Incremental progress https://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/t13046 Runboard| Incremental progress en-us Fri, 29 Mar 2024 14:47:26 +0000 Fri, 29 Mar 2024 14:47:26 +0000 https://www.runboard.com/ rssfeeds_managingeditor@runboard.com (Runboard.com RSS feeds managing editor) rssfeeds_webmaster@runboard.com (Runboard.com RSS feeds webmaster) akBBS 60 Re: Incremental progresshttps://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p243074,from=rss#post243074https://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p243074,from=rss#post243074I do think it's brilliant....and a good way to teach her how to organize. I did the same thing with our son....and he really liked that when he was watching one of his favorite shows...he could run into his room, grab the box that he KNEW his toy was in that went with the story. And come running back out....he liked being organized. After the age of about 6 I NEVER had to put his toys away. I say, put everything away I'm cleaning today. I'd go in to vacuum and dust and every toy was right where it should be... nondisclosed_email@example.com (Queenyforever)Wed, 02 May 2012 19:38:57 +0000 Re: Incremental progresshttps://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p243062,from=rss#post243062https://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p243062,from=rss#post243062I do love that her toys can be strewn around. For a long time, the living room doubled as a play room and we were always stressing about picking her toys up to keep our sanity since we also stay in there all the time. Then we let her have the den area, but that's where our front door is (which most people use the side door that comes into our kitchen). But it was annoying when someone would knock at the front door and you actually had to physically push a pile of toys away from the door to open it! The nook is in the back of the house where no one can see it! So we can keep it picked up at our leisure. Plus it's JUST her toys, so it's easier - she can't get into anything back there and we don't have to search through her toys to find something we were working on! And so far so good on keeping it fairly picked up. Willa loves the new cloth boxes to put her toys in so she usually puts things away!nondisclosed_email@example.com (TexasMadness)Wed, 02 May 2012 15:19:01 +0000 Re: Incremental progresshttps://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p243043,from=rss#post243043https://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p243043,from=rss#post243043That's lovely. I think it's a great idea to have a place for kids where they can just leave their things lying around. We used to have a "play room", and at times it looked completely trashed. We always cleaned it up after a couple of days, but when working with paper and catalogues was on, it was great not having to put everything away in the evening. Well done! nondisclosed_email@example.com (Firlefanz)Wed, 02 May 2012 07:36:11 +0000 Re: Incremental progresshttps://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p243035,from=rss#post243035https://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p243035,from=rss#post243035What a nice playroom for Willa...and eventually her sister/brother. she looks like she's already enjoying it a great deal! Y'all did good!! nondisclosed_email@example.com (Saijen SilverWolf1)Tue, 01 May 2012 23:53:51 +0000 Re: Incremental progresshttps://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p243015,from=rss#post243015https://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p243015,from=rss#post243015Oh that is just the absolute dream come true for any child! Well done MOM!!! nondisclosed_email@example.com (Queenyforever)Tue, 01 May 2012 19:12:02 +0000 Re: Incremental progresshttps://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p243014,from=rss#post243014https://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p243014,from=rss#post243014Didn't notice your question earlier Queeny! Yes, the top also has a polyurethane coat on it. After just a few weeks, I'm thinking it needs a more heavy duty coating but we'll see how it lasts through the summer. As I mentioned in Open Circle, we finally got Willa's playroom organized. Our hall leads from the living room with our bedroom on the left. The halls turns to the right and Willa's room is straight ahead. But after the turn, it opens up into a little room we call the nook which is about 10 ft x 8 ft or so. It actually used to be a separate room but we knocked down the wall as the whole area was so oppressive and cramped. It's been a sitting room for about 4 years but the built-in half height book shelves were no place for my nicknacks and books now that Willa is a full blown 2 year old! So she got the whole space to herself. We took out most of my stuff (still a little lingers on top of the bookcase) and the couch. We put down a thin foam mattress and a bunch of pillows along with a rug and of course, her toys fill the