Berry Picking in Vermont

Two weekends ago we went to VT,  to meet up with the Cure side of the family and have a ho-down! It was a birthday party for my aunts 50th and just a time to hang out and enjoy the scenery. I was not as nervous this trip because we knew what we forgot the last trip so we made some adjustments and packed within an hour and hit the road. The car ride was long, about 7 hours, but baby Addie was fantastic!

Once we got up there everyone was so excited to see her and we brought our stuff in the house and pretty much turned right around to go to dinner. Addie was getting loved on by the grandparents, great grandparents and aunties. She was such a big girl eating her puffs and drinking from a straw. We took the cup home because it was so wonderful, a flexi plastic straw with a cone top for minimal spillage - thanks restaurant!

Since I had last been up there a whole new wing to the house was added. This was the old side with Grandma cooking in the kitchen.

Addie was loved on by all her aunties - This picture reminds me of when Erin was a baby and I holding her. Aww. 

While we were there the new tractor also showed up, all the guys were thrilled. 

My little outdoorsy girl had her first four wheeler ride. Grandpa held on tight! 

The next day we went to the organic berry farm and picked raspberries and blueberries, Addie had a great time and she just looked SO cute. 

I also caught someone eating her bucket instead of picking them!

The scenery was beautiful and we had a great time. I have more pics to post but you will have to hold your horses - again I am behind! 

Addie is 7 months old and I still haven't posted those pictures! 

Accentuate the Positive

We live in an old house, it was built in 1928 and we have done SO MUCH WORK to it. New kitchen, new full and half bath, new roof and windows, refinished the floors and wood trim, new paint. Seriously you name it we have touched it.

The latest project on our to-do list was to stencil the wall in the living room. Its been hard to try to figure out what to do with that room because its a long room with tall ceilings. I think this was the perfect fix though.

Now this project took three days start to finish and we learned a few helpful pointers throughout this process. We started in the top center of the wall and found out that our wall is not super level, I could have figured, and as we went to the edges of the walls it started to flare out a bit but the pattern really hid the difference.

We used a spray adhesive for wall stencils which worked like a charm and a 4 inch soft roller. We purchased a gallon of paint because we also need to re-paint the downstairs bath, kill two birds with one gallon. We used paper plates to pour the paint onto it and had a second plate to blot some of the paint. Tip of the trade- you will use a ton of paper towels. We used them to blot paint and wipe the stencil and used them to push the stencil to the wall.

It did not take very long once we got into a rhythm. We also used a blow dryer to set the paint of the previous stencil because there were a few in the beginning that were not dry and when we put the stencil down it pulled up some paint.

Overall I am beyond thrilled with this project. It gives the room a really great height and makes the wall a little something better.

We also painted an accent above the crib for the 16x20 canvas I am ordering. It will be a 4 inch border around the print. YIPPEE!

Our little pumpkin was so good and played while we worked. 

End of Day 1

Tunskies that made the work go faster! 

View from the dining room. 

Corners weren't so bad. 

Close up of the pattern

Almost Done!

Small side project for me - I am installing the curtain rod we cut down on the back of the door to hang the pot lids. Genius! 

A few expressions for you...

She refused to touch it and just ate it until it fell out of her mouth. 

Almost done...

We rehung the art

And FIN! All Done and it looks fantastic! 

I added the embroidery hoops to the side wall and re-positioned the cabinet. 

The desk is new and the chair I bought for $10 and sprayed the cushion a dark color. Whole new look for little money. LOVE LOVE LOVE. It changes the feel of the room and really showcases the ceiling height.