A Better Closet

We found another project to keep Matt busy for a few days. The closet in the future baby room didn't really have much for shelving, so he designed and installed his own! It will be so nice to have the extra closet organization.

We started with a small amount of research and a trip to Menards for supplies. These are his carefully drawn up plans. 

I forgot to get a "before" picture of the closet, but there used to be one shelf all the way across at the very top with a hanging rod underneath it. I pretty much just piled up my junk at the bottom and kept a few boxes stowed away at the top. 

This is midway through Matt's work with the frame put together. 

He attached the frame partway up the wall... 

And then added the rest of the pieces, with holes and pegs for adjustable shelving! 

The end product! One side is shelves, and the other side has two clothes hanging rods, on top and bottom, with another shelf in between. 

...and then I moved the baby stuff we've accumulated to the closet to clean up the bedroom a bit for now. The closet looks like a disorganized mess, but Matt said I had to post a picture of the closet with stuff in it! I don't have any clothes hanging yet since I didn't feel like digging them out. 

Whether or not you can tell from the pictures, the closet looks so nice now and the shelves will be much more convenient for keeping it organized! It is great to have my very own handyman who loves these kinds of projects!

The next step for this room will be a paint job. Woohoo!!

Grapes, Cribs, and a Week Off Work

What a change it has been to be done with my daily job at Federal Mogul and have my mornings to spend working around the home! 

It is surprising that no matter how busy I keep myself at home, I still haven't run out of things to do! Several tasks would not necessarily have gotten done if I was working every morning. For example, I actually made a menu for the entire week before going grocery shopping on Monday and Matt has been getting supper every night! I also made my own rolls for church serving, picked the rest of the grapes on our vine, and made them into more grape juice and syrup. There are so many other projects I'm hoping to dive into soon! Oh, and the house is clean right now...but I don't expect it to last long.

My first batch of grapes (above) made 10 quarts of concentrate! The second batch made about 6 quarts of concentrate, along with several pints of grape syrup. 

My parents gave us the crib that we kids used, so Matt got it all set up the night we got home. This addition led to me picking out a bedding set and finding paint colors for the room, which means painting will be my next project! The future baby room has been used as an office since we arrived, so we moved several pieces of furniture to other places in the home to make baby space. 

Perhaps we are a little ahead of the game...but maybe if we get these tasks accomplished, we will be able to make time for the more dreaded projects. Plus, I hear this second-trimester energy spurt doesn't last forever! 

I mentioned in one of my last posts that I planned to start being a substitute teacher's aide at the school, and that has begun too (so, I am not 100% off work!). I have worked two days, last Wednesday and yesterday. I will probably try to do at least one day a week, and maybe if I get caught up around home I will add another day. It is going well and I am enjoying the new atmosphere! It is so interesting to see elementary school from an adult perspective. :)