After several months of living in our new home, we have living room furniture! A few weeks ago I finally got the bright idea to ask God to help me out with my lack of furniture. He is so good to me. It wasn’t long and I ran into a very cool couch at a flea market type store here in town. It’s a vintage sofa, I’m guessing from the 60′s. It is so clean — I doubt it was ever used. I quickly scoured the store and found a few items to piece together with it and VOILA! I have a vintage / retro living room. It’s not what I expected. What a fun surprise!

I saw the movie Hairspray with some girlfriends on Saturday. What a fun movie! I kept looking for my sofa. Most of the furniture in the movie would fit right in with what I have.

Remember the leather top coffee and end tables? Mine have a green tint. I found a pair in excellent condition.

It’s starting to feel like a homey space with the new curtains I hung this weekend. I have been blessed with such a beautiful living room. I am so excited we get to use it and enjoy it now.

Nothing matches perfectly but I am having fun piecing things together. It’s cost me very little and that is as fun as it gets.

Karen, here’s the rocker you wanted to see. I love the shape of it. I would love to paint it black. I think it would look great but I’m not sure it would look good in my living room. I could incorporate some black things to tie it together. Let me know what you think.

We’ve had a fantastic summer. I feel like I’m getting to experience childhood all over again with my children. I think it’s even better the second time around. At times being a Mom to several young kiddos is soooo stressful and tiring but the rewards of having a big family far outweigh the stresses. We are so blessed!!!! Over and over again I am told by older folks to enjoy every minute because these are the best years. We’ve been trying to do just that, so I’m going to start catching everyone up on our summer highlights!

Mom called letting us know her corn was ready for picking. We got over there as soon as we were able. The girls had their fill of corn-on-the-cob before we left the corn patch!

Elaina lost her first tooth! It was beginning to just dangle but she wouldn’t let anyone pull it for her. This picture was taken right before she lost her tooth. She was carefully gobbling up the fresh corn. She asked me to walk her to the house and as we walked she said she had a piece of corn stuck in her tooth. As she tried to get the corn out, her tooth popped out onto the ground. She was soooooooo excited and quickly retrieved it from the dirt.

She couldn’t wait to go back out and show everyone her surprise! The tooth fairy gave her eight quarters and we had a family ice cream party, featuring Bunny Tracks and fudgsicles, in celebration of her big milestone! She is such a fun kid!

Tom and Karen have been good friends of ours since early adulthood. Some of my funniest and fondest memories are associated with our newlywed years spent hanging out together. We’ve grown up some and now have become full-fledged adults with strong marriages and a great history together. I am so thankful to have their friendship, which will undoubtedly last a lifetime.

We’ve always tried to be there for each other and help out when we can. Tom really came through for me big time this weekend when he showed up at my home with a pick-up truck full of cleaning supplies, including his beloved carpet steam cleaner! I really needed someone to intervene!

My stinky and disgusting mini-van has endured much at the hands of my four children. I could hardly stand the smell each time we got in it to go somewhere, especially in this summer heat. Over the years there’s been every kind of food and drink spilled on the seats and carpet. Where there’s babies and small children, there’s formula, puke and a mom with a strong cup of coffee. Countless times I’ve spilled my coffee all over the front seat and floor. It was really gross.

My van now looks fantastic and the stink is GONE!!! Tom dedicated two afternoons and an evening to detailing the beast. I am sure it was his biggest challenge to date. THANK YOU, TOM!!! I PROMISE I will keep it clean.

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I have much updating to do. I am sorry for my absence. My summer highlights post will be up soon!