Getting Settled In

Well, we are all moved in and getting settled. There are still a zillion boxes to go through, but luckily I can hide most of them in the attic until I'm ready to go through them. There's barely anything on the walls yet and we still have some furniture, rugs and curtains to buy, but I'm finding that this all takes time (not good for those of us who are not patient).

BUT I LOVE OUR NEW HOUSE! It's beautiful, wonderful, comfortable, spacious, and just plain fantastic. Tom still has a few month's work ahead of him to complete the outside, but we're really almost done.

These photos were taken about 5 minutes before my BUNCO friends came over the other night, so that's why there's nobody in them:

Kitchen

Kitchen

Bar

Jessalyn's room

Lee's room (by the way, Lee climbed out of his crib the second night we were in the house, so the crib is gone and the toddler bed is in place.)

Kids' bathroom

Master bedroom

Mater bathroom

Dining room

Dining room looking into the entry, kitchen and den

FLOORS!

The floors are going in and they look so pretty. We're almost half-way done and are on track to move by Thanksgiving!

Lee's room

Jessalyn's room

Den and Living Room

Sneak peak at the shower Tom has been slaving over. Still some more grouting to do before he's completely done.

Halloween

I'm very behind on posting, but am trying to catch up. I still have pictures from our visit with George, Jenny and the girls to go through and post. I'll get there soon, I promise! In the meantime, here are a few photos from all the Halloween fun we had:

Uncle Mike makes awesome Halloween pinatas!

Trunk-or-Treating

Fall Festival

This kid loves him some basketball...BIG TIME!

R2D2 (aka JJ) and Jess

Isn't Ren the cutest little Kermit you've ever seen!?

Love that smile!

Conversations with My Children

Jessalyn

Referring to the ponytails with tiger embellishments she requested for her hair:

Me: "You look so cute!"

Jessalyn: "Thanks, I thought I might."

Lee

Ever the negotiator, trying to stretch his play time:

Me: "Lee, it's time to get ready for bed."

Lee: "One more minute. One minute. Two minutes. Four minutes. Five dollars."

Kitchen Complete

We are sooooooooooooooo close to the end! Tom is finishing the tile in the master bathroom and then all that's left of the interior is the wood floors. I'll be prepping the floors tomorrow (vacuuming and mopping....YUK).

Have I mentioned how much I love, love, love this kitchen?

What a difference the cabinet crown moulding makes!

Latest House Pics

The house is really coming along. Color is going up on all the walls. As a matter of fact, most of the walls are done. We're trying to finish up the remaining walls, interior doors, and bathrooms before we put the wood floor down. And then it's time to MOVE!

I am so in love with this kitchen. The tile on the counters, backsplash, and bar looks awesome! I love my under- and upper-cabinet lighting! The crown on the cabinets and the vent covers are all that's left to complete this room. Just in case your monitor isn't showing the color correctly, the walls are a soft green. The mud room (right hand side of the photo) is a soft cream/yellow.

View of the living room, dining room and entry way (walls are the same soft green as the kitchen. The entry is red).

Dining room looking into the entry and Tom's office (Tom's office is a dark gray-green).

The master bedroom is finished (walls are a soft gray-green)!

This is the closet in the master bedroom's dressing area. It has taken me weeks to paint all 18 closet doors (including Jessalyn's and Lee's) and I'm so happy to have that behind me! The knobs, crown moulding and feet will come later (no color on the walls yet).

Bathtub Classroom

The other night the children were in the tub playing with foam letters that, when wet, stick to the wall. This is what I heard while they were playing:

Jessalyn: "Look, Lee. A-E-I-O-U. Do you know what those are? Those are vowels. And let me tell you about silent E. He sneaks up on a word and changes the sound a vowel makes to the vowel's name. Like glob to globe and tub to tube…"

Enjoying the Fair, All These Years

We've been enjoying the county fair ever since we moved down here. My friend, Donna, had the great idea to compare pictures of Jessalyn at the petting zoo since I've documented it every year. We're missing just one year — 2005 — due to Hurricane Katrina.

2004 (17 months old and moving way too quickly for me to get any non-blurry pics of her petting animals)

2005 (2.5 years old in Nashville, during Katrina, enjoying the local "wildlife")

2006 (3.5 years old)

2007 (4.5 years old)

2008 (5.5 years old)

2009 (6.5 years old, wearing the same hat as in 2007)

Playmates

The Fair — A Photo Essay

We went to the fair yesterday with our friends Alison,

Noah and Connor. Apparently Jessalyn is fearless. Noah,

even moreso. Me...not so much. That's why I stood on the

ground and took all the pictures! I'll let them tell the story:

The ferris wheel and the SUPER HIGH swings were Jessalyn's

favorites, and she rode them a zillion times. Noah loved the

scrambler and I'm still surprised he was able to walk after riding

it 10 times or so (and it was L.O.N.G. ride). It was a fun day!