The Great Painting Debacle

I think I have felt every emotion possible this week, good and bad, getting ready for my visit to Ohio. We took down a baby gate that was leading down to the basement, as Morgan can successfully maneuver down the stairs by himself now. When we took the gate down, we were faced with drywall that was starting to come off and peeled paint. Not good. We thought we had the paint downstairs, so we patched the walls and repainted. Well, the paint was not exactly the same color. Not good. The basement is painted two different, yet very similar colors. We used the other color, not the color in the hallway. Not good. They didn't have the paint for the hallway, so we were left with a couple of options: let them deduct the cost from our deposit (which could have been expensive if the repainted the whole room) or do it ourselves. Not good. We opted to fix it ourselves. Unfortunately, this involved me staying up until almost midnight one evening and spending a few hours the next day during naptime painting not one, but two rooms. I NEVER thought I'd be painting a rental house. But I guess the $60 in paint and supplies plua sweat equity is better than the rental company hiring a professional painter. (And in case you are wondering why I had to paint two rooms, the basement downstairs leads right up to the study/playroom upstairs and they are all the same color.)

Tessa fell asleep on the way to Home Depot and I wasn't about to make another trip there, so into the cart she went. Poor thing slept right through Home Depot, slept in the car again, and resumed her nap on the couch when we returned home. Apparently the girl needed her sleep!
Her sitter in Ohio had a fireman pole leading down from their swingset and Tessa usually needs help to get to it. Not anymore! She can do it herself! And last but not least, the gymnastics room! Tessa has been taking swim lessons for the last month at a middle school in the school district where we live and Morgan and I explore the school while she is in lessons. On our last week here, we discovered the gymnastics room. What fun! If only we'd known about it earlier...

Mats, mats, and mats galore. Morgan had a blast at swim lessons this week and we even went early one day so Tessa could play there too. And swim lessons, if I can brag for just a minute, have helped so much. Tessa started as a tadpole for the first two weeks, then moved up to Guppy for the second two weeks. And now she has passed to first beginner. It is hard to believe, but she can actually swim. She puts her head in, goggles and all, and kicks for a good 8-10 feet at a time. And she keeps going farther. We will definitely have to sign her up for swim lessons this fall. Now soccer, that is another story. I am thankful today is her last game...