Peace and Tranquility

Amidst all the busyness of our lives these days (with raising three little ones, being the life source of another, running a business, house showings and the BIG project among all of little ones) we still manage to make time in our lives for a little bit of peacefulness. Many times that means going to our "farmhouse" as Fletch calls it to relax by the pond and watch the sun set. I guess the fact that it is surrounded by donkeys, horses, cows, lamas, goats and farm birds qualifies it as being a farmhouse even though no animals reside on our land. Yet.
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The inside is a complete construction zone which isn't the most suitable place for little ones or clumsy pregnant women to be hanging out it (yes, I'm totally referring to me) but the outside is quite nice. In fact we love it!












It really wasn't that dark out but I love how these next shots made it appear to be.


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As far as the house redo goes, the drywallers are finishing up their end of the project and we'll be ready for paint soon! I have been busy flipping through the Benjamin Moore color wheel trying to come up with the perfect color choices. NOT EASY!
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The exterior is ready for the hardiplank to be put on then it can be painted. Our new (old) front door awaits paint and then it can also be hung.
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The wood floors have about 2 more weeks of adjusting to the indoor air temperature before they can be installed. We decided to go with solid Heart Pine and then stain and seal them ourselves after they are installed. I am so excited to see how they turn out!



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And I continue to work on my little projects while preparing to teach 1st and 3rd grade.



All the books are ready and will start to collect dust if we don't start soon!





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Our little girl will be turning 6 next Saturday and is counting down the weeks until she can hold her baby sister in her arms. Only 14 more to go! She is trying to convince me to allow Maggie to sleep in her bed with her for her first night here. Obviously not happening but I'm sure she will be a huge help to me in so many ways. I think Maggie is going to be a busy little one like her big brother Fletcher. If the fact that Lori my midwife chased her and chased her until finally she had to pin her down and hold her to one side of my belly on Wednesday to get her heart rate count is any sign that she's going to be a handful, I think I'll be grateful that I have my Gracie girl here to help.

Fun on the 4th

The fourth was a much needed fun and relaxing day for us spent with friends and family. The day was filled with volleyball, lots eating and swimming and of course fireworks!

our sweet friend at church miss Cathy bought the kids these festive shirts

daddy loves to play some volleyball

and this little guy loves to swim!

pals and cousins Colton and Ava

sweet little miss Kaya

uncle b. gives the kids fun rides!

and this sweet, sweet girl is our friend Zoe. remember her from this post here?

Gracie just couldn't get enough of her. baby Maggie better look out!

the flag cake tradition

the blue turned out a bit lighter than I'd hoped but it sure was yummy!

C & G anxiously awaiting the rain to stop so we could get out of the car and see the fireworks!

last night we just (finally) finished up the last of the sparklers. we sure had a fun fourth and are now looking foward to celebrating next year with our newest little firework!

The Perfect Name

There is no name more perfect for our sweet little blessing than the one we've chosen. And I am deeply in love with it.

I was so overjoyed to learn that we were having a baby girl because that meant we could honor my mother and grandmother (my dad's mom) with her name. Both of their names were Margaret and Maggie is the nickname for Margaret.

My grandmother Maggie's middle name was Elizabeth so we decided to put a twist in it and take the beth off and name her Maggie Eliza. I love the name Eliza and love how it goes with Fletcher's middle name which is Eli.

I feel so great to know that this sweet girl of mine will be able to carry on the love that her dear grandmother and great grandmother brought to our family. The were more special to me than I could ever begin to say and I feel so honored to be naming my little girl after them.

Beautiful Chaos

That is how I think of my life these days. Between planning the house remodel which has been consuming most of my time lately and striving to keep our current home show worthy clean at all times, life has been a tad bit hectic. But in the midst of it all there has been chaos that has been oh so beautiful. Like the wedding we attended for our friends Terry and Rachael. It was perfectly beautiful in every way. And Colton and Gracie felt very honored to be a part of it. I went camera crazy taking pictures of my little poser while she was hamming it up. All while Colton was running along the beach soaking his pants or in the reception hall drizzling chocolate from the chocolate fountain all over his new white linen shirt. Totally typical!

I told you she is a total ham! She'll say, "Mommy, take this picture" and she'll do a little pose. Too, too much!

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The four beautiful flower girls

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Terry's mom Patty and his brother

Rachael and her dad

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Rachael's mom Karen who keeps the kids stocked with beautiful Gymboree clothes.

Last week the kids enjoyed a fun week of VBS at our church and I spent most of the week there too taking pictures of all the sweet kids. It really helped Gracie start come out of her separation anxiety that she's been going through for the past five months.

Isn't this picture hilarios of Colton and his teeth! I love it!

And thanks to the kids for helping out with the destruction, the house is just about ready to be put back together . Josh just finished knocking all the large stones off the fireplace in preparation for a more modern looking fireplace. The fun is about ready to happen! New windows have been installed throughout the house which made a huge improvement and the wood floors have been ordered. I can't wait to see all of our designing become a reality! I love this stuff!

I'll try and post more house pictures soon as time allows! I have so many projects going on right now that my head is in a whirlwind. I am still working on redoing Gracie's vanity which will be for the new house and I'm also refinishing a mahogany dresser that I'm planning on using for the baby's room. And I need to hurry up and finish redoing the front door that I bought for our new house that is ready to be installed. Then I have another door that is next in line to be refinished. I'm super excited about that one! It's an old dutch door that I bought on craigslist that I'm thinking will be perfect for the entry into the school/play room. I'm trying to hurry up and finish all this so I can start a quilt and curtains that I want to "attempt" for the new little one. 0h and I want to start school again too so we can take time off when we move and when the wee one arrives. Is your head spinning yet, cause mine sure is!