Our NEW home! (well for now:)) and lessons LEARNED!

Welcome!

This is our kitchen. It is just right-- not too small, and not so big that I feel like I dread cleaning it. Less counter space = less space to put clutter when we walk into the door- so that is a plus! (and I would like to thank my sister Amy for getting me that really cute tea pot for Christmas-- it matches my color scheme PERFECTLY!)

Right next to the kitchen is the "dining area"
Here is our living room/office/piano room.
Another view!
And one more view to show you that I have hung pictures-- I'm THAT good!
This is Erin's room/future babies room/kids game stash room
Here is where Erin is sleeping for now-- we are looking at getting her a bed for her b-day(in like 2 weeks) (so, shhhhh... she doesn't know!) We only took so many BIG pieces of furniture with us to Cali.
Here are Dante and Ethan's FUN bunk beds with a futon on the bottom that folds down. They LOVE it so far! It only cost us $125 for the frame and mattress and futon, plus TWO really nice pillow toppers. !! We HEART craigslist:)
This is another angle from the boys room! The dressers used to be brown- and now they are black and white courtesy of our pro spray painter... Chester!Our hallway coming in from the garage- the washer and dryer are on the right- and the kids bathroom is on the left.

Kids bathroom! (above and below)

Here is the master bedroom! It is SO nice to clean! Actually the whole apartment is nice to clean! I don't feel like I'm doing it for days- and it is easier to stay on top of the kids for their messes- because I pretty much SEE everything:)
In front of our bed... our TV!

This is on the side of our room- Chet's chest of drawers (again spray painted)

Our master bathroom- which is TEENY compared to the one we had in Texas--- I really miss by HUGE bathtub! A 2nd angle to our bathroom. At least it still has 2 sinks!:)

Now onto 2 things re: hard lessons learned.........

Is this not such a bright and fun mat for our kitchen? I loved it- and I loved it because it was a measly FIVE bucks at target-- so cheap I got TWO!!
Well, on the above one- I spilled beef blood and put it into the wash-- and it BLED! I was SO mad-- I don't know what I was thinking--- when it said hand wash only... putting it in with a load of towels and then putting it on HOT water to get all the bacteria from the "blood" out! Now I have to debate going back and getting a NEW one. HMMMM??!!
Now I have plenty of splotchy white and pink towels! I wonder if Chet could spray paint pink polka dots onto them?? And somehow cover it up? All I know- is these towels will be hidden under our sinks and not for viewing pleasure:)

So, if it says- hand wash only- COLD WATER. You may want to actually listen-- I guess it says that for a reason. Dang it!

Mistake #2!

Chet and I saw this trashcan at costco and it is automatic-- you run your hand over the top and it OPENS. It was really cool AT the store! We didn't get it the first time around, because we thought we could go to Wal-mart or Target and get the same design but for less money-- when it was the same at Target and Wal-mart-- we went back to Costco because it came with a free mini electric trashcan.

YEAH! I now have a trashcan--- and it opens up-- when you walk by, when you don't have trash in your hands, when you cough, when you pick your nose- and basically ANYTIME that you don't want it to!

Now, that really wouldn't be all that bad if it actually opened-- when you HAD trash to deposit! But it doesn't-- I feel like one of those stupid self-checker scanner people who have to run the "bar code" over and over and over again because it is not scanning. (only this time people aren't waiting in line behind me) And instead I am waving trash around like a lunatic trying to get the dumb thing to open! (I'm not a quitter... I WILL get it to open) I don't care WHAT I look like! But without fail every time I just walk by it--- it lifts! The kids get a kick out of it- because they forget-- and they jump every time because it also makes a noise when it opens! It is pretty funny and almost worth the money to watch them freak out. So, if you thought you might be in the market for an electric trashcan- believe me- it is worth the foot exercise to just have a push thing at the bottom that opens the lid for you!

But it is pretty to look at:)