Blue No More

Hello all! The clock is ticking down to our last weeks in Sioux City. We have a lot of things to get situated in the next few weeks, but we are trying to pace ourselves so as not to stress out. The biggies are starting to fall into place--we have an apartment to live in, Laura's preschool application is complete and active, I am starting to find leads into teaching water aerobics in Lincoln.....now we just need to get our house sold, and things will be shaping up. Speaking of the house.......it has been brought to our attention by a few realtors that the exterior color of the house might be putting people off a bit. We will be the first to admit--it was a BLUE house. Think North Carolina Tar Heel blue, but about 4 shades darker. We didn't love it when we bought it, but we did come to find it very handy in giving directions to our place. Anyway, our priority right now is not to debate the color, but to sell the house. So, upon the advice of our agents, we hired painters to come and change our electric blue house into something more subdued and, presumably, "sellable." So, we present you with our house: before and after photos.

BEFORE.....

....AND AFTER!

Other recent news....we had a fun visit on the Fourth of July. Some friends of ours, the Specters, had just set out on a long RV trip out west, and they planned their overnight stop for the 4th right here in the Siouxland area. Steph is an old friend of mine from college, and we both are mommies and language teachers. In fact, we are both undertaking new jobs teaching our languages (she teaches Spanish) to preschoolers this fall. It was great to watch our kids play together and to have a cookout and catch up. The Specters have four children, 5-year-old and 3-year-old daughters, and 1-year-old boy/girl twins. The 3 big girls had fun together, and we even let all 3 babies hang out and play together in a play pen. Here is a picture of all of us together.
Another newsworthy event in our house is that we officially have another toddler on board. Nathan began walking across whole rooms in the last 2-3 days. Today he made it all the way down the hallway and halfway back with no falls. He seems to be getting his legs very quickly now and looks very, very pleased with himself.
Finally, just for fun, I'll leave you with a picture of Laura doing one of her favorite activities these days---spinning in pretty dresses. Is she a girl, or what???

Stay tuned---there is a lot happening for us in the next few weeks!

Gina