A Little Project

Right as school was starting, Brian and I took it upon ourselves to do one final project on the house before we got too crazy into the fall.  We hired some Lackeys (yes, that was their last name) to remove the popcorn ceiling out of the living room.  It was the final room on the main level to have popcorn.  Brian said that once the popcorn was down, we could start on the hardwood floor.  I didn’t realize it would all happen at the same time, in the whirlwind of school starting, but hey, what’s another project?

We pulled up the carpet prior to the ceiling coming down.  Then we pulled up the pad and the subfloor.  We had to lay new subfloor and find the flooring.

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And got started.

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Safety first!  (Later this day, Ellie had a fever.  A week later, we discovered that she had walking pneumonia.  She is such a trouper even when sick!)

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I guess I should get a picture of the final product.  It looks nice, and I’m glad to have one more room of hardwood.  The room is arranged differently, with the piano and TV switching spots.  We still need to rotate the piano a bit to allow for a little more room by the recliner, but it certainly works for us now.

Ellie at 5

It seems that Ellie is the last one in her class to turn 5.  She feels like she has been waiting and waiting and waiting to turn 5.  She finally made it!

She asked for a Rapunzel cake yet again.  Given that this is the 3rd year for her to ask for one, I felt like my substitutions have not been working.  I bit the bullet and did it.  Considering that it didn’t fall over, I call it a success.  Maybe she won’t ask for one next year.

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Yes, she had a black eye on her birthday, as is traditional Ellie fashion.  She ran into a swing set pole at school.  No surprise there.

We went to the McWane Center for her birthday party, and the kids had lots of fun.  She picked the Science of Magic show, and it was pretty entertaining!

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This girl is spunky, brave, and always fashion conscious.  She loves princesses, longs to know how to read, and wants to be just like her big sister.  She’s certainly one-of-a-kind though.

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May Crowning

Ellie turned 5 on Saturday.  I will have a post honoring her 5th birthday soon (hopefully), but I wanted to highlight something she said this morning.

Today is May Crowning for the preschool.  I have never figured out why it is on a different day than the main school, so we continue to live in 2 different worlds.  Ellie came downstairs this morning and discovered a few flowers in the kitchen.  She ran back to my bathroom to ask me if I had bought them.  (She delights in all things “lovely.”)  She was thrilled that we had flowers in the kitchen.  I told her, while toothbrush in mouth, that they were for May Crowning.

She contorted her face and thought for a few seconds.  Then she said, “So I need to bring all my crowns to school?”

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Easter 2015

We started our long Easter weekend with some egg dyeing.  Don’t mind all the scaffolding and ladders in the background.  It’s a never-ending construction site at our house.

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On Easter morning, the Easter bunny was clever in hiding baskets.  The girls searched and searched for their baskets.  Samantha found hers first.  It was in the dryer.

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Ellie could not find hers.

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But all of us pitched in to help her.  She was finally successful!  It was in the oven.

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In taking this family shot, I think it was the quickest I have ever taken Easter pictures before in my life.  No one cried.  No one was mad.  No one stormed off in a dramatic fashion – it was unlike all previous Easter family pictures.

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Sadly, this will be one of the last pictures with this big oak tree (behind Brian).  About 3 weeks later, it fell.   There’s that drama.  I thought it had skipped us.