Hallway Makeover

After months of procrastination, I have finally finished a home improvement project! 

Behold! The hallway!

As you can tell, the idea for this project started in October of last year.  Yeah, it takes me a while to get to projects, I know.  Plus, the only way this was going to be done correctly was to enlist the free help of my carepenteresque brother, Chris, and his schedule can get a little hectic sometimes. But after enough badgering, I finally nailed down a day and time for us to bust this project out together.

My excellent pre-calculations and measurements actually were spot on, which allowed us to finish everything but the painting in about 6 hours. Seriously, I am shocked I did it correctly.

First we had to glue and nail smooth cardboard to the wall to mask the textured walls that I currently had.

Then we glued and nailed up the strips of MDF, which we were able to have all cut from a single sheet.  And that, my friends, is why Chris was here.  To save me a ton of time and money.  And to show me what the heck MDF even was.

After two coats of paint, we could see that this project was spot on.  

After A LOT more paint, we finally got it looking perfect and added the hooks, which was really the accent I was after to begin with.  

And there you have it!  A project that I actually finished!!  

Thanks to my brother Chris, who really deserves most of the credit. 

And if you are wondering about why we didn't paint the full front door, that outline is where we are going to put a glass inlay into our door. Surprisingly cheaper than buying a new one. Who knew?

The Tooth Fairy Returns

After a loooooong few months, Luke's top wiggly tooth has finally come out.

I'm no psychic, but I am fairly certain that braces might be in this child's future.

Beginner's Luck?

First time entering the Pinewood Derby and he wins 1st Place.

Not sure how the next two years can be better than this.

I had pretty much nothing to do with the actual car construction other than helping Luke hold the spray paint can, which explains why it ran so well :)

Luke and Ryan:  The bromance continues.

(Pay no attention to Luke's expression.  He loves that guy.)

Important Safety Tip. Thanks, Egon.

Tip of the day:  When you donate plasma and the lady takes out the needle to gauze you up and send you on your merry way, make sure she actually puts the gauze right where the needle was inserted and not slightly to the left.  Otherwise you get to the parking lot and your favorite light sweater looks like this.  

And BONUS tip of the day is to immediately soak your blood stained sweater in hydrogen peroxide and dish soap.  It totally works! Thanks to my plasma buddy Davina for mentioning that one. I guess I don't have to spend the $30 I made on a new sweater after all.

From Me, To You

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Schweinsteiger, Is That You?

This morning was Luke's first game of the Spring recreational soccer season.  It went well, shall we say.  Luke ended up scoring all four goals for his team, including one from a gorgeous half volley from about 15 yards out.  And the only thing more gorgeous than said half volley, was the weather: sunny and 70 degrees.  Is this heaven? No, it's Lakeland.