Bathroom Refresh

I know the pandemic has brought out the house projects in everyone, but I am a little late to the game. I was inspired and had ideas of what I wanted to do project wise at the beginning...and have done neither of those projects, haha! But, I got a wild hair to refresh our downstairs (Connor's) bathroom a couple weeks ago and went for it. 

It started because Connor didn't really have space to store his toiletries, so I went in search of a small vanity for him. The bathroom is small, so it couldn't be anything too large. I found a vanity from IKEA that would work and went for it. My goal was to do everything in a week and I managed to do it. Let's show what I started with...

I took everything off the walls, lightly sanded the walls and gave the bathroom a fresh coat of paint. Just doing that improved things greatly. The baseboards REALLY needed it and look so much better. Then I did my feature wall. I was inspired by some wallpaper that I found...then saw the price of and decided to try my hand at painting it myself. Then we installed the new vanity, mirror and other fixtures. 

The other thing I did was get rid of the tension shower curtain we had that used to fall down and mess up the paint. I replaced with with some piping from Lowes and love the look of it.

We also got rid of the curtain and instead frosted the bottom half of the window. It looks so much cleaner (or less cluttered or something like that) in there without the curtain.

vanity - IKEA

mirror - Wayfair

towel hooks - Target

shower curtain - Target

A quick side note about Wayfair. I haven't used them before and ordered the mirror from them because at the time it was the cheapest place I could find it. It is sold at several places. It is now way more than I paid for it. It would appear they are a bit like amazon and change their prices all the time. 

You can also find me on:

bloglovin // instagram // pinterest 

Scenes from Quarantine {week 11}

^^ I said goodbye to one of my closest friends, as she moved to Montana. I can't help but feel Covid stole valuable last times to do things together that we enjoyed. 

The week of the heat wave, all the swimming and the end of distance learning. 

This is going to be my last scenes from quarantine. Things are starting to open up. Though the kids have not been in public, I anticipate we will slowly and smartly start seeing some people. It seems odd to even think about going out again. Mass hysteria started when there were only a couple confirmed cases in our county. Now there are around 700 and things are opening up again. Makes no sense to me, except that people are done being scared and being at home. 

We finished up the school year, aka: distance learning, on Friday. It brought a routine to our days that I am going to miss. But I will not miss the struggle with distance learning. Of course, I hear rumblings that school will not be going back to normal in the fall, so I shouldn't get my hopes up too much. But even having the kids in school part time would be nice. 

It got, hot, hot, HOT this week! Our house has basically no insulation, so that means the air conditioner running all the time and still not keeping up. It also means it was hot enough for me to get in the pool...I don't like cold water! We went swimming every day. It was fun, albeit slightly chaotic with four kids in the pool at one time and only two of which can independently swim. Callum is getting close though and I am thinking this is his summer to swim. 

We are certainly at an odd crossroads with this whole Covid-19 thing. With things opening back up, many people are excited to be out and about. Many no longer seem to be practicing social distancing while out in public or even wearing a mask. Which, seems odd to me, given it hasn't gone away. My understanding is just that the curve has been flattened. Of course, we all are reading different news and believing what we want, making the whole thing all the more confusing. It definitely is a time that will be in the history books though. 

You can also find me on:

bloglovin // instagram // pinterest 

Connor & Isla's Last Day of School

It's hard to believe that we are here. The last day of school happened. When everything switched to distance learning, it was kind of like we stepped into a time warp. Things that would make it seem like the end of school is coming didn't happen. There were no ends to the homework or parties to be planned. Things were basically business as usual right up until the end. The week before, we did go and pick up the kids possessions at school. But the last week of school had just as much schoolwork assigned as any other week. 

Connor got to end his distance learning with a class video call. That was a nice way to end everything. He gets quite animated on the video calls, so he enjoyed himself right up until the end. When I asked him what he wants to be when he grows up, he said, "A doctor...I mean, a surgeon...actually, a robotic surgeon!" Connor has taken a great interest in coding lately. He even coded his own website. A website talking about math. 

Isla had her last video call on Thursday. Her teacher made a video of the year and she started crying at the end of it...both Isla and the teacher! Her teacher didn't want to end the year on a sad note, so had a class dance party before signing off for the year. It was sweet. Of course, Isla still had school work to do Friday! When Isla grows up, she wants to be an artist or geologist. I could see both, as both are things she is interested in. 

And just like that, it's summer! It feels like nothing and everything has changed at the same time. I'm glad to not have schoolwork anymore, but it also brought structure to our days. Here's to hoping the kids get to go back to school at least part time in the fall, as I know they (especially Isla) miss the human interaction with people outside of our household. 

In case you want to look back - Connor and Isla's first day of school. And if you missed it, here was Callum's last day of school from last week. 

You can also find me on:

bloglovin // instagram // pinterest 

Willa {15 months}

accomplishments: has 8 teeth, climbs up on everything, can go up and down the stairs

I feel like Willa has changed so much in the past three months. She really has quickly left the baby stage behind and gone into the toddler stage. But her smile still remains. Often times, when I pull out the camera to take a picture of her doing something, she just stops, looks at me and smiles! 

Willa can often be found emptying the tupperware cupboard. It's one of her favorite pastimes. That and dragging laundry around the house, haha! She also loves playing with toys and is getting really good at independent play. And anytime she sees anything left unattended by her siblings, she makes a beeline for it. She can spot one of their toys from so far away. It's pretty amazing. And, if they leave something on their beds, she will pull on their blanket until the toy is within reach. 

Willa loves to mimmic things we are doing. If someone coughs, she will fake cough. If someone sticks out their tongue, she will do it back. And her latest is she now hits. I am fully certain she has learned that from her siblings, but she will walk up and just hit you out of the blue. 

Willa is still nursing. This doesn't mean she doesn't eat like a champ, because she does. I am pretty certain she has never turned down any food, unless she wasn't in the mood. She eats all the normal foods we eat. Some of her favorites include blueberries, bananas, avocado, chicken (and really any meat) and ice cream. She has mastered the art of drinking out of a straw as well. Going back to nursing, it really only happens when she is tired, so before a nap or before bed, then during the night. Though, ideally I would like to night wean her soon. 

Speaking of night, Willa is doing better at sleeping. Just a couple months ago, it was common for her to wake three or so times just between the time she went to bed and I went to bed. Now she is staying asleep for several hours before waking and it is SO NICE to have my evenings back. Willa usually naps twice a day, but on the days she only naps once, she will take a loooong nap and is then exhausted by bedtime. Usually one nap is started and possibly fully taken in the carrier on my back. With all the kids home, things are never very quiet and that makes for an easy way to get her to sleep. 

Willa is in size 4 diapers. She is now fully in size 12-18 month clothing. Getting shoes that fit her have been a bit of an issue during a pandemic when you can't just go to the store and try them I. I started with some size 6 that were too big. I ordered size 5 and they were bigger than the 6. A different size 5, the exact same size at the 6. Four pairs in, I decided to call it and let her monster step her way around in shoes that are a bit too big. She doesn't wear shoes that often anyway. She just needs them when we are outside and it's hot. 

You can also find me on:

bloglovin // instagram // pinterest