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Since it’s the end of the month (guys know what I’m talking about), I just wanted to share something funny I found online.

Last week I got to go with Brooke’s class on a field trip to the pumpkin patch.  Brooke was SO excited for the trip.  We had such a fun time riding a tractor, choosing a pumpkin, and playing on the slides and rides.

My mother-in-law invited me to go with her (and her daughter and her friend) to Gardner Village’s Witchfest.  Wearing witch hats was mandatory:

We had a great time seeing everyone in witch costumes.  Some people REALLY got into the dressing up and their dresses and hats were so amazing.

We felt like we were with a celebrity because everyone wanted their picture taken with my mother-in-law, the White Witch.  She even got a videotaped interview with…someone…we’re still not quite sure who:

We ran into someone we knew who told us he’d be changing into a costume later that evening.  We met up with him to get pictures taken. (He’s the creature behind us wearing stilts and a mask.)

We also happened upon Glinda the Good Witch and felt it only right that we get a picture of her and the White Witch together:

It was a very nice way to spend the evening.  Thanks for inviting me!

Where to begin?  Our blog has been a little neglected this past month.  We’ve packed up our condo, moved in with my parents, bought a house, and are now fixing it up and making it our own before we move in.

Here are some pictures of the progress we’ve made so far.  This is us in front of our new home.  Yes, a fresh coat of paint on the door and frame are on our to-do list:

First up – removing all the carpet:

Next up – the ceremonial removing of the sock.  Apparently one of the kids from the family that lived there before threw a sock up above the coat closet in a hard-to-reach spot.  We had noticed it when we first looked at the house and wondered whether it would still be there when we moved in.  It was, and my dad was happy to get rid of the orphaned sock:

The linoleum had some holes in it so we needed to rip that up, too:

While we were at it, we decided to remove the island and we’ll reattach it in a different spot to open the kitchen up a little bit:

My Grandpa, an electrician, got in on the action.  He was found perched on a ladder most of the time working on making all of my lighting dreams come true:

Honorable mentions go out to my uncle and cousin who also came for a bit to lend a hand.

Dallas was our spackle master:

He found one or two places that needed filling in:

It fell to me to clean the bathrooms:

All of the manual labor was rough on my dad’s knees.  He got blisters on his knees that were pretty painful.  Caroline and Brooke were trying to figure out which was worse – his knees or his messy hair:

We have a move-in date set for two weeks from yesterday.  Can we do it?  We have little room for failure as my brother and his family are coming at that time so we’re getting kicked out of my parents’ house to make room for the visitors.  Wish us luck!

When we first looked at our soon to be new come here is what we saw.

When we returned with the inspector now that reality of actual ownership is upon us, this is what we saw

Hopefully with some tender loving care we can return to the higher vision of our new estate and our home can be the mansion it was in our mind .  It is still over double the size of our current home.  In my mind it is still a mansion because we have far more space than we know what to do with.