So to say the least we have been busy the last few months. At the end of July we flew out to the other LA for a few days for Jason's and Liz's wedding. It was beautiful and a lot of fun. We had a blast with the extended family and the cousins especially had a blast.
While we were gone someone had a run in with our mailbox leaving it looking about like this.
We have been wanting to replace it because it was already a little broken and leaked every time it rained (which is a lot in Baton Rouge). Now we had a little extra motivation since it could no longer hold mail, which means the USPS wouldn't deliver it. So we headed to the hardware store and got a new post, exterior paint, box, and numbers. After a few coats of primer and paint and a new hole we had a functioning mailbox again. But we weren't done yet. Mulch and flowers were on sale so Josh and I made this nice little planter. The stones were from around the koi pond that we removed a few months back. Josh just broke them into smaller pieces and pieced them together. During this process we also learned that our creeping grass has taken over about six inches of our driveway.
After over a year, Hannah can now play in her Playroom.
When we took all of the popcorn ceilings down in the bedrooms before we moved in, we rushed it and didn't let everything dry long enough before we painted the walls. This left two main problems: first, we didn't take the time to skim coat the ceiling to hide the nails or the ceiling damage and secondly, when we removed the tape after painting the walls it took the paint, primer, and, in some cases, the drywall tape with it. Almost every bedroom ceiling looks like this (this is from the master).
So we finally got the motivation and the funding to start fixing the problem. We started in the playroom because we have been using it as a place to store all of the stuff that we don't want to deal with. It looked something like this for most of the last year.
After sorting through most of it and moving all of it we covered the entire floor in plastic and fixed the ceiling.
Then Josh tried out the new paint sprayer on all of the shelves that were going to be built or reinstalled. We found that it was just wasteful to use it on the ceiling. We then painted the ceiling, patched some damaged spots on the walls, and painted the walls (because I have decided that I only like half of the colors that we chose when we initially painted the entire interior).
Then we built storage shelves for Hannah's toys. They may look a lot like Ikea shelves, but they cost a lot less and I could customize the size more.
I also made fun labels for the boxes. Since Hannah can't quite read (though she will tell you otherwise), I found pictures online to illustrate the categories. With my trusty laminator and spray adhesive they were looking great.
We found the table and chairs at the Habitat Restore a few weeks back and gave them a friendly coat of paint. The table top is chalkboard paint which explains that chalky mess that Hannah loves.
We also reinstalled the desk in the closet with a few modifications so that I can have a project space. I haven't quite organized it, but most of the mess is from the costumes that I have already started working on. At some point we hope to install french-style doors to increase storage and decrease the chances of little fingers getting into things. In the short term, I am looking for a baby gate that is wide enough to do the job. We are still looking to do a few more finishing touches, but only time will tell what they are.
In the midst of all of our projects, we had this pesky hurricane come visit for a couple days. We lost power for a few days and most of our yard was under several inches of water (which, sadly, is not uncommon for any hard rain). Luckily, Josh has some great bosses. One of them lent us a generator and portable AC while another lent us a fan and some gas. But we didn't let it get our spirits down! Hannah and Josh even had a blast cooking dinner on the grill one night while it stormed.
Funny thing: it was too wet to rake-up the debris from the storm, but just wet enough to make digging out the Monkey Grass along the front walk much easier. As we dug it out, we realized that our over-grown yard has been hiding several inches of our front walk and that we actually have a small front porch. After sorely underestimating the amount of mulch we needed (and Josh having an unfortunate encounter with poison ivy) we eventually cleaned-up the front planter. We haven't decided what to do with it yet, but we reused some paving stones that were randomly placed in the backyard for a little walk between the driveway and front door. We also replanted a bush that you can't even see in the picture from when we moved in, but was on the edge of the driveway close to the house.
The mulch didn't look great long since it is fall, and in our yard that means lots of acorns and leaves.
Another item that has kept us very busy is potty training. We have been working very slowly on this for several months, but one morning when we had forgotten to wash the diapers Josh and Hannah thought panties were a great solution. I was not nearly as excited since I knew the work was going to mostly fall on me. But after several pairs of wet pants and panties she finally started to get the hang of it. About a month or so later she is really mostly on top of it during her waking hours.
Here are a few random Hannah pictures, because who doesn't like that?!
Playing beauty shop with Max.
Cuddling with her favorite cat while watching her favorite show, Curious George.
Washing Baby Sarah in the sink. Don't let her size confuse you; she has a few age spots from being about 24 years old.
For some reason this was how she needed to be dressed for "work" one evening. She then proceeded to walk the neighborhood like this as we waited for Daddy to come home. The complete ensemble is her normal clothes, a tutu, Rapunzel braid, hat (that is too small), and stroller with an empty back pack and (I think) a doll.
Hannah making scary monster faces at breakfast one day.
Hannah pretending to be a cat with Max. I don't remember what they were looking at or why she is topless. My best guess is rain. She loves to watch it and get naked in it.
Hannah drawing in a box. Why? Cause that's my girl!
