Happy Memorial Day

We had a few friends over Sunday night for an early Memorial Day grilling and firepit. Grant and I got inspired and bought a flag too.

On a serious note... although I'm in military service, I can't begin to imagine what this holiday means to other military families. Take a minute and pray for a soldier. Every day should be Memorial Day.

House Project No. 2...

Tonight, we went rock shopping. Found a great deal on some natural blue granite (actually has hints of green and brown in it too) that we ended up buying! That, with a little pea gravel and crushed limestone, will begin our new retaining wall/landscape beds in front of the house.

Thus begins house project no. 2......

Releasing Emilie's Inner Diva!

On Saturday, Emilie and Dianna came up to Omaha to participate in the American Heart Association Heart Walk in downtown Omaha. Emilie stole the show in her red threads and hot sunglasses! :)

Mission Accomplished!

Grant and Padraic got an early start on Saturday and painted the finished shelf - took some time off to watch Yankees vs. Red Sox (of course) - and then painted the wall. It's exciting to have our first "project" done!

Spring Cleaning... and then some...

And then came the cleaning... Even though we had plastic taped and pinned everywhere, there was still a ton of drywall dust after Grant finished sanding. Grant was covered, the wall/shelf was covered, everything was covered (my only known down-side of an open plan house - we couldn't shut doors to contain it). We also hosted Mother's Day at our house on Sunday, so most things were cleaned 2-3 times before the dust was abated. And, as you can see below, Mia was very helpful. :)

Birthday Tree!

True, it is not yet my birthday, but I got an early present this week... a tree! Grant had asked me what I wanted, and I said a tree. So he called up our friend Tom from Ahern Hardscapes and Garden Design - and he and Grant walked a nursery and picked out this Red Point Maple. It's so exciting to see some growth - my new tree and our grass are the first color, other than brown, on our lot since we've lived there! Plus, I had no idea it was even happening! I came home from drill in Lincoln, and surprise - a tree! :)

Mud, Sand, Mud, Sand, repeat.

And the war on our wall wages on! Grant has finished all the gyp board and is now on to the mudding and sanding phase. (I just stay out of the way.) We're actually liking the white look, so we may end up painting it a lighter color and painting the wall behind a dark accent color - opposite from what we originally planned. You can see the acutal war zone in the last two pictures. We have everything taped off and covered to limit the amount of dust migration. Yes, we've trapped a lot, but there's still al light coating everywhere - of course. :(