Projects!

The past week or so has been full of projects in the Roberts House! For starters..the boy's have had a complete new bedroom makeover! We moved Maxwell back into Ben's room officially. He sleeps in there 9 out of 10 nights anyway and watches T.V. in there and plays all of his video games in there. Pretty much the only thing he does in his own room is get dressed and make messes. And so...in an effort to contain and control the chaos, we put both muchachos back into the same room. Part of that deal was ordering some new furniture, a complete new paint job, new bedding and all sorts of other fun. And so...here are the BEFORE pictures...




And after MUCH work and hard labor...and I DO mean MUCH! HERE is the finished room...all transformed into the new "cool" teen hideaway!




The boys seen to be thrilled with their new hangout and are enjoying their new space immensely. They are even making attempts to keep it semi-clean. And I will use the word "clean" very loosely here. VERY loosely! But it's a start! Hey...a mom will take whatever she can get!

In the process of this whole room transformation, I also found myself helping my dear friend Gillian move into HER new house. And we got to spend a lively afternoon unpacking boxes and doing the chit chat thing. And there is just something powerful about seeing everything in that brand new, everything put away in it's place for the very first time kind of state. And I got to thinking that I wanted that look again in my own house! And so, the "Great Purge of 2008" began. It started in my own closet. Then progressed out into my bedroom. Then into the family room, the kitchen, the game cabinets, the drawers, the garage cabinets, etc. It's like a giant tidal wave of JUNK was just washed out of my house! And it is SUCH a wonderful feeling! My garage is currently so full of boxes of things to go to Goodwill that I can't even park in there! And some of the boxes are now so heavy to pick up that it has become Chris's project because I just can't do it now! I need a bumper stick that says "I came, I cleaned, I conquered!" It's a happy day here in the Roberts house...yessirree! I still have Clara's room to do. THAT should be a fun one! But I'm all over that one this week and then we are DONE and SO ready for the holidays!

Picture business is great! I am spending LOTS and lots of time outside at the canyon these days. Many an evening enjoying the last light of the day out there! The weather has been so delightful! I really can't complain!

Max continues to be a challenge with school. He got put on a "check" system this week and was NONE too happy about it. He told me he was pretty much GUARANTEED to fail now because he simply was going to. He spouted out all sorts of reasons why this system of accountability is so stupid, etc. I simply said to him "Pick up thy shovel, stubborn child of mine...and dig, dig, dig your hole! Dig it hard and dig it fast...then preparest thyself to lie in it! And complainest NOT to me because you insisted on making bad choices! (Oh...and by the way...I'll send you a postcard from the beach where the REST of us will be enjoying our summer while YOU do a stint in summer school!)" He seemed to simmer down a bit after sleeping on it for a night or two. This weekend was relatively free of his complaints and threats of failing. We'll just have to see what the next couple of weeks hold for him and if his grades start to rebound any. I can tell Ben is getting anxious and tired of being grounded. He acts like he doesn' t care one bit. BUT...he has assured me all weekend that he HAS been working so much harder and HAS been making efforts and that his grades ARE better and that he has brought up his averages. BUT...to his dismay his teacher has NOT updated grades in forever...so I have no real proof of this. And so until I SEE that there is improvement...his status is officially grounded! Ben has checked grades at least 5 times this weekend hoping his teacher will have posted the new grades. But alas...nothing is there! Oh the lessons these young ones have to learn!

That's about it for what's happening at our house. Projects, projects and lots more projects! Still more to come! Lots to do and little time before the holidays arrive! I am pleased to report that 85% of the Christmas shopping is DONE. Not only done, but is wrapped. Not only wrapped, but is packed into boxes and is ready to SHIP! Post office, here I come! My Christmas cards got ordered TONIGHT! And I am READY for the delights of winter! Bring it on!