Living room complete!

I've gone 5 years without curtains in our main living area.  I scoured my photos and oddly this was the only one I could find to show you what it looked like "before" but, you get the idea...  Pa-laaaaain-Jane!  

Mulch.

After 5 years of bark, I wanted mulch.  It was a ton of work but, I love the look of it, having my plants healthier & most of all, I love that the neighbor cats apparently don't like it.

Before. 

After. 

All grown up.

You'd think I would have noticed...  after almost 5 years living in our home, I never thought of tossing up curtains or laying a rug.  It hit me one day & I couldn't get the idea out of my head, until it was done.  Huge thanks to my mom for helping me shop!  And, huge thanks to The Hubs who didn't freak when I came home with 5 bags of options...

We love our new room.  It's softer, more inviting & suits us well.

Before.  

After (with new lamp, rug, curtains).

Night night.

My sparkly oven vent filters.

My house faces west.  The sun comes up & shines in showing every smudge on the windows & every dust bunny on the floor.  It makes me want to clean everything!  My favorite cleaning project today?   Cleaning my oven vent filters.  I didn't realize how dirty they were until pulling them out & getting a closer look.  I'm embarrassed to say that they hadn't been cleaned in 4 1/2 years!

Gross.

What's my natural, super easy remedy?

• One large pot boiling water
• Add in 1/2 cup (give or take) of baking soda (S-L-O-W-L-Y - b/c it fizzes quite a bit)
• Toss in the filters for a few minutes (checking them now & then)
• You'll soon see a filmy grime on the top layer of your boiling water.  (This oil washes out easily after you're done.) 
• Pull out & rinse when sparkly clean.  

Bottom half was only dipped-in for 20 seconds & look how clean it's getting! 

TA-DA!  

I'm pretty sure one can get by cleaning the entire house (well!) with a vacuum, diluted white vinegar & baking soda.

The sling.

Surgery has come & gone.  I'm now at the halfway point of sling-wearing.  2 wks down, 2 to go.  I've learned to live life with only the use of my left arm & I must say... it's not as bad as I thought.

I can now: dress myself (including a bra!!!), put contacts in, shave my L armpit, vacuum, and clip the littles' nails.  I still struggle with: opening jars, cutting anything with scissors or on a cutting board, taking my shirt off, putting my sling on by myself, buckling the kids, and putting earrings in.

I head back to work this week & will attempt my first drive.  (Which is legal & okay with my doc as long as I don't have a sling on at the time).  I'm thankful for the handicapped parking pass that will allow me to park right in front of my office.  And, I plan to arrive early so that I don't have to parallel park.  :)

Before 

After

Raise the Roof!

BEFORE:

Note the awesome tarp on the chimney...

AFTER:

New roof - Ta da!  

Project.

I've been itching to fill this space:

I've also needed ideas on how to display family photos & Laila's art work.  This gal spoke at MOPS last week & shared the following idea:  

Don't get me wrong - this is nothing I'd have on display in the living room but, it's perfect for our hallway downstairs outside the laundry room.  Someday when I have the energy & the money I'll throw together more of a photo wall with nicely framed pics & art but, until then.... this suites us just fine.  How do you display your kid's artwork?