Country Living

Last week was a quiet one here at the Reddy Zoo. It was the first week all summer that we didn’t have a single thing on our calendar. There were no camps, schools, or even doctor’s appointments. What a beautiful thing! I decided to take the kids for an impromptu 5-day, 4-night stay at the “Country House”.

Grandma and Grandpa have a house in a small lake community about an hour from our house. It’s just far enough away to make you feel like you're on vacation. The house has changed over the years to make room for more people as the family has grown. The simple A-frame has become more like a lodge, accommodating more than 20 people plus babies and toddlers. On busy weekends there can be three to four pack-n-plays set up in various rooms for little ones to take their naps or turn in for the night.

Our usual trips to the country house are for weekends when other families are there as well. The kids love going out there when they will have cousins there to play with. It is fun for us grown-ups to get together too. Everyone enjoys swimming in the lake, going fishing, swinging on the rope swing, and playing games in the evenings. Not to mention the loads of delicious food we indulge in during stays at the country house.

The bulk of this trip, however, was just me and the kids. Although we did have quite a few visitors who came to spend a day with us, it certainly was not the usual party weekend with Grandma, Grandpa, aunts, uncles and cousins. I thought the kids may have been bummed, but they had a great time. And it truly was a vacation for me. Just being away from home, away from the painting, the laundry, and the dog was heavenly.

We arrived on Tuesday and didn’t come home until Saturday evening. We had friends come out on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Dad was able to join us after work on Friday and spend Saturday with us. We took a few pictures while we were there. We are so lucky that we have such a special place to go when we get the chance to escape. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

I also have to thank our good friends for letting us spend the weekend at their lake house last weekend. It was a lovely getaway and we hope to do it again soon.

The Dog Days of Summer

The weather has actually been quite mild during these last couple of weeks, but I still have to call these the “dog days”. Our dog, Scully, is growing old and NOT gracefully. She is behaving sort of like she did when she was a puppy; getting things down from the kitchen counters and chewing them up, getting into the trash and scattering it about, and (my favorite) peeing on the carpet. Unfortunately, I do not have the patience for these kinds of behaviors that I did when she was a puppy.

It has been difficult for us to leave the house for any length of time. Nine out of ten times when we return from simply going to the store there will be trash on the floor or a loaf of bread will have been devoured, and I am constantly cleaning the carpet. We thought that she was going potty on the floor because she couldn’t wait as long to go outside as she used to. However, she has started going on the floor while we are here at home with her. She has even gone right in front of us! It is causing me to stress out a bit, as you can imagine.

This morning she got up with me and I let her out to go potty. She came back in and then peed on the carpet in the living room, right next to yesterday’s spot! Apparently she prefers the carpet to the grass. I decided that Scully needed to try being an outside dog for a while. Of course she’ll still have water out there at all times, and there’s plenty of shade for her too. It will probably take some getting used to, but it’s the best solution I can come up with at this point. If you have any other suggestions (or if you would like to add an eleven-year-old, 60 pound dog to your household) please let me know.

Paint, paint, and more paint

You might be tired of hearing about my dining room, but it happens to be a major part of what’s happening around here, so too bad. We decided that “Sueded Leather” wasn’t really the right color for our new room, and we decided to go darker. I must have been in the mood for sweets when I got to the paint store because the color I selected was called “Swiss Chocolate”. It was more than a little darker than our original color and we were slightly concerned with the contrast. However, I like the dark chocolate color more and more as it has been slowly going up on the walls. I especially like the dramatic color changes from one room to another. No two rooms are the same color on the main floor. This picture shows the view from the dining room, through the foyer, and into the living room.


Our kitchen is painted another bold color – a deep red. The texture exists because of the trauma the drywall incurred upon removal of the floral wallpaper.

The only room left to paint on the main floor is the bathroom. It currently has the dreaded wallpaper, but only on three walls and it is a small room. C.B. is dying to help me tear down. My dilemma is what color to paint this room. It has to be different from any other room, and it has to have the same intensity as the other rooms. I have thought about using the purple from this great chair we have in our family room.

