The New Hotness

We've gotten a jump-start on the new year here at the Norton household! Mike has been on leave since Christmas Eve, and will be off until January 3rd. We are making good use of the time so far! There are a number of things that needed doing around here, and they are getting done!

The trees in our backyard have finally finished dropping their leaves, and I have been sick and/or pregnant (pick whichever excuse you find more cogent) and unable to get them all up on my own. Because Santa brought us a swing set for Christmas, the time was ripe for yard work! We'll save you the saga of the swing set, and just show you pictures of the finished product! The leaves in the yard are currently 90% raked and bagged, leaving us with 10 garbage bags full of mulch, and a mulcher with hole-worn bag. The first picture below is during the clean-up process, and the second picture is once we did all we could.

Yes, our grass committed suicide in the month before we moved in this summer.

A quick aside to say, I love our swing set! It was really inexpensive, and it is just the right size for the kids. Megan and Robby can both swing all by themselves (you won't be hearing "mommy, push me!" around our house!!).

Another reason for our yard clean-up is the impending installation of a larger patio! It was going to happen earlier this week, but weather has not permitted. Hopefully soon! We'll be expanding our 8X10 concrete patio to one that is roughly 12X24. No pictures yet!

We DO have some pictures to share of our other project which is currently in the works... the painting of our first floor! Yay! I have been unhappy with the color since day 1, but Mike claimed he liked it... slowly he has come around to my way of thinking, and we spent the last few weeks gathering quotes and bouncing around the idea of just painting it for ourselves. Ultimately, we decided to hire the job out. The ceilings and the staircase were just more than we can handle. I'm happy with our decision-- here are some progress pictures! It should be finished tomorrow... we are very happy with how much brighter it is down there. Next painting job will be the kitchen cabinets... I'm still trying to decide what color would be best... cream? a darkish sage? white? I'd like white best, but it would probably clash with the countertops. I just don't know!

And props to Megan and Robby, who have been real troopers as we get work done! They have enjoyed having Daddy around, and Robby is learning that he can't talk mean to Mommy without suffering the wrath of Dad!