Ellie's horseback riding lessons

Ellie had been asking to go horseback riding for a while, so when I saw a groupon for 2 lessons I thought it would be a great way to see if she liked it.  She did...

 This is actually the horse from the 2nd day.  His name was Rocky and he was super sweet and super sleepy from a day spent with campers prior to our lesson. 

 I thought he was going to fall asleep when we were tacking up.

 He did manage to poop while we were walking to the arena.  We got to scoop that up later. 

 I just snapped this pic of the stable.  It is such a beautiful place.

 Ellie had her work cut out for her.  This guy kept trying to stop completely he was so sleepy.  Ellie had to kick him repeatedly to get him to move.

 This horse came up behind us to say hello while we were watching Ellie.

 This is from the first lesson.  First you have to tack up.

 This is Joe.  He was the sweetest pony.  Very calm.

 Isn't he cute?

 On our way back after the lesson.

That smile says it all!  I think I'm in trouble!

Ellie's new room

It was Ellie's turn this week.  We've slowly been buying new things for her room to change it from a little girls room to an almost "tween" room.  She decided a while ago that Black/white and hot pink were to be the colors for the room.  The wall colors were hotly debated.  Finally I got her down from black and hot pink walls to light pink with a hot pink accent walls.  At the last minute we added a small additional hot pink wall behind the door since I was running out of the light paint.  :-)

 Here it is!  I think it turned out really cute!  Yes, the hot pink wall is BRIGHT!!  Hopefully she'll be able to sleep at night.  Pretty much everything in there is black, white or pink or some combination. 

 The chandelier is from IKEA.  Isn't it cute?!

 We got some great decor for her room recently at Garden Ridge for 75% off!!  Love that!

 We're actually planning on getting her a new queen bed soon, so there will be no more bunk beds in there.  I'll miss the huge drawers underneath the bottom bunk though!

There are still a few things we're working on, but so far I think it's turning out pretty cool!  Can't believe my girl's getting so grown up!

Logan's New Room

After Nine years spent with Logan's animals, it was time to say goodbye.  He's wanted to paint his room for a few years now.  I decided this summer was a good time to do it, so with a little bit of a sad heart we repainted his walls and bid a fond farewell to his little-boyhood.

 I spent literally months painting this when Logan was 2.  It took a long time because as most of you know it's pretty impossible to do much with little kids around.  I remember going into his room while he napped and painting as much as I could. 

 Finally around the time he turned 3 I finished.  It was great and he loved it for a long time.  But my little boy's growing up.  Sniff, sniff...  And it was time for a change.

 Here he is putting on the first coat.  It took about 3 coats to fully cover the mural and light colored wall behind. 

 Ta-da!!  His new "tween" room.  It's not completely finished.  I still need to put some backing on his posters that don't quite fit the frames and we have a little more decorating to do, but I think it looks pretty good.  And totally different!!  What a difference paint makes, huh?

He starts middle school in the fall. I'm afraid the changes have just begun.  But at least he has a cool room to begin his new journey!