My Daughter, the Patriot

This limbo stuff sucks.
While we have a boatload of stuff to do/clean/get rid of at the apartment, none of us wants to live here anymore.

The husband and I made the executive decision to make some stuff happen this weekend.
As in, move as much as we can.

Really - the only thing holding me back is my office. Since I work from home, I need it moved over and set up before I can completely commit to the new house.

Mister's Honey-Do list just got a little bit longer.

With those plans under way (for the most part), I decided to ensure Isabel could start her new school earlier than planned.

We've decided to enroll Isabel in the charter school (currently K-8, soon to be K-12), that is directly behind our house. It's a beautiful campus, with small class sizes, and is geared toward excellence and patriotism.

Their mascot?

Wait. Wrong one.

Let's try that again.

That's the one.
Well, without all of the cursing and racial remarks, anyway.
I hope! Oh well, there's always the local middle school, if need be.

Anyway, moving on.

The moral to this story is that Isa will be starting her new school on Monday.
In a uniform.
=)

Oh. Alex too is being "traded"... He will no longer be a Padre - instead, he will be a Coyote.
And Nic....? We haven't firmed up his plans just yet. He may be a mommas boy for a little while yet.
We will see.

So... big changes for us this weekend!
Very exciting.

Feeling Tipsy: Boxed-Up Memories

I had a brilliant idea that I wanted to share [thus feeling "tip"sy. Get it?!]
LOL.
Okayyy.

I've watched hours upon hours of shows like Hoarders and Clean House.
We have a little pack-rat syndrome going on over here that I hate to admit.

But I refuse to let those behaviors follow us to the new house.

One of the hardest things to part from is something that triggers a memory.
I don't want to forget one ounce of my kids' childhoods. But I don't have the energy or the space to keep up with every single thing they create, bring home, or are awarded.

Up until now, I've tried keeping such items in boxes - a few things from each year.

I realize though, that because they are in boxes, I may only see [or recall] those memories once every few years [when we move, most likely]. Since we don't plan on moving again for a lonnnnnng time, I thought I had better come up with a plan.

Instead of keeping each item, I will instead ooooh and aaaahhh over it the moment my child brings said item to my attention, whether it be a report card or a sculpture, and immediately take 2 pictures of it. One of just the item, and one of the child with the item. That way I am documenting the item with the age and look of my child when they brought it home - a perfect memory captured forever.

At the end of each year, I plan to take all of the photos and create a Memory Book [like these here]. I think I will combine all of the kids "memories" to make it much easier to put together, but order four each time so that one day when my homies leave da crib, they can take their books with them. The fourth one will be for the husband and I.

I have a big box to go through... Just in the first few minutes of going through the box, look what I found:

 [artwork by Nic]

 [Isa circa pre-school]

[Alex's report card from the 5th grade]

[A scrapbook of sorts my Aunt Julie put together for Isa's 3rd birthday]

[Alex when he was 3. Or, as Nic thinks: him, now. Seriously, Nic thinks it's a picture of himself. Too cute.]

[One of Nic's preemie diapers. So small.]

[Artwork by Nic from this past week.]

Awwww - so much fun!

This idea really stemmed from the fact that I only want to take what's necessary to the new house. My goal is to have most everything moved in by this weekend. I am tired of travelling back and forth. And so is Nic.

What a whirlwind of a weekend...

Our weekend started on Friday; we were on a mission to finally secure our special order for blinds.
We decided that we needed to go with a darker (Walnut? Pecan? Peanut? Just kidding about Peanut. I think.) blind in the kitchen, family room, formal living room and formal dining room. For my office, I was okay with white 2" faux wood blinds. Everything else down here will be 2" [real] wood.

My parents came over on Saturday, bright and early to help finish up the painting.
Who am I kidding?!  My Dad did 95% of the painting and did a kick-ass job, if I do say so myself.
We would not have ever gotten the painting done as fast, or with such quality if it weren't for him. Thanks Dad!

Mom and I took a trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond, Cost Plus [World Market] and Super Target. We took Nic with us to help keep him occupied. Mom helped me find the most unbelievable curtain panels for the slider. Sliding doors remind me too much of apartment life, so I refused to put blinds there. I wanted panels that I could slide out of the way, if necessary.

We found the RIGHT colors - they match (inversely [is that a word?]) the fabric we will be using for the kitchen and family room valances.

The sweet husband installed the rod. Thanks, husband.

Here's a peak.

Once we saw how awesome the rods looked, and with my parents prodding, we went back to Target to pick up 4 more, to fit the rest of the windows for the back of the house. Oh, and Dad pointed out we really needed one more panel for the slider, so we went back to Cost Plus [World Market] and grabbed one up.

The fabric we have picked out, with the rods, and the wood blinds that will be delivered on Oct. 1 will really make our window treatments a complete fantastic package. There were a lot of decisions to be made, but in the end, we did it!

Dad had just a little more painting to do in my office... I think the green looks wunderbar. It's Sherwin-Williams Dancing Green.

Oh... look what got delivered today!

* * * *

I have this space just inside the entry way that needs something to house keys, mail, bags... anything we may be carrying in from the outside.

Now, it's just awkward...

We come in and have to carry our keys all the way to the back of the house.

Not cool.

So, I have this piece of furniture that my mom gave me a while back.

And with her blessing, I will be refinishing it.

I cleaned it up today and took off the drawer pulls.

There doesn't appear to be any writing on the wood,

so I don't really know the history behind it.

Mom and I agree that an antique white would be a great color for the piece in the space.

Now, I just need to bring the hand-sander from the other house

and then I can get started on this baby.

Here is the space.

On the right, just under the opening.

Do you have any suggestions on paint colors or techniques?

I'd love to hear them!

* * * *

So, our weekend is coming to an end.

I am blogging...

The husband, Alex and Isa are sitting at the kitchen table with me playing UNO.

Nic is taking a nap on the family room floor.

We will be closing up shop in a few hours and heading back to the apartment.

None of us wants to go.

I will take this as a good sign.

We made the right choice.

Buying this house.

Now (this time in our lives)

and

Here (this town).

We are blessed.

Thanks again, Mom and Dad, for your help and excitement.

 

DecorDating: Our Trash Treasure

Look we what we got done?!

These are our new garbage bins.

Under the counter.

Never to be in the way.

There are two.
Which is great.

Unless Alex forgets that there are two.

That would be bad.

Alex, this here is your reminder.

There are two!

He's gonna killll meeeeee

I didn't mean to.
It was an accident.
I promise.

IKEA, Bed, Bath & Beyond, and Hobby Lobby.
Today.

I told him that we would have to make a trip out to the new house tomorrow morning.
If we don't, we won't be able to take stuff over on Friday evening as planned.
The back of the van (with the seats flat) is packed to the gills.

Every thing was either clearance or 50% off.

Pinky swear.