car fever

It is really unlike me, but I have the fever. The kind of fever that makes you want to have a new car. Except I don't actually want to buy it, because then I would have to pay for it, and probably somewhere in the range of several hundred dollars a month. No, no that's not the route I want to go. I would much prefer that someone just bring me one, curbside, and hand over the keys. That'd be great!

These days I am dreaming of the Nissan Armada. Have you seen them? They are big, boxy and beautiful! I particularly want one of the dark grey ones. On the inside, they have a navigation system, a DVD player and the most exciting feature of all is the captain's chairs in the second row. Oh, how I dream of the day when my kids don't all have to sit on the same row...within arms reach of one another! With captain's chairs I would no longer have to hear the likes of, "Mommmmmyyyyy! Ethan's pulling my hair!" Ahhh.



Well, that was a fun daydream. But now its back to reality and the goldfish-crumb infested 2001 Ford Expedition parked in my garage. That thing has over 130,000 miles on it and still runs like a champ which is all I really need. And its best feature? We paid cash for it 2 years ago. That, my friends, is a feature that's pretty hard to beat...even for captain's chairs.

party at the park

On Saturday we celebrated Ethan's 2nd birthday with family and friends at the park. Lucky for us, there is a nice park at the end of our cul-de-sac complete with a playground, a pavillion and a built-in grill. It was definately a warm summer day but the kids still managed to have tons of fun on the swings and slides before coming in for a hot dog lunch and then some birthday cake. Towards the end, Ethan was getting pretty hot and decided to play with the ice from the cooler and managed to get himself all wet. It was a fun time and a special thanks to everyone who came out to help us celebrate!

what a day!

For starters, today is Ethan's 2nd birthday. I went into his room this morning with camera in hand and singing "Happy Birthday." I'm pretty sure he was laughing at me and not with me.

Anyway, he had a check-up appointment this morning with our pediatrician. He is perfectly healthy and now weighs in at a scrawny 24 lbs and 9 oz (10th percentile) but is a lanky 36 inches tall (90th percentile). There really isn't much else to report from the appointment since E is such a healthy guy. Ethan's verbal skills are a touch behind schedule but I'm not worried since he is picking up new words practically every day. I am confident that he'll be just as chatty as his sisters in no time...



This afternoon was the last day of swimming lessons for the girls (I cannot tell you how happy that makes me!) So, being that it was the last day, Ethan and I got to go in and watch the girls show us what they learned. Hannah's class was first I am proud to report that she is officially a swimmer! She does great but occasionally runs out of air and so I will need to stay close to help her catch her breath until she gets the hang of it and can do it herself. Avery's class was right after Hannah's and we got to watch all of the progress she has made with her strokes and side breathing. I don't think I can swim as well.



Let me give a bit of history, if I may, Avery has had a loose tooth for several weeks now. It is her first and she is way behind her friends in the tooth loss department. Naturally, she has been eagerly awaiting the opportunity for a visit from the Tooth Fairy. All of this to say that Avery decided in the middle of swimming lessons to pull out her tooth! Oh my! There is nothing like a kid jumping up and down beside the pool and screaming "I lost my tooth!" to take your eyes off of the poor soul half drowning in his attempt to cross the pool.

So, now Avery will finally have her visit from the Tooth Fairy. I hope she's not disappointed...I heard that a kid at her school got $20!

hitting the ground running

I really believe that for the past month our family has been busier than we have ever been. I am counting down the days until school is out for the summer (Hannah has 1 and Avery has 6 1/2). I am counting the days until we can stay up late and sleep in, until we spend our days playing and eating popsicles and, until we are no longer in a constant hurry.

Here are a few highlights from our house over the past month:
* Jeff completed a huge mission project for our church, repairing and repainting homes in a low-income neighborhood. The project was meant to only take 3 weekends but turned into more like 6 because of rain.
* The kids attended no less than a half dozen birthday parties.
* We are 98% finished with our master bedroom makeover. I still need to make it out to buy some frames for the walls.
* We had a Family-Fun day at Fair Park and took the kids through the museums. We spent most of the day looking at dinosaur bones and cool, hands-on science exhibits.
* The girls completed 2 of 4 weeks of swimming lessons with Miss Margaret. The lessons are every day and were back-to-back at 4:45 and 5:30. We rushed home from school, had a snack, did homework and rushed off to swimming lessons. Then, we rushed home, hurried to eat and hurried to get everyone bathed and in bed. This round (started yesterday), we have better times and are getting home earlier. I keep telling myself (as I struggle to entertain Ethan for an hour while the girls are in their lessons) that it will all be worth it when Hannah is swimming independently this summer and I only have 1 child on my hip in the pool :-)
* I started going to Jazzercise. I love it! But, it has been a real challenge because going to Jazzercise means losing 2 hours out of my workday by the time I do the actual workout and then shower later. I have had to really "trim the fat" out of a workday where I really didn't think there was much fat that could be trimmed.
* We have survived 3 cases of Fifths Disease.
* I helped throw a baby shower for my sweet, prego friend (who was banished from my house because of the Fifths Disease).
* We farmed the kids out to our parents' for 2 Saturdays so that Jeff and I could do yardwork. The first weekend, my parents took the kids while Jeff was away and I spent 6 hours working in our front flower beds. I cleaned out acorns and leaves and planted all of my annuals including the caladium bulbs that I had dug up and saved from last year. The second weekend, Jeff's parents took the kids while Jeff and I trimmed hedges and laid a whopping 50 bags of mulch in the front flower bags and 10 more in the back. Everything looks so good!

