Beautiful changes

We are deep in the throes of rearranging the house! It is quite the project. But already we are THRILLED with how it's turning out. When Ethan got home from school on Monday, we excitedly told him that he was going to get a huge new bedroom. He was devastated. I guess I should have known better, but I didn't. The idea of change was too much for him to handle. He wanted to cling to his tiny little closet of a bedroom. Poor little guy. I don't know why I blanked out, but I knew that both of my kids always did better when I would just totally surprise them with the finished room instead of telling them that change was coming. They both loved a brand new space to explore, but they couldn't handle the idea of it ahead of time. Unfortunately, this is not a one day sort of project. We managed to put Ethan's bed up as quickly as possible on Monday, and then Ethan spent all of yesterday with Loretta and Reni while we completely set up his new room. He came in last night to find that he now has a palace for a bedroom. It is the largest bedroom he's ever had - including one he shared with Ellie another lifetime ago. He LOVED it! I kept all of the pictures on the wall that we had in that room as our living room, except the collage. I'm going to replace that one with another big canvas with a large picture of Ethan and Ellie together.

John and I now have our bed in Ethan's old room. It's a king sized bed, and it fits exactly wall to wall, with only enough room to stand at the foot of the bed. Having a video of me changing the sheets could land me on America's Funniest Home Videos. (And should anyone surprise me with this, they would have to die. Consider yourself warned. Yes, Reni, I'm talking to you.) To make matters worse, I bought these king sized fuzzy blankets to use as sheets in the winter months, but they aren't fitted. Last night, John was standing at the foot of the bed watching me wrangle the stupid blanket around the mattress while standing on the mattress. And he laughed! He's lucky that he has lived to tell about it. I was NOT amused!

Our new living room is already turning out gorgeous. It's just perfect for us. We are still working on it, as Ethan's room kind of took up our focus yesterday. Although Reni and Loretta did come over to help us move the couch. Oh yes, we had to do the whole deal. Move the fridge, clear off the counter, and wiggle the monstrous beast into the kitchen and then back into the original room that we moved it out of some months ago. John managed the whole thing like an engineer. (Remember, last time we did it without him by sheer force - doorjambs be hanged.) The first thing he said was "La and Reni, take that side. I'll take Sarah on mine." I'm telling you, in that moment, I had flashbacks to being picked last in PE. The fact that both of John's aunts are stronger than me is not a surprise. But that it's common knowledge... ouch. :-) It's o.k. I did my job of keeping John from gouging his back on the edge of the counter top quite nicely. (Of course this was before he laughed at me last night.) We now have a gigantic sofa in the middle of our new living room. And if I ever decide to move the house around again, I will be attacked by an angry mob.

John and I are having a blast! We have seen very little of each other over the past month, so we are just having a great time working together. Despite what I just told you earlier, we actually do work well with each other. We have very similar ideas in general, and our different perspectives - his more practical concerns, and my more aesthetic ones - generally merge quite nicely. We are creating a beautiful, comfortable, and functional space together. And truly, the experience is as wonderful as the outcome.

I promise to give you pictures as soon as possible!