My Summer Reading List + Book Recommendations

If you've been following along with my Instagram for the past couple months, you know I made it a goal to read more books in 2017. Specifically parenting/marriage books with a few fun ones just for me thrown in. And while I've slowed down a little since my first stack of books arrived from Amazon back in March...I think I've done a fairly decent job adding reading books into my everyday life. BOOKS, that I hold in my HAND...not blogs on the computer, magazines on the deck, or snippets of Instagram posts on my phone. BOOKS. It was hard a first, but then I couldn't believe how much time I had if I just used it for something other than Netflix and phone scrolling. I feel like I'm a pretty productive person overall, it was just changing a few habits to find time for this 'new' thing I wanted to be better at.

I felt like this summer has sort of been a 'throwback' to the laid-back summer reading list days of old...back when we had to keep lists and log minutes and earn stickers. It's been fun. Here's a little book report on what I've read and liked so far:

1. Shepherding a Child's Heart, Paul David Tripp

I probably should have read this one a month or two before I did because when I read it we were IN the beginning of some intense toddler discipline...but I winged it and basically was already doing everything in the book at that little stage. But this was a gooooood one to read and I will probably revisit it again in a few years. A book you should probably own (there is now extensive highlighting in mine) for underlining and coming back to chapters here and there.

2. The Best Yes, Lysa Tyrkerst

Time management and balancing priorities has been so tricky for me since becoming a mom. In a way it seems like I should have all the time in the world but when things start to pile up on top of each other in our schedule...I get cranky. It helped me figure out how to determine what's good, better, and best. Reminded me who and what my priorities are, and then how to make decisions from there. It was super practical and I will probably read it again.

3. To Train up a Child, Michael and Debi Pearl

Similar to Shepherding a Child's Heart, but a little shorter...and quite a bit more intense/strict. Less grace + gospel message and more of a hard and fast discipline approach. I liked it but probably didn't *need* to read both this and Shepherding a Child's Heart. Or at the very least didn't need to own them both...but I did like being able to underline stuff and I'll probably pass it on to my sister when she's at this stage with kiddos someday.

4. Wild at Heart, John Eldridge

Listen...Josh has been asking me to read this one for as long as I can remember. And being that I'm a boy mom now, I figured it couldn't hurt. It took me the longest time to get through this book as opposed to the others that took less than a week if I was focused. But I did it. Most of it seemed to be a little over-reaching for me and none of the content or writing style really resonated with me (I'm not surprised, I didn't love Captivated, either) but that was to be expected since it's a book for men. My favorite part was probably reading through Josh's margin notes and taking special notice of what he had underlined.

5. Created to be His Helpmeet, Debi Pearl

I've always loved this book. This spring was my third time reading it and it's good every time. I'd highly recommend it, and I'd recommend buying your own copy for underlining. It's harsh and honest...full of truth, and a little brutal to hear, but that's kind of what I love about it. It always helps me look at marriage and my role as a wife in a completely different way.

6. Give them Grace, Fitzpatrick + Thompson

A mother-daughter team wrote this book and it was a PERFECT balance to the first two parenting books I read. It brings the gospel and grace perspective to the nitty-gritty daily discipline and gives specific written examples for how to respond to your child at certain ages in certain scenarios. I will be pulling this one out again and again. If you're a parent, this is definitely one to own.

7. A Woman After God's Own Heart, Elizabeth George

At the recommendation of a friend who is discipling me, we decided to start reading this one two chapters at a time and emailing each other weekly a report of what we thought. It's a SUPER easy read, and the way we're going about this little book-club is really laid back. We probably don't get the reading and the report done perfectly each week but it's been a refreshing way to read a book instead of plowing through them on my own just to check them off my list. I'd recommend owning this one too...I just always find that underlining helps my comprehension so I stick to owning most of the good ones (Note: We aren't finished with this one yet, but we are getting super close, so I figured I'd put it on this list).

