The Master

We decided to stick with the original porch for now and get a redo down the road. Quick, what's different in this photo?



Don't know if you can tell, but below are the 2 colors we considered for the master. The one of the far right was called Respite and it turned out to be a little too dark, so we went with Take Five, up one slot on the color strip and to the left in the photo. It looks great.

These are the faucets in the master.

This is what the connection point of a low flow toliet looks like. I thought it was pretty cool.

And, in the top photo, the shutters are missing. They were rotting out and fell into the category of 'while you are here'. Boy we could easily get into trouble with that one.

Paint Colors and House Update

This is the screened porch as they are installing the screen. We ate dinner out here tonight (which is really Sept. 1 as I type the text).

The next picture with the ladder is of the solo-tube in the family room. It's taken from the dining room.






























The dining room wall color was the most difficult to select. I knew what I wanted, but couldn't figure out the best match of a color.

The yellow on the right is what I started with--but it was too electric. The yellow on the right had only one coat and is difficult to make out in the picture, as well as real life, but we went with it (our neighbor who could have her house in a magazine suggested it). It's exactly what I was going for and looks great after the second coat.

Battle of the greens. I always seem to pick a shade on the strip that is too dark and Den picks the one that is too light. If we ever learn to split the difference, we'll be all set. I picked the dark green photo--and while it looked cool, was just too much. I think it was sassy green. Then we went with Hearts of Palm and it looks great. Granted in 5 or maybe 10 years it will be out of style, but by then the walls will need to be painted anyway :)

I'll have to try and remember to show the 'oranges/rusts' of the powder room. We ultimately went with the same green as the Family Room, but had been trying to compliment the marmolleum floor.

Hanging out

This is another post that should have been posted (I have about 6 of these where I uploaded the photos and then never got the chance). The kids have been sick for about 2.5 weeks and we had a slight scare with hand, foot, mouth, but a doctor's visit confirmed we are in the clear and don't have it. Good to know my kids aren't eating poop.

Eddie has entered the bandaide phase. These are actually covered misquito bites to prevent him from scratching them. I can't believe how big Josie has gotten. She just seems to have shot up overnight. And, she has quite the personality. She is just now finally starting to talk--ball and balloon are close cousins in her diction. She has probably a dozen other words that come into play at random times, from people's names to objects. She'll say them once exactly as they are pronounced and then not again for a long while.

Eddie and Josie -- Together At Last

Whoops! I thought I had posted this a while back (on the 5th). After months of trying to get Eddie and Josie to be within 5 feet of each other, we got the following pictures in pretty close sucession. I maintain that this top one is the best/my favorite. Needless to say, they are into sunglasses at the moment.

Eddie is really into hugging and kissing J. He loves to hold her hand, but she doesn't usually want to hold his. Who can blame her tho' as at some point he ends up yanking something from her hands, or walloping her or in some way making the interaction more than sweet hand-holding.

I bought them a doctor kit complete with a doctor's lab coat. I'm still looking for the stethscope that you can hear real heartbeats through like what I had when I was a kid.
Eddie looks like my sister in this second 'doctor' picture. Cracks me up, esp. since Josie was the one who always seemed to resemble my side of the family.

Don't know if you can tell in this picture at the table, but Josie is cracking up. She is just laughing hysterically. This is one of the first times they both ate a meal at the table and were able to stay there. She loves sitting at the table. Den and I are just anxious to have the dining room back. We find we are eating more food because we are grazing as we stand and that is affecting the waistline.

Happy 08/08/08 day!

I can't resist writing today. The kids had a rough day--at least Ed did. House is really coming along. We're about a week away from completion.

Most pictures soon.

What Sinks In

Den has started trying to run more regularly (he used to run 6 miles daily). And then we had kids. His route is pretty hilly and so while pushing the kids in the double stroller this week, Eddie heard him puffing along and said "I think I can, I think I can" as they climbed a hill. Completely unprovoked. Scary to think of what else he picks up from us... One of his favorite books is The Little Engine That Could.

House Update (a bit old)

Call me geeky, but after I nearly stepped on this, I made Den take a photo of it as I rushed back out the door to take our beloved nanny home. I still remember the snail we saw last fall in FLA and that I didn't get a photo of that, but this guy was huge. I'd never seen one so large.

When we redid our kitchen, they talked about zippered doors they would put up. They never did. For this addition, they kept talking about zippered doors and never put them up. But FINALLY, when they were going to sand the drywall, they put up the zippered door. It's pretty darn cool--except that you have to watch as you step through, or you'll end up on your face--just ask Den.

When we got home from the beach, we found the floor covered with a dura-board type of thing. I didn't realize it would be in place such a short time, so I grabbed the camera to follow it out the door. We have been so pleased and impressed with these contractors, they're just great.

Here's the master bath counter. To make a really long story short, it's a reminent piece of marble. I really wanted something else--something green. Turns out the green products we liked did not go with the marble we have selected for the rest of the bath. I think that was part of our mistake---going with the faux marble in the rest of the bath because then not much else was looking good to us. After working so hard to make this a 'green' remodel, this is the decision that leaves me with the greatest angst. I even made a last ditch ask for Ceasarstone, but was talked out of it. Oh well. I did get my radiant floor heat and heated towel bar, so won't complain further about anything else in the bath. It is going to be GREAT.

Last of the Beach Photos

I swear these are the last photos I will bore you with. Is it any wonder that my readership is about 10 :) Like Randy Pausch, I'm doing this for my kids--well and for Den and me when we are old and senile.

I digress. Den and the Ergo got a workout--first with Jo and then Eddie. We've thought about buying a second as it's such a pain to make adjustments as the fit is quite important.

Eddie loved this spiral staircase and he also loved the blue room. But...everyone was too nervous to let him sleep in one of the twin beds at the top, so he made daily visits and we checked out the view of the ocean.

Does the beach wear a kid out? This was around 5:30pm. G'pa was positive he was going to fall asleep and seemed to report on it about every 3 minutes. Eventually, as all the commotion continued around him, Eddie fell asleep. Right at the table.

As we rushed to get on the road, we paused to snap a quick photo on the front steps. The house was quite large (about 3600 sf), so a little difficult to capture the whole thing from any one angle. There are a couple other houses I'd like to check out for next summer, but if no other options, would definitely be interested in this one again. Well, except for the shark problem.

Paper Cookies

We had Chinese tonight. Usually we save Chinese nights for g'parents Ohio as they seem to love the joint near our house. We had last gotten it at least a month ago. Half-way through his dinner of pork spare ribs (aka dog bones), he started asking for the 'paper cookies'.

Den and I looked at each other and cracked up. Fortune Cookies, you mean?

Eddie's fortune was:

You will always have good luck in your personal affairs.

Boy that warms a mother's heart--I just want my kids to be happy.

The night after this Josie turned 16 months. This month Eddie will be 3 and a half. Someday I'll post an update of them...but I'm too busy blogging about the house.