{Random}

Because I am all about string of consciousness in summer.

This is one batch of blueberry jam.  ONE. 

  I've made two batches so far.  I think that makes about half of our year's jam supply right there.  We have to move soon -- I'm running out of space in the pantry!

-----

Katie invented a new game: Fishing For Baby!

 -----

Andy is SOOO helpful folding the laundry

 -----

my two hard-working men

-----
This next one is from my birthday a couple weeks ago.  I only include it to prove that my husband is a first-class goober, since he put the WRONG AGE on my cake.

the apple doesn't fall far from the tree...

 Aside from the failed attempt to make me feel old (since Mr. Pickles is SO much older than I am and always will be and I am so young and carefree compared to his advanced age), I had a lovely birthday!  I got to do just what I wanted to do, the girls made me handmade presents, and Mr. Pickles cooked some fabulous meals.  Just what one wants for a 30-something (NOT -8) birthday.

-----
So we've had a hard time getting Andy to accept big people food.  I think at first it was a texture issue -- he couldn't handle anything that had to be mouthed.  He loved the mesh feeder, though, and had fun with that, when I had the energy to find things to put in it.  Finally after the home hurricane passed and I was able to spare brain cells on other activities, I introduced Andy to O's.  That was the gateway to a whole new delightful world of flavors and textures.

the girls love feeding him -- he is a very satisfying baby bird

yay!  food is fun!

 He seems so skinny to me that for a while I felt like a failure as his mother, that I wasn't able to provide him with the calories he needed to grow and thrive.  But then he started sleeping until 5am and I relaxed.  I figured if he's comfortable enough to sleep that long without needing to wake up to eat, then he's getting enough.  He's just so dang mobile, I think he burns the calories off faster than he can consume them.  He's due for his 9-month checkup, so I'll get a status report then.  And hey, ya know what?  SOMEbody has to fill that 5th percentile.

-----

I have nothing to add to this, except yes, he is dead asleep, and he was very confused when he woke up.

-----
This shot is amusing because...

how pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!

...mere seconds later it devolved into a Lord of the Flies scenario and the boys had to be forcibly separated before they killed each other.

Never a dull moment, I tell you.

-----
To close, I want to share a surreal exchange I had in the Trader Joe's parking lot today:
Jojo, chewing on a lollipop stick: "I'm a smart kid!"
Me: "Oh? What makes you smart?"
Jojo: "I have a cigarette!"
Me: "...Cigarettes make you smart?  Where did you hear THAT?"
Jojo: "From a book!"
Me: O_o

Modern world, your anti-smoking propaganda has utterly failed.

(Lest you think I let it go at that, I impressed upon him that cigarettes actually make you stupid because they kill brain cells, and that the smart kids are the ones who read.  I'm still wondering what book he was talking about, though...)

Home Before & After: Basement

First off, the big news (for those who haven't heard it yet): we found another house!!  We are so happy.  It's huge and beautiful.  The home inspection was a week ago, and it was about as perfect as you could expect.  The owners have taken amazing care of the house -- they've put a lot of themselves into it.  I imagine it's going to be hard for them to leave it -- as hard as it's going to be for us to leave this house!  Anyway, we couldn't be happier with the new house.  Now it's time to start packing!

Before that, here are some more Amazing House Transformation pictures of the basement. I'm ordering these slightly differently from the last post: we'll look at one section at a time to compare.

This is the first view of the basement when you come down the stairs: the play area.

Before

 I don't have any zowie! shots of that area, so here is our real after:

ahhh...

 The official "rec room" part:

 Before:

yes, it really did always look like this.  even when the kids "cleaned"

 with staging:

actual conversation at the open house: "Wow.  How is that flat screen TV connected?" Realtor: "...It's not."

 REAL after:

THERE'S the real TV

 I wish I had a "before" shot of the game & puzzle shelves, to contrast with this staged photo:

Daniel was thoroughly depressed when he first came in and saw all the games missing

 the Real After:

that is as tidy as I can humanly make that area.  and that's after clearing out about half of what was there before.

