The summer of projects

The dining room is finished.  I still have a corner filled with paint supplies and paint as I check and recheck the walls for spots that may need touch ups. We hung the painting above on Monday.  I got a great deal on the frame but could only afford one, so I have to wait to hang Savannah's second painting.  Lots of summer rain has kept us from the pool, so we are taking full advantage of these days to do exactly what should have been done long ago.

On Monday Andy took advantage of a 4th of July sale and purchased new bedroom furniture for Savannah.  He has been determined to put her in her own room for her senior year.  This means Zach is being moved to the basement.  Our basement, yes I'm going to admit it, looks a lot like an episode of hoarders, so we have had a few days to purge, purge, purge, and clean, clean, clean, so that we can move the vast amount of stuff Zach has collected to the finished part of the basement.  Zach seems happy with the idea, but I think he's really getting a raw deal on this one.  The finished part of the basement is very outdated - think 80's, and there is no way to the unfinished part without passing through the finished part, so we will stomp right through Zach's space for every. single. load of laundry and every time something needs to be ironed, or we need something out of the deep freezer.  On the other hand, after purging Zach's room without his help over the last few days, he's really not so great about taking care of his space, so maybe this is fair enough.

On Friday Savannah is having a new friend from her summer program over.  Is it rude for me to clean house while they hang out?

Land of the free because of the brave

We celebrated Independence Day at my sister Tiffany's house.

Julia used to have this same dress and wore it upon arriving in America and becoming a citizen.  Kinsley's dress was actually passed down to her from my cousin.  I have no idea what became of Julia's.

We celebrated Austin's April birthday.  He had his wisdom teeth out the week of his actual birthday and had a rough time of it, so we did not celebrate then.  Ira's birthday fell shortly afterward and then Julia's.  Austin turned 18 and did not want to celebrate his birthday jointly with his much younger cousins, and the end of the school year brought much activity, so this was our first opportunity to celebrate.

We gathered for my brother's annual fireworks show.

Regan played hostess telling us to fasten our pretend seat belts for the show and enjoy our pretend snacks and drinks.  Everybody needs a little person in their lives.

Herding monkeys

We visited the zoo with Jonathan.  He actually left to return some keys to Danielle, so Julia and I were on our own for a bit with Regan (4), Ira (3), and Isaac (23 months).  It was hot and muggy at first, and these three kept us running.

I am grateful for editing software.  The original of this photo was foggy, but I was able to clean it up some.

Capturing pictures of these three is a challenge.

I think this picture captures Ira well.

Regan is actually the hardest of the three to photograph.  She does not hold still for long, and when she smiles, it's that big cheesy grin typical of kids her age.  I can't believe that she will turn five and start kindergarten this fall.

This little man is an escape artist, and when he is on the move, he is fast.  Future track star?

I will likely never forget the day that we visited the zoo, and I mistakenly thought the ropes course was only for the little kids.  Julia burst into tears. She has wanted to do this since they built it a few years ago.  I held off wanting Andy to be there, and honestly, we don't do extras like this because we watch the budget so carefully. It's one thing to pay for one child to do something like this but another if we have two or three interested. We returned home that day, and I realized my mistake, but we let our zoo pass lapse and did not get back to the zoo until this visit.  Julia was excited to finally get to live her dream.

She was rockin' this course until thunder boomed and everyone was called down.  We got our money back, and of course we have to return to give her another shot.

We got caught in the rain.

We ended our visit long past nap time with three tired and wet kids who never got their carousal ride 

:(

Of course we can't get good news without bad news

After hours of trying to get Zach's car to a shop last night, we finally called AAA and received a three hour wait time.  It looks like he needs a new radiator.

I pulled laundry out of the washing machine today and discovered that Wyatt's and Julia's team swim suits were shredded.  That's $100 down the drain.  Neither child has worn one of these suits even 10 times.  This is the second time this week that I have found shredded clothing in the washer.  The last time it was a brand new exercise shirt (fortunately I found it on clearance and got it for $6, but I had only worn it twice) and a cheerleading shirt that a coach gave Julia as a gift at the end of the season.  I don't trust my washer.  I will be purchasing a new one today and saying goodbye to the front loader.  I can't afford to keep losing clothes like this.  It would be cheaper to get a new washer.  This appliance is about four years old.  My last washer lasted 15.

I think the roof we need will be waiting.  UGH!

This is why I am usually reluctant to share good news.  I feel like we have to be humbled or punished for something going right.

