Here are the "Super Six" from left to right Soccer Boy, Improv Actor, Bling Bling Girl, Princess Goldy Locks, Horse Woman and Action Man.

Okay, I may be bragging a little bit...but isn't this one of the sweetest families you've ever seen? And there's not an ugly one in the bunch!

"Enough of the picture taking already, those chocolate eggs are calling my name!"

Action Man listens intently as Dad gives him a few tips on where to find the biggest eggs.

Princess Goldy Locks has no problem putting all her eggs in one basket.

Forget the little pink basket, Action Man prefers a shopping bag for his treasures.

Soccer Boy is stunned when Bling Bling Girl announces now that she's turning nine, this may possibly be her final Easter egg hunt.

Action Man pays no attention to his big sister's advice about taking the wrapper off the candy before you eat it.

Ta daaah! Princess Goldy Locks also likes to put all her candy in one bag.

Improv Actor reflects on the Easter egg hunts of his youth.

Goat Lady and Tech Man are smiling because all the mess from the Easter egg hunt is at Grandma's house.

Welcome to Clam Shell Cottage!

As you enter through the garage be so kind as to "Place Shoes Here".

As you pass through the garage say hi to Mopar Man and Lar Bear who are working feverishly to install the new garage door opener."Well, hello. Come on in and I'll fix you a nice cup of hot coffee and if you're like Fancy Nancy you'll want a fresh hot apple fritter from our local bakery.

As you can see, the living room couch and love seat have not arrived as of yet; however, you're welcome to pull up an adirondak chair if you like.

Have you discovered the Upscale Consignment store yet? We purchased this entertainment armoire at a price you wouldn't believe. Doesn't it look just "beachy".

This is the southeast corner of the living room. I purchased this flower pot at a charity auction several years ago and added it to the decor because it goes so perfectly with the floral cushions on the adirondak chairs.

This is our little phone table. I didn't really want a phone in the living room; however, the workman did not consult with me before installing the phone jack. Ah well, one must roll with the punches sometimes in order to maintain the tranquility that being in a beach cottage should engender.

Come into the kitchen and talk to me while I prepare some delicious sea food chowder.

These lovely little cabbage dishes are a gift from Fancy Nancy so I just had to find a special place for them at Clam Shell Cottage. I made the little topiary ball by gluing moss onto a styrofoam ball and sticking it into a pot. I bought the plant stand at Marshall's for $4 (it was missing a piece) and hot glued the plant and basket to the top. What would modern civilization be without glue guns?

Would you mind setting the table while I serve up the chowder?

This is your room. Please feel free to lay down and let the sound of the ocean waves lull you to sleep.

To date this is the only bedroom with an actual head and foot board. that's because, after six years of sleeping on a tiny fold out travel trailer sofa bed, our nephew Lar Bear decided he needed a "real" bed to sleep on so he purchased a lovely bedroom set from Craig's List.

Our master bedroom looks a bit sparce but it's a work in progress. We did treat ourselves to a new memory foam mattress which we absolutely love. I purchased fleece sheets for all the beds and they are a cozy delight to sleep between.

The only other furniture in the master suite is this cute little Ikea desk and bookshelf combo which formerly occupied Fancy Nancy's home office. It now serves as our temporary chest of drawers.

Here's a quick peak at the powder room. It's so nice to have a full size bath tub and shower rather than the teeny miniture facilities of the travel trailer.

I purchased this end table at Upscale Consignment for $97. It retails at Paul Shatz Furniture for $599. The yellow pot is from Home Goods; it cost $25. The same pot sells for $60 at one of my favorite home decor shops. I bought two balls of greenery at the craft store and hot glued them together to create a topiary look.

Mopar Man purchased these gorgeous adirondak chairs at Tuesday Morning for $100 each (they retailed for $200 each). I found the yellow chair cushions on a close out sale for $15 each at Pier One (regular price was $40 each). I made the two floral pillows for $10 ea) I rescued the little cabinet from a garage sale. I spray painted it white, glued on some shells and added a twine bow accent (cost $10)

My daughter gave me this platform rocker which came from my grandson's former nursery. I purchased the fabric with a 50% off coupon from JoAnne's fabric. Then I took it to a little upholstery shop near where I live and had it re-upholstered for $180. The Nautica pillow is a $5 purchase from Ross.

This was a fun project. I purchased a white fabric remnant for $5 and created my own seashell design. See next photo for the "how to".

To design your own fabric purchase a bottle of fabric paint, paint brush and stamp. Squirt a little paint in a dish then brush a very light coat of paint onto the stamp. Then all you have to do is press it onto the fabric and voila! You're a textile designer!

I cut up a Ralph Lauren flat sheet (purchased at Ross) and made two pillow shams. The navy accent edging is made from two pkgs of seam binding. For the matching window valance I cut off the top part of the sheet and attached tabs.

Welcome to my new, almost finished, kitchen. As you can see the cabinets are a light pine with brushed silver hardware and the countertops are a yellow and cream faux granite. The appliances are all stainless steel. What you can't see is the beautiful dark pecan wood laminate floor. It makes a great contrast with the light cabinets. One of the things I love most about the kitchen is the large pantry which is not pictured here.

This guy is getting ready to lay carpet in the livingroom. The carpet is wheat colored and looks fabulous with the creamy yellow walls. (Sorry about the water spots on the lense of my camera)

I gotta tell ya....having adult children is wonderful. Here is our son Michael painting the overhang so his Mom could have a day off from painting. There are just some things my body doesn't like to do and standing backwards on a ladder with my arms up in the air is one of them.

