Its April!

So its been a while. We have all been deep into a pretty ambitious Spring To Do list.  I've made some changes in the house, based on wanting to get rid of the red wall throughout the kitchen/living room.  I liked the red, but as it started getting nicer out, it was just so heavy.  And the curtains were so big and flowing.  I went in the opposite direction.  Green walls and only valances for curtains.

Its fresh and nice and really makes the room feel bigger.  The green looks pretty apple-y in these pictures, but its calmer in real life.  Plus we moved our big substantial dining table to the place where we actually eat and turned the formal dining room into a informal play room. We picked up a trampoline, a playhouse and hung some of Claire's art on the walls.  That suits us much better.

We've also made some changes to light fixtures, cleaned out the basement storage area, fixed the garage door opener so it actually opens as it should, and are in the process of cleaning the garage.  Mike and I put up a big pegboard, which has kind of been the highlight.  It doesn't take a whole lot to keep us happy.

Claire also had her spring break.  We stayed home and had the chance to do some special things.  The highlight for me was a night spent at a hotel downtown just the two of us.  We did some shopping, went out for dinner and then hurried up to our room for the event Claire was looking forward to the most: laying in bed, eating chips and watching The Wheel of Fortune.  Doesn't really get much better than that, right?  It was really nice to spend a good amount of time one on one with her.  

Then there was Tess's first birthday which was a lot of fun.

A close second to the party fun of the weekend was Tuesday morning.  I had to have a new battery installed in the Pilot.  Milena came along and was beside herself with the idea that cars could be up on lifts.  When one big van was finally lowered, revealing a baby bus (a short bus) on a lift behind it, she could barely find the words.  When she finally did, there was no settling her down.  The past two days she's gotten up in the morning saying "Baby bus up up up", and she now cheers when we drive past that particular garage.  And as if that wasn't enough, the mechanic had lollipops.  We should see if they book birthday parties.

So far so good, April.