InstaFriday

What a fun week!  We didn't do anything really different, just had a great week spending time with the family.  Here are the little things this week that made our life perfect:

We received a large shipment of various items

for the travel agency this week.

Ten boxes in one day!

So we built a fort!

Who needs a jungle gym when Uncle Jonathan is around?

Hat Day at school this week!

Swimming is always fun,
especially when Uncle Jonathan gets to join us!

Have a great week!

InstaFriday

Only a couple of photos this week.  It has been kind of a crazy week!  We released a new Client Management System this week for our agents that Chet build entirely by himself.  It was very exciting for us and our agency because it is tailored to our needs as an agency unlike many of the boxed programs that are out there (and it saves us money!).

We did get to go see the new Winnie the Pooh movie this week.  It was so cute!  Definitely a must-see if you have little ones or if you just love Winnie the Pooh.  I found this little ceramic statue of Pooh on clearance (for $2) for Hannah to paint.

Hannah doesn't nap anymore but she does have to play in her room quietly each afternoon.  It allows me to still get work done and it is good for her to have some quiet, alone time.  Sometimes, she still falls asleep.  Usually, she plays with her babies, reads books, or plays in her kitchen.  Almost everyday, she emerges when the timer goes off, as Minnie Mouse.  Sometimes we see Belle or another princess.

Have a great weekend!

Redecorating

This Summer is one of those rare times where we are actually home for several months in a row.  I took advantage of the slow pace to clean out, reorganize, and redecorate some things around the house.  Here are a few of my projects from this summer.

This one happened more out of necessity.  Ants invaded our pantry, so I needed to take everything out to clean and figure out where they were coming in.  While it was empty, I painted the walls with some leftover paint from the living room (tan), put in new shelf liners, and lined the front of the shelves with a bright, blue ribbon.  I love how much cleaner the pantry feels now.

In February, I painted our formerly red kitchen a spice green.  The paint color is called Basil which I thought was fitting for a kitchen!  :)  I liked the red, but it was a lot brighter than I intended it to be and needed some help.

This is my favorite part of the kitchen.  Each of the little frames contains our family "rules."  They all center around being thankful, using good manners, to be beautiful on the inside, reminders to encourage and love one another, reminders to create, dream, and imagine, and to always keep God as the center of our family.  The rules just aren't for Hannah, but our reminders for everyone in our family.  Her timeout chair is under this.  (You should be able to click on the picture to make it bigger so you can read them.)

Our entry way needed some help.  It was very bare and bland.  Basically an afterthought.  I painted it the same green as the kitchen because they are connected.  I added the large mirror to help add some light and space to the area.  The bench is made from an old coffee table.  The black sign is my Subway Art.  Originally a Pottery Barn knockoff, several versions have since popped up across the craft and decorating blog world.  I made ours reflect some of our favorite Disney places.  This area is right across from our office.

This little mouse kept popping in my pictures today!

We were so grateful to my cousin to letting us borrow her nice coffee table, side table, and sofa table.  Since she has her own house now, she was ready to use them again.  That meant rearranging our own furniture.  I needed an area where I could sew and work on crafts so it isn't taking over our kitchen table.  

The sewing table belonged to my grandmother, who taught me to sew.  I cleaned it up a bit, added new hardware and removed a couple of doors that were falling off.  Now it works for me to use as my sewing table!  This area is just off the living room so I can work while Hannah is playing.

The sweet little mouse appeared again!

This is part of the furniture rearrangement.  Hannah received her art easel for Christmas and now it is between the dining room and living room.  I love displaying kids' art but I am not a big fan of clutter on the refrigerator.  I found this great idea to take empty frames one day while browsing Pinterest (If you love saving pictures and ideas from the internet, you should definitely check it out!)  Hannah loves having her art on the wall and I love how much color it has added to this corner of the room.

Last November, I redecorated Hannah's room, but I was never thrilled with the light fixture.  It was the old globe that came with the house and was dark and dingy.  I made this out of quilting hoops and ribbon after seeing a similar one on another website.  (Don't worry, the ribbon doesn't come close to the lightbulbs!) 

One more of my sweet little mouse.

InstaFriday

How is it Friday already?  I really did intend to post other pictures this week.  Here are just a few of the little things that have made our life perfect this week...

Hannah loves her baby dolls and is allowed
to have several in her bed to sleep with.
But I think it may be getting a little out of control...
what do you think?  :)

We love to be crafty and creative at our house!
Hannah has painted a couple of the dollar
 wooden birdhouses found at WalMart or JoAnns.

We dropped Dad off at the airport this week,
and headed to IKEA with Mamaw, Aunt Jamie, and Jamie's Tyler.

Hannah is an expert at trying out every chair,
opening every cabinet door, and,

of course, testing out the slides and toys.

I painted our bedroom this week.
It was a dark chocolate brown.  I loved it when we first painted it.

It was very cozy but, lately, it was beginning to feel too much like a cave.
I wanted a happier color.  Now it is a light blue.  I love it!

