Sunday, August 9, 2009

Big Kids! Little Kids! And Trying To Get Organized (no easy task in this house!)

I spent the last few days having fun with some of my family and also trying to get organized by doing little projects around the house. My brother dropped his grandsons (Tommy and Eamon) off with my sister-in-law Ann, and she and my niece Erin brought the boys over this weekend to play with Jayden and to swim in the pool. My brother-in-law Donald also came over and he very nicely brought me some more beach glass and a pretty bracelet that he found on the beach too (those will be another post sometime)!

Here's Jayden with Eamon and Thomas. What's with Jayden's eyes?! I guess he didn't want to turn his face away from the camera but wanted to look at the boys at the same time?



Tommy and Eamon live out in California, my nephew Thomas (their Dad) is in the Navy and he's stationed in San Diego right now, but they will be transferring to the East coast in the Fall. They'll be a little closer to us, but they will be down south. The boys were visiting with my brother in Maryland for awhile, and now they'll be with my sister-in-law for this week so we'll hopefully get to see them a lot.

Here's Mia enjoying her new duck book that she got from Erin.








I love Eamon's red hair!



Here's Erin laughing at Uncle Donald.



Tommy with Uncle Donald (the big kid).





Donald was climbing over Ann to get to the other side of the love seat but then mid-way decided he would just stay there! Ann looks so thrilled, doesn't she? I think she was actually saying, "Why me? Why me?"


Ann, my sister-in-law Susie, Jayden, and myself are going to the beach tomorrow with Donald. Do you think Donald will survive us? Or, better yet, will we survive him?



Here's a few more 'before' and 'after' pictures.
I really have some nerve showing the before pictures, they're gross.
Our bathroom tiles were really bad news. No amount of bleach, or bathroom cleaner, or scrubbing would get rid of the mold! Ray got in touch with Sanigrout.com and had them come re-grout the tiles with a new (anti-mold) grout product.
It looks beautiful now, but only time will tell if it stays that way!


Before ~ Yuck!



After ~ Ahh!





Another before ~ Disgusting!



And after ~ Beautiful!



I also did a lot of reorganizing in the bathroom, and de-cluttering, I threw out lots of things I don't use anymore (why was I hanging onto fifty bottles of lotions, shampoos, and conditioners with only drops that remained at the bottom, or had long ago since dried up completely?). My bathroom shelves and etagere are cleared and I'm determined to keep them that way.
Next I have the big task of tackling my bedroom! (Shudder).

'See' you all on Tuesday!

16 comments:

  1. I've never heard of anti-mold grout. But it sure looks beautiful. I hope you share with us your adventures in organizing your bedroom too. I'm also working on ours, mostly de-cluttering.
    btw, how do you pronounce Mia? With a long i, or an e sound for the i? I will check back here for the answer :)

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  2. Oh, Hi, Jill! I just checked in before heading up to bed (I have an early morning wake-up tomorrow). Thanks for stopping by.
    Mia is ME-a, with the long e sound. What about your sweet Tea, how is that pronounced? And I can't get the accent over her name when I try, sorry! I love your twin grandbabies! They are adorable! All your grandchildren are really. Such a beautiful family, Jill.

    I had never heard of this grout before either, Ray was just so sick of our bathroom that he started looking up solutions and found this site. It wasn't really too expensive so he thought we should give it a try. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

    Good night, Jill.

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  3. Have a beautiful day at the beach! I think that all of you will have a faaaaaabulous time.
    (Jack and I are re-doing the inside of our house....He just finished painting the last wall...and you know what a job that is....moving the furniture...which means cleaning out from under the beds...my favorite place to store things in plastic-covered containers..) and I threw out much the same things as you did from the bathroom.....a bazillion bottles of lotions and hair conditioners...and soaps....Why dooo we keep those things? :))
    Have a great time....wear your sunscreen!
    Love,
    Jackie

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  4. Hi Eileen, Oh I love coming here, I always love your post and your bathroom looks absolutely beautiful...mine needs doing as well, was it hard for Ray to do and do you think that I could do it myself. It would be a nice winter project for me.
    I also love the family photos, the kids are all sweet, Marcy is really going to love Eamon's red hair...I have a niece and a nephew with the same shade and none of us can figure out where the red comes from as both sides are blonde but we all love the redheads, I think because its not as common.
    Enjoy your day at the beach tomorrow, I think everyone will have a great time......Hugs

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  5. How wonderful to have such fun! WOW! Beautiful tile work! Have a grand time at the beach! Cathy

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  6. Good morning Eileen...
    Another beach excursion for you and Jayden...maybe you'll find a nice big piece of driftwood again...something to keep Donald busy with.

    I love Eamon's freckles as well...reminds me of "Opie"...and sweet Mia with her duck book...The three boys look like stairsteps in height.

    Your bathroom tile now looks sparkling clean and has a very pretty design too Eileen.

    I'm back to normal Eileen...no cause to coffee spit, maybe Diana will sneak over and do you the honor.

    Wanda

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  7. Hi Eileen-
    Your energy is amazing. - from re-grouting the tile to a day at the beach and fun, projects and family frolic in between. Phew. And yes, Eamon's red hair is gorgeous. ALL of your grand-kids are beautiful. :-) Enjoy the beach and relax, will ya? :-)
    Love to you
    Gail
    peace.....

