Day of Paint

Steve worked so hard in the kitchen on the tiling and cabinets (and before this the floor) - and dealing with the Lowe's FridgeGate that I told him I'd do the painting. It didn't seem like it would be too bad. But I started the dining room after work yesterday and it was a huge mistake. I was exhausted and the house was all torn apart. So I took a vacation day today and just knocked it all out. So now the kitchen, dining room, living room, and stairway are painted! WHEW!! 

Because I was home, Wm stayed with me and just walked up to school instead of going to Before School. So I was in charge of packing his lunch (Steve usually has morning duty and I have afternoon duty so I am not the usual Lunch Packer). I stuck a sour gummy worm (his favorite is yellow!) and a note in Wm's lunch. And showed off...

And I'm pretty excited to be done with painting!! Here is the finished dining room (the same taupe as we painted in the kitchen).

And Steve and Wm picked out a very light sage green for the living room/stairway. It was still a little tacky this evening so not much is hung up yet - but at least I got things put back to rights!! Here's a shot of the color next to the taupe.

Now we just have a zillion little jobs to take care of (like putting up the molding, painting the trim, etc). Stuff that isn't urgent and we'll probably do it little bits until we run out of steam. I am definitely out of steam. I can't wait to go back to work tomorrow!

Selfies

Wm: What are you doing?
Me: What? Nothing.
Wm: Ummm...are you taking selfies with the cat?
Me: How do you know what a selfie is?
Wm: Everyone knows. ARE YOU TAKING SELFIES WITH THE CAT?
Me: Yes. So?
Wm: Wow.
Me: Don't judge me! We looked cute hanging out together!
Wm: Hmmm....

The cat didn't look too pleased about it either.

Get way from me, Human.

Really? I'm so embarrassed for you.

In other news, Steve did all sorts of electrical things in the kitchen and put a new outlet and a new disposal switch in and it looks amazing!! Yay Steve! Now all we have to do is wait for the damn fridge to be delivered...AGAIN!

Cursed

Well, we are cursed. They delivered the wrong fridge today!! Apparently GE had some glitch in their system and sent the wrong model. Steve has spent, seriously, almost his whole day at Lowe's trying to untangle the mess. No apple picking, no frolicking in the gorgeous sunshine. He is currently back there now, fighting some other battle. He is threatening to just tell Lowe's to refund all our money and we'll figure something else out. So, basically, this fridge is cursed. CURSED, I tell you!!  It doesn't help that this is, literally, the only fridge Steve and I agree on. Any other model he likes, I hate - and vice versa. So it's this one or a cage match followed by a very grumpy loser. (The main disagreement is that Steve wants a weirdly giant fridge and I want a nice small one, so it's the fundamental size of the thing we disagree on - but the one we picked out is so cute, I don't care that it's big.)

Wm, however, says this is the best day of his life. Why? Because we have been so busy trying to untangle the mess that Wm has pretty  much had free rein on the computer. At 4pm, I realized he had not emerged from his room except to eat lunch. So I called him down and made him play with me for a bit, then Steve took him out to throw the football around, and finally we sent him outside to play with friends - where he still remains. He may go into screen withdrawal soon! And Schroeder is laying there staring forlornly out the front door because he can hear Wm shrieking as he runs around the neighborhood, but he can't see him.

Hopefully tomorrow is better!! They are having an ice cream sundae party after church, so Wm and I are looking forward to that! Nothing looks too terrible if ice cream sundaes are involved.

Kitchen, Part I

Steve and I have been hard at work in the kitchen all week!! We are nearly done!! The new fridge arrives tomorrow and I will take final pictures, but here is everything ALMOST done:

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

I have a couple good panoramic before shots and I will take a couple after and you should be able to see the whole shebang!

We are also taking Tiny Evil apple picking this weekend, so I should get some cute pictures of him picking away!! Steve is mostly looking forward to some apple pie. 

IKEA

Steve felt about 75% better yesterday and said he was up for IKEA, so to Cincinnati we went! It was the fastest trip to IKEA ever. We did manage to sneak in a free lunch while we were there! Wm ate more than I have ever seen him eat at one sitting in his entire 8 years. Apparently IKEA has the "best chicken tenders on the planet." 

Chicken tenders! Notice Steve's smorgasbord over there.

Wm also was thrilled with the chocolate cake. Here is he looking adoringly at it:

'Sup, Cake. How you doin'?

Wm scored a stuffed dog he named Cricket. He slept snuggled up with Cricket last night. It was super cute. Then he got a nose bleed again and bled all over his sheets, so that made laundry fun today - but I got the stains out! Wm keeps getting nose bleeds and it's weird and annoying. I told him one more and we're heading to the doctor!

Cricket

Then, when we got home, Steve got to assembling. I, wisely, went to Target while that was happening (because Steve assembling IKEA stuff is usually a profanity-fueled psychotic episode). When I got home, Wm was hiding out with the iPad up in his room and Steve was putting the finishing touches on the second of the two racks we got. Perfect timing.

