My Latest Projects - Secret Room

Mommy's Secret Room
November 2009

When we bought our house, I was excited because there was a room in the basement that was separate from the main space. It was designated as my craft room,
or as we like to call it,
mommy's secret room.

Plans were formulated from the beginning for

lots of storage

and a

large workspace.

I had no idea that it would happen so fast.



First came the planning and convincing my sweetie that I was
confidant in my abilities
and knowledge to get it done right.

Then I peeled back to carpet to cut the carpet pad out and remove tack strips so the cabinets could sit on the solid concrete floor.



Next was more planning to see exactly where to put the cabinets.

Do the wall cabinets all line up with the top of the tall cabinet?
Do they go up against the ceiling?
How much space is usually between a counter and the wall cabinets?
What will need to be cut out to accommodate the intrusive AC pipes?

Then we realize that the base cabinets are designed for a
kitchen counter height,
not a desk!!!

They will have to be cut.

By me.

Let's go buy a router!!!

My router somehow did not complete the trip from our house in Florida, into storage for two years and then back to PA. We're not sure a which point it decided to jump ship, but it was
MIA on garage unpacking day.

Anyway, I got a new one
(upgraded, of course)
and got to work.



We had already bought all the cabinets and moved them into the basement, so we carried them back to the garage to perform the surgery. I cut off the top drawer of the cabinet so I didn't have to use a tall stool to sit a my desk.

PROBLEM SOLVED.



We ran into another little problem when there were no studs across the wall where I planned to hang the cabinets.

For some reason, whoever framed the basement put a header across the top of the wall, leaving just drywall where I needed to attach the wall cabinets.

So we moved the cabinets down four inches and went straight across the base of the header. This left the ugly AC pipes more exposed, but another

PROBLEM SOLVED.



Then came the countertop.

The 7 wall cabinets are 18 inches each, making the need for a 10'6" countertop underneath.

I found one that I really liked, but it was on clearance and wasn't quite long enough
(I was hoping for a 12 foot section, and it was only 10).

I went back and forth from multiple Lowes and Depots looking for the perfect countertop. Most were too yellow or too light.

Then I came upon one that I really liked. It was darker than all the others
(to hide glue spots and the inevitable marker mishap)
but still not a solid color.

I flipped it over to see what it was called and there it was:
Brazilian Granite.

Then I realized that it was the color of all our countertops in bathroom and kitchen in our apartment in Brazil.

Who knew?

Then I realized that the longest countertops came in 10 foot sections.

That was ALL of them, not just the one I loved.

Drat!

Another unforeseen problem.

We bought a 10 foot section and a 4 foot section of countertop and decided to make it work.

And it did.

PROBLEM SOLVED.

One last problem was power.
The outlets were beneath the desktop.

Us crafty types always have gadgets and some of these need to be plugged in.

So I bought a book and
read up on my electrical circuits,
cut a hole in the wall
and installed an outlet
(or 2)
above the desk.

FINAL PROBLEM SOLVED.



My sweetie installed
over and under cabinet lighting
on separate switches and I
trimmed out the cabinets
to get this final look.

I also have my HUGE file cabinet back to work, helping me organize my creativity.



We put the spare bed in the room so Amber has somewhere comfy to rest while I am creating. Also for kids or mom to watch the TV that dad
MOUNTED ON MY WALL.

And I have my favorite Brazilian art on the wall for inspiration.

My sweetie built a set of shelves in the closet to store some of my heavier supplies, too.

It is an awesome set up,
if I do say so myself.

Jan 25-31

Jan 25



Belle was so wiped out from our errands for the day that
she pooped right out
and slept in the car
(in the garage)
for about two hours.

Unfortunately, the garage light was not on
when she woke up so she began screaming and had to
snuggle on the couch to recover.


Jan 26



The only pictures taken today were of the various projects that have been completed lately in our house.

This one is of one section of wall in Belle's room.

We found wall stickers of
flowers
and
fairies
and
butterflies
at the dollar store and stocked up.

The cloud is something I made for a luncheon when Belle was a baby, but I've kept them
(there are three of them)
with the intention of using them in one of the girls' rooms.

It is raining
stars
in this case, but most the other clouds are raining
butterflies.


Jan 27



We have been enjoying ALL the birds that have taken residence in
(or have been flying over)
our town.

