Happy to report our house is making headway :) ... our upstairs is completely plastered :) it looks good! I'm not really a big fan of textured walls but we had to go with that for our upstairs since it was "repair of existing" plaster but it did turn out looking nice, I'm very happy with it. We picked out the rest of the "styles" of plaster for the walls downstairs on Tuesday night, and we are going to keep the feel the same throughout the house so it feels "old"... we picked a variety of styles, just hope it looks good together, When will the downstairs be plastered? hrm... isn't that the ? of the hour... well hopefully when our contractor returns from his vacation...
Later on on Tuesday I met up with our painting lady to go over colors for upstairs since a week from this coming Monday we can put color on the walls ... so exciting! At that time I was very undecided yet, I am just really taking my time on picking things out because I want it to feel right, and when I see the color I know it will feel "right"... I know goofy but its the way I am :)
Well on Wednesday... Jer and I were off to Cedar Rapids to look at tiles for the downstairs bathroom and to look at a few other things, and to meet up with our countertop guy in Anamosa ... lots of progress was made this day, we pin pointed out what our countertop is going to be, we are going with a "Midnight Pearl" granite, just need to get the final measurements to him and that will be ordered, also we both decided that in our "foyer" we are going to put granite floor in, we brought home a few sample boards and a big peice that we really liked over there... but just wanted to see it in place, so home it came... and now I think its decided... As for the bathroom tile for downstairs, I have a "cream/whiteish marble tile picked out with an rock accent peice, it wasn't not a "solid" decision but after I brought it home and put it in the room... I liked :) so its all good!! Now we just need to get that bought sometime soon. We ventured to "Granite City" (a eatery) in CR... awesome Potato Soup... (Jerry and Mel, you must go there!!!! since I know how much you like the soup at Houlihans) Very good food! and no I didn't have chicken strips... I ventured out and had the Chicken Linguni, IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!
Feel so behind here... So ok we are onto Thursday, I spent most of today making decisions on paint for bedrooms, putting ideas together in a book so we have it all in one area for on the go... huge job but felt good seeing it all together in a binder for when I need to go somewhere and need all this stuff, its all organized! Spent the day just at home with Blade doing laundry and keeping things together... still need get the laundry all caught up... just hate it here! I have 3 boys in ONE room and no where to go with their clean clothes and to keep their room clean is a JOB!!! I just keep telling myself... SOON SOON we will be in the house and they will have their own space, its just hard getting to that point! Also Thursday is my WW day, sad to report, I gained 1lb, feel off the track this last week... but will get back and work harder at it this week! The boys and Jer went to the pool in the evening... a Blade story to tell... Mitchel was with Blade by the 4ft/5ft area and little Blade just jumped in before Mitchel even got in the water... Blade was perfectly FINE... didn't like drown or anything, he purposely sat at the bottom of the pool for awhile and when Mitchel got in the water, Blade was laughing when he was pulled up by Mitchel... but the "big brother" was scared!!! which I was too when they told me this little story... Blade is sure a daredevil! I'm glad he likes the water though..., I was a FISH when I was a kid... I lived at the pool in the summers... so for me this is a HUGE thing that my boys like water, so happy!! I didn't swim because I was coming back from WW and I wanted to get somethings done at home but turned out that Kevin and Lisa wanted to go for supper with us... so they came to the pool to watch the boys swim so ... then I sat there with them and watched the boys too... but I probably should of went home and did something productive... oh darn! So we were off to supper and then home for the night... I kept looking at paint samples and matching it up to the bedding, carpet samples, etc... and still baffled! Mitchel wants a LOT of blue in his room... Issac wants red/grey mixed... for Blade's room I want to do the primary colors in his bedspread... but nothing striked me... so at this point I was still debatable...
Well today is Friday... LOTS of happy progress for Lis :) Got some laundry and cleaning done today, met a few people for little jobs at the house in the up coming week, picked out the stain color for windows upstairs so we can start on them this week, confirmed things on the countertop. I put some stuff together today and packed a bag to go to Sherwinn Williams to meet a "paint consultant" to help me pick out some colors or to tell me what she thought of my colors I had picked out... So as for Blade's room... pretty definate I am doing primary red, orange, and a paler yellow like I had planned but she suggested a different yellow just so the "sunglasses" wouldn't be needed when you walked in :) so each wall will be a different color, for Mitchel's room ... a little deeper "baby blue" with a "mocha" color, two walls of each color, I love the those combinations! and am happy that Mitchel likes them too! For Issac's bedroom and our bedroom... well I forgot to take Issac's sample of bedding in.. DUH me! and our beddding was just ordered this week so I have to wait until that gets in... for the upstairs bathroom... no definate decision yet... the consultant picked out a real soft tan... which I am not in favor of... but I will give it a chance at the houe before I decide for sure.... the hallway color upstairs is still undecided as well, but was happy with what was done today as far as paint... two/three rooms down, another 12 to go... decisons decisons...
Also tonight Jer and I started looking at furniture, this was FUN! We have all the beds bought except Issac's bed... and wanted to get a start on picking things out for the attic since this will be our "family room" until the main floor is done. So accomplished tonight was some of the furniture... since the attic entrance and hallway is narrow we needed smaller furniture to lug up the steps ... mission accomplished! We bought a curved chaise that seats two... very cool... its a midnight blue, microfiber material (Jer picked out) so this was EXCITING... it will be come in about 3 weeks so its perfect. So we were also looking for a "futon" but not a cheapy one... a nice one, so we went to the BEDSHOP just to look... well just so ended up we picked it all out and ordered one since it was going to be a few weeks before it came in... so we picked out a oak mission style futon frame, nice matteress thingy... and the cover... its definately all boy... got a cover with "speedway and race cars" on it, very "retro" looking but its fun! Jer's pick again... he did well tonight! Since this is where the boys will hang out the most after the house is "complete" we wanted it geared towards the boys, so tonight was a huge success!! even picked out the carpet for the flooring up there as well as a paint choice... so we are going in a happy direction for the attic :)
Ever have the new pizza at Panera? Sure is yummy!!!!!! Blade even liked it... Jer got pizza tonight for his supper and I had a little peice, its SO good!! I had my usual:)
So hopefully this weekend will be somewhat relaxing... I'm planning on cleaning and getting laundry all sorted and put away tomorrow and then tomorrow night Jer and I are going to go out... probably to Houlihans and maybe a movie, its been awhile since we did that. I have all the school shopping done except for clothes forthe big boys and little Blade's school supplies... water spill on his supply list so ... need to get a new one and get going on that before its all picked over. I'm so not ready for school to start! just really wanted to be in the house before this school year started, ho hum... life will go on!

So until I write again, hope you all have a great weekend!