Trip to the Zoo

Last weekend, we had Gracie's birthday party on Saturday and then planned to lay around and relax on Sunday. Until Sunday morning and we decided last minute to go to Tulsa to the Zoo. It was fun, as usual!

Fun Misc Stuff in July

Here's some misc stuff from the month of July that's not made it on the blog yet. We have been having a wonderful summer. I have mixed emotions about it coming to an end. I have enjoyed having the time with all of my children so much and I'm going to miss the boys when they're back in school. At the same time, I'm sort of looking forward to getting back to the "normal" routine. Gracie starts dance class next week and the boys' soccer season will start in a few weeks, so we're about to get really super busy again!

Mammaw came over and spent one weekend with us and she, Jason and the boys did lots of fishing. Gracie and I went with them some.






On Saturday afternoon of that weekend, we drove up to Roaring River to meet some of Jason's side of the family for a picnic and some fishing.



We went to a birthday party for one of the boys' friends and had a great time getting to see friends and visit. The kids had a big boys vs girls water balloon fight.
Here's Jason helping on the girls' team. He is such a good dad!!

Tasha and her kids, Jaiden and Trenton, came and spent a day with us one day. We went to the pool, made spaghetti for lunch and Tasha and Gracie made cupcakes for dessert. Yummy!

Rhett took this picture of he and Gracie.

This was the last picture taken on my dear camera before Rhett dropped it on the tile and it broke. 2nd camera to break since January. I got a new camera a few days later and now I'm the "mean mamma" because they aren't allowed to touch it now.
Here's the first picture I took with my new camera. On the way to Branson!

The morning we went to get the new camera, we headed to Branson to meet Jason's Aunt Cathy and cousin Anya to see Peter Pan at the Mansion Theatre. Cathy was able to get a really good deal on them and bought some of ours as part of Gracie's birthday gift.
We had a wonderful time and the show was great. We had front row, center seats, but the kids were having a hard time seeing up on the stage over the speakers and lights, so at intermission, we moved to the back of the theatre. Even Gracie sat through the whole thing and watched. Thanks for the tickets, Cathy! We had fun!
Here's the kids outside of the theatre. Getting ready to go in.


Here's the boys with the Pirate before the show. Gracie wanted no part of it!

Gracie and Rhett with a poster in the lobby. Shootin' me with their guns.

Here's the kids with Cathy Rigby after the show.

New Home Tour- The Upstairs

Today, the blog tour of our new home continues with the upstairs.

Going up!

At the top of the stairs is what we call the kid's playroom. With the big hole in the floor that's open to the entryway, there isn't a lot of space, but it is enough for them to play. Eventually, we want to close this hole in and give them more space to play.
Top of the stairs to the right. That's the door to Gracie's bedroom on the other side.

Top of the stairs to the left. That's the boys' bedroom on the other side and the door to the immediate left is the kids' bathroom.

The kids' bathroom (with the ugly wallpaper I mentioned we would eventually take down!)

The boys' room.


I still have to put up the shelves with all of their trophys above their dressers.

When you walk out of the boys room, this is what you see.

Side of the playroom closest to Gracie's room. Mostly her toys, but their shared bookcase is here as well.

Here's Gracie's room.




Going down! That's the door to my bedroom on the right. To the left is the kitchen.


I hope you enjoyed the tour of our new home! We love it and have enjoyed every minute we've been here!

Our New Home Tour- The Downstairs

I've been promising a blog tour of our new house for quite a while now. Thanks for being patient! Today, here's the tour of the downstairs. The kids' bedrooms, playroom and bathroom is upstairs and I'll do that post tomorrow.

First of all, I want to give all the glory and praise to our Lord who has blessed us with this home that we've been praying for, for so long. We are SO thankful. The house is absolutely perfect for us and I hope we can live here for a VERY long time!
There are a few projects we'd like to do to the house in time. Ok, maybe more than a few. But, we're in no hurry to do them. We're just enjoying being in a home that's big enough for us!
Future projects include: black shutters on the exterior, new outdoor light fixtures, new front door (or paint the existing white one), hardwood floors in the downstairs living area, upgrade appliances in kitchen, paint kitchen cabinets white, take down all the ugly wallpaper in the 3 bathrooms, and we also plan to cover up the opening in the upstairs to give the kids more living area there.
I wonder if we'll ever actually complete all of this?!?!

WELCOME TO OUR HOME!

Here's the outside front. (The first 3 outside pics were taken before we actually moved in. Hence the for sale sign...)



The Front Porch

The entryway. (This is the same pic I've posted before. Those flowers aren't always there. This pic was taken on my bday and those were my bday flowers from my hubby!)

the door to the right is a big closet.
When you walk in the front door and look up, this is what you see. It's open to the upstairs.


Next, is the living room/sitting room. What we are using as a sitting room, or an extension of the living room is technically supposed to be the formal dining room. But, since "formal dining" isn't as much our style as "family living", we decided to use it this way. It's wonderful to have all the space! We plan to put a loveseat under the window there and move the coffee table out. I envision sitting here reading or just snuggling with my hubby while the kids watch tv in the living room. Or vice versa.

This is what you see when you walk in the front door and look to your left.

Living room looking into "sitting room". (I just realized I left the vaccum cleaner out! I usually keep it in the hall closet, not the middle of the living room!)


After I took the above picture, I got a rack and hung the double wedding ring quilt that Jason's late Grandma Walker made for us back in 1997 when we got engaged. It's been in a box all these years and we finally took it out and displayed it. So, I took another picture to show you what it looks like now.

Here's a view back towards the front door from the corner of the living room (where the vaccum cleaner was!)

Past the front door, you can see the door to my office.
The little office nook you see is my little "scrapbook nook" or "crafty space" or "small office". Call it what you like. We've not settled on an official name. Either way, it's mine, all mine!



Here's my office. Where I spend much of my time! This is taken from the doorway.

This is taken from the back of the room back towards the doorway. The armoire desk is Jason's desk.

There is a bathroom off of the office. This is our guest bathroom. Eventually we'd like to add a door to this bathroom from the entryway, so you won't have to go through the room to get to the bathroom.


Through the living and sitting rooms, is the kitchen.


The door leads to the back yard. Here's the covered back porch. We plan to get a nice gas grill to put on the porch soon.

Through the kitchen, take a right before the door to the back yard and it's our mudroom and laundry room. The door to the left is the door to the garage. All the houses on our side of the street are rear entry garages and we all share an alleyway behind our houses.

Right when you walk into the kitchen, take a right, and you pass the stairway and walk into our master bedroom.



Here's our master bathroom. On the left, there's his and hers vanities with a jetted tub in the middle and on the right is a shower, our walk-in closet, and then a room with the toilet.


Well, there you have it. Our Home Sweet Home. I hope you guys enjoyed the tour! Come back tomorrow for the Upstairs!