A Small Hog With War Paint

Not long after Jasen signed for our "quaint" house on Ft. Leavenworth, my friend, Amber, came over and took pictures for me, so I could see what our next house was going to look like. When I saw some of the pictures, I laughed out loud. I mean, it wasn't that it was small, but it was really bland; there was no personality! So Jasen and I made it our mission to change that.

Almost four months later (really?!), we have lots of lipstick on this pig!

Part of the reason I have waited so long to blog is that I wanted to put out pictures of our house completely put together. Well, that's a joke and could take 'til we are almost gone from here! So I went ahead and took pictures with things as they usually are: laundry on beds, stuff not organized, etc.

Let's start with the outside. Here are Jasen and Kyle McCall, waving in front of a very empty home.

And here is home of Team Graham as it looks now, decked out in fall finery!
Once inside casa de Graham, is one small-ish dining room or one large-ish entry. Again, blank slate as all Army homes are before your stuff comes in!


Okay, this is not the most deluxe dining room ever. But there is only so much one can (or wants) to do for a place you'll only live in for 11 or so months!
Ahhh, the bare living room. Boy, it's small. I had no idea how our stuff was going to fit in here, but it did. I guess this is the room I am most proud of, because what was once blank....

...is now full! I mean, really full. I love the paint color on the walls and sometimes, it looks like we painted the ceiling, too. Technically, we are supposed to paint this room back to white when we leave, but really, who would want that white?!
Davis' room before...



...and after. Again, just painting the walls made such a difference! Grace brags about having the "master" bedroom. But I have news for her; she has it because it's smaller than the other bedroom! There is a bathroom attached to this bedroom, but it is small and gross, so the kids and I don't really use it except when we have to.

Do not ever worry that Grace does not have enough stuff!

Our priority in our bedroom was not so much to decorate it as it was just to make our stuff fit! Thankfully, it all fit, better than any other military house did and we have bigger stuff now! Again, please excuse the mess! Before:


And after:



In the basement, we've made one of the rooms a toy room. Sorry no pictures of that, as it's just a blank room with toys strewn all over.

This room is the room we chose to house Jasen's study and our futon. In the beginning, it was pretty pink color.After two different paint jobs and one lofty dream of stripes which was given up because I got tired of painting, we have a different kind of paint scheme! But hey, it's not pink! As you can see, I have used this room to START organizing, then give up! Jasen does at least have his study space the way he wants it.

Here are two pictures of the kitchen. Still has white walls and no curtains. Again, I'll blame the length of time we are here for my lack of desire to get that room all gussied up. At least I have a couple of things on the wall.



The room that had the biggest transformation? In my opinion, it would have to be the hallway bath. Oh, when I saw the pics of it, I wanted to cry. It looked gross. Once I got here, I realized that it was as gross as the pictures detailed. We used some of our "incentive" points (long story!) to upgrade the sink, vanity and medicine cabinet. Then I had them take the bathroom doors off (the track is still there so they can be put back up when we leave) and I got a new shower curtain. Voila! The room with the most improvement!

Then...

...and now:

So, when are YOU scheduling your visit to 1 Rose Loop?

Still here!

Okay, I've been awful with the blogging. So sorry to those of you who actually read this! I am going to get back on the horse very soon!

The Texas Trip -- Part II

I had this big, ole, long post written outlining everything we did the second week in TX. However, it read like an itinerary, which, I mean, really, who wants to read that?! So instead of writing it out, I am going to show you what we did in our second week in TX.

**This week, Davis was hit with an ear infection. I can't imagine why! I mean, we'd only spent all day Saturday, most of the day Sunday and part of the day Tuesday in the pool. So, that's why D. is missing from a lot of pictures. On another note, Tuesday, the kids' "ROCK STAR" Uncle Clancey watched them so I could go with my mom to her doctor's appointment. He ROCKS!


Here is what we did:

Grace went to the stock show associated with the Parker County Sheriff's Posse Rodeo.

