Countdown!

We were still months away from our trip, but a friend of mine was to the point of counting down the days until her daughter's graduation trip.  Smart girl to choose Disney World for a graduation gift, huh?

She posted their countdown calendar on Facebook.  Cute!  Her daughters used the Mickey shaped paint chips from Home Depot, patterning theirs from an idea they read about on the DISboards.

Now, let me say that I am NOT a crafty person.  I don't have an "eye" for anything and I haven't been able to pick a paint color for over 10 years, but I knew this calendar was something we had to do.  The kids would love counting down the days, and personally, it would help me hustle to get all those last minute things in order.  Here's our rendition:

At the time, I had a tension rod in my kitchen window that served as a display for the kids' artwork.  It proved to be the perfect place for our countdown calendar.  The drapery clips are from either Ikea or Bed, Bath, & Beyond.

I went with black poster board because of the contrast with the colorful Mickeys and I really like the way it turned out.  Once I got all the supplies, I had to decide what order the Mickeys would go in, colorwise.  I laid out all of my chips, took out the duplicates, and realized I had too many dark colors.  Playing around with the brighter chips, I decided that a rainbow pattern would look best - ROY G. BIV!

Then I experimented with different ways to lay them out on the poster board.  Think outside the box.  It doesn't have to look like a calendar.  You could do a spiral.  Stagger the rows.  Columns.

As you can see, I stayed firmly inside the box.  Based on the range of colors I had, 28 days fit perfectly.  Four weeks.  Seven across.  Four down.  Nice 28 day countdown with plenty of room left around the border.

Here's what the paint chips from Home Depot look like:

I didn't want to stick the whole paint chip on the poster board, so I had to remove the Mickey head from the square backing.  I experimented with a couple of extras - oh, yeah, get extras.  It looks like they're stickers, right?  They're not.  I peeled from one side and then the other, ooching Mickey off carefully.

Using a ruler and my Mickey head, I measured off how big each square needed to be, lightly marked off my grid with a pencil, and then drew it on by hand using a white liquid chalk pen.  I thought hand-drawn lines would look better than straight ruled lines.  I've had the chalk pens for a while and never used them much until now.  They were not something I bought especially for this project.

After my lines were dry, I experimented with a couple of different glues for the Mickey heads - glue sticks, craft glue.  I ended up using craft glue, applying it with a Q-tip.  Here's close-up:

You can see how Mickey is glued down nicely on that top row and not-so-nicely on the lower rows.  Running the glue out to the edges of the Mickey head inevitably resulted in some oozing and I didn't like the way the dried glue looked on the black poster board.  After a couple, I didn't run it all the way out to the edges.  I also didn't want the Mickey head to bubble so I used a very thin layer of glue.  I did not obsess over this.  Some I got just right, but most weren't, plus the kids helped.

For the decorations around the border, I found images online, printed them off, glued them to cardstock, and then to the poster board.

You can also see that we used a black punched Mickey head to mark off the days as they passed.  I bought the paper punch at a local craft store with a coupon and used Hermafix tabs to stick them on.  The punch, the black construction paper, and the Hermafix stayed in my kitchen drawer for easy access.  The kids would call dibs every morning on who got to mark off the day.

We had a great time making this calendar together and haven't been able to throw it away yet.

Bowling for Ants

Well, the ants are losing their appeal. I'm not finding them so fascinating anymore. They've come into this house everyday since Sunday. From under the window sill by the kitchen table. Which is now caulked. CB and I couldn't find where they were coming in from outside either. But we sprayed anyway. Just to have the rain wash it away. It rains every day so that's not helping.

This particular group of ants prefers FM#3's high chair. Let it be known that I sweep almost every day and I clean his tray after every meal. This group has a very keen sense of smell.

Case in point: the cleaning ladies came yesterday so the floor was really, really clean. FM#3 dropped one drop of his ice cream and within 5-10 minutes they had detected it and come in FROM OUTSIDE! Not a lot. Maybe 6 or 8. Just the scouts, I think. But I couldn't see where they were coming in. Annoying.

Back to the ice cream.

Some friends asked us to go bowling yesterday. Lovely surprise. We had a great time. We discovered that three of the four of us really, really like bowling shoes.

It didn't take FM#3 long to catch on to the object of the game. His big bro helped him push his ball down the lane and when it knocked over quite a few pins, he threw up his arms and gave a big, "Woo hoo!!!"

His ball got stuck in the lane twice. It was going so slow it just stopped.

