Favorite Photo Friday and Catching Up (Home Edition)

I remembered!

I think I've forgotten to do Favorite Photo Friday for a couple of months now. (I just hope this isn't a photo that I've posted before. I may have, because I really love it.)

I've been very side-tracked lately by packing boxes for the move and kid discipline issues that have not been fun at all. Actually the packing hasn't been too bad, it's the kids that have been driving me crazy. Maybe I should just leave them in this house and go live in the other house all by myself. I've already told them this house will be the "vacation home" if we don't sell it before we move into the other one. It may be the only vacation they'll get this summer if we have two mortgages. (Oh my gosh! It just dawned on me that we may have to take care of TWO yards this summer. Heaven help us, I think that would be the death of me - and Hal's the one who really does most of the yard work.)

We have been having major issues with a couple of the kids and t.v. and computer time and computer games, etc. I've cut way back on my own computer time (hence, neglecting this blog), especially facebook, and it has been good for me too. The other kid is mad at me about the move, so really, right now they all hate me.

On a happier note, I got to go with Hal yesterday and look at flooring for the other house. He is sold on the idea of this new bamboo flooring for the kitchen. (I'm not sure if I mentioned that our "new" house is 14 years old so we will be updating a few things.) The old floor is "wood" Pergo and in perfect condition. I don't love it, but I don't hate it like I really dislike the pink and seafoam green carpet and pink paint. I'd rather replace other things like the kitchen countertop. It is a nice Corian countertop and in great shape, it just happens to be a bright emerald green with a white racing stripe. Try picking a paint color to match that. There's also the issue of the Pepto Bismol pink countertop in the laundry room. Not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I am not a fan of pink. Anywhere.

I want to be very careful of what I say here because we are buying this house from some friends of ours and I would hate to have her think I'm making fun of the decorating and hurt her feelings. The truth is that this house was very much in style when it was built. It was in the Parade of Homes and actually won the peoples' choice award. I think the fact that it was so much in style then is why it seems dated now. I'm trying to learn from this and keep things pretty neutral, while working with the things we need to keep that are already there. Some things, like the white laminate cabinets in the laundry room and the bright navy blue countertop in the basement bathroom will be staying so I'm trying to figure out how to make them look like they are a deliberate choice. I have some great plans for that (huge) bathroom. We'll see how far the budget goes. Right now it's all about the budget.

Oh, I just had a great idea! I am planning on putting white beadboard in the kids' (little) bathroom upstairs, but I wonder if it would look good in the laundry room too. Do you think it would look okay with white laminate cabinets?

We don't officially own the house until May 5, so I probably shouldn't post photos until then. The house does have some great Cape Cod-type pillars that separate the entry from the front room. Maybe I'll have to sneak a photo of those in one of these days to show kind of the style I'm thinking of for the inside of the house. Feel free to post any suggestions/opinions on remodeling or anything specific I'm thinking of doing.

One thing I'd love to know now is if anyone has a raised bar and the pros and cons of it. There is a raised bar in the kitchen and I'm thinking of having the new countertop be all the same height to give a little more counter space because there's not a really big area to roll out dough with kids, etc. Also with a raised bar, I always think of little kids falling off those tall bar stools. I think the only advantage would be for hiding dirty dishes from sight, but the bar is on the side of the kitchen that is adjacent to the family room and you have to walk through the kitchen area to get to the family room anyway, so people would have already seen my dirty dishes. So, if you have experience with a raised bar, please let me know what you think.

Anyway, on to the photo. This is Austin back when he still used to fit in the kitchen sink. He LOVED to take baths here. Even when he got older I was always afraid he would try to jump out by himself and slip and hit his head on the floor.

Isn't he a cute little devil?

Happy Friday!