Everyone loves a before and after

Whether it be a dramatic body before and after photo or a little less exciting home improvement before and after, who doesn't love seeing changes? And hopefully changes for the better?? It's like getting to take both roads in your journey and not just one with befores and afters. Think about it. We could have kept this kitchen as is and be pretty darn content with it, or we could change it up and see how it can change our lives. And let me tell you, my life is SO MUCH better now. My house is so pleased to experience a little plastic surgery. I am so much happier I now walk with a bounce in my step. My kids are singing all day and never a sassy mouth doth spout.

BEFORE
(so brown and sad)

AFTER
(light, airy and bubbly)

(our painted and glazed island)

You could call us lazy painters but I just call us smart and not wasting time with unimportant roadblocks. Here's the thing- we removed the hardware but didn't remove the cabinets, didn't take out the drawers or the stuff in them ( just threw a newspaper page on them if we remembered), didn't sand (but primed with Valspar sander primer) and about 16 hours and three coats we finished. How great is that? I know some people think it's sacrilegious to paint over wood, but we didn't burn it or anything. It's still in our kitchen, just covered with a nice coat of paint to keep it toasty.

Di, Ani and Is

Moving on.... summer has flown by with its softball, swim lessons, 4th and 24th celebrations, parades, family reunion, and good times of that sort. It has been great to have my sister Diana and her family come down for their yearly visit from NJ. We braved the stinky and algae-ful Salem Pond water last week (how did I ever swim in that pond?!) and enjoyed a little paddle-boat ride. This is a beautiful place though. I am always in awe.

Car bonding

yup, a real live picture

Well, this was it! Our first family vacation out of state in a looooong time. I wasn't super-excited about packing the kids in the car for 14 hours but with the help of a dvd player (I know- weak!) we eliminated any fun family singathons and alphabet car travel games and instead sedated the kids with Barbie, Elmo, and other equally numbing entertainment. And you know what? Bless it all.

Above is Snoqualmie Falls in Washington state. I thought the kids would be speechless at nature's death-fall but they didn't seem too captivated. Shucks. Took me back to "The Fugitive" with Harri Ford, my ol' buddy. Great movie.

On a ferry with R's parents to Lopez Island, one of the San Juan Islands. Some people actually live there, which came as a surprise to me! I always thought those little specks on the map outside WA were just for looks. Goes to show...

The pictures below were from a beautiful beach there on Lopez. We saw sea life--some starfish, a washed up jellyfish, and crabs.

Burying Isabelle's legs in the sand. Good wholesome sand fun.


Cute Liv. The girls brought home about 10 lbs of seashells. I walk into their rooms and am blown over by the smell of sea air and dearly departed fishies. We did bring the beach home with us!

Best hats ever.
Be assured that Sam had his fun too. How can sand +water+boy not equal true bliss? Things did go a little too far when his naughty big sister Iz dumped a handful of sand down his diaper. Poor Bud! That is a place where one needs no exfoliation.

Well, we had a good time visiting R's parents and family on our trip. Now back to figuring out how to hook myself up with a comfy hammock, an icy drink, and an uninterrupted reading hour in that hammock for the remaining days of summer....