Family Room Progress

Our new sectional for the family room got delivered a few weeks back.  I've been working on adding furniture and accessorizing now that we have it and can see how it fits into the room.

I ordered the rug off Overstock.com for a little under $300.  It's wool and thin but once I get a thick rug pad for under it, I think it'll be plenty comfortable.  It's 8' x 11' and that size can cost a ton.  Since the kids are still small and somewhat destructive, I didn't want to spend too much on a rug.  This one should last us awhile and I won't freak out if the kids spill on it.

We hung the TV above the fireplace.  We used a bracket that tilts and swivels so we can point the TV towards the kitchen if we want to be able to watch it from in there.

We got this small shelf from Target the other day for the cable box and Blu-ray player.

I moved this console table out of the dining room.  It fit well in our last house but that room is more square now and it was a little tight.  We are trying to keep toys back here (at least when we clean up) so that they aren't taking over the room.

I got these two pieces of art at Home Goods.  They are actually printed on wood and look pretty unique.  I plan on doing some large family photos on the other wall and have a canvas print I picked up at Target to hang above the shelf on that wall.

I've added a few pillows to the couch.  We already owned a few and I picked up the others at Target.

The room is finally starting to come together.  And we love it!

Nashville Zoo

The boys and I met Jen and Chase at the zoo today.  It was overcast, didn't get too hot, and wasn't very crowded - perfect.

Here's a short video of the boys checking out the gibbons when we first got to the zoo:

For the first time, Rylan swung on a "big kid swing" and Carter went really high on one.  They both did great and no one fell off!

I never take many pictures of the kids with the animals anymore, but here's one with the alligators that were actually out and swimming today.

PBK - Summer Reading Challenge

After the Coal Train Railroad performance, we stopped by the Mall at Green Hills to turn in our reading logs at Pottery Barn Kids.

The boys got completion certificates ...

And each got to pick out a book from several they were offering (I think they just threw some of the books they had on clearance in the box but that was fine with me).

We've been reading a lot everyday but the novelty of filling in our reading charts has definitely worn off!

Coal Train Railroad

I met Heather with Dowden at the Green Hills Library this morning to see Coal Train Railroad (they are a children's jazz band).  We've seen them once before at the Downtown Nashville Library.

Carter sat back and watched for the first half of the show but Rylan got right up there and danced from the start.

Carter joined in eventually.

Carter only danced a little and then sat down to watch.  Dowden joined him (I think he was drawn to the red hair - his sister, Hannah, has red hair too).

Rylan pushed his way between them.

Rylan and Carter eventually ended up like this ...

All the boys did a great job watching the show and had fun!

Touch a Truck

We went to a Touch a Truck event at Pinkerton Park in Franklin this evening.  They had a couple dozen trucks.  It was crowded enough but not insane when we got there (there were no more than 10 groups in line at a time to get into a truck).

Our first stop was to see the mounted policeman.  Carter petted the horse but Rylan had no interest.

Next was the firetruck.  We saw Jen and Cliff with Chase in front of us in line.  Chase was super excited about the trucks and very happy to get a fire hat (he was obsessed with one at our house on Monday).

The large mower was a hit with Carter.

Rylan wore his fire hat backwards and Carter had the elastic strap that is supposed to go under your chin on his forehead.  Silly boys.

Carter was thrilled to get to shoot water into the air with this pressure washer.

Brian pointed out the air horn to Carter in this truck.

I love these pictures!  Carter said the motorcycle was his favorite!

Cheekwood Family Night Out

During June and July, Cheekwood has a program on Thursday evenings called Family Night Out.  It's from 6:30 to 8:30 and they have various children's entertainment groups.  Tonight they had The Happy Racers.  They make alternative music for kids - and my kids loved it!

Brian had to work but the boys and I met a bunch of our friends at Cheekwood (including Missy, Heather, and Claire and their families).

I got a pretty good group picture of Will, Rylan, Dowden, Hannah, and Carter:

Heather is pregnant with her third due in August.  Hannah takes care of her cousin Luke so well that she's going to be great as a second-time big sister!

The band played for about an hour.  Carter danced up front for about half of that.

Rylan did his fair share of dancing too.

I think Carter has replaced Sophie with a new redhead (this is Heather's daughter, Hannah) ...

Hannah was copying Carter and following him around and then Carter followed her around.  Once Carter got very concerned when he couldn't find Hannah and I had to point her out to him.

The Happy Racers ...

Claire works at Cheekwood.  She said the turnout tonight was amazing (last year only about 100 people came to the first event of the summer and tonight there were probably 400 people there).  It didn't hurt that the weather was really nice today and it had cooled off to around 80F when the show started.

We headed out a little before 8 pm and when we got home our contractor for the hardscape was here making sure we were happy with everything.  That meant the boys got to play outside for a little bit while we discussed the irrigation system and hardscape.  It was already dark so the boys both fell a few times in the mud and were not happy to be dirty.  They got a quick bath and then were off to bed about an hour after their normal bedtime.

Hardscape

Finished!  It took about 5 days to do our irrigation system and 2 to do the hardscape.  Thank goodness we didn't attempt this ourselves!  Brian works way too much for us to get this done this year!

The railing along this side of the deck was removed ...

And steps were added.  We had assumed these would be wood steps but are happy with the stone ones.

The original set of steps were on this side of the deck.  That had to be closed in and the angled corner was filled in.

A new handrail was added down the steps.

The pillars have limestone tops.

The firepit was the main reason for adding the hardscape.

The firepit, seating wall, and steps are gray while the patio is a mix of gray, brown, and red tones.

There is an LED light under the seating wall and one on each pillar.

We really like how it turned out and can't wait to try out the firepit.

And now that we have an irrigation system, hopefully we'll have grass by the end of fall!

Happy Birthday, Brian!

Today is Brian's birthday.  For his present, the boys painted a picture frame for him at Third Coast Clay. 

Both boys painted the yellow (though Carter did most of it) and then they added some dots (again, Carter did most of them).  I added the message on the bottom.

Then we had a couple of photo sessions trying to get a good photo of both boys.

After Brian left for work this morning, the boys and I made him birthday cupcakes.

They did a really good job helping!

Carter had to test a cupcake out to make sure they tasted okay (we ate a total of 5 between the 3 of us before Brian got home!).

We also decorated a little bit.  I used the birthday banner I made for Carter's last birthday ...

And Carter directed me with hanging up balloons and streamers.

Brian had a rough day at work so we didn't do anything too special tonight.  Hopefully we'll go hiking this weekend and go out for dinner to celebrate!