Lately

Whew, we've been busy lately!  It really does sound crazy for me to admit that I am officially busier now, not working, than I was while working.  More on what we've been doing to fill our days later.  But, for now, here are some pics from the last couple of weeks, since school started!

library time.

Seriously, Parker's favorite thing each day.  He drives on the street while I try to keep up.

Sydney wearing D-Dad's brace.

Super Sydney!

Peace? Pulp Fiction?  You decide.

Got my bargain shopping on.  All of this for $19!

Parker's first day of preschool!

Sydney was at a friend's house swimming, so I entertained these two with water.

New additions to Sydney's room!

I got to eat lunch with the girls!  They each got to pick a friend to join us.

Parker getting his hand painted.

Learning time!  A is for alligator.

The recliner flipped over!  Whoops.

This might be why...

Red was our color of the week!

Eek!  Another tooth gone.  That was 2 in a matter of days.

A wreath I made for my sister's new house!

Can you tell what movie she likes?

and another tooth!

B is for butterfly...

...and bunny.

Surprise blacklight party at the local froyo place.

Country club for our friend's surprise 30th bday.

Surprise, Mary!

My view the other morning.  Parker had been painting, I had been painting... it was breezy outside.  Life is good.

Room Re-dos!

Since we decided we're going to stay put here for a little longer, and the fact that I don't have a 9-5 job anymore, I decided to redecorate the girls' rooms!  I had gotten some cute, bright comforters and based everything else around them.  The girls LOVE their new rooms.  Sydney's room had been yellow since the summer of 2008, and we had tediously painted stripes along the back wall to match her crib bumper.  (Only to realize it's not really safe to even have a crib bumper... suffocation hazard as an infant, then a climbing tool when they can pull up... we basically never used it!)  Taylor's has been that lovely purple (I'm not the biggest purple fan) for 3 years.  Both transformations took me a good 2 days... one day to paint the walls, and the next day to paint or make the decorations in their rooms.

I'll start with Sydney's.

Before:

After:

The stripes and head of the bed used to be on the wall with the mural of frames.  Now, the bed is turned differently.  Her room seems so much bigger!

This is the far right side of that striped wall.

Before:

After:

And here's Taylor's:

After, from this angle:

Before:

After, from this angle:

This is what the color looks like on the walls... the bed picture looks way dark.

Success!  I love their new rooms!

A few comparisons

Here are some comparisons from last year to this year!

 (same shirt, different writing.  Darn iron-ons didn't make it through the year!)

 (you can tell how much she's grown by looking at the doorknob)