Paint clothes memories

Today I was painting again.  I'm painting our doors/trim/etc with a white semi-gloss paint because last time we painted them we painted them with matte paint and they smudge and dirty so easily.

When I put on my paint clothes today, I remembered the last time I painted so clearly.

This shirt was worn on countless afternoons, evenings and weekends as Peter and I painted our first house together.  Our home was a foreclosure that had cats left in the home after the family that foreclosed had moved.  Because of the cats, and the four crazy boys that inhabited the house, we had to not only rip up all the carpet, and repair all the holes from the bb guns they played with, but we had to paint every surface.  EVERY surface.  We painted the floors, the ceilings, the closets, the pantry, the doors, the trim, ever-y-thing.  1640 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, laundry room, bonus/play room, dining room, kitchen. We were both working full time, trying to purchase and close on our house and get all of the work done before we packed up our apartment and moved into our first house together. 

There were no window treatments on the windows of the foreclosure so our neighbors probably saw this young couple working in every spare moment, with music blaring, stopping only for the occasional snack (I think there was lots of coffee, chocolate, pizza, and Mountain Dew involved).  I remembered how amazingly and overwhelming exhausted we were each night when we'd finally crash at midnight, go to work and then start again the next day.  But, despite our aching muscles, we finished (with some help from some awesome friends too!)  Blue in the kitchen, green in the bathroom, white on the ceilings, shades of brown in the living room, bedrooms, closets.  We finished all the painting and the carpet was literally just finished as we moved our stuff from our apartment to our house because our lease was up. 

So as much as I hate painting, I enjoy it because it brings back memories of Peter and I creating our first home together.  Taking a foreclosure and working to make it "ours."  I feel so blessed to live where we do and for the opportunity we had to "work for it."  And I got to do it all with my best friend.  We make such a great team, so somehow even the long days and hard work that a home requires is still enjoyable because of him, because we're doing it together.  That simple paint stained shirt so sweetly reminds me that there's no one I'd rather build a home with.

This break brought to you by the letters M & T

Benjamin is napping and I am enjoying a break brought by the letters M and T!

M as in M&M's....

and T as in Peppermint Tea!

It is kind of a dreary, somewhat cold day here in Oregon.  So I spent the morning cleaning up a bit, turning on the fireplace, lighting and candle and trying to keep my little man entertained.  Which, when you have an active, teething boy who is still adjusting to no morning nap.....well, let's just say I'm enjoying my break.

So far today we've read lots and lots of books, played with blocks, colored with sidewalk chalk, tried painting with a brush for the first time, played cars, played piano, played with play food, tickled each other, ran around like crazy.....you know, a normal day in our house!

Tonight, we're probably going to have a night in and watch the NCAA Men's basketball tourney championship game tonight.  I'm thinking UConn is going to take it by about 8 points, but I'm kinda rooting for Butler because everyone loves a good underdog :-)

I also wanted to blog these quick stories so I remember my crazy son.

1)  While I was putting clothes away upstairs Benjamin spotted my cellphone on my nightstand.  Of course, he wanted it.  I patiently redirected him away from it several times, telling him he was not to play with it.  He finally started walking away and I thought "yes, he's obeying!"  He walked out of my room, around the corner of the stair banisters, waited a second....then walked slowly back into the room without making a noise and darted for the phone.  I redirected him again, and he walked out of the room, went around the corner (as though he was going to go play in the play room) and then came walking sneakily back into the room, watching for me to notice as he got closer and closer to the phone.  He did this about 4 times!  How can something be so funny and so naughty all at the same time?  When did he become so sneaky?

2)  Benjamin was fussing in the living room this morning and was kind of waving his arm like he wanted my attention.  I went over to him and he took a few steps toward the dining room, looked to make sure I was coming, then took a few more steps, looked, stepped, etc, etc.  He did this until he made his way tot he pantry where he put both his hands up on the pantry door, slowly turned around and in the cutest possible voice he could muster, said "Cookie?"  HA HA HA!  I almost lost it.  Of course, he did not get a cookie because it was 9:45 in the morning, but for a split second I almost gave him one just because it was so cute.  I knew that might cause a habit though so I thought better of it.  Oh my son, you make life so entertaining :-)

Just one more day?!

Do you ever find yourself sitting down on Sunday night just wanting one more day of the weekend?  It's just been a nice balance of productive and relaxing this weekend and I'd like it continue.  I have a feeling Monday morning is going to come regardless of my wishes, but whatever!

This morning was church, then Benjamin napped, Peter painted/sanded the bookshelf, and I played with Benjamin for awhile after he woke up.  We went to Safeway for a Starbucks and to let Ben walk around in a new place.  He was getting super fussy around 5:45 and was fussy even after inhaling his dinner.  I'm going to say it's teething because that's what all moms use as an excuse for their kids whining right?  He's at that fun age where he's learning to communicate and assert himself and explore the world around him, while completely wanting to defy any sort of discipline or boundaries you put on him.  How do you nurture his fabulous independent spirit while teaching him the importance of listening to and obeying his parents (and ultimately Jesus?) 