This chair has been the inspiration for three other rooms already. The main taupe color is the color of our family room, the dark green color is in the living room, and you saw the red in our kitchen. The only color we have not yet used is the purple. It's a very royal color. Perhaps it is fitting for a room that contains a throne. Get it? A throne? Ha!

Actually it does not matter at this point because we have other painting projects that have priority over the bathroom. Since we are not selling our house we have decided to separate the girls, who have been sharing a bedroom for almost a year now. Miss M is often awakened by the lovely sound of the Banana impersonating Mariah Carey in the mornings. We are really starting to feel sorry for her and would like to get her into her own room as soon as possible. We will be moving her into a smaller room so that the boys, who will probably always share a room, can have the bigger one. To sweeten the deal we told her she could help design the look of her new room. She’s pretty excited about it, and she has a lot of good decorating ideas. I would love to get the room ready for her while it is still summer. That way she can enjoy some Banana-free mornings before school starts. Miss M’s Room = priority one.

Moving the boys into the girls’ old room will also present another painting project. Right now it is very “girly” in there, as C.B. recently informed me. We have been talking with the boys about possible décor for their room. They still love the superheroes, but we also have a ton of Star Wars stuff since we experienced somewhat of an obsession with Star Wars a not so long time ago, in a neighborhood not so far, far away. (A bit of background info: the Star Wars Main Theme was playing when we entered the reception hall on our wedding day, and Han and Leia were our cake toppers. See? Just a slight obsession.) The boys’ room = priority two.

We can’t forget the Banana. She will be moving into the boys’ current room. However, since she probably won’t care about the superheroes on the walls, we can wait to redecorate her room for a while. Bananas room = priority three…or possibly four if we want to get going on that bathroom first. Just don’t tell Banana. She’ll never know.

New Cake

This cake was made for a red, white and blue bridal shower. I used a cake pan that my grandma found when she was moving out of her house and getting rid of lots of old stuff. The people at the cake supply store had never even heard of this type of pan. It is one pan that makes a three tiered cake.

I also tried another new technique on this one. It’s called sotas. It’s kind of like scribbling all over the cake, but it ends up looking great. My hand hurt when I was finished, but I was very pleased with how it turned out.

Dear Blog

Dear Blog,

Do you miss me? I am sorry I have not visited lately. I have been busy. I know, I know…you’ve heard that line before. But this time I REALLY mean it. I have accomplished a lot since I last wrote.

I (almost) finished painting the furniture to go in our new room. By the way, we have decided to call this room the “Thinking Room”. It will be a place where the kids can go to do their homework, sit at the computer, read, play games, do puzzles, etc. I am really looking forward to finishing up in there.

We spent the weekend at the country along with Grandma and Grandpa and some of our aunts, uncles and cousins. The moms and kids mostly played at the beach while the dads worked on a home improvement project out there. We felt bad for them because they didn’t get much relaxing done over the weekend. Maybe next time.

We had a team party at our house for Miss M’s softball team before her last game of the season. We ordered 10 pizzas for the girls on the team and their families. Then they had ice cream after the game. It didn’t hurt that they won that game either. It was a great end to the season.

I spent most of Monday and Tuesday getting ready for a garage sale I am having along with my mother-in-law. Since we are moving back into our house, we thought we’d clean up and clear out more clutter along the way. The clutter I am referring to is mostly kids’ toys. There are simply too many in this house for our children to play with. They agreed to sell a lot of them, and they will get some money from the sale to purchase some new things like DVDs or games for the computer. If you ask them they’ll say they're getting a Wii. We’re not so sure about that, but they have made over $100 so far in the sale. The Garage Sale Part II is on Saturday.

As I write this I am packing for a Girl Scout Mother-Daughter overnight with Miss M. We are leaving in an hour and we won’t be back until tomorrow. Our wonderful Grandmas and Grandpas are taking care of the younger kiddos while dad is at work. I really won’t be gone for much more than 24 hours, but it takes a surprising amount of packing and planning to pull something like this off. It’s all worth it though. I am looking forward to having some fun girl time with Miss M.

