October Catch-up

Hey, guess what! I'm finally not dead tired. It feels so good to be back to my normal speed. Don't get me wrong; I'm all about a good nap, but it isn't an absolute necessity like it was there for a while. 

So apparently the only way I know to blog anymore is to just post pictures and make a comment or two about each photo.  

Claire's right eye looks an awful lot like my right eye did at her age.  

I hope Nora never, ever, ever gets tired of being "just like Daddy". It gets me every time.

 I had a very rough evening a few days back and took a long, long, long walk all by myself. I took off my shoes and enjoyed the feel of the pavement. Sometimes I would also enjoy the feel of the neighbors' sprinklers as I walked past their yards. It probably weirded them out but, oh well. I didn't really care. 

 These two have had such a special bond since the time Nora was born. Claire has so much patience for Nora's stubbornness and Nora overlooks Claire's sassy mouth. They just work together. 

Our homeschool group went to the pumpkin patch and it was fun but so hot. They did have some super cute baby goats to pet and a very nerve-wracking corn maze. 

At one point while we were walking around the farm, Claire said, "Mama, may I take off a pair of socks? I'm so hot!" I said, "A pair? How many pairs did you put on before we left the house?" 

"Three."

Later on that evening, as we watched the Lamar Warriors make history and beat the Charleston Tigers for the first time EVER, Claire was glad she (I) had carted around those three pairs of socks all afternoon. They kept her toes toasty warm as she ignored the game and buried her head in a book. :) 

Really though, it was a great game and my sister and I have decided I must be their good luck charm since that's the only Warrior's game I have attended. 

It's another week, another set of activities. Happy October!

Renovations

This is where I was a few days ago with the renovations. The dining room walls were painted, but not the little, upper light indention. I needed new curtains, curtain rods, the new light hung, a new table (we have majorly outgrown our current one), and a rug. I'm kind of stuck on what kind of curtains I want- patterns wise. Solid? Print? Color? Neutral?

I have to keep in mind that the dining room is somewhat connected to the parlor, and I don't want to overkill both rooms with color and pattern. 

Also, I need someone to come arrange my gallery-wall paintings. I'm getting nowhere fast with that. I even had three other women helping me last night and we couldn't figure out how to make them look right. They will go on the wall behind the table.

This room is my next focus, well,  after I finish painting the girls' room. I want shelves on either side of the piano, and some kind of patterned rug. I also want to put a bench in front of the window and then place some nice, green plants on it. I have an abstract painting that's in Memphis, just waiting on me to come get it, that will hang above the piano. 

 These were the original sconces in the downstairs hallway leading to the girls' room. Ugly, plastic-looking spaceships. 

 Speaking of space...

This ceiling fan made me feel like I lived in The Jetson cartoon. Although, having Rosie the robot maid wouldn't be too bad.

This is where this room stands as of now. One coat of paint on one wall, half a painted wall, two more walls with no paint. And that's what I'm tackling today. This is one of those projects I could easily put off for a long time so I'm going to make myself get to it. We have a rare, free day and I'm going to make it count.

And for posterity's sake, a grand, glorious picture of the old chandler that hung above the dining room table. I mean, seriously, what were these people thinking?

Here's whats happening lately

Week three of school kind of whipped us for some reason so we met with our CC friends (actually, this is the original group of the FS CC campus.)for some more-entertaining-than-usual review. 

Georgia, Nora, Gillian, Eily, Betsy, Claire, Alice, Elaina

The "before" picture of the dining room finally uploaded. This room only needs to things to be officially finished. It will be a while before I get those two things, but it's exciting to think I'm that close to marking it off my to-do list.  (Well, technically there are three things, but one is very cosmetic and costly and I'm not even sure it can actually be done, so I'm not counting it right now.)

My adult coloring book and colored pencils finally came in the mail. It is so relaxing to sit, color, and watch a show in the evenings after the girls are in bed. You should try it. 

Claire turned 9 this past Tuesday. We continued our tradition of a candle in the breakfast food. 

Daddy took her on a date and sent me a picture of this photo booth strip. 

The girls wanted to celebrate them both being 9 for a few days so they got out their paint kits and spent some alone time outside painting. 

Then, BAM! Elaina turned ten. That's right, I have a child in the double-digits. She had cereal for breakfast so we stuck her candle in a piece of bread. :)

On her Daddy-date, they went plain-air painting. She kept saying it was the best day she's ever had. 

We do big parties when you turn 5, 10, 13, and 16. Since it was Elaina's 10th birthday, we had a private skating party at a local skating rink. Thirty seconds in, someone fell and broke their arm, but other than that, it was a lot of fun. 

Elaina had wanted an ice cream cake but we couldn't figure out where to get one so we brought ice cream sandwiches instead. It worked perfectly. 

I actually did not have any time to take photos during the party, so the ones I have are from a mother who brought her children. There are a lot of kids not in the photos but that's ok. We have the memories and they are better. :)

Attendees: Elaina Sacran, Claire Sacran, Eily Sacran, Nora Sacran, Mama and Daddy, Nanny and Pappy, Aunt Rachel, Eli, Luke, Ryan, Aunt Leah and Uncle David, Lillie, Ian, Elsie, Kim, Catherine, and Caleb Hoelzeman, Mr. and Mrs. Barr (Megan), Alice, Betsy, and Rosie Barr, Mr. and Mrs. Good (Lauren), Gillian and Georgia Good, Audrey Green, Alisha (Mom) and Attley Ellis (the next-door neighbors), Sally (Mom) and Kathryn Israel, Mrs. Pickartz (Amy- Elaina's 2nd grade teacher), Regan and the youngest daughter Pickartz.