Week in Pictures

It's been our first full week at home in what feels like a while. Travis is gone for most of July and we were gone as a family for most of August. It's good to be back in the burg and on the court...The week commenced with a big house project: redoing and painting the front porch. Know this about Travis and me: we are not project people. Neither of us. We don't like doing them and we don't necessarily feel satisfied after they are done. They make us angry and tense. I always read and hear about projects bringing people together...no, not over here. A full service yard and maintenence man? That could really bring us together. But we also really love our little house and want it to be a welcoming place for people. I start getting nervous when the exterior of our house begins to resemble the college houses. It is nice having neighbors that set a low bar, but come on...
Pictured above is Stephen. He is an Eagle Scout. I try not to change light bulbs without consulting him first. He apparently had school work to do on Monday but when Travis texted him that he had begun sawing things in the front yard, Stephen came running. I am so impressed with what they have accomplished - lumber, saws,hammers, sanders... I am hosting a baby shower next week and that's the deadline I gave us for the porch. Travis, though he might be hating it, always works well with deadlines...He gets really intense for a brief window of time and always gets it done. Again, we are not project people...there is no joy in a long process here.

That's what our crawl space looks like. I was just glad no animal families emerged...

As of tonight the porch has been fixed, sanded, and primed. Last step is the paint which will happen Monday

Jess hung out all day Tuesday and I was sad I didn't get any pictures until I went through my camera and saw this great photo shoot occurred!

I have no idea where I was when this happened. You know you are good friends when Jess is visiting all the way from California and I still feel fine just leaving her to play with my kids while I was doing who knows what...

We journeyed to Charlottesville for Addie's second birthday! As if the abundant stairs in their three story house were not enough - Addie is now the proud owner of a "Jump 0 Lene!"

And jump they did!

Addie was an extremely well-adjusted birthday girl. Look at that maturity...it's amazing what older sisterhood can do!

Foo loved her some cupcake.

And I promise, Sophia was having a great day until the very end...when we decided to take the cousin group picture...

What can I say? Other people's birthdays were always hard for me too.

Judah and Lydia came to play and we dragged out the ol' backyard pool for the first time since June.

The comment preceding this picture was "I don't eat chicken. I just eat ketchup."

Today the girls attended Xander's birthday party at Inflation Nation. Jumpin' Joey's is no more. This new place is a big improvement! Bounce to your heart's content!

Sophia is imagining her triumphant return to Inflation Nation for her birthday... Which reminds me I better start researching how to make Ariel Cakes...

Here are the girls watching the work on the porch...very exciting..all that noise and sawdust...

It was a great week just enjoying things we love about being home. We said goodbye to some of our last friends headed off to college and are now gearing up for a busy Fall schedule.

Are we really going to make it out the door to preschool 2 days a week? I'm already prepared to be the stigmatized "late" parent. I just hope they don't shame the late kids at this age...