Our first state to drive through was Virginia. My impressions: beautiful farm country, very nice and clean rest areas that were mere yards from the interstate (you had to veer off the interstate and immediately slam on the breaks lest you hit a parked car), pay phones I didn’t even know existed anymore, and no big towns anywhere…and apparently very few restaurants besides McDonald’s.

Everything was fine until we got caught in a major storm. I’m talking tons of lightning, which was gorgeous to look at, honestly, hail, wind, and rain just sheeting down where we couldn’t hear each other talk or see the road. So we called the campground, who were very gracious to let us cancel our reservation without a penalty. Elijah is terrified of storms, and there was just no way we could camp in that. I was so grateful to have the ipad…he played on it and didn’t seem to even notice what was going on outside.

I’m looking forward to the days to come. I can’t wait to see what other adventures await us.

First, I took a little shabby chic doorknob hook that was quite cute on its own….

and made it a little more “Kristi”….

Next, the chandelier left here by the previous owners.  It had already been painted by them, as you could see where they stopped painting in some places, and they made their own little fabric-covered shades that matched the colors of the room.  Again, it was fine as is…but I like me some color!

Last, we have an old window frame from my mom’s house that hung in our old house and we just haven’t figured out where it belongs in the new house.  Brian brushed it with a light coat of a pale mint green to go with our decor, then we hung it over the half wall between the living room and breakfast nook.  I love it!

Well, that’s all we have finished for now.  But there is more in the works!  I’m even thinking about having a Pinterest party to work on crafts I found on there with my fellow Pintaholics.

“The Spectrum Song” from Disney

This evening I worked on a couple of DIY projects, but I’m saving that post for tomorrow because I might finish more!

I had high hopes that today might be better.  But before you can say “big mistake!” I was way off schedule with a crazy 2 1/2 hour eye exam for Noah.  I came home exhausted again, and hungry, only to be accosted by a whiny Elijah wailing again about the injustices of his world.  It brought me to tears.  Two days in a row of craziness that didn’t resemble anything close to a schedule.  And in the first week of school!!

I’m ok now.  I know I have to learn to roll with the punches.  Some days are going to be awful, and some will be amazing.  Most will fall somewhere in between.  Maybe days like yesterday and today are there to make me appreciate the good ones.  We did take a little time for a treat.  We are studying insects, so we made ants out of ice cream, pretzels, and magic shell (for that hard exoskeleton!).  They were yummy!

                                                                         

Last night I got to go out with friends for dinner and a movie. It was such a great time! I can tell that I just thrive on that fellowship time, being with other women. We ate at Panera Bread and had some great conversation, then walked over to the theater to see “The Help.” As we were standing in front of the movie poster, discussing my love for Emma Stone, a guy walked up and started raving about it. He said it is the best movie of the summer. He said he had just watched it and was thinking about buying a ticket right then to watch it again! I had heard so many good reviews, not to mention the fact that I loved the book, so I was stoked to see it. Oh, and did it EVER live up to all the hype! I laughed out loud, I cried in happiness AND sadness…the only other thing it would have needed to make it the perfect movie for me was a love story. The acting was superb, the setting and wardrobe were delightful, the cars were gorgeous, and of course the story itself was sublime. I highly recommend it to everyone. I recommend that you read the book too. It is excellent.