8. Proverbs

That same friend recommended I go through Proverbs this spring so I did. I have the She Reads Truth Bible now and I am so obsessed with it. There are reading plans with little check boxes at the beginning of each book. Already organized and laid out for you. Umm WHAT?! I'll admit the pages are extra thin, making heavy-margin-note-taking basically impossible, but I've been using the Risen Motherhood study sheets for each day and that's where I put all my notes instead. I shoot for 5/7 days and that's been pretty do-able for me in this season.

9. Nothing to Prove, Jennie Allen

This is the summer book club I'm doing with a fantastic group of girls from church. We meet at 8:00 every Wednesday night and sit around chatting through the (large) section we read for the week. There are 30 of us, so it's less of an intimate-book club and more about me sitting and listening to Teresa Dodge and some other amazingly-wise-women in the group for an hour and a half. Then we break up in to smaller groups for more chatting in a smaller-setting. I LOVE the book and I love this approach to reading it. It's not been a replacement for my time in the Bible, just a lovely addition and a fun way to read through it (Note: We aren't finished with this one yet either, but are getting close!).

10. Romans

I'm doing the She Reads Truth summer study with my sister, my sister-in-law, and her sister. I have honestly really loved going through the study, but I've paired it with videos from past Cornerstone sermons on Romans as well as the Romans Jesus Project videos on YouTube and that's helped my comprehension and understanding more than anything. This summer study is quite a bit different than the one I did last year...which included more discussion questions and 'study-guide-like' material. This book is just sections of Romans divided out over 42 days with some other correlating scriptures thrown in. Did I need the book? Probably not...but it's pretty and it's been fun to meet up and message my girls throughout the weeks we've been in it. SRT pushes to have their studies last six weeks or less but that's been a little much for the full-time working girls in the group so we decided to stretch it out to last the whole summer...because why can't we do that? So this one isn't finished yet either, but I'm on day 24 and have loved it so far. I'll probably keep an eye on the studies they're pushing out and buy one to do every three-ish months or so to break up the usual routine.

Summer isn't anywhere close to being over, so I have plans for what I'll be tackling next...which I'm sure will last well into the fall if summer keeps going by as freaking fast as it has been:

Galatians
Of Mess and Moxie, Jen Hatmaker (reading this one with my sister and our friend Sarah!)
Present over Perfect, Shauna Niequist
Ephesians
Humble Roots, Hannah Anderson
Grace Based Parenting, Tim Kimmel
Women of the Word, Jen Wilkin
The Mingling of Souls, Matt and Lauren Chandle
Hosea
Loving the Little Years, Rachel Jankovic
Treasuring Christ when Your Hands are Full, Gloria Furman
The Meaning of Marriage, Tim Keller
This Momentary Marriage, John Piper
Psalms
The Hidden Art of Homemaking, Edith Schaffer

So...that's what I've been up to! Lots of time on the deck during naptime with all my books. Full disclosure...most afternoons you can find me IN Maverick's pool reading because the sun moves across the deck and by 2:30 that's the only place I can sit if I want a tan.

MmB

Throwing a 60th Birthday Party

Jamie and I tell this story quite a bit...but the idea to throw our dad a 60th birthday party was honestly not our own. In January we were out to lunch with our friend/former boss (who is more like a cool uncle) when he asked how old our parents were...we answered that our dad would be 60 this year! Which is crazy because he looks so young! The next thing ChrisBarkema asked was, "Oh, so are you throwing a big party and everything?" and Jamie and I looked at each other with blank stares and were like, 'uhhhhhhhhh..................yes course that IS something we are doing."

We came back home and started planning the party that day...shocked that it wasn't even a thought in our minds before that point that our dad would/could/should have a fun shindig with all his favorite people to celebrate his 60 years of life. Shame on us.

