Conversations Around the House

Annie: Mom, fix my sword?

Me: Sure, sweetie.  Here you go.

Annie: Now I go fight people!

Me: Just don't hurt anyone.
(Just what exactly else is a sword good for?  I don't know.)
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Maddie: Uh oh.  Somebody colored on the table.

Me: That was you.

Maddie: Nuh uh.  I Annie.

Annie: No, I Annie!  You Maddie!  I not do it!

Maddie: No, I Annie.
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(I had Taylor Swift's new song, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" playing on the computer while I was doing dishes last night.  And then played it again.)

Ryan: Are you trying to tell me something??

Home Decorating Adventures

I love Pinterest.  I have used a bunch of the tips and tricks to be found floating around out there on the internet. One I used was to dab toothpaste on the back of a frame with two hooks (on the two hooks), so there would be a tell-tail sign of how far apart the two nails should go.  Worked beautifully.

The second was to cut out paper in the shape and size of the pictures you plan on hanging and tape them to the wall.  This gives you a chance to play around with the placement without leaving a bunch of holes in your wall.  The blog in question said to use butcher paper or something plain, but since I had newspaper on hand- that's what I used.  (The newspaper was still stuck to the wall when Ryan came home from work.  He looked at it and said how good it looked.  Since one side was higher than the other to see which I liked better, and it was hacked up newsprint and not family pictures, I looked at him funny.  Either he thinks we are an unattractive family and the newspaper looks better than our photos, or he thinks I'm crazy and is taking pity on my ineptitude in home decorating and complementing my "efforts.")

 Really attractive, right?

It did come together nicely.

Yesterday I decided the toy room needed something.  I had a whole stack of pictures I wasn't sure where they should go, so I thought a "gallery" in the toy room might be nice.  However, 16 pictures seemed like a lot to trace, cut out templates, and tape to the wall before hanging up the actual pictures.  I thought I could "wing" it.  I set them out on the floor, grabbed the hammer and picture hooks and got to work.  This is the finished product:

Totally should have cut out the templates...  Or had someone helping me with spacing.  It needs some work...  But, I did finally use my Silhouette to cut out vinyl for the first time for my kids' artwork wall yesterday.

The Christus

One of the fun things about moving is getting to put up pictures again.  It is a good opportunity to put in new photos into those collage frames, so that's exactly what I've been doing.

I printed up this family picture, and while I was putting it into the frame, Maddie was watching me.  I pointed out that we were all standing by Jesus, and wasn't that a good trip we went on?

Maddie got a concerned look on her face.  She looked at me, and said, "Oh no!  Jesus turned to stone!"

(Yes, sweetie.  That's what happens when you don't stand still for the camera.)

We had a lengthy discussion on statues, and heaven, and how no one can turn Jesus into stone.  Not even the White Witch or Medusa.

The New Toy Room

How do you get your kids to play with their toys?  

Ask them to clean up their toys.

Another thing a BBQ is good for

When we walked through our new house originally, we noticed the spiffy counter top stove.  Whoa, pretty awesome.  Unfortunately, we are not supposed to cook anything heavy on it, such as a big ol' canning pot.

Good thing Ryan is creative.

It's peach season.  We had to do something.  

New Past Times

Annie and Maddie have discovered new and fun past times in the new house.  Dropping socks and clean laundry from one floor to the next must be pretty fun.

Poor Annie

Annie woke up this morning looking like this:

My poor girl!

I had a PA look at her about lunch time, but by then either time, or the Tylanol and Benedryl had improved the swelling.  We aren't out of the woods yet, but I'm hoping she can go to preschool tomorrow.  She would be awfully upset to miss it.

First Day of School

Emma and Elizabeth started at their new school today.  Emma was really unsure of having to change schools, but she managed a smile for the camera anyway.

 We bought the kids new shoes last night, so they had to show them off for the camera.

 All 4 girls ready for school!

 I walked the kids to their classrooms.  Elizabeth's teacher had a surprise for everyone in the class in those white paper bags.  I'm sure I'll hear about it when the kids come home.

After I dropped the first two off at school, I dropped the twins off at their preschool co-op (not my month to help) and I came home to a very quiet house.  It was weird.  I did dishes, washed counters, swept and mopped the floors, dealt with a couple more boxes and then had our insurance agent over to take pictures, finish the forms for the new house, and that sort of thing.  Before I knew it, it was noon and my "free" time was over.

A New Bed

We've been putting off buying a new bed for a long time.  Our mattress hadn't been comfortable in quite some time.  First, we were going to get a new mattress for our 10th anniversary.  Then we were going to wait until our tax return came back the following winter.  But, then our house went on the market and it seemed like the right thing to do to wait until we moved.

And we waited.

Finally, during that crummy week (about two weeks before our house finally sold), I guilt-ed Ryan into buying a mattress.  We checked out a couple of mattress stores, and looked at Costco but didn't find something to bring home.  That Saturday night we checked out an auction house.  I left with the kids midway through, and Ryan eventually came home with one of the mattresses we both tried out.  It was AMAZING.  

We bought a queen mattress.  This was an upgrade from the full mattress we got when we got married.  Unfortunately, we had no queen-sized sheets, and the mattress came home late Saturday night.  We made do with full-sized flat sheets until Monday when I was able to pick up a brand new set of sheets.  We still don't have a frame for the bed, however.  We feel like college students again. :)

Annie likes our new bed too.

The House

In case anyone was curious- here are pictures of our new place.

Kitchen:

Living Room and Dining Room:  (The dining room is that open space with a nice chandelier on the left hanging from the ceiling.  At some point we might be cultivated enough to eat over a carpeted surface.  But for now, we'll eat in the kitchen.)

 The view from the living room window:

 The family room:  (And no, I haven't finished unpacking yet.)