Five on Friday

I had several bits of randomness to share, so I thought it was high time for a Five on Friday!

NEW COUCH

After talking about it for over a year, we finally bought our new couch to start our living room redecorating! We've had our previous couch for 16 years, so it was definitely time.

There is still a lot to do to totally revamp the living room - nothing is staying! And with it we're redoing the playroom to 'mature' it up a little bit - it was still very toddler/young kid focused and not a space for teens and pre-teens. It's a little overwhelming but also very exciting.

PERMANENT JEWELRY

I went to a Galentine's party and got my first permanent jewelry! I got 2 bracelets and am loving them. I wear 90% silver-toned jewelry but do throw some gold in there so wanted to have a little of both. I think I want to do a necklace too!

STANDING DESK

I've been hearing for over a year now that 'sitting is the new smoking' and have felt really bad about how much I sit every day. We've only had our office furniture for a few years, so we aren't in the market to revamp the office, but I wanted to find a way to stand more throughout the day. So I bought a little contraption off Amazon that enables me to stand and work during the day. I'm aiming for 30 minutes out of every hour and some days are better than others, but I'm definitely standing more throughout the day, yay! {Writing this post standing too!}

TRIFLE

You know what's super fun when you're selling over 1,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies? Driving over a case of them!

Crushed boxes, ugh.

But when the world gives you lemons, make lemonade...or a trifle with cookies! I googled recipes made with Girl Scout cookies and found so many options. I made this to take to book club, and it was absolutely delicious!

SMILING SAWYER

Guess whose youngest nephew started smiling?! And is turning into a butterball like all of his siblings? You guessed it, Sawyer! He is so sweet, and we all love him so much.

A Post About Carpentry

We've had some carpentry needs for a while and finally got our projects done this spring, and I love everything so much! What started as a need for a couple of new doors grew, so I'm going to talk about each project individually to show all the great things.

What we first needed were 3 doors:

1) Our bathroom pocket door kept coming off the track and finally stopped working all together - we wanted to replace with a barn door

2) I broke our bedroom door {let's not talk about how}, so we needed to replace it as well, and I thought it would be cool to have it be a stained solid wood door instead of the painted hollow doors we have throughout the house - make the master look a little more unique

3) Brent wanted a sliding barn door to separate the kitchen from the playroom - ever since we got the piano he's been eager to block off the sound over there! {grin} We also thought this would be a great thing to have as the kids get older and louder and had more friends over.

We got a quote for just the barn doors from a local company, and it was INSANE. Talking to a friend who had just built a house and had custom cabinetry/doors put in, we found a GREAT local woodworker who could do the doors AND MORE!

This led into us also deciding to:

1) Add some shelving in our laundry room - we've been talking about this for years but hadn't made it a priority

2) Add some additional shelving in our closet to use some wasted space.

SO...with all that chatter, let's look at some pictures! All the *before* pictures come from right after we moved in 6 years ago - it's crazy to see what has changed since then...or what we need to change out {I'm looking at all the rugs with a side-eye FOR SURE}.

CLOSET

I don't have great before pictures, but you can see when you walk in the closet a section {under that small window} where there is an empty space and we wanted to add some functionality.

When we designed the closet, we put in A LOT of space for hanging clothes.

But we didn't think about dresses and didn't have enough shoe space.

The finished product!

More space for shoes! I think I've 17 pairs of shoes over there now.

Plus a hanging section for my dresses, a shelf to stack sweaters,

and we added a space for our dirty clothes hamper. I LOVE IT!

BEDROOM AND BARN DOORS

As I mentioned above, all our doors matched and were very basic.

Although not a normal size, so when we looked into replacing ourselves...we couldn't!

You can also see the pocket door to the half bath right outside our room.

Same style door, just stained and a solid wood door. It's gorgeous!

And here's the new barn door instead of the busted pocket door!

You can see the arch leading from the kitchen into the playroom.

View from the playroom - this room looks COMPLETELY different.

Only thing that is the same is the rug I think!

To quote Brent 'Bye, kids!'

And the view from the playroom with the door open

LAUNDRY ROOM

I don't have a picture of the space above the bench because it was just a blank wall.

We always talked about adding hooks for backpacks or a long shelf...something.

And here's what we have!

Shiplap siding {hooks to be delivered today for hanging coats, backpacks, etc},

cubbies for masks, shoes, brushes, books, homework, whatever,

and some cabinets because you can't ever have enough cabinets, am I right?

