Adding the Pool

Progress is always good!  We have been watching things change at the house every day, and it's getting exciting.  I love seeing trim, smelling wood, and watching the house transform.  Almost as good as growing a baby. : )

Front Porch..expanded.  Much better.

Dining Room ceiling.  Hopefully that white ceiling will temper the navy walls. ; )

Back of my closet is done.  Love that window for light!!

Inside Front Door

So here goes our next adventure..and here's praying it all ends up finished at the same time! : ) 

Mary Claire climbed right up..and wanted her picture made!  The equipment left on the property has been at least as entertaining as the house itself!

After a lot of deliberation (and estimates, budget-busting, and shopping around..), we decided to go forth with the pool.  We had one at the last house, and it was used nearly every day from May till Halloween.  They loved it.  And it meant family time.  Ches just couldn't see moving and not having one..it made moving worthless he said.  So, we limited some of the things we'd wanted, like size! and changed a few things to make it work.  We also ordered our own tile, and it came in a couple weeks ago.

..obviously didn't edit this one!

We saved so much just on that!  It's the tile we used on the last pool..but this time, it was going to be $1800 just for the tile!!  Yes, absolute cray-crazy.  Found it from the actual distributor for half.  Ches did have to drive to Ft. Smith to pick it up, but all's good.

Can you tell he's excited?!  He can almost fly.  He transmogrified into a bird..and really believed it.  :scary!:

Here is the shape dug out, framed with rebar, and plumbing half finished.  We should see some gunite by next week.

So..with that going up, and the house getting closer (maybe 6 weeks out now?), I'm still looking a few weeks ahead.  I found some chandeliers online today for my closet:

Seriously..only $218 for two with my Overstock coupon.

and for Mary Claire's room:

She loved it.  She wants her room very French.  We'll see.  $99 (on Amazon.com)

I obviously had some time today..this morning we had lunch with some friends.  But..this afternoon?  Ches took the big kids to the movies, and Carter took a great nap.  I am drooling over one more light..but I have to see if I can make it work.  I requested two lights in my pantry, so there are two sockets. (I know there is a better word..I just can't recall it this minute..or the next.)  The light fixture I love is a one-holer.  I'd have to have the socket moved, and the other two sheetrocked over.  Is it worth it?

See?  Pantry worthy.  I know..but I love it!!

And while I couldn't decide, and left this one decision still up in the air..I got to love on this sweet boy.  He loves those days when I make my bed..he crushes my squashy pillows, and messes it all up.  And I just want to take pictures of him!

Mary Claire took this with her iPod!  She sent it to me...I love it!  He just adores her.  She said she bribed him with a Twinkie.  Good Lord, he's cute.

Better wind it down, I'm heading to Joplin early in the morning to hang out at 2Friends&Junk.  I can't wait!  Hopefully I won't bring home too much junk. ; ) haha! 
G'night, hugs!

We're Crazy

There once lived a crazy family.   One who chose to take their four littles on an adventure.  A big adventure that is still changing their lives.  Nothing as amazing as the Carneys going to Africa to staff a home for kids, or anything like that.  Just crazy in our little part of the planet. ; )

Our garage doors are CLassy.

They learned sacrifice.  Like when the biggest sleeps on the couch so he doesn't wake the baby sleeping in his room.

They learned patience from watching their home grow s-l-o-w-l-y.  And when watching things get fixed slowly, but surely.

 

The littles learned to p-l-a-y on big equipment, in sand and brick chunks, and even in wood scraps.  (They also learned to love the baths that came soon afterward each night.)

They learned kindness when they entertained neighbors each night by showing them around.

They practiced sheer giddiness when they saw the storage.  And were thrilled for their family to be able to store Sam's quantities of paper towels, toilet paper, and Cheerios.

They learned wild abandon when they saw the pool outline.

And they learned respect for the awesome men who've poured their days into a house that they won't live inside.  The workers who do an honest job, and incredible work.  This is why you let people do what they are good at..they rise up and excel at the gifts God blessed them with.

Prayers for your family and mine..that we can rise up to what God calls us to! : )  Whether it's mission work, home building, bringing joy to others, or just building a family.
Hugs to y'all!!

Ivory or Brown? Discuss.

We figured out a way to grow our littlest cutie!  

..so yeah, it's an awful picture.  But, he was so happy!

