and we did it!!!!!

We painted the ceiling AND the walls, plus the hallway, all in one day!

And looky looky at the disaster of a kitchen in the background...but do notice that the child in that picture, Miss Charlotte Claire, is only ten, and was one of the best painters.




This is Irene, friend of the family, besties with Sonja. She was here for the weekend, and so gladly pitched in, working all the live-long day. She never lost her smile, either. (The pizza and wings that were promised when we finished was the dangling carrot, the pot of gold at the end of the painting rainbow...expensive, but has to be figured into the cost of painting here, ha.)

Evelyn and Sonja K.


The finished color last evening, it looks lighter during the day.



So we worked hard yesterday. The prep work is what gets you, putting all the furniture in the middle of the room seems easy peasy, until you actually start in on it. I had recently moved the couches to paint the window trim, so they were all clean underneath, but other things, well, let's just say we found hair ponies and Nerf bullets that have been gone for a long long time. And dust and dog hair. We moved stuff into bedrooms, and the kitchen was a royal dumping grounds, then everything left was covered with plastic and old sheets, the exposed floor with newspaper...and we began by sweeping the ceiling to get the dust off...then sanding the spackle on the walls, wiping down the walls, vacuuming the dust...then, finally, opening the ceiling paint. We used almost all of the three gallons, and it was hard on the neck and shoulders. Two of the girls actually followed through with their plans to go to the mall, because they never heard we were painting today, they said. I tried not to give them too hard a time about it, but I wasn't thrilled about it. Then Mali called and asked us to watch 13 month old Lydia in the afternoon/evening, and oh dear...I love Lydia, of course I do, but um, our house was turned upside down...but I said we would figure it out, just bring her on over.

The two girls returned from the mall, one changed and started right in to help, the other had to leave to go to her language lessons, taking the only vehicle that is currently running well. One is in the shop, the other is leaking radiator fluid and will go in then the first one is fixed. So we ordered the pizza when we were done, and had to have Kathryn leave her lesson to pick it, and we ate at 8:30 at night.

So the painting was done...then came the task of putting everything back...can I just say how thankful I am for my kids who stuck with the task until the end?

A few of the girls I couldn't photograph, because at one point two of them were painting in just bras, Jonathan made a comment, and I said to pretend they are bathing suits. We sang, we listened to blaring music, we laughed until we cried, and we encouraged each other to just get it done. We also took a moment to respect all those who do work like this for a living, day in and day out.

We are saying goodbye to some classic toys that graced our house for years...the little kitchen is going to some friends, and some other things will wait for Lydia...(Mali is moving into a house next month, from her apartment)

The living room feels more open, clean and fresh, and screaming for those valances to be made, ha. Next project....

We had to cancel our dentist appointments for today because we don't have a vehicle and if I drove Paul to work, we wouldn't make it in time because the appointment was for 8:20. We are out of milk and bread, but Irene's dad brought over cheesecake and ice cream last night, thankful we had Irene for the weekend while he and his wife went to Ohio for the weekend. So Camille is happily eating cheesecake for breakfast. A grocery store trip is on the horizon...because we are running out of half and half for the coffee:) And puppy chow.

Anyway, I'm glad the whole painting ordeal is mostly over...I still have lots of trim to paint, but not today.

Today, we'll stay home and do school and enjoy the clean new living room.