Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Conversation Lately


Dad: Hughes, who are you going to marry when you get older?

Hughes: um, probably Miller

Dad: oh, really. She's pretty. Banks, who are you going to marry?

Banks: nobody

Hughes: Banks, you're going to be a big man and be all alone and live by yourself. That's not fun.



Today, while riding in the car with me.

Mom: Hughes, what are you going to be when you grow up?

Hughes: a paleontologist

Mom: oh, who are you going to marry?

Hughes: Miller

Mom: Banks, what are you going to be when you grow up?

Banks: basketball player

Mom: Who are you going to marry?

Banks: no one, I'm going to live with you and Dad


Guess, I can't be surprised when I have our 35 year old living with us. He warned us early.




Monday, January 30, 2012

January


The month of January has flown by. We've been busy but not a lot of pictures were taken. The house is on the market and we've had one showing. I cleaned like the devil only for the boys to mess it up immediately upon coming home after school.

David only has a late class once a week so he's home after 8 most nights. I still think the Kindle we got as a Christmas surprise from David's parents is the best thing ever invented. I've read about 10 books since Christmas which is crazy. Reading at night = less Real Housewives watching. Probably for the best. I'll probably be expected to talk politics later this year in DC and not be asked what the housewives of Beverly Hills are doing.

The weather has been beautiful. Is there a way to take these 70 degree winter days to DC with me next year? We've been looking online and we've narrowed the potential areas to Arlington, Alexandria and Falls Church.

Banks playing Wii. No, Collins is not playing. He just likes to hold the other steering wheel. He thinks he's big stuff now that he can crawl up onto the couch.

Hughes, Hudson and Banks

The boys have been into basketball. Suzie made them these basketball jerseys. Hughes (obviously) still has trouble with some numbers going the correct way. They think these are awesome! I bought them some basketball shorts at Target and now they think they are the real deal. We practice with the recycling bin in the driveway as our goal. I've been trying to teach them about how practicing makes you better. David has been teaching them how to talk smack. Now, Banks and Hughes say "booyah" when they make a shot and "get that junk out of here" or "this is my house" when they block someone's shot. It is quite hysterical to hear Hughes talk trash because he doesn't quite have the voice inflection correct. It's more monotone. So, there you go. Two different parenting styles. Let's just hope they don't start smack talking their teachers!

Collins' favorite toy. He loves it. In and out. In and out. He thinks he's pretty big.

I love this smile. Such enthusiasm.

This turkey is almost 16 months old. He's been taking a few steps but doesn't feel the need to really walk yet. He prefers crawling and I haven't pushed it too hard. He's got about 6 teeth trying to pop through at the moment so he's been a bear to be with unless he's on my hip while I'm standing up.

He likes to swing high. I think he'll be my dare devil and roller coaster kid.

And, lastly, Hughes had a 100 Days of School project due today. We did 100 fingers. We traced our handprints twice, cut them out, and then labeled them by 5's up to 100. These are the boys' handprints. I love them. I think I'm going to do some kind of art project with them but make them in black.

So, there is January. Nothing too exciting. Just good family time.

Monday, January 16, 2012

House for Sale!


We have painted, we have stained, we have de-cluttered, we have Goodwilled, and we have taken pictures. The house is officially on the market! Any takers?

Like my picture? Like the green grass? Well, it pays to take pictures of your house when the yard is in bloom and it is summer. I took this picture two years ago and have several of the backyard with all of the flowers in bloom.

As far as the painting goes, not as easily done as said. On Friday, I touched up all over the house with our main interior color. I've done this before but it had been a while. Well, I did the entire house. I mean every mark, ding, and scratch was painted over leaving nothing but beautiful mark-free walls. Right? Wrong! Last year we had an unfortunate upstairs leak that came through the downstairs' ceiling. It resulted in a lot of dry wall being replaced, new floors being put in, and freshly painted walls. Apparently, the guy who painted the interior of our house 4 years ago and the painters from last year used two different shades of pony tail. So, while I happily touched up our walls ALL over our house on Friday I was really ruining every wall I painted.

Fast forward several hours when I realize that this paint that I have used is a slight shade darker than our wall color. I wanted to scream, to cry, to drink myself silly. It took me a while to figure out what had happened because, like I said above, I had done this so many times before. Apparently the painters from last year only touched up the two walls affected which is why when I touched up those walls they looked perfectly fine. So, needless to say, Saturday night was a painting party at the house. We haven't even approached upstairs and I'm trying to convince David to just hire someone to do the upstairs.

Besides that minor catastrophe, everything else went as planned. The boys came back on Sunday and we were glad to have the MLK holiday to relax and prepare for the week ahead.

So, yes, our house is on the market and our upstairs needs to be repainted quickly. I need a drink.

Monday, January 9, 2012

On your mark, Get set,


GO!

2012 feels just like that so far. We have started the year off being very busy. We have lots of changes coming this year and we're excited!

1. We are getting ready to put our house on the market which means we are in the trenches of cleaning, painting, decluttering, goodwilling, etc. I'm embarrassed by the amount of stuff in our house that I had no problem giving away. We are also doing For Sale By Owner which adds an entire stress level to the situation.

2. David starts his last semester of law school tonight. Can I get a hallelujah? So, we then have law school graduation, the Bar to study/take, and then a job. On the bright side, I'm use to David being gone from 8am to 10pm during his school year so even if he does have to work until 8pm at the office it is still better than night school.


If I ever get the house ready (hopefully in about 2 weeks) then I'll post pictures. If you know of anyone wanting to move to Charleston (Johns Island) and want to buy a house please let me know!


Guess Who Is Taking Steps?

He's not full-out walking yet but he will take three steps and then fall on his bottom. We clap, he claps, and then he crawls away. He also loves to open doors and go through them only to return 5 seconds later. This game can entertain him for a long time.

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