{houston, we have water!}

this is the life!

We've been swimming for almost a week now! Last Thursday, they plastered the pool and filled it up. It took 13 hours to fill. Of course, we couldn't make the kids wait that long. We let them get in when it was about half full and splash around a bit. They were in it all day, even though the water was cold!



Friday, they came back to turn on the pumps and put in all the chemicals. We will have salt water, but they can't put salt in it for another 2 weeks because it will leach minerals out of the new plaster. So we're just doing icky chlorine right now. It was so good to finally get to see those waterfalls! Excuse our mess. We're still putting down sod and still have to cover the concrete patio with bluestone.



Saturday, Jessie got to celebrate her birthday with a pool party! She turned 9, and we had a house full! Our amount of company has tripled lately. Think it's all those kids wanting to swim? ;)



I think Alex has been enjoying the water the most. This really surprised me! When we took him to Florida, we had to drag him into the pool kicking and screaming. I guess the shock therapy worked. He just paddles around in his car-shaped float practically all day long. I'm so glad we have the water lounge! It's a 4'x8' area that's only one step deep. Perfect for sunbathing, and for Alex to splash around in.



Here's Jessie and a friend from down the street:



And a close up of one of the waterfalls:



Naturally, as soon as we get water in the pool, it rains for 3 solid days. Grrr..... No rain for two months. Put water in the pool, and we get hit with thunderstorms! Oh well. Murphy's Law, I suppose.

latest layout

If you get Memory Makers Magazine, check out page 12 of the Sept/Oct issue! See? I've been scrapping! Just not publicly. I've been doing a lot more personal layouts lately, and submitting some of them. One finally got picked up for this issue! Wahoo! I'm sharing this month with my good friend Amy, so it's a great issue :)

Short post today. Got lots of good stuff to work on! I'll be sharing soon! Here's to swimming in August :) Cheers!

{first day of school}

such is life

I put my girls on the school bus for the first time this school year. It's always a bittersweet day for me. I'm always glad to get back to our normal routine, but it makes me ache to see them grow so fast. They were up extra early to get everything ready. New backpacks, new lunchboxes, tons of supplies. They had picked out there outfits last night. Jessie was bouncing off the walls with excitement. Can't you tell from that grin?



Helen will have to be the one to walk her to class today. That's usually a job for Daddy, but he had a meeting this morning and couldn't take them. I'm so glad they have each other. Their classrooms are even on the same hall this year!





I snapped this one of Morgan when she got home today. Her bus leaves at 6:22 (how's THAT for an exact schedule?) in order to get them there by 7:00, and I am usually still in bed at that time! And she's old enough that she doesn't need (or want!) Mommy to walk her to the bus stop ;)

shoppe talk

Speaking of school....

I have a new kit available at ScrapArtist this month! I'm going to have to use it myself to scrap those above photos!




Here's to living and learning! Cheers!

{friday shortlist}

I love Mario :)

School starts Monday! Wahoo! I can get back to sanity.

My "jessie girl" will be celebrating her 9th birthday next weekend.

This awesome site creates very cool wordart from your blog:

No real pool progress yet, although they assure us we will be swimming next week.

Reading The Host while I wait for Audible to get the next Twilight book.

As of July 16th, I am the proud owner of a 15-year-old:

Helen just gets prettier every day:

The wee one is a nut, as I'm sure I've mentioned before:

Cheers!

{long overdue}

such is life

Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. It's been almost a month since my last post. Yikes! Time really does fly. I have lots of good excuses, and I intend to explain them as quickly (and interestingly!) as possible, since SOMEONE (I won't mention names... *ahem*Amy*ahem*) thinks I need to update :D

Pool Progress:

Lots of stuff has been happening with the pool! I think it's real close to being done now. My backyard looks like a blasting zone right now, but I'm so pleased with how everything is coming along!

July 15: Shooting gunite:



Finished gunite:



From another angle:



July 25: Tile Installed:



July 28: Begin Stacked Stone Wall:



July 30: Finish Stacked Stone Wall, Install 2 Sheer Descent Waterfalls, and Capped with Bluestone:



July 31: Install Bluestone Coping:



After Completed Wall and Coping:



I am just thrilled! It is gorgeous so far. The tile, stacked stone, and bluestone all go together SO well. We put up huge, 120 year-old salvaged beams for the posts of the gazebo this weekend, and today, they started digging the patio. The patio and plaster are pretty much all that's left. Hopefully we'll be swimming real soon!

And just for fun, here are some fun photos of Jessie posing in the pool in her new bathing suit ;)

New Stove:

A couple weeks ago, the control panel went out on my stove. Even though the stove and oven are gas, the oven won't turn on without the control panel. Rather than spend a couple hundred to fix a stove that I wasn't all too happy with, I decided to splurge a bit and get one I loved, the Electrolux Dual-Fuel Built-in Range.





It's gorgeous, oh-so-cool, and cooks FABULOUSLY! I went all out for my first meal on it and made Tortilla Crusted Pork (this turned out soooo good!), along with the homemade Pico de Gallo and Tomatillo Salsa:





Cheesy Potato Casserole, garlic bread, and Texas cake, which I can't share here because it's a secret family recipe ;) Yum!

Fun & Games

Are we the last people on the planet to get one of these?



We have been having sooo much fun on this thing! Even little 3-yr old Alex is a pro at bowling! I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of Mario Kart :)

I think that sums up the last few weeks. I'll try to pop in more often with updates!

shoppe talk

I've finally gotten my WST products moved over to my shoppe, so be sure to grab them here if you've been looking for them! I have a ton of new and exciting things happening behind the scenes, and I'll share those as I am able to. In the meantime, be sure to run over to ScrapArtist and check out the guest designer of the month! Yup, me!!! We got together for a beautiful collab, and I plan to have some exclusive product over there soon as well.

latest layouts

Here are the rest of my Prima projects for last month. I got to play with the new CHA releases, and it is some fun stuff!!





Here's to swimming, cooking, and playing!! Cheers!!!!