I wish I had video of my two older boys. Their technique was quite, um.....interesting. Not a lot of bending at the waist which just results in a horrible cracking sound when the bowling ball hits the wooden floor.

Ouch. Wish you could've been there.

Afterward, since it was so hot we stopped for ice cream.

Today I'm sore in strange places.

But now I think I have to buy bowling shoes.

Preserving Intergalactic Relations

It's been over two weeks since I posted?! Wow, things have been busy around here.

Our history co-op ended a couple of weeks ago and we had our last den meeting. You'd think -- or I thought -- things would slow down to a nice pace and we would be uninterrupted in our quest for The End of School.

Not.

Lots of emails, various scout stuff to tend to, doctor's appointments, haircuts. I had a little meltdown. I'm fine now, pretty much, but I realized I already have a tidy little to-do list for summer and I'm bound and determined to GET IT DONE!

One nagging thing on my list is that I have to frame some pictures.

A UFO landed in our backyard and the aliens inhabited the bodies of my children. This is the only explanation for the fact that a ball bounced off the stairwell wall and knocked the pictures off it. Fortunately, for the little aliens, nothing broke, but the pictures in one of the frames shifted so I might as well take them out and fix them, and while I'm at it, hang the pictures we had taken of the kids (last summer!) But first, I needed frames for them.

I scoured a few stores looking for frames. Four stores actually. My first visit was to Aaron Bros. because this is where I purchased my first installment of dark brown frames that are currently adorning my stairwell wall.

Unfortunately, brown is out; black is in.

I rather like the look of pictures framed in black, but I had committed ($$$) to dark brown frames in my stairwell figuring they would be lovely and warm against the fabulous paint color on the walls (in my fantasy world - Watch it, CB.)

But this framing is proving quite a hurdle to be hurdled. It's not that I mind framing them. It's the hanging them. You know, figuring out the right spot on the wall and trying to line the hooks up and get the nail right. And they're quite different than the frames currently/formerly on the wall. They're more contemporary and I'm worried they'll stand out in a not so good way. Oh, well, they're going up good or bad.

Now, what to do with the aliens.....

Broom Sweepa Broom

If you didn't believe I was a procrastinator before, now you know. I'm back after a ridiculously long break from blogging. The pictures below are why.

It's taken me a while to get everything back in place...and clean...and then actually take the picture...and then download it. This is how our floors turned out.

The first picture doesn't do the wood floor justice. And the tile makes everything look bigger, more open, and echo-y.

The first day I swept the tile I swept all the yucky-yuck in a pile and then couldn't find the pile! It was totally camouflaged. Gotta love that!

This is the first time HolyChow has seen the floors. She should be very proud of her work.

Glad to be back. Now I can catch up on all of you!

Una Dia Mas

I can almost walk on all of my floors. At least the computer is back in the office, but it's as slow as dial-up which is why I'm not posting much today. I'd love to read all of you, but it takes forever to load a page. CeanBounter, aka CB, aka ComputerBoy, will have to work on it this weekend.

Hope to be back in the saddle soon...riding into town alone by the light of the moon.

Just for chuckles, FM#3 likes to sing Old MacDonald at night before bed. Here's a list of the animals he chooses for the farm: alligator, turtle, fish, dinosaur, and camel.

Whatever happened to the traditional pig and cow?

Xanax, Por Favor?

Over a week and a half since I posted? Time flies when you're on the verge of a panic attack.

We're going into Week 2 with our newest family member, Daniel. He's quite a skilled craftsman with abundant patience. Sabe ingles muy poco. And my Spanish is about 20+ years old.

I was good with two dining tables and 16 chairs in my den. Then came the stove. And the dust. Then there was that day that we couldn't go into the kitchen. I swear the refrigerator was taunting us. And then the back door was off limits and we could only get the front door open about a foot and a half because my china hutch was in two pieces in my foyer.

I'm excited because I think when this is all over I'll be really good at hopscotch!

And Spanish!

Ice Panic of 2007

Well, it finally made it - a day late. The drizzle, barely freezing temps, kind of a let-down.

The boys think the icicles are cool and have been outside banging the ice off of everything. I'm sure the noise attracted the neighbors and CPS will be knocking at our door any minute wondering why the children are not in school. Have you never heard of recess?

"Please, can we stay outside? Besides, the icicles are melting."

"What's the temperature?"

"33.3 and rising by the second!"

"Okay, but wear real shoes, not houseshoes. And gloves."

The Tree is down, courtesy of CeanBounter. I'm glad because now I have to start getting ready for the Flooring People.