One funny tidbit is we don't think the wood stain color looks anything like what we picked, but it's so hard to see how it will look when you are choosing from a small space. We wanted it to be similar to all the dark wood we have but a little lighter. Well, it is basically exactly the same color as all the rest of the wood. It looks great but not quite the difference we wanted, ha.

We picked the bottom color...but don't think that's what we got!

Brent asked me a few days ago what my favorite addition was, and I honestly couldn't answer him. I love it all! What's crazy to me is everything we did cost less than the original quote we got for just the 2 barn doors! It's also something I knew but didn't quite believe that your house is never truly done - we have a long list of projects that will keep us busy for several years...and that list never stops!

Anatomy of a Kitchen Counter

This is probably going to seem like a silly post, but I am constantly amazed at how my house can go from clean to cluttered so fast as a family of 5. I wanted to show my kitchen counter as proof of this as the day progressed. I took about 10 or so pictures throughout the day and just chuckled at this progression. Maybe someone else will find this interesting? Maybe?

Night before - 10 pm

Finished cleaning the kitchen and wiping the counters down

Only things out: my water class and computer

9 am - breakfast time for the girls!

What's out: children, 2 plates, 2 water cups, my computer, butter knife

10 am - unloading groceries

What's out: hot glue gun, bowl from Trent's breakfast, the girls' breakfast dishes, school work spread out, my headset/computer, and 8 rolls of toilet paper that need to be distributed, my water glass, Trent's cup

11 am - we're technically outside

What's out: girls' breakfast plates STILL out, hello to my coffee and tablespoon, Trent's breakfast bowl, hot glue gun, school work, Trent's pen, my car key, Trent's watch, and still that TP

Hi Trent! Hi open back door! {why won't these kids close the door??}

12:30 pm - lunch is served

What's out: same plates but a different meal, computer/headset, my car key, coffee, glue gun, Trent's bowl, school work, lunch fixings

1:45 pm - My lunch time

What's out - blender for smoothie, plates from lunch, glue gun, Trent's bowl, bowl of frozen peaches for Paige {that she didn't eat}, coffee {yes, I drink it this slowly}, plastic sack from an earlier walk, my car key, green beaded necklace, strawberries and tomatoes leftover from lunch, school work, computer/headset

2:40 pm - Hi Trent!

What's out - same as before but we've added Trent doing his work and a snack pack of Pringles and 2 sacks of crayons

*Big break here as I was helping Brent spread rock around the flower beds*

5:45 pm - It's time for a colossal meltdown from a tired Paige

What's out - same as before minus the Pringles plus an early dinner snack for Paige, a purple beaded necklace, squirty fruit package, and my water glass is back

7 pm - Meal 4,327

What's out - those same plates getting another meal, container of leftover Spanish rice I made on Sunday, half an apple, empty squirty fruit container, more beaded necklaces, some random bell pepper slices, glue gun, 2 knives, my smoothie straw, my car key, water cups for everyone but Brent

8:30 pm - Winding down the day...hopefully

What's out - I cleaned the stove so my cast iron griddle got moved over, Trent made some hot chocolate so we've added the mix, measuring cup, and mug, plus Brent's old cell phone they all play with, a few things were put away, yay!

9:45 pm - And it's clean again!!!

Whew! That didn't even seem to get as bad as it does sometimes, and it still got pretty awful during the middle of the day. 

How do you handle clutter in your house?

Our New Sleep Number Bed

When I look back at old Currently posts, I probably listed a new mattress going back at least 18 months as my 'Current Wishlist' item. Brent and I bought bedroom furniture {that we still love} when we moved into our first house in 2006. We've been complaining over our current mattress for a few years now, but there was always something higher on our priority list. Well, a few months ago, we finally got to the point where this became a top item - we were both waking up every day with aches and pains, and we weren't getting good sleep.

I'd always been curious about Sleep Number beds. I knew 2 things: 1) people raved about them and 2) they were super expensive. Well, in August, my mom and I found ourselves in a mall with NO children, and this mall had a Sleep Number store. I told my mom I was curious about them, and she mentioned that she and my dad wanted a new bed too. So we decided to go in and try them out. We got the full experience with a sales person - we laid on the beds and learned an estimate of our sleep numbers, we got to try several different types of bed, it was great! The next day, my mom took my dad back and they bought a bed that day!

