Welcome! Come on in!

So maybe this should have been where we started as home renovations began.

It is, after all, the face of our home.

But, sadly it was not the "squeaky wheel" that was crying for help, so we are just now getting to the exterior and entryway of our new home.

But, boy are we pleased!

here is what the entryway looked like when we first saw the house 

(yes, more yellow!)

That wasn't going to do it. 

Besides the walls were so very dirty and there were multiple different sheens on the walls that were so obvious and tacky. 

So, it was time to paint.

This time though, with such high ceilings, Tom wouldn't allow me to do this one myself, so we had to get some painters to the house.

They spent hours prepping the area before starting and were very professional:

the inside entryway is now ready to be painted.

I'm sure the pictures won't really do them justice, but we chose a really soft (think almost white) shade of gray and we LOVE IT!

(note the incredibly faded and weather worn door)

We also promptly replaced the incredibly ugly 

(ok, it's my house, I can call it ugly!) 

chandelier that was hanging in the entryway.

Many years ago, my mother purchased this one for us when we got our first house. We've saved it for years in the garage and finally got to unpack it and get it hung again.

Much better.

the upstairs hall was painted the same color and we are so pleased. I can't tell you how it was bothering me that the paint looked so bad and was so dingy, but it had been empty for years, and not kept up.

The finishing touch on this space?

A decal that I bought months ago and have been anxious to place in our new home.

This large cross (45" x 60") is now at the top of the stairs for my children to see daily.

Now, time for a little love on the exterior!

(poor faded door!)

the shutters were only marginally better looking than the door, so our handy painters headed outdoors to get those a nice new coat of paint. 

Cooper watching them work.

Just LOOK at this front door!

It is amazing to me how something as simple as paint can create such a difference!

here is the new look at our entryway as you walk in from the front door.

I was a little surprised at how much of a difference this space would make in the "feel" of our new home. 

It makes me smile now every time I walk into this house when before it was that "eye sore" that I tried not to think about because I had too many other things going on.

Just in time to welcome Tom's daughter and her family to our new home for Thanksgiving.

The Dining Room: Transformed

One of the next rooms we tackled was the 

Dining Room. 

When we moved in, there was carpet on the floor,  bugs in the corners and pale yellow walls. 

We created a completely different look for our family.

Step one? New Paint color. 

Sorry, just can't bring myself to go with pastel yellow, so I chose a deep cool shade of gray!

We just love it!

Now, I do tend to lean more toward the traditional and often the formal, but with 5 boys now, a formal dining table wasn't very practical.

So, it was goodbye Thomasville Chippendale table

 and hello bench style farm table (from World Market)

This new table allows us to seat our entire family very comfortably!

We also went from worn carpeted floors to bamboo flooring.
(I Love, Love, Love my floors!)

Now, all that was left was to hang a mirror and add a little decor.
(ok, it is still a little bare and lacking in décor, but we are working on it!)

Window coverings will likely be last and it may be awhile till I know exactly what I want and have the $$ to pay for them, but that will be the finishing touch!

There are several more projects in the works, so I hope to share the younger boys' bedroom and the kitchen before Thanksgiving.

 

Our New Home: A journey of transformation

Hello bloggy friends!

I've been wanting to post some more pics of the new home that God provided for us, but we dove head first into several "transformations" that will ultimately make this little home "ours".

 I also thought it would be fun to use the house's transformation to highlight the concept of personal transformation in our lives.

As believers, we are constantly being challenged and refined. When we seek the Lord's plan for our lives, He takes our tacky, dirty, slimy, broken selves and transforms us into a clearer picture of God's love. 

Even the most "despicable me" 

is not outside the scope of God's redemption.

So it was that we attacked our new home. 

A home that had sat empty for the past three years. 

 A home where we knew we would encounter some "surprises".

Our goal was to start with the most significant issues and work off the list of "desired modifications" as we could.

We decided to start in the garage. Thanks to the incredible generosity of a friend with "mad skills", we transformed our garage from a large, open space with a TON of wasted space above....

to this incredible storage loft where cars can be parked underneath. That's right! 

Cars. IN. the garage. 

Novel concept, eh?

Just LOOK at all the STUFF we can store on this upper loft?  We are so thankful!

Our next priority was the kitchen. 

Stay tuned. This is almost finished and we hope to post the full transformation soon!

Just the first of several transformations that our family is experiencing in this season.

We're ALIVE!

I cannot even believe that the summer is over and the kids are all in school!

  

 

Yes, we are still among the living!

I never imagined that it would be so difficult for me to find time to blog, but boy oh boy, it's been tough!

That's 5 "Oh boys!" for anyone who's counting!

Among other things, the summer has brought a lot of "boy time", lots of work at Lifeline, and a family move to a new home around the corner.

A couple of weeks ago, we were blessed to move into our very first home as a larger family.  We had been praying for months that the Lord would provide that one perfect, affordable home for us with more than 3 bedrooms and He did!

Better yet?  It was 4 doors away from our previous home, so the move wasn't even that bad.

Of course, finding a home in our hood that we could afford to buy took some patience.  The house we purchased had been empty for around 3 years, so needless to say, there was some work to be done, inside and out.

I look forward to sharing more specifically some of our "before" and "after" pics, but for now, here it is!

If you look closely, you will see the 12 foot bushes in front of the house...

We now have 5 bedrooms allowing no more than 2 kids per room!

(Great except I think Tommy is missing his big brother Cameron being in his room with him!)

Our new 16 year old, Colin, 

(CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT HE IS ALREADY 16?)

now has his own room, Connor and Cameron are together and Tommy & Cooper are sharing.

That leaves another room for the boys to claim as their "play space" for games, TV etc.

We even lucked out that it isn't 6 feet away from the living room anymore!  

We can actually all be doing something different and not constantly asking the other room to "quiet down!"

(Our old home often had dueling TVs!)

In addition to our move, we had a wonderful Father's Day on the beach with Tom,

the boys enjoyed becoming more involved with the Karate dojo,

 

 Colin and I went to Long Beach, NY to help rebuild some houses damaged in Hurricane Sandy with the youth at Lighthouse Church, 

and of course fit in a little time at the beach!

 

Back in May, Cooper had surgery. A tough three weeks for our littlest Rylands, but he made it through and is doing great now!






We celebrated many birthdays these past few months too!

Cooper turned 10 

 

 

 

 

 

Connor turned 14
(at home with his family! PTL!)

 

 

and Colin turned 16!

Of course, one of my all time favorite (NOT!)
activities of each summer is the dreaded
"School supply shopping!"






I mean, who doesn't look forward to elbowing 25 other mothers as you grab for that one "perfect" purple folder with two pockets and the three hole punch. Or was that orange? blue? yellow?

UGH!





Cameron, frankly, was enjoying this "adventure" a little too much.
He is my born shopper and always loves an excuse to go shopping, no matter how painful the experience might be!




As always, the summer was filled with silliness from our crew...









and lots of sugar!

 

Even the big kids get in on the act every once in awhile!

 

 

 

 

I do hope that you enjoyed a blessed summer as well.  I look forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for us this Fall!

So far, it's been anything but boring!