House Projects and Family Time

We had one of my FAVORITE weekends! We didnt go out to a fancy restautrant...in fact, we didnt go out to ANY restaurants. We didnt go to any theme parks or water parks or even to the zoo. We just spent time as a family of three (well...ok, Bailey) four, working on projects around the house, and enjoying the laughs and fun that make us so happy.

If youve been to our house in the last few months, you know that we have to close the blinds in the family room every afternoon because the heat just gets to be TOO much. We can walk from the front of our house where the sun has passed, to the back of the house where the sun is blazing, and there is easily a 10 degree difference when you walk into the family room. Pulling the blinds closed only helped a little, so we knew we had to do something. We've been talking about tinting the windows since we moved in, but the estimate we got was close to $1000, and we just couldnt justify that expense when we were in the middle of an adoption, and then when Whitney came home we knew we werent going to shell out a grand for some windows.

As we sat in our "cave" with my friend Kirsten, her new beau Brian mentioned that he tinted his windows by himself, using stuff he bought at Home Depot. Duh...why didnt WE think of that!? We tried using car-window tint on some of the transem windows right when we moved in...but car-window tint is not meant for nice family rooms, and it has bubbled and purpled over the years. But Brian was onto something. He's a keeper, K!

So Eric, Whitney, and I went to Home Depot in search of window tint and all the supplies it would take to make our room livable. Success!!
Eric spent hours...HOURS .... cutting, measuring, spraying, placing, applying, squeegee-ing, and repeating....until our back windows were finally tinted and AMAZING! We cant believe we didnt think of this sooner, and are SOOO thrilled with the outcome :)

Back wall BEFORE:

Side wall..Mid-project. The dark windows are the car-window tint. The lighter-tinted pane is the new tint. Much better, huh? And they say it cuts UVA rays by 72% :)

Mid-project. Note the closed blinds...after a while, we get sick of opening and closing, opening and closing...so they just stayed closed. Like. a. cave. :(

Hard at work :)

While Whitney slept like an angel :)

I think the vapors from her (amazingly effective) Vick's vapo-plug went to her little head. :) She woke up in a funny, silly mood,....

...and was determined to spend the day in this get-up. PJs? check. Hat? check. Tutu? check. Purse? check.

Daddy had a silly get-up of his own, after a run-in with some crashing window blinds. Whoops!

What a pair :)

Has to make sure to point out Daddy's new "boo boo" :) He's fine...nice cut on his head and arm, but no stitches or anything dramatic.

Whitney wanted to help us with the tint. Well...really she just wanted to climb the step-stool.

Note the lack of bow. Also note the reason the bows have become a necessity rather than just an accessory.

WHOA there, little girl....stop right there....Dare devil!

After eating some lunch and convincing Whitney to lose the tutu and hat, we hit the pool as a family. These are my FAVORITE days! How funny is she?!

Look Ma! No hands!!

Swimmin' is hard work!

And after some pool time and a nap, we decided to head to Walmart to pick up some paint and finish off that back wall, once and for all...FINALLY! So, as I type, Eric is doing the trim work on the wall that I started painting last night. We LOVE it so far, and I cant wait to see the finished project later tonight :)

(The whole wall will be painted...i amjust not good at ladders AND paint simultaneously....unless we want to replace carpet next weekend.)

Overall, a great weekend for all of us. Eric is a "Project Guy". He is always in search of things to fix, improve, repair, or redo. He installed a ceiling fan in my parents' house last week and smiled the entire time. He loves projects like this....so tinting windows and painting an accent wall may not be a day at the beach, but it make my man happy :) Add in a little pool time and some quality Whitney giggles and smiles...and its a recipe for a great weekend :)

We dont have any gym classes this week, but we're heading to Disney tomorrow with my parents, and we're looking forward to a library trip and a playdate to round out a fun week ahead!!