things are getting interesting

things are shakin' at the homestead.

... garage was drywalled today.

... siding guys were putting up the soffits.

... there's siding in the front yard dirt.

... the basement ceiling is drywalled.

... trim-y looking things have arrived.

(must find out tomorrow what the round rods are ... to the best of my recollection there's nothing round in this house. other than me.)

... doors arrived.

... and rumor has it the cabinets will start to be set this week.

cabinets, people. this is gettin' REAL.

in case you haven't seen the month two album, the rest of the house has been drywalled, mudded, the ceilings have been knocked down, and i believe all has been primed.

in other interesting news ...

my mom was up for a leisurely 36 hour visit last weekend, and we took a trip to ikea ... she needed rugs, i needed lights. it was a win/win.

i picked up one of these lovelies (the small version):

it's for the arty room at the front of the house. a room that, according to the plan, will be painted a creamy, buttery color ...

(benjamin moore windham cream)

i had found this amazing hack of the light ...

and had plans to totally steal make my own version for over the craft table. where the rest of the room would go beyond that was still fuzzy, but then i saw this wallpaper ...

and then i found an amazing deal on craigslist for a vintage metal industrial shelf with 32 wire baskets. the shelf is painted red, the baskets are in great shape ... i have to have it.

it looks kinda like this ...

oh yeah. i could have fun with that.

so now my head is spinning: gold maskros? buttery walls with one amy butler wallpaper accent wall? red metal shelf with wire baskets?? hmmm ... much warmer than the rest of the house, but i'm kind of loving the idea of this room.

but before i get ahead of myself, i need to make sure all the other duckies are lined up nice and neat. can't have round posts in a square house, regardless of pretty wallpaper and wire baskets.

first things first.

 

i need new glasses.

my last pair was purchased, oh, eight years and two prescriptions ago.

i think it's time.

awhile back i was reading making it lovely, and nicole mentioned trying on frames at home for free from warby parker, and i made note of the company because it sounded too good to be true. try on at home? for free? and then buy glasses for under a hundred bucks? from a company that also supports altruistic endeavors? sign me up!

the coolest part of the warby parker website is that it let's you "try on" frames before you order some to "try on" at home ... narrow down the playing field, as it were.

i figured, why not.

my playing field has narrowed thusly:

nedwin frame in revolver black ...

japhy frame in whiskey tortoiseshell ...

zagg frame in revolver black ...

langston frame in whiskey tortoiseshell ...

thompson frame in revolver black ...

... or i could go truly awesome and get a monocle.

the monocle isn't worn nearly often enough these days, loveys.

i'm leaning toward the langston or thompson, but i think they all need to be tried for real, just to be sure.

does anyone have any experience with this company? good? bad? prescription comes out just right? it's a little nerve-racking to think about getting it right via the mail, but heck ... for $95 i can guarantee they will still be better glasses than the ones that i've had since henry was a toddler.

and for my money, it's already been fun just playing.

a cardboard box.

our very own really expensive cardboard box.

that's how the house feels right now.

i thought i would be more excited about the presence of actual walls and ceilings, but you know what? it freaks me out. i can no longer see through everything and see all that light coming in. granted, there is still an amazing amount of light in here, but it's so, so different than what we've seen over the past seven weeks.

i'll get used to it. they'll start putting in the floors and cabinets and tile and all will be well.

right now, it just feels like a box.

and now that it's all boxed in, i see a big ol' regret:

the laundry room.

there was a miscommunication somewhere and i didn't catch it on the cabinet schematic, and now our washer and dryer will be butted up against the exterior wall. which means my dryer door won't open past 90 degrees. that might suck. and before the walls went up, i couldn't tell just how cramped it would be. stupid. this is going to bug me, i have a feeling. oh well ... too expensive to fix now. maybe i'll look into whether our w/d can be stacked ... that could solve the issue.

i really didn't want any regrets ... i was sure i had thought and double-thought everything. and yet i missed this one not-small thing.

sigh.

oh well.

on the other hand, i love my stairs and can't wait to see them with the balusters and newel posts and lights on the wall and art hanging.

