Take Two.

This is the color that caused drops of salty tears to well up in my eyes. I was trying to branch out. Explore the land of green goodness. Get away from my "go-to" brown and blue combo.

I had visions of avocado green but I ended up with something you'd find on an Easter egg. And in a small amount - say the amount of paint it would take to cover an egg - I'm sure this color would be spectacular. But on a wall ... where I have to eat breakfast everyday ... it made me nauseous.

Thankfully, Matt, assured me it could be changed. But where was I to receive inspiration for the next wall color?

See that Anthropologie bowl? I bought one just a few months ago in a deep teal. And so ... my cereal bowl became my inspiration. 5 minutes later, Matt was on the phone ... and the paint was being mixed.

An action shot of the room being transformed ...

Linen on the top ... Inner Balance on the bottom.
LOVE IT!
And the new dining room color ... goodbye Easter egg ... hello Aegean Teal ... (although J How let me know this morning that I should have painted the walls red. Red is his favorite color).
And my inspiration for the living room colors ... this picture:
It's a work in progress ...
But it's coming along ...
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And in other news ... I baked with The Charmings this morning.

Does anyone want to borrow a two year old?

Salt Dough Valentines.

It was a twelve step process. 6 for making the Valentines and another 6 for my recovery. I usually love a good project (and this was really no different) but this time ... I involved another family member. A family member with little concern for things like cleanliness and order. I invited ELI BENNETT to join the making process and well ... this face should say it all:
If he wasn't trying to eat the salt dough ... he was shoving it in places that it didn't belong. And at my suggestion that he stick to making hearts he insisted on "ba-looga whales and doll-pins."
J How and I, on the other hand, see order as a positive thing. Keeping the dough on the cookies sheet. Using a rolling pin to achieve the correct thickness ... making HEARTS for Valentine's Day.
Thank goodness for the firstborn child :)
And one other thing ... EB is learning how to use the "big boy potty" (which really deserves a post of its own) ... but would it be enough for me to say that he's a free spirit and with that ... pants are generally considered optional attire. How and "Buns" watching the hearts (and whales and trains) bake ... And then ... to the decorations. Ahh ... Eli Bennett and paint. I'm sure I'm not going to live as long now that the two of them have been introduced.
And someone (who must be losing braincells from all the paint fumes) brought glitter to the table and was watching the extreme concentration on J How's face and admiring his patterned painting (one pink heart, one red heart) when an unnamed pant-less child attacked the glitter bottle. It's a good thing he's cute. (And even cuter when covered in sparkles!)
Then ... the ribbon ...
And finally, the finished project.
And just between you and me ... some parent brought shamrock plates to the Valentine's Day party. I'm sure it wasn't me ... but if it was ... I'm going to say it was all in the name of advanced planning. Now they have something to use in March :)

The Process.

Well. This weekend was not without tears. I'm fairly certain that it is only because I am "with child" that I WEPT over a paint color choice ... but nonetheless ... there were tears. And a bit of laughter that I was actually crying over paint but I've heard of people doing it over milk ... so I think I'm okay.

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I'm a pretty traditional person. (And a rule follower). And by both of those accounts ... the tan baseboards and doors didn't really work for me. Plus .. they made life in a slightly "light challenged" basement a bit drearier than I would have liked. So ... first up was having all that switched to Swiss Coffee ... and that alone made the BIGGEST difference.

After that ... we went with what we knew. A paint

color from our cottage house. And thus ... the piano room and hallway were given new life with a bit of Hampton Court. And it was lovely seeing the hand prints left on the flat paint from the past six years DISAPPEAR!

So ... the room that is closest to being finished is the "piano room."

It was the easiest room to finish ... putting everything in just about the same spot as it was in our other house ...

This piece, on the other hand, was a bit of a challenge.

It was PERFECT in my CB blue master bedroom ... but this master bedroom was to be brown. And yellow stripes don't exactly look lovely against chocolate brown walls ...

(the "in process" walls with CB blue paint on the ceiling) ...

So ... I bought a bit of paper and some double-sided tape and ... it looks completely different.

(The rest of the room is still a bit funky ... so I'll have to share pictures later).

And finally ... the true before of the living room.

The peachy-tan walls have been replaced with "crisp linen" and "inner balance" ... separated by a FABULOUS chair rail. It's heavenly.

And ... the tragic paint choice for the dining room has been replaced.

Thanks to an Anthropologie bowl that was sitting nearby ...

I think the rooms will be done tomorrow (at least the paint) ...

