Today Jack Said:

His comment (over and over) while watching the US women's gymnastic trials...

Pants fall down! Pants fall down!

They don't wear much clothing, do they, Jack?!?

Today Jack Said;

Jack: sit in stroller. Put you in time out.

Me: jack, did you sit in the baby stroller?

Jack: uh-hu.

Me: you will have to go to time out.

Jack: spit it out (walking towards the sofa)

Me: did you spit your pancake out on the sofa?

Jack: uh-hu

Me: you know this is a no-no. You will have to go to time out.

I sit him down in time out.

Jack: (while waving to me as I walk away) have a good day!

I think it's safe to say we are in a testing and trying phase.

A Little Cowboy Fabric

Perfect for my little cowboy. :)

I Like Strawberries!

Jack ate about 10 strawberries at lunch today...

He got a bath afterwards.

Then at dinner he decided he didn't like them. FIN-ICK-KY. But at least he tries stuff... And likes it half the time. :)

Home Improvements Week 1: Grace's Room

Grace's room is definitely the most changed. It is probably my favorite bed room. It's just really cozy and has great natural light.

We started by ripping out the terrible Formica topped built-in that was along one wall.

Her room isn't very big and so we had to make every inch count. Now it is a great size! And do you see how our walls are constructed? There are solid wood tongue and groove walls on either side of each stud! Wow. That's all I have to say about that.


We tried our hand at dry-wall. Its not perfect, but it passes. I knew we couldn't get it perfect when we started, and I also knew that this is the wall for a large piece of furniture. So we had fun trying, and I think it's ok for now.


Yellow!


With clean white trim!


Her closet before...


And after...


And the lovely corner window... Ready for a cozy chair and a good book. :)


That's all for now!

Like Jonathan said, "It looks a lot different to us, but nobody will ever know because now it just looks like what it's supposed to look like!" Ha! I think that's supposed to make me feel good?!? Yes, definitely! I'm glad things are coming along... Stay tuned because this week begins actual work (Like by professionals) on the... Drumroll please... Kitchen!

Home Improvements Week 1: Master Bed and Bath

While Jonathan and I don't have the biggest bedroom, we do have a great sunny room with an attached bath... Did you get that?!? Attached bath... En suite! Woop-woop! It's pretty basic, but we are super pumped about it (just in case you couldn't tell).

The tile and grout are in good shape, but the paint (once again) was looking pretty awful. The trim was peeling and flaking off and the white walls were super sloppy and super white. Although there is a little more work to do we have made great progress!

Here is my in-progress picture of or bed room. It was raining and I was doing something tedious while listening to NPR so I thought I would take a picture to document what a perfect day looks like to me. :)


Walls done... On to trim!


I am loving the color contrast. I love the way the original hardware looks against the clean white doors. And I think the neutral will look really nice with all of our bedding.


I'm also thinking it's going to feel like I'm living in a nice hotel or something after we move in. A good paint job is a wonderful thing, people.

Home Improvements Week 1: Jack's Room

Jack's room has 4 great windows and a huge closet with extra storage above! This is the only carpeted room in the house. While I'm not crazy about carpet, this is brand spanking new and really nice, so we are leaving it... Also, the kids like to roll around on it. And I think it will be much warmer in the winter. :)

The paint was a dark charcoal gray color. And the trim was partially newly painted, but it was not properly prepped.

Before of the corner window...



Now it's a nice warm neutral khaki color and the trim is crisp, clean white!


We have even already gotten his new mattress for his (red) bed!


Looks cozy, Jack!

Home Improvements Week 1: the Preface

Well, we've been working on the house for a full week now! I thought I would try to show you the progress that we have made so far.

There are a few things you need to know that the pictures don't show. The house was owned by one family from 1960 to 2010. (the Coats... More fun info on this family soon to come!) They seem to have taken Really good care of the house. Then a young couple bought the house hoping to fix it up and a week after they moved in the husband got transferred to Colorado. So they rented it out for a year (oddly to someone we know!) and then sold it after it sat vacant for a year. It is safe to say that the couple who we bought the house from did NOT have the same taste as I do! They also did NOT have perfectionist tendencies like I do! So the paint colors left a lot to be desired and the paint jobs were very unfortunate etc... But those things are easily fixed with a little elbow grease and quality time spent practicing painting skills.

I started by working in the bedrooms. I'm not crazy about the paint color in the living area of the house, but it is neutral and the quality of the paint job is pretty good. The bedrooms, on the other hand, were horrid... Dark cool colors, paint all over the trim, multiple trim colors. You get the picture... A mess!

SO we patched all wall holes, cracks, scraped, sanded, vacuumed, de-glossed and washed the trim and doors and mullions in the 6 and 12 pane windows and got to work perfecting painting techniques!

