The goings on...

I have been meaning to post a picture of the mostly completed paint job on our home. It was so much work for my sweet husband! There is still a little bit of trim to do, but we (especially Ty) have been burnt out on the whole project for the past month or more. :) At least the areas that are left are on the back of the house so nobody who sees us from the street is aware that our trim in the back is only painted as high as this short pregnant lady can reach. Apparantly I am not allowed on the super-high ladder in my current condition.

Here are the "before" pictures (they don't show how discolored some of the siding looked just from being old and in the Washington rain for so many years):

These are the "after", although it's hard to really capture the color of the house on camera. In some lights it looks more like a brown and in others it's more green. We love it! Ty chose the door color and I thought he did a great job. In the door picture you get a better feel for the color, I think. Anyway, here they are! Sorry it's taken me so long, Margaret!

In other news...

*We finally got a start on our food storage! We went for a date night to the local cannery and got a bunch of flour, some hot cocoa, potato flakes, rice, wheat and I don't remember what else. Besides having a great time, we looked really good too so we thought that we should put this out there for all the world to see!*We got a package with packing peanuts and I decided to let Max go to town. It was fun to watch! Dad got in on the action and made a peanut angel. I love giving him permission to make messes (Max, not Ty. I never give Ty permission to make messes :) )!*Max got a toddler bed! We haven't started him sleeping in it yet - probably won't for another month or more - but it was a great deal on Craigslist and matches the other furniture in his room. So for now it's something to play on, but sometime we'll start him sleeping there. We're still trying to figure out sleeping arrangements once the baby arrives since our 3rd bedroom is occupied by Sariah until the end of the school year. We'll see what works out!

*Max had his very first sucker. I know a lot of kids have suckers a lot earlier, but we never have them in the house and until this Halloween it just hadn't crossed my mind. He loved every lick, but not the sticky hands afterward.

*We have a climber! So I thought we'd totally avoided having a crazy climber, but I was wrong. Max is all about climbing these days. We had to rearrange some shelves in his room because one day he used them like a ladder and was perched on top of the highest one. He's taken a few spills off of some chairs and caused his parents some stress. Today I was in the kitchen and hadn't heard him for a bit so I went to see where he was...

(Right before this he had taken his PJ shirt off all by himself, which was a new feat as well.) I assume he used the toilet to get himself up on the counter? You can't see it here, but there's a good gap between the two. I am pretty amazed, if not a little freaked out, by his new abilities. No rest for the mother! I love the look on his face here. :) Busted! After this he was just plain proud of himself and wouldn't stop smiling.

So that's what's up in our lives as of late...too much excitement, I know!