Brighten up!

Before [taken with just natural light from outside]:

After:


Thanks Dad and to my brother for installing under-the-kitchen-cabinets-lights!!! I love the spotlight on my cooking.

BBQ

Something that we all wanted was a bbq and we got one and while it was rainy most of the past week- we did use it three times and loved it.

It takes one dad and one grandpa to put it together and another grandpa to record this so thanks for the help guys!

Dan mastering the grill:

Cleaning Schedule

My cleaning schedule is extactly what my readers need to read about to keep coming back to my blog! So enjoy!

When we moved- we doubled the square footage which meant that I needed to come up with a new doable cleaning plan.

I do at least a load of laundry each day, clean a toilet bowl each day along with the sink, do a load of dishwasher just about every day [all that cooking from scratch adds up to a lot of dishes], wipe down the kitchen counters each day, and wipe down dining table each day [kids have taken this responsibility over]...

Sunday: Vacuum the downstairs.

Monday: I deep clean my kitchen- the stovetop, either the fridge or the oven, wipe down the front of my cupboards, wipe up the inside and outside of the microwave, sweep and mop both the kitchen and bathrooms [since I already have the mop out I might as well do it all].

Tuesday: Clean all 3 bathrooms- clean three mirrors, one bathtub, one shower, wipe down the walls, restock supplies in each bathroom, and launder the towels.

Wednesday: Clean, de-clutter, reorganize and dust the family room, entry way and dining room. Vacuum downstairs [includes office room].

Thursday: Reorganize/de-clutter office while the boys work on the playroom. Dust both rooms.

Friday: Bedroom clean-up. The boys clean up, dust, re-organize as needed, and I vacuum their room. I also clean-up, reorganize as needed, dust and vacuum the master bedroom. Vacuum the rest of the upstairs. Launder the sheets.

Saturday: Pick a project.

My favorite colour

Family Room [view from kitchen] Before:


After:


Do you like?

The red won't be as bright when I paint the walls and hopefully install the "built-in" shelving on either side of the fireplace. We now have room for all four of us on one couch- sweet!

Monday Menu Plan

I am baaaaacccckkkk!

Monday: Sweet Potato and Black Bean Cakes and fish tacos.

Tuesday: Curried Chicken Salad Waffle Sandwich except I'll be using Greek Yogurt with real lemon juice squeezed in it and a tad bit of sugar to cut down the sour slightly.

Wednesday: Pork in the crockpot to make shredded pork tacos.

Thursday: Leftover shredded pork with bbq sauce to make pulled pork sandwiches served with coleslaw.

Friday: Tuna melts with cucumber slices

Saturday: Chicken and Barley Soup which is basically a chicken noodle soup but barley instead of noodles.

Other items: Gluten-free Banana Bread
For more menu planning ideas visit Organizing Junkie!

Welcome to my new kitchen!

Whoo hoo!

We have closed on the house and moving this weekend!!!

Well Friday is our closing date and we're uncertain. There were some last minute information requested and it took Dan a week to get to turning it in as he worked 10 days in a row so hopefully it everything works out for Friday. And hopefully we can move this Saturday... I'll post and call when we know for sure.

Finally things are moving along and hopefully we'll soon be moving ourselves...
We got our appraisal and we'll have $4,000 instant equity- Whoo hoo!
All the paperwork is done except for the last review and soon we should close and move! We're hoping to move next weekend so wish us the best with that.

[Cyrus drew the above picture- it is our house with rain falling on it- we do live in Oregon- Dan is playing a video game with Solomon inside the house and the big creature in the middle is "Iggy" our pet lizard. Apparently Cyrus and I are going on an errand- probably to the grocery store where Cyrus can try to get a treat]

In other sort-of-related-news we are not getting a tax refund so gift certificates for paint, IKEA, toilet, and Best Buy [where we plan on getting our fridge and dishwasher] would make lovely housewarming gifts *hint hint* For more exciting news we won't be able to get our big dining table until next year so the boys are excited about the big empty dining room to play in the meantime...


Another picture of the house by Cyrus but with a sun shinning this time. Once again Solomon and Dan are home while Cyrus and I are going somewhere- is Cyrus trying to tell me something??? Do I always take him on my errands?

My family's resolution

So we walked away from one house on New Year Eve and Saturday we went house hunting- actually we narrowed it down to one before we went outside. Saw it and loved it. We presented the seller [bank owned] with an offer, they reponded, we liked their response and the paperwork for buying the house was done today.
We could be moved in at the end of this month or early next month... The gas fireplace is calling out to me, I can imagine how nice it would be to wait out the rest of winter reading books by the fireplace.
Anyone care to wager when I'll find myself in paradise?
Dan is looking forward to the big space above the fireplace for his television [have I mentioned we'll finally become a normal American family with cable when we move]...
The boys will have more space to run around and play in, backyard, small neighborhood, and stairs to fall down at least once... Oh yeah- they liked the fireplace too especially since you use a regular on-off switch to have the roaring fire or not...

House update

In very short words- we are not buying the house that I posted a short while ago. We had some concerns about some items that needed fixing and lost our trust in the seller due to lack of communication and we're walking away... We actually feel really good about it although we would love to move into a house soon. So we're back to looking at houses- wish us the best!

New House

Very exciting news today- our offer was accepted and we have bought [pending paperwork] our first house!