Brent and I went in December to try it out at our local store which had more mattresses to try in store, and of course, my favorite was the most expensive ha. We decided we were sold on buying a bed from there but wanted to wait until after Christmas and get one of the middle range ones.

Fast forward to a giant President's Day sale and the one next to the most expensive was 50% off!!! We went back to the store and tried everything out again and really liked the one on sale {the iLE} - I actually liked it better than the one I liked best in December {the i10}. And the sale specials were amazing - we got a set of sheets {we had to because our bed is split at the top} and new pillows too.

What's neat about these beds:
1) Obviously that the pressure adjusts to each person - we played around with it after getting it home and our numbers changed a little compared to when we were in the store. Brent is a 45 and I'm a 30 - which means Brent likes it a little firmer than me.
2) The FlexFit options - there are 3 different things you can do to the bed - FlexFit 1 lifts and lowers the head, FlexFit 2 also lifts the feett, and FlexFit 3 warms the bottom of the bed so your feet don't get cold. They were all pretty neat features, but we decided to go with the FlexFit 1 so we could lift and lower for reading, watching TV, etc. and since ours is a King, we got it split so we can lift separately. This is why we needed a special mattress pad and sheets.
3) There is under bed lighting so when you get out of bed it turns on to help you move around {go to the bathroom, etc.}.
4) The bed monitors your sleep and gives you a sleep score each night.
5) You can do everything from an app on your phone!

We got the bed delivered 3 weeks ago and we love it! I wake up feeling so much better than I did with our old mattress - no more hip or shoulder pain! I also really love the pillow I got. Yes, their pillows are expensive {but we got them buy 1, get 1 50% off}, but it's FOR REAL the best pillow I've ever had.

The kids thought it was so neat to be able to lift the mattress.

[This is the mattress without the mattress pad or sheets.]

My first night of sleep! My sleep scores are consistently lower than Brent's.

But there's a reason - see those red lines?

That's Paige waking me up and me settling her on her pallet every night ha.

But I think this shows how good it is with tracking!

I am so happy we bought this bed but also so happy we got a really great deal on it. I also know an entire post about a mattress solidifies that I am really close to 40. {grin}

The Room Re-Wrangle: Phase 1

Guys! We got so much done in Phase 1 of the Room Re-Wrangle, and I'm so excited about how everything has come together and looks right now. I blew my own expectations out of the water with what we accomplished, and I can't wait to show y'all how things look AND get everything finished up in a few weeks.

I started the plan the Saturday before Thanksgiving and first cleared everything out of Paige's closet and pulled her dresser drawers out before when took her nap. While she was sleeping, Drew {who was my #1 helper} and I cleaned out her closet and dresser and put Paige's stuff in. Everything 'in limbo' went into the playroom during this process - that room was hoarder heaven and it was BAD.

Paige's stuff in the playroom - Drew's face cracks me up!

Cleaning out Drew's closet created a giant mess on the floor!

But we got it emptied out!

As a reminder, Paige was keeping all of Drew's furniture and bedding, so it really was largely just clothes/shoes as a transition. We did rearrange the room a little as we wanted one-side of the bed to be against a wall and needed to get my glider in here.

Things got worse in the playroom when we moved Drew's stuff out.

It was very scary haha.

We did also use this time to go through the kids' stuff and organized/donated quite a bit of stuff. We also have some very good friends newly pregnant with their first baby, so we now have several bags of stuff for them!

Paige's room was almost ready to go by the end of Day 1.

This picture is after we moved the bed to by the window and vacuumed.

Practicing for bedtime

Next up, we needed to clean out Trent's closet to get Drew's clothes into it. Luckily by now, we had Paige's old room cleaned mostly out so we could move Trent's stuff right in!

The worst part of Trent's room is his books. He has a million books and no space. My dad is going to build him a wall-mounted set of shelves, but we're letting him recover from pneumonia and radiation first. {grin} So for now, his books are in a giant rubbermaid tub.

Trent is me made-over when it comes to clutter. His closet - well, really his whole room - was the worst to clean out. And you'd think with him being the oldest, he'd be the most help. Nope. He was the least help, but luckily he stayed with my in-laws during some of this, so his room was the last to get finished because I didn't have to worry about where he'd sleep!

Another hard-earned empty closet!