In case you didn’t think this sounded busy enough to ignore my posts, read on. When I get back, I need to bake a cake (Woo-hoo! Another order!) and get ready for Saturday morning’s sale. After the sale on Saturday I need to decorate the cake, and get it ready to deliver to a wedding shower on Sunday morning. After delivering the cake we are going to visit my aunt and swim in the pool at her apartment building. It will be another full weekend.

And if you still think that I am just making excuses, Monday begins another week of Girl Scout Camp for Miss M. I am working at this one again, so it may be another little while before I am able to write again. Be assured that I have not forgotten you. I promise to write again when I can.

Love,
Zookeeper

Creative Endeavors

Since I’ve been slow to post lately there is a lot to catch you up on. Last Friday was our final day of Vacation Bible School. We had a fun morning and spent the afternoon helping to clean up. (The helpers got free pizza afterwards – of course we helped!) While I was sweeping, several of the teenagers who were also helping clean up ran to get me. They said I just HAD to see what the boys were doing. They thought it was hilarious!




During the week of VBS, I had been focusing most of my energy on getting rid of the wallpaper in my dining room. I was so obsessed that I was neglecting things like laundry and dinners. I took a break from it on Saturday to do some other fun things.

I rode twenty miles on the Katy Trail with two of my sisters-in-law. We are riding in the MS Bike Ride in a couple of months so we are “in training”. By the way, if you would like to make a donation to our team, please click here.

After the ride I went to another sister-in-law’s house to help her with a bridal shower cake. Her niece is getting married in September and she and her sister were hosting the shower. The cake turned out very pretty, especially considering we didn’t have much of a plan to begin with. We tried a technique called cornelli lace, which I have always wanted to try. It’s not as difficult as it looks, and I look forward to having another project to utilize it again.

Also on the “I have been wanting to try” list were these bride and groom strawberries.


I saw these about a year ago and have wanted to make them ever since. My sister-in-law’s bridal shower gave me an excuse. Like the lace on the cake, these were easier to make than they appear, and were a big hit at the shower. Don’t forget to think of me when you need to order a cake or candy (or chocolate covered strawberries decorated like little brides and grooms!)

Also on Saturday, my husband and I enjoyed a “Wine & Cheese” event at our church followed by what we would call a real date. We saw a movie, had a nice dinner, and then saw another movie. That is something we have not done in a very long time. It was wonderful!

Then on Sunday it was back to the wallpaper. And then I did some more work on Monday, when I finally got all of the glue removed from the walls. I got my husband to help me get a coat of KILZ on the walls before bed on Monday, and they were painted with a coat of “Sueded Leather” by Tuesday evening. I must give many thanks to my dad, who spent nearly four hours painting with me on Tuesday afternoon.

There is still plenty to do before we can call the room finished, but I am truly overjoyed to have those walls painted. After all of that scraping and scrubbing, the rest of the work will be a breeze.

What was I thinking?

This wallpaper thing is about to kill me! It turns out that taking it down wasn’t the hard part. Every Zoo resident over two years of age pitched in one afternoon and we nearly had the whole room done.

It’s not the look I am going for but it already looks better without that lovely floral pattern on the walls.

The walls are not ready to paint, however. They are coated with layer upon layer of wallpaper paste residue that needs to come off before painting. I have been searching the internet for the secret to removing the sticky glop from my walls quickly and easily. There are tons of people that say it’s as easy as wiping the walls with a damp sponge and vinegar – NOT!! Some recommend a solution of water and tri-sodium phosphate – not even close. The guy at the hardware store said to use DIF. It is helping, but it’s definitely not as simple as the directions on the back make it sound.

“Once all the wallpaper has been removed, reapply DIF for 15 to 20 minutes to remove any remaining glue. Use Paper Scraper to scrape away glue residue, then wipe down the walls with a damp sponge.”

