The Open Concept House

Since moving to Texas we have cable in our corporate apartment.  I've rediscovered my love for HGTV and have watched a little too much Love it or List it & Property Brothers.  I say "too much" because last night while I was making dinner I saw Lilyanah start taking apart the couch and gathering all the blankets and pillows from the house.  Then she started moving the chair, coffee table and anything else she could find.  It was fort time.  
 Now, I consider myself a fairly creative person but this girl, she trumps me over and over!!!  I knew it a couple of years ago when she wanted to do a tea party and ;made 3
dimensional dishes out of paper.  But last night it was all I could do not to laugh at the conversation happening while she was building the fort.  "Ethne, I'm going to give you an open concept bedroom. . . ." was my favorite comment I heard.  My favorite design element was when she turned the chairs upside down on the table to use them as windows.  LOVE IT!
 Second favorite was when she turned the fabric chair on its back and got cushions and pillows to make stairs up to the coffee table which was the patio.  Adorable.

Here are some pictures from the pool the on Friday after the kids got home from school.  It's a fantastic little pool for the kids to splash around in.  It's been in the 80's and 90's so there's been plenty of opportunity to go there and play.  Also, I promised a picture of little Ethne's toothless smile.  She's about to lose her other tooth so pretty soon that gap is going to double!

The last pictures are from our weekend.  We made our first trip up to Oklahoma since moving to spend some time with family and friends.  We spent a good part of Saturday morning/afternoon trying to help Memaw get all the pines cleared out of their yard.  I don't know if you can see the line of where we cleared.  But that little area filled up 60 garbage bags and we barely made a dent!  The kids spent time picking up sticks, they didn't love that job but at 200 sticks they got to put their feet in a little plastic pool we got at Walmart on our way up.

  It was a little taste of Will's life since moving into this house when he was a teenager.  YIKES!!!  It wasn't fun but it was rewarding.  I have to say though, after one afternoon I was ready to get a chainsaw and cut those pine trees down myself!  I don't know how Memaw has done it more than 15 years!!!!! I'm a little concerned for her since she can only put 2 of these bags out with the trash a week!
  : )  There's got to be a graveyard for 5" pine needles somewhere!