Is it Monday yet? Oh yeah...it is.

What in the world happened to the weekend?!

We spent Friday morning running errands which included a mini-shopping spree of sorts (with our own money of course...which makes it a bit more painful...) to buy what we needed for our bathroom remodel. A vanity, a counter top, a mirror, tile for the shower, light fixtures, faucets, shower heads....Big stinkin' heavy cart to lug around, not to mention the 3 littles making lots of noise. So thankful that Home Depot isn't a quiet store. This was after we'd already drug them around Walmart. I know, we're a bit insane.

Friday night we had our small group over which is always fun. We talked, laughed, ate too many sweets and wondered why men who can't find mayo in the fridge and won't spend 10 seconds looking for it will wander for weeks in the wilderness to find an elk or a deer...(yes I put that on facebook so it will sound familiar to some of you).

Saturday we got up, ate breakfast and put on one of the best babysitters we have (totally confessing parenting sins right now) Diego. Yes, my children watched a few (okay a lot) of episodes of Diego while Mark and I tore up our bathroom. We pulled out the shower and tub, the vanity and the mirror. It was exhilarating! Getting rid of the old nasty in preparation for the new fabulousness was so therapeutic (and blogger does not recognize fabulousness - seriously? how can that not be a real word? Obviously they haven't envisioned my new bathroom!) I will post before and after pictures when I have the after ones to show but for now I will share with you what we found behind our bathroom mirror.It says Bill Hey macho man you dirty white boy. Nice huh? Ick Ick Ick! Glad to be fixing that!

Oh and then Kale, during his quiet time on Sunday I think, added his art...I think there's a dragon, 2 knights and a damsel in distress. I give him points for creativity but I said I hoped he got out all his desires to draw on walls cause if he ever did that to a painted wall?! Boy will he find some trouble. But for now it's comical.

After our day of work my sweet friend Kim invited us to their house for dinner. So nice to hang out with friends!

Sunday was church and mama's naptime! And then all of a sudden it's Monday. Wow....

Here are a few shots of our dining room/kitchen floor project we finished last weekend.

Here's one of the nasty subfloor - which was sadly better than the old carpet.The nasty kitchen floor.

The laminate wood floor going in. Seriously easy which is wonderful for folks like Mark and I. Ya know, people who don't really know how to remodel a house?

And here's a pic of our finished floor. Looks like wood floors doesn't it? Now I may have to paint my cupboards so they look more different than the floor...or not for a while since I love Mark too much to add one more fing.

Oh that's also our new dining room table. It pulls out to be an 8 person square table. Very cool! We got it from a family at church. They were going to take it to a consignment store and Mark saw it. The guy said make an offer. We did, then he changed his mind and said he wanted us to just have it! How fun is that? I'd been wanting a way to seat more people at the table but our old one only sat 6 with the leaf in. This is perfect! Yeah God!

I had a rough time getting motivated today because of the cloudy, rainy day we're having and then I was hit by the desire to make a quick trip (that's laughable in and of itself) to Bed Bath and Beyond for some window shades that were on sale - 50% off! Can't beat that! Of course we got caught in major rain and wind and I ran (sort of) to the car with a heavy bag of window shades dragging crying children with me who were mad at the weather and me for dragging them out in it. Lovely. Sorry no pictures of that to amuse you :)

I'll finish up this long post with a quick funny (at least funny-to-me-now) story.

Thursday evening Mark was at worship practice so it was me. Alone. With the 3 kids. I know I do it all the time but there are nights when it's super frightening. Anyway, we were eating dinner and talking and I had to correct one of them - honestly I can't remember the whole circumstance even if it was just the other night - I just remember what one of them said. Kale I think. He says "I forgive you mama".

What? What do I need forgiveness for? I had to discipline one of them and they feel the need to forgive me for it? Seriously? I would've laughed if it wasn't slightly irritating at the moment.

