New Island Overhead Light Fixture

I never liked the old light fixture.

I never liked any of the fixtures the previous two owners used. I felt like they used the cheapest parts and pieces as possible. I've been to Lowe's. I know you can get decent light fixtures for like $9 a piece. The ones the previous owners used were seriously like $4 a piece (I'm talking about can lighting in the ceiling)

ANYWAY.

The island light was no different. And, over the years, it just got...gross. 

We finally upgraded!

A little awkward, but we got it!

I love the look of it. We don't like the bulbs though, so we're going to swap those out for a softer light. If you look closely, you'll see that it's not sitting flush against the wall. We covered the previous hole, but then realized the cover would get in the way. We will fix that. 

The glass pieces were a bitch to put in. 

Hell Week

If you've been following me, you've probably heard of my use the terms "Hell Week" and "Heaven Week."

This is because of Steve's schedule. As you all know, he works 3 days each week. Those days are about 14 hours long, so it is still full-time.

He gets to be home the other 4 days a week. (It's ok to hate him a little). 

This has been his schedule for around 8 years, I think. He's never had a Monday - Friday, 8am - 5pm job. I don't think he has at least.

His schedule is either Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday, or Thursday/Friday/Saturday.

When it shifts from one to the other, he either gets a week off of work, or he has to work 6 out of 7 days. All 14 hour shifts. So that week has been deemed "Hell Week" - makes sense, right?

He'd work Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.

That's a freaking long ass time to work/commute (his place of work is about 40 minutes from our house).

Not only is it Hell Week for him, but it's also Hell week for me.

With him gone before we wake up and home after bedtime, all parenting duties fall to me.

Wake up/breakfast/get ready for school and daycare (and myself to work at a reasonable time).

Pick up before rush hour (so I leave work a little early, like 4:30) so I can get to the girls before 5pm.

Dinner, homework, playtime, bath time, bed time.

All on me. 

All activities during this time fall on me.

If school functions happen during this time, it'll fall on me (and to be fair, I can work from anywhere as long as I have my laptop and an Internet connection, Steve can't work if he's not actually on site).

If someone gets sick and needs to be picked up. On me.

And don't forget that I'm also working Monday - Friday and am usually pretty tired by the time I get home!  I feel bad that my patience is worn thin by the time I get to my kids. I feel like I'm barking at them about stuff the second we walk in the door.

I am trying my hardest to be in the moment and realize that while I've had a full (busy) day away from my kids, they've missed me and wanted to tell me about their days.

The obvious benefit is that our kids get to be home with a parent for half the week. They've only ever been in part-time daycare. That's something that makes me happy.

The other benefit is that while I'm the "single parent" for those 3 days and everything falls on me, the other 4 days? When he's home?

I get to do almost nothing. 

Before you roll your eyes at me, think about it: Steve doesn't (ever) have to parent and work on the same day.

For all you working parents out there - you know it, it's HARD!

Days that I'm home with the kids and have no plans? FUN! Easier! No schedules to maintain, no buses to catch, no where to be at a specific time in the early morning. Go with the flow. Of course it's easier. Of course I'd have more patience if I didn't need to spend the prior 9 hours using my brain and working.

So we're heading into Hell Week. We're lucky this time because a holiday actually falls within his week, so he will get Sunday AND Monday off!

We have plans with friends this Sunday which will be nice, then we get a relaxing Monday before heading into the work week. (I'm actually off Tuesday as well since I'm chaperoning Ava's field trip to the zoo).

Now the benefit, obviously, is that when he shifts back, he will get a week off of work. So let's do some math. He gets 6 weeks off a year, not including PTO/sick days.

We usually schedule our vacations around his week off, so he doesn't need to use up his PTO.

I'm still trying to figure out how I can drop a day. Probably never.

Birthday party at the lake and other weekend updates

I've said it plenty of times: we absolutely love living by the lake.

Whenever we tell people that, the most usual response is along the lines of "oh, we should be friends!" and I always follow up with "we're near the lake, not on the lake!"

But, since moving here, we've met a few people who live on the lake. And we've been lucky enough to be invited over.

This past weekends was one of those weekends.

Ava got an invite to a birthday part that was "at the XXXX's boathouse"

Steve texted me with a photo of the invite and captioned it:

"Ava has rich friends"

LOL.

It was a princess party and Ava was SO excited.

This was her very first friend party! She's been to plenty of kid parties, but always as the tag-a-long baby sister.

This time was her turn and she was so excited leading up to the event.

And then she fell on the ground as we were walking in, scraped her knee and I thought our entire afternoon was going to be over.

But, she pulled herself together (sort of - it was also late afternoon and she's usually very tired at this point in the day) and enjoyed the party.