Yes! I said it! I did it! I Made A Decision!

With a TON of help from HolyChow. She came down for a week and dragged my sorry wiffle-waffling behind around to every flooring store west of the beltway! Wood in the den and tile everywhere else. The wood is scrumptious, hand-scraped, warm, yummy, golden, gooey...no, wait, I'm describing chocolate chip cookies. Anyway, it will look really nice next to that stone behemoth of a fireplace.

A friend's husband asked me about The Flooring on Sunday. I was so excited...he was the first person to ask since I made The Decision. I jumped when he asked and I might've squealed a little. I think I startled him with my excitement. Seriously, this has taken me a year and a half. I think I'll go raise a toast to myself and HolyChow.

Only family would do something like that. Gotta love that chica!

The Clapper

We've lost our DVD remote. That means we can't rewind the scene over and over again on our favorite parts. We have to use the TV remote which is an inferior substitute.

To complicate matters, we've now lost the TV remote. FM#3 and I were home alone. I put him to bed and skipped, happily bounded, went downstairs to enjoy my only night of network TV. The New Adventures of Old Christine, love it! What?! No remote?!

I looked everywhere and I do mean everywhere. Couch cushions, in the dark recesses behind the TV, DVD drawers, cabinets, under the couch, kitchen, fridge, pantry, trash can, office, bedroom, back upstairs.

Nothing.

I came to the conclusion that FM#3 must have some secret hiding place for the remotes and wherever the TV remote was, there we would joyfully find its cousin, the DVD remote. I'd ask him the next day. Meanwhile, I'll just sit here and enjoy my show and try not to go crazy without a remote during the commercials.

Oh, what the heck. Why not check the obvious place? I mean I have looked EVERYWHERE! I opened the official Remote Control Drawer and, voila! TV remote! Who put that there?!

Alas, the DVD remote is still MIA.

Treadmill? You mean the quilt rack?

Wow! It has been a while. As I told the Library Lady the other day - been up to my eyeballs in school, scouts, and co-op.

School - Chugging right along. FM#1 is doing well. FM#2 loves his math fact sheets (bless his heart) and I decided to start him in a spelling workbook. FM#3 likes to color.

Scouts - We had our first den meeting this week. We've got some sharp-looking scouts. I'm really excited about this year. Being the den leader I have to wear the oh-so-attractive scout uniform. Shirt only really. It's at the alterations shop right now. I'm having it altered to look a bit more feminine. I've probably committed some heinous crime against the BSA for altering the uniform. Seamstress Jennie is putting in some darts and what-not to make me look like I have curves that I don't, because let's face it, I am not tucking that shirt in! I haven't tucked since the early 90's.

Co-op - FM#1 is managing to keep up with the reading. FM#2 has made new friends. FM#3 eats the other kids' snacks. Me and my fellow LG teachers are managing to fill the three hours more than adequately. I get home and crash!

Tile - Thank you all for your concern. I just can't bring myself to go looking again. I know I need to do it and I will, but.....

A chica de mi iglesia even encouraged me. This after our pastor announced from the pulpit that I needed prayer for my tile situation. Tongue-in-cheek, of course. His wife has been helping me with tile and colors and such. I'll prolly venture out this weekend. Until then I'm using the aforementioned tile as a huge trivet.

Oh, my under cabinet lights are pooping out. Mi esposo says it's because I leave them on all day and they get muy caliente. You'd think if we can put a man on the moon we can design a fixture that can withstand the heat of a halogen. Or maybe not invent a light bulb that gets as hot as a halogen!

So who has time to exercise?

Bummed. Like Totally.

The aforementioned tile is.....discontinued.

No joke. I went to the distributor this weekend to have them pull several tiles for me to look at since it has some significant variation and, alas, it is discontinued and there is only about 500 sf available.

Back to the drawing board.

Going to finish LotR tonight with CeanBounter.

I have an announcement to make...

I have picked a tile! (roar of the crowd, applause, applause)

Okay, so it's not as exciting as Sheller's, but I'll be living with it, too, for the next 18 years. At least I'm pretty sure. I have to go to the manufacturer's store and look at several of them to check the color variation. If it's a 'go' then the destruction of my house can begin!

On another note, we've started school. Celebrate good times, come on! To quote Kool and the Gang. We're off and running and doing an adequate job thanks to lesson plans. Why didn't I do these before?

On yet another note, can we believe our Shellers is preggers? This is going to be fun. Let's start thinking of names.....Sugar Snap, Snow, Crowder.