We also did a little demolition and hung a little drywall! I have always been really unsure of my construction skills. I hate that I am not very handy, but I'm definitely having fun teaching myself on some little projects!

Well, that's enough preface... On to pictures!

Sunday Pictures

Here are a few Sunday pics for your viewing pleasure!

A Light Bright Kind of Night

I've been working at the house a LOT this past week. And while I love the transformation that is happening and the work that I'm doing I definitely do NOT love being away from my kids so much! I don't know how you working moms out there do it. Seriously, it is just not right for me to be away all day. I felt like I was slacking on my job and missing my best friends at the same time. I was really only gone three days, and only two were back to back. I was seriously seriously missing my kiddos this week... I guess you got the point huh? So tonight I let Grace stay up late and we had a blast just spending time together! We played two rounds of butterfly bingo (thanks Aunt Angie!). I taught Grace how to draw swirls... Something she has been wanting to learn. Then once she mastered the swirl I taught her how to draw snails and waves and clouds using her newly developed swirling skills. And let me tell you, she is now a pro. Last but not least we did a Light Bright page together! Its been a while since I've heard the sound of those plastic pegs dropping (on the floor-oops!). We had such a good time talking and laughing and hanging out just the two of us. Our morning times together have been really spotty lately, and this was a wonderful evening!

I am just really enjoying the age of four so far. There is a little bit of attitude and pushing the boundaries going on, but I think it's mostly due to all the craziness that's going on right now. It will settle down soon for sure. But for the most part Grace has been unbelievably wonderful lately. She is just a pleasure to be around. She is old enough to be mostly self sufficient and help with things around the house, but is still so young and has such a great imagination and inquisitive spirit! Everything can be a game, and we are always singing and coming up with new things to play. I honestly just truly enjoy her company. What a blessing she is!!! Tonight she was snuggling with me before bedtime and she was upset because she never ever wants to have to grow up and move away. I told her okay that she could stay as long as she liked. Ha! I'm sure she will change her tune soon enough, but for now I'm going to enjoy my snuggly, funny, caring, helpful, sweet spirited four year old Grace girl.

That is one great looking ice cream cone don't ya think?!?

Ooh-Hi, Cawboay!

Grace says funny things ALL the time. You should be well aware of this by now. Jack is starting to do the same and I must say that I LOVE this stage. I love when the kids start really start talking and making sense and figuring things out. I can't wait to see how much we laugh with two talkers around.

I thought I would share my most favorite thing Jack says right now. Actually, he has been saying this for months.  He says, "Ooh-Hi, Cawboay" whenever he sees a cowboy. (this is translated to "Yee-Haw, Cowboy") And he thinks that ANYONE who wears any kid of hat is a cowboy. I guess for Jack a hat = a cowboy and for Grace a bandanna = a pirate. I dunno where they get this stuff, but I'm glad they do. Therefore we will be in the grocery store and see a man with a baseball cap and Jack screams out "Ooh-Hi, Cawboay!" We will be driving and see a lady in a straw hat working in the yard and we get the scream, "Ooh-Hi, Cawboay!" We will see (like we did tonight) an African American gentleman with his cap on sideways and his pants sagging, and you guessed it... and big finger point and a loud "Ooh-Hi, Cawboay!" in a very public place. It is hilarious!!! I am SO thankful for my funny little boy!!! And I'm also kind of thankful that no one else understands what he is screaming. It will be our families little inside joke. :)

We've Got Mail!

We got our first mail delivery today!

And you can go ahead and add our great mail door to the list of things I love about my house too.

Jonathan's Fathers Day

What did Jonathan do this fathers day?

He woke up at 5:15 to start getting ready for church.

We were at the church by 7 to unlock, turn on lights and air, and get the sound and video systems up an running.

He led the band in practice from 7:45 to 8:45.

Then he led worship for two services from 9:00 to 11:30. (I really enjoyed singing together on this special day!)

He shut down everything and helped lock up the building.

We all went to Strawns for lunch! Yum! Yum!

We came home and changed the kids and he packed up the truck with demo tools while I put the kids down for naps.

We went over to the house and started working! We took out some built-ins that were in graces new room and took down window treatments and scraped and prepped the walls and 12 pane windows (whew!) for paint. Jonathan took all of the nails out of the cabinetry wood so we can re-use it later (that was a big job). Then we cleaned up and took our first load of trash to the curb!

We came home and ate hamburgers and hot dogs and watermelon for dinner and it was g-o-o-d after working so hard! Haha!

Then he did potty duty for grace and cleaned her up.

He watched the kids while I took a shower. I heard some very good disciplining going on in the hall during this time. ;)

He participated in our "Book meeting" that was led by Grace. She gave us all books and we did a little show and tell about each selection.

