Miller Family Blog

STOP! Slowly walk away from the cappuccino...

That is what I had to finally tell myself at some point this evening. If I have coffee after, say, 12 noon, I am doomed! I had a cappuccino with Vinny tonight at dinner and the energy jolt I got was freakish! It was funny because it just sort of came out of nowhere. We drove the kids home and all was fine. We got them in the door, into their pjs and into bed and everything was still peachy (do people actually use the word "peachy" IRL?). And then I said "ok time to find a box" because I thought I'd stack a few books up so I at least felt like I accomplished something off my "packing & moving" checklist for the day. Well fastfoward a mere 10 minutes and I had one large cardboard box packed, 4 large wash baskets filled with books, videos and pictures and three dressers loaded into my Dad's van. It was a split-second decision but I figured while I had my brothers AND Vinny all home at the same time, I should take advantage so I did just that. My caffeinated-self took over and I had all three guys move out two heavy, formica night tables and a loooooong 6 drawer dresser with huge mirror out of the bedroom WHILE my tiny son was sleeping soundly in the opposite side of the room. Now a "normal" Mom would NEVER mess with her child's sleep patterns. But me - I wasn't "me". I was super-duper-hyper Gina and sure enough, they moved the furniture out and the little man woke up. But I was on a mission... I kept going and goin and goi......... My Mom and Daniela sat with the kids (yes they were both asleep at 7:30pm yet wide awake at 8...) while my Dad, brothers and Vinny went up to the house to unload the bags, boxes and furniture.

I came home but the buzz STILL hadn't worn off (if it weren't for coffee, I probably would never clean. It's only after a cup that I get a strong desire to clean up shop). So what did I do? I vacuumed, washed the dishes, sorted dirty laundry to be washed, picked up about 25 toys and hand-scrubbed the kitchen floor. Yes, I just may have lost my mind.......

Anyway, as you can see - the packing is coming along. I felt really great after tonight's cleaning jag because I actually emptied out my wll unit over here and I like the fact that I moved out some of the larger furniture. Looking into a bare room is a GOOD thing when one is moving.

And onto the RaNdOm pictures. I thought I'd share a few here in case some of you can't bear to wait for the photo album to go out on June 1st (WOW....that seems like ages away!) The first few are some pictures from the restaurant tonight:

THE GENTLEMEN
http://www.image4u.org/disneydream03/AndrewandDaddy.jpg

THE LADIES
http://www.image4u.org/disneydream03/EmilyandMommy.jpg

THE WHOLE ENTOURAGE
http://www.image4u.org/disneydream03/familytime007sized.jpg

AND............ now this is *especially* for my friend Laura, I thought I'd share a few house pictures!!! I am going to eventually do a scrapbook of befores and afters so you can really see the comparisons side by side but here are a few pictures of the rooms "now" (and a couple of "befores"). Bear in mind NOT ONE ROOM is fully completed but you can get an idea of the colors. Ack! I can't believe I am spilling my top-secret photos...................

The biggest transformation, I think was Andrew's room. Here is the before - with all different paneled walls and a scratched up wooden floor:
http://www.image4u.org/disneydream03/ANDREWBEFOREsized.jpg

And almost completed. His bedding set is called "All Stars", we painted all the paneling white and did a blue accent wall (we ripped the paneling off that wall first), he got new carpet. That shelf is going to be hung for his Disney statues, I still have a really cool glass airplane lamp to hang from the ceiling (in the corner) and there are a few more wall hangings to go up. I'd say his room is the closest to being done. The comforter you see at the front of the picture is hanging over the edge of a crib rail.
http://www.image4u.org/disneydream03/ANDREWMIDDLEsized.jpg

Emily's room before was all white. White walls and a light carpet. This is how it looks now. I did two shades of pink and the rug is a "dried fern" to pick up the color in the wallpaper border. It looks a little more green IRL.
http://www.image4u.org/disneydream03/EMILYMIDDLEsized.jpg

Here is just a shot of the basement, still under heavy construction. NONE of these walls were present when we bought the house. Vinny and my Dad constructed them all so we would have seperate rooms down there. This is obviously a shot of the kitchen. We are tearing up all the ug and already ordered brand new (blue and tan mix)
http://www.image4u.org/disneydream03/BASEMENT5sized.jpg

I had a few others to share but they didn't come out that great (the "now" shots) and I don't want to show befores without the afters! So that outta wet your appetite for now. :)

posted by Gina M @ 8:16 PM