Schroeder assisting

Check out the gut on that cat

With the new IKEA kitchen wheely rack and butcher block shelving unit/counter, the kitchen already looked much better!  Then we have spent the rest of the weekend slaving away on the kitchen cabinets. I developed a new plan for them that Steve was real leery about, so it's a major success that they turned out so well. They look amazing!!! Steve's perfectionism is a serious asset during projects like this. Then we went to Lowe's and Sherwin-Williams and dropped a load of cash on fancy backlash tiles and paint. Sherwin-Williams paint must have liquid gold in it. But people swear by it and I don't want to paint again for a decade. I am hoping the kitchen looks awesome when we're done!!! I will hold off on pictures until I can unveil the finished product! I am hoping our new fridge and microwave are delivered this week so we can have things finished up next weekend and ready to show off!!

Open House

Tonight was the Open House and Ice Cream Social at Wm's school. Wm, of course, had a blast eating ice cream and running all around with his friends. Poor Steve has the Ebola virus of colds and just stood around looking miserable. We are supposed to go to IKEA tomorrow and get some stuff for Phase 2 of  The Kitchen Improvement Plan. He claims he feels well enough to go, but he is upstairs hacking up a lung right now, so I have my suspicions about how tomorrow will play out!

Wm had this hanging on the wall outside of his classroom. Super cute.

Willing to work

Interested in Math

Little in size

Likes Avatar

Important to his school

Ancient first and middle names

Member of Destination Imagination

My favorite is "little in size." LOL!!! He was also obviously paying attention when I told him how we picked out his name! (For William the Conqueror and the Hunter Clan.) I just asked him why "M" wasn't "Minecraft Master," and he goes, "Oh...that would have been awesome."

Haunted Genius

We went to Lowe's yesterday to finally see about getting a new fridge and Wm loved the Halloween display:

Wm came home from school today and told me that the principal came to find him in class today. I was, obviously, a bit unnerved. So then he adds that she brought along the 4th grade Math teacher to meet him. I asked him why and he goes, "she said I have been doing really well in Math and the 4th grade teacher came and gave me some problems." He showed me the 4th grade Math worksheet he did (which he got 100% correct, btw) and I had to check it on my phone calculator and couldn't believe he could do it!! Apparently Wm has been super double identified for special Math services! If the principal and 4th grade teacher are taking time out of their day to track him down and evaluate him one-on-one for a bit...pretty impressive! Yay for Wm the suuuuuuper genius! Glad we kept him in his same school this year instead of doing ECLIPSE with great services like these for G&T kiddos!

Also, thanks to the dumb State of Ohio, Wm has to pass some weird reading test to move on the 4th grade. And because, obviously, the stakes are so high, they are preparing the heck out of the kids. Wm's school has an A rating (and a perfect 10 rating online!) and they pass every kid, so they want to keep that rolling and are reeeeeal intense about it. Which means, of course, they are spending a wicked amount of time doing test prep. Which is kind of annoying since there is no doubt Wm will pass with flying colors. He reads years ahead of his grade level, so we're not worried. But...it's a drag that there's all this pressure. I asked Wm if he felt nervous and he goes, "No, why? I know I'll pass. Tests are dumb." So, sadly, all the test prep is way below his level and he's bored.  It would be a real boon, though, if he got to skip a grade in Math - he'd finally be really, really challenged!!

Annoying Daddy

Me: Hey, wanna call Daddy and mess with him? 

Wm: Sure. What do you want to do?

Me: I don't know...we could tell him you got a note in your backpack from the principal. 

Wm: OK! Call him. 

Me: You have to make it believable! 

Wm: I will. 

Me: OK - no laughing. We have to do this right...annoying Daddy is my favorite hobby. 

Wm: Mine too. You can't steal my hobby. 

Me: Actually, annoying Daddy has been my hobby for nearly 18 years...soooo, you really stole it from me. 

Wm: I did not know that. 

Me: Yeahhhhhh. 

(Maybe we should take up woodworking or something.)

Go Bucks!

Wm and Steve had a great time at the game!! I braved all sorts of main campus obstacles to get the free tickets (including going to Student Athlete Support Services and standing in line, hidden, behind 2 guys that were at least 9 feet tall waiting to get my tickets). It was an expedition, but it made me appreciate my west campus home even more! 

Wm was not a superfan of the actual football, but he LOVED the band (and their halftime show), Brutus, and the gymnastics the cheerleaders do. His favorite thing was when Brutus snuck up behind a cheerleader and slammed the symbols. Their seats were really close to the field, near the student section, so there was all sorts of action. Wm even got a tshirt that Brutus fired out of a cannon! It is a men's XL, so it won't even fit Steve, but Wm was thrilled with it.  It wasn't exactly an exciting game since OSU embarrassed Kent 66-0 and we had our 74th string in - so I guess the crowd wasn't as pumped as it should be, but Wm got pizza and a soft pretzel, so that made up for it. 

