A few more from Solon

Joyce sent me few....

Stinky Poo

Joyce, the dog dis-liker, has the sweetest dog that was dropped on her- we're on to you Joyce, you love that dog

Isn't this a great family photo?  I hadn't showered, Ethan's eyes are closed, Charlie looks like, well, Charlie.  Matt's the only one that looks decent. Joyce insisted on a pic before we hit the road Sunday

Solon

Headed up to Iowa to see my favorite people for a LONG overdue visit

First things first, Coralville Reservoir.  Where the water smells like dead fish, you have to rinse your suit out after swimming, and don't you dare swallow that water if it gets in your mouth.  I learned to ski on this lake, I learned to knee board on this lake...I love this lake

Charlie followed Uncle Dick around like a puppy all weekend.

Helping steer the boat

 

Saturday night we headed down to the pond to do some fishing after a spectacular meal

Ethan caught about 20 tiny fish, he'd just dip his hook in and catch them

Stalking the deer running through their neighborhood

Scaring the deer!  Eric brought the boys up for Saturday night, it was fun having them around.  Gavin keeps us all on our toes!

Got up around 6:30 Sunday before anyone was awake.  Sat out on their deck and watched the sunrise.  It was a show, so much wildlife to watch-gorgeous

Hunting for frogs around the hot tub.  Poor Joyce broke her foot so she had to limp around a lot, but in true Joyce style, it didn't slow her down in the least.

Stoney on the way home.  Our truck got hit by lightning and so while it's in the shop, we had to pile into the Saab.  Tight fit, plus Joyce and Eric sent us home with peppers, tomatoes, books, melons, clothes, chairs, booster seats....we were FULL.  Great weekend with great people

Bridgette Goes to College

Our girl moved to college!  What happened to the little 13 on wheelies I met, like, yesterday??

Well, this about sums up their relationship....

I had to post this, this is B's grandpa, he is hilarious

On campus!

We are using 'facetime' a lot, it's like video phone that you can talk live or send pics and video. (it's like the Jetsons!  So glad this stuff didn't exist when I was a freshman) Anyway, we've been getting  a lot of these kind of pictures of B and her adorbs roommate (oh, to be 18...)

We were jealous and sent our own...

Outdoor Table

Finished this long, overdue project that took no time at all.  Like, under 45 minutes

Took 2 smaller pallets, tore the boards off one side.  Took 2 28" 4x4s and cut them in half

Nailed it all together

Stole these casters off a window display from work that was being thrown away, nailed those to the bottom

Took some boards off a seperate pallet to fill in the top and put boards along the side to make it look just a bit nicer

Voila- this is all oak and will only be outdoors, so no staining or sanding needed.  I did take a belt sander to the edges just so when you hit it with your shin (which I'm sure I'll do at some point) it hurts just a bit less

Ready for cold brewskies!

New T Ball Set & Glove from Gma and Gpa Divine

He's really good!

Anything more presh than a father and son game of catch?  Nope.

And this one, just because it's funny.  Dirty Charlie doing his best Bette Davis face

Play Room

With B moving into her dorm THIS Wednesday, we let Ethan move downstairs into her bedroom. So, I took advantage of the move to deep clean, paint the walls and trim and replace those blinds!

Prepping the walls

The wall color was the same as the rest of the house.  We painted the whole place 'Water Chesnut' for the renters, only Charlie's room has gotten paint since moving in

Our resident steady-hand came over to help me and we knocked it out pretty quick. 

We're still debating if we're going to move Charlie into this room or what we're doing, but there is nothing better than a freshly painted room

For now, we've taken ALL of Charlie's toys and put them in this room- it's been amazing having one place for all the toys- our house is tiny, so we're ecstatic not to be tripping over toys everywhere.  And I can just close the door on the mess and it magically disappears. Charlie was hesitant at first to play in there by himself, but now, he goes in there and can play for hours on a rainy day.

Playing dress up with mama's visor and reading glasses...he's so darn adorable

Using Magazine Covers as Art

Talk about CHEAP wall art.  We got our July issue and both immediately loved the cover.  So, bought a $9 frame at Hobby Lobby and done! 

It's already slightly buckled and I'm afraid of it getting worse.  Researching how to press it flat- the frame is slightly 'shadow-boxy-ish' so you can't just press it against the glass.  But pretty gorgeous, eh?