I want to brag about Daniel.... Remember one of these entries mentioning how we didn't want a house with a lot of renovation needs but were led to our house anyway? Well the latest project was inspired by the upcoming addition to our family and a need to reorder kids bedrooms. I had the idea we should build a loft bed in the little portion of the room where our youngests child bed sits on the floor.




 Here is the bed that sat on the floor before. (It will be in the other room while Rebekah adjusts to a new room and then we will move her to the bottom bunk, under Ella who moves up with Isak moving out. That will happen in time to put the crib up where this bed has just moved.)

After talking through things both Daniel and I were convinced it was the most practical solution to things. A loft bed for Isak.


Guess who got to figure out all the details?
Daniel!!!
I have ideas and he has the brain for the math side of it. Then he gets to make sure he understands how to do a good solid job, price and buy materials, etc.
I am there to say its good (when he is too much of a perfectionist or our old house with no actual straight walls won't accomadate equality in measuring the dimensions....) I am also there to do the power screwing when he holds things in place or vice versa depending on which is harder. I get the easy jobs. (Lucky for us the part that needed two people and I wouldn't be able to do the other bit well due to my pregnancy his mom was here and did the second mans job.

The result is today Isak moves into Joseph's room on a loft bed his dad built (with some help) and then fitted with bedding. Hooray for Daniel and all he has done. Especially that he is going out of his comfort zone and then enjoying it! Delays frustrated him. And he looked forward to the next time he could work on it!!!!

To get ready for his new roommate, Joseph and I took an afternoon to start painting pictures on his wall. We have been talking about it for almost a year and he got brushes and paints for his birthday... in DECEMBER! So we figured we better get at it before Isak moves in. Here is what we have done so far.

This one is a window we painted looking out into space. He named all the planets on the left side. And on the wall are his race cars that he did all by himself. I think I need to update with better pictures. Then He asked me to paint him a Triceratops. He told me which of his books had the pictures and this is what I came up with. (you can see the 'window' off to the left. The dinosaur is above his tall dresser.)

When Daniel started on the bed I tried to figure out the details for a much smaller project with some help from his mom. We didn't get to far before she went home and then my second man was Daniel. What did I do? figure out how to make our entry cupboard a real closet with a shelf and a rod to hang coats on.

I am also pleased with the results.... especially the functionality I gained.  (I guess I don't have a before picture but it was just lined with big nails in all the walls for hooks to hang stuff on. In the begining stages I also blocked up where the big crack in the corner behind the heating pipes. I am hoping mice won't be able to get in there this winter.)

The next functional improvements is more shelves in rooms. (Isak also gets a desk under his bed.) And at the end of the month plumbers will switch out the old pipes in the upstairs bathroom and we will save up to the next step. (Bathroom is the expensive project we are working on. It is getting done in stages. These other things come from immediate budgets.)