Church Bound

Thought I should put up a short post...that inlcuded a picture or two. This was from this past Sunday. Caleb was holding Felicity during breakfast, and Caedmon asked if he could climb up in Daddy's lap too. Cute.

Easter Sunrise Service

The kids picked flowers after the service in the field behind the church. What blue eyes and blond hair they have!

"Mom, you are interrupting my flower picking, but I'll oblige you with a quick attempt at a smile!" Caedmon, you make me smile.

"Mom, take MY picture! Look at all of these pretty flowers!" Celeste, you are my pretty little flower!


Whoa, look at that...there are THREE kids in this picture. I need a haircut. And, Caleb, you look so handsome! Thank you to the lovely lady that said, "Wow, are ALL those kids YOURS? That's wonderful! " And then she offered to take our family picture. It is so nice to have us all in the same picture for once!

Winter Wonderland

So glad the kids got a chance to play in the snow.

Caedmon trying out the icy slide with Daddy.

Brr, Celeste looks cold!

Of course, everyone had to make a Snow Angel.



Pretty in Pink.

The house, cars, and sign... It was a good snow. Now, for the ice. Ew. Might keep Celeste home from preschool tomorrow morning if the roads are supposed to be bad.


Happy winter, Everyone.

Labor Day 2010

Here are some pictures of our weekend!!

Sorry for all the bad ones, I didn't take time to edit out a lot of blurry rodeo pictures...

And for family that might want to see them in larger scale, just click on the pictures and it should bring up the album for you to look through.

Livingroom Decorating Plans I

Well, it has been a little while since I've posted pictures of the house. Honestly, I wish I could say that we have accomplished more, but in between our vacation, family visitors, and keeping up with things that need immediate repairs, (ie: AC and Plumbing). I just haven't done that much as far as decorating is concerned.

Yet. :)

Once again I thought I would share my ideas and ask for some feedback and suggestions from you all! So, here is a picture of my living room now...

First: Window Treatments
I would love some input on what type of curtains to put up in the living room window. I was originally thinking some white long panels but am not sure if that would look alright with the sectional pushed up close to the window which is certainly the best arrangement for it in the space. I could scoot it away just enough for an end table and lamp on that side, but think it might look awkward. I've also considered getting panels that are only as long as the window itself??? I'm not settled on anything. Should I go with color or pattern here instead??

Second: Wall color
If you can recall, I painted our dining and kitchen area basically the same color as the living room couch. This is beginning to tie the two rooms together, but I would like to introduce another color in this room to contrast with the couch. I'm thinking of paint matching the light steel blue from the accent pillows on the couch and using that for the wall color. I can't decide if I should commit to painting the whole room or just the back wall where the piece of art work is hanging.

Third: Wall Decor
I'm going to focus on just the wall behind the couch right now. I've got the one piece of art hanging, but still think the wall lacks a homey touch. Our family photos are hung in the hallway so I'm trying to think of what might look nice surrounding the areas around this art on both sides. Cast iron decor? Give me some ideas!

Fourth: Accent chair
I snagged an accent chair and ottoman at a garage sale for ten bucks that I am going to attempt to reupholster myself. This seems like a big, scary job! The accent chair will take the place of the dining chair I have in the picture. Of course reupholstering means I have to pick out fabric which is FUN, but there are a ton of choices! Match the curtains, blue like wall, combo it with blue and curtains or some pattern?

There is soo much to do! I probably should have broken this up into separate posts, but I didn't. So, yea, just leave me long comments on ALL of your ideas pleease!

The Neglected Garage

This


Used to be inside of this. We inherited most of it when we bought the house. Nice, eh.


Now, you've even seen the garage. AND, I went by this morning and the junk is gone-woo-hoo!!

This weekend's project is to install the new carpet you see rolled up on the right side of the garage. That means more pictures!

The Rest of the Tour...

In a bit of a jumbled fashion, here are some pictures of the rest of the rooms and areas of the house I've not yet posted.