shelves. She loves it! It's still a bit disorganized but I figure it's never going to *actually* be organized so what the heck! nondisclosed_email@example.com (TexasMadness)Tue, 01 May 2012 15:58:03 +0000 Re: Incremental progresshttps://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p242782,from=rss#post242782https://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p242782,from=rss#post242782WOW!!!!! That looks awesome,Texas! Y'all did an outstanding job! I love the island with Willa's little kitchen holding up the one end. How appropriate!!! Now, she can cook in her kitchen while Mommy is cooking! I LOVE my glass top (induction) stove. Mine is not a cooktop, but a free standing range...but man, I love that thing. Talk about easy to clean. Don't have to worry about spills going under the top. I'll never have a regular stove/range again. No drip pans to fret with, or have to replace when they get too nasty to get clean. Wonderful invention, for sure! lolnondisclosed_email@example.com (Saijen SilverWolf1)Mon, 16 Apr 2012 04:38:42 +0000 Re: Incremental progresshttps://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p242774,from=rss#post242774https://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p242774,from=rss#post242774That's beautiful! Well done!    nondisclosed_email@example.com (Firlefanz)Sat, 14 Apr 2012 12:34:53 +0000 Re: Incremental progresshttps://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p242772,from=rss#post242772https://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p242772,from=rss#post242772WOW! HONEY, that looks fantastic even without the doors and drawers! And I love that stained top. Did you also put a urethane on it, or something to protect it from staining? I think the fact that Willa's kitchen is holding up one end, is beyond adorable. Even more precious because it was once yours.. nondisclosed_email@example.com (Queenyforever)Fri, 13 Apr 2012 20:28:19 +0000 Re: Incremental progresshttps://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p242763,from=rss#post242763https://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p242763,from=rss#post242763Wow, we've certainly been doing things since I last posted IN FEBRUARY! But I just haven't gotten around to pictures and such. The big project, which is still in progress, is the kitchen island. We've had a regular stove/oven unit sitting in the middle of our kitchen for about 2 years. You know, one of those ones that's usually along the wall with counters? It hasn't been pretty... Finally, we got our island going. The base cabinets are in, but the store was out of all the doors/drawers so those are still on order. We are debating about the counter top so we put in cabinet grade plywood and stained it. It actually looks great if you ask me! And we got our bar stools. I LOVE it!!!! Right now, this side is being held up by Willa's kitchen - which was actually my kitchen when I was her age, built by a family friend. When she is older, we will remove it and put in regular shelving. But for now, it's perfect! Oh, and of course, it means we have our new cooktop in - INDUCTION! It's is fabulous. So much faster and better controlled than our other electric stove (we don't have gas here). I'm so happy with it!nondisclosed_email@example.com (TexasMadness)Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:16:59 +0000 Re: Incremental progresshttps://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p242142,from=rss#post242142https://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p242142,from=rss#post242142Absolutely must have good lighting! If not you might as well be cooking in a cave! That looks nice... nondisclosed_email@example.com (Queenyforever)Tue, 28 Feb 2012 20:17:45 +0000 Re: Incremental progresshttps://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p242138,from=rss#post242138https://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p242138,from=rss#post242138Looking good!!! I LOVE my under counter light. My counter is so dark without it and I hate cooking when that light is out. Pretty soon, you'll have it just like you want it!!! nondisclosed_email@example.com (Saijen SilverWolf1)Tue, 28 Feb 2012 04:58:39 +0000 Re: Incremental progresshttps://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p242134,from=rss#post242134https://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p242134,from=rss#post242134Good light definitely helps in the kitchen. I have an extra light I turn on when I cook, it bathes the stove in light. Don't know what I would do without it. Well done! nondisclosed_email@example.com (Firlefanz)Mon, 27 Feb 2012 20:55:53 +0000 Re: Incremental progresshttps://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p242133,from=rss#post242133https://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p242133,from=rss#post242133Another tiny step forward! We are still adding lights to the kitchen. The main prep area is hard to light as there are upper cabinets above it. So we