Beauty

Look for the beauty all around you.

NC Pro-Am

With Fonzy and the boys off for the summer, they need things to keep them entertained, besides chores and swimming all day. Fonzy heard about the NC Pro-Am summer league...just what they needed. From my understanding, they have high school, college and pro basketball players on teams together who compete against each other. The boys were excited since John Wall is on one of the teams. The games are played at Central University, so guess where we were Tuesday night?

While watching the games, the boys found someone new they like...Mason Plumlee. He plays for Duke University. The boys were determined to get a picture and autograph after the game. Mason and his brother Marshall, who also plays were happy to oblige.

During the last game of the evening, Ezekiel and Elijah were called down to court during half time to compete against each other in a free throw contest. As you can see from the picture below, Elijah won!

The boys enjoyed it and we will head back next week when John Wall's team plays. The boys are looking forward to that.



The Veale brothers with the Plumlee brothers





Elijah

Ezekiel


Little brother wins!


Santa Claus likes basketball too! This is his summer look =)

Random Thoughts

I tend to worry. Even though God has ALWAYS come through for us. We have had job losses, death of loved ones, everyday trials and tribulation, but God has always been there. I need to quit worrying - really! Because God has proved to me over and over again that He is and will always be there.

Even though it's only July, I'm ready for Fall!

I love our new house.

I wish Manuel, Andrea and Carmen were here. I finally get a girl(Granddaughter) and I can't even enjoy her. They are too far away :(

I've been craving Mexican food.

I want to go to the beach - like right now! I need to go before the summer is over.
(hint, hint Fonzy)

I'm in the process of knitting 2 hats. 2 hats that I started last year! I really want to be done with them and start something else. I want to learn to make socks. Maybe participate in a Socktoberfest in October? I need to get knitting!

Ezekiel is going to be in middle school this year. Middle school! Where has the time gone?

Elijah threw cold water on me yesterday. He had a water bottle in the freezer and thought it was frozen, so took the top off, and doused me thinking it wouldn't come out of the bottle. WRONG! I yelled at him for doing it, but I really wanted to laugh. I probably should of, but the shock of the freezing water kept me from it.

The boys start football practice next week. YaY for football!

Fonzy has cut himself a mohawk! I guess he figures it's summer and he is going to go all out. I need to take a picture.

I'm on mission to start mailing letters and cards again. Don't you just love getting letters in the mail. I do! It brightens my day. I'm on a mission to brighten someones day. Anyone want to join me?

I love bright cheerful flowers on the table.

In the clouds

On cloudy days, I search for you.
I look into the heavens knowing you are there, but unable to see you.
With the sun shining through the clouds, I can picture you there.
I want so badly to see you again. To see your smile, to hear your laugh, to hug you just one last time.

I think of you everyday. Holding on to precious memories. Trying to forgot the way you died. The way you looked in the casket - forever 19.

So I gaze into the clouds - imagine you there - smiling down on me.

The Pool

This was one of the reasons we chose the subdivision we bought our house in. The pool! The boys love swimming and summer is so much better with a pool.

House Update

The boys rooms are finished! Well, mostly finished. We have a few more items to hang up in their rooms, but other than that, we are done! Yay! We are too happy to have them done. Fonzy and I are tired of painting! We painted the loft this weekend also, and have decided no more painting this year! Our room will have to wait until next summer.

The first room is Elijah's room. We stained his furniture this darker color before we moved. The picture below is Fonzy staining it. See how light it was. It looks so much better dark - looks like a brand new bedroom set.

Elijah slept in his room maybe twice and has been sleeping with Ezekiel. He said he will be ready to sleep in his own room when he is 11 or 12. He is 8 now. Uh..yeah.

Fonzy staining the furniture

Here is Ezekiel's room. He's a Carolina Panther fan, so we painted his room gray and he has Panther decor. We are framing his Panther jerseys to hang up and he will be getting a desk and some other things, but it's good for now.

It's all coming together. It's feeling more and more like home and we are enjoying it! I can't wait to decorate for the holidays! Yes, I'm talking holidays and it's only July!

After shots

So here are a few AFTER shots. We have the downstairs almost complete. All the painting is done, just have a few touch-up spots, but nothing major. The color on the walls is sauteed mushroom and the red in the study is candy red or something like that. I really like the colors. It took us a while to find the color we were looking for. We didn't want anything too dark, so this was perfect.


The coffee spot - I found those cute coffee pictures at Walmart for under $4.00! They match perfectly with the kitchen....at least I think so.

The study.

