The Summer of Golf

For the past few years, Caleb has really taken a liking to the game of golf.  Both Craig and I are recreational golfers.  We usually play a few rounds each summer.  However, both of Caleb's grandfathers are avid golfers.  In fact, Grandpa Mann volunteers every week at a local golf course, and will often let Caleb tag along. 

Last fall, Caleb tried out for his middle school golf team, but didn't make the cut.  So this summer, I decided that if he was truly serious about trying out again, he needed to take a few lessons.  I was able to sign him up and his grandpa even signed him up for a few tournaments.  Practicing is one thing, but playing a round with total strangers is completely different.

Of the four  tournaments he is playing this summer, this was the furthest away from home. We had to leave at 4:45 in the morning to make the 6:45 check in.

It has been enjoyable to see how much he has enjoyed learning new strategies to improve his game, and to watch how he plays with 3 other boys his age. 

Playing with boys from all over the state.

Making his way to the green.

What a beautiful view to have while walking the course with him.

Preparing to tee off.

 While the lessons and tournaments are enjoyable, my favorite part is certainly how he comes home and practices on his own homemade course for hours everyday!

It's not as lush as a real course, but it's equally as fun to try to make it to the two flags that you can barely even see in this picture! (Go ahead...get real close to the screen!  The red is on his right and the blue is on his left!)

No machine to go out and pick up balls, either, but it is great exercise to gather your own bucket!

His very own homemade tee box to hit just the right shot!

Applying the strategies the golf pro is teaching him.

This has been a great opportunity to help Caleb improve his game.  We look forward to seeing all the growth he makes this summer and in the years to come!

July 4th

Every year for the 4th, Craig has to work.  Unless of course it falls on a Saturday or Sunday.  In fact, he has to work every holiday that falls during the week except for Christmas, thank goodness!  Just a part of working in the retail industry.  Holidays are no longer sacred like they once were.  More people would rather go shopping that appreciate the day.  Such is life...I really am just so grateful that he is able to provide for our family and that he doesn't seem to mind. 

Anyhoo...this year we decided to make the most of the great weather and joined Auntie Beth and Uncle Jovante for a hike on the west side.  We live in such a beautiful city and we are so blessed to have so many great hikes available to us ride in our own "backyard!"

While we were going to attempt the Manitou Incline, we opted out when we realized we had to park at the bottom of the mountain to climb a mountain. For those that are familiar with the area, the closest spot was at the hotel kiddy corner from the penny arcade and Patsy's candy.  As much as I want to attempt the incline one day, today was just not the day! 

We ended up at the Garden of the Gods Open Space which is actually on the other side of Hwy 24.  Not nearly as crowded and a super place to climb the rocks and hike the hills!

The trail on the left was about halfway up to the top from where we started.  We continued a bit higher before deciding it was time to head back.

Uncle Jovante and Caleb making it to the top!

Conquering the rocks!

What beauty!

A little break after all that climbing

Caleb making his way back down through the rocks

After spending the morning hiking, we headed back home to get ready for our July 4th BBQ.  We hosted Grandma and Grandpa Mann, Nana, and many of the aunts and uncles and cousins for a yummy cookout.  Emaleigh made the dessert, and I put together a candy "bar!"

Ema's holiday delight!

A Red White and Blue themed candy "bar" for the kids both young and old to enjoy!

It turned out to be a great day.  While we missed hanging out with Craig, we were so glad he was able to join us for the BBQ.  Due to the forest fire in June and the many fire bans statewide, we didn't get to roast marshmallows in the fire pit, and obviously no sparklers this year.  While the fireworks did go off downtown, we opted not to attend this year, since Craig had to be up bright and early on Friday to get to work.  The kids didn't seem to mind.  They simply enjoyed hanging out and playing yard games with the fam!

Just Behind the New Red Door

Since the entry to our home is feeling cozy, I decided it was time to make the first room you come into feel just as inviting. (Not to mention that I have this really bad habit of starting more than one major project at a time.)  This room has seen the most change since we bought the house.

Here's how it looked when we bought it.

So many great things about this look...the light fixture, the forclosure sign on the door, the tile, the window that doesn't open, and of course the wallpaper.  NOT!

Yes this room has five different doors in it.  And not one looks like the other.  My favorite is the glass panel door that closes off the main house from this area. It is also one of two doors that are original to the home. I even decided to keep it's original color.  I really like the way it adds a touch of wood to the place.  The other one is Pam's door.  It had to be painted white because...well, it just did! 

If you recall, the day before we were to do our final inspection someone kicked in the front door and stole all the copper piping.  This was the real estate company's way of locking the door. Nice, huh?!

Can you see all the bird poo on the chair rail?  Yuck...

After the initial rehab it looked like this:

 

 

And if you remember, Caleb used it as his bedroom for 383 days.

 

 

 It really is a large room.  In reality it is larger than his bedroom from our last house.  It's just that it's long and narrow.  Not square.

And now behind the new red door...