I found a system that seems to be working. I apply, wait 15 minutes, scrape and wipe. I then re-scrape and re-wipe, often with something more than vinegar or TSP. I had to use Comet to get a few spots clean. After two hours I had a six foot section of the wall prepared for painting. Unfortunately there’s still about fifty feet left to finish.

We were very close to painting right over the wallpaper, but decided we had better do this the right way or we’d be sorry down the line. I was questioning that decision this afternoon as I was fervently scraping the walls. I’m sure we made the right call, but it’s difficult for me to appreciate at the moment. You see, I was not blessed with the gift of patience. Right now I feel like my boys when we drive anywhere that takes more than 10 minutes. I want to say, “It’s taking too long!” with the same distressed moaning noise they are so skilled at generating. But, as I tell the boys, that’s not very productive. I’d better just quit complaining and get scraping.

VBS Hoedown

Today was the first day of Vacation Bible School at our church. I went to bed last night fretting and worrying over how the day would go. As it urns out, it went pretty smoothly, and I think everyone had a good time. My kids definitely enjoyed it and are excited to go back tomorrow. Our western theme is a fun one to play with. The gym looked like a ranch, we had a chuck wagon near the chow station, and each of the kids had a hat and a bandana. They sang songs with movements, made crafts, learned a new story from the Bible, and played fun games.

They also get a yummy snack each day. Today it was a trail mix fit for a ranch hand.

We even found some young ladies to look after the little ranchers while I was busy with my VBS chores.

I am happy that it went so well today, and I pray that the rest of the week is equally trouble-free.

Playgroups and Ballgames and Safety Town (oh my!)

Even though I would call this a “slow week”, there was still plenty happening around here. We took my dad out for pizza as a Father’s Day gift, we had a preschool playdate in the park, Miss M had an evening softball game, the boys graduated from Safety Town, and I even started removing some of the wallpaper in the dining room (don’t even ask me how it’s going.)

I sure enjoyed not having anywhere to be in the mornings this past week. However, that will all end when Monday comes. Next week starts Vacation Bible School at our church. The three older kids are all registered to attend, and I will enjoy my third year leading the song and dance section of the program. It is always a fun week with the kids and I am looking forward to it. I still have things to do to get prepared for Monday, though, so I better get started!

We’re Hanging it Up

After reading articles like this, this and this, we have decided that now is the perfect time NOT to sell our house. This decision comes as a great relief, since we have felt as though we haven’t really lived here since we put the house on the market in October of last year. At that time we “de-cluttered” the house by moving many of the little-used items in our house to our parents’ houses. We took down the kids’ pictures that normally hang over the fireplace. We moved some things to other parts of the house and have missed having them in their old places. Now we are ready to move back into our house and put everything back the way it was. Well, not quite everything. A lot of what is sitting in our parents’ basements right now needs to be sold or donated. We’ve decided that if we could live without it for all of this time, we can live without it for good.

We set out on this house-selling adventure for mostly financial reasons. We had only lived in our house for a little more than three years. But over those three years our house payment had gone up more than $120 due to of a rise in property value and consequently real estate taxes. We were stretching to get into this house in the first place, and were not expecting such an increase in payments. We also added two more children to our family since we had bought this house. In addition, my husband’s employer had begun being rather vague about the future of the company within this last year or so. We decided that downsizing would be a smart financial move, so the sign went in the yard. Things have changed, however, as we just received a notice that our house payment has actually gone DOWN this year. My husband tells me that things at the office are looking up, and there’s a chance we might even get that bonus we were told not to expect. Therefore, we feel pretty good about pulling that sign back out of the yard.

It also feels pretty good to be able to start some projects around here again. I’ve been wanting to paint the dining room, but was nervous about being in the middle of it if someone would call to see the house. I can begin to think seriously about turning our dining room into a den without worrying about how it would look to a potential buyer. Then I can rearrange the bedroom, knock out a wall in the basement, tear down wallpaper in the bathroom…..