T-time

Brian reads the Bible to the girls every night before they go to bed. They all tuck into Lauren's full size bed and listen. When I heard the stomping of feet, I knew that Bible time was over and everyone was getting back into bed.

Soon I heard Brian coming down the stairs and into the kitchen. This was my chance. I cried out "hey Bri, will you bring me a tea?" (yeah I know, I'm lazy). Moments later Brian walks out of the kitchen to me. Did he have a nice hot cup of Earl Grey decaf with a hint of whole milk and two Splenda's? No this is what he brought me.

Wise guy.

Why is it?

Why? The moment I say "time to do dishes" is the moment that you all realize you need to go to the bathroom. Oh and we only have 1 bathroom right now.

Why do I buy you a nice new toy truck but you insist on playing with the scraps of yarn and fabric on the floor?

Why is it fun to play like you are cleaning the house but when I actually ask you to clean, it is a chore.

Oh and likewise why is it fun to "play" school but come actual school-time your shoulders slouch and you grudgingly make your way to our school room?

My little 4th of July man...

I took this today of Graedon.

Girls rooms before and after

The upstairs is the girls domain. Here is what it looked like when we moved in.

White walls everywhere. This is Maddie and Ava's room.

After. You are looking at Maddie's bed. We painted the walls a nice green color (didn't show up the exact green in these pictures).

This is Ava's bed. You can tell she is our horse lover. I bought the paintings on eBay and the dresser off Craigs List. It was blue so I repainted it white with pink dresser fronts. We decorated the lamp shade and I made curtains and sheers.

Lauren and Ellie's room before. Plain jane white. Boring.

The room is the same color as Maddie and Ava's except on the walls going in to the room is a light yellow. The inspiration for the colors came from Lauren's duvet that we purchased at Pottery Barn. I still haven't found curtain fabric I want for their room so we have sheers and blinds.

This is Ellie's bed. The room has a "stage" that is the perfect size for a twin bed. We will eventually build some built in bookshelves along this wall for storage.

Ellie's birthday present is hanging at the end of her bed.

A better view of the stage. The door you see on the right is a big closet. I am going to paint it white like the window mouldings.

I love this dresser. We bought it at Goodwill and it was light colored wood and beat up. Well three coats of paint and glass knobs later it is so girly. We are looking for a vanity stool. We found the mirror on clearance at Marshall's but it was silver so out came the spray paint and now it is white.

It is not okay.

It is not okay to have a 20 minute nap ALL DAY. You are only 11 months old.

You throw your head to the ground and then look at me with those tear filled blue eyes, willing me to pick you up, which I do, then kiss you. Why do you have to be so cute. Makes it hard to stay frustrated with you.

We bought a house...

Once upon a time, January 2006 to be exact, there lived a man and woman and their 5 children. For all of their married life, they lived in cramped apartments. They always longed for the day when they would be proud homeowners. Lack of income was the only thing holding them back. One day the man found a higher paying job and the women started a little website that produced enough income to afford a house. Oh happy day!

Now where to live? They searched in the town they were living in but to no avail. There were only ugly ranch homes in their price range. Oh to find a home with "character" that they could live in and fix up. Lo and behold they found one. A 1938 green home in bad need of some family's love. Should they, could they? They made an offer after 20 minutes of touring the place. The offer was accepted and they moved in.

Here is the said house...

Notice the 4 smiling daughters. The son was in the van sleeping. The man and woman chopped down the ugly over grown shrub the moment they could. They couldn't wait until spring to start making the front yard presentable.

Don't be scared by the backyard. All it needs is "maintenance."

The man and woman don't mind that the roof is being held together by the moss or that one big wind storm will take down both chimney's. Or the fact the inside the only bathroom will need to be completely gutted before they move in as the previous owners only had a shower and they new owners require a bathtub. Oh and that it is terribly ugly.

No they don't mind at all. This is their first home, they love it and will have a back-breaking, sweaty, frustrating, expensive fun time fixing it up.