AND I CAN HARDLY WAIT!

Who knew the correct paint color could actually make the hormonal tears VANISH?!! (At least for the moment!!)

The Befores.

When Ben and I first walked into - what is now our new house - I breezed through. I glanced at a few things ... walked up and down the stairs ... and headed out the door. I LOVED the "bones" of the house but knew if I thought about it for too long, my heart might get a little too attached. I do have to admit that I saw a lot of clean wall space and my brain was SUPER excited at the possibilities of making this house ... our home.

And in mid-December ... we were pretty shocked to hear that our offer had been accepted and we had ONE MONTH to move!

And since we knew the family who lived here before us ... they gave us access to the house (before it was really ours) and that allowed Ben to get his hands dirty and get to work!

The house still had its flat paint in place from 6 years ago along with every hand print of each person that had ever walked through the door. Parts of the house were pretty grunge ... but nothing that a little LOVING couldn't fix.

We've had cleaners, carpet cleaners, our favorite handyman, painters, pool fence people, oven repair people ... in and out of our doors. Of course, Ben has done a TON of work and last night ... our favorite painter arrived to completely transform our living area!!

So before I give you some of the "partially completed afters" ... I thought you might like to see the "befores" ...

Ben's office ...

The Sitting Room ... or where the piano now lives ...

The hallway ... which has our family's first EVER hall closet!

The kitchen (and part of the dining room) ...

The Living Room (or tv room - as the kids call it) ...

The Laundry ROOM (so excited about this!!) ...

The Master Bedroom ...

And Bath (and the closet where the 3rd born will be sleeping!) ...

The Truly Unorganized Playroom ...

And some random room that is currently housing boxes ...

The Soon To Be Nursery ... after a short stint in the closet ...

The Guest Room ....

The Boy's Room ...

And ... the backyard ...

Matt and I spent the morning picking paint colors ... and Ben is off to pick up the paint! Bye-bye pinkish-tan walls ... and hello "Inner Balance," "Mountain Mist," and some greenish-blue color!

Here's to hoping I picked the right ones!!

I guess we'll find out by Wednesday!

At Reflection and A Move. At Last.

Two weeks after the "official" move ... the final box made it out of our old house. Technically, it's still in the garage ... but details, details.

The past few months have been busy. Really busy. We placed an offer on this house and it was accepted (and we moved) within 8 weeks. In short sale world, that is unheard of. I asked Ben, almost daily, if I should keep packing boxes ... were we REALLY going to move? I'm not sure I believed him until we signed the papers. And still, I wander around our new house and am just amazed at what God has provided.

But today, as my mom and I loaded the potted plants into our van, I began to "process" our old house. Life. Memories. The ugliest side yard on the planet that each family member transformed into the perfect spot ... my "English garden." Today, I had a slideshow play through my head. Ben and his dad spent days constructing a patio and laying a drip line. My grandparents and mom planted and dug hole after hole. I remembered back to our first house that Ben and I lived in and how hard my grandpa worked to make it look just right. And then our last house ... the same thing. And as my mom and I started to attack the front yard today ... I realized that for this house, for this yard ... I'd probably be showing it to my grandpa ... because at 86 ... he will be directing the hole digging instead of doing it himself. I'm not sure why that makes me so sad, except that it just pointed out to me how life progresses and changes. And for me, I got a glimpse of family ... through my garden. There are still roses at our old house ... planted with a lot of tears to remember our Grace. I hated leaving those behind. And as strange as it sounds ... I might go back and dig up the fence my grandpa built to hide the garbage cans (albeit cemented into the ground) and give it a new home ... as that tangible reminder of all that God has provided.

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So. At last. Our last few days in the old house.

Hiding in empty cabinets.

And wandering around ... directing traffic with some Mr. Potato Head glasses (to look official).

And since there were so many boxes ...

There was always someone waiting to be found.

And in the midst of chaos, we had a birthday (with everyone's favorite shirt) and my tragic purchase ... good thing we now have a basement and the sound is muffled.

And a few more than four candles ...

And a kitchen that had acted as a loading and unloading zone ...

And a husband who showed off the "toilet within a toilet" concept to the boys and they were surprisingly enthusiastic with their response ...

And a youngest (soon to be middle) child who wanted to leave his "colorings" on the only place he's known as home ...

And finally ...

At last ...

It was moving day ...

And now we're here.

And new memories are being created.

And the old ones are being processed.

And I'm thankful. (A little bit sad ... a lot TIRED) but mostly ... REALLY thankful.