I'm Ready

Shoes in the entry..

Food in the pantry....

Don't you think I should be living there?

I'm not.

I'm washing every single dish we own in the summer house.

Watching it rain.

And trying not to go to the Farm House to (harass) check on the guys progress.

White is for COWARDS!

The color wheels of our home...

The painting is finally finished...

The dining room. Kitchen and Living are same color. Hey. It was the last job. I was tired of picking out. Sorry Jos.

And I am so glad. Who knew this one little thing would be so, so life consuming?

Especially after you paint your bathroom, and decide you don't like the color...

So you paint it again.

Our room, looking into the bath & closet.

note the finished trim AND carpet!

Upstairs rooms are being carpeted tomorrow!

Fun Family Farm Day

Last fall four CRAZY families from the big city paid good money to spend a day on the farm feeding the chickens, petting the rabbits, riding the horses, and milking the cows.

Yesterday was the day.

They also rode in the combine, drove "Cam" the gator and picked out their next 500 pounds of roast, t-bones and hamburger.

And the only place I remembered the camera was in the parlor.

Buried

Think I was gone for good?

Nope.

We've been buried.

Alive.

In work.

And Paint.

New photos coming soon!

Good Memories

Ahh... Last week at this time I had just walked out of the Honeywell center with a smile on my face!


For an encore, I was so excited when "Straight No Chaser" sang their infamous "Twelve Days of Christmas". My first favorite!

They invited a young man up on stage to record them "with a better angle" How fun is that? Watch closely, you can see us in the fourth row... that's us with the Cheshire cat smiles...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0LZnRFkSqk

I cannot figure out how to post it here myself, so please just use the link!

and for you Ohio folk...they are coming to Piqua!

Laundry

Today was my first day at work this week. I've been home, taking care of Jackson who had a fever, and then, staying home because the kids at the sitter were not well yet. I've been doing the laundry.

No. This is not my pile, but mine looked alot like this. I have to admit, after five days of focusing on this one job, I only have one load left. Yes, after five days, I still have one load left.

A picture like this is what helped me get through. I continually reminded myself that soon, very soon, I will have a very efficient laundry room with plenty of room to sort, extra-large, front load washer and dryer, a folding table, shelves for clean clothes, cabinets for all that laundry room stuff, a utility sink to soak stuff, and two little laundry fairies that come every night to do all the work. A girl can dream right?

All this makes me wonder...what do you all do to stay ahead of the laundry monster?

House Update #7

Bear Claw, La Fonda Boulder, Afternoon Delight, Exotic Sea, Blue Eyes, Tangerine, Chalkboard Black and Pink Whisper are the colors I've been staring at for the last ten days.

Last Sunday I skipped church, and spent the morning in Lowes, a thousand dollars later...

I got started with some good, free help. (this is the free, not the good)


Jack supervised.

All of the upstairs trim, painted and ready to go.

The upstairs doors, hanging to dry in the basement.

I tried to come up with some great title...but my brain is fried.

And this is what Elizabeth and I looked like after painting the doors and trim:

Red sandals and red toes, magically white.

I did take everyones suggestions into consideration, (thank you!) and after almost coming to blows with Elizabeth, and lots of great advice from Josi, I am very pleased with the results. The guys are hanging doors and trim today, and the electrician even put up some lights. We should have some tile layed by the end of the week, and I'm hoping to get some good pics to post of the bedrooms almost done!

STRAIGHT NO CHASER

Heard of these guys?

Straight up, best concert I've ever been.

Better than Buffett. Probably because no puked next to me, and I did not have to wait for the mob to clear to get to my car, and not one single person asked to see my boobs.

Still.

Best Concert!

Check out their web site: Straight No Chaser

If they come anywhere near you...worth the time!

Side note: I've been totally stressed out the last couple of weeks, and thought this would be a great night out for Elizabeth and I. We met friends for Mexican, had excellent seats, and would you know what? She was terrible the entire evening. What is with all this attitude? I had an Fabulous evening, and she's been singing the songs ever since...maybe there's hope...

The Pleated Poppy GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

The Pleated Poppy GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

love this fabric...want the patterns! because ONE day...I will have the time!

It's Catching Up

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. Today during the beginning stages of an anxiety attack, I called Ryan and told him: "If I have to make ONE more decision about ANYTHING, I think I'm going to scream". (crying in the pharmacy parking lot...of course)

He told me to take a break for awhile, he'd make all the decisions until I wasn't feeling so overwhelmed.

Someone bring the alcohol. quick.

House Update #6

The upstairs bedrooms and bathrooms are ready to paint!

Josi (my color consultant and cousin) came today and helped me pick out paint colors. There was lots of talk I did not understand..tone.. families..cold, hot, bold, I was totally confused, and decided just to paint the whole thing white. That's when I realized, Lowes has at least 50 shades of white. Back to the drawing board!

Thanks Josi!

Another Busy Weekend

Saturday after two soccer games, we threw some clothes into a black trash bag, (really. that was the only bag we could find) loaded up the kids and headed to Michigan to celebrate my Father - in - law's 60th Birthday. Three and a half hours later found us in our secret parking space, the beach! After we surprised Grandpa, we headed back to the beach to get our car and let the kids "touch" the water....

Except for Jack, he pulled his legs up when Ryan put him down.

Ryan, Jack and Grandpa.

Lucy, Grandpa, Grandma and Bea.

This morning after pancakes and coffee, we headed to Grandpa's wine store to check out the new addition.

The day was so beautiful, we promised the kids we could go back to the beach.

I neglected to toss in the suits when I was "packing the bag".

"Sunbathing" after their swim.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Best Friends

Bea and Grace

Grace is the daughter of our contractor, Matt and his lovely wife, Elizabeth.

Grace and Bea are "best friends."

They are the busiest little girls I know.

Last week, while Ryan and I were doing our nightly run through with Matt, we temporarily misplaced Bea. She was found upstairs, mudding the walls. If my med school plan does not work out, we are glad she has some skills to fall back on.

Sunday night, after a late night at the farm, Miss Bea and Grace were having total meltdowns. And so Elizabeth and I decided to call it a night. In the car on the way home:

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH"

not really a cry, more just "noise"

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH Mommy?"

"Yes?"

"Did God make my teeth?"

"Yes."

"Did he just stuff them in there?"

"Yes."

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH"

Until we got home.

House Update #5

The house project is moving along, at warp speed!

At the end of week 3, we celebrated with a cook-out on the porch!

Elle, measuring against the porch walls.

Vinyl on the deck, check!

Waiting for siding, windows, and doors

check, check and check!

Almost finished with the siding...

My kitchen window.

Drywall and mud in the upstairs, this is Bea's room.

View from the kitchen sink to master bedroom, pantry and laundry/entry on right, half bath and closet on left.

I need to show you some new pics. At this moment, the siding is completely done, the gutter system is finished, the mudding is almost finished upstairs, and the guys are working on insulating and drywalling the main floor, and when they hang the garage doors, the garage will be finished. The electrician and plumber have everything "roughed in", and I'm sure as soon as "the mudders" get finished upstairs, they'll move to the main floor. Probably on Tuesday.

The Cabinet maker was out this week to take final measurements, and I'm hoping to see some stain samples today!

Where Has The Time Gone?

Today marks the fifteenth anniversary of our marriage....the good years have out-numbered the bad, and I'm looking forward to fifteen or twenty or fifty more!

Our Family, fall 2000

Note to self: take more pictures of Ryan and myself together!