Is this the same house??

Even though I was here (and very involved) every step of the way, it's still hard to believe this is the same house!

Paint: How-(not-)To

1. Buy Magic Erasers. Let the kids use them. Notice the start of bubbles (like blisters) in paint. Tell them to stop.

2. Two years later, paint the walls. See paint coming off in pieces onto the roller, revealing the drywall beneath.

3. Spend the afternoon peeling the paint that won't stay attached.

4. Take picture for posterity.

5. Go to store for more paint (since by now you've run out).

6. Find out they closed at 5 (and it's now 6:45). Come home with dinner.

7. Prime the area properly...and re-prime new areas that bubble.

8. Drink wine and pray that tomorrow this hallway will get finished.

Through Jasmine's Eyes

When Jasmine was a baby, we used to say how much we wished we could hear what was going through her mind.
Thankfully now that she's 7, she's very good at telling us *everything* on her mind.
So now Josh is working at helping her tell stories a little more efficiently. Something I can't teach her, but he can.

We wondered if the kids (especially Jasmine) understood that moving involved saying goodbye to all their friends here. Since we've made so many week-long trips to Disney over the past few years, "Florida" equals "vacation." So we're trying to help them see that this isn't the same thing. And we wondered how we were doing.

Well, on Sunday, Jasmine asked Josh's brother-in-law Leo if we were ever going to see them again. Obviously she hadn't heard that they're moving too!
And at lunch, she asked if we could go to Cheeburger Cheeburger, our favorite restaurant to take the family, so we could say goodbye to our favorite servers. Bekah wants to make them a card. I told her we're not moving next week, so we'll have time to get back there.
She's already made an "I'll miss you" card to her dentist and hygienist.

I'm pleased that she really does "get it." She's finding things she's glad to leave behind (the obnoxious dog next door) and things she'll miss, that she's appreciating more. Much like what I'm doing!

Oh, remember her drawing of her room?
The top picture is what it looked like as a school room. Well, by the time I took this picture I'd already removed the big, white cabinet and a couple of the shelves. But you still get the idea.
and the bottom picture: what it looks like now, as a sweet bedroom for an even sweeter seven-year-old!

Masterpiece

Jasmine likes to create masterpieces. Whatever her newest drawing is, is her newest masterpiece.
They're all unique. Amazingly so. They all include all five of us, and they all tell a story.
I really need to get more pictures of them, since most are on construction paper and will fade quickly.

This is her newest creation, made tonight.
She drew it on some paper I'd cut off the bottom of my Seamless Paper for photography. It's perfect for getting her to think even bigger!

Storyline in this one:
I'm flipping pancakes.
Hudson's sitting on the kitchen floor, drinking "green drink."
Josh is pouring coffee (see the second mug on the counter?) I like how clean the kitchen is :)
Jasmine's sleeping in her NEW BEDROOM, off the kitchen, and Bekah's gone in there to tell her that the pancakes are almost ready.

I'm in love!!!

Can I have your vote?

I'm SO excited to announce that my favorite ballet picture has made the finalists in my printing place's contest!

If you could please take one minute and vote, I'd be so thankful! I'm really hoping to win this year (I was in last year, but didn't win.)

You can go here to see the pictures and see where you're supposed to go. You can either vote on Facebook, or else by sending them an email. Both ways should only take a minute, max.
You're welcome to vote for others you like too (only 8 will make the finals). I won't tell you not to do that!

Thank you!! :D

When we get to the market...

Hudson's a little confused.
He knows we're talking about "market." But since the only market he knows is the farmer's market, I think somehow selling this house and moving to Florida must involve a trip to the farmer's market.
Or something like that.

Last night he said, "when this house is at the market will we move to Flowida?" I said yes, and he asked, "and then I should put on my shoes?"
It's all about the priorities.

The house looks crazy right now. The living room is half-painted, half-just-primed. The dining room is primed. Most of the holes from pictures are now puttied, though Josh still has at least one more trip with the putty.
But there are boxes everywhere.

We're selling a ton of stuff on Craigslist, and I keep finding more. We're headed close to having made $400 in the past 6 weeks, which I'm happy about. I'm at least as happy that those are all things that don't need to be packed, moved (and paid for) and unpacked and re-housed. They're just gone, and they're things we won't even remember. (and since I'm deleting the pictures as we sell the items, there's nothing to remind us of them!)

We wanted neutral-but-not-boring. Unfortunately, the color on the left was a little too not-boring. So we went back to the store and got the color on the right. It's a gorgeous butterscotch, and I love the way it looks!

My attempt at Pottery Barn (just don't notice that the ceiling beam isn't finished, or the box in the corner of the picture. Thanks so much)

I've rested long enough. It's time to tackle something else again!