Our Fixer Upper

I am about to get started on my newest project of decorating the kid's playroom. I am so grateful to have a room that is just for toys because, to be honest, I am not sure where all the toys would go otherwise. Before Addie was born we just stored everything in Jack's room and in baskets and totes throughout the house. But with the addition to our family also came the addition to our house, therefore providing bedrooms and bathrooms for both kids and a playroom. I absolutely love the "new wing" for several reasons. First, I am proud of my husband's very smart idea to design our house so that it could be built in stages. We laugh because we are the only people we know that built a fixer-upper. But when it was just the two of us we had no need for a four bedroom house...and then we thought it would be 7 years before we would have kids...ha! So now we are officially in stage two with one more stage to go (adding on a massive 4 car garage with apartment and shop attached. I know! Sounds huge and crazy but Levi swears we really do need all that space. I'm not convinced but he deserves it regardless.) The second reason I love our "new wing" is because it is paid for. We didn't have to take out a loan to do it because we saved and saved and saved and it feels sooooooo good. Granted, if the bank foreclosed on our home they would take it all. I doubt they would let us keep the kid's rooms. =) And thirdly, I love the fact that we built it ourselves...with much help from our friends and family (specifically our dads), of course. I am so proud of our home, not because it looks like anything designer or fancy (in fact it is everything but that) but because it literally was built with our own blood, sweat and tears...every part of it. And we did it together...our labor of love. I found some pictures of us working on the house. I remember feeling so old and grown up then because I was the proud owner of a real house but when I look at the pictures I am surprised at how very young I was. What were we thinking building a house at 21 and 23! I was still in college...practically a baby! But we did it and loved every minute of it...well most minutes.

Levi and his tool belt...very sexy. He spent every spare second out at the house working on it. He loved it and was definitely in his element.

I told you I looked like a baby! This door was so important to me. It was a old door someone had gotten rid of and for some reason I just fell in love with it. I sanded that thing for days, maybe weeks...I don't know, it felt like a really long time. Finally, my Daddy took pity on me and finished the job, painted it red, and installed it so that when I came to the house, there was my perfect red front door. I still love it...every scratch, dent, and nick, like I said...perfect.

I'm looking forward to once again putting on my painting clothes (that have every color ever painted on our walls on them), turning up the radio, and spending a weekend stuck in the playroom with my favorite guy as we tape, caulk, and paint...together.