He prefers chocolate, and then hugs it.  Don't even try to sneak a taste.  Good thing he doesn't finish it..there's always someone to help him out.

We go by the house to check things out, and then to Sonic..mmm...milkshakes!  We're all putting on pounds!  haha ; )  Seriously, I've stopped getting ANYthing.  It's really tough, but then I look down at the stress weight I've put on!  I eat to relieve the pressure.  Reese's when the big boy yells at me for not going straight home after school.  Coke as I'm exhausted making dinner.  Coco Loco yogurts at midnight as I push through more choices.  You get the weighty idea.  I'm not exactly using up as many calories as I'm stuffing in.  (Like worse than a bear storing up for the winter.)

So..less about me, more about the house.  We are watching it transmogrify right now!  Brick is done, sheetrock is finished and textured, and we met with the trim carpenter yesterday to plan all the trim.  He is excellent, so I can't wait to see it all finished!

He walked around and drew what we wanted on each wall in pencil.  He is amazing! (It doesn't hurt that he isn't that much taller than me, so um..we kinda bonded I think.)  (Short people stand together!)

Dining Room.  I want a coffered ceiling..and the choices are endless!  How wide are the beams?  How deep, anything you want, he says.  That makes it hard!!  I did decide on 9 squares.  That is totally something. ; )

Soo..the living room.  I dreamed up these beams that come down from the ceiling, but return since I can't go wall to wall since it's so open.  I just explained it, and I think we had a meeting of the minds.

Carter's bathroom window (also the guest bath).  Love the drawings!  I'd kinda be okay if they were drawn onto my paint.  Really.

We also walked through each closet and described what kind of space we needed.  This is the west wall of our closet.  Shelves, and rods, and shoes, and drawers.  Awesome!

Our bathroom mirror and sconces have been a huge dilemma.  I had large framed mirrors before (they were kinda beautiful and a hard act to follow), but this time I'm using all chrome lighting and bath fixtures and I couldn't decide what kind of frame to get..wood?  Not quite.  No to bronze.  Chrome would be too much.  Too tough!  So, I've decided to let him back it all with moulding and crown moulding around the mirrors and sconces.  This bath is all white and some grayish veined marble, so tans wouldn't really work.  Make sense?

Locker area.  Added dividers so no one gets cooties.  Or knocks someone else's coat down.  We at least aim for sanity and friendliness.

Ches decided post-walk-through to add some cabinets and a counter to this garage space.  Think I can take it over too? haha!

..and today was TEXTURE!!  Trim and paint coming soon.

I'm excited to see it coming together.  Sometimes I feel anxious and worry if we are doing it right (and if we'll be happy with our choices in a few years).  The brick is much more colorful than I thought it'd be so I'm deliberating over shutter color now.  Ivory to tone it down?  Dark brown (stained) to bring out the trim and make it more serious?  Remember the inside and back are all beachy colors.  Not so much serious.

My baby is feeling quite at home in the bricky, concretey, nasty yard.

So this is how you paint a stairway!

The brick is finished!  See how the side porch has a nice, gentle slope on the arch?  The front porch was supposed to be that way too..but not so much. : (  Still checking on how we can change it.

He had so much fun in the brick nastiness.  He even asks for a bath every night when we come home!  (I'd call it a success!)  So..what do you think: ivory or chocolate shutters..or another color?

I hope they play outside this much after we move.  Totally in love with sand and pallets and chicken wire.  And broken up brick chunks.

Dirty boy.  Love him.

We picked up some of the whole bricks they threw to the side, but I have a feeling a lot of this will be in our driveway and under our yard.  I hope I'm wrong. ; )

Slowly but surely.  We are still managing in the rental.  It's been kinda tight, and I'm missing some of my stuff.  I'm sure it's good for me..and character-building and all that.  I made meatloaf in an 8x8 last night.  But they ate it ALL, so it can't be too bad. ; )  My big, long barbeque tongs live in my bedroom (even after they are dishwashed), I finally found my iron, but the ironing board is in storage (maybe a good problem to have?), we don't have a ladder out to change the bulb in the front porch light.  I feel like one of those rental houses.  (And I'm reluctant to admit it's kinda freeing!  No responsibility.  No guilt over the dying ferns on my back deck, and the patio furniture sitting on grass..cars in the driveway, boxes of bath fixtures in the living room floor..you get the idea.)