Now, the dungeon!  Aka Home Office/Laundry/Utility Room:

 

this was actually quite tidy, since at the time we had cleared some space to receive the new washer & dryer

old washer & dryer

I could never find stuff on those shelves

Now, the reason there's no staged shot of this area is b/c it was piled up with boxes full of stuff they wanted to hide.  So here's the Real After:

such plush carpeting!  and order! and easy-to-findness! (just don't ask me to open the computer cabinet)

a place for everything, and everything in its place!

Of course, as I write this, the laundry room floor is covered with sorted laundry, the couch cushions are off the couch, there is a huge tent made of scarves and cloaks and about 97 million clothes pins, and there are legos all over the floor.

Here, lemme just show you:

the REAL Real After

But!  It cleans up so quickly!

And that *is* a pretty cool tent.

Guess who's here!

Grampa reading -- what else? -- Calvin & Hobbes

looking at a bird book with Gramma

It's hot, but we're having fun!

Rapunzel gets shorn!

 So Miriam FINALLY finally decided that she was ready to get her hair cut, and donate it to Locks of Love.

It was really, really long.

 I took her to my big-girl hair stylist.  For something this drastic, I wanted a professional to make it look good.

no turning back now!

ta-da!

 I got my hair cut too (not like you can tell in this picture).

We're loving our short summer locks!  Now we still need to retrain ourselves to squeeze out the proper amount of shampoo...

Home Before & After: Main Level

 Okay, so I know I promised that I would take pictures of the house all spiffied up before the staging crew came in and made our house look all designer and stuff, but when you consider that we were up into the wee hours the night before (morning before?) and I was vacuuming about 30 seconds before they arrived, I hope you will forgive me for not having time to take pictures right then.

But now!  After doing a quick tidy, I ran around and took pictures of what our house looks now, compared to what it used to look like before The Purge.  Of course, I didn't think to take actual "before" pictures, so I had to scrounge these up from the archives.  The house really only figures as a background to the hilarity/cuteness of the photo's subjects, but it should be enough.

Since we redid the whole house, I'm breaking this up into a couple posts so as not to make you feel obligated to take up your entire afternoon reading about my stupid house makeover. :)

First stop, living areas on the main level.

Living Room

 Before

Easter Egg hunt in progress

books, books, books!  clutter, clutter, clutter!

another view of where the couch used to be for Christmas.

despite my best efforts to organize them, these shelves ALWAYS LOOKED LIKE THIS

 And now...

After Staging

Shazam!

Bing!

Ka-pow!

Now for the REAL After:

usually this floor is covered with little cars

haven't removed all the staging materials yet...

cozy little kid nook

also, hidden behind the open front door is the kids' coat rack full of jackets

I also retraced the gold lettering in the powder room (yes, it really is called that) which had almost totally faded

Dining Room

Before:

Happy New Year!

computer cabinet & filing box in the dining room -- convenient, but claustrophobic

After Staging

ooooh...

the REAL After

it's a lot more echo-y now!

Kitchen

Before

old appliances, dark kitchen!

fake wood laminate countertops

just lots of stuff everywhere!

After Staging:

ahhhhh...

o the brightness!  (who can spot the painter's tape we missed?)

the REAL After:

had to take this shot at night -- the only time I could actually keep the counters cleaned off!

painted cabinets, new handles, granite counter tops, white appliances.  Why didn't we do this sooner?!?

the beloved undermount sink.  just look at all that extra counter space!  the faucet is also a pull-out sprayer, hallelujah!  aren't you impressed that Mr. Pickles attached that himself?

can't wait to get the staging stuff out -- this feels too cluttered for me now! :)

So there's the main level.  Looking at all the before pictures make me feel so sorry for my past self -- no wonder I always felt so anxious and depressed!  Clearing everything out makes me feel like I can breathe better.  I'm finding that we're not really missing most of the things in storage....