Yes, even with all those piles on the floor, I consider the closet empty. Ha!

Now we had a little bit of a roadblock here because we decided for the time being Drew would use Trent's old dresser and Trent would use Paige's old dresser. We need to figure out what type of bunk beds Trent is getting to know what other furniture we need, so I figured it was just easier to leave existing dressers where they were. Drew was NOT happy about this because Trent's dresser was covered in stickers from a misspent nap in around 2014.

Drew and I spent a large portion of Saturday evening removing these stickers. It was NOT fun, but thanks to a friend, I learned you can use a blow dryer to heat up the glue. That definitely helped a lot of these stickers come off much faster.

We got about 75% of the way through when Drew was okay with it.

And with that we finished Day 1!

Goodnight girls!

Drew was upset we didn't get Trent's bed taken apart.

I told her she should have thought about that before the sticker removal demand.

Sunday after church we really focused on Drew's room. We took Trent's bed apart, moved the mattress set Brent's parents gave us in, got her clothes and shoes in the closet/dresser, created her little reading nook!

She was so excited by her window seat and

spent a lot of time Drew-ing it up!

Trent's room was starting to come together, 

but you can see it's half baby stuff and half big kid stuff.

The playroom was still pretty atrocious on Sunday.

My parents came over Sunday afternoon because they had 2 of my sister's kids. The 4 kids we had collectively played which enabled my mom to help me!!!

We finished Drew's closet.

The bed is gone and ready for new things.

Napping Paigey. All the heart-eye emojis.

Finishing up the sticker removal with a still-tired toddler.

We also got all the stars and 'Paige' off the walls in Trent's new room.

Playroom maybe looks better?

Monday I got a lot more 'stuff' transitioned between the rooms. The biggest progress was getting Paige's room almost all the way done, but I'm saving the pictures for below when it was complete! Monday was cut short because of work and my sister's birthday - we went over to my parents' house to celebrate!

Tuesday my parents came back over to help AND they took my kids home with them for a slumber party! The big focus was Trent's room {my job} and the playroom {my mother's job...which she knocked OUT of the park}.

I decided to move a lot of Trent's LEGO's into his closet.

He doesn't play with them as much, and he has tubs and tubs of them.

But first, I needed to get everything out of there that wasn't LEGOs.

After HOURS of LEGO work!

His closet was organized, dresser was cleaned up.

He had 1 box of stuff to go through...and that box is still on his floor.

Drew's room is the least exciting because she wants to paint her walls.

Until we do that, this is all that got hung up.

I got Trent's room completely done until we get bunk beds and the book shelves. He kept his existing Star Wars posters, and I hung up some deer horns my FIL gave him.

A somewhat 360 degree look at his room.

The book shelves will go where the dresser is,

and the dresser will move under the Star Wars poster.

I'm bummed I don't have any pictures of the playroom after my mom finished. It looked better than it's looked in at least 6 months. She cleaned out a ton of stuff and really organized! She was SUCH a big help!

The last thing I did in Phase 1 was get Paige's walls redone. We kept probably 75% of décor that was Drew's but moved over the signs my sister made and a few other Paige-specific things. 

With the bed moving, I had to re-center this wall collage.

Since it also used to have 'DREW' going vertical,

I added a few things from Paige's nursery.

A lot of these items date back to Drew's nursery!

But we also pulled in a few of Paige's things and brought her pom-poms in.

Paige was adamant her moonshadow poster had to come into her new room!

So there you have it! I thought this would take me all week, and I didn't think I'd get nearly this much done! 

Paige's room is completely done, and we only have a handful of things left to tackle:

Drew's Room:

• Put her bed together - she wanted to paint it but has decided to hold-off on that {hallelujah!}, so I need to do this ASAP
• Paint her walls - we still need to pick a color and will do this over Christmas break
• Buy new bedding - I think we've agreed on what she wants, just need to order
• Decorate her walls - we must paint first

Trent's Room:

• Bunk beds - I think we've decided on a set, but we're letting it marinate
• Book shelves - when my dad feels up to it, this will get done
• Wall décor - I doubt Trent will want to do anything else, but I want to make sure he's happy with how his room is decorated
• Bunk bedding - once we get a bunk bed, we'll need to get bedding for the top bunk

Anyone still with me? I'll be so excited when we are totally done, but the kids are already loving their new spaces, and it was a relatively seamless transition!