Grace, Kaela and Christian checking out the goats
I was blessed with a quick visit with my dear friend, Christine. I adore her. I am glad she is going to RI, nearer to her family. I can't wait to visit her home "area" and crash some of her family gatherings! :)
Our kids' first rodeo was the first rodeo my dad went to. The same day this picture was taken, I saw a black and white photo of my grandmother (in heels and a dress!) holding my dad's hand when he was about Davis' age, walking him into the rodeo.
"Look, kids, there's a real cowboy! And he's related to us! And he is tough enough to wear pink!"
A stay at my uncle Tommy's and aunt Pattie's is a summer requirement for me. They are so gracious to host us and I love being there. It's as close as an "old homeplace" as I have now. Here are my kids and two of my cousin, Melody's three, in the front yard.
I totally forgot to take a picture of my aunt, Pattie, when we were at her house. So here she is at our family reunion, holding the sweetest, most "Thomas" baby I ever met, Mitchell Thomas Ditore, my cousin Melody's baby.

The following week, Grace went to basketball camp at Tarleton. I cannot tell you the pride and fear I felt for her, as I watched her walk into a gym full of new faces. She is so unbelievably brave; braver than Jasen and I ever thought about being. She did great and had a great time. One of her "best friends" at camp was the daughter of a girl I went to school with. Isn't that funny? And notice her shoes. Every child's first basketball shoes should be Chuck's! Or a cheap knock-off of them!
The blurry girl running up to her coaches? That would be Grace Graham, whose speed knows no bounds, so fast even her mother's camera couldn't get her clear, receiving her "Camper of the Day" certificate. Hope springs eternal!

Grace and the other campers. She's in the back, three in from the left hand side.

That Saturday was very important in little D's life. We had a special movie to see. Here we are, preparing by eating our breakfast with 3-D glasses on Toy Story plates.

On our way to Toy Story 3, which was by far our favorite movie of the year.

What Have We Been Up To?

What have we been up to? Running, gunning, and driving hither and yon! Seriously, when I say "vacation" and "Texas" in the same sentence, it means we will not be relaxing, but trying to see as many people as we can. And I wouldn't have it any other way! My dad and I were talking about how we were enjoying our vacation and I told him I thought we were probably doing too much. He agreed with me, then I added that this is our chance to see as many of our Texas friends and family as we can so we have to run ourselves ragged to see the people we love!

If you've been keeping up with the blog, you know we have left South Carolina for good. I miss it. Jasen misses it (I think!) and the kids miss it. But we are having a great time in the Lone Star state. We got here the day before my birthday and were able to see a lot of family and friends for Grace's birthday. We had a nice little party for her in the park, with friends and family coming in from all over. We sure are blessed to have people in our lives who will come see us when they can, either in parts unknown or just down the road in the 'ville!

Grace on her birthday morning with the book she couldn't put down the first week, now she won't pick it up! UGH!

We could only get one candle to light: the sparkler 8.
I was blessed, blessed, blessed to have two of my high school friends and one of my Army friends at Grace's party. Kim and her family came from Ft. Hood, Emily and Jen from Ft. Worth and Tolar. I love it when I have friends from more than one place together!


That next week, we went to FW with my friend Jennifer and her kiddos.

I don't know if you can tell, but this is Davis, Braden, Grace and Landry riding the same motorcycle video game. We took them to Main Event.


And here are all five of the kids at Academy, everyone's favorite store!

Grace also spent the night with my cousin, Melody, to spend a little extra time with Kaela, Melody's stepdaughter. That next weekend, we had the Thomas family reunion. Always, always, always a good time, especially when we are at Rissa's place, where the kids can swim to their hearts' desire. During that weekend, we got to spend time with Amy, Randall and Reagan.

Um, good luck getting a picture of the Graves and Graham kids!


I did end up with these delightful, artsy pictures of a 13 year old boy...



My dad with his four grandkids.


One, two three, jump!

After the reunion, Grace and Davis (and Kaela) went home with Aunt Katie and Uncle Clancey while I went to Concerts in the Garden at the FW Botanical Garden with my mom, our friend, Bevan, and two of Bevan's friends. Here are Mom and me at the concert.

Aunt Katie and Uncle Clancey's house has a big draw: a pool! I can't believe my little sister is not only a homeowner, but her home has a pool! Man, my little sisters are really lapping me in some of life's milestones!

Grace has always been our water baby.

Davis helping his Aunt Katie out of the pool
Look at that boy jumping without his life vest!

There she goes!!



After my concert, I drove to Corinth. The next day, we spent a lot of time in the pool. Davis even learned to swim without his life vest! It was so cool! We left on Monday and took Kaela back home and we returned to S'ville.

More to come!