Houses

This July was all about the houses! 

 

Ryan built the kids an awesome playhouse with their birthday money from Grandma Barb and Papa Pete.  Layla petitioned hard to have Grady spend his money on the playhouse too.  After a lot of convincing, Grady was in on the playhouse idea. 

I think both kids are happy with their choice!  

 

 

 

Here are the kids painting with our $1 Sherwin Williams paint. 

Thanks to Jamie for the tip to grab a can of paint from the mistint pile for $1 at Sherwin Williams! 

The kids were PUMPED to paint the house.  As a bonus, Layla can actually paint really well now.  Sweet!!

 

Finished product!  Isn't it adorable?  The kids went "shopping" in our basement and decorated the house.  Yes, the rocker and star were in our basement!!  We just need to grab some plants and the project is complete!

 

Another house!  Layla receieved a dollhouse from Joan and Ann for her birthday.  She also received a giftcard and money to flip the house!!  Layla made all the color, floor, wall and furniture choices.  It was a fun project!

 

 

So many choices!

Before

Before

 

 

During

 

After

 

After

 

And last, but not least, we turned over our first house to a new tenant recently.  Our former renters had been there for three years and took care of the place as if it were their own.  We are so thankful it still looks great.  And as a bonus to hanging onto our first home, the kids were able to explore their first house.  Grady was barely walking last time he was in the house.  Three years sure brings big changes.  I loved checking it out too.  It still feels like home.  We do love that house.

 

10 Years

In July, Ryan and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary. 

We celebrated in Lake Geneva for the day with the kids. 

We had a great day and love going back to one of our favorite places!  

 

 

 

10 years later

 

About a week later, Ryan and I headed to South Haven, Michigan for a couple nights away.  Thank you to my parents for watching the kids while we were gone! 

We had a wonderful time and found another place in Michigan that we love.

 

 

Here's to the next 10 years!!

The 4th

We enjoyed a fun few days for the 4th this year.  We were able to see friends, family and Ryan and I even got to watch a concert to kick off the weekend.  We ended our festive few days with fireworks.  

 

Many pictures are below.  I love, love the 4th!

 

 

 

Cute shirts from Grandma Barb!

 

Parade time

 

Party with family.  The kids jumped and jumped. 

 

 

Layla with Lexie and Lizzie. 

Grady was bummed that Layla had on fancy dress and he did not get anything fancy to wear so he wore Captain America from the dress-up bin for the fireworks!  The costume worked out really well with the mass amount of mosquitos!!