Which reminds me!  We got our pedestal sink in the mail yesterday, and I love it!  I try to pretend I'm country, but I'm borderline traditional.  It kinda shows in the sink. ; )  Only thing is..that cool IKEA faucet?  It's kinda got too big of a neck on it.  I think it'd splash the hand-washers (and I pray we have at least a few!).  So..back to the drawing board.  I ordered a new faucet tonight.  Praying it works better!  It is shorter front to back (4.5"), and I never even thought of checking that at IKEA, I just bought it since I loved it.  Learn from my mistakes: carry measurements, my friend.  Oh, and..do you need a beautiful faucet?  For $50, I can set you up! : )

Part of me eating less, is sleeping more.  I eat sometimes to stay awake.  (Wrong, I know.)  so..this is me saying goodnight!  hugs! 
  

IKEA Love

So..my birthday is coming up.  A big one.  So we decided to take a small trip to the Big D.  To shop a little (although we have no more room for ANYthing!) for the house and to make some plans.

Plans for a sofa in this space out back...

Plans for Clay's room and bed and a new chair...

Plans for Mary Claire's bathroom...

Plans for medium gray shutters to cover some of the colorful brick..and dark stain for the front door and cedar trim.

But before we left..Ethan got to have a play date!  With Gabe, a friend from school.  They had fun riding bikes, making pizzas, playing with the geotrax, and lots of other toys.  He doesn't get to play with other kids as much lately.  With the moving and all.

And then I find out that this was Gabe's first play date.  He has diabetes like Mary Claire, so it's hard to let your child go away with another mommy.  I know a-l-l about that.  The scare of lows and highs and excitement and using more energy and all that.  But he did just fine.  Sweet boys.

Plans for more time for play dates...

Plans for the entryway..a table, mirror maybe?

Planning on standing here and seeing the morning sun come up as I wake up the kiddos for school : )

Plans for watching this sweet blankie-hugger grow up.

Peek-a-boo!  He just loves this old blankie of Ethan's.  It's his "Addy".

He has plans to put this chair in his new room..to read and play games. ; )

This is the CUTEST!  It's a toddler chair for the table, but it's like a high chair.  Did I mention cute?!

A FARM SINK for only $299.  A darn good deal.

Plans to put this somewhere.  For only $99!

Need a pair of these on the patio : )

Plans to buy tons of these!  20" feather pillow fillers for only 6.99.  Best deal I know.

Planning to buy some of these-wall shelves for 14.99.

Need these cute dividers for storage..maybe in Ethan's room? They are $119.  Pretty sure they were 4x4 boxes, but it was about 5' tall.

Planning for Mary Claire's room..  American Girl storage?

Second Best Deal.  Can I have a few?  Beautiful to display Lego creations on. ; )

This big unit with glass shelves is only $70!

These are great, and all for $89.  Yes, please.

They came in other colors..only $49 so planning on these too!

Or these for the bar!!

So..I consider myself pretty traditional, but I really like these!  They are 6.99 for two.  Please and thank you.

Drawer organizers.  Only 2.49.  Other stores, take a lesson.  This is amazing.

Clay says he wants this too.

Perfect for organizing the pantry.

Two for nightstands for Mary Claire's room?

Fuzzy picture, but he loved the little furniture!

I also visited Cost Plus World Market, but IKEA was still cheaper on dishes.

These would be gorgeous on my open shelves!

..and wouldn't these be adorable on there as well?  (Yes, get me a job for this year..I'm too busy spending)

Baby loved this kitchen..and the pots and pans!  So..we bought the pot set.  He is taking them EVERYwhere.  Seriously.  Still.

Who doesn't need glasses for 59 cents?!

Big kids both want a map.  Who can argue with kids that want a map?

Oh yeah.  Poolside. : )

Here again with his pot and lid.  Happy.

Oh and Target with the pot.

Lord, can I be happy with a little pot?

Let me be as easy to satisfy as this sweet angel.  No, I didn't buy all of the above.  I had no room in the van, and have no room in the house or storage!  But, yes, I love it all and had an amazing weekend!  We visited not only IKEA, but also Restoration Hardware, and Cost Plus World Market, Performance Bike, American Girl, and a few more.  We needed our Dallas fix. : )

Maybe I can decide exactly what is needed and go back in a couple months.  With a trailer! : )  if I get a job and can get off work..haha!! ; )