Standiford Family

Almost a year and a half ago I posted a sneak peek about our half bathroom we put in downstairs.  Today it finally got the finishing touch so I thought I’d share a picture of it.  The light, although good for a bathroom, is not necessarily good for taking a picture.  The green got a little weird at the top.  Check the sneak peek for the true color.  Love it!

(This is the view while sitting on a closed or open toilet.)  The finishing touch is the shadow boxes we hung up.  I also finished painting the pocket door.  Earlier this week Mickey installed the trim, which is white.  I really love the way this bathroom turned out.  And it’s also a huge convenience when someone takes forever (at least 30 minutes) in the other bathroom because she’s taken her ds in with her.  I won’t name names but she is no longer allowed to have the ds in the bathroom.  By the way, it’s not me.  I don’t have a ds.  That leaves two guesses left.

…and in with the new.  I’m not referring to the year but our bedroom doors.

The new baseboard lead to us deciding we should get new trim for the doors.  Well it started with me thinking that the front door should be trimmed like the window right next to it.  Then looking down the hall we thought it would look nice to change the door trim there since the bathroom was already updated.  Then we thought we really should get new doors too.  Mickey has put in two of the three.  It really lightens up the hall and the bedrooms.  They look SO MUCH better.  It doesn’t feel old anymore.  Why didn’t we do this five years ago?  The answer is because we were remodeling the bathroom (I thought that link would have pictures but it doesn’t, darn) and I was very pregnant (I looked there are no pictures of this, THANK GOODNESS).

20 months after getting carpet we finally have baseboard in the living room and hall.  I know that’s how things go but it’s so exciting for the living room to look finished.  You know what I mean?

Mickey took the day off work and spent most of the day working on the trim.  He cut the pieces and then I went to paint them only to find we didn’t have any paint.  How could that be?  So while I was getting a massage (so nice) the boys went to Menards for a few things including paint.  I got most of the trim painted and then Mickey got to work.  It looks great.  Thanks for your hard work, Babe.

Okay, the summer is “officially” over since today is Labor Day. (I started this last night.  After spending two hours fighting with the slow internet and iPhoto not working right I gave up and now I’m trying again.)  I thought I better get writing about some of our activities from the summer before I forget them all.  You all know about our vacation already so I won’t bore you with that again.  Soon after we were home Mickey and I celebrated our 15th anniversary, can you believe it?  Here we are at the National Zoo.  I think it’s a good picture of both of us.  Thanks for taking it John.

I think Mickey finished this project before we left for Virginia but I just got around to taking pictures.  I had to move all my bulbs from the yard where the septic was redone.  Mickey was great and made me a flower bed to plant all the bulbs I kept.  I also planted some strawberry plants I moved for safe keeping.  It has filled in and looks great.

Megan finished up another season of softball.  She played second base a lot, some at catcher, and also pitched an inning.  She is an awesome little player.  She’s also really good at keeping the girls involved while they’re in the dugout.  You can always hear her singing and chanting more than anyone else.  Maybe it’s just the loud voice.  Here’s a few more softball pics.

We had a really big rain on June 6th.  (I’m so glad the digital photos get automatically dated.)  Mickey took Kade out to jump/run in the puddles and the girls tagged along.  Here’s some pictures from that.  Kade was soaked when he came in.  And of course he thought it was funny to splash his sisters.

I think strawberry picking is going to become an annual event for us.  This is our second year going.  There were a lot of weeds in Grandpa’s Orchard this year and the berries were on the small side but they were delicious.  I don’t think Kade actually picked any.  If so he ate it.

I froze a lot of them and will turn them into jam.  Mmmm…it’s our favorite.

At the end of June we spent a day at Great America.  The girls were so excited to go, and I guess Kade was too.  We went with Mike, Betty, Amanda, Michelle, Abby, and Emma.  I think everyone had a good time.  (I’ve learned I’m not going back.  It’s just not my kind of place.  I’d rather stay home and enjoy the peace.)  Megan and Kade loved the roller coasters.  Mattey and I found the tamer rides.  There was a water ride that was fun but since we got soaked no one wanted to go on it again with me.  Amanda did some American Idol Kareokee and the girls were her back up dancers.  Later Megan and Mattey got brave and sang a song.  They were great!  I’ll have to get Mickey to put the video on.  I’ll bug him so hopefully it will get done sometime this year.  Here’s a link to the rest of the pictures.

