Home updates!

This summer we had lots of help from my parents and were able to cross off some major painting jobs on our to-do list!  We are so extremely grateful for all their hard work and elbow grease, as the hallway was not an easy project.

When we bought the house, the hallway trim was a dark brown and the walls were an off-white.  I didn't mind at first, but with some wear and tear, every single mark showed on the trim.  We were long overdue to paint it and decided to do the trim white and the walls a pale beige to lighten up the hallway.

I absolutely love how the walls and trim turned out!  It's unbelievable what a fresh coat, or coats, of paint can do to change the entire look a room.  Or in this case, hallway!

My mom even gave the front door a fresh coat of white paint and with a new rug, our entrance looks as good as it can get!

Next up was our master bathroom.  The paint was peeling in spots and had mold growing in other spots.  We don't get the greatest ventilation in that bathroom, so I'm sure that didn't help.  But, the people who lived here before us and fixed up the bathroom must not have used the right kind of paint.  I decided to totally change up the paint color and look of the bathroom while we worked on the project.

The most recent picture I could find was one I took while playing with my new fisheye lens and clearly we needed to pick up the bathroom a bit.  Don't mind Sean's clothes on the floor.  I love the bathroom with the tiles and the countertop, but we needed a change.

It's hard to tell in the pictures, but we went from a pale green to a pale blue paint.  I wanted the "lake" look, but without being overdone.  I found a great piece of art for the wall from Hobby Lobby, mounted a shelf we used to have in the kitchen, and got some Michigan pictures framed.  It's simple and clean, while capturing our "lake life".

And in the spirit of changing up the decor in bathrooms, I made a few minor purchases to completely change the boy's bathroom.  A new shower curtain, bath rug, and some wall art!  We went from trucks and cars to Disney!

And our new 2016 kid's bathroom...

Our next two projects need to be refinishing the hardwood floors on the main floor and redoing the computer room/den.  There's a lot of mixed-matched furniture in there now and I'd like to go with one set of furniture for a cleaner look.  The floors we've been dragging our heels on since we know the boys are very rough on them (dropping things, throwing toys...gah!!!, dragging things across them).  We've been waiting until they can be gentler on the floors.  Not sure if that's anytime soon...

But, for now, we're thrilled with the changes and we're enjoying our updated rooms and hallway!

Apples, apples, and more apples!

Last year we went apple picking as a family for the first time.  We went to Erwin's in South Lyon and had a great experience!  But, we definitely went later in the season and some of the good types of apples were long gone.

As you can tell in the picture, it was cold!!  And muddy, but we didn't mind too much.

This year, our plan was to head out mid-September while the honeycrisp were still available and the Jonathans.  I needed good apples for baking.  But, every single weekend so far this month has brought rain and more rain.  It was probably a crazy decision in hind sight, but we woke up last Sunday morning on a morning I was supposed to clean the entire house before a birthday party in the afternoon and made a last minute decision to head out for apples.

The only problem?  The birthday party started at 2pm in Washington Township (super, super far from us) and we were leaving the house at 10am.  We decided we would go to Blake's out in Armada since it was closer to the birthday party than driving out to South Lyon in the total opposite direction.

It just wasn't the same though.  We had to drive to the U-Pick apple portion of the orchard instead of taking a hayride out there.  And the prices?!  Oh my gosh.  A half bushel of apples was $25 and there were no honeycrisp.  What the what?!

We still made the most of it.  Except for Evan who decided that he would rather walk barefoot and complain about it the entire time.  That child...

Want to know how long it takes to spend $25 at an apple orchard?  About 25 minutes.  It took us no time at all to fill up a bag.  Sean was grabbing arms full.

After picking apples, we grabbed lunch at the cafe and some cider and donuts.  The lunch was so good!  I had a hot dog with corn on the cob that was freshly picked from their farm.  The corn was on point!  The cider and donuts were really good too.  Now to work up an appetite for the birthday party...

