What Week Is It?

Seriously!  I am having a hard time keeping up.  I know we homeschooled for nine weeks under the Stay-at-home order.  Or was it a recommendation?  Who would know.

Then we moved and did about 7-8 weeks of renovations.  Or was it 9?  Who would know!?

We are still waiting for our front door, glass inserts for our garage doors, glass shower doors for our master bedroom, and the entertainment center.  A few of those things have been ordered and re ordered several times.  We have been waiting for...who would know?

And now Arizona is back tracking and implementing new closures due to the rise of Covid cases.  Really?

I am not even sure I want to know what week it is anymore.  As a matter of fact maybe we should skip straight to August and hope for better times! ;)

On a lighter note- not much to report.  We did manage to get handles put on all of our bathroom cabinets, and are still waiting, see above, on more than several things.  We have also had a few estimates done and are waiting for those to come in.  I will have to fill you in with those projects soon!

In the meantime, this month I am going to begin to plan for the start up of homeschooling to begin mid- August!  For the first time in MANY years, I will have one student!  I can hardly believe it.  Colby will be in 8th grade and I am actually really excited about this year's curriculum.  It will be an adjustment to have just him at home, but we are both eager for a change.  I am looking for a few fun things for the two of us to do together during off hours.  In additional to the puzzles!  :)  All. The. Puzzles!

So be looking for a homeschool update soon!  After I find my planner and get started!

Hugs to you all, prayers being lifted!  Stay safe and keep your eyes on God!

Blessings,

House Reno- Week 7- Winding Down

It's hard to believe but we do not have much to show you this week.  Most of the week was spent just settling in some, decorating a few areas, and celebrating Colby's 13th birthday, with a weekend away to visit his sisters and some friends of his.

I mentioned this book before, but seriously, you need to get it and read it- Cozy Minimalist Home!  It is a pretty quick read, but has quite the punch.  I am so tired of STUFF, but I do not want to empty my home of everything and I certainly want to maintain that cozy feel we all love.  This book has been eye opening and a great "how-to" helper.  Hopefully my other helper (Ashton) will be up soon to hang pictures and out on the finishing touches.

Decorating touches this week-

The biggest change- KITCHEN DOORS CAME BACK!  While now I cannot find anything in the kitchen again, I love the finished look!

The remainder of our time was spent on the phone trying to resolve two issues!  The first- a now THIRD shower door has been ordered for the master bath.  Thank goodness for cheap shower curtain liners!  The first two glass doors were damaged in shipping we are told, and they keep telling us we need to cancel those orders and have a new one shipped.  Growing weary of that drama!

The second is an entertainment hutch that was ordered at the end of April that has yet to arrive.  Oh well, not entirely true.  The wrong bottom was delivered.  Without the top.  (that is still in my garage because the delivery company has yet to figure out how to come back and get it.  BUT, the same delivery company then delivered the top and bottom pieces, both literally in pieces.  I mean, broken shelves, pieces in the bottom of the box, the works.  We refused delivery and they went back.   Come to find out the manufacturer is here in AZ (the pieces shipped from Minnesota), so we have cancelled the order and found a local furniture store that is going to order the pieces for us.  Cue another 6 weeks of waiting, but at least they will make sure the pieces are in one piece before they get delivered to our house.

It would all be a comedy of errors, except it is no longer funny.  And in the meantime, the TV is still on the floor.

Good news- front door is being replaced soon, and windows in the garage door have been ordered.

Before and after pictures will be coming soon of lots of the spaces, and then I am going to stop boring you for a while

After that, phase two begins! ;)

Blessings,

13 Years!

Yep, our youngest just turned 13 this week!  Hard to believe we only have two teens left at home, one of which, between work and school we don't see much.

How did this cute baby-

turn into this handsome young man?

Time has flown. 

He has grown and matured so much in the past year I hardly recognize him some days.  He is a voracious reader, loves history, and can still be found messing with legos and nerf guns.  Our recent move and the pandemic situation has taken away his swimming and friends for the time, and yet his love of life still shines brightly.  He is learning to love exploring our property and is becoming quite the horse and goat whisperer.   We may just have another equestrian in the family after all!