Update: Buying appliances is no fun.  I spent lots of time reading reviews, ordered a washer, read more reviews, cancelled the washer, chatted online with a rep, read more reviews ordered another washer.  Without any warning the second washer I ordered showed up the day after I placed the order.  I received the call that the first washer I ordered would show up on the original delivery date.  I told them I had cancelled the order.  They still showed up with it, so we will see if it shows up on the credit card bill.  I guess I could call and check the balance today to see if it is on there.  However, I am happy with my washer so far.  I went with a top loading washer with no agitator.  Hopefully, it will live a long life and do no damage to our clothing.

Fortunately, Zach's car repair was inexpensive. It took me several days to get Dad's car back to him.  We borrowed it because we could not make do with our few vehicles and our schedule this week.  I lost my keys in the confusion of switching items from the van to Dad's car in preparation for the swim meet on Monday.  I finally caved on Thursday and went to a locksmith for a couple of new van keys.  I am so glad that my van keys do not have transponders, so I was able to have two keys cut for under $5.  Of course my keys materialized that night.  I am glad that I was forced to have new keys cut though.  We now have a spare which will avoid some of the problems that led to the lost keys in the first place, and Savannah now has her own key which will help when she needs the van.

She's Home!

We left shortly after 6:00 this morning.  Savannah had one hour of sleep last night as she tried to hang onto every moment.  She was barely in the house ten minutes before asking what she could do with herself.  She's been going non-stop for three weeks and wishes she had a week or two more. Friendships formed; goals were accomplished; and plenty of fun was had.  I think she's ready for campus life, but Savannah has one more year of high school to complete.

Andy enjoyed a visit with his high school art teacher who was the art teacher for the program.  Savannah's interdisciplinary studies teacher expressed how much she enjoyed Savannah and was impressed with Savannah's ability to express herself in writing.  Her economics teacher listened with a twinkle in his eyes as Andy and Savannah shared her ACT success with his high school art teacher.

We stopped for a nice lunch and then enjoyed the beautiful view of this harbor.  We really enjoyed this restaurant recommended by K's family and enjoyed having lunch with them.

I was exhausted and did not drive the last hour.  As a result the little people did not get picked up from my dad's house.  Zach is gone to get them,  Hopefully, before everyone crashes, we can enjoy the celebratory dessert complete with a 34 in honor of Savannah's ACT score.

I hope she can find some fun this summer because I don't think Savannah will handle being bored well at this point.  Of course I do have a window and some trim to paint...

I am about to burst!

I was going to wait until Savannah's return on Saturday to share this, but I believe this is the coolest text I have ever received from one of my kids.

We hoped for a 32, needed a 31, and our expectations were exceeded.  Savannah did not want to take this test away from home, but all her prep work was so fresh that I did not think it wise to take it in the fall.  I think she would agree that this paid off.  I do find it ironic that her math score was her weakest as math is generally her best subject, and she already has four hours of college credit in math. It was also her math test that qualified her for the Duke TIP program in 7th grade.  It makes me wonder if she should retake it, but I will leave that up to her.

In case you are in an area of the country where the SAT is used for college entrance, a 36 on the ACT  is the highest possible score.

As I shared recently, God delivers when I ask for encouragement.  In this case I asked that he enable Savannah to show us what she can do on this test, that she would do her best.

I wish I could take her to NYC to visit the Met to celebrate this, but that's impossible.  Andy bought her a Walter Peyton t-shirt/jersey because 34 is his number, and she's a Bears fan.

She's can't believe this college experience is ending.  I think coming home will be bittersweet for her, but I am anxious to see her.

I did not think it would take two days.

After having paint chips hanging on my wall for well over a month, I took the plunge this week and painted the dining room.  

I was going for a subtle blue/gray. However, I found that when I put up the paint chips, the whole family liked a brighter color with more green in it than gray.  My original intent was to take the paint and start on the kitchen which is in bad need of a new paint job, I am now reconsidering because much as I really like the blue in the dining room, I am not so sure I will like it as much in the kitchen.

I am all about wall prep when it comes to painting, so this was a lot of work.  I still have to paint the chair rail, doors and baseboards-something I've never done because it intimidates me, but they really need it.  I plan to wait several days because I know that I will have to tape off this paint job, and even with painter's take, I am reluctant to tape fresh paint.  Honestly, it is apparent that the ceiling needs new paint too.  I think we are getting a new roof, so the new flooring I've been wanting for years will have to wait a few more years, I'm afraid :(

happily saying goodbye to mustard yellow - it only took 8 years for me to decide on a new color

I found a very good helper and painter in Julia.  Who knew?

One summer project down:

Now I need to purge the basement, and paint an outside window.  I am pretty sure the window will be addressed before the basement.  I am not willing to give up too many precious summer days for home projects.  I need a little fun in my life, and so far, summer has been more busy than fun.

I will be sharing some really incredibly good news about Savannah soon.  I am having a hard time keeping it to myself, but I will wait.