Measuring Up!

Last July when we moved into our new "old" house, I noticed some marks on the corner of an upstairs wall.  As I looked closely I realized they were a record of growth!  As a parent of two high schoolers, I remember those early growth spurt years well.  

The former owners of my house have known me, and I them, for the past 24 years.  I was pregnant with my first born when the lady who lived here was pregnant with her only child.  Our children are just a month apart in age.  Although the former owners of the Burrow live in Michigan, they have dropped by a few times.  I haven't painted over these marks upstairs for a few reasons.  I am sentimental, but mostly these marks are in a spot that will hardly ever get noticed by others.  Also, the hallway is a nice neutral color and not in need of being freshened up.  

At my old house, I was guilty of writing on the walls too.  Out in the garage we had a wall where we would chart our children's growth each summer.  We had been marking height changes there since 1998.  When the time came for us to move, our walls DID need freshened up.  Can you feel my dilemma building?  My solution was to take this wall with me.   Not a very practical idea it seemed at first.  I looked around the garage and found a very tall, maybe 6 foot high, piece of quarter round.  My wall writings suddenly could become portable!  One flat side (on the left) charts my daughter's growth and the other holds my son's record.  
The top line on the left (or fourth line down on the right) is my height from two years ago.  My son surpassed me that year.  What a smile he had on his face!  After I made this portable chart I wasn't sad about painting over the garage walls.  In fact, since I didn't personally know the new family who eventually bought our old place I felt like without our record on the wall they could come in and make the place their own.  

The Burrow is different though...it's history radiates.  

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First Day of School Alert!  

Wednesday felt like a Monday as my kids went back to school.  I officially have two kids in one school again!  Yeah!  It's been four years since I've been able to have one building to head to for them.  As is my tradition, I do take a first day of school picture.  I forgot in the morning but grabbed a photo of the two of them after school.  Then I treated my kids to another first day of school tradition...

Did you note the Hidden Mickey!?  :)