What is on Alex's face today?

Everyday his face looks like this, it is always something different.

1. Chocolate ice cream

2. Strawberry banana smoothie

3. bagel

John had the same to eat.

Compare and contrast

Break from the Madness

Oh, how I love the Carolina beaches.  We took our annual beach vacation in the beginning of June.  A two day, 13 hour drive to get to this.

Excellent photography by Alex through extremely dirty car window.

 The weather was wonderful and the kids enjoyed the days at the beach.

Sandcastles were made and destroyed, holes were dug, and mermaids were created.

 We found the perfect climbing tree in the back yard.  It is called a live oak and splits low to the ground and is very strong.  Even I ventured up to show the kids how it is done.

We ended our trip with a one day marathon haul back home, 13 hours and of course all of the amazing views you get to experience.

for example....

8 foot statues of random animals beside a gas station, and no they weren't for sale.  I couldn't help but wonder why they all were pointed in the same direction.  I mean Why?

Get Ready, Get Set,...eventually we'll go

Okay, sorry for the break I have made two trips to Arizona in the last month, one was 72 degrees and gorgeous and one was 103 degrees still gorgeous, but realized I am not built for that type of heat.  I should start a running commentary on some of the amazing hotels I get to stay in when traveling.  If any one is interested surf over to Scottsdale Biltmore and the Sanctuary.

Mark and I are making progress on the house.  We had our inspection, signed with a realtor, and this weekend we are officially on the market.

Many thanks to my parents for taking care of the boys while we were traveling and extra special thanks for help around the house.

Finished the back porch, with a few potted plants and a great deal on seat cushions.  I think my love affair with the color green may be waning a bit.  I totally wanted to go red, but I think I will save that for the next house.

Ta Da.....

View from inside

For those of you who haven't met Tyler, he is our new friend.

Take a look at the finished front door.  Our neighbor was telling us a story about how in Edisto Island all the doors are painted blue to keep the devil out, interesting story but Mark insists it looks like the Tardis from Dr. Who.  Either way I like it the color and I added a couple of potted plants and some hostas from our neighbor to fill out some of the bare areas.

One quick update I made was replacing the lamp post in the front yard, as the old one had mysteriously lost it lid.  Mark was pretty sure I would electrocute myself, I thought by turning off all power to the house it would be safe, but he was convinced somehow that the lamppost was not connected to the house and somehow source its power straight from the Power plant, thus I was doomed.  Mark was standing near by with a stick just in case.  My hero.  Though he got me back later that night when Penny brought a baby rabbit in to the kitchen.  I totally screamed and jumped on the counter thinking it was a rat.  The boys came running in, and of course I was concerned that they would be crushed by the slight of the dead baby bunny, and tried to shield them.  They both were delighted and wanted to see if there was blood.  Boys.

I did that!!

Up next house tour part 3.

House Tour part two

Let's start with the bedrooms.  The master bedroom is still a work in progress, but I guess it will be considered finished now as we are selling the house.  The room is a nice size, big enough to fit a king bed which is key when you are as tall as Mark and I are.  When we first moved in there was a wall a/c unit cut high in the wall, it was a hideous eye sore, about two years in when we had the house painted we removed the wall unit and closed off the hole. The electrical outlet still exists but way better than the before.  The closet had sliding doors that meant you could never see the whole closet, we replaced them with actual hinged doors.  It made all the difference.

Hi there John!

Here is the opposite view.  The color is jicama from Benjiman Moore,  I liked the warmth of the color as many yellows tend to be very cool.

Next up the boys' rooms.
I just finished Alex's room about week before every started with the move.

The room is painted Yosemite Sand,  he picked out an orange carpet, so we went with it and added a couple of pictures that are orange as well and hung blue curtains to balance it out. Here is the opposite end.

The prints are Charlie Harper from our calendar, unfortunately now we do not have July and September to look forward to.

Here is John's room as it today.