She looks exhausted here - and she was. This was right when we got there and during the 8 minute ride to this boathouse, she almost fell asleep in the car! 

They got to make crafts - the crowns they are wearing and masks.

It was a beautiful day to be on the lake and I'm so grateful to have been invited. Both of my girls, very loudly during the party kept saying "we should have a boathouse mom. I bet dad could build one. Let's ask him. This is nice. We should also get a boat." and I'm all "yeah, sure, I mean, let's talk about it" - I looked up the address on Zillow and um, let's just say that I'll never, ever, ever in my lifetime live in a house that costs that much. 

Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day as well! We deserved it after the shitty weather we've had for the past couple of months.

We knew it was going to be warm - in the 80's, but there was a chance of rain. It held out most of the day and didn't start to rain until closer to 5pm.

About a month ago, Steve's mower got an oil leak and it's taken until now to get it fixed. With all the rain we've had, and being unable to mow it...our yard looks like a freaking jungle. The grass was - I swear - almost waist high. I'm not that tall, so it's feasible! 

Anyway, we woke up and it was already balmy. 

Steve immediately went to mow the lawn. For the record, he went over the front lawn 6 times and it still looks like shit. I cannot believe how much grass there is. 

He took several breaks during the day just because, well, damn. It's a lot of bouncing around in the heat. 

Right around lunchtime, he came in and the girls got their bathing suits on and everyone informed me that we were going to the lake! It's not technically open yet for the season, but we've gone before and just waded and were fine. 

We got there and pulled right into the lot. Since the park isn't technically open, there was only one other family there besides us. Seemed like they had the same idea. I think as long as we don't get all the way in, it's okay. The Sheriff's saw the girls wading knee deep and didn't say anything. 

It was a beautiful day at the lake. The water was freezing!

The girls had fun running from the waves/wakes as boats went by.

#lakebaby

The girls have no idea how lucky they are to be this close. We live about 5 minutes from this park. We get a season pass for $35 each summer. There's hiking and a waterfall across the street from this park. We bring the dogs to that one (pets aren't permitted here). 

The only kids at the playground! We had Ava's first birthday party at the lodge right next. to this playground. It was a winter themed party since her birthday is in December and it ended up being 60 degrees that day! Of course. 

Dare devil!

Picnic on a rock

We packed up and headed home in time for an early dinner. Steve spent another couple hours mowing after dinner and the yard still looks like shit. LOL. The poor guy. He'll spend the next few days mowing to get it just right. If it's possible at this point. 

And then, on to the deck. Hoping to break ground on Tuesday. 

Bar Stools!

When we were looking for bar stools, I struggled a bit with what "look" I was going for. Yeah, I know  I want my farmhouse look (doesn't almost everyone these days?) but I also didn't want to go too rustic. I wanted to intermix some modern touches.

I didn't know if I wanted a fancier stool with a back.

One that swiveled?

Leather?

Wood?

Metal?

I told Steve that we should just get some and if we didn't like them, send them back and try again.

We picked out these.

And they arrived yesterday!

Nothing beats coming home to packages

I got the girls settled with dinner (and had a minor, ahem, moment with Mila and sent her to her room) and then got to get my stools out of the box!

Love, love love! I'm intentionally putting it against the white pantry doors 

here because I want to envision it with my white cabinets! (And beautiful, dark floors!)

They fit underneath just barely. I could stack them. 

They loved them! 

They are the perfect height for our island - we didn't want anything too tall that would make it awkward to sit on. These are 24" and perfect. As you can see, the girls can easily sit on them. Ava on her knees a bit, but she manages just fine. I'm sure she'll just stand on it anyway 😜

I can actually see myself sitting here and doing work from time to time. The island is plenty big so I can spread out. I can also see the TV...

and the fridge is literally right in front of my face. 

ANYWAY. 

I'm super pumped about this upgrade. It still needs some finishing work - it's pretty rough around the edges. Literally. But, it's super functional and that by itself is just awesome. 

I will not get food crumbs on my carpet (I know, I know, I started it...regardless of how it started, it can now stop!)

When I get new couches, we will not be allowed to eat on them. Not one snack. Not one piece of popcorn. Not one chip. Not one cheerio. Not one fruit snack. 

NOPE.

But, now that "we're getting there" (that's something Steve and I say to each other alll the time), I really, really want to paint my cabinets white. I know. I keep saying it. 

This morning at breakfast:

Pool Deck - here we go!

As I referenced a few months ago regarding a pool deck, we have the plans needed in order to start! And if you've been following, you'll realize that we thought we'd break ground in April, when the ground thawed.

Ha.

Haha.

Hahahaha.

It's now the middle of May and it was 40 degrees yesterday and rainy.

