New dining room part 2

Back to the dining room!

I decided to tape before painting this time. I haven't taped off before painting in a long time and thought I'd try it again.



It took a long time and in the end, it wasn't really worth it. I even followed the instructions of the paint guy in Holmes on Homes on HGTV. He says to do the first coat around the tape really light so that it just sticks to the tape and forms a good barrier. The second coat then should be full coverage, and then you need to pull the tape off when the paint is still wet. My paint still bled through and the lines are not nice and crisp. Don't look too closely at my paint job when you come visit--it's definitely not perfect! :)

Another word of advice--don't use Glidden paint! It was horrible! The darker grey/black went on decently in 2 coats, but the light grey did not go well. It went on clumpy, runny, and with very splotchy coverage. It truly looked horrible. So for the second coat, we used Tim's Fisher discount and bought Diamond Vogel paint. They were able to match the color perfectly and it looks wonderful! I believe this will be our paint brand of choice from now on.

And here are a couple pictures of the almost finished dining room.





More to come again--hopefully soon :)

New dining room part 1

I finally got fed up with the less than beautiful (to put it nicely) wallpaper in our dining room a couple weeks ago. I vow to never put wallpaper up on any walls in my house ever! This wallpaper and backing came off very nicely compared to what I've been told, but it was still a unpleasant, long, tedious process. Never again if I can help it! :)


A little glimpse of the wallpaper. Not so bad once you get used to it, but definitely in need of a change!




Scraping the backing off... luckily it came off pretty well by just wetting it down with water. Still hated the whole process!


Finally, with a little help from Mom and Dad Klinge one day, the room was completely stripped of all wallpaper. You might not be able to see from the pictures, but the walls are in rough shape. Definitely not smooth! We are going to need to tear the walls down to put in insulation someday soon, so I decided not to worry about imperfections and just go with it!





My blank slate--and yes, it's a mess. Sorry about that!

More to come...

Reading

Kendall “reads” books all the time. Well, she mostly chews on them honestly, but she is also very good at flipping pages. This last weekend Tim read Kendall a couple of his favorite books from when he was growing up. Kendall didn’t have enough patience for the whole story, but she turned those pages! She loves her Daddy so much! It warms my heart to watch, and I can't help but smile (and sometimes get a little teary-eyed, I admit) :)

Satan's Lies

I have decided to pour out my heart this morning. That always brings such a feeling of relief and calm, doesn’t it? Anyway, about 3 or 4 weeks ago, I realized something that had been going on in me for a few weeks before that. I had been listening and believing lies that the devil had been putting in my mind and my heart. There was an increasingly loud voice in my mind that kept telling me things like, “you’re a terrible wife. If Tim isn’t completely happy and satisfied in all areas of your marriage, you are the only one to blame.” Or “you’re a horrible mother. Kendall can’t even crawl yet like all babies her age can. You must not know how to raise a child.” Or “you have no friends. No one wants to talk to you, invite you over, be with you at all. And no wonder—look at yourself.” Or “you are incredibly fat and ugly. You have become a complete and utter failure in life because of it too.”

And the sad thing is, I was believing all of these things unquestioningly. I have never hated myself so much or been so low. One night, as I was rocking Kendall to sleep, I heard another voice speak to me—well, shout at me really. It said, “Carrie, you’re believing lies. Satan has a strong hold in your life in this area right now. You are my child, I love you, and I made you exactly who you are, and my creation is GOOD.” I started to cry. After laying Kendall down, I confessed everything I had been feeling and hearing to Tim. And my life took a 180 starting that night. I started believing God’s truths. I admit, I still did and do find myself falling into thinking negatively about myself, but as soon as I catch myself, I pray. And God helps me to turn around again. I’m not perfect. I’m not a perfect mother, a perfect wife, or a perfect friend. I struggle with my weight and am not the most gorgeous girl around. But I’m God’s perfect creation. And through Him I can get closer to being perfect. No more lies.

Standing

Kendall has been getting so great at standing! She can pull her self up on almost anything and wants to be standing all day long. As I was folding laundry last night, she insisted on “helping.” She would stand up next to the laundry basket and pull out clothes one by one until she had a pile next to her. I would put the pile back in the laundry basket so I could fold it, and the game would start again. What a great helper… ;) Good thing she’s so cute!



Speaking of folding laundry, my week has seemed like it’s been nothing but cleaning up and trying to catch up, as most people are doing around here after the storm on Monday. Tim and I took the day off on Monday (since there was no electricity anyway) to clean up the yard and help some of those around us. I had a normal Tuesday, and then Wednesday hit me. I’m behind on so much at work and was running around like crazy trying to finish all my different projects and studies. At home there’s baking, cleaning, cooking, taking care of a baby, and practices to go to. Kendall has also decided to wake up 5 times a night this last week, and I do not handle severe lack of sleep well. All I want to do is hide under a desk, maybe cry a little bit, and come out when the week is done. Times like these make me DETEST my long drive to and from Ankeny every day. What a waste of precious time.

To ease our fears and frustrations, Tim and I made a schedule for the rest of the week. We have outlined certain things that need to get done every day after work, and when we are done with that night's list, we are allowed to sit and relax the rest of the night. Last night, we didn’t get to sit down until 8:30, which is almost bedtime, but we did get our whole list done. So I practice my deep breathing, check items off the list at work and at home as I get them done, and pray, pray, pray. I pray for sanity, for peace, for energy, and for the ability to stave off crabbiness. Hopefully next week will slow down… until Kendall starts walking by herself… :)

Etsy Shop

My mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and I opened an Etsy shop about a month ago. We've gotten some views, and Mom sold a little doll, but for the most part, our site has not seen much action. I'm rather disappointed about that--I was hoping that maybe I would be selling hats left and right so that I could make enough money to quit my job, stay home with Kendall, and knit all day. Sadly though, people look but don't buy. Sigh...

If you want to look also, here is the site.

For a quick preview, here are some of the pictures of Kendall modeling one of the hats I've made and a bow Beth made. What a lovely model! :)

Father's Day

For Father's Day, we decided to go camping! Since it was Kendall's first time and we didn't know what to expect and it was supposed to rain that night, we camped in our backyard. We set up the tent, made a fire, grilled hot dogs, and made smores. Kendall had a great night--only woke up once like normal. Makes me all the more excited to camp over the 4th of July! Here are some pictures from our adventure.

Setting up the tent

Kendall inspects the setup and approves!

Hanging out by the fire

Kendall tried so hard to stay awake--she hates to miss anything. But after so much excitement, she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer. Good night little lady! :) Watch the video here