Alive and well in two places at once

I guess I could just email the three of you who still read this blog, and I need to catch up with my grandmother anyway so that would be a good use of time.

Life is full no matter what is going on. Occasionally I do sit back and think, "We are having somewhat of a down time right now." Those were the days when I felt free to take a book outside and picnic with the kids or take long walks at the park and lose track of time. Those days are sweet and they will come around again, but not in the next few weeks.

We closed on the house on Wednesday, May 26th and a little over a week later most of the interior was repainted, thanks to my dedicated husband, my hard-working sister-in-law, and our children who played outside for countless hours while we barred them from being indoors. The fence is built, WH's father and brother took out all the carpet to expose the beautiful hardwood underneath (no refinishing needed!) and other family members have kindly taken care of my kids. My family even came for a few hours on Memorial Day for a cookout (they were already in NC visiting my sister) and did odds and ends. My dad and brothers helped tear out the paneling downstairs and get the basement ready for finishing. Needless to say, it's been a busy week and a half.

Here is my very beautiful and very pregnant sister helping (we told her to sit but she doesn't take directions from me):

In between packing at our current house and painting the new place, we've been busy designing a place to add a staircase in the house to the basement and planning renovations for that space down there. Even though this brick ranch is only 1100 sq. feet on the main floor, once we open up the downstairs and add a huge playroom/family room/laundry area/sewing space we will be able to leave the main floor open for the essentials.

Coop said he thought the empty china cabinet looked sad:

I haven't taken too many pictures of the house so far, but here are a few, just so you can see what we have to work with (keep in mind: we have vision!):





In between all this my husband was able to squeeze in a father/son camp out with some guys from church- a first for Coop!

Oh, and I also turned 32 on Friday. No pictures of the celebration (although I am still eating some amazing chicken cordon bleu and chocolate torte made by my sisters-in-law!) but my husband gave me a night at a local bed and breakfast this weekend as an escape in the midst of all the chaos in both our houses. It will be nice to spend the night in someone else's box-free home and have a few meals out!