Project updates- the dollhouse and downstairs puzzle cabinet

In case you were wondering how my husband's been doing on the dollhouse, here it is. His work stalled a few days ago when he went on a church ski trip to Colorado. He took Mr. Monk (10) with him and they won't be back until late tonight. As you can see, he's quite the perfectionist. Take it from me, there are no rough edges on this dollhouse. I should have taken a picture of the wood shavings on the floor to prove it to you!

He still has some work to do before putting on the paint, like individually glueing all 800 shingles into place. And as you can see by the tremendous amount of trim everywhere, painting is going to be no easy task.

I have every confidence that he'll get it finished- hopefully before Monday since this is Mr. Monk's homeschool work space. Ok, on to brighter subjects. The downstairs puzzle and game cabinet. The idea behind this organization project is for American Boy (3) to have all of his "school" stuff in one spot. This way while I'm reading aloud with the big kids he can easily grab something from his cabinet to keep him quietly occuppied. At least, that's the theory.

I have the wonderful color, counting, and shape-sorting games that Tara from too many kids in the bathtub sent me and even some puzzles and games from when I was little. You can probably tell they're the ones with taped up boxes. There's even a block puzzle from my dad's childhood days. Amazingly enough we still have all the pieces and pictures! Let's just say I come from a long line of pack rats. I do see that I need to order a second wire puzzle rack.

Here's American Boy's game and puzzle cabinet all sealed up. He has no trouble moving that chair to the side and I need the seating. He's supposed to only get out one puzzle or game at a time and then replace each one before starting on the next one. This works most of the time. And yes, my books are double-shelved. Don't judge. At least I moved them off the ottoman.

And here's a shot of our living room. After taking this picture I took down the garland and restored our mantel to its pre-Christmas state. Our family photo is several years old and does not include Baby Lu. Anyway, I have a great idea for something very special to replace our picture over the mantel. I'll let you know more about this project later. It's an idea I got after reading Safely Home by Randy Alcorn and A Church in the House by Mathew Henry. If you've read these two books, maybe you can guess what my idea is.

Here's what our mantel looks like now. Twinkle Toes (8) painted this picture for me last year in art class. My mother-in-law just gave me the candle ensemble on the right and my mom gave me the plaque that says "As for me and my house,we will serve the Lord" last year. One of my sweet Bible study friends gave me the precious girl reading her Bible. You can see how much I depend on others for the decorating of my house. Come to think of it everyone who knows me must realize I need help in this area!