I’ve done some sewing this summer.  I made Mattey a little dress and a beaded purse.  (You can’t really see the beads, they blend in.)

I also made myself a Vera Bradley knock off.  I started with some Moda fabric.  And worked out a pattern.  And came up with this.  I really like it.  Look at all the pockets!  I love knowing where everything is.

We had a family date and went bowling at Chippewa Bowling Alley.  I was a little nervous since I hurt my back 5 years ago at a bowling alley.  I survived and everyone had a really good time.  Kade was hilarious to watch.  Megan has a wicked spin.  Mattey somehow ended up getting a lot of strikes.  We weren’t sure how she did it.  Mickey tries to make a dent in the lane by throwing the ball so hard.  I cautiously and slowly walked to the line and gently rolled the ball.  Our scores are somewhere but I don’t have time to look for them now.  But here are some pictures of the family having a good time.  The rest are here.  (Please note that Kade and Mickey’s date are in this album also, that’s why they have two different outfits on.)

We thought we’d try cherry picking this year.  We went with Michelle and her girls.  Mickey was at work.  It’s not really his thing anyway.  All the kids had a bucket and we had about 70 pounds of cherries in 30-45 minutes!  We had to tell the kids to stop picking.  Once again Kade didn’t really pick except to eat.  He was a mess!

So that was June.  We were busier than I thought.  In July we celebrated the 4th at Jan and Doc’s house.  John provided us with a fabulous firework show.  The next week the kids started their annual tennis lessons at Leeper Park.  Kade even got to play this year.  He was very excited about that.  It’s great being 3.  It was great being me too because I got to sit by myself and knit.  Meg has an advantage in tennis, she’s ambidextrous.  If she wanted she could hit a powerful forehand with either hand.  I would love for her to practice this but she’s kind of taken to only using her right hand, just like she does for all sports.  Mattey was a little apprehensive but I think she enjoyed herself.

We couldn’t stop with strawberries and cherries we picked blueberries (twice) and peaches.  We picked blueberries at the Blueberry Ranch.

We went once as a family for FHE and once with my sister-in-law, Mary, and her kids, Crissy, Jr., and Sabe.  (I forgot the camera for this outing.  And Megan had the camera for the peaches so not many pictures got taken.)  They also went with all of us to pick peaches.  Sabe is waiting for apple season.  We got the peaches (and also the cherries) from Treemendous Fruits.

We had so many peaches.  We picked 78 pounds!  They were yummy.  A lot of us were allergic to the fuzz so we were rather itchy on the way home.  Next time we’ll wear long sleeves and gloves.  As I posted earlier I made a lot of jam with the peaches.  I also made cobbler twice, peach muffins, and a peach pie smoothie.

Mickey and I also planted a tree in July.  We found a crab apple for half off at Home Depot.  Here’s Mickey planting it.  I’ll take a picture of the tree in the Spring when it flowers, if it survives the winter.

This year the girls signed up for 4H.  Megan signed up for Photography and Wildlife.  Mattey signed up for Sewing.  The time kind of got away from us and Megan only got her photography project done.  Mattey didn’t get her project started mostly because I was the one that had to teach her.  Yikes.  When I was in 4H I had classes and meetings but Meg had almost nothing.  I won’t dwell on the negative.  Megan got a blue ribbon for her project.  Mattey will still be in mini 4H next year so she can do the same project.  We can start on it anytime.  It will be a good way to use up some down time in the winter.

That ends July.  In August Mickey started a few projects.  One is finishing the new bathroom downstairs and the other is building a deck on the side of the garage, since we don’t have a back yard.  It has turned out really nice.  It’s in the shade by 4-5 pm and when there’s a breeze you can really feel it there.  Now that it’s done it’s my turn to add a flower bed around it and make it a little cozier.  We are planning a railing or something for next year.  We bought some solar lights to put around it too.

Since this post has taken me hours and hours to do I’ll write about the bathroom later and I have to take a few more pictures.  I’ll just say it’s sassy green and working.  I’m thankful to have a handy husband.

I’ll conclude with my birthday.  I must be sick if I’m doing this.  Anyway, I had a nice day with Mickey and Kade and later the girls.  We went to Chili’s for lunch and Mickey surprised me with not going back to work for the rest of the day.  We ran to Meijer for a few things.  It’s nice shopping with someone other than a child, except he wanted to look at the legos and things too.  I made a triple layer cake with chocolate and white with raspberry filling.  It was a little unlevel but very tasty.  We just had some deli sandwiches for dinner so we could dig into the cake.  Mickey and the kids totally spoiled me with presents.  I got a thick exercise mat, 27 Dresses, the Fellowship soundtrack, a complete collection of Jane Austen, new ear buds, and the Eragon books.  That takes almost everything off my wishlist.  I’ll have to work hard to come up with stuff for Christmas.  I also got some cards, money, and gift cards from other family members.  Thanks.