So that's all for now. Happy rainy, dreary-but-with-a-hint-of-sunshine (it is Colorado after all) Monday to ya'll!

Quick update with no pictures...yet

Wanted to let you know we're still here.

In the last week we....

*stained our new deck and railings
*winterized our garden
*cleaned up our yard
*went on a much needed date (although we both were ready to fall asleep during dinner)
*worked for 8 hours (or more) to lay our kitchen/dining room laminate wood floor (and came up just 4 planks short - pooo!)
*celebrated by taking the kids to Denny's (yes that's where we celebrated)
*went to church
*took staff pictures at the train
*watched the documentary Babies (adorable!)
*cleaned house
*went to book club and discussed insecurity
*bought new outside lights (awesome worker man Pete is making 2 light switches in the dining room to work outside for new lights in the backyard - woohoo!)
*had a meeting with our pastor (well I did...Mark was parenting)
*had lunch with friends
*went to a surprise birthday dinner
*homeschooled Kale
*met Kate's occupational therapist at the train to give her the cookies we made since Kate is now done with therapy....for now....

And right now awesome worker man Pete and he friend Rich are installing my brand new, able to open with one hand, beautiful white vinyl, clean windows and I couldn't be more thrilled! We also decided to redo our master bathroom since it's in desperate need, we have access to funds, and since we have awesome worker man Pete here. Yes one more fing.

Also, we got an email from the bank. The appraisal - remember that story? - went well. He did give us good numbers but the FHA people will not approve our refinance until our windows are completed and the appraiser comes back to check that they're done. Of course it's one more fing with them too....

So that's what we've been up to and why I really can't blog much at this time. I'm already delaying school with Kale this morning so I can at least type this up (I'm really getting much faster at typing....kids are a motivator to get it done quick!). Hopefully I can upload pictures in the next day or two of the new windows and lights and the dining room floor (although Mark posted a pic of the floor on facebook if we're friends there and you're interested - otherwise it'll be a bit).

Thanks for hanging in there with me guys!

Thankful Thursday

It's been a few weeks since I've posted on a Thursday. So glad to be back[ish].

Today I am so thankful for fall. I love the colors, I love the coolness but still warmness during the day, I love the smell, I love that Thanksgiving is coming up soon[ish].

I'm thankful for Pete, our amazing carpenter man. He's been a HUGE, hardworking blessing.

I'm thankful that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. A dim light, but it's there!

I'm thankful for a community of friends who look out for each other, support each other and take care of each other.

I'm thankful for a community of homeschool moms. What a blessing to hang out with super fun moms who don't have it all together all the time either :)

I'm thankful that our heater is blowing hot air again. It was a little iffy at the beginning of this week but thanks to a friend and his troubleshooting, Mark and I were able to fix it ourselves. Whew!

I'm thankful for Skype. I skyped with my sisters last night and laughed so hard I cried. I love and miss them!

I'm thankful for the weekend. You may not see Mark or I because we are chest-deep in projects but by golly we're gonna git er done! {well some of it anyways....}

The appraisal

Ok quick funny story here.

Monday - my total day of chaosness (yes that's a word, just try and tell me it isn't!). Our hardworking carpenter was putting in our sliding glass door, my dad came by for a quick, unexpected visit and the appraiser called and said he'd be by between 1 and 3 (and he was going to take pictures of the inside of my house!!!!). Whew.

Mark and I have been in the process of refinancing for 2 1/2 months now. Apparently everyone and their brother, sister, cousin and neighbor is refinancing right now due to the incredible low interest rate. Yea for them but super slow for us. It's been like trudging through 6 feet of snow with no shovel. For-EV-er! So when the appraisal guy called I had no choice but to say yes. I couldn't do anything to delay this more!

Long story short[ish] the guy comes at 3:01. Not quite between 1 and 3 but we could make this work. He introduces himself as Pete from the appraisal company (yes I'm aware that there are now 2 Petes in my house). I told him I was Jill from the Palmer house. I was definitely in an ornery mood.

