Get Ready...

The Murphys are going to Hawaii in October! The visit will be shorter than we originally hoped for since it's during the school year (rather than in August), but we are excited nevertheless. We want to get a chance to see everyone, especially all the babies and kids!

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RENOVATION REALITY

The renovation is finally winding down. Overall the house looks good and we are happy. The kitchen looks great, but still needs a backsplash. The kids bath turned out surprisingly charming in turquoise and white. The master bath is still not done. Sigh. Around the house, the tilework is passable to barely adequate. Sadly, our contractor is not a skilled tilesetter and let us down in that regard. He also made some mistakes re: building code when he put up the staircase, which otherwise looks pretty good. Let's hope the inspector starts drinking early when he comes to check things out. I can't stomach the thought that the stairs might need to be redone. Lots of touch-ups needed to the interior painting and the exterior painting is the most disappointing, especially considering what we paid. Overall we are going to hit about 30% over budget! Yikes!!

Love the neighborhood. It's like a liberal Mayberry where older kids actually ride their bikes unsupervised and neighbors all know each other. Two of our friends live around the block, which has been great! We'll miss the block party in October, which is going to be held on our street, but we'll will be back for Halloween...a time when the neighborhood goes crazy. Usually there are a couple haunted houses, people dishing out hard cider and hot cocoa to trick-or-treater parents, houses decorated to the nines, and so forth. I'm already plotting my decorations...I'm thinking stuffed crows, haunted signs, and ghosts for year one...hoohahaha

I'll put up pictures of the kids and the house when I can. Sorry it's been so long but things have been crazy up until recently.