Wow the weather is certainly different this summer than it was last year. We had to start watering the lawn in May last year and this year we have already received 40+ inches of rain. No need to water this year! Our July 4th weekend was on and off rain so we opted to continue on our painting kick.

Thanks to Salmon P. Chase and Brian's certainty that the man had been POTUS, he painted the entryway last weekend (ok we actually painted it together- he had to do the top 10 feet of the walls and I did the bottom 10 feet!). Once again, thanks to Mom, Dad, Grandma and Grandpa for that D.C. trip and the stop at Mount Vernon where I acquired a book of the presidents that I promptly committed to memory in the car so I KNEW Salmon Portland Chase (January 13, 1808 – May 7, 1873) was an American politician and jurist in the Civil War era who served as U.S. Senator from Ohio and Governor of Ohio; as U.S. Treasury Secretary under President Abraham Lincoln; and as Chief Justice of the United States. Brian was equally sure the man had been president so he bet me he was right and wagered the painting of the entry as a prize...sure do love the way he looks at the top of the 20 foot ladder!

We still had plenty of paint so this weekend I paint the lower level (AKA the basement). What a difference the paint makes! It looks like a family room now rather than a volleyball court with a fireplace and kitchen in it. I can't wait to take pix! We are winding down on our painting now. We'll have to as we are running out of room sto paint! All we have left are the kids bath, the lower level bath and the bedroom on the lower level. After painting the majority of the house in the same hue, I thought I would begin to tire of the color, but the more we paint, the more we love it! We are being creative with our warm earthy brown tone. One bed is striped in flat and semi gloss finishes of the same color, Brandon's room has our brown on top and tomato red under his border and the girls' pink foo-foo room has a pink and brown comforter to tie in.