There are sometimes HUGE flocks or geese flying overhead
or gulls circling the WalMart parking lot
(why is that?).

Today, a flock of geese decided to land in our corn field.

It is so beautiful to see them circling lower and lower with their
wings spread out
landing or taking off.

Getting a picture is difficult, but they were so close today.

I believe these ones are taking off.


Jan 28



Leia has been doing a lot of puzzles lately.

This particular one has been completed at least three times this week.

It is a collage of
Disney character couples.

We were surprised that we couldn't identify some of them.

We have also done a small collection (4) of
Christmas puzzles
that we found at the dollar store.

We like them because they all have
snowmen.


Jan 29



This month, Chick-fil-A has been having
Tuesday night and Friday morning promotions.

Kids eat free every Tuesday, but they have had kid activities as well.

Last week was a snowman made out of a paper plate
and this week was an ice cream sundae.

Friday mornings,
which we heard about just in time for the last one,
they offered a free breakfast item - no strings attached.

This week was mini chicken sandwiches. Basically a nugget inside a tiny roll.
They were delicious.

There was also a bank there holding a raffle and handing out free drinks.

Even better, we ran into a bunch of friends
so the kids played and the moms chatted for about two hours.

We even received the
leftovers from the breakfast menu
once they stopped serving.

We got an additional box of hashbrowns and a breakfast burrito.

Cha-ching!

Oh, and the cow came out
(eat mor chiken)
for an appearance just as we were leaving.

Belle was so excited,
she said she wanted to give the cow a hug.

Leia was not so impressed as she hid behind mommy.


Jan 30



Rex was making car noises
- like he did when he was a baby -

while playing Mario Cart this afternoon and

turning his body as well as the steering wheel.

It is so much fun watching the learning curve at work.


Jan 31



Mom spent all day trying to hide in a
dark, quiet room with a

horrible migraine,

but she snuck out of her secret room once
and took this picture of the girls watching a movie in the basement.

Soooo exciting.

Ambition

Leia was sent to her room for bugging the puppy to the point of biting.

When I let her out, she had a totally new

(interestingly color matched)

outfit and a startling revelation:

"Mom, I wanna be a rock star
(pronounced wok stah)
when I grow up.

I have been practicing.

And if they don't like my songs or I don't remember them I will just try again.

I'm going back to my room to practice."

I'm not sure that time out had the right effect on her.

Possibly even the wrong one.

Jan 21-24

Jan 21



I have to admit.

I cheated on this one.

We spent the WHOLE day playing with fun friends and I had misplaced my camera
(inside my purse).

Granted, this one is from my camera phone,
which I did have with me,
but whatever.

The boys made this castle out of cups for their Bionicles and army guys.

I am always amazed at the fortresses that are built when we are playing with these particular friends.

They do great things with their imaginations.


Jan 22



I am very proud of this one.

BounceU is an indoor playplace full of blow-up bouncy things. The kids love it and since it is winter, indoor playplaces are preferred.

I received an email earlier in the week offering
FREE
(*instead of the usual $7 per kid*)
admission to the first 25 kids on Friday morning.

CHA-CHING!!

So I got the girls all ready and after taking Rex to the bus, we went straight to Bounce U.

We were a little over an hour early.

And the only people in the parking lot.

We saw many employees enter the building in the half hour that we sat in our car before the next customer car arrived.

We read books and played BINGO and danced in the van to pass the time.

About 15 minutes before the doors opened, with five cars in the parking lot,
crazy bargain-seeking mommy's and daddy's
pulled their kids out of the car and raced to be among the first 25 people in line.

At the end of the mad dash, there were 11 kids in line and 15 minutes to
wait in 30F weather.

Seriously?

Granted, I had kids #s 9 and 10 in that line, but still.

I held Belle's hands inside my coat because she didn't have gloves and Leia had hers inside ther leopard fur pockets.

I caught a glimpse of the lady with kids 26 and 27. Either she was one of those people with a permanently sour look on her face or she was angry.

We went on the big slide about a hundred ba-million times
(the one where you slide on a mat) ,
through the obstacle course
(where I always fell on my face when I entered, and rolled out the end),
fought and made a birthday cake in the boxing ring,
sat on bouncy balls to play soccer
and hit the baseball off a tee of air.

