Closet part 3

Someone suggested posting before and after pics of our project. Here's the before picture. It's definitely a plain and boring room. I can't wait until we have the closet done!!

Due to the building process, we will be out of Internet service for a few days while the project is being completed. Hopefully next Monday the project will be done.

Cliff & Grant

Don't our boys look cute? This picture was taken just before leaving for church. Kale had a VERY hard time getting them both to sit still.

The monkeys they are holding are named Cliff and Grant. They are named after Kale's "monkeyboy" friends from Iowa State.

Anyway, Grant, here is an updated picture of our boys with Cliff and Grant. Their favorite thing to do is have them kiss each other. We really enjoy watching that.

"So, you think you can dance!"

Personally, I love this show. It's amazing what some of those people can do with their bodies! I think as soon as Brenton is old enough, we'll let him try out. Do you think the show will still be on the air?

Swimming!!

We went swimming! Well, not really. But I did inflate a tiny kiddy pool in our backyard. Brenton absolutely loved it. Alex was slightly entertained with it for a couple of minutes. The rest of the time we were out there, Alex played with the bottle.

Alex's New Bottle

So, I left the kitchen for a minute, obviously before I'd cleaned up the breakfast remains. When I returned, Alex was sitting at the kitchen table, sucking on this.
This probably does taste better than his milk or juice!

Cookie Decorating

I've been trying to do more activities with my children during the day. I figured that maybe if they're more entertained, then they won't be driving me crazy. Anyway, one of the first "activity" days, Brenton and I baked sugar cookies. I bought some cake/cookie decorating paint brushes at the store, and we decorated the cookies with that. The coloring is made of food coloring, and therefore safe to eat. We did find out, that the coloring is pretty strong. This is what Brenton looked like after eating the cookie he decorated. Seriously, he didn't suck on the paint brush, all the green is just from his cookie.

Basement Closet, Part 2

Well, we have finally made a decision. We'd like to thank everyone for your advice, however, we are taking none of it. We've actually found a third option that we both like. We are going to do two sets of french doors. They are going to be a standard two panel door. We have had a VERY hard time finding them. It seems that the only interior french door that people want, has glass panels in them.

I couldn't even find pictures of non-glass interior french doors online, so I posted a picture that somewhat resembles what we've ordered. The picture has six panel doors, and ours will only have two large panels on each door. Plus ours are interior doors, and will be painted white.

We are really hoping that other people will like the way we are doing this. Hopefully, this way will leave the room more as a family room, and less of a bedroom. We're also hoping that the lack of interior french doors, without glass, is not a sign that people do not like them.

We'd like to hear your thoughts on our decision. If you like the idea, feel free to let us know. If you don't, please keep it to yourself. Construction will start Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. :)

Basement Closet

We love our home, but it seriously lacks storage space. We have a bonus room in the basement that we are going to add a closet to.

When you walk down our basement stairs, you walk right into a large room with no door. It could be used as a second living room/family room, or office/den. It doesn't have a closet or a door. The room itself about 13'X25' (I'm estimating on the length). We are going to build a closet in the room to improve the storage space in our home. The closet will go the entire width of the room (13 feet) and will be about 2 1/2 feet deep.

We have made all the decisions needed to start construction, except for one. We need to choose the type of closet door. Here are a couple of choices.



Personally I like the doors on the bottom, but Kale REALLY doesn't. The style really doesn't fit our home (even though we really don't have a style). Our home is pretty much a spec home. It was built very generic.

The doors on the top would be more practical, since we want to store basically everything from boxes, file cabinets, clothes, etc., in the closet. With the folding doors, we'd have easier access to all the storage space.

The hang up we have, is we know we aren't going to stay in this particular home forever. We know what we like, but we need other people's opinions. If you were going to be buying a home, which closet doors would you rather have in your "bonus" room?

If anyone has any additional ideas, we'd LOVE to hear them!

Cars

Speaking of expensive toys...

Brenton LOVES cars. Alex is quickly starting to follow that love. Brenton's grandma has helped purchase many, many, many cars for both boys. (I have to admit, we did find a GREAT sale at Walmart and bought several cars ourselves.)

Anyway, this is what Brenton loves to do with his cars.













Below: This is what happens, when Alex steals one of the cars out of the "lineup".

Toys

Who needs fancy toys to entertain children? Costco has plenty of cheap and affordable entertainment available for purchase. Just make sure you put it away promptly, or the 1 1/2 year old will unroll it all. (I learned that from personal experience!)

Below: Brenton LOVING his new toys!


Below: Alex wasn't quite as sure as Brenton. Eventually he was a little more aggressive...

Bike Ride

On my birthday we went on a bike ride. Kale was anxious to see how high the water was. It was amazing how quickly it had receded. The river (usually so small you could wade across it) that goes through our valley has gone from looking like the Mississippi back down to about two or three times it's normal size. There was no longer any water on the part of the bike path we rode. We had actually hoped to go the other direction, but that section of the bike path was closed due to "unsafe conditions." Kale REALLY wanted to ride it anyway and find out what those conditions were. If we didn't have the boys with us, I might have been able to be talked into it.