Summer...It's Over.

It's over.  Summer is gone.  We felt like we had missed summer because our time was spent searching for a home and moving.  At the last minute we decided to load up our crew and head to Missouri.  We rented a condo on the lake and took the kids to Silver Dollar City, Dogwood Canyon and to see the sites in and around Branson.  It was last minute but turned out to be a great trip.  

We hit the road with our bearded captain at the helm...

One of our first stops was Dogwood Canyon.  A beautiful animal preserve with buffalo, elk, deer, long horn cattle and trout fishing.

 We hit the strip in Branson and visited some site seeing hot spots.

We thoroughly enjoyed our pool at the condo and the lake view.

Silver Dollar City was a lot of fun but we only took a few pictures with our phones.  We rode several water rides so I didn't haul in my camera.

 After 4 days away we hurried home to see the PBR event in Tulsa last night.

The boys are back to school on Wednesday which means schedules and alarm clocks.  Goodbye summer.  Thankful for the quick trip and the much needed break.

Moved...Whew!

Two years ago we set out to move our family to a new home.  We stuck a sign in our yard and unexpectedly sold our home almost immediately and had no where to move.  We ended up leasing a home that fit our needs for the short term and kept our kids in the same school district. We extended our lease for 6 months to avoid moving during the school year and decided to build.  After losing a beautiful piece of land to an unclean title and then deciding to just stay within the planned neighborhoods of our school system we again lost a home on the day of closing.  It was not looking good for us.

We had eight days left on our lease.  Only 8 days and we would be homeless or living in a hotel with 3 kids and a dog.  We hoped for a miracle and through the grace of God and the hard work of our realtor we found a home. We found the perfect home for our family.  A large treed lot, plenty of space to grow, everything we were hoping to find.  With a little elbow grease and a little of bit of time we will make it our own.

This weekend we worked in our yard clearing brush and dead limbs.  My parents were here to visit and were a huge help.  My dad and Brian cleared the yard with a chainsaw while my mom piled brush and limbs to be hauled away.

I worked keeping the kids out of the way, and painting furniture and patio furniture to spruce up our old things for our new home.  I love to redo furniture, it's a favorite hobby of mine.

I painted old adirondack chairs and made them beautiful for our front porch.

Before

After (a few bright pillows and they will be just right)

I also painted our boring old patio set which was black and faded...

the chairs are now bright turquoise and the table fire engine red.  I love it.

Last night I finished another project.  I painted our kitchen chairs and table.  I really like how they turned out.  

Before

 I painted the white dingy chairs black...

and the table denim blue plaster paint, sanded it in places to make a rustic look, 

added antiquing wax and a clear coat...

 I think this dining table is my favorite.  I have a few more projects in the works.  My biggest is a claw footed, solid oak table for our dining room.  Our new home is proving to be a lot of work but it is all totally worth it and making it our own is creating some fun memories, laughs and a lot of sore muscles.  Home sweet home.