 ...you see this:

After living here for a year and a half, we have a new sense of purpose for this room.  Adding two new members to our family last summer meant they needed a spot of their own. They are pretty large dogs and having their kennels in our living space was really a distraction.  So now this room serves a couple of purposes.  First off, it is our entryway.  This is what our guests see first upon entering our home.  But it also serves as our mudroom/puppy playpen.  I had a general idea of what I wanted the room to look like once I realized this was to become a multipurpose space.  For those that know me well, I thrive in a well kept environment.  I started checking out different ideas from Pinterest, blogs and magazines and quickly realized I wanted to create a built in look for the puppies kennels.  They are such an eyesore.  I saw a variation of what we ended up creating on Pinterest and told Craig he needed to get his saws warmed up!  I was delighted when we went to the barn and found that the only thing I needed to buy to make these a reality was one piece of plywood and a little bit of finishing trim.  Always a good thing when you find the supplies you need right in your own home!

Next up, I went shopping. In the barn that is!  I didn't really want to spend very much money on this room--or any room for that matter.  Fortunately, Nana brought a slew of chairs and knickknacks from her old place when she moved in last spring.  After rummaging through what's left in the barn and the garden shed I decided gardening would make a perfect theme for this room.  It is so bright and cheery and all of us are so excited to have the space outdoors to make a large garden a reality.  So I picked through the dusty signs and knickknacks, grabbed a chair and stool and got busy cleaning them up.  I must say that I am thrilled with how this space turned out.  The character and whimsey this room now has makes me so excited to enter our house.  Love the idea of reusing what we had to make it feel new!

Here's a few more shots to give you a better feel:

Who doesn't need a pair of gardening boots?

Lilly's Corner.  The green stool in front of it belonged to my 95 year old grandmother.  I love all the paint splotches covering it.  Worn and loved it surely is!

Quinn's Corner.  The truck on top of his kennel is the one that I would love to own one day.  Only in the grown up version that is!  I can honestly picture throwing the dogs in the back of that truck and taking a ride through the country with the windows rolled down and the wind blowing in!

This is the room that connects my  mom's place to our place.  It is our common space.  Since we only have one mailbox for the house, we decided we needed a place to put each others mail depending on who picks it up from the box each day.  This was our answer.

The door on the left is the one that takes you to Pam's place.  It's also convenient because the laundry is located off this room, as well.  It's the door with all the slats.  I told you this room has 5 doors and not one of them is the same.  Crazy, but it's kind of grown on me and I love the character it adds.  A very multipurposeful space, I say!

If you look closely you'll see that the window now opens.  Well that is because we decided to replace the windows that didn't open with windows that do.  The fresh air really make such a difference!

This newly renovated space brings a huge smile to my face when I come home now.  Between the front door makeover and the entry room makeover, our house is surely not a house any longer.  

A home is definitely being created here!

Now it's just a matter of going back and completing these projects, so we can officially check them off the list. Outdoor trim and eave painting, finishing work on the kennels, and a lot more landscaping is still calling our names.  Hopefully we can wrap it up in a couple of weeks!

Then I can show you another project we're working on...

Home

 Since moving into this home a year and half ago, it seems like we just have one big project after another. To date we have completely overhauled the inside of our home, installed new fencing around the inside acre where our home sits, rebuilt the barn, cut down a couple of huge pine trees that blocked out a bunch of light onto the deck and into the house, laid 15 tons of rock to increase the patio area, had the addition built for my mom, and had a 3 car garage built to accommodate our cars and our extra stuff.  While these projects have really added to the beauty of the bones of home, I have not really had time to put my own mark by adding to the decorating beauty.  So this summer, after the scare of losing our home, I decided it was time to take some pride of ownership and start to really  make this house a home. 

With all of the construction crew officially off site and with my being off for the summer, we decided it was time to paint the outside.  Mind you there is still much to be done, but here are a few pictures to give you a little taste of what we're up to!

This is the entry to our home when we first bought the place back in October of 2011.

 And here it is today.

 I really am so pleased with how the outside is starting to feel like home.

Here are a couple of more before shots to help you see just how narrow and closed off the entry felt.

The stairs to the deck just before we ripped them out and built wider ones

The new stairs with the original sidewalk.  Part of it is missing because we had to relocate our electrical panel during construction.  We knew we were going to add a new concrete walkway, so it really wasn't a big deal to have this hole for a few months.

 

 

 

 

Again, I can't say enough how much I love this new look to our entry.  It is so warm and welcoming and has that bit of country flavor.  After all, we do live in the country!  We've removed quite a bit of the jungle, repaired and replaced part of the deck,  increased the size of the stairs and sidewalk that leads up to the house, painted the outside River Stone brown, painted the door to tie in the barn (which you can see peeking from the opposite side of the deck in the picture below), and of course added some homey touches-- a new outdoor light fixture, house numbers, flowers, and some outside decor to add to the charm that we enjoy so much!

You can tell I haven't finished painting the eaves or trim yet, but like I said, this is still a work in progress.  I just couldn't wait to show you!

 

Who doesn't love a little yellow to brighten their day?!

I found these metal numbers at Hobby Lobby last week and ended up buying two sets.  One for the house and another for the flagpole we ended up putting in near the entrance to our home.

A great watering bucket for keeping those plants well  hydrated.

So much more appealing, don't you think?!