Like any event...the big stuff needs to be tackled first...date, venue, food...usually in that order. When I plan something for someone I love, I want everything from start to finish to reflect their personality as much as possible so they feel super-special. We landed on the weekend before my dad's birthday (keeping the date separate from busy Father's Day weekend), Floral Hall (the fair building in Manson my dad helped refinish and restore during his time as Park Board President), and Maley's BBQ pork loin (a family from our church that smokes AMAZING pork loin our whole family loves). We made a list of about 125 people we wanted to invite and put everything on the back burner for a couple months with the big stuff squared away.

Before I go any further...I'll tell you that figuring out the special details for Wes Keil was not the easiest thing in the world. He's MY DAD. It should have been easy, right?! He's a wildly simple, low-maintenance man. He likes...mowing his yard. And listening to the radio. And watching Last Man Standing. And vanilla sheet cake with + white frosting. So...I had to get creative and it ended up being really fun.

I took a picture of an old picture of my dad and made this invite on Microsoft Publisher in 20 minutes. Simple and adorable. Also Maverick and his G'pa look so much a like it's craaaazy.

Once May arrived, the invites went out (about 3-4 weeks prior to the party). I feel that for a lower-key event, that's adequate. I touched-base/confirmed venue and food with our people and then started figuring out some of the less-fun details. Plates and napkin color...Wes memorabilia I wanted my mom to gather from around the house...things I volunteered to bring home...and the division of labor between me, my sister, and my mom. Then we talked about how we would tackle set-up between naps and after bedtime, etc. Logistics are the worst.

Yearbooks, old toys, and pictures from all over my parent's house end up working perfectly as the only decorating we needed...and kept the party ALL about the guest of honor. 

I tend to turn things like this OFF and ON. After these two portions of the planning, I turned everything OFF until the day before the party. Which seems crazy but June has been a really busy month, and for whatever reason I can only tackle the day that's in front of me sometimes. I know what's coming, but I also know I have a lot to accomplish NOW before I can get to that other thing. The week of my dad's party was a ONE DAY AT A TIME week. I think it made my mom a little nervous, but I woke up on Thursday before the party full of energy and ready to throw Wes Keil a party like he's never had.

Jamie and I had walked the aisles of Hobby Lobby a few weeks prior and come up with NOTHING for a theme. Absolutely nothing. Not that all parties have to have an obnoxious 'theme-y theme,' but something needed to tie everything together and that was extremely difficult, given what I've already mentioned about my dad. Hobby in the summer is mowing. Hobby in the winter is shoveling. I didn't have much to work with.

I pulled blue mason jars, artificial boxwood/eucalyptus, old crates, and old green books from all over my house along with some galvanized pieces. I didn't want everything to look 'farm-rustic' but my dad did grow up on a farm and his old toys kind of started my idea for colors and theme. My mom was busy pulling together his old yearbooks, letter jacket, snapshots, and tons of other random stuff from his 'high school box' in the basement at home. I threw in my oatmeal-colored table clothes, a few trays and bins for the food table and all that was left was to get there and figure out how to put it all together. This means we spent $0 on decorating...which was good. Because food for roughly 100 people gets expensive.

It was like a grad party...for a 60-year-old. And it was awesome. 

As the member of our family who probably gets the least amount of attention...it was fun to spend a lot of time planning a party for JUST HIM...and then celebrating for two hours with all our people while he visited and mingled because everyone was there to talk to WES. It was hot (ICE and FANS are two really important things to think about when planning a summer party!) but we were strategic with opening and closing the windows and we brought in four fans in addition to the amazing ceiling fans my dad was able to write a grant for a few years ago (and have installed just in time for our rehearsal dinner! ;) This kept the building relatively cool until it had been full of people for quite a while.

Fun Fact: M's can sometimes be turned upside down and used as W's...in case that's ever something that would work for you. Signing a basketball was a last-minute idea but we sort of wanted people to have something to do when they arrived, and the basketball we've been playing with at home is nearing 20-years old. I figured playing with a signed one could be fun. 