speaking of decorating (was i?), photoshop and i worked out the great room the other day. i think i could love it ... though i may have to find a way to justify $100+/yard curtain fabric ... (something tells me that ain't gonna happen.)

 
but it looks quite lovely with the couch ... ha ha.

something tells me the cardboard box isn't going to get less expensive anytime soon.

an anticlimactic event, six years in the making

july '06 ... miss harper was 16 months old. it was hot outside. she looked adorable in her little yellow swimsuit with luscious, chubby thighs sticking out. i found a sweet little elmo misting sprinkler and placed it in the yard. she was curious ...

but as soon as she felt that spray of water, she was out of there.

and that was that.

july '07 ... miss harper was nearly two and a half. it was hot outside. she had this adorable little lavendar swimsuit with a wee little skirt, and cute, chubby little thighs sticking out. and she adored her big brother and trusted him implicitly and followed him to the sprinkler.

but as soon as she felt that spray of water, she was out of there.

she returned only when the water was turned low enough to be drinkable and non-threatening.

july '08 ... miss harper was now nearly three and a half years old. she has a cute green swimsuit with butterflies on it, and the sweetest little buns you ever did see. she wants to follow her brother all day long and do everything he does. everything, that is, except the sprinkler.

as soon as she saw that spray of water, she was out of there. and spent the remainder of outside time standing by the front steps, not to get even remotely close to the sprinkler.

her beloved brother tried his hardest to convince her it was fun, but she wasn't having it.

july '09 ... miss harper was now nearly four and a half. she had a whole basket full of adorable swimsuits because she was taking swim lessons and has turned out to be quite the little fish. maybe ... just maybe ... this will be the summer that she runs through the sprinkler in a state of sheer bliss.

maybe not.

so we tried a new approach: the slip and slide. she loved the idea, but when she saw the sprinkler, the trepidation returned.

she tried again ...

and we pounced. henry laid down on the slide and told her he'd give her a ride. still wary of the sprinkler, she had her own idea for how to make this all okay ...

when it was determined that the ability to slide without the mat wasn't going to fly for henry, harper gave up. and that was that.

july '10 ... miss harper was now nearly five and a half years old. at a friend's house. in a borrowed swimsuit. and finally, under peer pressure to just have fun already, she allowed herself to get wet by a hose.

there was still no running and leaping through a spray of icy water ...

but at least she played.

and there was hope.

july '11 ... miss harper is now nearly six and a half years old. and finally ...

finally ...

she played in a sprinkler.

and got soaking wet ...

and voluntarily went back into the sprinkler twice more within the next 48 hours.

and i don't know who felt more triumphant: her or me.

harnessing the good

last weekend we took the kids to the house with a very specific goal in mind:

blessing our home.

we had spent some time looking through the bible for verses and passages that spoke to us so that we could write them on the very bones of the house. why? because god told us to. in a manner of speaking.

1 These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. ... 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength ... 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

- deuteronomy 6:1-2, 5, 9

that is written on one side of the front door. good mojo every time someone comes or goes.

the kids actually enjoyed the exercise, and it opened up the bible in a whole new way for henry. i showed him how to use a concordance (dude, i went to a bible college. bet you didn't know that.) and he ran with it, looking up the words and ideas that are meaningful to him. he handed me some wonderful verses, and when i told him to pick his favorite for his room, he surprised me.

i guess our advice that he "choose his friends wisely" has sunk in.

harper had actually just finished vacation bible school when we did this, so there was a particular verse that she liked for her room:

then she turned around, channeled her mama, and wrote this:

(mama tends to be more of a new testament girl.)

i chose something a little less spiritual for the master bedroom ... i used the verse that was on marc's and my wedding program:

others around the house that are our favorites:

between the kids' rooms ...

(and i think we shall truly love our neighbors.)

in case you're wondering, marc also found a verse that's close to his heart:

("proverbs 13:4 lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper." in case you can't read it. so spiritual, he is.)

of course, the bible didn't provide all of the quotes we wrote ...

hey, i believe in all books. what can i say.