Generation Celebration!

Today was Generation Celebration at school. Somehow I do not have any pictures of the play the kids did or with Mom and Bill.  The play was so cute.  It was famous children's stories brought to life.  Luke auditioned and got the role of Owl in Winnie the Pooh.  Katherine's class also participated in the Winnie the Pooh story so that worked out great  Luke only had a few lines but he did really well!  All the grandparents come and gives the the opportunity to see the kids' classrooms, meet their teachers and see them in action.  After the play is over the kids are free to leave with their family.  Mom and I took the kids to lunch -- of course, they picked Johnny Rocket's at Opry Mills.  Luke picked out a Lego and Katherine did a Build-A-Bear.  We also picked out some clothes for Baby G! 

Luke had soccer practice tonight.  It was a bit chilly but he didn't seem to mind.  He seems to really like soccer which is great.

Decisions, decisions...

I went and looked at tile for the backsplash today.  I am leaning toward a crackle finish bone subway tile.  I feel like it is classic and timeless and will be just what the kitchen needs to tie everything together.  Paul wasn't too thrilled by the price tag but told me to go ahead!  Yay!  I am going to get it ordered and hopefully it can be installed soon!

The Dinner Bell

Bill put our dinner bell up today.  He used an old cedar log from a tree off the farm.  It looks great!  When he gave it to us at Christmas he wrote a letter about the history of the bell.  So neat to have it on the farm with us...

National Sibling Day!

These two...they are pretty special...they love, love each other!  Luke is so good and sweet to Katherine.  He is very patient with her.  Sometimes Katherine takes advantage of that so we have to keep her in check.  But she loves her bubba and thinks he is the greatest ever.  I just pray their relationship stays strong as they age.  Paul and I are both very blessed to have siblings that we have great relationships with. I hope Luke and Katherine can experience the same thing!

Eeekkk!

Yep, this bad boy slithered across our driveway tonight!  I was in the house and Katherine came running in to get me.  It was huge!  It was there and gone in a flash.  It disappeared out into the field - thank goodness!

Our little helpers!

Working on the new basketball goal

Helping me wash dishes

Most every night we have some sort of project we are working on.  Paul bought Luke a basketball goal and they have been working to get it installed.  It is taking a little longer than expected.  Katherine loves to wash dishes.  I don't have much that has to be handwashed and am so glad to have a dishwasher now!  She is a big helper now!

He is RISEN!

Yes, she is licking the spoon!

Easter Sunday!  The kids were up early to see what the bunny brought.  They got some gardening tools, outdoor toys and some candy.  We went to church and it was a packed house! 

We went to Bill's for Easter lunch and an egg hunt this afternoon.  It was a bit cool, but nice outside.  We had a traditional Easter meal with ham, rolls, deviled eggs, etc.  It was yummy!  The biggest surprise came after the egg hunt when everyone was opening their eggs. Katherine had a lot so I decided to help her open them. For some reason I gravitated to a large, vintage metal egg and opened it.  To my surprise an ultrasound picture fell out!  JonJon and Meme are having a baby!  We were all so excited.  Of course Kristen and I cried!  We have been praying for this for a long time!  They are due in October which puts them about 10 weeks behind Andrew and Mandi!  It will be so fun to have two new babies in the family!  God is Good!

Easter in Tullahoma

Ready for the egg hunt

I had to work this morning.  The kids went to Nanny's with Mom early and then Paul and I went down when I finished at work.  The kids had an egg hunt and we grilled out.  That has become somewhat of a tradition the last few years.  We grill burgers and hot dogs and have the trimmings. It was a beautiful day!

Yes! Counters are in!

The mudroom desk turned out better than expected!

The kitchen looks great!

Yay! The day I have been waiting for!  The counters went in today! I was so excited. I met the install crew this morning to get them started.  I went on to work because it will take them most of the day.  They had the kitchen, mudroom, master bath and Luke's bathroom to get done.  We went the Cambria Darlington in the kitchen and mudroom, a different Cambria for the master and a leathered fire and ice granite for Luke's bath.  I was so glad to get home this afternoon and see the final product!  Now, it is finally feeling like we are getting settled. 

We met Bill for Mexican tonight.  He goes to the same Mexican place with friends every Thursday night and there is always an open invitation for us to join which is nice!

