House Update

We've been working hard on the house lately, and things are finally starting to come around.

In the Livingroom, our bedroom, the entry-way, and the kitchen:

we tore off the edges of the wallpapered walls (noteverything would come off...as we learned the heard way in the livingroom...so we just pulled up the edges that were curling up) and sanded them down. Neil then went over the edges with Joint Compound (Bella's new favorite word) and we sanded again. Then, we primed the walls, had a friend come help us texture the walls to match the rest of the house, primed the walls again, and now we're working on painting them.

Whew! That's a lot of work.

The good news: once we finish painting the walls, we'll be able to pull up the rest of the carpet and put down new flooring!!!!

We have been going back and forth between hardwood and laminate - weighing the difference between raising the resale value of the house and just dealing with scratches (looking at them as adding character) as they come with hardwood, or not raising the resale value as much and at the same time not having to worry about the flooring with kids running around with laminate.

We opted for the latter. We loved having laminate in GA - so easy to clean and so durable. We found one that I think is really pretty too :) So, we've got the flooring picked out (for the dining room, entry, livingroom, hallway, and our bedroom)...now it's just a matter of putting it in. It'll probably be about another month or so before Neil is able to get it done, but I'm still super-excited!

Here's our sample of the flooring we want:

Oh! And I totally haven't shared the project that I did a while back!

I got this old contractor chandalier from the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Clebourne (about 30 min. away). I used spray paint to prime it and paint it a metalic bronze color, and we hung it in our dining room. Isn't it pretty??

Before:

After:

The Mom Song

So I was listening to the radio today, and they played this song, and I thought it was fabulous. Thought I'd share :)

Go Fish - The Mom Song
- Watch more Sports Videos at Vodpod.

Oh, the possibilities...

There may be something pretty exciting brewing in the future for this Jones family. However, I'm not going to state what's going on until I have confirmation that it isn't just some crazy idea or dream... when there is some kind of concrete info to share.
No babies that I'm aware of, so don't go guessing on that road...
I know. I'm a horrible tease.

I will only say that an amazing opportunity seems to be opening up for me. I'm challenged by the possibilities - but excited all the same. Could you pray for me? That the doors would either continue to blow wide open, or that they would be slammed shut - For God's will to prevail - for courage - for creativity - for peace - for wisdom - for continued humility and awe.

Thanks so much!

Watermelon

We spent July 4th weekend with Neil's family in Louisiana. Too bad I totally slacked off on packing the camera...grr... So this is the best I got with my camera phone. But totally great! This boy loves his watermelon just as much as his Daddy and sister do! :)

Stainless Steel, Here we come!

I just ordered some stainless steel cups for the kids! I'm way excited!

For Balian, we have the Organickidz stainless steel bottles. They come in 4, 7, and 9 oz., and they have both narrow and wide bottles. We are getting the 9 oz. wide bottles, however, we're going to use it as a sippy. (you can use all of the Avent sippy spouts with it or Thinkbaby sippy spouts as well)...and later on as a sport cup. http://www.organickidz.ca/ But we got ours from Babies R Us - one stop shopping for bottles, sippy spouts, trainer handles, etc. (and a bit of a price break)

For Bella, we have the Klean Kanteen - 12 oz, has all kinds of different top options, including a sippy cup (using the Avent sippy spout...which means you COULD use it with the Avent bottle nipples too...but 12 oz. seems a bit large for that...). Later on, when the sport top comes out with the organickidz stuff, we'll get those and Bella and Balian can share. The Klean Kanteen comes in lots of different fun, happy colors too! http://www.kleankanteen.com/