Starting in the back yard...
Entering the back yard from the side gate...
The entry to the house. Doesn't it just scream "Help me!" Give me your ideas for this space. I have some of my own, but need some more inspiration.
The living room which adjoins the dining room.
The bedroom and half bath that the kids will share. This will be our guest room when we have visitors as well. We are going to eventually buy a bunk bed that is twin on top/queen on bottom to put in there.




Celeste is modeling the hallway.
The full bath in the house. Yep, it's bad. But, the toilet works now!!
This is going to be the playroom, and then eventually a nursery.
We are making this room the master since it has the largest closet, and will be right next door to the nursery in the future.
Now you've seen everything except for the garage!

All In A Day's Work

I describe today as busy and productive!

Floors have been ripped up.
Landscaping is being reworked.
Second coats of paint have been applied.
Two toilets have been repaired.
Two lighting fixtures have been installed.
Tree limbs have been cut and piled.
Old carpet has been hauled away.

Here are just a few pics. Mostly all before photos, but you can see a picture of the front of the home at least.




This landscaping bed is no longer like this. My friend Melissa and I worked on making some simple changes. I need to post a picture, but am trying to decide if I should wait until it is completely done, or just show you little steps along the way. Think "less is more!" I wanted to do something that was a little more eye catching.

Caleb and I ripped out the carpets from all three bedrooms the other night. When we did, we discovered some significant water damage/rot. So, today, with the help of Jason and Matthew, the sub flooring got torn out in preparation for new plywood and new carpet.
It's a scary mess in there...but, somehow, it makes me feel better because I KNOW it isn't going to stay that way. It will be fresh, and new!! Yay!

This is basically how we left the house looking tonight. Hopefully, by the beginning of next weekend we will have it looking quite differently!!

And, now, with all this in our day, I'm remembering right at this very moment, that we were supposed to go look at this ranch house for our family to stay in over Christmas...snap...probably gonna have to do that tomorrow. Sorry Nita and Grandpa!

Kitchen Wall Color: Before and After

Before...

After...

Before...

After...




Before...

After...
So, there you have it! My first painting transformation. What's left to do?! We are painting the cabinets white, getting a black granite countertop (eventually), tiling the backsplash with glass tiles, changing out lighting fixtures, installing a new door to the garage, installing hardwood throughout the kitchen, maybe building an L-shaped cushioned bench with storage underneath in the corner for dining(that would require getting rid of our current dining furniture, and I'm not sure I'm there yet...), and maybe building in a large open display/storage shelf underneath the little bar extension because it isn't really big enough for stools. Yes, I know, we only have 5 years....and, all that takes $$, but I thought I would share my idea for the space anyway. A girl's gotta have a dream!

First Steps

The house is ours, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until new deeds do us part. Just like marriage...do we have any CLUE what we have just gotten ourselves into? Probably not, but we have done the best we can in seeking God's help, the advice of family, and the assurance of friends. We are so excited!

We officially closed on the house on April 28th! The first day we worked at the house, Caleb and I spent an entire day outside. The yard had been left unkempt for over a month and that meant lots and lots of tall, thick weeds. In fact, the landscaping bricks in the front yard weren't even visible because the grass and weeds had grown over so much.

This is a picture after I had mowed the front yard, so the bricks are visible! If you look carefully to the right side of this photo you can see a little bit of mulch. That is where I had already weeded. The entire flower bed looked like the rest of the picture shows. My forearms got a major workout that day!



This is a picture of the back yard after CJ had already pulled up the biggest weeds. He has actually has used the weed eater a bit in this photo. We had to cut the grass down to size before it could be mowed.



The next day we began to paint the dining and kitchen area. I am going to try to paint a picture with words for you here. The walls where an odd shade of pinkish cream. The countertop is bluish in color. The cabinets are brown oak. The trim was white. The door to the garage and above the countertops were PURPLE. All of this mismatched color in such a small space was, well, horrendous! Once again, the pictures just can't capture it.





I know the best part about before pictures are seeing the after pictures, BUT I don't have any yet! Sorry. :-) They will come soon.

Pictures from Oma and Opa's Visit