Things like my dad's old camera from college, his baseball glove from high school, his tool box from the garage, his 'Awesome Dad' shirt from Father's Day 2000, the hat he wore in Guatemala, family pictures old and new, a picture of the farm where he grew up...a collection of really cool stuff that highlighted some of his best memories, proudest moments, and most exciting achievements all on display for everyone to see. And I LOVED it. Somehow together, it all made sense (stacked on old books and crates, of course).

Could we have thrown a party without greenery and mason jars and chalkboards? Probably. But mixed with everything else, it came together PERFECTLY.

On Thursday when I was on a packing/planning rampage...I came up with the idea of having 'Wes Trivia' sheets laid out at all the tables. Something to keep guests 'busy' while they mingled and ate...a fun conversation-starter for people sitting at tables who might not have known each other...AND BONUS...something to keep all the attention on the adorable guest of honor! Who probably hasn't told a lot of people he grew up on a farm in Thompson, Iowa...or that his high school basketball scoring record is pretty impressive. This was something I needed to delegate and it had my mom written all over it, so once I'd come up with the idea she was able to run with it.

Not pictured is the cute twine-and-mini-clothespin Instagram wall. The lighting in the the park building wasn't ideal...so you'll need to use your imagination on that one. I wanted a space to show off some more recent-pictures of our family shenanigans and that seemed like the best way to do it. My dad also has a weird-habit of collecting maps, so we stole the one from the van and pinned it to the wall, circling all the places in Iowa he's lived over the past 60-years.

When the party was over we loaded everything up and headed home for another round of pork loin sandwiches (if you didn't know this, Floral Hall is about a 30-second drive from our house)...then we put Mav to bed and stayed up eating chips and salsa in the basement while we watched Last Man Standing and opened dad's cards, and told funny stories about how Jamie has become a lot like mom and I've become a lot more like dad. I'll let you in on a secret...small families ARE THE BEST. We are close-close and I love how much we love spending time together, having fun doing nothing.

Happy Birthday, dad. Sorry I forgot to text you on your ACTUAL birthday this week because in my head you're birthday was already over and I'd crossed it off my 'To-Do' list...but you understand crossing things off lists better than anyone I know, so I'm sure you understand.

MmB

Hosting Hacks

As someone who has tackled a fair amount of hospitality over the past seven years we've been married, I'm going to share a few shameless 'hacks' I've added to my hospitality arsenal so I'm always prepared, making it easy to open our home. It's not always Pinterest-Pretty-Perfection (sometimes it is!) but if it makes people comfortable to come into our home and treat it like their own (Josh is always offended when someone rings the doorbell, JUST COME RIGHT IN), I've done my job.

We've tried to share this little house and it's contents with as many people as possible...friends, acquaintances...when our friend Dan came to live with us for a month we barely knew him! But hospitality also means that nearly every flat surface or our house has been slept on; countless dishes have been broken; screen doors have been smashed; food has been spilled (on the previously carpeted kitchen ;); motorcycles have been crashed; and glorious memories have been made in the process. Once we went to bed with college kids in our living room just starting to pull out their guitar at 2am and we were like SERIOUSLY?! But those are some of the best and silliest stories we tell to this day.

We're in a slightly different place now than we were back then...we still pull the occasional 2am hot tub sesh, but I've taken a different, more intentional approach to what we involve ourselves in when it comes to hospitality. Typically March through September are the months we hunker down as a family to get through Josh's hardest months but this week we ended up having some friends over for supper...totally not our 'norm' on a Monday night. We chatted at our dining room table until almost 10:00! Josh hadn't even gotten his shower yet and when they left we looked at each other and were like, 'THAT WAS SO FUN.'

I've said it before and I'll say it again...time spent with friends and family around our dining room table is so good for my soul. Playdates and coffee shops and 'mom-time' have their place, but I loooooooove it when people come to our house and we forget about our phones or what time it is and reminisce about college-life until it's past all of our weeknight bedtimes. I've started finding ways to insert this into our life a little bit more on a regular basis, even though it's not always the easy thing to do.

