Inspired by my sisters...

...to make my home more aspirational.

That's why I've been a blog slacker--because I have been a busy little bee working on my house. I have de-cluttered nearly the entire downstairs now, and done some artwork to hang on the walls. I've started scraping the nasty Artex off the bathroom walls, and have re-painted the walls as I've finished scraping them. I'm finishing several crafty projects I have on the go, including refinishing an antique mirror and two of my dining room chairs. I am helping Martin paint the front of the house and all the wood trim and lintels white. Tonight, I'm going to make some curtains.

Basically, I am tired of trying to market my home as a great fixer-upper. I want people to aspire to live here, not to walk in and think how great they could make it if they did...well, loads of jobs.

I'm finding the work exhausting, but very satisfying. I don't have any time to be bored or lonely or homesick. I also don't have any energy or patience with my children, because all I want to do is work on the house. Taking care of the kids really cuts into my DIY time :)

Having Edith in school now is amazing! Martin and I are really enjoying our two hours together EVERY SINGLE WEEKDAY! We haven't had that for over 5 years, and it's just as good as I thought it would be. Of course, he might not agree. I keep making him do all these jobs on the house.

Sorry Mom--didn't mean to worry you. I really have been that busy. Between the de-clutter, the creativity, the free time with my husband and the gym, well, I've just been buried. I'm going to try to take one night a week to myself, and that will probably involve blogging. Just for you, Mother :)

America trip part 2...

Bath time

Chillin' with Uncle Blaine

Dylan bonds with Grayie Vicious

Pulling faces for Auntie Krystle's iPad

Early days...

At Heathrow, watching the airplanes take off!

Angie's girls, in their English school dresses :)

Dead heading the roses

Grandma and Edith bond

Dylan's "mini" birthday party...

Back in Britain...

The trip home was largely uneventful, though filled with a vomiting and pooping Edith and a very nasty English dude on the SLC to JFK flight. More details later. And more pictures of our Utah visit later, too. But right now I'm doing some serious cleaning and trying to scare my kids into bed (they've been playing up for nearly 2 hours now). So this will have to do:

The kids resting on our luggage at King's Cross Station, London. What a couple of little troopers!