Anyway, it's been a lazy evening and now it's off to bed.  Here's to hoping I wake up to another Saturday :-)

Benjamin was certainly not fussy earlier in the afternoon while enjoying his swing :-)

Simple Saturday

Our Saturday started nice and early.  As in 6:10am (thank you very much Benjamin, NOT!)  We tried to ignore him but he was awake so what can you do?  He was definitely ready for his first nap at 9 though and slept for 2 hours and 40 minutes!  When he woke up, Daddy let him wear his hat :-)

 still sleepy from his nap

 love him!

so stinkin cute!

We spent the day being busy with house projects.  I'm repainting our trim/doors with a semi-gloss white paint and Peter is still working on the built-in bookcase.  Is it just me or is it sometimes really hard to be patient for a project like this?  Can't it just be done in a Saturday?  HA! :-)  Anyway, we're both kinda tired tonight because we were busy almost all day.  We did however stop to enjoy some homemade chicken soup leftovers for lunch and some enchilada leftovers for dinner.  We think Ben is going through a bit of a growth spurt (with a little teething/cold mixed in) because he is eating like a horse.  And he always signs and says "ALL DONE", then looks at the pantry and says "Cookie?"  Ha ha ha, yep, he's our son!

We watched the Final Four basketball games while we worked, and took little breaks here and there to keep little man entertained (and out of the wet paint!)  He got a bath and is sleeping soundly, he was tired!  I think we're going to have some more ice cream (real shocker, I know!) and watch an episode of Shark Tank online.  We watched the first 2 episodes of this season and like it even more than last year.  I think Peter has inventor envy because he always thinks he has a great idea for an invention but really, it's kinda lame.  No, I'm not being harsh.  Some of his "inventions" have been a bottle/sippy feeder to put on a crib to feed your child like you would put in a hamster cage.  Or a mattress with a giant hole cut out of it so pregnant women can sleep on their bellies.  Or a long tube-like system that would somehow stretch from your bed to the bathroom so you'd "not have to get up in the middle of the night."  I have no idea why none of these ideas have generated a patent :-)  So we watch the show instead.

I also went to my first garage sale of the season today (granted, it was my neighbor's sale right across the street) but I scored some perfect condition chocolate brown GAP khakis in just my size for $2, yippee!

Friday Love!

Today was a great day!  It didn't start off fabulous but got better.  Benjamin was a bit fussy this morning so I decided to take him to the library for a change of pace.  I got the library at 9:15 but it didn't open until 10 I remembered.  So we went to the grocery outlet and to say a quick hello to Pete at work.  I went back at 10:05 only to find it was closed for some employee luncheon thingee.  OH JOY.

So I went home and put Benjamin down for a nap because he was cran-ky!  

Here's where the Friday love starts!!

 

*  He slept 1hr and 40 minutes, woo hoo :-)

*  He woke up just as Daddy was getting home with a Little Caesars pizza for lunch.....it was so fresh and yummy today!

*  Benjamin and I walked to Wal-Mart after lunch because it was about 69 degrees and sunny and beautiful!

*  We got just a couple of items and I let Benjamin walk around and play in the toy area

*  We came home, played in the grass, and I chased him all over the house to wear him(us) out!

*  He took another 2 hour nap in the afternoon so I was able to get ALOT done!

 

*  I put my beautiful flowers and card from Peter on the kitchen table.  He got them for me while I was at worship team practice last night because he's kind of amazing like that.

 

 

*  Peter came home from work and we played with little man for a bit before starting dinner

*  Peter grilled cheeseburgers, I got all the fixin's, baked tator tots, cut up fresh strawberries, and cooked peas.  It was DELICIOUS!  We all enjoyed it :-)

 

 playing with his baseball bats while Daddy grilled

 he used the bat as a walking stick, it was hilarious!

 the handsome griller in our house :-)

 yep, it was good!!

 he was LOVING his dinner tonight, that's for sure :-)

 

*  We cleaned up, then I played piano while Pete played with Ben in the living room.  Then I played all of Benjamin's favorite songs and he "sang" along with me.  He would talk to me and request songs, whining over and over until I started playing the one he wanted.  It was adorable!

*  We put little guy to bed and he's just now winding down (1hr later) but we're going to enjoy a BBC movie on Netflix and leftover brownie sundaes from the small group dinner I made earlier this week.  YIPPEE!!

*  Oh, and tomorrow is Saturday which is awesome.  Cause we have no plans and cause Saturday's rock.  Hope you are all having lots of things to love on Friday :-)