Projects - our week in review!

With Techno away for work, I found myself up to my elbows in projects.

Seems whenever he travels and is away for more than a day or so, I get myself into these predicaments. Guess that's how I cope with missing him.

Just. keep. busy.

Before he left, I mentioned I might try to hang the insulation in the shed.  Off we went to the hardware stores to purchase said insulation so we knew we were getting the right size, type, etc.

He left Sun after lunch.  I snuggled with a sick Selah that day.  Made for a good day of rest before my whirlwind week of 'hard labor'!

Monday was spent measuring, cutting, putting up, stapling in insulation between the rafters of the shed frame.  Phew - hot and itchy work.

Tue was dental appointments all morning. By the time we returned home well after lunch, I just didn't have the 'oomph' to work in the shed.  Geesh - getting older causes one to need to rest.  LOL!

Wed morning I was determined to finish up that shed.  After all, I now had grandiose plans of re-organizing the school room.  {School does start in two weeks, ya' know.  One now that I'm finally getting around to writing this post}

And........ I......... DID!!

What I was tackling!

Clearing out and putting up first panel.

One wall done!!!  Yeah, may not be pretty, but hopefully it's functional!

Measuring/trimming

Another wall complete.

Slightly  more challenging working around electrical wires and the propane furnace. Yikes!

ALL walls complete!  Phew!

As I finished up the shed, I instructed the kiddos to clear off their desks and move them to the shed for painting.  

Phase I of project school room make-over was about to begin!

Unfortunately, I didn't take ANY pictures of this step.  Silly me.   

What I did:   I painted the two long boards that make up all 4 girls desks. These boards sit atop filing cabinets to make a long close to 18 in 'desk'.  I also painted Elijah's smaller board that makes his desk. Finally, simply because it was there, I had paint, and it needed to be 'freshened up' I also painted Doug's desk that will one day move into the shed when we get it completed.

This became quite the fiasco as one of my two cans of chalkboard paint had clumped and was left unusable.  A trip to town for more paint ensued.  But.... I finished my project!

As those dried, I began sorting/organizing all that was left in the school room.  It was at this point that I had my 'ah ha' moment. 

 IF I'm going through all this trouble; cleaning, sorting, organizing, painting desks, hanging shelves; I might as well...... PAINT THE WHOLE ROOM!

Besides, I justified, I have 5 gallons of grey paint from our old house to use up.  Voila!  I was off and running.

Phase II began.

Everything came out of the school room. Walls were washed.  Ladders were erupted.  Paint was carried in.

Opening the monster container of paint, I saw it had separated.  Grabbing one of my kids wooden swords (as I had apparently gotten rid of my large paint stirrers in the move), I thrust it into the vat of liquid only to come to an abrupt halt.  The paint had solidified.  Hmmmmm....   A call to the hardware store indicated it had probably frozen (well, yeah, it was -21 degrees many days this past winter) and now that certain chemicals are banned from use, paint is relegated ruined once it freezes.

Sigh!  

Disappointment welled within.

Techno-genius approved the purchase of more paint so I could finish what I'd started. So much for the element of surprise.

Off to town, AGAIN, for supplies.

Seal Point grey was my color of choice.  

"How much paint do I need?"  I ask.  Which was met with, "How big is your room."

Oh yeah. I knew there was something I wanted to do before I came in.   MEASURE the room.

Pondering...... I came up with "about 8ft by 4 or so feet."

One gallon should be plenty.

Home, half the day gone, I was determined to get the first coat of paint on -- maybe even the second -- all before bedtime Thursday night.  

Ha!  Vaulted ceilings, lots of hard wood beams to paint around, trim.  It took much longer than anticipated.  I did get the first coat finished by 11pm or so.  Dropping at that point into my recliner to send yet another message to Techno-genius.  

I was going to need more paint.  Seems I misjudged the size of the room by....... about...... HALF!  UUGH!

Fortunately we had an appointment in town so we were heading to Laramie anyway Fri morning.  

Another stop at Ace was in our future.

FINALLY, with paint in hand, we arrived home and I FINISHED the school room painting.  PHEW!  This made hanging insulation look like a piece of cake.

Next up...  Phase III.... Putting it all together!

In came the file cabinets.  Next the desk top boards.  Finally all the books, supplies, computers, etc.

Friday night was yet another 'late night' cram session of sorts.  Even Jacob stayed up late.  He's a lot like his techno-savvy daddy and wanted to help put up the computers.  I let him unpack them, but nixed hooking them all up.  It. Was. His. Bedtime.  Past, really. But, it was still summer and the help was beneficial.  :-)

Sat morning arrived earlier than I preferred.  My body was wiped.  But, I mused, "today is Techno's day of returning.  I MUST GET MOVING."

With the kids help, we managed to not only finish up the schoolroom, but also cleaned the rest of the house as well.  Straightening, dusting, vacuuming, and mopping.  Plus laundry was kept up to date.

Here's the final reveal of the schoolroom make-over.

From the back door looking in toward Elijah's desk.  Alphabet chart and reward chart on wall.  

Buckets for supplies bordering walkthrough.

Looking from front sliding doors to back door.  Selah, Charity, Bethany and my areas.

Elijah's desk area - new painted shelf and desk.  All his stuff within easy reach.

Trinity's desk area.  New shelves and painted desk.  So proud of myself.  Never knew I could hang shelves so proficiently.  LOL!  All her new supplies are ready to go.

 

Selah's desk area.  Her books are underneath the desk to give her more room on top for 'work'.  Even has her reward chart on her filing cabinet drawer.

Charity's area.  She's so excited to use her new supplies.  Notice her books neatly in crates underneath as well.
All her manipulatives and art supplies easily accessible.
The 'blank' space between Selah and Charity is where your's truly will reside during teaching time.

Finally, Bethany's work space.  New shelf (she'll be so excited) and a painted desk.  All her books at her finger tips. Still deciding if crates UNDER the desk would be better. 

Our library books in my new Thrity-one tote.  Easy to grab to return and pick up.  Not to mention...... IT MATCHES!

That was our week without Techno-genius home.  I accomplished lots and LOVE the results.  Kids are excited to start school.  We're excited to get the shed converted to an office.  YIPPEE!!!