The weeks where I painted

 Well, it has been awhile. I feel like nothing too exciting has happened. Last week I spent a lot of time painting the boys' room. It is a nice gray (like the lego board gray) and it took me awhile to do the whole room. Usually I am anxious to just get things done but I took my time and I have to say it is my best paint job in the house. I also did their bathroom and that was a pain in the neck and took two more days but it looks great and I am happy. Their room has been in upheaval for awhile now with all the books out in the hallway so I could move their shelf around and toys all shoved to one side and their bunk bed in the middle of the room. 

Once it was painted I moved thier bed back and then the wallpaper came so that was my project this week. This wallpaper was more of a nightmare and made me appreciate how high quality the other stuff I worked with in the basement is. It didn't overlap well and that caused a lot of issues and it was hard to get the bubbles out and then parts of it came unstuck so that was all very annoying. On the upside, it looks pretty cool as long as you don't look too closely. It is Lego bricks so one wall is all these colorful Lego pieces and the rest is gray, then we have some red and blue Lego shelves and hooks. I got new bedspreads and let the boys pick so Brandon has yellow sheets and an orange bedspread while Curtis has green sheets and a blue bedspread so they look like big Lego pieces. I also ordered and put together new desks for them so they have Lego building space and we're getting rid of the little table and the toy bench in their room. It is really coming together and looking good! Curtis wants some display shelves for some of his Legos, I think we might need some storage drawers so he can organize all of the Legos instead of having them in one big bin and Brandon wants a bean bag chair (yellow, of course) but that's about it. Lily is making their names in Legos out of vinyl for me to put on their wall and we have a few things to put back on their walls but then it will be done. Oh, except I still need to go through their closet and the many Lego boxes in there but I am close. 

Then I think my season of projects will be done and it is time to move on to planning Easter, two birthdays and a baptism. I have also been trying to think of fun things to do over spring break but I've got nothing. There isn't much to do around here and D.C. will probably be crowded and it isn't warm enough to have water fun yet and we can't go anywhere because we have to save Josh's vacation time for this summer. Plus we've come so far it just seems silly to do something and get Covid now so I am thinking we'll just hang around. I always struggle with spring break and making it interesting. Plus with General Conference and Easter and the girls still have dance and the boys will have soccer practice so we still have stuff going on, except for school. 

Best news of the week is that on Monday I took Josh to his doctor appointment and he got cleared to drive! Very exciting to have him back behind the wheel. He had a huge smile on his face as he drove off to work after his appointment and I was thrilled for him to be independent again. On Tuesday I was able to be fully present during our book club meeting because he could go pick up the girls from dance and get everyone in bed. He also did the dishes that night and he picked up Lily from dance on his way home from work yesterday and he isn't clunking around on crutches in the morning being so loud. It is super nice. He can walk, wearing a special wrap, but he isn't allowed to pivot yet. His foot is finally not fat with swelling since he is starting to use it again and that is a relief. We're hoping one more appointment and he'll be good to go. He also has an appointment with the hematologist in two weeks to make sure the blod clot is gone. So, life is getting back to a version of normal and that is a huge relief. 

Kids are doing really well in school and dance is going well for the girls as they are preparing for the recital, soccer starts next week for the boys and I'm really happy about that (except Curtis is not on the team he should be and I am super annoyed with the soccer registrar right now but he is ignoring my emails). The Wiests had us over for dinner on Saturday and it was the first time I've been in someone else's house (besides my parents) in well over a year so that was wonderful. Petra had a whole show planned  with tickets and autographs ready so a lot of the time the kids were rehearsing and then performing her original script and music, which was cute and loud. It has been fun to get to know the girls as their piano teacher and develop a relationship with them since especially Vera is very quiet and prefers to read on her own rather than play with everyone. It was fun to just talk and play and have someone else make dinner. 

Sunday was another great week at church. We have been going every week since I have to drive Josh anyway but now that he can drive, I guess we'll go back to just every other week. Although Josh had a meeting with the stake president and change is on the horizon. The bishops need to all work together to come up with a plan for the stake since there is now no government restrictions. It will take a little while to figure out but hopefully soon, church will look a little more normal too. We're supposed to be eligible for vaccinations by April 27th so that is exciting! Other than that I've just been teaching piano lessons, helping Brandon with school work, cleaning, cooking, and reading. I went to the dentist and had a ministering interview, I continue to pick up groceries and on Monday I actually went shopping by myself. I went to Bath and Body Works for soap and Old Navy and Ross. I have been on the look out for dresses for Lily because all of hers are too small or too short but it has been hard to find anything. Plus she is super picky=annoying. I haven't taken a single pictures in weeks and I am feeling ready for spring.