New Furniture, Painting, and More Games

I think we had a month of temporary insanity, because after saying we would slow down, we immediately turned around and also decided to stop waiting around for "a good time" to do things around the house and simply started doing things little bit by little bit. The upside is that things are getting done, but the downside, of course, is that they were all done during the worst time possible (girls scout cookie sales time.) Our water heater also broke around the same time, and since Spring is just around the corner, we are also trying to get the sprinklers fixed (Oh, that we lived in a place where sprinklers were not a thing!). In any case, we might be certifiable, and we definitely had too much going on, but we got it done. Most of it. Ha.

The first thing on the list was getting rid of the huge cloud couch -which we do miss, but we are also super happy to have all this space! - and purchasing a new one. The old couch had been around for almost 7 years and its age was really showing. It was also too big for the space. This was purposeful, because we thought at the time that the exchange was a good idea, but we have been struggling to make do without space because of all the activity in the house. I like the new, spacious living area so much more for daily use, and it is much easier to clean when I have access to all that space under the furniture. We kept some of the old cushions, which we lay down on the floor in a campy bed-like sort of thing whenever we want more laying-down-and-spreading-out-"on the couch" space. But mostly, the couch and the leather chairs are sufficient for us. The kids love watching TV so comfortably, and all the seats are now prime fireplace spots. Even the dogs have more space for playing. 

Too much blank space on the walls... but I haven't decided what to do with it yet...

Our bed also got an upgrade.

Cookie sales were the usual... cold... and slow... 

Cuddle therapy was an absolute must after each booth event...

We got some snow! The kids refused to play in the snow this year though... sigh... 

Eli got a fancy new outfit as a gift! 

And here is the other project we have been working on. This is the big one. First came the Great Pink Purge.

And then we started painting...

Yummy meals help with the back aches...

Eva made sure the stars we painted would form constellations in the "sky"

Eva and Quijote working hard together... We got lots of new furniture for the kiddo's bedrooms, including desk chairs and reading nook kind of furniture. Eva wants a space theme and Eli wants a Minecraft theme. We are using funds from my teaching gig and gifts from family to get it all done. 

Just a cute picture of my adorable Minecraft-obsessed youngling...

 

And while the bedroom projects are still ongoing, I wanted to make sure to also include some pictures of Eva and her uncle and aunt in Washington. They have been playing a game called Catan. Her aunt and uncle gave her the board game, then additions to the game, so that little by little we have collected a pretty comprehensive set to play with here at home. We have yet to even learn how to use some of the fancy extras! But lately, Eva, P & S have been playing online! Eva has been enjoying it! She loves the game but usually only gets to play it during D&D night (which has been dwindling since the advent of Minecraft, current king and overlord of the kid's free time). Eva wants to go back to D&D, too. So perhaps that will be making a comeback? See, that right there is our problem. We want free time to rest. We also want to do all the things. 

This picture was taken during my in-laws visit, and that is also something to be grateful for! They hadn't been able to visit for a while because of some health issues. We did visit them instead, of course, but I'm glad that they have been able to visit again. We play tons of board games whenever Nana is around 💗

Speaking of games, I must leave a record of our dissatisfaction with the Minecraft private server membership. We have been working in a new world in our server and have spent a lot of effort over the last month or so, trying to defeat the Ender Dragon... only for the server to freeze on us mid-fight (and just as we had finally gotten rid of all the crystals!) We got kicked out of the game after it froze, and when we all signed up again, the game had sent us back to a much earlier point in time, before the fight. All of it gone. We lost ender pearls in the process too, which means we will have to source those again before we can even attempt to fight the dragon again. So we all closed down our laptops, had a snack and watched a little anime to lift our spirits, and perhaps we will try again another time. We have defeated the dragon before, but still. We were all so mad! But I think it will be a good story later.