Secrets of The Floor!

On Saturday afternoon, I finished the floor in the back hallway and stairs. I've been getting lots of questions about how I did it, so I'll share my secrets with you. ;-)

I did it the easy way, which is to say it was the least expensive and least time consuming way I could find. If I were picking a floor to have for 30 years, I wouldn't do it this way. But I need a floor we can afford for now...that will last in the meantime...so this is what I did!

After doing a bunch of online research, I decided to lay vinyl tile. And because I knew I'd want to do it really quickly, I decided to lay self-adhesive vinyl tile (so that I wouldn't have to do that extra step of gluing it down).

I didn't want to go to the store and buy the tile (since I knew I'd be by myself with the kids and the boxes of tiles are heavy). So, I searched on Amazon for someone who would deliver them to my door for free. Gotta love free shipping. I ordered these tiles, but if you search for "vinyl tile" or "self-adhesive vinyl tile" on Amazon, you will find lots of colors and options.

All you do is peel and stick. Easy-peasy.



I just made sure the floor was clean, and that there weren't any broken tiles. I started in the middle of the floor and worked my way towards the edges.

In the spots where there were broken tiles, I just chipped off the tiles and wiped the area clean.



Then I found two layers, and went down to the wood. Since the pre-existing tiles were so old, they were very easy to get rid of and start with a clean surface.



In addition to the vinyl tiles, you'll also need an exacto knife and a ruler to cut the tiles at the edges. When I started the project, I didn't think I'd need a ruler- haha. But after a few very wobbly tile edges, I hunted down our ruler. You don't need to cut most of the tiles- just the ones at the edges and if you have stairs. The stairs were definitely the hardest part!

Without further ado, here are the final results of the back hallway/stairs. I finished this whole project during Ginger's naptime over two days...about three hours. It's not perfect, but I am pleased with the results, especially since the whole thing cost me less than $1/square foot.

Before:



After:



And now, can I just say...I am so glad it's done!!!!

The Best Thing Ever!

Yesterday I took Paprika and Ginger to an Easter party hosted by our local Mom's Club. The Easter Bunny was there, and Paprika actually gave her (it was a girl!) a hug...it was the first time a big character like that didn't leave her in tears.

Paprika was one of the oldest kids at the party, so she really cleaned up at the egg hunt. I made sure to bring extra eggs to the party because I didn't want any of the kids getting short-shrifted. Paprika was totally excited about the eggs, and spent most of the rest of the party examining her loot.



Then we came home, and while Ginger was taking her nap, I finished the kitchen floor.

Before:



After:



I think it looks pretty good! It cost me about $120 in materials, and the labor was free! Home Depot had quoted me $3000 to do the kitchen and back hallway. I think I should send them my pics and ask if they really would have done it so much better and in less time (I spent two and a half of Ginger's naps doing it...about five hours total over three days).

Of course, I couldn't stop there. There's also the back stairwell and hallway to do. I started on that yesterday. I would have done the stairs, but I have to take up the stair tread, and that is really noisy and definitely would have woken Ginger up from her nap. So that will have to wait...

Before:



After:



I also installed a baby swing on our swingset for Ginger. Paprika thinks it's the coolest thing to swing Ginger.



Ginger was so excited to get in the swing. It's definitely become her favorite thing.



Mr. Mustard was worried that the Craigslist swingset would never get used...but...as you can tell, Paprika is living on it.



She thinks it's...



the best



thing



ever!

9 Months, Bob Vila, and Nell

Today Ginger turns 9 months! On Tuesday, she was acting a little funny, so we decided to take her in a few days early for her 9 month checkup. Good thing we did! Turns out, she has strep throat. Poor baby! She's now on antibiotics and will hopefully start feeling better soon.



As far as milestones, let's see...she still doesn't have any teeth (and it doesn't look like any are coming anytime soon)! She is still in the 90th percentile and above for height and 75th percentile for weight (she weighs about 20 pounds). Still nursing. Getting a little more receptive to food. Can crawl really fast. Is starting to climb stairs.

She's very mischevious and has a pretty developed sense of humor. She is drawn to the most dangerous thing in the room, and will crawl towards it with glee. Some days I feel like it's my job just to make sure she stays alive!

Ginger is definitely a mama's girl. She still likes to be held all day and all night long. If I'm not holding her, it's a problem according to her. When I put her to bed at night, I get about 30 minutes before she realizes I'm not holding her...and then I'm back on duty! I know this stage doesn't last forever, so I'm just enjoying it. Before I know it, she'll be running around and I'll be longing to hold her again.



