House Photos -- Before & After

Perhaps the biggest improvement was made in the laundry room/pantry/storage room. Here's the before (yes, such a cluttered mess that you almost couldn't walk through it):


And here's the after:
Three walls were painted yellow, we got rid of one set of shelves and painted the other white, and most importantly, we threw out, relocated, or reorganized almost everything. I replaced our old, gouged sheet vinyl with vinyl tiles, which may have been the most satisfying home improvement project I've done myself -- it was extremely easy, and the finished product looks remarkably like ceramic tile.

Not many people see the laundry room, but I'm in there constantly, so I love having a cheery, well-organized space!

I was pleased to see that Adam obviously felt the same way, as he started doing all of his homework in the laundry room. Then I realized it was just so he could snitch frozen cookie dough from the freezer when I wasn't looking.
I especially like the pegboard for meeting my need for organizing.


Here's the computer area, mid-demolition:

And here it is now:
We painted the wall green and put up the white magnetic boards, in addition to replacing the flooring. For the first time since we moved here, I have my desk, computer, phone, files, and bulletin boards all in the same place. I feel so efficient as I sit in one spot to go through the mail, pay bills, make phone calls, check homework, plan the month's meals, check facebook, play reversi, see what's next on my NetFlix queue, play another quick game of reversi, see if there's anything new on my blog reader, play one more game of reversi, or two if I don't win the first one...did I say efficient?

Still working on getting the family room clean enough to take photos. Hopefully in the next few days!

How to win friends, according to Heath

Mom: So, Heath, did you have a good day at kindergarten today?

Heath: Yeah! Well, actually, it wasn't a very good day.

Mom: What happened?

Heath: Well, after recess, there was all this... arguing going on (shaking hands in front of face to demonstrate), and Tyler said he wasn't going to be my friend anymore. But then I sat on my throne of burpingness, and he was my friend again!

House Photos

This summer we did some major redecorating of our house, painting and re-flooring everything except the bedrooms and bathrooms. Here are a few photos of the areas that have been fully put back together.

We painted most of the walls and ceilings white. The ceiling beams are now a gray-tan color. We painted the kitchen walls a light blue-gray color. The floor is a medium-dark wood laminate ("modern sycamore red").





We still have a few things to finish up in the family room. When it's ready to be photographed, I'll post it here!

First Day of School

Monday, August 10 was the first day of school for Adam (5th grade), Ian (3rd grade) and Heath (kindergarten!). Heath was pretty nervous, but Dad was able to sing silly songs to make him laugh long enough for this picture.


We all went to school together to drop off the boys, and Luke didn't want to come home! He became convinced that if he could put on a backpack, he could go to school too. We went home anyway, where he found his backpack and posed for this picture.
He'd still like to stay at school with the boys, but settles for playing on the playground when we pick them up.


When I picked up Heath at the end of the first day, he was absolutely beaming! He had a great time at kindergarten, and I think he also felt proud of himself and very relieved that it went well.

VICTORY!

More Rocky Point

If you want to see more about our Rocky Point trip (including a cool video of an octopus!), please check out Shari's blog:
http://zerbbt.blogspot.com/

Oh what do you do in the summertime?

We go to Mt. Graham.

(I ask Heath to smile, and he gives me a Richard Nixon impression...?!?)



We celebrate Heath's 5th birthday.

(He requested the same cake as Luke, "except with a five.")
(Can you tell which sprinkles were put on by kids who like eating sprinkles even better than cupcakes?)



We let the kids color on the floor with Sharpies...



...and then tear the floor up


(even Luke gets in on the action!)



Ian goes to soccer camp.

(He's showing his team Brazil spirit!)



We relax on the beach in Rocky Point...
(That's Anne and Shari observing.)

And show off our muscles!
(covered with sand!)

April Celebrations

Last week was Luke's 2nd birthday. He got a birthday sticker in the morning from the Pediatrician's office, then proudly told us all day long that it was his birthday. However, if you asked him how old he was, he insisted, "I'm four," waving random numbers of fingers to prove it.

For presents, he received a Little People airplane and not one, but two lightsabers, which he now brandishes many times each day, sweetly asking "You wanna fight?" as if we have a choice! But the big hit of the party was the water table from Grandma Utah. I thought she might like to see all four boys enjoying it:




(Yes, I do call Luke "Heath" in the video, but that's closer than "Wes" or "Justin," which I regularly call the older boys!)

Now back a few days to Easter...

The fun new thing the Easter Bunny brought us this year was cascarones, which are real colored eggs which have been emptied out, cleaned, and filled with confetti. They're good for smashing on people's heads.



After smashing cascarones on each other in our damp backyard, we thought it was cool that we all had decorated feet for Easter as well:


I think we have a new Easter tradition.

(By the way, I don't know how the Easter Bunny got his cascarones, but I heard they were selling them at Wal-Mart!)