paint colors for the new home...

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Two weeks ago, we had to joy of home inspections on both houses, and - thank God! - nothing deal-breaking came up. Fixes on both houses are almost complete, and the cost of the fixes required on the home we're selling were a whooping $32. Thankful!

While the inspector folks did their jobs at the new house, I did mine.

With paint swatches.

Curious? First, let me warn you that I am fickle, and these are all subject to change. And second, I think Sherwin Williams colors are pretty accurate on screen, but Valspar colors look vastly different on the computer than on the actual paint card and on the wall. That said...

Let's start outside, shall we?

Paint color: Sea Song by Valspar
Location: Exterior doors


Paint color: Alabaster by Sherwin Williams
Location: Exterior trim (and probably interior trim later)
(This is my go-to exterior trim white; it somehow manages to pull off "crisp" and "creamy" all at the same time.)


Paint color: Cast Iron by Sherwin Williams
Location: Shutters and siding on the back of the house


And now, on to the inside...

Paint color: Copen Blue by Sherwin Williams 
Location: Front room (living room and dining room)


Paint color: Twilight Purple by Valspar
Location: Built-in bookshelves in living room


Paint color: the Benjamin Moore light tan color that's already there
Location: Kitchen


Paint color: Apple Green by Valspar
Location: Laundry room/pantry (behind the open door on the left in the picture above)


Paint color: June Morn by Valspar (or possibly a lighter shade called Summer Cottage)
Location: Family room


Paint color: the Benjamin Moore green color that's already there
Location: Sunroom


Paint color: Watery by Sherwin Williams
Location: Master bedroom and Jocelyn's bathroom


Paint color: Dark Mulch by Valspar
Location: Master bathroom


Paint color: Sea Salt Blue by Valspar
Location: Hallway (entrance and to kids' bedrooms)


Paint color: Seaport by Valspar
(an old color, but they still have it in their system as long as you clarify that you want the Earth Elements color and not the Allen + Roth Sea Port that is a totally different shade)
Location: Upper half of Robbie's room (above the white trim and beadboard)


Paint color: Limoncello by Valspar
Location: Hall bathroom (i.e., Robbie's and Zoe's bathroom)


Paint color: Fairytale Pink by Valspar
Location: Jocelyn's room


Paint color: Everglade Glen by Valspar
Location: Zoe's room


 The plan is to paint as much as we can from May 7-13, and then to move everything from May 13-20. However, if we end up traveling to Taiwan as early as the end of May, then we might paint from May 7-11 and then move the bulk of everything May 12-13 so that we can be a wee bit settled in before we bring Zoe home. (If you're free to help paint, move, or watch kiddos during any of those time periods, we'd love your help! I posted yesterday about other practical helps we could use too.)

And let me offer that not much excites me as much as choosing paint colors, so if you hate that, call me when you need color picking help. I l-o-v-e it!

the house that wasn't

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When we were searching for our new house, I found one potential house on MLS that I thought could be a good fit. The main floor was a sizeable ranch that, although dated, looked like it would meet our needs well, and it had a basement with tons of potential for workshop and play space.

But.

It was, um, quirky. And some of the quirks were too much for us to handle, considering that our fixer-upper tolerance isn't high right now with everything else we'll have on our hands in the next couple years. So this will be a good house for someone... just not us.

The quirks were too much to keep to ourselves, though. Thus cometh this posteth.

For starters, the home had been left to three brothers in their parents' will. Evidently, those brothers like whiskey shots.


Naturally, it is important for every closet and cabinet to smell potpourri-y. And for every shelf to be lined with lace.


I had a bedroom door like this once upon a time. (I think I would replace the door before trying to sell my parents' house, though.)


What's that? You'd like to see a little more detail on that door? Sure, I can oblige.


In case you want to take up the train hobby that the old man had, the display space and cabinets in the basement are waiting for you! (And if you'd like to paint your own trains, one area of the basement has external ventilation so that the fumes won't get to you.)


And, of course, knick knacks could abound in the built-ins you'll find in every place you'd imagine. And many you wouldn't.




I would have loved to know the elderly couple who owned this place. I bet they could tell some stories!

disability ministry weekly round-up {april 20, 2012}

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Nope, it's not Monday, and this usually goes live on Mondays. But I've been so involved with preparation for the Accessibility Summit - which starts today and at which I'll be speaking tomorrow - not to mention the paperwork for home selling/buying and our adoption, that I'm just now getting around to it. Next week I'll have several posts based on my session at the Accessibility Summit, so you can look forward to that!

A heart shattered by a glimpse into autism May we see our children in the faces of those like Tim - just as Rob did - so that circumstances like Tim's begin to change by the response of God's people.

A parent's greatest fear Dr. G. updated this a few days ago, and it's just as powerful for interacting sensitively with parents affected by disability as it was when I first read it.