Then we talked about what we learned at church together.

Then we went around the circle and told our favorite thing about Maggie. :)

Then I gave the kids a bath and he came and helped get them out and dressed.

Then we did bedtime for the kids and he took a shower.

Now we are finishing up a really interesting show on Roman ingenuity and technology.

Shortly we will be passed out in bed! Especially since Jonathan will get up at 5:30 tomorrow to start another 50+ hour work week at his three jobs!

He is a wonderful Husband and father for our family and we are so thankful for him!

Dream Home Owners

Today we bought a home. Today we bought a home. I had to put it down there twice to make sure you knew I wasn't joking. Today we bought a home. The only thing I can say is that the Lord is unbelievably good and gracious to us. If you would have told me a couple of months ago that we would be home owners today I probably would have laughed in your face. But that's how the Lord likes to work. He is most definitely always in control. And not only were we able to buy a home for our family, we were honest to goodness able to buy our dream home! Seriously, y'all, I am still in shock. So here she is...

Our beautiful 1945, corner lot, perfect neighborhood, dream home with a curved path to the front door (which I will be painting red very shortly... Right after I remove the hideous fake shutters... What is up with the fake shutters in this town, folks?)


And these are some of the reasons that this house is my dream home...

The front of the house faces south. This means we receive even light throughout the day in our living spaces and a front door that will not be too hot to touch at 5:00 when Jonathan gets home.

The bedrooms are all on the east side of the house. This means that the sun will shine in our rooms early. I know some of you may disagree with this being a plus, but I am an early riser. I love to wake up to a sun drenched room and feel ready to get going. I also love being able to put my kids to sleep on the darker side of the house at bed time in the summer.

The kitchen and dining room are on the west side. I don't know why I love a kitchen on the west side. Sun = hot and kitchens = hot and sunny kitchens = hot hot. It makes no sense. I like to look out the widow while doing dishes and see the orangy color of an evening sky. This is great for maybe one window, but a house with many west facing windows could be stifling. Our west facing windows (other than the one above the kitchen sink) already have fabulous black and white striped metal awnings to block the sun. So I am in love with our west facing window filled rooms as well.

Great mature tree placement. Our house has two large shade trees. One is in front and one is in back. Both are set away from the house but are large enough to provide good shade. Our third tree is a bit of a problem tree as it is very close to the house and very large. However, it is in relatively good health (I've had five arborists come look) and provides fabulous shade over the roof which is a major plus for any homeowner in northwest Louisiana who would like to cool a house in the summer. We also have two huge pines that will probably be a source of grief during raking season, but I kind of feel like a house is not a home without a good line tree. It's just the way I was raised.

Windows placement. What good will a well situated home do you if you have no windows to let in the light? None. That's the answer. Our house has absolutely fantastic windows. Sure, we will be wearing sweats and slippers in the winter, but some things are just worth it. Good natural lighting is just worth it to me. Every room in our house has at least two huge windows. Both kids rooms have true corner windows. And the house has so many jogs and recesses that you can even see into some rooms from other rooms! My favorite example of this is how you can see from the sun room (yes, I said sun room) to graces room. It's great! Also, a mother can never underestimate the necessity of a window low enough for a toddler to see out of. Put this window on the corner of a house in a very family friendly walkable neighborhood and you've got yourself hours upon hours of non tv entertainment right there. My house has two of these windows.



Well layer out living spaces. We have three living areas. Three! Three, I tell you! I would have been rejoicing over one, but three! We have a formal living room, large sunroom and (knotty pine) den. I love each room for obvious reasons. The living room is open and airy and has a (closed in) fire place complete with a glossy white mantle! If you know me then you know this has been on my wish list for a while. The sunroom is on the corner of the house and is just wonderful! I think I may spend most of my time there! The den is a den if there ever was one. It's off the kitchen in the back of the his. Even though it has five windows it still feels den-ish due to the knotty pine. And I guess this I where I admit that deep down I do love a small and well placed amount of high quality mid century knotty pine in a house. Once again, it's just how I came up. This house does not disappoint in it's knotty pine use. One room is just enough.

Ample closet space. Sometimes older homes are known for having no closet space. This is not the case in our spacious abode. We've got a whole hall of closets! Yes! Four huge closets lining the bedroom hall! And in each bedroom because the ceilings are so high there is an extra short but deep closet above the regular closet. And let's not forget the entire floored attic for all those christmas decorations I'm going to be putting out when the time comes.