And it's been that way for the last week or so.

Everything is disgusting.

It's a complete swamp in our backyard.

And it's freezing.

But.

BUT!

We knew today was the ONE day it's supposed to be decent. Meaning, 60's and partly sunny. There's a chance of rain (this is WNY, you know), but not until late afternoon/evening.

Also, Steve met someone at work.

Let me explain.

He meets all sorts of really interesting people.

Rich people.

REALLY rich people.

Complete trash.

Old-ass women wearing moo-moos and slippers.

Sometimes he meets people that become friends.

He happened to meet someone who built houses for a living. I believe he said the gentleman is in his 70's, but that he was very knowledgable in deck design and construction.

Steve had helped him out with his truck and really listened to him and they eventually just started chatting about life and whatnot.

He offered to come over and help Steve get started with the deck. I'm so pumped that A) he'll have help, and B) help who knows what he's doing (hopefully).

We are going with the tried and true Lowe's for our materials and lumber. They have these great plans that we can customize, based on our desired dimensions and style. It provides all the information needed to purchase including part numbers, cut lines, lengths, etc. I think all of that upfront set up and organization is half the battle.

We are opting to go with Trex material for the decking and wood for the railing. Composite material lasts basically forever and has very little maintenance, versus wood which would need to be stained or painted and otherwise dealt with each year.

And, splinters.

Here is the the plan! I'm excited for how large it is and we are planning to paint the railing white. The decking is a "clamshell" color, which looks grey-ish to me. 

My plan is to get a table/chairs/umbrella set up - something simple since we do already have our patio set down with our pergola. I'm going to have to dig up pictures of that project and post about it. THAT SUCKED.

It turned out beautifully, but it was a tough one.

ANYWAY.

I also want to have lounge chairs along the side.

I want greenery and flowers everywhere.

I want to find a cute outdoor rug to add color and flair.

I want to be able to sip an iced coffee, read my Kindle and watch my girls play in the water.

For reals.

Ugh.

CANNOT WAIT.

Oh, and if you know me in IRL, COME OVER!

Legit.

I'm hoping to make my house a fun place to visit. When people come over, they usually stay a few hours. No one really "just stops by" because it's quite a hike from everyone we know.

I want my kids and their friends to enjoy being here, so they will continue to want to hang here as they get older (so I can keep them under my watchful eye!)

The guy comes over today and they will start to plan it out. I'm excited to go home and see whatever progress they will make!

Motivation and Renovations!

I admit - I had literally zero motivation over the weekend (4/27 - 4/28). I worked a long, hard week (close to 50 hours, which, luckily for me, hasn't happened in months!) so I was ready for the weekend when Friday came. I ducked out a little early Friday and was able to be home, make dinner and have all of us eating by 5:00pm. Love that!

We had a very low key Friday evening.

Saturday I woke up (late!) around 8:30am. I knew Steve had to go work on a car for part of the day...and for some reason, because of that, I didn't feel motivated to do much. I wanted to hit up Wegmans, but that's about it.

I went from my bed to the couch.

Kids ate cereal for breakfast (not the usual home fries, bacon, oatmeal and fruit!)

When Steve left, I was sipping my coffee and watching TV.

I moved from my spot on the couch, to his (more comfortable) spot on the couch.

I napped.

Twice.

I didn't do the 3 loads of laundry that was waiting for me.

My kids didn't burn the house down. (Thank God)

When Steve got home, I was still on the couch.

I never made it to Wegmans, so we decided to go as a family, get dinner and then do our shopping. It was lovely.

We made it home just in time to have a bedtime snack and put the girls to bed.

We called it an early night.

We woke up Sunday morning to a blizzard outside our windows. It didn't stick...but to see that on April 28. Ugh.

Steve made some jokes about "being motivated today" and I rolled my eyes at him. If I wanted to spend another day on the couch, I believe I'm allowed to do so, yes?

BUT, we really needed to paint the ceiling and get a new light fixture for above our island. We've been sans light for more than a month now.

He went to the dump to drop all of our garbage and I took that time to remove all things from counter tops so we could not only paint the ceiling, but also the walls!

So we went ahead and did that and it looks a THOUSAND times better already! We painted it the same color as upstairs and the hallway from the mudroom (close to "Seattle"), and will paint the living room a shade lighter. We can't have TOO much of the same color.

Since we decided to paint the walls, it also meant that we fixed where we took the wall down (4 years ago!) we had it mudded and sanded, but then...stopped. So, it finally looks finished :)

This is where we took the wall down and it left us with a mudded seam...that we didn't do anything about for months. Not sure why it took us this long, it wasn't that hard to do! I had also bought this sign for Steve for Christmas last year from Magnolia (you know, Chip and Jo?) well it was on sale, so I got it for under $50. It's beautiful. 