Steve was at work at 5:30am yesterday and came home in time for the game. They got on the wrong COTA bus and had to hoof it from about a mile away on the way there. Then he was up and at work at 5:30am again today and won't be home until 4:30. This has not been a relaxing weekend for Steve!!

While they were at the game, I got to go to Sherwin-Williams and pick out paint samples and went antiquing. Winning all around.

Wm selfie

Wm crazy selfie

tshirt win!

OH-!

-IO!

Artist

I am liking the better camera on my new phone! Yay better pictures of Wm!!

Also, Wm is the next Picasso. I'm calling it. He drew this picture of a cowboy zombie (Steve apparently assisted with some of the body but Wm was the primary artist).

Here is the picture he was trying to recreate (from Plants vs. Zombies):

I think he did pretty darn well! 

And - the boys are off to the Big Game tomorrow!! GO BUCKS!

Dentist

Wm had some "pitting" in one of his 6 year molars, so the dentist wanted to drill it out and fill it. Wm went in today to get it taken care of. He had to get a shot of Novocain - which none of us were expecting!! But, Wm was AMAZING. He got a shot in his mouth and was like, "that was nothing." In fact, here he is immediately following the shot:

Super Tough

The dentist couldn't believe how brave Wm was! He told Wm that much older kids cry or have a hard time and Wm was GREAT! I asked him later if it hurt at all and he goes, "Mr. Wiggles hurt." I was like, "Uhhhh...who is Mr. Wiggles?" Apparently the dentist told Wm that his drill was named "Mr. Wiggles" and the water pick was "Mr. Whistle." Wm was not a fan of Mr. Wiggles at all. But he sat there like a champ and you would never have know it hurt him at all!! They had to put a giant rubber sheet thing in his mouth that they told him was a "tooth raincoat" - Wm was like, "that was SUPER uncomfortable." However, again, sat there like a champ and no one would have known he wasn't just chilling. Honestly, I think Wm is WAY braver than I am. He handled the dentist a LOT better than I do now...let alone at 8 years old! Wm is an odd duck. Going to the pool is terrifying, but getting shots and being drilled on is no big deal.

Bucks!

I got my new phone yesterday and I am wicked excited! Well, sort of. Getting a new phone is always kind of a drag. Verizon is a vampire who feeds on my money. So there were all sorts of dumb charges. And I have to figure out how to set that bad boy up now. I spent a half hour online chatting with "Akeem" this morning trying to get it to "Fetch" my gmail automatically. But, thanks to the release of the iPhone 6, I managed to get an iPhone 5s for about $10! And, I'm pretty excited about my awesome new lock screen image:

Steve, oddly, is not as excited.

Wm, also, is not happy. Because I put him in charge of helping me pick a new case. But he kept picking gold sparkle cases that 12 year old girls would love and, instead, I got one with flowers, which he dubbed "stupid looking." So he is crabby that I did not acquiesce to his superior taste.

BUT, Wm gets to go to first ever Ohio State football game (for FREE!) on Saturday!!

A-Deck, Baby!!!

I'm a bit worried he may freak out when he sees 100,000 people tramping everywhere and screaming. But, maybe he'll get into the spirit of things. I am taking him tomorrow to get him an OSU shirt to wear. 

Wm came down to breakfast this morning looking especially cute in his little outfit. So….

Me: You are super cute, sir.

Wm: I know. Cuter than Daddy?

Me: Well…Daddy's pretty cute. But I think you're cuter!

Wm: [most smug smile you could ever possibly imagine]

15 Years!

Steve and I have been married for 15 years! I can't believe it! This year we will also celebrate the 18 year anniversary of when we started dating. That's significant for me because I met Steve when I was 18 years old - that means I will have spent as much of my life with Steve as I did without!

I filled Steve's car with balloons this morning (and also put his favorite candy and his card and gift in there too). Wm helped me blow up balloons (if, by helping, you mean he drooled all over a bunch, snapped himself in the face with one, and ran upstairs) last night. Before Steve got out of bed this morning, I snuck down and "decorated" his car. I wasn't at work for too long before he called me! Steve said that when he dropped Wm off at Before School, he came out and some guy was looking at his car all funny and he was embarrassed.  Mission accomplished. He's just lucky…my original plan was to drive to his work at lunch and do it there so all his cronies could witness it. But, my Big Win was that apparently Wm said to Steve, "I have to say, Daddy…Mommy did a better job at the anniversary than you did." ZING! #Winning

15 years ago today.

Aaaaaand today.

But, in all seriousness, I could not ask for a more amazing husband. Steve is truly my better half. Happy  15 years, Steve!!!!!