Cause this house is a great Christmas house... Which is really actually very important, you know. When you walk in and the first thing you think is "oh, that's the perfect place for a Christmas tree and it won't even require me to move all of my other furniture around" you know you've got a good Christmas house. Other plusses for a good Christmas house: a good separation between bedroom space and tree area. We have a 12 paneled glass door closing off the hallway to the bedrooms. A good barrier with just enough transparency to really get your heart thumping. It's also important to have Colors that are easily incorporated into decorations. White house... Check! Red front door... Check! Green stoop and ironwork... Check! A sunroom of windows to hang wreaths on... Check! A white mantle to decorate... Check! Things are going to be festive in a few months. I've got to make up for having ALL of our Christmas decorations in storage this past year.

On to more positives...

A good good yard. We have a great yard (in my opinion)! It's very flat, can be mowed in under and hour (I think), has every sun/shade combination for planting every kind of plant you could ever want. It has a natural spot for a future deck, a paved area inside the (near future) fence for ride on toys and chalking and basketball. Also although the backyard is not too big it will easily fit a swingset and still lead room for throwing a ball.

Good location. This house is on a great street in a great neighborhood. We are an easy 1 mile walk to jonathans parents house. We are a half mile from Betty Virginia park. We already know at least five other couples with young kids who live within a couple of blocks. There are sidewalks and curb cuts on both sides of the street. We are an easy drive from shops and restaurants and grocery stores. Most houses in this neighborhood are WAY out of our league. Like, Way out. The lord really is amazing. We do not deserve this blessing!

And last but not least quality construction. The house just feels solid... feels well taken care of, you know? We have hardwood floors throughout. The tile and grout in the bathrooms is in great shape. Each door (except 1) has the original glass knob hardware. I've had the whole place inspected about as much as anybody could. Every electrician/plumber/contractor/inspector who comes in says the same thing. They can't believe how good everything looks! There are a few things we are going to upgrade but over all the systems look great.


Now, there are some less than perfect areas to our house (notice I did not mention the kitchen much in the above ranting), but it is totally liveable and I think the thing that I love most about it is that it oozes potential. I think this is what saved it for us and got it to our price range. Where many people have difficulty walking into a space and seeing the re-finished end product, I have a hard time seeing things as they are. I just see the potential and end product. That, along with my love for knotty pine, glass knobs, windows and crown moulding made me never one time second guess the value of this house.

The Lord has blessed us with not only a house, but our dream home. We are overwhelmed by His provision and blessing and timing and we are giving Him all the praise and glory and honor for his work! The last people who lived in the house bought it in 1960. They lived in it for fifty years. I hope we will be so blessed and take such good care of this home. And our prayer is that we would not be too comfortable in our home but that we would use it to do the work of the Lord to further His kingdom! I pray I will never take this blessing for granted and I also pray that my joy would not be found in earthly possessions but in the heavenly. A house is a wonderful thing, but it is just a thing. In the end it's what is done in the home that matters. May our live in our house be pleasing to the Lord!

Grace's Art Party in the Park

We had a wonderful time Saturday morning at Betty Virginia park celebrating Grace's birthday. She invited her Sunday school friends and a good bit of family was also able to attend. We did a totally home made art party for her! It turned out to be pretty inexpensive and really fun! We had it at 9 in the morning under a huge tree in a quiet area of the park. It was a little bit of a stretch to get everything set up so early, but I was really glad we did it because it was still cool enough to be outside in Louisiana in June! Here are a few pictures.

We had three kid tables with 2 activities at each. This one was tempera paints and macaroni art/necklaces.

This table had water colors and foam stickers.



The last table had play dough and chalk.



We also had two picnic blankets set up with crayons and paint markers and some drawing boards.



When the kids finished a project they hung it on a line to dry. They did so many beautiful pictures that we had to add a second line to our gallery!



Jack's favorite part was playing with the spray bottle and the balloons.



The parents all did a great job of helping the kids and the kids did a great job too!



We also did a parachute.



But the best part was the piñata! This was Grace's one big request for her party. She wanted to make (not buy) a piñata. So we did it. There were some moments when I was pretty sure I had bitten off way more than I could chew, but it turned out great and the kids had a blast with it.


Everybody got two turns before it broke! Even Jack took a swing.






We had some fruit and cake and cupcakes. Grace wasn't so scared of the happy birthday song this year, so I was glad of that.


Four candles!!!



The cake was my favorite part. I made a rainbow cake. Each layer was a different color. I used a cheap box mix and then made the icing (because I can't really tell that big of a difference from a mix and home made cake, but the difference in icing is totally noticeable to me). I just bought three good primary food colors and mixed them all myself. It was really fun to do!


I also made some rainbow cupcakes, but the cake was more popular and we ended up not really needing the cupcakes!












Grace also really liked the balloons!


She volunteered to carry them when we were cleaning up. :)



It was a really really fun party!

Now, on to MOVING!!!