We added a chair the same as Alex's and we have hung a picture over the bed. I made the curtains when we moved into the house 4 years ago.  They are falling apart, but I don't have the initiative to make new ones.

We are expecting the Realtors to come in this week to evaluate the house for sell price. Hopefully all will go well.  I will keep you updated.

Two done...fifty-eleven to go

Wishing all a happy mother's day.

We finished the back porch. We used BM Montgomery White, which was left over from the basement.
We had a ton of splatter as the boys wanted to help so badly. I found some stuff that breaks down the paint, it worked, but it turned the whole floor into a gooey mess.  After a mop up, here are the finished result.

I am pretty pleased with the results. Note the Hostas that I still have to plant.  I am sort of in a holding pattern as to the yard.  We are hiring a landscape company to come in help.


I finished the front door today, well not quite I still need to bog and paint the trim.  I may also put a coat of polyurethane to make it shine, the paint I used was a semigloss for exteriors.   What do you think??


Before: 

After:

It is a bit brighter than I expected, I will give it couple days to decide if it needs to be changed.  Any thoughts?

Now we are getting somewhere

It is official, we are moving to Miami.  The relocation company starts up next week.

As for updates around the house we decided to remove the storm door at the front door.  It was a relic from the 80's, maybe the 70's. So of course it leaves a big mess, we are going to need to repaint and caulk the door again.   I went ahead and decided to paint the front door.  I chose a dark blue to contrast with the brick, but there is a little blue in the brick as well. I hope it turns out well, if not I can always paint it back to white.

Just a couple more things to do around the house to get it ready to sell.  The basement office and playroom is a big mess and will definitely need to be organized.  Here is what it looks like today.


The mattresses need to be put in covers and stored in the utility side of and all the toys need to put back in there place.  Here is the other side of the playroom.

What a mess!  Maybe we should fix up the light fixture as well.  I will post another picture once we everything has been done.


One more thing, for you Mom.  I replanted the planters.  They look great, thanks for the inspiration.

House Tour part one - Living room

Brief overview of the house, three bedroom ranch within 30 minutes of NYC.  Whoo-hoo! Granted I have not been to the city in six months, it figures.

The azalea's are just about to bloom in a couple of days.  If you look very close, you can see Penny in the window.

Here is our living room.  This room has seen many incarnations.  We first bought the house it was red, I mean RED, in Crayola red.  Thankfully, my dad is a great believer in quick coat of paint goes a long way and he was game to help paint.

Here is the room from the Kitchen

 From the front door

And now from the dining room.  

I am still unsure about the Dandelion on the wall.  I love the idea and it was pain to put up, so I live with it.  It will most likely come down in the future.

Please be aware the mess is hidden strategically out of the picture.  

Living room breakdown:

Those two blue chairs, were once lime green velvet that I bought in NYC when I first got my own apartment.  I loved them instantly and though I planned on changing the material right away, I ended up living with them for 10 years before I actually had it recovered.  I miss the lime green but the material was worn and stained and there was no way to fix it. 

The coffee table was an obsession for two years before I finally bought them.  It comes with two nesting tables that I am currently using as side tables to the sofas.  It is a great combination of durability and looks.  I love the simplicity of the design, though it may not be everyone's favorite.

The sofas were to replace the one that Penny ate.  Literally, she would dig at the cushion till it broke apart and then eat it.  I have always had a love/hate relationship with a sectional, love the look, the function, and the way it builds a room.  The reason I got two sofas was the flexibility, I wanted the option to either face each other or create a sectional L.  I like be able to change the room up.

The art was won at an auction through work.  The thing I remember the most was the artist was an extreme close talker and was making us totally uncomfortable as we slowly backed up to get some space.  I think my co-worker ended up in standing in a Ficus Tree by the time we were able to excuse ourselves.  

The TV... I will give this one to Mark. enough said.

The TV stand is/was suppose to be a temporary piece, we have had it for 5 years.  It serves a purpose, as I can't find anything else I like.  In the meantime, it stays where it is.