Drastic Difference

Getting her hair done!

The exterior paint started today!

From the time we started talking about renovating Doc and Kitty's house I knew I wanted a very dark gray exterior with bright white trim.  Thankfully Paul agreed!  We went with the primed Hardie plank siding so we could pick our color.  We decided on Iron Ore by Sherwin Williams with Artic White trim.  It looks fantastic!  I absolutely love it and can't wait to see it all completed!  It will take about two weeks for it to be finished.  Katherine and I went for long overdue hair cuts tonight.  She doesn't mind going at all and actually likes it!

Closing Day!

We closed on our old house today!  It was a perfectly painless closing -- no hiccups or delays.  It was so nice to have that done!  Paul and I celebrated by eating at Edley's BBQ in Nashville.  It was so good.  I can't believe I have never been there.  Mom picked the kids up from school for us. 

Little Monkey!

Practicing his tree-climbing skills!

The kids were glad to get back to school and, honestly, I was glad to get back to work. Ready for a regular routine.  The kids are loving the house so far.  They love being outside and are constantly finding new things to play with and do outside. We have been most surprised by Katherine's affinity for all things creepy,crawly!  She has no fear when it comes to critters. She has brought frogs, grasshoppers, crickets and all kinds of bugs for me to look at!  I never would have guessed it!

Comfy.

We got the headboard attached last night and I love how it looks!  The bed sleeps so good. We thought our old mattress was great, but this one takes the cake as far as I'm concerned!  I have to get a bedspread, shams and rug ordered.  I also want to get the curtains up, but that is pretty far down on the list. Tomorrow will be interesting -- the kids will be back in school and Paul and I will go back to work.  Their commute is going to be considerably longer so we will see how that goes!

Beautiful Morning!

It has been a beautiful day here!  Sunny and cool.  The kids wanted to go to Pop's this morning after breakfast.  So, they set out across the field (with me watching) to visit Pop. It is nice to be this close to him.  The kids are going to love it! 

We have gotten a lot done today.  Jon came to help us which was so nice.  There are so many boxes; it feels like it will never end!

Routine

Hanging out in her closet

Storytime

Mom was here again tonight to help with the bedtime routine.  So far the kids are doing great.  Neither has gotten up to come downstairs at all.  Mom is sleeping either in the bonus room or in the other twin bed in Luke's room. 

It's a blur

Today was a blur.  The kids were home with us.  It was hard being productive while also trying to keep them entertained.  We do not have cable, internet or phone yet.  That is not scheduled for another week.  We worked on unpacking a lot of boxes and trying to get the kids rooms settled.  Our master shower is not done.  The tile guys kind of took a break for a few days while we are actually moving in. So, for now we are using the kid's bathrooms upstairs which is working fine.  The kids did good last night going to bed. Mom is going to do the same thing again tonight. 

Moving, moving...

Dining room looking good!

Today was a long, long day!  I realized yesterday that the house was so dirty from all the construction.  It had never hit me that the house needed to be clean in order for us to move our stuff in.  I didn't wan to put rugs down and furniture in on filthy wood floors.  Thankfully JoAnn was able to come and help out this morning before we got there.  I was amazed at how much she was able to get done in a few hours this morning before we got there.  What a relief!  I am so glad Paul told me we could start having her clean the house a couple of years ago.  She has cleaned for his mom and dad for years so she is well trusted and so sweet!

Paul took off the rest of the week.  I am so glad.  The movers were late getting to our house this morning and there were only two of them and they were s-l-o-w!  It felt like it took them forever to get the old house loaded on the truck.  It took over 8 hours to get everything loaded up and then unloaded at the farm. 

Mom picked the kids up from school and brought them home.  She is going to stay with us the first few nights to get the kids used to sleeping in their own beds upstairs.  I am glad we have several more days to unpack before we go back to work!  So thankful to finally be in!

Spring (Break) Day 2

Today was another busy day!  The kids went to Extended Care today so I could get stuff done.  My Made South shipment came to the new house today -- I was so excited to have some "real" mail at the new house.  Our new mattress got delivered! Paul and I decided to graduate to a King mattress with the move.  I couldn't wait to get it all set up.  I have had the duvet and curtain panels for over a month now.  I got them on a great sale.  I ordered the bed skirt in January!  I have know that is what I wanted for a long time.  I love that the room is coming together.