Warren argues, Dogs and people with disabilities will go to heaven Mark's post is thoughtful and helpful about some unwise word choices from a Christian leader (a leader who, by the way, is known for his commitment to special needs ministry, so I'm sure this was an unfortunate example of not thinking through the implications of words not evidence of anything more than that).

5 Things You Should Know about Child Sexual Offenders Given the research showing that people with disabilities are more likely to be victims of abuse, we all need to consider the hard and disturbing truths here.

Speaking Out: The Gift of Ministering Undeterred by Disabilities I haven't seen this resource from the United Methodist Church, but it sounds promising.

Woman with autism is parish altar server I love articles like this one. And I'll love it even more when this sort of thing becomes so commonplace that it's no longer newsworthy.

the limitations of "never"

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International adoptions never happen this fast.

Except ours is happening this fast.

In this market, homes like ours never sell in less than 24 hours.

Except ours did.

And the first decree in adoption cases in Taiwan never comes in less than two weeks, and even two weeks was the fastest that our adoption coordinator had ever seen. We were told to expect 4-6 weeks.

Except ours came in eight days, on April 18 after a court date on April 10.

 Yes, my friends. You read that correctly. We have the first (of two) decrees already.

 I've known the verse Luke 18:27 for a long time, but I haven't lived like I do. Until recently, I haven't been living a life that expects Him to cast aside man's nevers.

But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

Our "never" is limited by God's sovereignty. His plan has included so many sweet surprises for us, and words cannot express how blessed we already are by Zoe Amanda.

 I can't wait to see what God has planned for these little hands, can you?




















(I know the next question from everyone is, "How long now?" Well, from first to second decree is 10-25 business days, so that would put our final decree sometime between May 2 and May 23. Then travel is three to four weeks later, so - judging by expected timelines - we'll depart for Taiwan as early as May 23 and as late as June 20. In other words, we will - God willing - hold our youngest daughter and bring her home in a month or two!)

in which I farm my children out as test subjects

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I like research, particularly about child development. So when the Duke cognitive development lab called us when Jocelyn was a baby, I was more than willing to bring her over to their lab for a research study.

Nevermind that she was the worst test subject ever and completely refused to cooperate. 

Evidently, that initial performance didn't eliminate us from consideration for future studies. We've been over to Duke four times since then, including today's visit. Three of her visits have been with the Brannon lab, which focuses on the "development & evolution of numerical cognition." And two others were at the Child Learning Lab.

Why do we do it? Well, most of us like hearing the results of research, even if we wouldn't word it that way. What parent isn't interested in how kids learn? Or what's healthy to eat for growing kids? Or how much TV is recommended for each age (even if we just want to know so that we can ignore that guidelines when we see fit)? If other parents hadn't been willing to let their kids be studied, then we wouldn't know the answers to those questions and others.

Our first visit, that one ending in failure, was part of a study published in the journal Infancy, Changes in the Ability to Detect Ordinal Numerical Relationships Between 9 and 11 Months of Age. How was Jocelyn described? "Data from an additional 9 infants were discarded because of fussiness resulting in failure to complete at least four test trials." Yep, that's a fitting description!

However, the next couple of visits were successes:
Our latest two have been this calendar year, so I can't share any links with you. I can, however, share a sweet story with you: As part of the study today, some participants were given a variation of the classic immediate vs. delayed gratification test, in which a child is asked to choose between receiving a small quantity of some goodie (in this case, Skittles or M&Ms) right away or getting a larger quantity of the goodie after waiting. Jocelyn was with the grad student in a different room, and while I could see her through a window, Robbie and I were busy reading and rereading the three dinosaur books and two snake books they had. (Over and over and over again. The study lasted an hour, so if you want me to recite any of the books, I bet I could!) As a result, I wasn't sure if they did that task.

When we got to the car, the following conversation ensued:
Me: Did you do anything today with Skittles or M&Ms?

Jocelyn: No. [pause] Why, Mommy?

Robbie: Please, I have some M&Ms, Mommy? Please?

Me: No, Robbie, I don't any M&Ms. Sorry, buddy!

Robbie: I not Buddy. Buddy is a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Me: Yes, Buddy is a T.Rex on Dinosaur Train. Jocelyn, some of the kids in this study were given a choice of getting a little bit of candy right away or waiting a little longer but getting more candy. Which do you think you would have chosen?

Jocelyn: To wait and get more candy.

Me: Are you sure? You would be willing to wait for more candy?

Jocelyn: Yeah, because if I just got a little candy, then I would eat it all, but if I waited and got more candy, then I would have some to share.

Robbie: Please, Jocy, you share candy with me, please?

Jocelyn: Sure!
Oh, how I love my precious lab rats!