Now I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.  Sorry if you spent an hour reading this.  Hopefully I can get back to posting things when they happen.  Like today our driveway is getting fixed.  I’m so terrible I’m not even taking pictures of it.  Oh well.

We are working on a new look so please forgive the chaotic appearance.  The Colts game is a little more important than finishing the website.  GO COLTS!  Check back later to view the completed look.  Thanks for visiting.

Well I knew it had been a while but I really didn’t think two full weeks had gone by since I last updated everyone on the office space. There has been a lot of activity since the last post.

First and foremost I called around and found an electrician who could come out (the same day I called) and get the power flowing into the new office space. They installed the new sub panel and then I hooked up the dimmer switch and said, “Let there be light.” The room is nicely lit and my fear of needing sunglasses to be in the room did NOT come true. After installing all the outlets the room was wired and almost ready for use.

Next came a little twist that ended up causing a little delay. We decided that we should install some new flooring. It took us a while but Kelly finally found a really nice carpet remnant that added the perfect touch to the room. Kelly painted the baseboard while I installed the carpet and that’s when the room really started to look and feel usable.

The shelving in the closet took a little bit of work and a lot of frustration to install but they are going to provide a lot of nice storage for our food storage. The kids thought they made good beds.

On Saturday my Dad came over and helped install the closet doors and Kelly and I made a list of the things that we have left to do. Trim, the window, and some door knobs are about all that is left.

We are enjoying our new space already and I think it is going to provide us a nice place to work and exercise.

Another long lapse in posting and I apologize. Some of it was due to a few days of not much change but most of it was just me lacking to find the time to make the post. I had a really busy and long week of work last week which translates to little time and even smaller amounts of desire to use my computer at home.

Thursday (Day 45) Kelly put the third coat of paint on the walls. The colors turned out great together. We choose to paint two of the walls one color (blueberry muffin - not really but I’ve called it that a few times) and the other two tan.

Since the paint was finished I was able to start installing the track for the ceiling tile. I did a little bit of this on Thursday night after work.

Friday (Day 46) I installed the rest of the track for the ceiling tile and stayed up late hanging the recessed lights. We decided to put three rows of three lights up. This should be one lit up work space.

Today I wired up all of the lights, cut and hung all the ceiling tiles that I had (I am short two and a quarter tiles - which I tried to get a Lowe’s at 9:50pm but they didn’t have the right ones), installed the trim on the lights, and put light bulbs in. I stopped work just a few minutes before midnight and looked at a room that is very close to being usable.

If I could just get the electrician from work to show up and GIVE ME SOME POWER we would be all set. Does anybody know someone qualified and available to install an electrical sub-panel?

Let’s see it has been a while since I have updated you on what is going on with the project. The drywall finisher completed everything on Friday and we actually started priming the walls on Friday night. I did a little and then Kelly did some more after everyone was asleep. Saturday I did a little more priming but not much.

There were a couple of good sales at Menard’s so I picked up the stuff for the ceiling and the shelving for the big closet. Now we just need to get the new sub-panel installed so we can install the new lights and paint the walls so we can install the ceiling and trim.

Boy am I glad I contracted out the finishing of the drywall to C & S Drywall, Inc.! First of all Barry showed up 30 to 45 minutes early which is amazing for a contractor. Then he started his magic with the fancy tools. Like I always say, “It’s all about the tools.” He taped and mudded all the seems and covered all the screw heads and was out the door in an hour. I was shocked. He’ll be back tomorrow night to put on the corner bead and what ever else. I’ll try to post pictures after then.

As I was leaving work today I saw my electrician contact and he said he would be able to come over this week and install the new sub panel. That was the first piece of good news. Later I received a phone call from the drywall finisher and he is starting tomorrow. This is great news! It’s really coming together now.

Later we went out to dinner at Max & Erma’s with Nana, Papa, Grandma, Grandpa, Jan and Doc. The girl’s school was having a fund raiser where 20% of the proceeds from the bill went to the school and we also thought is was a good way to celebrate us almost completing a month of doing pretty well on our goals that we set. We had a good time and some good food.