before & during (still working on the after)

before

this was our little house when we bought it. it had been sitting empty for so long without any love, that i wanted a dramatic change. and that's what i got.

after

the conversation went something like this-

albert: timmy, when are we gonna help brian work on his house?
timmy: i'm not doing anything sunday. brian, we'll be there sunday to paint.
brian: ok.
chino: i'm in.

and just like that these four beautiful boys spent their only day off slaving from sun-up to sun-down painting our house. a special thanks to cameron for looking so pretty while he worked. its an awesome thing when your boss and co-workers feel like family. we love you guys.

i have a thing for green. more specifically, "martini olive". a special thanks to kim for picking the perfect color, painting, and admiring the fabulous front door.

mia's first day of school

today was miss mia's first day of kindergarten.

our new house (more on that later) is within walking distance of the best school in the district! dad was able to go into work late so we could all attend the orientation together.

i wasn't able to take the pictures i had planned on because there were 32 students with parents and siblings squished into one chaotic classroom. because of state budget cuts mia is a part of the largest kindergarten class her school has ever seen. i will be writing my state representatives and i would encourage you to do the same.

her teacher seems great. she has loads of experience and she's passionate about parent involvement and early education.

i only teared up once, when we first got to the school. we entered through the main doors with all the older kids running around trying to find their new classrooms. i instinctively reached out and grabbed mia's hand. all of sudden she seemed way too little to be there, but she's not. our little miss is growing up and she's ready to move on to her next adventure. congrats to our mia bug, we are so proud of you!