Oops...

I mentioned our pool turtles in the post below, but didn't have the photos in that folder showing them. So here they are (from the day we started filling)!  And one of Owen ♥

 

Slightly less undone

Ok, if you read this in chronolgical order, this will make sense.  But since this blog posts newer posts on top, then it's not crazy to assume you've seen THIS post before the one below it, so I'll explain.  I posted mid-construction pics down there, and here I'll see if I can dig up some slightly more completed photos of the pool and kitchen.

When we decided to go ahead and do the kitchen, I started looking at cabinet samples.  I had no idea how many wood choices there were.  When I came across hickory, I knew what I had to do.  There are a few times in life when you are faced with 'choices' but in reality, you know there is no choice.  You might hem and haw and struggle with yourself, trying to rationalize an alternative, but in your gut you KNOW what you have to do.  This is a minor example of that.  When I was much, much younger, I used to spend time with my grandfather, aka Boom-pa, picking hickory nuts.  I have no other memory of hickory (nuts) other than relating them to him, picking them, eating them, traipsing through the trees and kicking up the leaves... I had no clue there were cabinets made of hickory.  But it's so beautiful, so variegated, so natural looking.  Simple and clean.  So I had to get Boom-pa cabinets.  I figured I'd either wait and do the kitchen another time, or find a way to pay for the hickory b/c I KNEW that if I got something else, it would eat at me and bug me. 

Thankfully, Kevin has learned this about me and insisted we do it.  We both loved the same style, so we took the leap.  And I adore my Boom-pa cabinets.  No matter what, I will always think of him when I look at them.  He is one of the very best men who has ever lived. He's currently still in Iowa with his son's family (thanks Joe and Bonnie!) but has had to move to a nursing facility.  His dream is to go back to his beloved WV, so any good thoughts or prayers for him to make that trip before his time here is over would be greatly appreciated.

Our pool has 4 very cute turtle mosaics on the bottom.  One for each of us.  I love them, too ♥

Sandy, this one's for you...

My sister Sharon recently mentioned to me that Sandy had been asking about the blog...had I moved it somewhere else?  Sandy is, for all intents and purposes, Sharon's mother-in-law.  Not legally, perhaps, but in heart she is.  I know it will happen some day, but who's counting? (Has it been 5 years Sharon?  I can't even remember).  Anyway, I think Terry and Sandy are top notch folks and I'm honored that Sandy even bothers to check this place out.  And a little ashamed that Sharon had to say "Ummm, I think she's just been...uhhh...busy.  Or something."

So, a brief-ish recap.  Holy sh*t.  I can't believe it's been since AUGUST.  Yikes.  Once I gave myself permission to 'give up' so to speak, I just avoided thinking about it.  Busy, yes, but not THAT busy.  Sheesh.

The pool is done.  It's very cute.  During the pool remodel, we also did a kitchen remodel.  Fun days, let me tell you.  Fun fun fun.  Back yard totally fenced off, strange folks in or outside of my house for many days, couldn't let Holly outside off leash EVER, no place to let Owen run free, no kitchen sink for many days, unforseen problems and expenses and AAUGGGHHHH.  Owen decided he was Mr. Anxiety and started refusing to even SEE Grammy and Grandaddy, let alone go to their house, no more happy days at Tumbleweeds only Mommy mommy mommy mommy MOMMY!!! Did I say it was fun?  The poor guy who knocked on the back door one morning when I thought I was safe in my short little bathrobe tucked away inside but OH NO I had to go out and inspect the paver pattern...Fun?  Cabinet installers measuring and nailing and sawing and drilling and sawdust flying.  Cat footprints tracking dust all over the new stove and brown couches.  Drywall dude making a HUGE mess with popcorn splattering all over my dryer, armoire, floor, chairs, walls, you name it.  So much fun.  I swear, if that cabinet installer had left my front door hanging wide open ONE  MORE TIME I was gonna cut his legs off, or something.  And of course the a/c died AGAIN during all of this.  PLEASE Owen go to Grammy's, mommy is about to go crazy....

But it's done.  So done.  So very done, in fact, that I don't want to finish the final details.  But I'm sure I will, maybe 2 or 5 or 10 years from now.  And since it's not DONE done, the kitchen 'final' photos haven't been taken.  Nor have the pool photos, for that matter.  But here you can see some of the 'progress'.  Oh yeah, did I mention that Owen decided to 'help' paint the house?  Apparently he loved that mustardy yellow that I put in the kitchen.  I caught him just before he rolled the dog.

I Heart Sunglasses

Those of you who read this blog have seen this photo before, but I couldn't resist posting it again for the I ♥ Faces theme this week...Sunglasses!  I was wracking my brain, trying to see if I could remember having a decent photo of someone wearing shades, and my brain was trying to sift through memories of beach days, did I have a camera, do I even HAVE any besides that one I took of Owen and it had bad flash shadowing....Anyhow, I was browsing through my files and this one stopped me and I knew I had to use it.

I had told Zach to clean his room and a few minutes later I turned around to see this vision in black...my own little Terminator.  I guess cleaning his room was being put off in favor of dress up, but how could I not laugh?  His facial expression just puts it over the top.

Head on over to I ♥ Faces and to see more!

Surprise!

Time for I ♥ Faces again!  I haven't done this in a while, but this week's theme is Surprise! and I just LOVE this picture--Zach and cousin Sophia having a grand old time playing with the water hose when we were visiting in WV.  I brings back such fun memories and makes me homesick, wishing I could relive those summer days when we were kids running free through the hills and picking blackberries and getting dirty and running from pretend bad guys.

But I really love the surprised look on Zach and Sophia's triumphant grin as she blasts him full in the face.

Number 2 took my camera

...and took this photo of us.  I love it in spite of Zach's face, maybe even because of it.  Later as we drove home, I snapped a picture of some stormy clouds in a reddening sky.

Now that summer's almost over...

what are we doing?  Putting in a pool.  What timing, eh?  C'est la vie.  The process started a couple of months ago, actually, when we decided to see if we could qualify for a loan/refinance/whatever and contacted the pool company to discuss the possibility.  Well, it all went through and we now have a huge hole in our backyard!  I can't believe it.  When we bought this house, one of my main criteria was 'NO POOL!' b/c I was terrified of trying to keep my eyes on then-baby Zachary.  But he's quite the fish now, and Owen's getting pretty adept at the whole water thing (he swims underwater and can make his way to the edges of the pool) so it seems like my fears aren't quite so founded anymore.  And Kevin is most excited about the interest rate we managed to snag.

They say it will take about 8 weeks to finish.  It's going to be a  trashed yard for a long time.  The tree is our sweet Magnolia, which had to be chopped down. Zachary cried over that.  It's been his climbing tree.  The swingset/playset also had to be torn down.  The bucket of water is the continuous flow from a sump pump in the bottom of the hole, it's below the water line so they have to keep pumping until the pool is built and filled with water to counter the pressure.