I wanted it to have some space between the wall and sign - so it didn't sit flush. With the punched out letters, the shadowing and 3D look is so cool. It's one of my favorite pieces! 

I'm very proud of this find. Our farmer neighbor across the way was having a sale - it was really his granddaughter who had a bunch of stuff out in the lawn and I pulled over right away and made a pile. I got this amazing wagon wheel for $5. I also got a beautiful old trunk/chest (think treasure chest) that needs to be refinished - for also $5!!! Unbelievable. 

It's just slightly off-center because we will be adding window treatments soon. 

While we were doing this, Steve had a genius idea - let's use the laundry room's concrete countertop "draft" (Steve measured, laid it out, poured the concrete, had it dry, only to realize he did it backwards - we have water pipes that need to fit, so the countertop ended up being backwards!) but for some reason, we kept it in our garage...and use it for our island counter top. Interesting. We had talked about concrete before, but not using that piece.

Here's the post about my kitchen inspiration.

Anyway, if we can figure out a way to get it in the house (500lbs) and up on the island cabinet, it'll work as a larger, more useful island! We are planning to get some barstools so we can actually eat here.

Here's a "before" of the island - it was too dark out to get good pics of the paint color. The island is just too small. I mean, I didn't have one before, so I love having one, but I really can't do much on it. Extending it by 30+ inches will be a pretty big difference! 

Here's a decent shot of the kitchen - again dark outside and we don't have all our light fixtures up yet! 

I came home to this! Steve started with the shiplap for the outside of the cabinet. 

I am pumped and think it's going to look great with the concrete top! But I know all of this white is going to REALLY make me want to paint the cabinets! 

We bought a new light fixture for over the island. And a new light fixture for this odd area that is over the open area in the kitchen. I think it was supposed to be an eat-in kitchen, but it's just not big enough. So this light fixture has always been a weird one for me. 

I think once we paint the cabinets white, it'll be a HUGE difference. I already feel a huge difference with just the paint and trim done. 

My next job is to paint the fronts of the cabinet doors white. I'm going to sand, prime and paint them. I will need new pulls and hardware, which I'm very excited to pick out! 

Here we go!

This primer is so sticky and it was tough to get a smooth coat on. But, I made it work. 

I already love it and it's just the primer! 

I think once it's painted, it'll be pretty good! And, I went the lazy way and didn't remove the doors and spray them. It immediately brightened up the kitchen and made me want to do the rest of the cabinets ASAP. I'm borrowing a sprayer from a friend; I wonder if we'll actually do it! It's on our list for sure, but it wasn't in the top 5. 

Steve's friends stopped over to help him move this 500lb beast.

Obviously lots of finishing work to do, but I'm loving it so far! The countertop itself will be darker, once we put the sealant on. I want to order some metal bar stools as well to offset the wood. I'm not totally in love with the legs, but I think once everything is done it'll fall together. 

I was also right in the fact that we really want to paint the rest of our cabinets white now. I think everything right now feels like it doesn't belong, so it's hard to visualize what the final will look like. 

Two coats of self-leveling sealant. One more coat to go. It won't end up this glossy.

I MUCH prefer the darker color.

3rd coat will hopefully fill in the air bubbles. 

3rd coat filled in all the air bubbles! I'm very excited for how this turned out. Now we just have to get rid of some of the shine.

We have to stain the outer wood edge still, but I'm loving this new look! It's still super glossy, and we're going for a matte look, so Steve has to get the shine out. (Now, just imagine all my kitchen cabinets white...)

I got these for Mother's Day! 

We have more finishing work to do, and our barstools should be arriving this week. I'll post a follow up once everything is finished. This post took me two weeks to write! 

Mother's Day Weekend

We have a very lovely, low key Mother's Day weekend. We've never been the type of family that celebrated these types of "holidays" - of course we acknowledge it and recognize all the moms in our lives, but we generally keep it very low key.

Steve had to work Saturday and it was slated to be the ONLY nice day of the entire week! It was a bit chilly, but gorgeous out. The sun was out almost all day!

I opted to run errands in the morning, then take the girls to the lake to walk around and play on the playground.

This would be Bella's first time to the lake!

I absolutely love being this close to the lake. It makes my soul happy. Everyone had the same idea as us and it was really busy at the park. BUT, everyone was in such a great mood - I stopped and chatted with several people and it was lovely. 

Steve made me breakfast.

I napped.

I got beautiful flowers (I got myself the succulents)

Mila's Mother's Day project from school. (My biggest wish is to have another baby!) LOL

Island counter top is getting there....

Happy Mother's Day everyone! I had a wonderful day. I'm a lucky girl.