bought some undercabinet lighting and installed that. I need to wire the cord through the wall still but it's so much nicer over there! And again...now I can see every speck on that counter! Much better that we can no see everything and get it really clean for food prep. The other illumination project was halted midway by lack of the proper screw. Hopefully I'll get that done tonight though.nondisclosed_email@example.com (TexasMadness)Mon, 27 Feb 2012 20:48:27 +0000 Re: Incremental progresshttps://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p241768,from=rss#post241768https://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p241768,from=rss#post241768I have a light in the hood of my stove....I couldn't cook without that thing. I don't know how you did it, Texas! I love the pic of Willa makin sure Daddy doesn't fall off the ladder! Too precious! I really like the track lighting. If we ever win the lottery and are able to have our dream house built, the kitchen will have track lighting, for the same reason you put that in. It's looking good!!!! When I cook, the overhead light is on, the stove light is on, the light over the sink is on and a small flourescent light under the upper cabinets (over counter top) is on! when I wash dishes at night, all but the stove light is on. Even in the daytime, I turn on the light over the sink to wash dishes. nondisclosed_email@example.com (Saijen SilverWolf1)Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:58:33 +0000 Re: Incremental progresshttps://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p241764,from=rss#post241764https://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p241764,from=rss#post241764Yeah for new lights! I love Willa's helping hand! nondisclosed_email@example.com (Queenyforever)Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:01:13 +0000 Re: Incremental progresshttps://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p241747,from=rss#post241747https://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p241747,from=rss#post241747Yay for the lights! I'm sure that cooking will be much more fun now - too bad about the extra cleaning! So nice of Willa to help. Adorable! And soon, she'll be the big sister!    nondisclosed_email@example.com (Firlefanz)Sun, 12 Feb 2012 17:29:21 +0000 Re: Incremental progresshttps://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p241745,from=rss#post241745https://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p241745,from=rss#post241745Hubby is putting the little tot down for sleep, so I have a few minutes to update what we did today. Another small kitchen chore. This is another one that I have no idea how we lived with for so long. We had one crummy light over the stove - just a bare bulb! A few months ago, my FIL accidentally pulled it out of the ceiling and we never got around to fixing it. It wasn't in the right place to really point at the food you were cooking, it sometimes made it harder to see with the shadows it threw. So we just left the parts dangling from the ceiling. Until today! Hubby took the old light fixture down... ...Willa "helped"... ...and finally, after plenty of cursing and trying to find a few lost tools (this was seriously way more complicated than it needed to be!), we got the new track lights up! It's AMAZING how nice and bright it is in our main prep area and the stove. After dinner tonight, I went to put the food on the stove away. When we took our plates to the table, I'd turned the new lights off, so the stove looked like it used to without the light on. I couldn't believe I'd ever cooked in such bleak darkness before! On the other hand, I can now see just how dirty the floor is between the stove and the fridge! I used to be able to ignore the dirt but now that I can see it, I guess I have to clean it! nondisclosed_email@example.com (TexasMadness)Sun, 12 Feb 2012 03:46:01 +0000 Re: Incremental progresshttps://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p241739,from=rss#post241739https://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p241739,from=rss#post241739What a sweet birthday present!!! You know..people who don't have kids, or don't really understand them..even if they have them, just don't appreciate just how special things like this are! I'm glad that you're as big a softie as you are!!!! For a LONG time, I had a 'kite' that one of my grandsons had done at school when they lived up here. It was an art project they did in Kindergarten, and he didn't want his Momma to have it...he wanted Nannie to have it! I taped it up on my den door, where it stayed for years. I finally took it down last summer and put it away. D was 5 when he gave it to me...he'll be 14 in March!!!! It was kite shaped, with a 'tail' and it had a smiley face made from cut out pieces of construction paper on it. Nothing fancy..very simple, but it came from my grandson, and I loved it dearly! So...I know how you feel about that art piece on your fridge door!!! nondisclosed_email@example.com (Saijen SilverWolf1)Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:55:24 +0000 Re: Incremental progresshttps://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p241728,from=rss#post241728https://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p241728,from=rss#post241728The drawing on the side is Willa's and there are usually a few more but she always wants them back! The one of the front is actually one of my prize possessions right now. It was made by my nephew (3) and niece (1) for my birthday a few weeks ago. My nephew was SO excited to give it to me. He ran right up to me (he is usually a bit aloof) and wouldn't let me open it later with the other presents. He told me all about the drawing and how they did it. It's really special to me and I'm going to frame it when I get a chance! nondisclosed_email@example.com (TexasMadness)Sat, 11 Feb 2012 14:17:31 +0000 Re: Incremental progresshttps://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p241714,from=rss#post241714https://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p241714,from=rss#post241714Nice goin, Texas!!! I don't have a counter at all near my fridge, and it's a pain at times, but for my new one....it's a french door with freezer on bottom, so it wouldn't have mattered! LOL. It's so nice to see Willa's drawings on the fridge door!!! A home that displays the child's drawings in that manner is usually a happy place!!! nondisclosed_email@example.com (Saijen SilverWolf1)Sat, 11 Feb 2012 05:07:08 +0000 Re: Incremental progresshttps://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p241708,from=rss#post241708https://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p241708,from=rss#post241708Oh you did good!! "Ohh! You turned it around!" Some men are simply not very observant! Honey, most men are NOT observant at all! nondisclosed_email@example.com (Queenyforever)Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:45:13 +0000 Re: Incremental progresshttps://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p241704,from=rss#post241704https://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p241704,from=rss#post241704Yep, the pic is after the change. It's crazy that we got so used to it opening the inconvenient way that we didn't change it for so long!nondisclosed_email@example.com (TexasMadness)Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:27:43 +0000 Re: Incremental progresshttps://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p241703,from=rss#post241703https://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p241703,from=rss#post241703Wow, that's a cool project! You picture shows the fridge after you changed it, right? That way it makes a lot more sense. Glad you managed to do it! And how funny that your husband needed two tries to have it sink in. nondisclosed_email@example.com (Firlefanz)Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:47:56 +0000 Incremental progresshttps://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p241702,from=rss#post241702https://bthepaganporch.runboard.com/p241702,from=rss#post241702We are STILL doing remodel projects, 5 years after buying the house. They are all little piddly things now. And a lot of it is stuff we've just put off because we are so used to the way things are. But no more! We have made a resolution to get the house 100% done. And then we can start on the next big remodel project (a screened porch on the back of the house). But we will be paying for that to be done so it will be a few years after we save up some money. So, to start the ball rolling, I did a little project yesterday that's been on my to do list for about 2 years ( ). After we remodeled the kitchen, the refrigerator door opened the "wrong" way. There's a counter on one side of the fridge but not the other. The door opened toward the side with no counter, so there was no where to easily put things down. I got home from work yesterday before hubby came home with Willa so I set about changing the door around. It was a bit more involved than I expected, but nothing I couldn't accomplish in about 30 minutes. So now the fridge opens right near the counter! Hubby came home and I waited about 30 minutes for him to notice. I finally just had to ask him to get me a drink. He paused slightly just before opening the fridge, but then just went about getting the juice. It wasn't until he opened it a second time to put the juice jug back in that he said "Ohh! You turned it around!" Some men are simply not very observant! It was also an excuse to clean the ENTIRE fridge. I do clean it out once a week for leftovers, etc, but I actually removed every single thing in it (including the shelves, drawers, etc) and scrubbed it down. It'd been a few months since I did that. It's so sparkly and nice in there now. It's actually inspiring me to cook since I can now find things too! nondisclosed_email@example.com (TexasMadness)Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:00:21 +0000