We were going to take the kids in the "backyard funyard", but the prices were insane.  They wanted $11.50 per person and we had about an hour of time to spare before the party.  Sorry, I'm not spending close to $50 for the kids to play for an hour.  Luckily, they were able to do a few things outside of the funyard, but they were pretty disappointed about it.

After the pony ride we said farewell to Blake's and went on to the birthday party.  It was a beautiful day and perfect for the bounce house they had set-up.  I even went and chased the kids in the bounce house.

See that middle picture?  That's what it's like dealing with two boys close in age at a birthday party.  They will not stop messing with each other.  Meanwhile every girl is playing so calmly and nicely.  One day I will be able to sit down and have a conversation at a birthday party.  One day...

Happy birthday, baby girl!

And happy fall, y'all!

Off to enjoy my homemade apple crisp made from some pretty expensive apples.  :)

Back to School!

Have I mentioned how much I love fall?

Tonight, I have a pumpkin spice candle burning, the windows are open with a cool breeze, and Scott is watching Thursday Night Football.  Yup, it's fall!

And I'm exhausted.

How quickly I forget how exhausting the start of a school year is.  Especially with Sean in Kindergarten, Evan in Pre-K, both boys on soccer teams this fall, and the usual fun of fall birthdays that all our friends' kids seem to have (including my own kids).  To say we are busy is an understatement.  But, I wouldn't change it for anything.

So...Kindergarten!  It's finally here!  And while I watched tons of my mommy friends send their babies off to Kindergarten too, it seemed like a non-event over here.  Having done Young 5's last year, Sean knew the school, the kids (for the most part), even his teacher.  There was definitely "first day of school" excitement, but no tears from me or Sean.

I got to sit in his class on the first day for about a half hour and watch him find his cubby, his seat, and put all his supplies away as a scavenger hunt.  I watched him pick front and center on the rug for circle time as his teacher read a story.  I'm just so proud of him!  Don't get me wrong.  He has his moments and he can be one angry little guy, but he's come so far with his aggression issues and he enjoys school!

Not only does he seem like such a big kid at school now, but suddenly his soccer team has games with a referee, a goalie, positions, and the score counts.  Holy cow!

Scott is Sean's coach this year and it's been really fun watching him in action!  I love that some of the boys from last year are still on the same team, along with some new boys.  We really have a great team!  Go Sharks!

Can I also add how I love his "game face" that he has while playing?  I mean...look how focused he is!

Evan, my little bug, started Pre-K this year at Tutor Time!  I cannot believe that he is in the last classroom at daycare.  That this could potentially be our last year of daycare, period.  If we're lucky and he gets accepted, we'd like him to do the Young 5's program next year at the elementary school.  He will be taking graduation photos this spring.  NO WAY!  He just seems so little!

He's always so happy when I pick him up at school.  It just looks like he's having such a fun time with his friends that also moved up to this classroom and his new teacher, Miss Kim.  He had show-and-tell today and will get to "babysit" a stuffed animal for a weekend coming up.  While he still seems like my little guy, he really is growing up!  Makes me so proud...and sad.

Even though he comes across brave at home and even at school, we're discovering that he's actually pretty shy.  We showed up for his first soccer game, without having met the coach or team, and he preferred to sit on the sidelines.  While we weren't happy about that, we at least got him on the field for two minutes.  Baby steps...

I don't have much confidence in this season for him.  The team is mostly four-year-olds who have never played before and a coach that is super laid-back.  But, we'll be there on Saturday for attempt number 2 at getting Evan to play.  Go....Evan!  (There's not even a team name...)

Aside from school and soccer, we managed to make it to the Fall Festival in downtown Plymouth.  It always seems like the official start to fall!  We saw some friends when we were there (yes, we're finally making friends out here...just took us 5 years), enjoyed a funnel cake, played some games, and let the boys do a few rides.

I love this festival!  I really do.  And it's just another reason why we love where we live!

Happy start to the new school year!  Happy football season and chili!  Happy fall!  We're ready for you over here...