I stopped him on my front step and said," I probably should've told you this on the phone but our house is undergoing major improvements. I know you have to appraise our house on how it is right now but really that's not fair. So do you need to come back in order for us to get a good appraisal?" I was seriously that upfront with him. I told him I wasn't bribing him but what can we do to make sure we get a good appraisal.

He laughed {I was laughing too just so you know}. He said he'd do the appraisal and then come back. Best he could do was submit it to the bank and it was their decision. I told him I had expected him to come 2 months ago when we started this process but couldn't wait any longer since winter was coming. He understood. So we went inside.

First room was our bedroom where Kale was taking his quiet time. I went in and couldn't find Kale. I yelled his name and he yells back from the bathroom. Once the guy realized Kale was in the john he turned around and went back out. Good thing cause Kale opened the door with no clothes on from the waist down. Apparently he forgot to aim right and got pee all over his pants. On top of that he had a man-poop (sorry if you don't like the visual but you have to know that the whole back of my house smelled HORRIBLE! )

I told Kale to get clothes on and went back out to talk to Pete - the appraisal Pete. Told him that we'd have to do the other part of the house first and let the back half air out. He laughed and told me he had a 5 year old and was always impressed with what came out of him. Whew! Thankful for sympathetic parents during embarrassing situations. (by the way, carpenter Pete was chuckling too as he heard this all going on while he was installing our door)

So we went through the rest of the house skipping Jack's room - cause he was asleep! Finally went back to my room and when I open the door I found Kale dancing in front of the mirror in his underwear. I told him to hurry up and put pants on and waiting - somewhat patiently - with the guy right outside the closed door.

After we gained access to the bedroom I realized the smell was not gone. So Pete plugged his nose and took a picture of our stinky bathroom. Nice. Good thing smell doesn't translate well on pictures!

I took him outside and he was so impressed with our playhouse that he took a picture of it for his son. I told him the blog where we found it :)

He finished up his tour and took a few more pictures and left. Overall he was a nice man. And understanding to say the least.

One More Fing!

Our kids and Mark have this thing they do each day as Mark leaves for work. I believe it started with Kate. Mark will walk around the table and kiss each of them goodbye while they're eating breakfast then head out the door. The kids will yell "one more fing!" (one more thing), run after him and kiss him one more time (or 2 or 3 or 4). Sometimes I'll have to break it up and let daddy go to work :) But it's stinkin' cute and I know that both Mark and the kids love it.

I say all that to say that our life in the past month or 2 has been one more fing after one more fing after one more fing. And it isn't bad, it's just one more fing. We are updating a ton of things in our house. Trying to use some of the equity we've acquired over the last 9 years to update and eventual enjoy, even more, our little house. New windows, new doors and new carpet were the initial projects. Big, in and of themselves. But like most projects they inevitably lead to one more fing.

For example. Getting new carpet meant tearing out the nasty carpet in the dining room and me not ever, ever wanting carpet in there again which means putting new floor in the dining room and kitchen. Happy day! We haven't done the new floor yet but here's a phone picture of the new carpet and how the dining room is now bare. Seriously I'm loving the subfloor infinitely better than the carpet. How sad is that?Carpet also lead to painting our bedroom. I realized it was the only room we hadn't painted yet and I was not going to paint with brand new carpet so my friend Jo and I cranked it out in a day. One more fing.....It's a crummy picture but we wanted fall colors. The wall there is a sweet potato color. The other 3 walls are an earthy green. I love it. Very warm and comfortable. The orange/yellow scared me at first but now I'm in love....

New windows and doors seemed simple enough but they, too, led to one more fing. Here's a photo of our unfinished window. The new ones came in this week but they haven't been installed yet. But our fabulous carpenter man, Pete, is preparing the windows. And while he was taking off the trim outside to prep the windows we realized just how bad the wood was so now Pete is putting new trim up outside as well...one more fing....Drywalling the window sills is leading to painting our bathroom and may still lead to one more fing although we're still discussing that one....

