Projects in the Works

Lead-Safe Man: Bathroom

Lead-free Girls Project: Repair, Child-Proof, & Paint Deck

First Day of School

Archer, Clara and I put Lily and Noelle on the bus this morning! Of course our morning routine needs some refining, so I did not get pictures on our way out the door.

Clara and I had fun doing preschool first thing after sissies left.

Then we did some chores and a puzzle. I think this fall will be a good chance for us to do these things together!

Then about 11am we left to pick up Noelle, and Daddy came with us! Clara complained about her legs hurting the entire time. Fun.

Noelle had lots of energy to skip home, though!

After a quiet lunch and afternoon of doing chores with Noelle and starting a game of Battleship, we headed to the bus stop to wait for Lily. 

Arch and I are not thrilled about her 40 min bus ride home (it's not even three quarters of a mile away) so we may alter the afternoon plan soon. But she is super cute and gave us a pretty good account of her first day!

Her favorite part of today?

"Recess, once I get to know more people."

Oh, my sweet shy girl. So proud of her.

Enjoying the Lone Star Summer

New England is beautiful in the summer: perfect weather for relaxing, hiking, working and playing inside, outside, upside down.

But for this Texas native, summer in New England feels like a longish spring: it never gets hot enough to swim!

So for the last 10 days I've been enjoying the 100 degree sun in Dallas out by the pool. I've also been enjoying the free on-demand babysitting, 5-star meals, and catching up with much of my family. 

Now we are headed home- the long way through several old home-sites across the Midwest. What a sweet blessing to enjoy family and friendship!

Life is change.

That's what my Me-mommy said, anyway, and we have a lot of changes going on lately.

In our 9 years of marriage, we have had mailing addresses in 6 different states. Can you name them all?!

We just bought a big ole house that needs work and moved into it. We aren't moving. Ever.

We're having a baby boy. Not in March.

And we have enrolled our two oldest girls in public school for the fall.

So Mama is outsourcing school for a bit.

(new school shoes.)

Consequently, we moved our cross-country road trip up a couple of weeks to be back in time for school to start. 

More fun to come!

Summer at the Lake

Although our lives have been filled with settling in and house projects, we spent every weekend in July at Lake Winnepesaukee, enjoying good times with Archer's family and the many exciting activities that the family camp affords.

Like making meals for 30 people.

Turning blue while swimming in the northern climes.

Swimming anyway.

Sailing.

Playing in the sandbox.

Windsurfing.

More sailing.

Loads of fun!

Swimming Lessons

It took us 15 minutes to walk to swimming lessons at Lake Potanipo this morning.

We started out running for the first 2 minutes until Mama remembered she was 23 weeks pregnant. Ouch.

This is our last day this year, since we are skipping the last week next week I'm favor of swimming in Geeda's pool in Dallas. But it's been great for the last two weeks!

Playing on the beach.

Enjoying the view.

And gaining confidence and swimming skills!

Noelle's Class

Lily's Class

Free swimming and playing with new friends!

It took us a while to get used to the cool air (the water is warmer than the air), but the Lands End end-of-season sale on rashguards warmed us up just enough to stop turning blue during the 40minute lessons.

How Archer's Work is Going

We've had a lot of questions about this lately, which is understandable given the big change to telecommuting. 

I could give lots of details, but since Arch probably won't write his own blog post unless I twist his arm (he's too busy abating lead and stacking wood in his off hours anyway), I'll just say a picture is worth a thousand words.

Cyber security and a kettle bell. I feel safer already, don't you?! 

Finally Finished Kitchen Floors

Almost as soon as I had completed the initial paint job on the kitchen floors, I wished I had chosen a darker color. 

Here's why: my "muddy" girls:

Shown above cleaning the brown paint off their feet and hands. 

If you can't beat'em, join'em.

Now, the real dirt will be hidden by the cutest little brown footprints you ever saw. 

Kitchen Complete.