Sunday Morning

Blueberries and Blackberries from our backyard: free

Cost of flour, sugar, eggs, etc: minimal

An Old Fashioned Family Breakfast:

PRICELESS!

Locks of Love

BEFORE

(I'm never in pictures, so this is me and the boys when

BooBoo was a baby, 2 1/2 years ago)

AFTER

I've had long hair almost all my life. I've cut it to shoulder length a couple of times, but that's as adventurous as I got. I've also highlighted my hair most my life. A couple of months ago, I had my hair dyed to my natural color. At least, what we think is close to my natural color. Yesterday, I had it cut about 11 inches so I could donate to locks of love. You have to cut off 10 inches to donate, then they have to cut a little more to trim it up. I've wanted to donate for years, but it took me a long time to get the nerve to do it. I told my hairdresser that I want to live my 30's differently than I lived my 20's. I've gotta say, I feel sassy with the new style. In fact, I think it's the first time I've actually had a style.

I was so hesitant when I sat down in that chair. About 10 minutes in, when I was talking to the hairdresser, Guy called and said "Cut it off." I thought it was so sweet that he took time out from seeing patients to think about me. I think I drove him crazy the night before trying to decide if I wanted to do it or not. He really likes it, but the kids were shocked. The older boys wouldn't even look at me for awhile, and the baby smiled and looked all around my head. Coocoo said he's moving to a different house until my hair grows back.

I'm happy with it now. I guess we'll see if I change my mind when they baby gets old enough to stop pulling it all the time. For now, I think I did the right thing. What do you think?

backsplash talk

Here is a picture of my first tile job. It is the backsplash in our kitchen. It was not too hard. There weren't many cuts, and we did all our cuts with a nipper. Now, I really see the advantage of having (or renting) a real tile saw. For some reason, we favor those little 2x2 tiles on the grids, and I think they require a little more work. Just more surface to grout and set tile. In this case, we used slate. While it's easier to set because you don't have to get them at exactly the same height, they were really hard to grout because they had crevices EVERYWHERE! I had to constantly wash and scrub them to get the grout off the tile. Still, I think a backsplash is a great place to learn to tile. If you decide to do it, I want to see pictures!

Progress

Okay, we just finished laying the tile in the shower and tub. I think we're in week 6 of this project, but we're only able to get any work done on the weekends. It looks good. I don't know if I'll start grouting tonight or tomorrow, but I can't wait to have that done. I'm so anxious to get this finished.

As for other news, we haven't heard anything from the couple who looked at our house last week. I'm trying not to think about it. What a bad time to be trying to sell a house!

My Thoughts Today...

Today was a wonderful picture day. Here are the better ones...





Here is our beautiful, ever-sweet Booboo. His smile lights up the room, and we expect him to be on Broadway one day.





These are of our gorgeous Coocoo. He is emotional, intense, and ridiculously smart.



This is my mom with Tiki. So far, at four months, he may be the most friendly baby of the bunch.

I am so grateful for these blessings. I pray they will be healthy, happy adults who find love and fulfillment. I pray for guidance in my choices while raising them, and I hope they have sweet memories of these precious, fleeting days.

work, work, work

We finally got in bed just before 1:00 this morning! We haven't pulled a night like that in years. We managed to get the two big shower walls done. The glass guy came today to measure for the doors, so it was important to get as much done as we could. What took the longest was the tile in and around the shelf. Here's how it turned out...




I think it's the part I'm the most proud of. Whew, we still have so much to do. It is a great distraction from the housing market, though.