I'll stop rambling and get on with it...warning, the way I host might look really different than most. I know people who enjoy getting together to cook new recipes and spend time in the kitchen creating amazing meals...but I love that when people come to our house all they expect is a vast array of chips, frozen pizza, and freeze pops. I keep it dangerously simple. But maybe that's why if someone were to walk in my house right now I could throw on a fresh pot of coffee and toss them an Oatmeal Cream Pie and get down to chatting.

Here are a few of my secret weapons...

A freezer full of frozen pizza
I cannot tell you how many times this has come in handy. The way to a man's heart is through his stomach...and a good frozen pizza will do the job. I buy Jack's whenever it's on sale at Fareway and I've recently decided it might be a good idea to buy 10 just to keep in the basement deep freeze for whenever we've run out upstairs. Throwing in a pizza for a quick appetizer, at 10:00 when everyone is starting to get hungry for a mid-movie snack, or as a quick and easy 'dinner' option...they're my best, foolproof, hospitality weapon.

See? How cute are these little cream and sugar jars? ;)

Coffee pot
Without needing anything but coffee, mugs, and a few cream/sweetener options on hand...this is a great way to invite people over 'for coffee' as the 'main event' and not require any planning or prep. I recently picked up a matching cream and sugar set since I was starting to do this a little more and wanted to make it super easy to keep everything in one spot and accessible. It's worked really well, and bonus, it's cute.

It took me YEARS to figure out how to make this room work for everything we needed to use it for.

Extra pillows, sheets, towels
I love that sometimes it's hard for us to get people to leave our house they enjoy being here so much. It's such an excellent problem to have. And judging by how much time Jamie and her boyfriend, Jacob have been spending at our house each week and on weekends, I'd say we've succeeded at this. We just make it a party every. night. This makes a LOT of extra work for me each day, but 3/4 of us get up and GO to work at a fairly intense job and I get to stay home to clean up and play with Mav all day...so I've taken it on with a new attitude. I've gotten better at meal planning AND keeping up with washing all the beds in the house...and in return Jamie and Jacob bring the sides I'm missing for our meals, the meat when we grill homemade burgers, and watch Mav when we go to CG on Sunday nights. It's a perfect arrangement...and I love that there is no 'keeping track' of who brought/bought what or who did or didn't make the bed. There are times when it's like, "Ok someone needs to start a load of laundry if anyone expects to have a towel to dry off with when they're done hot tubbing," but everyone is always helpful to pitch in if I ask. AND Jacob randomly takes out my kitchen garbage so he wins All The Boyfriend Points.

All that to say...I keep four pillows on the guest bed, a basket full of extra blankets in the living and guest room, and two sets of towels sitting out in the guest bedroom as well. I *attempt* to keep everything picked up and put away in there so when someone happens to be staying in the guest room there is room for their luggage, etc. It's not a big room and it does a LOT for us (laundry, crafts, sewing, games, off-season clothing, cleaning supply storage, vacuum, paper-file storage), and with the amount of time it's been in use over the past year I can't promise it's always been free of clutter...but I always make it my goal. We also have a twin bed in the Man Cave so if worse comes to worse, we haul that in for another sleeping-surface.

I think it's important to say here that the guest bedroom shouldn't necessarily be a place for mismatched bedding and leftover-rando-decorations...I'd encourage you to be purposeful with what you purchase and the way you decorate that space, as your home and budget allow. I want guests to feel at home, like they can stop to stay anytime with little to no notice and we will always have a place for them. I don't want to just use the odds and ends from our house in the guest bedroom...I want to use my best, prettiest, most comfortable stuff! 

I generally live the phrase, 'Life is short, use the pretty dishes,' and that is almost always true.
Except when plastic and paper will make your life easier.