The windows also lead to wanting to put in a sliding glass door in the dining room. I didn't want to put brand new windows where I didn't want them right? So that led to this....one more fing...still not done and painted but it's in and it's amazing!

view during the day so you can see outside a bit

As you can see in that last photo, putting a door there led to one more fing....a deck. We had to extend our deck to the door so we didn't fall 3 feet when walking out our new door.You can see where the old deck ends and the new deck begins :) Pete is also having to put up railings on our deck - and in the front as well. We are going to have cables running underneath the rails so our view isn't destroyed. Those are coming in a week or so. Here's our front deck with the new rails.I think it makes it look so much more finished. I love it.

Here's our new front door. Thankfully that hasn't led to one more fing....yet....we got a window in the door to add a bit more light in that corner and I'm thrilled we did it. I love it. Super blurry picture but you get the idea.And THEN, since Pete is amazing, we asked him if he could install our microwave that we've had for a year and a half (I know I probably shouldn't admit that but really that's how long Mark and I have been trying to figure out how to install it ourselves which is obviously why we have Pete....our worker bee blessing!)He made it look like it's always been there. I'm in heaven. I now have a light over my stove. Who knew such little things could thrill a girl this much!?

Putting the new microwave in opened up a ton more counter space so I got ambitious and went to Home Depot and bought me some wood to build me a shelf. I was inspired, of course, but one of my favorite websites and this picture. Here's what I came up with.
Right now it's holding a ton of random things. Over time I will hopefully whittle it down but I'm still loving the fact that the vitamins and sugar bowl and hand sanitizer aren't cluttering my counter top. Just my new shelf :)

So there's the half million one more fings we've been doing lately which is why my posts are few and far between. Really when I started this blog almost 3 years ago I didn't see me going through such a slow season of blogging. I'm hoping to pick it up here when this gets completed by the end of the month or so.

Thanks for sticking with me. The kids are now hanging on my arms and making it difficult to type. I guess that's my clue that my time is done..

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Week in pictures

Since it's been over a week since I last blogged I'm hoping to give you a little bit of something interesting to read. I'll catch up more later with more pictures but for now I can let you know what we've been doing!

Last week we spent moving furniture and stuff out of our house because we got new

It was waaay overdue. I'm quite amazed that we put up with our old nasty carpet as long as we did. But this stuff is heavenly! Needless to say it was a TON of work so we haven't truly enjoyed it yet.

We also saw family for a couple days, drove to Silverton and swam at the hotel pool.

On Friday we went
out for a fancy dinner for Pastor Appreciation. So much to tell there but suffice it to say that we rode in a
I had never ridden in one. Ever. So much fun. I'll share more later. Unfortunately I have no pictures so I have to steal them from friends who were there and they haven't posted them yet. When they do I'll steal them and share them!

Saturday was our women's breakfast and then a children's ministry party. The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent doing laundry and packing for our trip tofor a wedding. A sweet girl from our youth group was getting married on the beach. We drove to Denver on Sunday after church, dropped the kids off at the grandparent's house and flew out Monday morning for the Monday afternoon wedding. Unfortunately it rained the whole day of her wedding (hadn't rained since December!) but it was still beautiful and we were so glad to be there and be a part of it.The rest of our trip has been spentat that hotel by the pier, driving downthe Pacific Coast Highway in ourtiny little Chevy Aveo :) We had a blast!

We went to Rosecrans Cemetary and Old Point Loma Lighthouseand the beachand Coronadoand the USS Midway. Where we ran from huge planes!It's been fun, relaxing, and crazy all at the same time. We're headed home today and can't wait to squeeze and love on our little ones. We've missed them!

I'm sure I can come up with more pictures later but we're about to board a plane. No wifi up there. :)