Still lots to do because the moving trucks come tomorrow!!!

**** Many people have asked what happened to the blog...well, we had a slight accident with my laptop during the move.  It got dropped by one sweet, apologetic little boy.  It is still operational but the screen does not work well.  I finally took it to see about getting it repaired and it was going to cost about 1/2 what a new laptop costs.  So, we decided to just get a new one.  Finally happened today so I hope to get caught up.  Bear with me as it will be hard to remember details of days that were months ago.  But, at least I have lots of pictures! Here's to getting caught up! As I have done before everything with be dated on the date it occured, not the date I am doing the entry. (8/15/15) **

Spring Break Kickoff!

Carpet down in my closet

Breakfast nook fixture

Yay for my tufted headboard!

The kids and I had a whirlwind, crazy day.  It started at the house with the counter template at 8:30.  I walked through each area with him so he would know what type of edge, overhang, etc we wanted.  After much deliberation I decided to go with the same counter on the perimeter cabinets and island.  I am also going to use the same for the mudroom desk.  Our master vanities will be different as well as Luke's vanity top.  He was there about 3 hours taking measurements.  He had a cool laser tool that synced with an ipad. Pretty impressive technology.  Super nice guy, too.

The cabinet maker came back to do a couple of finishing touches in the mudroom as well as put some additional hardware on for me.  The carpet installer got there about 9 and got to work upstairs.  He is doing it all by himself.  It was amazing to see him lift all that and take it up the stairs alone. The carpet is lighter than what we wanted but I think it will be just fine.  We would never wear shoes upstairs anyway.  While all the men were working the kids played outside a lot and had fun together. They drove their vehicles up and down the driveway, dug in the dirt and ran around.  I took turns playing catch with Luke, dolls with Katherine and unpacking boxes in the kitchen. We left about 12:30 for lunch and then I had promised them a trip to Toys R Us to spend gift cards they got for Christmas.  After about 20 minutes of looking I gave up on Katherine and, once again, she left a toy department empty handed because she could not make a decision.  Luke settled pretty quickly on some new Pokemon cards.

We stopped and got Luke a hair cut on the way home. The kids played on the playground while I packed up some more boxes.  I loaded my van down again and when Mom got here I loaded her vehicle down as well.  We headed back to the house and unloaded.  It was getting close to supper so Mom and the kids stayed there while I ran for supper. Paul was there when I got back.  We ate and then Mom took the kids back to our house.  I had to go to Lowe's to order our appliances.  The kids and I had run in there earlier today and they had a double oven on clearance for a very good price. After talking it over with Paul we decided to do that instead of what we originally picked out.  I got them ordered fairly quickly.  Bad thing is they won't be in for a couple of weeks.  I also found out late today that the counters won't be ready and installed until April 2nd -- that seems like forever away!  I know it will pass quickly, but it will be really hard not having a functioning kitchen.  

I got home about 9 and Mom had packed up some more boxes and was reading books to the kids. I got the kids in bed pretty quick and I am about ready for bed myself.  Paul. is still working at the house.  He says as long as he is on a roll he is going to go with it.  Tomorrow will be another busy, busy day!

Good Helpers

Packing up the pantry

Katherine found this baby in the
basement behind the deep freeze - oops!

Katherine's vanity top

It was a beautiful day here today!  We went to worship and Sunday School.  We went in separate cars with both of them loaded down.  After church we took a lot of stuff back to Lowe's and Home Depot. We had tile left from all of the jobs so it was nice to get it out of the back of my car.  We did a lot of work at the house.  I scrubbed some windows - the kitchen, mudroom and our bedroom.  They were filthy.  Luckily, they are double hung so they are very easy to clean - inside and out.  They looked so much better, but still not sparkling. Might take another cleaning to get them that good.  I also finished wiping the kitchen cabinets inside and out and started putting stuff away in the cabinets. Paul worked on getting the new attic access door done. He used an old door that we weren't re-using and cut it down.  It worked pretty good.  He also got Katherine's vanity top on, but not set as well as Luke's bathroom vanity lights.  It is never ending for sure!