The Oasis is OPEN!

WOOHOO! Check it out, people in the pool!!! They're still working on a few minor details, but for the most part, we are up and running. The kids were so excited last night and nearly drove us nuts until we finally said "Yes, you can swim now!" I can't say enough about Doug and his crew from Stone Crest Pools. They've worked day and night to get this thing built and we are thrilled with the results. The landscaping (which I'll take more pics of later) is absolutely amazing and we truly feel like we have our own little oasis right in our backyard. If you're in the DFW area and are even thinking about getting a pool, please call Doug first, you'll be glad you did!

Here are a few more shots from our first night in the pool (I didn't take many as I was just as excited as they were to get in).

Poor Jakob was having to squint because he had his eyes dilated earlier in the day






The girls and I are headed down south today to spend the 4th at my bff's B&B and the boys are staying here to hold down the fort while the workers finish up. I hope all of you have a happy and safe July 4th weekend!!!

Way to go, Ahbee!

Jacey's friend, Ahbee, who's from China, competed in a national Braille competition last weekend in California and WON her age group! Were we surprised? Well, heck no, given that she's the smartest kid any of us have ever met! She's been in the paper and on the news in the last few days, and I have a feeling this is only the beginning for this very special little girl. Remember her name folks, she's going to be famous one day!

Ahbee and her sweet family (taken for the paper, not by me)

Her amazing hands


We are so proud of you, Ahbee! Or is it Ah? Or is it Bee? (that's our joke and she'll be giggling when she hears it)

Getting closer!

Day 27 and we're nearing the finish line on this pool project. Much will be happening in the next few days and it's quite possible that by this time next week, we'll be SWIMMING. And just in time too, because as I said in my last post, it's FREAKING HOT!

Future home of the firepit

Fun on a hot summer day

We took the kids out for a little summer field trip today to Dinosaur Valley and the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center. It was HOT (I think our high was 104 today) and we were worn out by the end of the day, but the J's had a blast and Derek and I did, too. Here are a few pics from our fun summer outing.

Jakob, our tour guide, reading to us about the dinosaurs (he's a self-proclaimed expert)

Teeny tiny girls, one big dinosaur

All my cuties

Hiking down to get to the tracks, did I mention it was HOT?!?! The sun reflecting up off that gazillion year old mud was a killer!

After sweating our booties off checking out the dinosaurs, we grabbed lunch and then headed to the wildlife center. The kids loved it because they got to take off their seat belts and throw food out the window to the animals (which reminds me I need to go out and find all the food that didn't quite make it out the window before it stinks up my car). The animals came right on up and waited (patiently, for the most part) for the kids to toss them some goodies.

Pretty brown and white zebra

There were all kinds of deer, but I thought these guys were the prettiest

My view of Jakob, LOL

The coolest animals at this whole place, to me anyway, are the giraffes. It's one thing to see them at the zoo from a distance, but it's another to see them sticking their head in your sunroof to get a snack. This big sucker was standing right smack in the middle of the road.

Smile!

Here he comes!

Please don't eat my camera!

See what I mean about them coming right on up?

These guys weren't hungry and Jack was pretty sad that they wouldn't come over and talk to him. He kept saying "But aren't you hungry?" in his sweetest little 3 year old voice and offering his food to them, but they just weren't interested.

I asked this fella nicely not to leave a dent in the side of my car and, thankfully, he obliged.

Pooped out after their fun day

Hope y'all had a good one, too!

What a weekend!

Well, we may have been out of school 20 years, but we sure as heck don't act like it! Tell me we don't look like it either if you want to get on my good side, hehe. We had so much fun last weekend at my reunion and had a really good turnout, considering our class wasn't that big to begin with. It was awesome to see everyone, even if I did have to look at a LOT of name tags to figure out who they were. Our senior year, we had an exchange student from Finland and even he flew in just to attend! Here are just a few of the MANY pictures that we took over the weekend. Hope you had a great one, too!

Happy Father's Day!

20

That's how many years it's been since I graduated from high school, YIKES! How is that possible? Am I really that old? Hypothetical question, peeps, don't actually answer it. :) Our celebration starts tonight and runs through the weekend and I am looking forward to seeing some fellow old folks that I haven't seen in a while. I'll definitely have a camera along (don't I always?), so I'm sure that will make for some fun posts next week.

The kids and I have enjoyed a nice slow-paced summer week. The pool is still coming along (though a little slower now than before), they're out working on the waterfall as I type this. Here are a few pics of how it's coming. They're supposed to work on the decking starting Monday, so we're hoping things will speed right along once that's done.



The girls and I headed to the spa this week for pedi's too, which they enjoyed just a little too much. I think they think it should become a weekly ritual. It was fun though, and our tootsies look fab.

They were pretty predictable with their color choices, purple for Jacey and pink for Jaden.



Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and Happy Father's Day to all the daddies out there!

Just the J's

Ain't they cute? :)









Happy weekend all!

More progress!

Wow, I tell you, this company we're using does NOT mess around when they build a pool. They started just 9 days ago and have put in several 12+ hour days so far. They sprayed the gunite last Friday and today started working on the stone and tile. We are loving how it is coming together.

After gunite


The stone around the hot tub is amazing and we think they'll get going on the waterfall tomorrow




We're already enjoying the nice slow pace of summer break. Jakob started his summer session of horseback riding today and the little J's and I made our weekly pilgrimage to Cost*co and then got them all summer haircuts. I have a feeling that Cost*co may be seeing me a lot more often once this pool is up and running and we're having people over to help us enjoy it. We don't have a lot planned for the rest of the week and I LOVE that!

I promise to post pictures of something more exciting than our pool later this week, but for now, that's all I've got. Have a good night!

Progress!

Well, this little (haha) pool project is moving right along. We are in full disaster-area mode in the backyard, I mean, I knew it would be messy, but WOWSA, this is crazy. I keep telling myself it'll be gorgeous when it's done, but it's kind of hard to look out there right now. The good news for Derek is that he has a LOT less grass to mow. :) Here's how it's all shaping up.

These trenches are huge! I never imagined there would be this much pipe under there.

The drains

The "stuff" that runs the whole operation (try not to be intimidated by my technical lingo, LOL)

The steel

Hopefully, by the weekend the gunite will be sprayed and it will really start to look like a pool.

Like the new bloggy look? I was in the mood for something simple and light. I realized in looking through pics today that it's been a while since I took any shots of the 4 J's together, so I'll try to do that soon and get a new pic up there. Only half a day of school left, can I get a HALLELUJAH!?!?! :)