Recently our son was at a social event where a business associate asked him how his Dad was doing. Michael misunderstood the question and thought the guy was asking about the elderly dad of a mutual friend. He began a long dissertation about the poor old guy's health and explained he could hardly walk and was mostly confined to the house. "Oh my goodness your Dad went downhill fast!", commented the guy. "Wait a minute, were you asking about my Dad? " asked Michael. "Good grief, my Dad's so active I can hardly keep up with him!" And here's the proof.

He may be active Michael but he still appreciates your help.

Here's what we found in our driveway two weeks ago. Mopar Man is talking to the concrete guys who just poured our new driveway and front step. It's hard to tell from this photo but there are actually four truck loads of gravel beside the house and down the driveway.

This cutie pie painter is our daughter. She and her family are our resident farmers. It takes a huge commitment on their part to get away for a weekend of painting. They have dozens of laying hens, two goats and a llama, not to mention a golden retriever and farm cat. With that kind of menagerie you can imagine how difficult it is to find someone to take over their farm duties for a weekend.

This slightly out of focus painter is our son-in-law. Not pictured is our 11-year-old grandson who is a budding new photographer who got so excited about taking pictures he forgot to hold the camera steady. When he wasn't taking pictures he helped his mom and dad paint three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

While the rest of the family painted the interior of the house grandma slipped out and put up the new shutters. Yeah right....if you believe that I have a bridge I'd like to sell you. Ha!

Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that Mopar Man gave me a little help with the shutters?

And this is what the house looks like with green shutters. I think it looks more like a beach cottage now.

We were surprised to see that the wall board guys were working on the weekend to make sure they got the job done on time. Actually, we weren't expecting this phase of the house to be done until this week.

Look at all that lovely wall board in my kitchen.

Suzy is laying out our sandwiches so we can dine in the living room.

Mopar Man is putting the finishing touches on the front door,

That Mopar Man is a real multi tasker. He's here, he's there...he's everywhere. If you look to the bottom right you will see our $1,100 swale. Now if you're like me you're probably asking yourself "so, what's a swale?" A swale my friends is a drainage ditch for the water run off from the house's gutters. This isn't just any old ditch...no siree. Pacific County required us to hire an engineer to design it and of course we had to purchase a permit and pay a professional to dig it. Do you have any "swale" ideas on how to landscape around a 24 ft. hole in the middle of our back yard?

Those streaks you see in this photo are a mixture of hail and snow. We took this as a sign (duhhh!) that it was time to hang up our paint brushes and head for home. It's a good thing we did because the next morning ODOT closed Hwy 30 through the coast range.

First everyone sits quietly while the Christmas story is read

Then everyone grabs a cup of coffee and warm cinnamon roll...!

Guys of all ages appreciate a little help from mom on Christmas morning.

Everyone's a kid on Christmas morning.

And of course it's important to take time out for tickling.

It takes the entire family to figure out how all the electronic games work.

And of course it's always important to invite a handsome fire fighter over on Christmas morning.

For some reason the men/boys (sometimes it's hard to tell the difference) in our family have a tradition of having a Nerf gun battle every year after the presents are opened.

The littlest man in the famiy gets a little instruction in Nerf warfare from his big sisters.

Of course the problem with gun battles is that Grandma's carpeting can become a casulty of war. Okay all you Nerf soldiers....just want you to know, I'm reporting this one to Fancy Nancy!

While the men folk do battle the women folk, young and old, gather round the table for another cup of coffee and a little conversation.

When it's all said and done, the family can depend on Grandpa to clean up the mess.

.....and then we all laid down for a long winter's nap.

"Hey, does anyone know who's suppose to be drivin' this train?"

"Excuse me lady, I think this is my stop!"

"You want me to sit where? Hey, if you like him so much, you sit on his lap!!!"

"Santa, pwease don't put my bwather on your naughty list. He's just a baby and baby's get a wittle squared swometimes." (Before Livi would get off of Santa's lap she wanted to make sure both she and her baby brother were on Santa's "nice" list.)

"Uhhh...aren't you guys suppose to be pullin' a sleigh or somethin'?"

Here's the proof. Three trees from a neighboring lot blew down across our property. Praise God only one of them was tall enough to actually hit the house. And it did only minimal damage to a couple of sheets of plywood.

Looks like we're going to have a life time supply of firewood for the wood burning fireplace.

Wu hoo...the house has siding and windows now!

That's plumbing in them thar walls!

...And that my friends is an electrical thingie (excuse my technical terminology)

Here sits a beautiful stack of shingles which will be added to the roof next week making the house weather tight. In building terms that's a really big deal. I never thought looking at a pile of shingles would be this exhilerating.

Welcome to our new living room. Mopar Man is cleaning up a bit before we can invite you over. Oh yeah, and we should probably wait until the windows are installed before having you over.

Mopar Man's trustie side kick, Lar Bear, is building an imaginary fire in the "soon to be installed" fireplace.

Here is the kitchen and dining room where we'll prepare and serve wonderful seafood meals.

Every job needs a couple of supervisors.

Suzy oversees the guys as they clean up the job site.

.....ever wonder what the guys do when the gals go off to shop!

Here is a stack of siding which will go on the house next week along with shingles and windows.