Plastic cups and paper plates
Ahhh my saving grace. I love a good Sunday brunch with all my antique dishes scattered around, but do not forget the power of disposable-wares and the after-effect it will have on your clean-up duties. Everyone just throws their dishes away...and it's aaaaamazing. I usually whip this stuff out for bigger parties/gatherings...when it's six people or less using real dishes isn't a big deal. But as that number climbs, the more sense it makes to just throw paper plates at everyone. I am going to start buying this stuff in bulk and keeping it all stored in the basement so I never run out and am always ready at a moment's notice (thanks for the motivation, Angie Carson ;).

Those are pre-made, pre-packaged mini cupcakes...and they're adorable and delicious, so I have no shame in admitting that.

Grab-and-go breakfast/snacks
There are times I get up and put in an egg bake or make steak and eggs with the previous night's' delicious steak-leftovers. But most of the time it's fend-for-yourself-style and I keep the cupboard stocked with cereal, granola bars, and some apples in a bowl on the island. I've tried to train our more consistent guests in a few basic areas...snacks/candy is in the island...breakfast stuff is all in one place in the pantry cupboard...shoes come off on the rug at the door...and towels should be hung up not left in piles all over the floor. This makes cleaning easier on me and my responsibilities to 'tend' to guests significantly less. I want our guests to be comfortable enough in our home that they can waltz over to the kitchen cupboard to grab a glass for their water without needing me to help. Does that make sense?

Ultimately, if we have anything here that is too precious to be broken, spilled on, worn, used, or borrowed and not returned...we probably shouldn't have it in the first place.

Happy hosting. ;)

MmB

Backyard MAKEOVER Pt. 3

Here are parts 1 and 2, in case you missed them. ;)


After combing through all of my pictures from the past seven years we've lived here I've come to realize something...

We haven't taken many pictures of or IN our backyard. Which probably means we haven't spent a ton of time out there. Which means I'm even MORE excited about what I accomplished in this 'new' backyard oasis we have going on. We've probably spent more time out there in the past couple of weeks (even with all the rain we've had!) than we did during all of 2016.

These aren't the best pictures to prove an insanely dramatic transformation...I could only do that if I had taken more pictures of the UGLY that ensued after the Hot Tub Drama of 2015. The backyard made me mad, so I didn't really like looking at it, hence the lack of photographic evidence of how bad it looked. You'll just have to trust me.

Here's the best I could come up with for 'Before' pictures...starting waaaaaay back:

This bench is now flipped to face the backyard, and my barn door is what you see when you walk up those steps.

And here's what it looks like seven years later!

First thing to go? THE MILLIONS OF BIRDHOUSES ON THIS PROPERTY.

It's crazy how our trees have filled out in the past seven years! It looked so bare back here!

After! Trimmed the tree that hangs over the deck, cut down a tree in the rocks AND EVERYONE LOOK AT THAT NEW AIR CONDITIONER WE HAD TO SPEND A TON OF MONEY ON. Also added plywood to the fence to block out the neighbor's camera (you're wondering if you read that sentence right, and I'm going to tell you, YES you did).

The lattice work along the back of the deck is gone and now opens up to Maverick's little pool area. :)

After!

I hope you liked reading about our little backyard makeover. I'm ready to spend a couple weeks enjoying it before I take on my next project...refinishing our boring/bland kitchen island!

MmB

Backyard MAKEOVER Pt. 2

This is now my happiest place. Picture a margarita in my hand and the twinkling lights and now you 'get it.'

Where did we leave off yesterday? Oh right...you're dying to know how in the world I managed to spend $500 on such a small, seemingly 'acceptable' space. I tell you what...it's easier than you might think.

I wanted to note too...I REALLY think about something before I buy it. Especially BIG somethings. This storage bench has been on my radar and 'wish' list for over a year and Josh FINALLY saw the need and agreed we needed to drop a hundred bucks on it. Sometimes that's what it takes, but I'm super happy I took the time to think it through, plan where it would go, and be fully confident THIS would be the perfect solution to our outdoor storage needs. It doubles as seating which is a HUGE bonus after getting rid of the table and chairs we had on our deck for the past seven years. So it's usually a good idea to think through those bigger ticket items, but eventually it might mean spending $100, causing the project budget total to bounce up a little bit.

