Our {HOME}

A little late getting around to this, but on May 5th, we moved into our very first home!!!  We are so excited to be gaining a little leg room around here, and by leg room, I mean in the house and outside.

The move went AMAZINGLY smooth!  I had everything packed, people scheduled to move us, and in TWO SHORT HOURS, we and our crew packed trucks/trailers, drove to the new place, and unpacked into the correct rooms (thanks, Stevie, for those moving labels!!!).  As we were finishing up, it was SNOWING!!!  Before my family left that day, we had cleaned and turned in our apartment key.  I seriously have the BEST family and friends EVER!!!

Here's a snippet of things we did that first month in our new home (trying to get it together to take "current" pictures of what we've done this summer).

When my mom found out that second week of living in the house that I had only unpacked the essentials (toilet paper, dishes and clothes) she jumped at the chance to rescue her overwhelmed daughter and get her organized and it tip-top shape!  It's worth mentioning that we didn't close on the house till the end of May...something about the deed not being re-conveyed to the previous owners, the bank not knowing this and that on their end, and gracious sellers, who let us live in the house for a month before actually signing our life away.  Tender mercies, tender mercies!

First stop:  Put together an arsenal kit.  Seriously...SAVED US!!!  We literally unpacked every single decor item, laid everything on the floor, and spent 2 solid days pounding nails after eyeballing (measuring, leveling, nailing, and tacky-sticking) every single picture!!  I LOVED IT, even if I am a good "eyeballer" and had to suffer through a few leveler/measuring rounds with a few pictures.  My mom is QUEEN of walls....she pretty much rocked my world this week (and always!!!) and helped me get a great handle on things!

Living Room, Front door on the right. 

Still don't have a name for this room, but it's sure to be cozy come next month!
Can't wait to get the BLAZE KING roaring.
(and I can't wait to rip out that awful lava rock)

Next to my husband and children, THIS is what I would want out of the house in case of a fire. It's calmed many a night for me and my kiddos....I love this piece of furniture, and spend hours each week (sometimes hours each day) just playing and decompressing.  It's like a drug.  A beautiful drug. 

"Master" Bedroom (we've since added pictures above the dresser and emptied the last two boxes there. I LOVE it like this! It's kindof an odd sized room, but my mom made it work!!!  (After we moved the bed three times. LOL!)

Facing away from the kitchen sink; who wants to do dishes when you can reminisce with this fun wall?! 

The back door (washer/dryer/laundry to the right, kitchen table to the left).

Standing by the back door (check out my BEAUTIFUL new ceramic-top stove! I LOVE IT!) getting used to the ever-so-subtle laundry arrangements, and microwave on the WRONG SIDE, but we took what we could get.  This is a kitchen I can stand, without HAVING to start from scratch. 

My mom's supurb organizational skills.  We bought TONS of these clear totes, in which my talented and patient mom organized, labeled, and placed in my kitchen...we're talking 8 hours of this tedious work...THANKS MOM!!!  I'm pleased to report that four months later, it STILL looks like this!

Boys' room...we've since added wall decor.

My pantry/linen closet.  Kindof forgot about the shortage of storage in this home, but we're making it work, and had to get rid of lots of unnecessary 'stuff'.  LOVE THAT! 

Our simple bathroom.  After 8 years of marriage, I STILL cannot find a shower curtain that I like. :( Would like to repaint/redo the vanity in this bathroom to be more bright and do something FUN in this small space. 

I think I took this right after my mom left...the boys took EVERY STUFFED ANIMAL they had, and stuffed the legs of the jammies....can you say SUMO BOYS?!  LOL! 

So.....there you have it.  I'll try to add a picture of Kortlen's room, now that it's to a decent stage, and some of the front and back yard.

Adding to my toolbelt

literally.

Today I bought a hacksaw.  The kiddie version, because I only needed it for one small fix-it.

I also spent a considerable amount of time in the "Electrical" isle at Home Depot...getting a one-on-one lesson on how to rewire a lamp from a wise-ole-fart named Rex.  He was a trooper, as I wrangled two boys, climbing on boxed ceiling fans and playing StarWars with the 'light saber' lightbulbs.  Yeah.  It was So Awesome!!!

Check it out.

I found THIS for a steal of a deal at TJMaxx...

It was a sad little thing when I spotted it.  Really sad.  It was hanging by a thread, I mean, a cord.  But the price was right!!!

Decided I could fix it, and fix it, I did!!!

My tools:  not pictured is the miniature hacksaw that totally rocked!!!  Pictured is my cell phone, which I called my dad half a dozen times to make sure I was connecting the wires to the right screws.  Turns out, it doesn't really matter.  LOL!

And I am just so derned proud of myself!  :)  Happens to be that Ryan is proud of me, too.  *big cheesy grin!!!*

I'll post pictures of WHERE it now lives maybe tomorrow...

...after I figure out what to do with THESE BAD BABIES!!!

I've been looking for bookends for the last month, and finally settled on some shelving supports and wood decals I would glue on, found at ...Home Depot... but then I found these awesome ($4.99 a piece!!!!!) bookends at TJMaxx, just in the nick of time!  I was going to start those bookeneds tonight, but instead I pained the new lovelies.  :)  My heart is so happy.  LOL!   I'll show them off tomorrow, when there's better lighting. for picture taking.   I'll also show off my new wall decor that I'm loving.  Gotta bring Summer inside when it's not outside yet!