I think that about sums it up!

it gets worse before it gets better, part 2

Here is a photo of our recent progress on our master bedroom. Do you like the new carpet? Oh yeah...there is no carpet, no pad either. Yeah...

The new carpet was ordered from Home Depot and was scheduled to be installed on Wednesday. When we ordered the carpet, we read in the fine print that the furniture moving fee did not include the bed. So, we decided that since we would be moving the bulk of furniture ourselves (the bulk being our queen-sized iron bed), we would skip the fee and move it all on our own. Then, we decided to cut a strip of carpet away from the wall so that the painters could paint all of the baseboards. Jeff then decided that he would just cut the remainder of the carpet and pad into strips and haul it away himself, saving us $30 or so in the process. All of this was done Monday and Tuesday in preparation for Wednesday's installation of the new carpet.

When the installers showed up on Wednesday the first red flag was that the carpet they brought was in a 12ft roll rather than the 15 ft we were expecting. With the 15ft width, the installers would not have had to make any seams when they laid the carpet in our room. When I followed the guy out to his truck to inspect the label on the roll he brought, I immediately knew that not only was the carpet the wrong width but was also the wrong color! %#@*!!!

Now we have no choice but to wait the 7-10 days that it takes for the carpet to travel from the manufacturer somewhere in Georgia to Dallas. To their credit, the friendly folks up at Home Depot have been very apologetic and very good (thus far) at trying to correct their mistake as quickly as possible.

On the bright side, the painters have come and gone and we love the color we picked out! We chose Colonnade Gray from Sherwin Williams which looked deceptively light on the swatch, but is just perfect on our walls. Always, alway, always spend the time and $5 to buy the sample paint can before you choose a color!!!

We (Jeff) also replaced the ceiling fan with one that was not manufactured in 1983. It looks great! Also, my new drapes arrived today and they are nothing short of lovely! They are so elegant and simple and just exactly what I wanted. Now the room is so soothing, until I look at the floor...



Even our poor pups don't know what to think!

grumpalotapus

Five reasons I had to be grumpy today:

1. My little E-man is sick. Last night he spiked a 102.7 fever and this morning he was still warm but with very large glands in his neck. A trip to the pediatrician and a negative strep test revealed that he has Adnovirus. Yeah, a virus. A virus as in it just has to run its course and there is nothing to give him but Motrin for the fever and wicked sore throat that will last four days. Super.

2. My little E-man is sick. He is sick and contagious. That means no Jazzercise for me until he is well again which really stinks because I was really looking forward to going today and tomorrow.

3. I left a bag of flour sitting on the kitchen counter and the ever-michevious Shelby Ann picked up the entire bag with her teeth. Her teeth made holes in the bag and spilled flour on my freshly-swept kitchen floor as she made her way to her hiding place under the kitchen table. Then, as I attempted to get the bag of flour away from her...it ripped. And then there I was holding a half a bag of flour with the other half on the floor under the table.

4. My husband is stressed out. Work is crazy. He is heading up a big mission project for our church that may very well get rained out for the second weekend in a row. And, our bedroom is not quite right. Jeff is not the type of person who does well when things are "not quite right."

5. I have a headache. And my eyeballs are sticky.

Tired of my whining yet?

it gets worse before it gets better, part 1

So this is our master bedroom as it stands now. Note the lovely red toile draperies that in no way, shape or form match the green and blue paisley comforter. And, the picture does not do the dingy walls and ceiling justice. Trust me, they are bad. Moving on to the floor, the patterned carpet that I liked so much when we moved in 2 years ago has been ruined by our dogs. Never, never, never put down patterned carpet if you live with dogs!


After living with our room like this for 2 years, Jeff and I decided that it was finally time to make this room a retreat for ourselves. Easier said than done. We have spent weeks shopping for furniture, carpet, fabric for new drapes and testing out new paint colors. Now I know why people pay interior designers to do all of that for them...it is work! Not to mention that it was, at times, torture for our entire family. Lugging 3 kids in and out of furniture stores and shushing them as they run all over the carpet store is seldom featured on HGTV :-)


So, over the next couple of weeks the walls will be painted, the carpet replaced, and the ceiling fan replaced. Then comes the fun stuff, we have new, custom white drapes, new bedding and even new furniture. Out goes the red toile, the faux wood nightstands and armoire and the dingy, old comforter. Then, we will be able to enjoy our grown-up master retreat!