Our Special Place

It is time for Friday Home Tour again from Kelly's Korner!
So here is our master bedroom:
Please ignore the paint job at the top, we are "eventually" getting crown molding. ;)

This is not only my favorite saying, but a literal rule!

See that empty corner by the window? It needs the perfect chair...I am still hunting...

This is my side of the bed, it usually has a big pile of magazines on the floor, but I cleaned them up just for you! I made the "Faith, Hope, & Love" sign, I think it goes well with the decor.



And since I was out of town last weekend, I am posting a couple of pics of our "new" playroom. We have recently put both boys in one room in bunk beds, and made a playroom out of the other room. It has actually worked out really well! There are still remnants of Carson's old tractor decor, but it is still a work in progress!

Father's Day and Camping Trip

For Father's Day Weekend, we went camping with some friends to Lake Murray, Oklahoma. We had a blast! We drove to Turner Falls and hung out there for a little bit on Friday, and then back to our campsite at Lake Murray. There is an ATV area where we camped, that is totally massive! The boys had a blast just riding around our campsite area on their bikes. (Which we highly recommend to anyone going camping that you throw in your kids bikes!)

On Saturday, we rode 4 wheelers for a bit, and then drove down the rode to Sunset Beach. It had a great sandy area shallow enough for the kids to just play for ever without having to worry about drop-offs. After a couple of hours of fun in the sun, it was back to the campsite again, for more 4-wheelin' fun, and yummy dinner! My hubby grills a mean steak and sausage!

The evening was even better with s'mores and 20 questions around the campfire! Of course, the kids were in bed when we were playing 20 questions, because I get hundreds of questions when they are awake! LOL

Sunday we celebrated Dad's Day with a yummy breakfast, and then dirt biking and 4-wheeling mainly for the kids. And yes, there are pictures below where Jason took D through the mud and got stuck (or as Jason calls it not stuck but high-centered) (looks stuck to me) ;) Dalton did great on his dirtbike on the kid friendly trails, and apparently Carson rolled the little 4-wheeler and got back up ready to ride (2nd child)!

And to answer your question: Yes, we tent camped! And yes, it was hot, but, Jason brought a massive shop fan, and we actually needed a blanket while we slept! I love tent camping, after the first couple of hours of getting used to it again! :) We really need to go more often, so that we continue to "love it"!

Enjoy the pics! I have more to post later!

Fire Trucks and Water Guns

Thursday when our power finally came back on, our fire alarm kept going off, sending the signal to the alarm company that our house was on fire. Jason and the alarm company got everything figured out, and it stopped! Tonight, (Saturday) while the kids and I were eating dinner and Jason was out putting up our new fence (Yay!), the fire alarm goes off again! This time, it is going off about every 30 seconds! While talking to the alarm company, who apparently can't do anything about it, we hear sirens turning onto our street! Seems like ADT forgot to cancel the fire department! So hear come 5 firemen into our non-burning house, which might I ad is very messy since I was at VBS all week!

They check everything out, and are headed on their merry way. They did allow me to get a photo op in though! Carson didn't want to be in the picture-surprise-surprise!

After talking to ADT again, and being informed that if a technician came out on a Saturday evening, it would cost $223, we unplugged power to alarm, battery back-up and all! They can come out on Monday for $25 (our normal fee under our warranty protection plan that we pay extra for!) Helllloooooo-our extra fee doesn't include Saturday's apparently! $223 for something that we didn't do, nor do we have any control over! Hmmmmmm...doesn't seem right does it?

So, while all this is going on, the boys are riding their bikes outside-'cause you sure can't stay in a house with a fire siren going off every 30 seconds! Two houses down from us, they are having a water party for their 11 year old's birthday. The boys get invited to come and join, and they had a blast! It was definitely old school hanging out going on, which I love! I love to see kids play with an innocence that this is all life is at the moment, no worries, nothing but fun!

Big Storm

Wednesday night, super big storms came through our area in like an instant! I mean really fast! I noticed through our front window that it looked like it was about to storm, and by the time I walked to our back door (like all of 30 seconds), it was a massive difference! I opened the back door to huge winds ripping the screen door totally out of my hands! Jason and I were looking out the door and watching the updates on TV, when suddenly the sky looked really green, everything had calmed down a little bit, and then Wham! huge winds picked up everything in our backyard at once!

I, having lived through several tornadoes, told Jason to get Dalton in our closet, as I went to yank Carson right out of his peaceful sleep. Our closet is the center of our house. So, we make a pallet for the boys with pillows and blankets in the closet, and then let them have ice cream in there too! Yeah, I know they are going to want it to storm all the time! :)

After everything had blown by us, their power went out! Forever! I mean seriously-we had power through the whole storm, and then poof! So, after what seemed like forever to get the boys in bed, we attempted to go to bed ourselves. Somewhere between 1 and 2 am our power came back on, only to go off again somewhere between 5:30 and 6 am! So, I had to shower and get ready in the dark! Aaaaaggghhh! I had to go curly to VBS that day-good thing too-since the minute we pulled into the parking lot, the sky opened up a massive downpour! Which lasted a minimum of 6 hours!

We had a lot of damage at our house, but I know there were several who had it way worse than us. I am thankful for a husband who is extremely handy, and can save us tons of money by doing the labor himself. Although, sometimes I think he would like to be able to just sit back and watch someone else do the work! ;)

We now have instant access to our creek, and the eyesore apartments behind us!

We also have access to our neighbor's yard on the "Do Not Mow" side of our house! Fun times!

This picture does not show all the damage, but we have an entire section of shingles missing!

VBS

I love Vacation Bible School! I mean I really do love it. I love being loud, excited, and energetic! (I know that's really hard to believe!) I love seeing the kids being sooo excited to learn about Jesus. I love the food, I mean seriously, at FBCC they really take care of their volunteers in the food department! So, I will be working out extra next week!

Since we now belong to a new church plant, that meets in an elementary school, they aren't having a VBS this year. So, I volunteered at our old church First Baptist Colleyville. I have been working in the second grade for the last 3 years, and I absolutely love it! It seems to me that 2nd graders are still at the point where they are just scared enough of you that they still listen enough to obey when needed. I had decided that this would be my last year at FBCC VBS, but my friend Suzie informed me that her daughter Lauren who I just adore, is very excited to be in 2nd grade VBS next year with me. So, one more year!

We had over 20 students in the 2nd grade make decisions for Christ! And that, is why I volunteer! I strongly encourage you to volunteer at your local church if you get the opportunity!

Here are a few pics, mainly of my kids, but hey-what else would you expect?
Dalton singing in the masses

Dalton and Jaden

Laura and Carson

Lynnleigh and her pigtails (she smiles later)

Carson and his prizes

Dalton and his prizes

All Smiles

Lynnleigh happy

Sweet Lauren

Dalton and Monster Croc (Pastor Craig)

Toothless

So, about 4 weeks ago, Jason sends me a text at work, that Carson punched Dalton in the mouth, and now Dalton has a loose tooth. The very next morning the tooth right next to it was also loose! The second tooth however was not near as loose as the first tooth. Monday night as we are eating dinner, the "second" tooth just falls out! I mean literally, I happened to be looking at him as it happened. I think he and I both had the same surprised look on our faces!

He was sooo excited, I was however a little sad. This is just one more step in him getting bigger. So, we put it in his tooth pillow that I bought over 2 1/2 years ago. I couldn't help it, it was perfect! I also bought Carson the same style but in John Deere tractors, and he was only 9 months old when I bought his!

Enjoy the pics of my "big" boy, and of his tooth loot!