Proud Homeowners Again!

Another Post with tons of pictures!

So many of you have asked about seeing more pics of the house we have purchased here in Rome.  I walked through it on Wednesday...some of the work had already started, but these will be good before and after pics!

Here is the view from the front door. 

To your left is the formal dinning area and straight ahead is the formal living area.

This is the fixture in the foyer as you walk in.  Not sure if I love it yet or not...but it will stick around for a while...much more important things that need to be done before I start being knit picky! ;o)

This is the formal dinning area.  I love this chandelier minus the shades!

There is a small hallway to the right just past the front foyer.  It includes our master suite, linen closet and this power room.  As you can see I will be in the market for a mirror! ;o)

This is the the master suite from the entry.

The view out of the master into the back yard/ deck area.

Master bath and closet through the double doors.

These counters are SO low and not sure what they were thinking when they put in wood counter tops in the bathroom!?!  Another project we will take on later down the road!

The tub and shower.  Again not sure what they were thinking with a large CLEAR window right above the tub?!?  We will frost that before I'll taking any baths!

I like this little opening from the upstairs foyer.  I foresee it helping us to "keep on eye" on things going on upstairs!  The doorway on the left goes into the breakfast nook/kitchen/den area.

This is the view from that doorway.  The guys are ready for our table to get in; so they will quit hitting their heads on the low chandelier!

I love this fireplace in the den!

We got a great deal on a fridge that will match the finishes in the house!

One of the guest rooms down stairs the door is the Jack and Jill bath.

The Jack and Jill bath.

The other guest bedroom downstairs.  Kate may be in this room for a bit while we get her room upstairs livable!  ;o) 

Finally a sink in my washroom!  Never mind it's the size of a large dog bowl!  Another project down the road.

The stairwell...nicely hidden!  I liked that!

The view from the top of the stairs looking into the upstairs foyer. 

From the foyer Blake's room on the right.  Bathroom straight ahead and someday Kate's room to the left.

Blake's room, which is already a darling indigo.  (that's the name of the color!)

Upstairs bath.

Kate's dream room!

It will be a fun room...just not sure if it will be able to function as a bedroom.  We'll try!

That's all folks!

Running Overtime

Warning: WAY more pics than you probably want to look at!  The next few posts will probably be out of order...starting with now and working backwards until I catch up.

Papaw came to Rome and everyone was ALL smiles!

Our first adventure began Friday morning...We headed to the Atlanta area to the highly recommended Stone Mountain.  I was skeptical, but what a blast we had!  We didn't even get to do it all and we shut down the place!  ;o)

The first attraction was the Sky Hike.  Kate rocked the course!  She was blasting through the balance beams and ropes like she did this everyday!  We all did the first level and I was proud of Blake for pushing through.  So I didn't pressure him into going to the second level with the rest of us.  Secretly I'm glad because Papaw was then able to get some great pics of Kate!

It wasn't like she was always taking the easy option, like her momma was! ;o)  Daddy was great at the course too, always taking the harder course and helping out his little dare devil.  I cannot tell you how many times I had to close my eyes because she was so brave!

Blake did enjoy the course that was closer to the ground and he did an awesome job on the zip line!  I think that was a favorite for him!

After being extremely disappointed that the duck rides were cancelled due to ramp damage, we head to the skyline ride to take us to the top of Stone Mountain!  That's 825 feet people!  Papaw got the below shot of the monument on the way to the top.

Thank you Papaw for the great family pic on top of Stone Mountain!

A certain little boy who will remain unnamed decided to walk down the mountain.  People I love my Sperry's but they were NOT meant for hiking down 825 feet of a mountain side!  I survived. And we still made it for the Laser show spectacular on the side of the mountain.  Looking forward to our next visit.

DAY TWO:

We hit the road again; this time North to Chattanooga.  Our first stop was the Children's museum.  Another highly recommended attraction.  The kids loved it...could have spent more time there.  I will say however, they did not stick together...so it was nice to have a few adults to go separate ways with them.

Even Daddy found some fun things to do; engineering minds never stop turning the wheels!

The water works station was a big hit with them both!

After splitting up for Kate to participate in an art project.  She found the face paints!  Not sure if it's the Cherokee blood in her or the clown characteristics from her birth order.  :o)

Center of attention: definitely birth order!   

Finally caught up together again for a puppet show.  Praying they find real paying jobs one day!

After Discovery Museum we headed to find the Chattanooga ducks!  Success!  We had 30 minutes to grab a bite to eat and hit the road. We had an awesome guide, which must be a requirement for these things!  He let the kids drive when we got down to the water.  Blake was having a blast!

If you ever are looking for the Chattanooga ducks, you can find them behind Chattanooga Cupcakes!  Both of which I would recommend.  YUM!

Next stop:  Tennessee Aquarium.  Yes, we have been there and done that...but it is that good! 

 We were so late getting to the Aquarium, it was like we had the place to ourselves!  We all got to pet the sting rays.  They were very playful.

I just loved this picture of the sea turtle!

After closing down the Aquarium we killed some time in the water area in the plaza.  The kids loved it even though it had to be COLD!  

Final stop the IMAX!

 This time we saw Tornado Alley, amazing and scary all at the same time.

 We enjoyed our last few days with Papaw around town.  Showing him the sights we enjoy regularly. The Clock Tower is a favorite stop for the kids.  

We always seem to be downtown without our suits when the fountain is on.  But today since our pool was under maintenance all day, we mad a special trip just for the fountain.

 It didn't take much to persuade Papaw to join in the fun.  It was a little warm just sitting on the bench watching!  A great way to end a special visit.  The kids are already making their list for the next time Papaw comes to down!  Thank you Papaw for a great week of memories!

Our Little Mermaid

Little Pumpkin has been so excited about her end of the year program!  They have been practicing for weeks and she played the Little Mermaid DVD over and over again in preparation for this day!

They even rolled out the red carpet for her! (Ok, and everyone else's kid too.)

I was so proud of her!  She has grown up so much and followed along so much better than she did at last year's dance recital!  I sure wish I could talk her back into to dance, but she is determined to do gymnastics!

If you are bored, here's a short clip of her performance.  

(50/50 chance and I picked the wrong side of the room, so my camera was on full zoom.)

Road Trip!

So it's been a busy and daddy-less two weeks.  Therefore we had a family fun weekend planned!  Friday night started out at the pool...crazy kids swimming in super cold water!

Saturday morning was spent looking at some houses.  Found one we offered on...third time's a charm, right!?!  After dragging the kids through the houses, we hit the road.  This is what happens when you let a certain little girl play with your phone:

On our way to our destination, we drove Chickamauga battlefields.  It is still a little too much history to keep the kids attention, but we did stop to check out a few statues and cannons.

Our first stop, the IMAX;  where we saw To the Arctic.  Everyone enjoyed the Polar Bear cubs!  Plus who can resist the awesome glasses.  ;o)

The Penguins were a big hit with Little Pumpkin.  Good to know there is still one penguin taller than my baby!  When did she grow up?!?

Watch out for the Giant Japanese Spider Crab!  A favorite...although I think it had more to do with the crawling under the exhibit to get to the view point.

Another big hit was the butterfly garden.  Even if we didn't have any land on us.  They were beautiful and had some really neat cocoons. Never paid attention to how unique each cocoon could be.

Here they were waiting somewhat impatiently for the stingrays to come by so they could touch them.  Little Lion was trying hard to "catch" the guitar fish...the lady said it felt like sandpaper.

So excited that the Tennessee Aquarium is so close and so much fun!  We look forward to many more visits.  Come see us and we'll take you!  ;o) 

(No, I'm not above bribery at times.)