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  8. Eileen, loved all the pictures. You have a beautiful family. But I've got to say I'm in awe of those tile shots. Way to go, girlfriend!

    Love to you...

    XO,

    Sheila :-)

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  9. Every time we saw a child with red hair (especially if the parents didn't have redhair) Mario and I would say that's ours! Fortunately the parents all chuckled.

    I have also been know to refer to other redheads as 'my people', so my goofiness knows no limits. The only other redhead in my whole family on either side was my Irish grandfather, although his whole immediate (sisters and parents)family were redheads.

    Love your pictures and that one where Jayden has his eyes to the side is precious...think you have him properly, more than properly camera trained! Also love the sweet smile of Jayden's all by his adorable self. And then precious adorable Mia (Ria is pronounced the same way) and the duck book...you just capture such cute stuff!

    Also loved the hilarity of smiles going on around Donald...what does he do or say to get such reactions? Have you ever spit your coffee out for him?

    Have a super wonderful beach day and take care in that sun, sweetie.

    blessings and oogly hugs,

    marcy

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  10. It looks like you are enjoying your time with your family. It sounds like so much fun. When our boys were growing up we had a pool and they had a ball in it. It's a nice way for everyone to spend time with one another. The bonus was I had the cleanest little guys in town LOL
    I have heard of that anti grout treatment. I am thinking of having it done to my kitchen floor this fall. I have heard it's fantastic and your bathroom looks beautiful.

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  11. It's nice to see families keeping in touch. Thanks for sharing your pictures.

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  12. Congratulations on the decluttering work accomplished! I can only imagine the sense of accomplishment you feel. (Actually, I'm going to go throw out those little hotel bottles in my bathroom drawer as soon as I get off the computer!) I look forward to the bracelet story.

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  13. It's nice to know someone else has a tendency to keep the bottles that are almost empty. I've been trying to do better about it..but it's hard. The bathroom finished pictures is really nice..When I was a young girl..my parents had little tiny green and blue tiles that I had the privilege of scrubbing with a tiny toothbrush:( Yuck...That's all I'll say on that subject. Your little visitors are adorable..I bet Jayden had a whole lot of fun playing with them. You sure have a close family..that's really nice!
    Love, Jerelene

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  14. Hi, everyone! I've been busy with family and friends these past few days, lots of fun, but hardly time to visit my favorite blogs!

    Jackie, we did have a lot of fun, took lots of pictures, but no time to load them! Maybe later this week. I'm having fun with your guessing game!


    Bernie, Ray didn't do the bathroom himself, he was thinking of it, but it was a really big job to take out all the old grout and replace it, so he hired someone. I'm happy with the results, and maybe Marcy's vinegar tips will help keep it looking like new!
    I think of Marcy too whenever I see a redhead! Her and my Mom!


    Hello, Cathy! Thanks, we're happy with the bathroom.
    I've really been enjoying your posts, but I'm sorry you had that one not very nice email.


    Hi, Wanda, no driftwood this time, but Donald took us to a 'fort' that he built in the dunes, it is unbelievable! It's made of driftwood, it has steps that enter from two sides, it has walls, people have come and decorated it with shells and rocks! It's beautiful! We told him all he needs is a roof and he's set, he now has his beach house! It was a long walk down the beach and I can't believe I forgot my camera! Oh well, next time!


    Oh, Gail, I have almost NO energy! Especially lately, I feel so tired all the time! I was surprised I could walk the beach yesterday without having to stop all the time! I was worn out today though!


    Thanks, Sheila! I'm happy with the bathroom too, not a lot of money really and it's like having a new bathroom! I always liked the gray and white, I felt it was neutral enough, I just hated the way the tiles looked. Much better now!


    Hi, Marcy, I could write a book with Donald's antics! He is the family clown! We all have fun together and we are really close. Don and Susie are Ray's brother and sister, and Ann is my brother Tom's ex-wife, and we really do enjoy each other's company, it's really comfortable and a feeling of 'HOME' being with all of them.
    Tomorrow I'm posting about you!


    Carol, we have a lot of fun with our pool too, although this year the weather has not cooperated much. Today was great though, and my sister-in-law brought her grandsons over and Jayden had a ball with them in the pool. It was lots of fun!
    Let me know how your kitchen floor turns out!


    Hi, Anne, thanks for stopping in. We are all close and I'm glad our family gets to see each other a lot.


    Hello, Rebecca, I have so much more to do! But I'm happy so far with my little baby steps! Maybe I'll do the bracelet in my Friday Favorites.


    Hi, Jerelene, you poor thing! Scrubbing with a toothbrush! Now that is toil and labor!
    Jayden is loving having the boys visit! He keeps asking when they are coming over and my sister-in-law says her grandsons keep asking about him too! Today when they were leaving Eamon ran back and opened the screen door and said to Jayden, "I really like you!" It was so cute! I enjoy watching them play together!

    Thanks everyone for stopping by!
    I'll try to be better about posting.
    Love, me

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  15. Hi Eileen,
    Thanks for dropping by my place...and thank you for praying.

    Loved the pictures you posted! The boys look like they get along real fine.

    And wow, the bathroom with the new grout looks immaculate.

    Love
    Lidj

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  16. Okay, so her name is pronounced ME-a...like Mia Farrow. Téa is like this: TA-ya...long A, then short a

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