I very, very rarely do before and after photos. Either I don’t take any before shots (this is the normal problem) or we don’t finish the project 100%…um… ever. 😉
But, I did take before and after shots for the master bathroom. We started in December and finished this week. The fact that I did record this for the most unimportant room in the house makes me chuckle.
Before and after. Frankly, all I did was paint the cabinetry, trim, and walls.
You can see I didn’t exactly get a true before shot. There had been an oak cabinet hanging where the bright blue spot on the wall is. Since the oak vanity had been painted white, I wanted to paint both cabinets the same color and used the paint I got for the vanity in the powder room. I’d painted the powder room the December before.
This is after.
I have got to tell you I liked it better before. I’ve had a lot of misses lately. I don’t like the brown I painted the basement and I don’t like the purple I painted the kitchen two years ago. I’m starting the main bathroom. I’m afraid to pick a color. I don’t like neutrals, but my color choices are leaving me disappointed lately.
We’re back to being season pass holders. Woo Hoo. Hanny got to enjoy some rides this year. She is just over an inch too short for the 38” and over rides and she vows she will eat all her fruits and veggies in an effort to achieve that height. But I must admit… I’m okay with my three-year-old not going on the Tilt-A-Whirl and Sea Dragon.
Despite the cool weather, the kids conquered the water park. They gave the HydroRacers four thumbs up.
Some of us stayed dry… Hanny also vowed she would swim the next time we went. (We hadn’t taken her suit due to the mid-70s forecast.)
Tuesday morning I painted the girls’ toenails again. Johanna picked pink. But a few hours later she picked purple. And did it herself.
Thankfully, the two times I had painted their toenails I did it while they sat on the bottom step with their feet on the tile floor. The tile cleans easily…
Then, Wednesday morning I hear Marie call out, “MOM! Johanna colored red marker all over her face and hands!” It wasn’t marker… It was lipstick. [She made that face without prompting of any kind.]
Emphasis on WAS.
How is she getting into all these toiletries? Well, I have been painting our master bathroom and all the goodies that are normally up in a cupboard are now dispersed all around our bedroom. Or they were. Now they are all on top of my dresser. 😛
As always, birthdays are a big deal around here. But we didn’t have a big PARTY for Johanna this year. See, it’s ALWAYS a party here… or something like that.
Actually – everything is just moving along at a slightly slower pace around these disciples’ house this year. I’m not about to blame it on having a new baby. I’m blaming it on me getting older.
But even though we didn’t par-tay like we normally do, we had a splendid day.
At 6:30 A.M. Marie and I hit the road and got bagels at Brueggers. Johanna is a big fan of bagels.
We were home in time for our traditional “wake-the-birthday-child-with-the-birthday-song” serenade. We did this without Katriel as she decided to sleep in that one day.
Nan joined us for breakfast and brought some gifts. It seems I did not take photos during that portion of our day.
A little later Johanna’s speech teacher came by with a little something for Johanna. She felt badly at how abruptly services ended. I had to tell Johanna that we wouldn’t be seeing Mrs. Chapman again. There were a few tears but Mrs. Chapman ably eliminated those by reminding Johanna of the mini bag of M & M’s she had brought, along with a book and some bubbles.
A short time later Auntie Emily and Baby Anna came to visit. Anna brought Johanna a sweet princess T-shirt. She has worn this shirt since with a great deal of glee. Again… I seemed to have failed to record this with my camera.
After lunch our friend Ella came by also baring gifts. We had hoped Ella could stay for supper, but baseball interfered.
I tried to get a few photos of our three year old… she was less than cooperative.
Nan and Nene came for dinner. We ordered pizza. Ba and Poppy couldn’t join us as Ba had surgery last week. Daddy picked up hats and those silly blow-y things. We are a wild-and-crazy-bunch, no?
After dinner we opened family gifts. Nigel gave her a print of Tic-Toc-Croc from Walt Disney’s Peter Pan. He found the picture online, printed it, and went to the store to buy a frame. (Said frame was broken before the day was done. Just sayin’.)
Mom and Dad produced a box FULL of clothes… none of them fit. 😛
And she opened her very own “bike,”
I slowed her down long enough for a photo. Hey – I thought I had a princess hat on. Nope – I’m a monkey… Figures.
The requested Bolt cake (finished around 3PM for a 6PM slicing…)
It was Johanna’s last day of speech therapy. It didn’t HAVE to be… but somewhere along the way someone didn’t complete their job and papers were not where they were supposed to be in time to have a meeting before her birthday. I cried. Johanna is beautiful and tries to share a lot of what she is thinking. But we often do not understand her. And non family members almost NEVER understand her. But she is going to miss out on 13 weeks of much needed therapy because someone didn’t do their job. No one in the chain will really admit it was their mistake, either. This has been very frustrating. I cried.
I’m celebrating, though, because of my LORD. HE never falls down on the job. He never fails to follow through. He never forsakes us. He never gets distracted.
Romans 8:28 (ESV)And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
I got up early that morning and made cupcakes and purple frosting. We invited the speech teacher to frost them and eat them with us. My baby girl attempted to put on more sprinkles than any cupcake could ever hope to hold, and I let her eat every one of those wayward gems with a spoon.
She will most likely resume therapy in the fall. I look forward to the day my daughter can share her thoughts completely and without a barrier. And I pray that one day she will proclaim Jesus as her Savior in a voice the WORLD can understand.
Dayspring Disciples 
