The family who paints together, stays together

When Jared and I began dating, one of the things that really attracted to me was his "can do" attitude. He loves nothing more than hunkering down and fixing a problem--be it a bug in a computer program, a car that won't run, or a home improvement project. So it was no surprise to me that when we started looking for our second house, the place that Jared (and I) fell in love with was one that needed a lot of work.

It's been three years now since we bought this house. Three years of fixing faulty electrical work, overhauling the landscaping, ripping out moldy drywall, and dreaming big. It seems like for every one project that gets crossed off the to-do list, three more are added. A few weeks ago, we tackled something that's been on the list since we moved in: painting Elizabeth's room. (See, we didn't paint it when we first moved in, because Jared needed to do some rewiring--which entailed cutting holes in the wall for the new outlets. Then the holes needed to be patched, mudded, re-textured. . .you get the point.)

Elizabeth was very, very excited for this project--ever since I mentioned it to her, she'd started coming up with great color scheme ideas: "How about we paint one wall pink, one wall green, one wall blue, and the ceiling purple?" I gradually talked her into picking just one color from the curtains I'd bought for the room, and we made the requisite trip to the paint counter. Back at home, we gathered up our paint rollers, cranked the tunes, and went to work.

I was a little worried about having a 5-year-old slinging paint on the wall, but as it turns out, Elizabeth is a very conscientious and neat painter. Neater than me, for sure. (Those of you who've painted with me know that's not saying much.) Her enthusiasm petered out after a couple of CDs, though, and she left me to finish up while she hung out with Anna. When I took a break, I found them snuggled together on the Poang chair:

(Don't be too fooled by the display of sisterly affection. This was about 30 seconds before the pinch-fest began.)

We got their room put back together before the day was out, and the girls were giddy with excitement. Okay, so was I--I'd bought those curtains almost 3 years ago, and it was exciting to finally see the room all come together. All that's left to do now is to procure (build, maybe?) some real beds for the girls. . .and revamp the closet. . .and paint the door. . .and hang some artwork. . .and get some curtains for the other window. . .