Adjusting and Accepting

We've been working at a ridiculous pace since the kids got out of school. Painting rooms, re-organizing rooms, purging extra stuff from rooms, re-purposing furniture, and other nesting related activities. We've been sleeping a lot less, moving a lot faster, and being super-intentional with our "down time" during this summer break. All of these tasks have been generated by a "Master To Do" list that we brain-stormed together in early June. We had The Boss's folks here for a week and thanks to them, that jump start literally catapulted us further ahead of schedule than we dared to dream for. Even now, we feel pretty on top of things, and have enjoyed the summer's hustle bustle.

Along the way, we've had to adjust our wants & needs, to pare down our budget. We are committed to getting these rooms ready without incurring any debt or spending any money we should be saving for other things. Like tickets to China, for example. So imagine my elation when I found a dresser, in fairly good condition, along the side of the road in mid-June. For free! The gentleman getting rid of it even helped me load it into my van and thanked ME for taking it off his hands. When I discovered at home that it would not be strippable or re-stainable, I grumbled. I was tempted to pitch it and "hold out" for a nicer dresser for Baby Blue Eyes. (He's losing his current dresser to Aidan's room, for her changing table. When we thought we were getting a toddler, we didn't need a changing table!) Frankly, I was frustrated at the number of painted pieces of furniture in the house and being cranky about it. I let the project sit for a couple weeks. But the Lord nudged me to get a little creative and be more open-minded. I repented of my selfishness and pride (cuz really, that's what it was!) and started accepting the challenge to get creative.

The older boys sanded the dresser down, primed it and The Boss painted it this week. All with supplies and paint we already had on-hand (read: FREE!). All we needed to buy were the wooden knobs, that are dirt cheap when purchased in big quantities. We used lots of these knobs this summer, for LadyBug's dresser and nightstand, and now for this dresser. This morning, The Boss and I switched out the dressers and spent some time on a mini-redo for BBE. I am so pleased with the end product, and he's tickled RED!

Thank you, Lord for nudging me to adjust my expectations and helping me to accept Your challenge to be frugal and creative again!

We also started the fun parts of turning the guest room into a nursery for Aidan. But you'll have to wait for the reveal of that one - we still have bedding to wash, a crib to set up (yippee!), and curtains to finish off, among other things. . . .