Projects

Being a homeowner, I think that you always have a "list" of things that you would like to do to your house, so I decided that since I'm not working I would try to scratch a few things off of ours.

I have been wanting to do some sort of wall gallery for a long time and couldn't decide on a good place to do it. Finally, I went with the wall above the couch in our living room. I forgot to take a "before" picture, but just imagine a couple of shelves with a few frames. The best part about this project was the cost! I already had all but two of the frames and I just needed to get a couple of my black and white pics in larger sizes. I probably only spent about $10 to get the finished product! I was pretty happy with how it turned out!

(After I took the pic I bought some poster putty to put on the back of the frames to help keep them straight... so far so good!)

On to the dining room....

This is the BEFORE picture (well after I took the pictures off the wall). Ughh!! I have never liked the dining room. The walls were red when we moved in and at first I was ok with them, but the longer we've lived here the more I hated them! The worst part about this room was that I never felt it looked "finished." Just some random stuff hung on the wall to fill the space...

Here is the AFTER... I think it loooks much better and more put together. We took the hutch off of the buffet, which opened up the room a lot and the lighter color paint makes the room look much bigger! I kinda love my turquoise vase! I'm still debating on a rug for the room, but all in all it is much improved!

I just got finished painting the master bathroom and after I get it all finished I'm moving on to the basement! More pics to follow!

HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY ELLA!

What better way to celebrate Ella's sixth birthday than with a Mermaid Pool Party (Ella's idea of course)! Happy Birthday to our Sweet Girl!!!

The birthday girl!

The mermaid birthday cake! Love it! It looked just like the invite!

Happy Birthday to You!

Cheese!

Yes! So excited about her big birthday gift!

All the friends!

The family!

Birthday Girls!! Happy Birthday to Nana, too!

Family Pictures

We took our annual family beach pictures this year, we just opted for a little change of scenery for something different!

Summer 2011

This summer is flying by! It's hard to believe that school starts in 3 weeks! I thought that when I quit working I wouldn't be as busy, but I think I've been just as busy (just in a different way!) From tennis camps, to pool time, to beach vacations... we have been having a great summer!

Ella participated in the junior tennis camp at the Charleston Tennis Club. She took one week in June and then another week in July. She really enjoyed it and says she wants to keep taking lessons!

The girls and I spent 2 weeks at the beach in July! The first week was spent with Nana, Poppy, Ashley and baby Walker, Lindsay, Ryan, Brooke and Landri!

We were there for the July 4th holiday! Picture time!
Matt flew down at the end of the first week and then our friends the Pences came down and met us for the second week! I have too many pictures to post, so here is just a brief summary of the trip!

We took the girls on the Shannon Tanner Wacky Wizzle Dolphin Cruise. They spotted several dolphins, as well as enjoyed the magic tricks and silly songs by Shannon Tanner. They each even got to drive the boat!

And of course, there was plenty of time spent on the beach!

We had a great trip and I think I could have spent a couple more weeks there!

Curveball...

On May 2, 2011 it was announced that Arch Coal, Inc. was going to acquire International Coal Group, Inc. and unfortunately that meant most if not all (100 or so) ICG corporate employees would be out of a job...fast forward to June 15, 2011...I am officially unemployed. Talk about being thrown a curveball! Not to mention I'd being lying if I said it wasn't a little bit of a blow to your ego to say you were "layed off!" It all happened so fast and now the question is "what next"? Stay home with my girls? Find another job? Find a part-time job? Thankfully, I was given a pretty decent severance package, so we have some time to decide. The message at church last Sunday was "What Happens When Life Gets Hard?" It couldn't have been more appropriate.

No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it.~1 Corinthians 10:13 (MSG)

I'm staying home for the summer and I know that we will be completely fine no matter what I decide to do long-term. So for right now I have three pretty good reasons to keep smiling...

Ok, well make that four!

PS~Thanks to Meghan at Picture This Photography for the great pics of the girls (more to come)!

Last Day of Kindergarten

Today was Ella's last day of Kindergarten. It's amazing how fast this year went by and even more amazing to see how much Ella has learned and grown in one year of school! She is reading books by herself (with little help) and she thinks that's pretty cool! One of her favorite things to do is sit and practice writing. She is all the time writing little stories and notes to give people. She got all "S" on her report card every time and she did very well in all of her diebels testing. She had a great year!! Now bring on First Grade! (sniff sniff... that's me crying because she's getting too big!)

First Day
Last Day

Look at her go!

It finally clicked and Evie is a crawling machine! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go baby proof again!

(Don't mind Emeri running in front of the camera... she was trying to get another toy for Emeri to go after...LOL!)