It's a bird, it's a plane, IT'S A PIRATE BASEMENT!!

That's right! We're fresh out of pirates but we've got the ship! Read that sentence carefully, this is a no profanity blog. So you know that my projects progress slowly because I have to work around chaos kids and cooking/cleaning up, cooking/cleaning up, cooking/cleaning up. Have I also mentioned that I work on more than one project at once too? I'm currently working on painting cabinets in my laundry room (more on that another day) and painting my basement ceiling.

Here's the before picture of the pirate ship basement. Apologies for my pictures. They are going to be poor quality until I get my iCloud figured out.

 

Sweet V is happily watching the Fresh Beat Band while the wood paneling awesomeness (cough cough) threatens to close in on her!

So, obviously, this being our family hangout, something had to be done. Eventually we may want to drywall this whole area but painting the paneling is the least expensive option right now. I've decided to go white for now and may change it when we get new furniture. New carpet and lighting will be in the works too but Rome wasn't built in a day! See that horrific pair of partial cabinets way down there? That is going to be Jeremy's electronics lab( he's totally pumped about it) and I'm hoping I'll be allowed to sew there too.

Here is the other end of the room and the most important area according to " the wee three". The toy area!

 

I know, you're straining your eyes to find the toys. Don't worry, you paint it and they will come! Haha, hope you got that partial movie quote, otherwise I just sound lame!

After a little overhead painting, here's where I'm at now. AND, it's another kid photo bomb! Kaci, Violet and Lucy are definitely drawn to the lens! Kookie kiddies.

 

It's looking brighter already!! I wish I had a whole day alone to just KNOCK. IT. OUT!!

 

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You can do this!

Hey moms and dads! Do you ever feel like you couldn't possibly get anything done in your house while you are trying to raise your children? By the way, my hand is raised. With 5 girls (ahhhhhhh!!), Jeremy and I are lucky to be alive some days much less get things done! I'm here to tell you that it is possible to have a clean, beautiful home, if you want it! The key is to realize that everything takes more time with kids around. I know, you're sitting there saying, "duh Dani!", but if you really accept that, then you can be happy with whatever small progress you make on your home each day.

Here is my cleaning schedule

 

I know, right! I'm so old school with my hand written list!

This chore list may look ambitious to you but it's actually very do-able with the right planning. I get up every morning at 7am or earlier if "the wee three" think I've slept enough.

Awww! They're so cute (just not necessarily at 6am).

 

I do day trading on the futures market every morning from 8:30- 10:30 so I often clean one room while the kids are eating breakfast and then I dress and try to look like a real person (some days I stay in my jammies). Then I do more cleaning during quiet time. If you are a SAHM/D (stay at home mom/dad) and you don't have a "quiet time" every day, stop your life and take the steps to implement one!! Quiet time gives me a chance to eat a meal without a 3 ( soon to be 4) year old asking a million questions! Seriously, let them eat their lunch and then have one hour of quiet time in their rooms. Sometimes I tackle a house project like painting in the afternoon and other times I just drop everything and we go for a walk. I used to push myself to get this list done but sometimes the kids are too restless and need to go run, so I'm learning to just go with the flow. Once Kaci or Jeremy come home, I can do things that can't be done with the baby, like mowing. Tired yet?! Me too!

I have heard lots of moms comment about how guilty they feel about cleaning their house or doing projects when they think they should be entertaining their kids. My answer to that is this. Your kids want nothing more than to be with you, no matter what you are doing. Put on some tunes and have them help you clean!

So see, you can do this! You just have to do things a little at a time and be proud of what you did each day, even if you just made meals and took the kids for a walk or made faces at each other on the iPad!!

 

 

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Furniture Movers Anonymous

Hi all! I decided that my blog needed some revamping so I'm making some changes! I've been spending a lot of time trying to get back to doing things I love, with the people I love! I think this will be a good way to share my daily life and my home mess decorating and remodeling with all of my family and friends and I get to pretend like I'm having a real adult conversation! Win- win!

I decided to forego my daily chore list and focus on sprucing (that word makes me feel old for some reason) up my music room. I moved two black chairs from the living room which led to me finding various types of cereal from days long gone.......... GROSS! Have you ever taken furniture apart and found whole meals? This made me want to call my Mom and apologize for any meals I left in the furniture! Sorry Mom. Anyway, after moving the chairs I had to move the rug and then I was sucked into rearranging the living room. "Hi, I'm Dani and I have a furniture moving problem." The crowd responds, "Hi Dani!".

In the end, I was disappointed and realized that I don't have enough stuff for this monster house.

Darn, please don't make me shop!

Here is my music room looking toward the back of the house.

Here is a pic from the other side of the room.

And this is how the living room ended up.

 

I plan to leave it this way for a while and hopefully find some good furniture deals soon! At least Sally has lots of room to cruise in her walker!

 

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