House Updates

It was my turn to host Book Club at my house in September. I took it as the perfect opportunity to make a few minor house updates. Poor Andrew. He didn't complain and finished all 3 of the projects with an hour to spare.

Project #1: New Light Fixture

The light fixtures in our house are all extremely dim and we are slowly replacing them. I teach piano in our front room, and our 2 bulb fixture didn't do much for me or my students. In fact, sometimes it was hard to tell that the light was even turned on. Oh what a difference a light can make!

Side note: We discovered that James can climb an adult sized ladder-- no problem-- during this project. What a climber. While Andrew is at work, James often walks into the piano room, points at the light and says, "Daddy." 

Project #2: Picture Collage

I was talking to Andrew about how to make our living room feel more homey. I wanted to add more pictures, but we didn't have much wall space left. Andrew suggested a picture collage going up the stairs. I was surprised by his suggestion mostly because hanging pictures together isn't our favorite task and usually ends in frustration. I'd say it was worth the headache and the "nest" is no longer the focal point of the wall.

Project #3: Porch Swing

For Christmas last year, I opened an envelope that had a picture of our beat up porch swing. There was a note along with it informing me that Andrew was going to refinish the swing for me. I was thrilled!

I did debate about what color I wanted Andrew to paint the swing. I was leaning towards black, but decided to go with a splash of color. The houses in our neighborhood look so similar, why not make ours pop? I would describe the color as fire engine red. I love how it turned out and a few of my friends mentioned it at Book Club.

I'm not hosting Book Club again at my house anytime soon, but I am hosting a baby shower in a few weeks. I'm sure I'll think of more projects for Andrew to complete in the meantime. :)

Labor Day Weekend

You can tell I've been reading a good book (or 2) since my blogging has taken the back burner...

Over Labor Day weekend, we went with some friends to St. George. We had a blast. There were 7 couples total (all from our ward) and I think 8 little kids. We stayed in the nicest place. We all had our own bedrooms and bathrooms. There was a massive hot tub, a mini pool in the backyard, a pool table, a movie theater room, and a community pool within walking distance.

After making the drive to WA, I didn't blink an eye about the 3 and 1/2 hour drive to St. George. James was easy and the trip went by quickly. Unfortunately, a rock hit our windshield on the drive and the chip quickly spread. We got our windshield replaced when we got home.

Things I want to remember about the trip:

• Karaoke night.
• The dance and slideshow the boys put together while we were gone.
• Cynthia's chex mix. (It had coconut!)
• Hannah's cookies.
• James riding on a train.
• Andrew rock climbing with the boys.
• James splashing in the water. He loved playing in the water, was giddy over the slide, and started jumping in on his own.
• Going out with the girls Saturday night. The men stayed home and put the kids to bed while we went shopping at the outlets. Win, win!

James, Lyla, and Maeve

The train ride

The conductor let James sit here. As you can see, he should have picked another child.

Things I want to forget about the trip:

• Cards Against Humanity. Not my favorite game. The person who goes first is the person who pooped most recently. 
• My workout with Kristee and Chelsea. I thought I was in shape, but doing squats for 30 minutes strait made it very difficult to walk the rest of the weekend.
• Playing pickle ball. (It was actually really fun, but I could hardly move because of my soreness. My friends later told me I looked like an old grandma while playing.)

We are considering going on a cruise with some of these same friends. I hope Andrew and I finally make it happen. A cruise is something we have talked about for nearly 6 years. 

We feel so fortunate to have found such dear friends. Finding couples we both like hasn't always been easy and it has definitely taken some time.