May Pictures, Just for Fun

Moving Day

For weeks upon weeks, we lived with this mess.....

 It literally seemed like a never ending pack-fest. I felt like we were getting nowhere fast! But luckily I have an amazing husband with an amazing work ethic and he worked so hard to fit every ounce of our belongings into this truck!  I couldn't believe it all fit!! I told Levi it was the hardest, longest, and most challenging game of Tetris we had ever played!! And we won!!

And then on May 23, 2014 we drove away from our home on Buggy Whip. 

 And it was time to begin our new journey in Kansas.....

Last Day of School

These big guys finished an amazing year of preschool! We thoroughly enjoyed every moment of our time at OCP!! They not only grew in size, but they grew in confidence, faith, and friendship. Having each other there made both boys feel comfortable and drew their special bond even closer together!

They marked their last day of school with a circus!! I was able to join for the whole party, which made me happy! Although I was in set up mode for a good long time, I'm not even sure what they did the first half of the party! But I was there for the circus games! Grant had told Wyatt all the fun things they did last year, so they both were anticipating all the exciting games ahead! Once they came into the Big Room, they scattered.

Bowling, Ring Toss, Pin the Nose on the Clown, Bouncy House, Face Painting (which neither of my boys have ever decided to try), and Balloon Toss- they had a hard time deciding what to do, so they just ran and ran and did it all!!

Grant and Owen  

 After game time, it was snack time! The kids each got a hot dog (which neither one took), chips, and cotton candy! They watched the circus movie again, like they did last year! And after snacks, they headed back to Ms. Olivia's room to get their scrapbooks! I just love that little treasure I will keep forever!!! A compilation of their seasonal work throughout the entire year! And pictures too!! Good memories!

 The boys and their best buddy, Luke, showing off their scrapbooks!

 And Ms. Terry, what would we do without her these past two years at OCP. She was loving, she was patient, and I knew that while my boys weren't with me, they were in great hands! How I wish she could follow us through all our school years!

And Ms. Aimee and Ms. Olivia were pretty awesome too!!! The boys adored them both and they will miss ALL their teachers!!

While we are super excited to start our new schools, a piece of our hearts will always remain at OCP and I'm so thankful for the chance to build the boys' school foundations there. They both love school and I know it was because they had an amazing experience there!!!

Playing in the New House

Before leaving for college, my family only moved once, that I can remember. I was going into 6th grade and I remember thinking how fun it was! New rooms, new spaces!  My boys are getting ready to move into their 4th house in their 4th state, and they are still just as excited as I remember being. Something about exploring a new house and new spaces is just an adventure waiting to happen! Not to mention that our new house is about 3 times as big as our other houses we've lived in, there are quite a few more new spaces to explore. So during our few week stay at the new house, the boys had a wonderful time exploring and playing!!!

Apparently we had just the right ratio between toys and furniture- way more toys than furniture! Made for some very busy boys!

 They just loved having all the open space to roam and spread out! They definitely made good use of the space...

 Its a good thing we brought our patio chairs and their little picnic table. This was their hang out room. Oh yeah, it was also a good thing we brought our TV and Wii so they could watch Netflix when they weren't playing! But I think its safe to say they did their fair share of playing!

And of course, when there are stairs, toys will be dropped from said stairs. It only took 3 days before they figured this trick out! Their Imaginext guys went skydiving. Unfortunately one guy broke his arm, so they decided if they were going to go skydiving anymore they need a cushy place to land, so they gathered all the pillows and blankets we brought. As long as they don't try to throw each other from the balcony, we will be all good!

Lots of doorways make for lots of climbing! 

Wyatt and those spiky balls- he just has endless fun with those!!!

One morning, we toured the boys new schools (very happy!) and when we got home, Grant wanted to set up a school for all their stuffed animals we had brought. So throughout the house, they set up little "classrooms" complete with snacks and Imaginext in our bedroom (water and fruit snacks- the "good kids" got capri suns), a computer lab in their room (my phone and ipad), the cafeteria (the card table and chairs and Grant served cheetos, chocolate chip cookies, and graham crackers), and then a movie theater for quiet time. They worked so hard on it!! Such sweet imaginations! 

I don't know if it was just a change of scenery, or more wide open spaces, but I feel like they played so much better and more imaginative than ever!! I can't wait to get their playroom and basement area set up for them so they can truly have their own wide open play space!! 

