Wanted: Pen Pals

Before we moved, some of Talan's friends had a surprise going away party for him, thrown by Luke's mom, Allison. It was such a sweet gesture, and they had so much fun. One special thing that Allison did was to have each of the boys write their names and addresses on envelopes so Talan could write them letters. He started writing and sending the letters this week and has really been excited about it. He checks the mailbox every day to see if anyone has sent him a letter back. I keep telling him it might be a while, but he still enjoys going down to check. He would like to write more letters, so if you would like to receive one, message me your address on Facebook or text it to me if you have my number. 😊

Today I went to the Tanger outlet mall in search of some lamp shades. All I came home with were some pictures of things I want for the house and two pairs of workout shorts. Doesn't anyone sell lampshades anymore?! 😑 Walmart is the only place I have seen them, and they don't have the colors I need.

I found this mirror I want to get for behind my bedroom door. Brett doesn't think we need a full length mirror but I think it's a must!

I think this would look great in the kitchen for fruit. I always have a ton of it in bowls and baskets on the table, so I think this would be a good way to get it off the table. I have the perfect spot for it too!

I was intrigued by this utensil holder. I hate the plastic thing that mine is in in a drawer and it takes up so much space. I'm not sure I want anything else sitting on my counter though...

 I have never seen a pretty paper towel holder, but I think this one may fit into that category! I like it. 😊

 My bathroom doesn't feel very personalized yet, and I thought this would look cute hanging on the wall.

 It was beautiful today, as you can see by my daily "picking the kids up from school" photo. The sky was soooo blue and the clouds were fluffy and extra white!

After we were home for the evening, everyone wanted to get in the hot tub. It was a little warm outside still, but you don't really notice it as much up here in the trees. I never in my wildest dreams would have thought I would use it as much as I have. It is so relaxing! I know it will be even better once it gets cooler outside.

We found this crazy big feather on the deck. It was bigger than my foot, and Brett calls me Shaq, so that was one big feather! For the record, I only wear an 8 1/2, so my feet aren't that big! 😛

The kids also found this ginormous spider on the deck. Ew. I am not used to all these weird creatures we have been seeing!

We spent the rest of the evening working on projects. Randy and Diana bought Brett a hand sander for his birthday, and he has been having a blast with it. We have wood walls, wood trim, wood furniture...lots of things for him to sand and restain! This table had a bunch of scratches on the top, so he sanded it and stained it.

 It looks so much better now!

He also sanded down and stained this set of bunk beds that was in the boys' room. We moved them out to the family room area where we took the other set down. The other set was just too big for the space, but we still wanted to keep an extra set for visitors!

Here is the set that was there before. I guess it's hard to tell how big they were, but you couldn't sit up without hitting your head on the ceiling. 😁

It feels good to finally get some work done on the lower level. I can finally get to some of my scrapbook stuff. I feel like some cardmaking may be in my near future! 😊