Summer Travels

Well I've got some major catching up to do! We've been keeping the road hot...but that's not really the reason why my posting is so delayed.

We switched internet providers. Wow. What a mess. But something had to be done. Comcast, I hate you. Always have, always will. You charge a crazy amount and force me to have a home phone number that was conveniently last registered to someone with an incredible amount of debt collectors after her. Thanks for that. So our two-year contract was finally up and Matt said he'd like to be in charge of finding our new cable/internet provider. More power to you, Matt. In beautiful South Hampton, options are limited. Even though people within a few blocks have AT&T U-verse...that doesn't mean we get it. In fact, we only get Comcast. Convenient. Direct TV, here we come. Feels like we have millions of channels and fancy cable boxes on EVERY TV. Yea! So far, so good. Oh yeah, except for that week and a half lull where we couldn't figure out the internet. And now Matt casually mentions that our connection speed is "a bit slower than before." Hmmm. And, sidenote: our neighborhood now also has SureWest service. Thanks SureWest for showing up about 2 years and 2 weeks too late for us. Whew. I apparently have some crazy hidden aggression about this issue. Now that that's out in the open, on with the blog!

A couple weekends ago Cade and I rendezvoused with the GB clan (minus Summertime Barbie) in Tulsa to visit my mom's side of the family. We affectionately nicknamed my aunt and uncle's house the "Roberts Resort" as it's recently renovated and quite the relaxing hang out!

Welcome to the resort says Aunt Pam and Brooke. Wanna take a dip?


Or hang out on the new deck perhaps?


Cade always takes a while to warm up to the idea of swimming...


Cousin Zach will help you feel at home Cade!


Maybe he just needed his goggles?

Pam got some good swimming pics I'll have to get loaded on soon. Our SLOWER internet is making things a wee bit difficult...

Grill Masters Uncle David and my dad


Game Masters Pam, Brooke, and Nathan


Cade made himself right at home, you see.



It's always great to get see Grandmama and Thompson


I think Bobby (the dog) was ready for Cade to head on home. Even though Cade kept clearly calling him by name, Bobby was less than impressed with the attention he was getting from crazy Cade.


Thank you Roberts family for letting us come visit the wonderful "Roberts Resort!"

Put it on the List!

Now this project wasn't on the original list, but it's been on my "someday" list for awhile, and when upholstery fabric was on clearance at Hobby Lobby this quickly jumped off the someday list and into reality.

Simple, bare windows. We do have (faux) wood blinds now since this pic was taken. Sidenote: Notice the pristine glow of the kitchen? This was clearly taken before I had a child. Even with the blinds, I always thought it would be nice to have something to help make it look a little more finished and tie all the random paint colors together.

This one especially needed some finishing touches with the terrible 80s window shade. Hate it. They had one when we moved in that I promptly removed...just to buy another one a year later as the sun really beats down in this room.


Keeley's at work! I had no part in this project other than the idea. They made it a reality!


They built some plywood box-type-things.


Then Matt's mom wrapped them in batting...


And then stapled on the fabric. She also used a spray adhesive which was genius. I did not think of that. She does great work. I should definitely give her a raise.


The boys (I mean, men?) then secured them to the wall.


Voila. Hard to get the full effect with my less-than professional camera and less-than professional camera angles--but you get the idea.


We already had the red curtains for the sliding door and I decided to leave them up as it really matched pretty well.



The valances over the kitchen windows are my favorite. It's just the right touch.



This is Cade's "clearly I love it!" face.


Thanks Mike and Jan for all of your help and motivation! (We always require a little jump-start to get going on home improvement tasks.)

Projects remaining: deck and basement ceiling. Who's surprised?! Not I.

P.S. This is my 281st post. How the heck have I been blogging since 2007 and haven't even hit 300 yet?

Introducing...

Gentry! The newest blogger on the block...and also my sister. (See us pictured above, from last summer, with Senior Picture Barbie.) She's a spunky little writer and pretty funny too--if I do say so myself. So head on over and take a peak at Gentry's Journeys. Why don't you add her to your Google Reader list while you're at it. And if you don't have Google Reader yet you should seriously think about it. Love it. Ok, that's all for today. Back to summer.

Ghetto or Fabulous?

Very ghetto, but effective. I thought I would give this posterboard-behind-the-blinds method a try before pulling the trigger on purchasing black-out curtains. I was surprised to find that from the outside it just looks like a dark second floor window...score!!! Results thus far: nap time has increased by 30 minutes and he woke up an hour and a half later this morning! So while it is pretty ghetto, more sleep is always pretty fabulous!!

Feel the Love

I kicked off the b-day morning with 5:30 Jazzercise because, heck, why not get up and at 'em and enjoy the whole day on your birthday? (You know you're getting old when you get up earlier rather than stay up later to get more out of your day).

I arrived home to these two cuties...and the birthday banner!

Nice work, Matt. I'm determined to use that banner for EVERY birthday celebrated (it was a little pricey) and I would have felt like a tool hanging it up myself.

How 'bout a little t-ball before 7am? Note to self: must get light blocking curtains for Cade's room.

The rest of the day was pretty lazy, but fun, as demonstrated by our "Birthday Fort" below.

Only for the birthday girl and her guest. Yes we used the timer for this pic. And yes, Matt made fun of my terrible fort-making skills when he got home.


Now I'm not always the biggest fan of Facebook as it sometimes makes me feel like a senior citizen (no offense to senior citizen readers). But I don't really know how it all works and the world of Facebook navigation is always evolving it seems. I'm so glad I can remember life before texting and the internet. I'm even more glad that Facebook wasn't launched until I was out of college. Dodged a bullet there. But I was definitely feeling the Facebook love on Monday and really enjoyed catching up with people. Thanks for taking the time to send me birthday wishes whether it be via card, call, text or wall post. I was feeling the love. Which is what birthdays really are all about once you're old. Right?

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday...to America last week...and to me this week.

I figured I better get these pics posted from the Fourth before we hit the "point of no return." (You know, the point when it's so long after the fact that you can't go back and post about it.)

We just barely made it.

After last year, we decided we must travel to the Bend for every Fourth of July. It just wasn't the same without food, family, and fireworks so off we went!

Testing out the new swing at G-Mom and G-Dad's

He approves.

Gee, I think Cade needs just a wee bit more attention.

Swinging with Aunt "Kizzie" AKA Patriotic Barbie

Swimming with Grandpa Mike


Aunt Beth and Keith racing their firework cars

The little boys weren't exactly sure about all this, but they weren't scared either.

Festive 4th Feast

Cade says he actually prefers Cinco de Mayo. Don't tell anyone.

Matching shirts for one and all!


My Plaid short cuties this year...

And a look back to last year.

Nothing like resurrecting some old fireworks that have been down in my parents basement since last year...or the year before

No fire for you, my friend.



Impromptu 14 Month Photo shoot





I've done a little early birthday celebrating already. My wonderful husband has finally figured it out, the key to my heart = DQ Ice Cream Cake!!!

Almost too pretty to eat. Almost.


Fireworks, family, and ice cream cake...I knew I loved July!