Tears on My Banister

Monday was a day full of tears and frustration. It all started with a call that the stone for the exterior of the house I picked out months ago could not be used because of it's size and that I had to pick out new stone. I had to make a trip to the stone place and came home empty handed because they didn't have any samples for me to take. How was I supposed to decide on a stone without checking it against the stucco? So, I knew that at one time there was a cardboard sample of my stucco at the house so I drove over there to try and find it. When I got there the very nice man that was making my railing was there and wanted to get my opinion on things. I was completely horrified by what he was showing me. I don't know how to explain what was going to happen other than to say that there was just going to be railing against the niche wall that went through the middle of the niche and just returned back into the wall and then the iron was going to attach to the floor from that point. I had to tell the very nice man that it was no offense to his skills, but that was the most horrible way to put railing on an expensive home let a lone the front entryway. The poor guy was just doing what my builder told him to do and bottom line--there was major miscommunication in the begining of this process. this of course lead to extreme awkwardness when I began to cry at the thought of that hideous rail. My Foreman was summoned over and very long story short and many tear filled loathings for the railing later I left to cool off and get the pictures of the house this was modeled after. Luckily while I was gone the very nice man found a beautiful solution to my problem. I had very limited options with the door opening up right there and my bottom step not being very deep. I had resolved to just have them leave off the railing entirely except for one side of the wall for code purposes. I think it turned out really well. There is a walnut floor under that maroon paper and there will be carpet up the stairs and the railing and the banisters/spindles (?) (which you can barely see through the iron) will be stained the same color as the doors and trim. It should look very warm and inviting when all is said and done.
The same railing is on the look out from the loft above. You can see a light fixture on the wall there that is not my actual fixture. Again something that did not go smoothly. Apparently the lighting store didn't bother to tell anyone that 9 of my lights were on back order and wont be in until September. Lovely! No real worries because they had to give me loaners although those fixtures are so not me. The ones I picked have some pretty iron and a glass shade. They are kind of similar to the one you can kind of see in the below picture only with a much longer tail and a more narrow glass shade.
This is the view from the loft and you can see the color of the trim in this picture which will be the same color of the railing there and on the stair case. My builder was also nice enough to use maple instead of oak so it will be really pretty when the stain goes on. So, now when you come visit me you can think of the tears that were shed over my staircase. :)

Face Fun

It was my intention to put a nice little slide show on here with all the kids' pictures, but the image was taking forever to load. I figure I must have done something wrong so, I'm left with adding each picture individually and leaving out the other kids. Sorry kids! We met some friends at Red Robin last night for dinner and much to the delight of our children, there was face painting and balloon animal making. I'm really not sure what this is supposed to be, some kind of moth? His brother went for the Frankenstein look and the 2 girls went for fairy princess type looks-I'll post those on my facebook account.
When we got home they were instructed to wash their faces and soon I was asked "Mom, how do I get this off?" I immediately started laughing and told him not to move while I went and got the camera. This kid is a constant crack up. Look at that face. I love what appear to be horns sticking up out of the blurr with an expression of such innocence.
this was our 3rd attempt at removing the make up. As you can see from the 1st picture there was only an outline on his face in the actual black paint and it just multiplied like gremlins. The other kids were able to remove their make up with little effort. I think baby wipes are supposed to do the trick, but I don't have those laying around the house anymore so he had to suffer through several face washings. This picture freaks me out. I really don't like to look at it.
He was left with only a little around his eyes and he thought that it looked really cool and didn't want me to remove the rest. Ethan has a very mischievous look about him with a healthy dose of twisted psychopath in there as well. He kept telling me on each stage of the make up removal that he looked like the Joker (the kids have obviously seen the trailers and posters from the movie) Sometimes his poses for the camera remind me of those couple of actors who always play the demented characters just because of the way they can look. He can also pull off the emo angry rocker look as well.

Tricked Out!

After having my blog for a while now I finally decided that it could use an update. It seems like everyone has a blog now and after viewing some of my friends that just started theirs I realized that I was pretty boring. I tried out a few backgrounds and didn't enjoy trying to read my blog with some of the colors. I'm still not sure if this is really what I want or not. The eyes go a little buggy trying to read the pink text on the dark background. I was anti music on my blog for awhile, but after I made all the changes and added the slide show it seemed a bit naked without it plus I figure that my playlist gives a pretty good insight into me, so if you get annoyed just scroll down to the bottom and turn it off. :)

Is there light at the end of the tunnel???

Every time I sit at the computer to write on my blog I end up walking away. My attitude has been dripping with a dooms day mentality and so I decided to spare everyone. I am trying to keep from this becoming my sorrow and heartache blog. So, here I am finally with a spark of hope that everything is going to turn out alright in the end. Moving day is the 15th---movers are coming---house is getting packed---stuff getting put in the new house----builder knows this---these are today's pictures----does anyone have some Prozac, maybe something stronger?! Anyway, me and my spark of hope have 10 days left on the "bliss" filled roller coaster ride. So, focusing on only the positive from here on out... This is my walkway up to the house. It is stamped concrete that will be stained and it has a pony wall on each side of it that will have a lantern and potted plant on each side. You can see 2 blue tubes sticking up out of the ground where the lanterns will be.
Here is the kitchen. It turned out lovely with a few minor things that I am sure I will get over with time. OOPS--that was still positive, wasn't it?! :) It really is lovely and the range will have venetian plaster and tile on it and the whole wall under it will be tile. My pendant lights over the island were being hung today, so they aren't in the picture yet and my beautiful walnut floors are covered in this picture.
This is my pantry. There is a place for a fridge on the left there and there will be granite on the counter top in there. The ultimate in saddle bag indulgence right there!
The front door is getting closer to being installed. It is hanging out in the living room waiting to be installed. It is a beautiful door.

The pool as undergone the least amount of change over the past several weeks. It now has tile around it and there will be cool pool decking where the wire is and they still need to plaster and fill the pool and set the equipment. We'll I'm off to get a much need massage so that I can rest up for the rest of the packing I have to get done.