WE HAD A BLAST!!!

I scraped up my elbow pretty good on the obstacle course, policed a lot of kids that were not mine on the big slide and had a great time following my girls around while they had a happy fun time.

We had to leave before it was over so Leia could eat lunch before school,
so we missed the free pizza
(they kept saying 10 more minutes, I just couldn't risk it)
but we had a great morning of free fun.

The picture is of Belle relaxing at the entrance to a slide, waiting patiently for her turn.



Jan 23



About twice a month, we go to Lowe's to do
FREE
projects for kids.

This week we got complimentary safety goggles for the kids.

Apparently Rex did not get the memo that they protect
EYES,
not foreheads.


Jan 24



I guess you could consider dinner time more hazardous to the eyes...

Jan 16-20

Jan 16

We saw a FOX roaming around a neighborhood
(not ours, thankfully)
while driving home from errands.

It was a cute little fox and didn't seem to be causing any harm.

Thankfully it is cold enough that the chance of this little guy
raiding a local chicken coop
and actually finding lunch is small to none.

And backyard chickens aren't really a "thing" around here.

Jan 17

On Christmas morning I was sitting on my couch
contemplating tipping over my end table
in order to have something to put my feet on.

You see, we have deep and tall couches.

And I have short legs.

If I sit up, I can't reach the floor,
and my knees don't really bend at the edge of the cushion,
so my feet are sticking out
like a kid on a church pew.

My knees hurt when I sit cheerleader style on the couch and my shoulders hurt because I end up leaning on the arm.

I know, waah, waah, I have a couch and house to put it in.

Whatever.

The point is that Santa Clause brought me this cool
*hide-the-crap* ottoman
(which has my current scrapbooking project in it).

Santa is usually a list kind of shopper, where he only gets what is on the list and doesn't do a whole lot of free thinking.

This Christmas (for me anyway) was full of thoughtful surprises.

I like that.

And having somewhere to put my feet.

Jan 18

We finally put our Christmas decorations away.

The kids wanted to "help."

Unfortunately, the kids can undecorate a Christmas tree faster than I can find the right box for each ornament.

So we played I-Spy on the tree looking for specific ornaments.

This picture happens to have been taken
before all of us completely understood
the concept of waiting for Mommy to tell us what to do next.

I happen to have been using my
"MOM VOICE."

At least we have a whole year before we have to, er, get to do this again.

Jan 19

We had DEER in our field again.

There were four of them,

I'm assuming the same four we have seen before.

We tried to get the puppy to notice and go get the deer,
but she just stood on the deck and looked

The day was nice enough (*read 48F*) that
the kids decided they wanted to go chase them away

Here they are running into the muddy cornfield.
The arrow is pointing to the deer.

Rex gave up quickly when he made an interesting discovery,
(a red Christmas bow that blew off our fence)

but Leia spent the next half hour exploring the field.

And visiting with our neighbor's dog.

Jan 20

Every Wednesday, Belle has a tumbling class at our local community center.

Leia expressed interest in tumbling also.

Coincidentally, there is an open tumbling session right before Belle's class.

I took both girls and we had a blast together.

They were the oldest and biggest kids there by far, most were toddlers in diapers.

Belle was having fun trying to spin three hoola hoops at the same time.

And Leia loved running and tumbling on the pizza wedge.

This picture was taken as the girls were "riding down" the blow-up bouncer.

They are such good sisters.
Sometimes.

Jan 11-15

Jan 11

I finally put up the stack of pictures in Rex's room
(and there's still a few missing).

I LOVE his blue walls
(windjammer)

and the fun school projects decorating them.

Jan 12

I made yummy sourdough pizza for dinner.

In the oven.

Unfortunately, I forgot to check
inside the oven
before I turned it on.

In a house where little fingers molest goodies, they have to be
out of sight and out of mind.

Our poor snowman cupcake cake suffered horribly.

And the frosting that didn't soak into the cake tasted like wax.

Hmm.

Maybe homemade is better.

Jan 13

Lately when I go to bed, Amber freaks out.
She crouches, looking under the bed squealing and growling.

There is literally NOTHING under our bed.
(OK, there's a curtain rod, but that's not exciting.)

She has been getting more adamant and LOUD. This time she had actually
crawled UNDER the bed
so I decided to get to the bottom of it.


