I had to take the boys home so they could nap, but I went back afterwards to pick Matt up. He did a bang up job finishing up! There's still some trim and touch up work to be done, but after that, it'll be done!

 Isn't it beautiful?! I just love it!

Miscellaneous Going's-On's at the House

I have a lot of random pictures that I've taken while at the house. They've accumulated to the point that they've earned their own post!

Grams and Rob lovin' on each other. I'm so glad they get to spend more time together. A lot of bonding and reconnecting is going on amongst the work. What a multi-faceted blessing!

Hmm. This has Daddy written all over it...

Our cute little bird house decoration on our front steps. Grams has offered to repaint it using the colors that are being used inside the house.

Drew looking for Daddy, as he's changing the water.

Taking a fiver.

I have no idea...

Cuties!

"Where is everybody?"

Cheeser!

Again, no clue.

That's all for now, peeps! =)

House Progress - Living Room (Part 2)

After our nice little night off, we were back at it again the following day.

Even with just primer on the trim, it really brightened the room! That and the horribly discolored blinds were taken down.

The white goes up. Love the half wall, now! You were right, Cher!

The wall color goes up. It dried into a lovely grayish-blue.

It REALLY brightened up the room!

We ended up coming back the next day to finish the trim work and whatnot. Here's Matt painting the window seat after painting the molding above. Both a darker version of the wall color.

 Oh, it's just grand! The room looks so fresh and so clean, now! Can't wait to get my new windows in the next six weeks!

Family Night at Home

We worked hard all week on the house and at our usual jobs, so we planned on having a family night at home on Friday. I'm so glad, because I was seriously starting to burn out.

We brought out all the pillows and whatnot into the living room and watched Hoodwinked 2. Here's the boys chillaxin' as I'm making dinner.

And here's dinner! Personal pizzas! They were SO good. Rob got to top his and brother's. He was quite proud of that.

Mama and Daddy's pizzas. Matt had a Buffalo Chicken Ranch and I had a Canadian Bacon Olive Ranch. Mmm.

It was a huge hit with the boys. We then made Chocolate Peanut Butter Crescents for dessert, but I didn't get a picture because they went too fast! Very tasty!

The night ended with a good pillow fight...that I somehow got involved in. What a fun way to recharge the batteries!

An awesome pizza crust recipe and the recipe for Chocolate Peanut Butter Crescents:

Quick Pizza Dough
3 ½ cups flour
1 package Fleischmann's® Rapid Rise Yeast (I use Red Star Quick Rise)
¾ tsp salt
1 cup warm water (about 125°F)
2 tablespoons olive oil

Combine 2 cups of the flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Stir in the warm water and olive oil. Add the additional flour as needed until you have soft dough.

Turn out the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead until it is smooth and elastic – usually about 5 minutes, adding more flour as necessary. Cover the dough with a cloth on the floured surface and let rest for 10 minutes.

Your dough is now ready to use in your favorite pizza recipe.

Flavor Variations:
Experiment with different flavor variations and come up with some of your own.

Cheese Pizza Dough: Use the recipe above with the addition of ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese to the flour mixture.

Garlic and Herb Pizza Dough: Use the recipe above with the addition of 1 garlic clove minced, or 1 teaspoon garlic power, and 1 teaspoon of dried Italian seasoning to the flour mixture. (We really like this one!!)

Bake in a 425˚ oven for 12-15 minutes.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Crescents
1 can refrigerated crescent rolls
peanut butter
semi-sweet chocolate chips

These are ridiculously easy, guys. Spread out the crescents, spread a thin layer of peanut butter on each of them, sprinkle some chocolate chips on them, roll them up, and bake them according to the packaging directions. Simple as that and even more delicious!

House Progress - Living Room

Started prep work on the living room. The pictures kind of speak for themselves.

Two words come to mind: Swiss cheese.

 This room was a pain to prep, but not half as bad as what the boys' room is going to be like. That's going to be a beast of it's own.

Playing in the Back Yard

The boys are so enjoying their new yard! I can't even tell you just how much. They run around, explore, get dirty...you know. Boy stuff! I love it!

Rob about to go down the slide. I think I *might* have caught him unaware.

Chasing each other.

Playing in the dirt. Always.

Calm down, ladies. I know he's charming, but you'll just have to wait for him to get potty trained, atleast.

Goofball!

"I see you, Mama!"

I don't know how many times he climbed that ladder...

They are sleeping really well, lately! =)

House Progress - Our Room

First room up - our bedroom. It's getting flooring first, so it was first on the list to paint.

Yuck brown is going bye-bye!

See? Told you. All primered and ready to rock! (Sorry for the blurriness - I was tired and didn't care!)

The next day, Grams and Cher came over to help. Here's Matt and Cher starting on the ceiling.

I've always thought I had the coolest grandma ever. She not only was willing to come over and watch the boys while we worked, but she also entertain them by building them their own "house". Classic.

On goes the teal! I'm in love!!!

I'm also in love with this guy. Don't tell him, though. =)

Starting to put the beige on the other walls.

It's such a yummy combination!

One of my tasks - painting the book shelves. Don't let them fool you. They were a pain in the tush!

"I need a nap, Mom! Take me home!!"

I had to take the boys home at this point, because they were starting to melt.

Came back the next day to see my beautiful finished room!

Ah, I just LOVE it! The shelves have since been put back up, but we still need to get the doors back on the storage "cubbies", the ceiling fan installed, and the carpet replaced. It's going to look MARVELOUS!

Especially with this gorgeous bedding! I know, you're thinking, "She's lost it...", but trust me. It's going to be lovely. =)

FYI: I got a FANTASTIC deal on this bedding. An 11 piece bed-in-a-bag set for $100 + free shipping on Amazon. Can't get much better than that!

I'm trying really hard to get caught up on house updates, but we're either working our butts off or completely exhausted, lately. I will post as often as I can. It's exciting to see this place come alive again!