look sooooo much better:

As you can see in the picture, the floor was in progress.  After painting the cabinets, the floor looked worse and I found these stick on tiles that matched perfectly to the carpet.  For less than $20 - I decided to go for it.  I layed the tiles myself.  It was so easy (and cheap) and looked so much better, I decided to do the bathroom, too.  Well, the bathroom is a different story...first the laminate did not come up as easily as the kitchen floor had.  Phillip had to take up the commode first, too.  Below is a picture of our efforts to get the backing up off the floor.  It has been a very slow process:

Then, if we replace the floor, we should paint first...and now the ceiling really should be painted...and now the cabinets could use a coat of paint...and the list goes on and on.....

Turpentine Creek Big Cat Reserve

We had such a great day on Tuesday!  The snow had melted, the sun was out, and Melissa and boys joined us for an adventure.  Turpentine Creek is the coolest place.  If you've never heard of it, check it out here.  I had seen on the website that they had picnic tables and you could see the cats while having a picnic.  I was thinking the cats would be in the distance...but they were about 10 feet away!  They have a transitioning area next to the main building where they bring the animals when they are first rescued.  They are then moved to "habitats."  It was very interesting and I would recommend it to anyone in NWA. Notice the sign next to me below.  Jayden and Kyler noticed it first...a cougar named after me:

Evan with his Mommy's hair :)

Enjoying the sunshine!

Aren't these the cutest little boys?!!!

A great time at Turpentine Creek, but that wasn't the end of our day!  We headed up to Eureka Springs since it was just 6 miles away.  We saw a sign for the "Natural Bridge and Pivot Rock as featured in Ripleys Believe it or Not."  We decided to check it out.  Notice that the boys have changed shirts...Pop bought them all t-shirts from Turpentine Creek and they couldn't wait to get them on.

This is Pop telling the boys that this piece of equipment is used to make sorgum syrup...he was also telling them that he worked for a week hauling in the sugar cane for his Uncle Chester and he paid him with a gallon of syrup....

And this is still not the end of our day.  When we got back to the lakehouse, we had to have a little time throwing rocks and driftwood into the water:

WHEW....we were all exhausted!

Spring Break SNOW!

On Friday we were enjoying the sunshine and playing outdoors, but that changed quickly!  Phillip and I had plans to work on the guest cottage renovations, so the snow did not slow us up.  This is the most snow that we've seen at the lakehouse.  Although it snowed 12 inches in Fayetteville, it only snowed about 8-10 inches here.  At times, it was like a blizzard:

This is our snow drift against the sliding glass door:

 IT WAS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!!

Spring Break beginnings

I headed to NWA right after my class on Thursday night before spring break so that I could keep the boys on Friday and let Melissa and Kerry catch up after the "crazy week".  I was going to spend the night at the Pitts house, but Melissa and Kerry BOTH said that I do better if I get a good night sleep and take my shower and get dressed before keeping the boys....now why would they say that???  I got up on Friday and jogged, got dressed and headed to the Pitts.  I had fun and loved spending time with my boys.  I let the boys do whatever they want when I babysit!  We even went outside and played in PJs. (Jayden was not his usual jolly self... he has the chicken pox).

Pop arrived Friday afternoon with the beds.... notice that the boys still have on their PJs and it is about 6:00 pm!

EVAN has his first "BIG BOY" Bed!

Pictures of the finished product in the previous post....

Evan's Bunkbeds

Phillip has now made beds for all of his grandsons.  He made Jayden and Kyler a bed before they were two because they were having to give up their babybed for a new little brother.  However, without the pressure this time, he was dragging his feet....he needed a little push.... I found the plans for the bunkbeds on the "Knock-off Wood" blog (link on the right).  I think that having the plans saved him a lot of time.  They look fantastic!  They can also be separated into twin beds.  I think Evan likes his new beds...

Girls Weekend Shopping Rules:

1.  You can only shop for yourself.
2.  If you have any money left at the end...you have to give it back.
3.  No boys allowed (unless they are being breast-fed).

These are the rules for shopping with my girls, and since I fund the trip, I get to set the rules. We just got back from San Antonio...well really San Marcos at the outlet malls.  We met up on Friday morning(flying in from Arkansas and Florida) and got home LATE Sunday night.   Although we stopped by and saw Miranda's new house, we all stayed in a hotel (see rule # 3).  We were there when the stores opened and when they closed!  This was some serious shopping....I am actually sore today!  Lots of fun...shopping, laughing, eating, laughing, shopping, laughing, etc., etc.  I am now ready for SPRING!