Spring Cleaning and Updates

Has spring made it to you, yet?  Because it's definitely starting to feel like spring here.  The weather has been mild enough that the grass has turned green again, and the past few days it's been 70, sunny, and glorious.  We've had the heater off and the windows open. I love it!

Random pics of the girls: Kaylie was cold when she woke up from her nap, so I wrapped her up before setting her down to watch the last little bit of Elora's afternoon TV.  Then, of course, Elora had to be wrapped up in a blanket, too.  This was before the glorious spring weather got here.

 We've recently crossed a few major items off of our "to do around the house" list: we finally have curtains up in the living room and den, there's finally a second shelf up in the girls' room, I finally have shelves above my desk (pictures later), and we finally, FINALLY got a new media center!  Ok, the curtains first.

Brandon hung curtain rods above both windows in the living room several months ago, but I only had curtains for one of them.  The other stayed bare for months while I looked half-heartedly for new ones.  In anticipation of having company for the party, I decided it was high time to do something about it and found 2 sets of these at TJ Maxx for only $15 each.

Did you see that MSRP? I got $120 worth of curtains for $30.  Man I love that.

 I was not in love with the dark brown panels at the bottom, so I took them off.  That made the curtains the perfect length for the window at the back of the house, but too short for the one at the front.  I went back to the store, hoping to find a third set like the ones I got before, but found these instead.

Another set for only $15.

The color in the picture looks really different, but in reality the greens are so close that you have to really look to see a difference.  I chopped 10" off the bottoms of the new curtains, and sewed them onto the bottoms of the second set of the originals, hemmed all my raw edges, and viola!

Perfect curtains for my living room, and on the cheap, too.  Bonus?  That last set that I bought was perfect for the window in the den.  I just had to have my honey put up another curtain rod for me.  I think, though, that I am going to re-do the tops with grommets, to make them more like the ones for the living room.  (I love how easily the grommets move over the curtain rod.)

Aaaaaannnnnnd, the media center.  We've been wanting to replace the old TV stand ever since we moved in here, and discovered that the glass shelf for it had been shattered in the move.  Now we've done it.

Elora was watching Word World.

We already had the shelves on either side, and the new piece is a bit darker than they are.  Still, I think they all go well together, don't you?  I still haven't arranged all my little knick-kacks to my liking, but it still looks so much better than it did.  Between the media center and the curtains, that room actually looks finished now.  Hooray!

Just in time, too.  Our family will be here tonight, and the party is on Saturday.  Now, to finish up my cleaning and organizing...