Rafters...not exciting

The house is getting wrapped!

And the rafters are going up!

And the mud is EVERYWHERE!

But we are one step closer!

Third Person

This will be a short blog post. I am posting it so that one day I can look back and laugh! Hogan is speaking in the third person. I know that this is just a phase, but it is really cute and funny. For instance, this morning I woke up to his sweet voice through the monitor repeating, "Hogan's in his bed! Hogan's in his bed!" Or you can find him saying, "Hogan has a dirty diaper!", "Hogan is hungry me!" You get it! Kelly is signing off now!

Father's Day

Father's Day was a great day! We spent the morning at church worshiping and listening to a great service where they had Christian men from our church that are in the sports world speak abot faith and sports and the relationship between the two. Pat Day (FAMOUS jockey). Dan Macdonald (U of L Baseball coach. A football player that played for Charlotte and a NBA Referree. It was great. Then we headed to the park with my parents and Erin and Mike. We had ll kinds of bad food...fried chicken. Brownies. Potato salad. Chips. You get it. Then we played corn hole, flew kites, played on the playground with the kids. Talked. Just enjoyed the day. I am blessed with having had two great grandfathers, an awesome dad, a great father-in-law and a wonderful husband who is a fabulous father to our four kids. Lucky me.

Riley

Riley is eleven today! It seems crazy to think that my first born is over a decade old! Last night, the girls asked for a story from when I was little. Instead, I told them the story of Riley's birth. Ten days late. 30 hours of natural labor...NO DRUGS...except petocin (Ugh!), followed by 3 hours with an epidural, followed by a c-section that resulted in anesthesia when I felt them slice me open, followed by one healthy 8 pound baby girl, followed by two weeks in the hospital (me, but they let Riley stay with me...thank you Baptist East :), 5 IV's at once, CT scans, MRI's, infectious disease specialists and MANY other tests. RESULT? One AMAZING daughter making all of it TOTALLY worth it! Looking back, I remember Todd sleeping in that hospital EVERY night except one (thanks Erin for giving him a break!). Even thought he had 14 hour days at work, he never left me. (I love you baby! Today more than ever) Slept in a chair straight up. Held my hand. Shared the fear and the uncertainty. Newly married. New parents. Learning about life and possible death together. All the while, the shining star was our new baby...Riley! She is still one of four of our shining stars and continues to make us laugh and feel warm inside with her constant attention to everyone's feelings. We are so blessed and so lucky to have her in our life. God gave us something special to treasure in her and we will always be eternally grateful. Happy Birthday Riley! We love you!

Second Story!!!!

Second story is up!!! Above my husband took a picture of me meeting with Billy..the head framer.


Todd surveying the scene.

FOYER

Kids upstairs media room






Below: Finley's room

Family Room

Backyard

Roof is going up!!!!

Framing and Fireflies

We are halfway framed! It is so fun going out and seeing the progress that occurs everyday...well most. Last Saturday, Todd and I had a busy day, so we decided to grab dinner and a movie. Afterward, it was dark when we got to the house, but the first floor was halfway framed! We pulled the car up and turned on the brights and walked "into" our house for the first time! It was such a great moment, taking in the view from what will be our home! The fireflies flickered in the pasture and made us so excited for the screened porch and quiet nights soon to be spent on the farm. We have a long way to go through this process, but it has been so exciting. Sure, the fixtures and flooring, lighting and tile are all exciting, but after a long and trying year, I look the most forward to having our own home again. Placing our roots and having a new beginning on Forever Farm.

You are beautiful!

Each of my kids is beautiful in their own way! I love that they are their own special person, completely unique! Today I took some of them shopping for summer clothes. Always interesting. I find it so amazing that they each are so different and have such unique styles. Riley has a laid back, relaxed but very cute and casual style that is truly befitting of her personality. Bailey wasn't with me, but I think her style is just SASSY... and stylish...very Bailey. Finley Tate picks anything with pink and shine, sparkle, ruffle or the like. Watch out boys...the girl likes her bling! Hogan got a Lightning McQueen T-shirt. I almost laugh as I type that because I always said I would NEVER put my kids in character clothes. (Grown-ups in Disney screenprint has always been my petpeeve.) Well...today was a perfect example of Never Say Never, as my child is running around the house proudly sporting Disney Cars. Oh well. He is happy...and continues to say "Thank you, Rye Rye!" because he thinks she bought it for him! Oh well again. In the meantime, I found an adorable pair of espadrilles for myself...(retail therapy to get over the character clothes incident)! Have a good day! Happy Shopping!

I love to dance

Finding the Rock

Today a friend's facebook post read..."Hit the bottom and found the rock". I don't know if this was a statement of Faith, but that is the way I read it. A great person with tragedy after tragedy and he keeps smiling. God only gives us what we can handle. He doesn't promise life without troubles, only to help us through them. There is always a lesson. I saw a girl at the pool today with the Serenity Prayer tattooed on her side..."Lord, please give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace. Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that he will make all things right if I surrender to His will. That I will be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen" That is my rock. Knowing that no matter how low this life make bring us, that we must trust in the fact that God has it all taken care of. He already has it all mapped out. We don't get a sneak peek at the future. We just have to believe, surrender and keep a good grip on the Rock.

Cabinets!

Okay. Don't have a deep blog post today, so I thought I would post some of the progress on the house. (Currently at frame stage! :) FINALLY.) Here to the right are the master bathroom cabinets. Below is my office.

Here to the right, is the overhead view of the office.

Below is the butler's pantry. Note the chicken wire in the cabinets! LOVE.

Butler's overhead to the right,

Below kitchen island.

Right is the furniture looking piece of cabinetry

inthe kitchen.

Range wall in kitchen. Can't wait. Cabinet lady did a GREAT job.

Overhead of kitchen and adjoining

built-in breakfast nook.

Fridge wall in kitchen.

Boring post, but good for my records and to look back on this LONG road to FOREVER FARM.