Kansas Yard

For 8 years now, I've craved Kansas grass. Florida, Texas, and Oklahoma grass feel like walking on sticks or sawdust. Definitely doesn't feel good going barefoot. But Kansas grass is like carpet. So soft and cool. I just love it. And its a good thing too, because our new yard has ALOT of it!! The boys have truly enjoyed running around and exploring our new yard! Levi worked very hard getting the clubhouse back together as soon as we got there! The boys love it being tucked back in the trees, almost like a tree house! I'm pretty sure they collected over 100 pinecones already! 

 Levi didn't attach the other swing bar to the clubhouse, but he did hang one of the swings from this pear tree in the back and I took probably my most favorite picture of all time! Even if you zoom really close, you can see pure joy on the boys' face! This swing is probably their favorite thing about our yard!!!  After Wyatt was pushing Grant, he lost his balance and fell onto Grant's lap. And then they realized it worked just as well if they shared the swing! My heart melts a little bit each time I see them share moments like this!

And to add to it, Grant loves climbing this tree!

The trapeze is back too and this little monkey is now tall enough to do his own tricks!! 

 And because we have trees in our yard, we also have helicopters. You know, those things that fall from maple trees before they get their leaves? The boys are obsessed! Grant likes taking handfuls of them and throwing them in the air and watching them "fly down." Wyatt likes peeling them open to find the "tree seed." 

 And I taught them a very important childhood summer game...Leapfrog! The cuteness was almost too much to handle! I laughed so hard as Wyatt came splatting down on Grant's head, stuffing it into the ground. And Grant took flying leaps over Wyatt's back! Just precious moments right there!!

And all this happened in just a few days!! I can't wait to see what happens in this yard this summer, and many more summers to come!

New House Projects

We were itching to get into the new house and start some projects! We had a little list of things we wanted to get done before our official move-in date. 

1. Re-do the boys bathroom. Our original plan was new paint, new flooring, and a new vanity. But after getting there and seeing just how bad of shape everything was in, we kind of went above and beyond that. But I have to say, it was totally worth it. I could kick myself for not taking a true BEFORE picture of the bathroom, but here is an almost before picture...

and now the after picture....

Huge difference, right?? Levi worked so so so so SO hard!!! He took down the icky shower tile surround and put in a new acrylic surround. He also changed out the shower fixtures, put in a new toilet, new vanity, new faucet, new flooring, wainscotting and chair rail, new cabinet, painted the walls, and refreshed an old mirror. It's probably the best looking room in the house now!

2. Paint the boys room. Their room was kind of a cappucino color, but not in good shape...

I've been imagining  for quite some time how I wanted to do their room. I've never really decorated their room before. I've hung up a thing or two, but never put any effort into coordinating a room. So I was excited to actually do a "design" in there! We started with finding a set of old lockers a few months ago, and Levi picked out this bright orange for them. After some more shopping and mental desigining, we came up with this....

The color is actually the same from the bathroom, but it takes on a whole different color in here. My plan is to put a bed on either side of the lockers and put a big G and W above their headboards. After a quick trip to HomeGoods and I had to bring home this metal book holder and hamper! And an awesome new ceiling fan, which the boys think looks like a T-6 propeller!We are well on our way to a super cute boys room!!

3. Paint the playroom. 

While this was a high priority on my list, certain events happened that didn't allow that to happen. We had a minor flood the night before we moved in. The old owners didn't turn the water off from the refrigerator line, so water ran all night in the kitchen and leaked down into the basement bedroom, which will be the playroom. Since there was drying equipment down there, as well as an insurance inspection (and now construcion) to be done, we had to leave the room alone....for now. And what you can't see, is that behind the bed is a black wall. Yes, flat black.

So instead, we turned our attention to the formal living room, which will be our office. It looked like this before...

So, some more of our bathroom paint and a new coat of white paint to the trim, it now looks like this! Our old metal desk (and new desk chair from NFM) and yellow metal lockers make this a pretty cool place to be! Its kind of sparse for now, but it already looks like a new room with a new color!

Levi also got the clubhouse put back together in just 1.5 days!!! This pic was taken from my bedroom window.

We barely made a dent in what we want to do with this house, but its been a fun and productive start!!! Knowing that we have the rest of our lives to make this house our own feels nice to know we aren't rushed, but we have little to no patience when it comes to waiting for projects! But we will definitely have to pace ourselves in this house!!!  In the meantime, I'll have to scroll through my Home pinterest board I've been pinning to for the last 4 years and just mentally design our house!!!