A little home decorating

We decided to do a little painting this weekend. We painted our dining room and living room. For the dining room, we painted the top 1/2 blue, Paul put up a chair rail and then the bottom is white. He's going to add those "boxes" made from wood molding in a couple of weeks.

For the living room, I have always wanted to do a dark red, but have been too chicken. Seriously, I have been debating about this for 6 years. Well, I finally decided to just go for it and I'm so happy we did - I LOVE it! I think it's my favorite room in the house now. I used to hate our couch and love seat (the whole room used to just be different versions of tan), but now the color gives them a whole new life - which Paul is happy about (so we don't have to spend money on new furniture).

Here are some pictures of our "new" rooms:

This is a collage of pictures I had done for a photography challenge on a scrapbook website I visit. I just thought it looked cool, so I thought I'd share.

Big Boy Joe

Joey's been asking every once in a while to go on the potty. We try, but nothing ever happens.......until today!! When I changed him this morning I noticed he had a dry diaper, so I asked if he wanted to go on the potty. He said yes and a few minutes later we had success!! I know we still a long way to go before he's potty trained - and honestly, I'm not sure I'm totally up for it yet myself (ha ha), but at least we have a start.

Alli Loses her 1st Tooth

Alli lost her first tooth tonight - finally! That little bugger has been hanging by a thread for quite a while now. She refused to pull it out or let us near it, for fear we would pull it out. Somehow it must have gotten caught on her towel after her bath and out it came. We put it in her special tooth fairy bag and put it right under her pillow. She's excited about her 1st visit from the tooth fairy tonight. Here's a picture of her new smile.

So Proud!!

So, back in August, about a week or so before school started, our district had a bus safety program for all the kids going into kindergarten. When we were there, they mentioned that they were having a coloring contest and that there would be a winner from each school. So, the next day, Alli worked on coloring the picture and we mailed it back to the transportation department.

The Friday of Labor Day weekend, we had a message that Alli had won the contest for her school and that there would be a special ceremony in the middle of September. Well, today was the big day! They had all the winners come down to the district office where they had all the winning artwork displayed. After taking pictures, they had juice and cookies for everyone. It was really sweet and we were so proud of our little Alli.

Here are a couple of the pictures I took.

School, soccer and dance

After a one year hiatus, Em and I are back on the soccer field. After playing soccer with Uncle Ryan, Tyler, Chi Chi and Alli, Em decided she wanted to try playing soccer again. I resumed my role as facilitator, helping out an old neighbor and friend Mike Ramsey. So far, we played two weeks and are having a great time. Emily has learned to dribble the ball very well and looks to be a future Abby Wambach.



This week Allison and Emily started dance classes again. When getting the dance shoes ready to go, we realized both the girls, especially Alli, have grown a few shoe sizes. Emily's class this year is tap, jazz and ballet - she really liked the addition of jazz. Alli's class is tap and ballet again and she was excited to see she knew most everyone in her class this year.


I can't leave out the little man. Joe and Mommy are having a great time "hanging out" while the big girls are at school. Jen got a bike trailer and she and Joey have been going for bike rides or walks every morning enjoying being outside as much as possible before the cold weather hits.

1st Day of School

Today was the 1st day of school - Emily started 2nd grade and Alli started kindergarten. They were both SO excited - I think I was the only one that was a little nervous. Emily (who is NOT a morning person) was up with her alarm, dressed and ready to go out to the bus with 20 minutes to spare. I sure wish that would continue every day!

Alli had a great 1st day and said she wished it was longer (it's 1/2 day and she's only there for about 2 1/2 hours). She made a new friend and can't wait for tomorrow. Emily was excited to see all of her friends again. The only thing that was disappointing was her teacher is ill and out until October - she said her substitute was very nice.

Here are a couple of pictures of the girls this morning.

End of Summer Pool Parties

To celebrate the last day of summer vacation and the beautiful weather we're having, the kids and I thought a couple of pool parties were in order. In the morning we had all of our friends from MOMS Club over - the big kids had a blast jumping in and playing around in the deep end and the smaller kids hung out in the shallow end. Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. I'm hoping to make this an annual tradition.

In the afternoon, we had some of the neighbors and their kids over for swimming. Emily is the oldest on the street, so the playing was much more calm this afternoon. Since our neighborhood is still pretty new, it was a nice way to get to know some of the girls a little better.

So, now the kids are all bathed and in bed and excited about their first day tomorrow. I've got to admit, I'm a little sad that summer is over, but I'm happy to see them so excited about getting back. I'm also a little nervous about having to get both girls ready by 7:30 am every morning to catch the bus. Wish me luck :)