On the days she naps, that's my time to get stuff done. Yesterday, she took a nap in her crib for about an hour and a half. During her nap, I laid down a new kitchen floor. Well, mostly laid down. When I was about 80% done, Ginger woke up from her nap and that was the end of that! Hopefully I can do the rest today assuming she naps.

Here's the before:



And the semi-after:



I was scrambling like you would not believe to get it done. Every day at our new house, I feel like Bob Vila. There's always something that needs to get done, and I do my best to get it done. Even if it's not perfect, it's done and better than it was.

For example, yesterday, I also uprooted a dead tree in the backyard. It was in the way of Paprika's swingset, and it had to go. Instead of waiting for someone to come take it out, I took it out myself, and filled the hole with dirt so no one would fall and break their leg- it was a really big hole! In those first pics where Ginger is sitting in the grass, I had just uprooted the tree and was filling in the hole with dirt. Bob Vila, I tell you!

In other news, Paprika's life has really changed since we got a backyard. She loves it. And I mean, really loves it. It's like her magical oasis. I have been having a hard time getting any pictures of her that I can post online because, well...she goes outside each morning and wants to take off all her clothes. Then she wants to stay outside all day. She runs around barefoot and gets so dirty. She doesn't want to leave to go anywhere else. She just wants to be in her own private playland.



We've started joking that the whole thing is like that movie, Nell. You know...Nell. I never saw that movie, but of course everyone remembers Jodie Foster in that role. Most days, Paprika just wants to run around outside, get really dirty, talk to her imaginary friends in her own made-up-language, and never leave our house. Thankfully, our yard is completely gated, so she has the ability to run and be free!!!

Yesterday, I had to run to Target and I contemplated taking her barefoot and in her underwear, because getting her to leave the backyard was such a struggle.

Mr. Mustard found her an awesome swingset on Craigslist last weekend, and that has really added to the fun of the backyard. This is her "flying" on her swingset. Bliss!

There's No Place Like Home!

We've been working so hard these past few weeks to get our home ready to sell! I snapped these photos yesterday. I can't believe all the memories we have of this place. It is bittersweet to say goodbye. But, a new chapter of our lives is beginning and this place will be a wonderful home for whoever buys it.



I can't help but think of all the happy times we've had here. I love our home, and I hope someone else loves it, too - at least loves it enough to buy it! :-)



It will always be our first house we had together...the one we bought as newlyweds six years ago. In fact, we closed escrow six years ago today. How appropriate that we are putting it on the market today, six years to the day after it was officially ours.



I hope you enjoy checking out the photos of our home! :-) I know it will look familiar, since I've snapped...oh, about 100,000 pictures of it since we bought it in 2004. Usually the pictures have Paprika and Ginger right in the middle of them...I think these are the first ones I've ever taken of just the house!

Sunset Saturday

These past few weeks have been a rollercoaster. Up, down, up, down. One of the big reasons we moved was to be closer to the beach, and so we've been taking every opportunity we can get to go watch the sunset. Sometimes we marvel..."where IS everyone?" The beaches are empty at sunset, and you would think that with millions of people here in Los Angeles, the beaches would be packed.



Our days have been so busy, sun up to sun down, that I haven't really had time to blog. Once I get Ginger to bed (she goes to bed a few hours after Paprika), I am ready to fall asleep hard.

Ginger will be 9 months old this upcoming week. She is growing and changing so much. I love her with my whole heart and every day that goes by, I am completely thankful for the gift that she is- the gift that both Paprika and Ginger are.

Ginger still doesn't have any teeth, by the way. Paprika had at least three by this age, and Ginger is taking her time. I don't mind it one bit. She's now been "outside" almost as long as she was inside me. Every day I fall more in love with her, and she amazes me. I could go on and on, of course.

Ginger and Paprika are the gifts of a lifetime, and each day I strive to be worthy of being their mom. It's a big job to fill - they deserve the moon and more (as every child does). I do my best to make their lives happy and full of magic. The desires of a three year old and an eight month old are pretty simple, thankfully, and so magic is easy to come by at this age. I know it won't always be so easy. ;-) But for now, we enjoy the sunsets together, and spend our days enjoying simple stuff. Moments like these are the greatest part of life- at least the greatest part of my life...