191/365 July 10, 2010

These photos probably don't look much different from yesterday's, but I did do a lot more work.


Painted the trim and doors bright white (will be replacing the hinges and knobs, so I didn't worry about slopping paint on them)


New ceiling fan. The box advertised it as "quick and easy installation." HA! 2 hours later...I finally got it all put together. And then had a near freakout because I thought I had flipped the breaker back on for it and it didn't work, and I was going to have to undo the entire thing and start over. Then I realized I'd flipped the breaker next to it off instead of flipping the correct one back on. I turned them both back on and it worked just fine. Thankfully I'd only gotten as far as removing the glass shade before I checked the breaker. I'm not a fan of getting shocked, personally...


Just behind one of the fan blades is a new air register. That should have been a piece of cake to replace, but I fought with the stupid thing for 20 minutes before the screw would catch on the right spot on one side. It's never as easy as it should be!


More trim and door paint. Four coats, to be exact.

That's all for today. Tomorrow: blue walls!

190/365 July 9, 2010

The de-girlification process has begun! Tonight: painted the ceiling and removed the flowery window sheers and butterfly curtain rod. Tomorrow: new ceiling fan (sans giant hanging butterfly), paint trim/doors. Sunday: paint walls. Monday: hang new blinds and blackout curtains, and move Levi's bed back in the room. Hopefully getting Levi to bed in the bonus room will be easier after tonight... As much work as it is, it's nice to finally be doing something to really make the house ours.

189/365 July 8, 2010

Bliss in a bag:


It is very bad news for my waistline that I found a party size bag of these. Very bad.

188/365 July 7, 2010

This is how all the cool kids eat their cheese:


(It's not 100% in focus, and it's noisy, but his face cracks me up)

And here's the big brother with pizza all over his face:

187/365 July 6, 2010

We got the TV back today! And it was even covered under warranty! Phew! I had to ask my next door neighbor to help me get it from my van into the house, but it's not heavy, just big. I'm so glad to have this off my shoulders.



Today also marks 10 years since my mom died. It seems like just yesterday in some ways, and like forever ago in others. I still miss my mom every day, and it makes me sad that my boys don't have the chance to get to know her. I hope she would be proud of me. This is a project I did my senior year of high school. The assignment was to take a picture of your eye and come up with a graphic that represented the phrase "the eye is a window to the soul." I obviously played with the colors, and I also put a picture of my mom holding me as a baby in the middle. The hands/heart (claddagh) ring were a gift from my sister after my mom died. She got one for herself too. The top stone is my mom's birth stone, and in the center (I cropped them out for this project) are the birthstones for me and my sister. I'm not sure what the claddagh actually stands for, but for us, the rings were symbolic of our mom holding us in her heart and her in ours forever. I thought framing the picture of me with my mom with the heart of the ring was a pretty good representation of the theme. I only wish I had access to the full resolution file so I could make a print of it. I suppose I could redo the project from scratch, though.

186/365 July 5, 2010

It was HOT today, but with very low humidity, so once the sun got low enough in the afternoon that our yard was in the shade, it was nice to be outside. The boys ate dinner at their little table outside and watched the dragonflies do laps around the yard (I've never seen so many dragonflies before!). They weren't that cooperative for pictures, but I took some anyway. You can see their new hair cuts. Levi's is pretty subtle since I didn't do anything to the top (we had several people tell us that they liked it longer, so I thought I'd let it grow a little instead of buzzing it all off this time) and just trimmed the sides and back. Jonas' is a little more obvious. It's not as much of a hack job as last time, but it will definitely look better when it grows a little bit.











We get our TV back tomorrow!

185/365 July 4, 2010

Since the fireworks at the park were last night, we had a really low-key 4th of July this year. We didn't even leave the house, but I put the boys in their cute matching outfits so I could take some photos of them together. Ha. That didn't work out so well, but I guess I got some decent ones of them separately.














Naughty boy... At least it comes off with water.







The boys got hair cuts before bed tonight. Pics of that tomorrow...

184/365 July 3, 2010

I guess a lot of people were busy or out of town this weekend, but I attempted to have a get together for the 4th ok July fireworks at the park by our house today. Only a few people ended up making it, and only one could stay for the fireworks, but we still had a good time.


Mmmmmm...banana pudding. I wanted to use blueberries, but Walmart didn't have a single package of them. And, actually, that was the last package of blackberries.


Fun with the splash mat (or "birthday water," as Levi calls it)


Hannah had fun too


Jonas is not a fan of the splash mat, so I didn't even bother putting him in his swim trunks, but then he went and dumped water from the water table all down his shirt. Oh well.


Cutie Kady (Ethan was here too, but somehow I didn't get a single photo of him!)


Levi never plays with this climber thing, but when other kids come over it's always a hit. Go figure.


Daniel and Daddy (Robert)


I was lazy and didn't set up my tripod, so my fireworks shots are not that exciting, but I took a few anyway



The fireworks weren't as good as they were at the Chesapeake Jubilee in May, but it was a decent show. They had a live orchestra, which was neat. Grant was the only one to stay for the fireworks and he actually cleaned up most of the stuff in the kitchen while I got Jonas to bed, so that was really nice! We also ended up having exactly the right amount of food, so I guess it's not so bad that hardly anybody could make it.

183/365 July 2, 2010

Here is my freshly cleaned van! I don't think it's ever been this clean while I've owned it. Even when it was brand new (to us), the detailers did not do a good job on it. I hope I can keep it clean by taking it to a car wash every couple of weeks. Lord knows I don't have the time to wash it myself!



Now I'm going to step on my soapbox for a minute. Here are my boys in their car seats:





Yes, they are both rear facing. Levi, at 4 years old and 32.5 lb, and Jonas at (almost) 16 months and 20ish lb. They could legally be turned forward facing, but I am choosing to leave them rear facing as long as possible (their seats both go up to 35 lb). Why? It is immensely safer for them this way. Children in the second year of life especially have a marked improvement in protection from riding rear facing - it is FIVE TIMES SAFER. Yes, I am yelling that! Other studies have shown that there is also a significant improvement in safety up to age 4. Levi is getting close to being turned around now, and he does ride forward facing in Daddy's car for short trips to run errands a couple of times a month (when he's home), but he's had the full benefit of staying rear facing for 4 years. And, nope, he hasn't complained about it once, and he is not at all uncomfortable! I'd say he looks pretty happy, actually! I'll step off my soapbox and leave you with this video as food for thought:

182/365 July 1, 2010

We're past the halfway mark of the 365 project! Sure, I've "cheated" a little to keep up, but I have kept up for the most part. Hopefully I can finish out the year! Here's today's picture:


Just a quick snapshot on my phone of Levi being silly