I have spent the last few months trying to pick colors that I could visualize in the house. After LOTS of humming and hawing we decided on a blue dining room. I ordered the paint and then Nate and I went to work. Thanks to the handy dandy electric powered roller we purchased the whole room was done in a an hour! This room has restricted light already so I went bright. As we all know I tend to embrace color, and lots of it.
Our upstairs deck was in need of drastic repairs. When Steve and Carla came back with us from Utah Steve took on the project! He spent his vacation replacing boards, taking out a million nails and replacing them with decking screws, and begining the scraping of the old paint. I was worried I was working him too hard on his off time, but he seemed to enjoy his project very much. Now I'm so pleaseed to say that you can actually walk on the deck-- the side to side motion of it has finally stopped! Next we ordered the stain, stripped off as much of the old paint as we could, rented a spray machine, and got down and dirty to give it the final face lift. Of course we had to have fun picking the color of the porch, so we picked "terra cotta solid stain". Only ironic since we live on Terra Cotta Street. We are nerds! We still have to do the pergola, but we will get it done in time.
My Grace Garden is in full bloom. I LOVE seeing all my roses and spending time in my gardens. We may not have grass yet, but my Grace Garden is well loved! When Carla was here she and I went on a planting spree. The corner in the front yard is a challenge because it gets so much sun and extreme heat. First, Steve ripped out the "ugly" bushes that were on the corner for me before starting on the deck. There were the ugliest lizards living in those nasty things. After he chased them away Carla and I got down to business on the planting. We put in 3 more star jasmine, 2 hen's nests, and 2 Lantana bushes that she used to grow in Texas. I can't wait for them to really take off! Right now everything still appears pretty barren, but by next spring they should be fantastic.
We also picked up a Tropicana Rose, a Medallion Rose, and a JFK Rose-- they were added to the Grace Garden. The JFK's blooms fried the first time around, but I think I have things figured out a bit better and the next set should be just fine! We also added to the side section of the Grace Garden 2 Hydrangea bushes. They are beautiful, but aren't too happy with the heat we get in the mid afternoon (despite being in the shade). I'm exploring options for them, but in the mean time I just water them everyday and they seem to be doing okay.
We have our above ground pool all set up now, and have been enjoying it everyday! The kids have a blast, and I have both Ressa and Ammon swimming!! Ressa is very comfortable in the water now. She has become quite a fish in the last couple weeks. She has learned to float on her back, breathe to the side, and do summersaults in the water. Ammon hardly spends any time above the water-- a fact that seems to worry some of the moms at the "friday swim day" that we go to. Lucky for me I have some of them asking about lessons after watching the kids. Maybe I will have some students next summer!
I hope all of you are doing well, and that you have something fun planned for the 4th. We miss everybody, but love our house. Happy Summer Everybody!