11 years ago the Lord blessed us with Colby Jose, and we are thankful every day for that gift!

Surprise trip to see the girls and swim in the pool with some friends!

Official 13 year old "dad date"

Happy Birthday, son!  May the Lord bless you and keep you and may you serve Him all the days of your life!

We love you!

House Reno- Is it REALLY Week 6?

Almost three weeks in the house but yes, we are REALLY on week six of renovations.  It was a slower week in some ways which is good because, ya'll, I am tired.  Like bone weary tired.  Which is why this post is just getting written this morning.  I crashed last night.

Yesterday was the first day we did no work on a house project.  None.  Nada.  It was glorious.  One of our daughters spent some time with us last week and we took the time to just be.  Online church, a hike, and ice cream- a perfect way to relax! 

Things are actually winding down on the house projects (on phase one!).  We are still waiting for our master shower door to come in as well as a front door, and I still need to hang pictures.  I have been reading a book called The Cozy Minimalist Home, and processing ideas before tackling that project.  Living with white space is actually very freeing.  Her motto "lass stuff, bigger impact" speaks my language, while still making a home feel warm and cozy,  This week I hope to try to settle in a bit to a new schedule.  Colby has a few summer school subjects we are doing together and I want to try to start lesson planning for his "next year."  I suspect we will try to get started on that in August.

The biggest news of the week- Colby turns 13 on Thursday!  I can't hardly believe we will have our last teen in the house!  With Salem working and taking college classes, it is just Colby and me a lot.  Well, dad too since he all of the classes he is teaching are currently online.  It is odd to have just one of our four around most days, but I think he is enjoying getting all of the attention! ;)

Any way...

What did we get done this week?

Replaced outside lights

Before and After

Before and After

Planting a few things to make me happy when I sit outside!

Putting together Ikea bookshelves for Clarke's office.  This was a three day project!  Seven shelving units in all.  While, I love the finished project, do not ask me how I feel about Ikea for a while, please!

Our helper this week!

A few spaces still to work on and pictures to be hung, but you get the idea.

Emptied the last boxes of books- for the office and homeschooling ones!  NO MORE BOXES!  It is a glorious feeling!

It is not lost on us that it has been a hard week for this country.  While words cannot fix anything, we pray continually, knowing that only the Lord can heal hearts, take away racism, and save our country and our souls. 

Take time to love your family, be kind to others and know that we love you!

Blessings,

House Reno- Week 5

Happy June!

While we have only been living in our new house a week and a half, we are on week 5 of renovations.  Five very long weeks!

Thankfully, now that we are waking up and going to bed in the house rather than going back and forth from the rental, things have felt a little more manageable.  Don't get me wrong though, we are still falling into bed every night exhausted.  Restrictions due to Corona virus may have been lifted in the city, but honestly this family has been too tired to do much more than take long walks at night exploring our neighborhood.

Sunset

These sunsets make may heart happy, as does meeting our neighbors while on horseback!  Them, not us!  We may only be 15 minutes from town, but this slower "country" life has been such a blessing.  It is easy to leave the "worldly" stuff behind and just rest in God's peace out here.  Much needed, especially in the times of unrest we are in!

So what have we gotten done this week?  Let's see if I can even remember!

• Replaced shower heads in the master.  Still waiting for the glass door for this shower.  Apparently the first was damaged in transit, and now the second is "lost" in transit.

Hello, silver, goodbye gold!

• Finished hanging the remaining lights and ceiling fans.  That is 10 fans total that Clarke has replaced!  I have lost count of the lights!

•  Removed last of old lighting.  Yes, that really hung in a bathroom!

• Hung the mirrors and lighting in the master bathroom!

• Replaced the outside house numbers.

Before

After

• Finished the remaining outside door hinges and locks.

• Cleaned two rugs.

• Changed out faucets in three bathrooms.

• Hung towel bars finally!

• Moved the lighting and added a mirror in the hall bathroom. 

• Finished decorating a few rooms completely!  I will show before and after shots in a few weeks, promise.

Whew, I don't know about you, but I am exhausted! ;)  Now, seven ikea bookshelves to put together for Clarke's office.  Who wants to help?

Blessings,