Preparing for the Pool, one week ago

This tree is standing right where the deep end would be, so Clint got to play Paul Bunyan.

It was Tennessee Cedar, like the one Seth used to make Clint a farewell pen. Thanks, Seth! It smelled yummy.

So this is the amazing thing about Bartlett, TN. Any bulk item you want to get rid of, a fridge, an entire tree--you just put it at the curb and they haul it away. We doubted they would really do it and were afraid of a huge fine, but sure enough they came and nabbed a 6 foot high--21 foot long pile of branches with 3 grabs. Then the guy pulled a rake off the truck and tidied up our lawn! We couldn't believe it. This in a poncho in the pouring rain! We applauded from the porch.

You asked for it, Pics of the Cresap Home

His and Her garages

Side view of Clint's lair. It is 800 square feet, compared to the attached 2-car garage that is 400 square feet. You could park 4 cars in there. I'm so happy for Clint. I think I did a good job finding his dream shop for him.

Looking down on the front door.

To the left of the entry way is the dining room, for us the "Library and music conservatory, ahem!" You can see a peek of the kitchen. Happy Birthday balloons for Katie Hale.

The living room, with a peek of the hallway that goes to the nursery and Master.

His and her closets.

You can't tell from the pictures, but this is about the biggest room in the house. 15x15. It takes five large steps to get from the shower (double shower heads!) to either of the sinks. Clint says, "I like my Mater Bath because I can play raquetball in there." Kind of silly, but nice.

The diningroom and kitchen are off the other side of the livingroom.

Back hall off the kitchen and diningroom, connects to the garage, back door and laundry room.

His and her Hondas :).

Upstairs hallway looking to the right from the stairs.

Boy's bath. In the toilet room there is a tub.

Attic #1

Office/Lego room.

Upstairs hallway looking to the left from the stairs.

Jack's room/Guest room

Attic #2, Attic #3 you get to via pulldown stairs in the hallway.

Tal and Cole's room. Notice the bunkbeds which were finished 2 days before we moved from San Diego! Gorgeous job, Clint.

A row of bins for each of the 3 older boy's clothes.

The End. Hope you enjoyed the tour.

More from our Drive

Posting from the Road

We've got a contract!

Phew! We're so relieved to finally have an future address in Memphis. We went out there house hunting the first week of June, but came home empty handed. We continued the search by internet and phone. Our chant this week has been "I love technology. I love you, but I still love technology..." Did you know that you can get a flyby bird's eye view of all four sides of most homes at maps.live.com? So, we're buying this house sight unseen, but we feel like we have a pretty good idea of what we're getting.
We originally wanted a home with a pool But it turns out that a totally glutted home market with 10,000 homes could not deliver us what we want. Are we picky or what? It had to be the right school district, and have a space for Clint's shop. That narrowed it down to two homes. The first was sold before we could get to it (so sad!), the second was in such a tight back yard you couldn't even put a fence around it let alone a safety cover. The other 10 were way above what we want to pay. Of course the million dollar homes always have everything you want! :) So we decided to buy a house with a pool and add an extra garage, or one with a garage and add a pool. This house is what we came up with. I think it's lovely and it's got an attached 2-car garage and a second detached garage.
But best of all is the location! It's less than a mile to Joey and Katie's house, and a bit farther to church (and the temple, which is on the same lot as the church), school and the gym. Yay!

Trace's Blessing Barbecue

Reality Blog

My sister Edith tagged me to take pics of the following with no cleaning, clearing, wiping, changing etc. allowed.

What My Kids are doing right now: Talmage is not playing with Legos--he's banging on them. Afternoons are rough because the medication wears off and then he feels a little off. Cole and Jack have just finished watching a movie. Next Cole is going to beg for a cookie. If I'd made it downstairs 30 seconds earlier I'd have gotten a picture of all three of them snuggling and watching together. Watching videos is not one of my favorite things for them to be doing, but it makes my day to see them all cuddled up together. Trace is doing what one-month-olds do best.

My sink:

My Laundry: I don't have a laundry room. It's out in the garage, which I hate. But I really should not complain because a) I live in paradise and it's close to room temperature year round and b) Clint does the laundry. And like everything he does, he does it well. He did 7 loads this day. Looking at others blogs I realize I really do not thank Clint enough for this. It is a huge chore! And it's not like he doesn't work 60 hours a week. Thank you, Clint!!!!

Me: Scary. You haven't seen many pictures of me in this blog because I'm having a bad hair year. It doesn't seem to matter what I do. I've straightened my hair 4 x in one day and it still frumps out. I feel like that suave commercial, "Has motherhood been hard on your hair?"

Closet: Again, thank you Clint for doing the laundry!

My favorite room in my house: I actually was going to do a blog just on my Master Bedroom. A month ago I felt so anxious to move and kept on blaming my messy room on this house. And so, instead of feeling bad about it for another two months, I decided to clean it! My master bedroom has always been the last place I clean and the the last repository of everything undone. Where Trace's bassinet is located used to be a craft table with my sewing machine and serger and overflowing box of maternity clothes and underneath two huge tubs of kid schooling supplies and kid craft materials. The bookcase was a jumbled stash-all. I reduced, consolidated and put it all away. I'm most happy with my bookshelf. I got all the faux leather bins at Target and the bottom shelves have all Traces clothes and belongings (between all our kids we have only one dresser. Most things are in bins in closets). The middle bins have all the school supplies for preschool with Cole and Jack, and Talmage's beginning readers and IEP stuff. There's a folding card table and chairs I tuck behind the bookcase and bring out every day to do homework with Tal (that way we can lock out distractions). And then I finally polished my rosewood furniture. That made me so happy, that my new plan whenever I get stressed is to polish the rosewood. My Master Bedroom finally feels like a retreat.

Toilet: Yeah, right. No way am I taking a photo of that. The flusher is broken and must be held down for 10 seconds--repeat 3x to work. Little boys don't do that. I clean it about once a week, but it looks like once a year because solids left in the toilet for 1/2 a day really leave a residue. Trust me, it's a picture you don't want to see.

On that note!

I tag Kristen N., Jessica E., Michelle C. and Jenny J. Have fun girls!

6 Months Later/ What Clint's been up to

When Clint's not at work or chilling with the boys and me, his every thought is occupied with this project. It is the heirloom bunkbeds for the boys. I call them heirloom because these are not cheap, (the side rails alone cost $300) but they are BE-U-ti-FUL! They are cherry with walnut insets. What do you think?

Crazy for Mango Blossom!

My littlest sister, Kate, has her own internet boutique. Darling beaded jewlery and hairclips. So savvy, I could buy it all up! Thought you might want to check it out.http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5794547

Dethroned and Baby Recruiters

The magic is wearing off for Jack. The other day Jack wanted me to come play with him and said, "First, put the baby in there! (pointing to the bassinet)" This morning Jack said, "Mom, Put the baby in the car and take him home." This after waking up in the middle of the night with a nightmare, screaming, "Mommy!" Maybe he was dreaming that the little guy was not going away.
Cole and Tal, on the other hand, are lobbying for more. Cole asked, "What are we going to name the next baby?"
Me: What makes you think were having more babies?
Cole: Then how will they be born?

Talmage, while holding Trace. "I love this baby more than any baby in the world except for the next baby we're going to have."
Me: Oh?
Talmage: Yeah, next time you should have 3 twins.
Me: You mean triplets?
Talmage: No. (Pause to calculate) Six!

Boys: Yes
Mom's Legs: No

With a Trace

Trace Cleans Up