I moved the bed and showed her that nothing was there.

I stopped short of turning the box springs over to see if a
rat or something had climbed up in there and died.

Then I noticed that I had a purse sitting on the low shelf of the nightstand.

This purse hadn't been used since our

homeless summertime cross-country journey.

I had NO IDEA what was in it.

It was a fun trip down memory lane as I remembered adding each item to the purse as I had nowhere permanent to put it.

Then I came across the culprit:
A flavor packet that we were going to use to make dinner in our hotel before we found out that there wasn't an oven in that particular hotel.

Apparently roasted garlic and rosemary are intriguing smells for the puppy.

Jan 14

GOAL!!!
Wii Fit says that I have achieved a
normal weight
and I have reached my weight loss goal.

Wii Fit Plus has really gotten me motivated with its new activities, like
bumping mushrooms that add up to 10,
snowball fights and
a cool obstacle course.

I highly recommend picking one up if you have the means.

I like torturing myself with Wii Fit and seeing my obese Mii smiling back at me saying that according to my fitness test, I am 28 years old.

Well, today I got a surprise.
The balance board is broken.

One of the sensors is not working so some of my weight does not register.

Oh well, it is an amazingly good motivator to see what I (theoretically) could look like.

Jan 15

Belle has the most beautiful curls.

Unless we have to use the heater and douse all humidity.

This is a shot of her lovely curls while her hair was drying.

Later in the day all she had was a slight wave at the ends.

Grownups

Leia: Belle, when you grow up do you want to be a princess?

Belle: Yah.

Leia: Not me, I want to be a restaurant girl.

Belle: And then when I am a grown up and a princess then I want to be a mom.

Leia: When you are a grownup you are a mom already, me too.

Belle: Yah.

Win FREE milk for a year!!!

Go to the Great Gallon Give website and get a coupon for a free half gallon of chocolate milk when you buy two gallons of white milk. And with all the cereal we eat around here, the milk goes pretty fast.

AND you can enter EVERY DAY for as long as the contest lasts (not sure how long that is) to win a free gallon of milk each week for a year!

Sound to me like it's worth a shot.

Jan 7-10

Jan 7

Leia watched Dr. Seuss on the Loose this morning, which includes Green Eggs and Ham. Because of this she requested green eggs and ham for lunch.

Unfortunately, the actual lunch looked much less appetizing than the one in the movie, due to excessive browning. The color of the eggs, however, were a gorgeous green, as is seen in the scrambling bowl.

It tasted yummy, but Leia amended her request and said she'd
"eat it tomorrow for lunch."

As we all know, tomorrow never actually arrives.

Jan 8

Mommy has been sick and Daddy is in
Mexico.

Rex has been so sweet helping to make his own lunch and corralling the girls to get their tasks done. He reminded the girls that
"when mommy is sick, she gets angry faster."

It worked well.

As a reward to all of them for being great helpers, we had root beer floats
(which we call magic ice cream)
for dessert.

As you can see, the kids were VERY EXCITED.

Jan 9

It is SOOOO dry.

And jackets are SOOOO staticy
(especially the ones with leopard print fur in the hood).

And we have SOOOO much hair.

Leia hair is a perfect example of what we are fighting on a daily basis.

Jan 10

One of our favorite Christmas presents is Band Hero. We play together on the guitar, drums and microphone.

The kids each have their favorite instruments.

Rex on the mike,
Belle on the drums
and Leia on guitar.

They decided to rock out in the car to one of their favorite songs, each playing their preferred instruments.

Happy New Year!!!

Jan 4-6

Jan 4

Amber ran to the window barking today when she saw a flock of geese
(who apparently can't find their way South to warmer weather)
landing in our corn field.

Apparently she was looking forward to a snack, judging by the way she is licking her lips.


Jan 5

I had an AWESOME sandwich for lunch.

Jack cheese
honey ham
mayo
spicy mustard
RELISH!!!
freshly milled salt and pepper
on a halfway toasted sandwich with
hot wing flavored Pringles.

YUMMY!!!!

Jan 6

Dancing Princess Leia is now

ROCKIN' PRINCESS LEIA!!!

She's so into her craft that there is no need for clothing. Thankfully I got her before she shed the rest.

The tatoos and shaved head will come later.