You'd think I would know better.

But alas, in my blissful naivete, when I hear the sounds of little kiddos playing upstairs contentedly, I pat myself on the back with a job well-done that I have taught my kids to play so nicely together.

After 12 years of motherhood, I still have not figured out that content sounds of playing is not the norm!  It means they are wreaking havoc on something and attempting to be quiet so I don't disrupt their troublemaking!


Seriously.  You would think I'd have clued in by now.  But nooooo,

the destruction continues.

Like this morning.  30 minutes of heavenly quietness while Natalie, her friend Carson, and Megan played upstairs.  I walked upstairs to put Natalie to bed for a nap, and heard two 5-year-old's quickly scurry into their bedroom.  I immediately notice these two massive piles. 

Yes,that would be the remnants of TWO full band-aid boxes.  

and, they certainly didn't miss any spots on the panda - front AND back.  

I think we will just leave the band-aids on the panda for the time being.  From past experience, pulling band-aids off from fluff is not my idea of a good time.

An update from an earlier post - remember when Megan turned the sink faucet and completely covered the counter and bathroom floor with water in this post?  The water leaked down into the cabinet creating a nice large pool of water - seeping into the wood, now screaming in mold.  $200 to replace.  Sigh.

As Promised...

Okay, I can finally reveal pictures of the basement in all it's beautiful glory. 

...leading down the stairs.We took off the door going to the basement, so it looks like an actual doorway now.

Pictures really do not do this justice, but alas, it will have to do for now until all of you come over to check it out :)

 My beautiful model Megan - the view into the den.  And yes, she is still in her jammies.
She even remembered to say cheese without any prompting whatsoever on my part. 

 The two storage rooms off the den.

and the lovely storage areas revealed behind the doors

Not shown is the furnace and storage room at the bottom of the stairs across from the den entryway.  

The Den.  I can still kill John in ping pong.  

Don't worry.  He'll beat me in the next couple of rounds now that he is all good and warmed up.
The one thing I have going for me is that there isn't as much space for the table now, therefore, not as much room to wind up his spins.  Yee-haw!

The toy closet in the den.  Woo-hoo!  The toys are hidden!!

 Kimberly's room.  Suffice it to say she is THRILLED to have her own bedroom. 

I'm still working on painting her closet doors.
But see, aren't you happy I posted this anyway instead of dragging your curiosity on even longer?
 

Celebration Time

We are DONE, we are DONE, we are DONE with the basement!!  We are finishing up the last final details like blinds, doorknobs, shelves, etc. so I PROMISE I will post pictures at the beginning of next week so you can all see what has been keeping us busy for the last many, many months. 

I will, however, share with you this picture of Kimberly's bedroom with the color of paint she chose.  We let her choose whatever color she wanted, and this is the one she came up with.  I think it's safe to say that after 12 years of living in a bright pink bedroom, she was ready for something a lot different.

In addition to celebrating the finished basement, we celebrated Natalie's 5th birthday.  She knows all of her letters and most of her numbers.  She is more than ready to finish up with preschool and move on to kindergarten, constantly asking when she can go to the school with her older sisters.  Patience my child, patience.  

 We enjoyed swimming at the local watering hole as a family, but obviously, I didn't get any pictures, so you'll have to enjoy her cake picture. 

On a completely unrelated note, while I was doing the dishes this morning, I found Megan doing this in the bathroom sink:

 

What the picture doesn't show is the massive pile of water there is on the counter and floor because she turned the faucet head towards the mirror and kept turning the water on and off.  I really should have clued in as I heard the water sounds and happy singing.  

She wasn't very happy when I pulled her out and changed her out of the sopping wet clothes.

Easter Girlies

Here they are in all their Easter glory of recycled Easter dresses. You know, with four girls all getting new Easter dresses over the years, you tend to collect a few. I decided to save a few pennies and not add to their already large stash of dresses.

And since a picture of four girls never gets all of them looking at the camera at the same time, here is picture #2.

Spring Break

We have been painting the basement like mad this week, and with the kids home for Spring Break, it worked out perfectly! Kimberly and I painted during several mornings this week while Alicia kept track of Megan and Natalie - then the girls were left to fend for themselves in the evening while John and I painted. We're almost done...just one more teeny, weeny coat of tan in the den area and we can post pictures of the final product.

I did feel badly for the kids, and decided we'd take a break from the painting torture and have a fun day midweek.

We ventured down to Wheeler Farm in Salt Lake with several of our neighbor friends to see the baby animals.

Cute, huh.

Then we ventured over to the church history museum where they had a bunch of kid's crafts and activities - all for free!

Even some dancing - Latin style.

And here are the moms who braved the adventure with all the kids:

Then we went over to Temple Square to see all of the pretty flowers.

Fun day, indeed. We promptly resumed our painting schedule the next day, much to their chagrin. I think they're looking forward to going back to school :)

Plaster dust by John

The only renovation job worse that sanding drywall is re-routing sewer lines! This is important to remember while you read on. You laugh, but try it some time.

Our basement is finally into the painting stage, but first some credit where credit is due. I hung most of the drywall several months ago between Christmas and New Years. While hanging one of the ceiling pieces, it slipped, I slipped, and my wrist started hurting. I thought I had simple sprained it. The mudding of the drywall took months because I could only do a little at a time before my wrist hurt. Two doctors and one chiropractor later, I learned my elbow was out of place. Yep, you read that right, my elbow was making my wrist hurt!

To keep the project moving, Dana, Kim, Alicia, and even Natalie joined in the mudding festival. Dana, Kim, and Alicia have spent hours sanding drywall joints. Remember my statement about which jobs are worst in a renovation?

Even though the one picture looks like the abominable snow-woman, it is actually Dana. You'd be surprised at how much dust is created sanding plaster. The girls had a lot of fun covering screws and texturing the ceiling. Kimberly has actually helped with almost all stages of her room.

I don't think they knew what they were getting into when they volunteered to help. I will have to let a couple years pass by before I ask for renovation help again. Sounds kind of like labor and delivery.

What's better than BIG public Thank You! Without them, I would still be slowly sanding and mudding as my elbow heals.