All our books and pictures are still in boxes, so that is why we have the empty bookshelf.



The familyroom and kitchen





We still have some furniture to get for the study, but the downstairs is pretty much done. It's feeling more and more like home.

We have yet to paint the upstairs, but are working on it. Slowly, but surely we are getting there.

Dinner

Elijah - "Mom is dinner ready yet?"

Me - "No, it will be ready in a bit."

5 minutes later...

Elijah - "Mom, is dinner ready yet?"

Me - "No, not yet."

2 minutes later...

Elijah - "Mom, is dinner ready yet?"

Me - "No! Now stop asking me!"

Elijah (whining) - "I'm dying! You just want me to die, so you can eat it all by yourself!"

Blank Canvas

I love having a house. It feels good to round the corner on the cul de sac, see the house and pull into the driveway. Sometimes I just sit there a minute and take it all in. It's starting to feel like home.

While searching for a house, we briefly considered an older home. Older homes seem more sturdy, and have character instead of the new subdivision cookie cutter homes. As you can see, we got the cookie cutter and I couldn't be happier! First - we are the one and only owners, and that means no old ghosts floating around. Yes, I believe in ghosts and Fonzy has lived in several houses with ghosts, so a new house was the way to go. Plus, with a new home, you know what you are getting. No old heaters breaking, rotted floors or anything like that. It's all spankin', sparkly new!

During the last walk-thru before closing I took BEFORE pictures. We are working on the AFTER. We have been painting, and it already looks totally different.

Walking thru the front door. What you see is the diningroom, but we aren't going to make that a diningroom. This is our study. Our desk will be there, bookshelves and a seating area. We plan on getting 2 wing back style chairs, with a small table between them, with a chess set - set up on the table. We plan on getting a throw rug also. Oh, and that light will be replaced. Below is another view of the study, and front door.



This room is a spare room downstairs off the study. We're not sure yet what we are doing with this room. We've talked about a game room, with a pool table, a spare bedroom or a photo studio for me. I'm liking the studio idea. Right now it's empty.

Here's the kitchen. I LOVE the kitchen. LOVE the granite countertops. LOVE the new gas stove! Gas is so much better to cook on then electric. LOVE the island/sink! Can you tell I LOVE the kitchen!

Below is another view of the kitchen.



My lovely sink....sometimes I just stand there and caress the granite. It's so nice and smooth and cool.

And here is the family/livingroom. So happy we have a fireplace. I perfer wood burning to gas, but gas is such much easier. Flip the switch and we have fire!

I also love that the kitchen and family room are open and together. So I can cook and still be part of the family.

Alright....heading upstairs.

This is the loft at the top of the stairs. Picture below is also the loft. We haven't decided what to do with this space either. Again, I mentioned a studio for me. Fonzy wants to replace the carpet with hardwood floors and make this the gameroom. Right now - it's empty.




Picture above is Fonzy and mines room, with master bath. Our room is HUGE. This picture doesn't do it justice, but it's a really nice size. We also have a garden tub! LOVE the garden tub!

This is Elijah's room. The boys are so excited to have their own rooms. Of course they are still in each other's rooms all the time and Elijah has slept in Ezekiel's room a few times. I think he just needs to get use to sleeping in his own room.


The picture above is the laundry room off the loft. That's Fonzy's domain. He does most of the laundry since he claims I don't know how to do laundry.


And last, but not least is Ezekiel's room.

As you can see from the pictures, it's a blank canvas ready for us to make it our own. We've already started with the painting. I will have AFTER pictures soon!

LOVE OUR HOUSE!

First Time Homebuyers

So this was the transition I was talking about in my previous post. We are homeowners! We closed on June 25 and spent our first night in our new home June 28! It's still feels surreal. I've been doing a lot of praying during this process. I think God was trying to teach me a lesson. That everything is in HIS time, not mine. I worried a lot during this process. Fonzy kept telling me to quit worrying. By worrying, I wasn't trusting in God. So I prayed everyday had faith that everything would be as it should. That if it was meant for us to have the house, we would get it. We put it in God's Hands and He provided!

The past week has been filled with painting, unpacking and just getting use to our new house. It has been a lot of work and late nights, but we couldn't be happier! We still have a ways to go with painting, but it's coming along. It feels so good to no longer live in an apartment. We have so many plans for the house - the decorating, what we want to get to fill up the rooms. It's all so exciting. I told Fonzy I'm fine with the empty rooms right! It's our empty rooms! I have more, so much more I want to write, but no time right now. I will be back later with updates, before and after pictures and our adventures as we get use to being homeowners!