Hannah started her summer camp this week!
Two days a week for four weeks at the same school
 where she goes to preschool.  She was so excited
the first morning that she ran into the office proclaiming,
"I am going to school today!"

InstaFriday

Most weeks, I end up taking more pictures with my iPhone camera than I do with my nice (yet big and heavy) camera.  I recently downloaded the Instagram app, a photo tool on the phone that takes the photos in a square format and applies fun filters to them (they look like old Polaroids).  The pictures aren't the best, but it is more about the content than the quality of the photo.  It is just a fun and quirky way to share the little things in life that make our life perfect.

I got the idea for InstaFriday from another blog that I follow occassionally, Life Rearranged.  It is a silly way to document the everyday moments and share what we’ve been up to (and a great way to keep the blog updated a little more than once or twice or month!)

Here's what we've been up to this week...

Swimming with cousins on July 4

followed by fireworks from our driveway.

These girls are just precious together.  Best friends.

Love shopping with this girl.  She collects her "favorites"
up with her and always needs her purse. 

We have been cleaning, organizing, and decorating
during our quiet, stay-at-home summer.
The most recent project: Hannah's office. Cost: >$20

Made from an old desk, other pieces from around the
house and a few things from the dollar store.
(I'll post better pictures later.)

Hannah loves her mini travel-agency.

It is in our office so she can "work" while we are working.

You should hear the phone conversations she has with Mickey!

Hannah has ended the week with the croup.

Not a fun way to end the week.

Her annual check-up was scheduled for this morning anyways.

We have been preparing her all week for the visit to the doctor.

Since she was so brave and did so great at the doctor,

we headed to Target (as promised) to pick a new baby.

 

Of course, she isn't feeling too bad since
she is dancing to the music in the aisles.  :)

Happy Father's Day!

So blessed by these wonderful dads in my life...

my husband,

my Dad,

my father-in-law,

and my Grandpa.

Happy Father's Day to each of you!  We are so blessed to have you in our lives!  Love to you all!

Four Years

I realized today that we have had our blog now for four years (and three days).  As I look back over the last four years, I am amazed at how much we have accomplished, all of the adventures we have had, all of the ups and downs.

We started this blog as a way to keep family and friends up to date with our journey to adopt a little boy from Vietnam.  About six weeks later, we found out that we were pregnant with our Hannah.  Since then...

• We both quit our jobs at the other travel agency (at about five months pregnant!) and started our own Disney-focused travel agency.  Our company has grown more than we ever could have imagined, but more importantly, we are happier than we ever were at the other agency.  We love having the freedom to "skip" work for the day to go to the zoo with Hannah.  We have an amazing group of agents that are as Disney-crazy as we are (if not more!).
• Chet resigned from his worship minister position at the church in Irving to pursue his speaking ministry full time.  Even more doors opened up when a travel client contact heard what Chet was doing and was working for a Speaker's Bureau at the time.  Now, Kyle works as Chet's manager and we are so blessed to have him and his family in our lives.  (We just wished we lived closer to them!)  God continues to bless us in this ministry providing more opportunities for Chet (and his Dad) to speak to all different types of events.  They (and sometimes Hannah and I join them) travel across the country to speak to pro-life ministries, corporate events, churches, universities, and even a few government offices.  We are so blessed by these events and uplifted by meeting people with their own stories to tell.
• Our sweet little girl was born in March 2008 and is now a happy little three year old.  She blesses our lives more and more each day.  She makes us laugh with her sweet sense of humor, loves to dance and sing, do crafts with Mom, and play house with her babies.  She plays computer games with Daddy, loves going to school and to bible class, and loves to read.  She loves to play outside (as long as there are no bugs!), swim, and spend time with her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  We thank God for her every day!
• We have traveled to Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and have been on more Disney cruises than I keep up with.  We have visited Baltimore, Hershey, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C, Denver, Nebraska, Nashville, Kansas City and Wichita, St. Louis, and many others that I can't think of right now.  With speaking and traveling for the travel business and vacation, there is a rarely a time that we are home for the entire month.  But I wouldn't trade our life for anything.  We have created amazing memories and feel that Hannah (and us, too!) learn so much by being out in the world and experiencing it rather than reading it from a book.  We love meeting new people, talking with them, and are blessed by their stories.
• This one is a hard one to write as not many know this.  We have struggled with fertility these last four (plus) years.  After struggling for over a year,  we decided to look into adoption.  Just a few short few weeks later, we got an incredible surprise.  We have been trying for a little brother or sister for almost two years now.  On Hannah's third birthday, we found out that she was going to be a big sister.  One month later, we discovered that the baby had stopped growing and I was trying to miscarry.  The loss of our little one is still a daily struggle for me only made easier by my sweet husband, precious daughter, and relying on God.  Please pray for us as we continue on this difficult road.

Thanks so much to all of you "involved" in our lives by reading our blog!  We are blessed by each one of you.

Here is a picture of my sweet girl at the Grapevine Botanical Gardens.  We headed out there a few weeks ago on that one random day that was only 80 degrees!  Perfect day for walking around, feeding the fish, and playing on the playground.