Living here has always been a 'temporary' idea...though we've never been sure of a timeline. In an effort to be content in the meantime, but also be wise about what we do to this house and what we should/shouldn't spend money on...I like to make smart, inherently useful purchases that can come WITH us when/if we ever decide to move. This bench is one of those things (this is also why FINALLY purchasing and installing new fans in our kitchen and living room took us seven years to accomplish ;).

Cost Breakdown

• Pallets: Free (thanks BLC!)
• Threshold Hunter Green Outdoor Pillows (6): Purchased on sale at $8/each four years ago (originally $30!)
• Rust-O-Leum Grill Cover: $30 (from Lowe's)
• Decorative Trays: Free (Melissa and Doug toy 'boxes'...unused in the house, serve a great purpose out here!)
• Cutter Bug Candle: $6 (from Target)
• RE Brand Outdoor Lights: $12.99/each (from Target, we used four strands and try to buy replacement bulbs + fuses to keep them going more than one year)
• Plastic Storage Bench: $100 (from Sam's Club)
• Threshold Black and White Outdoor Rug: $16.99 (Target sale)
• Gray Linen Outdoor Bench Sofa Cushions: $95 total (purchased from At Home during a buy one, get one half off sale)
• Threshold Striped Outdoor Blanket: $15
• Miscellaneous Décor: Free! (borrowed from the 'unused pile' inside the house)
• Olympic 3-Year Deck Seal: $35 (took three cans, and I purchased this last year to this is an estimate)
• Oil Base Stain Brushes: $10 (estimate, purchased last year)
• Duck Cloth/Drop Cloth Fabric: $10 (from Lowe's)
• Staples: $5 (Ace Hardware)
• White Wicker End Table: Purchased at a garage sale last year, $10?
• Barn Door: 'Free' from our 1880 barn
• Screen Door: Free from a curb
• Hostas in Landscaping: Free (splitting from someone who has too many big ones is a great idea!)

I won't go into what I spent on pots and plants this year...that's probably a separate blog post...something about 'Gardening for BEGINNERS' but let me just say...watering my cute little plants with Maverick's pool water *might* be my new favorite thing. I don't love the planting part, and I refuse to have a garden that requires ANY time spent 'weeding' but I do love what they look like when they're growing/blooming. Just GIVE ME ALL THE SUCCULENTS.

I'm also not including the cost of Mav's outdoor toys in this little analysis...from the pool to the water table to the slide I plan to purchase any day...I'm leaving all that out. Just know, 1/3 came from hand-me-downs/garage sales, 1/3 came to us as either birthday or Christmas gifts, and 1/3 I purchased after observing and researching and deciding what would be a good toy for this age/space, etc.

After spending five minutes in the backyard with Maverick AFTER this little makeover, it was clear the time and money spent on this project was necessary and GOOD. It took some convincing for Josh to understand why we were getting rid of the table and chairs (he's a creature of habit, that one) but I think he secretly loves cuddling outside on our couch at the end of a long day. And I loooooove spending naptimes out there reading, folding laundry, listening to podcasts and of course...getting some sun. I've said it before and I'll say it again...we need our house to work hard for us with everything we have happening here...from the business to Maverick to my hobbies to entertaining and hospitality...and I think I finally accomplished that for our backyard space.

So not the cheapest renovation in the world  (certainly not the most expensive, either!)...semi-unexpected...but we're really happy with it and excited to spend our summer out here with each other, and our wonderful friends and family. :)

Tomorrow I'll share some crazy before and after pics. These posts got too long to truly show the renovation in all its ugly before and beautiful after glory. So brace yourself for those.

MmB