Boys' Room Makeover

With Izzy's room looking so cute, the boys were really getting anxious for paint to go up on their walls. So, last week, I enlisted the help of my visiting family and we got the room done! I think it turned out great - and even better, the boys both love it!

I didn't snap that many BEFORE shots.



And AFTER:

I debated painting above this shelf, but I'm so glad I did! It turned out really cute and totally ties in both blue walls!

Those two big kaki colored walls are waiting for wall stickers. I plan to be a baseball one above James' bed, and a football one above Wyatt's bed.



We absolutely love our new house. JL and I talk all the time about how comfortable it is living here. As time goes on and we personalize it like this, it just becomes more so.

Project Time

IF the weather ever breaks (and at this point, that seems like a really big IF!) I am going to start on my painting and decorating! I am really excited to start throwing some paint on the walls.

First up - the Dining Room.

This has quickly become my favorite room in the house! Not just because we gather there every day to eat as a family and talk and laugh, but because... well, actually I guess that is why I love that room so much!

But it is also a great space! It's at the front of the house (the first room you see as you walk in the door) so it sorta sets the mood for the entire home. It's an important room. We spend a lot of time in there and I want to get it just right.

So, lets talk colors. I love a good fall palette! And, I'm inspired by nature - especially here on the ranch. I love the idea/feeling of bringing the outdoors in. Up to this point, the colors in the dining room are green, chocolate brown, and gold. I had 4 beautiful green panels from the CP house that I have put in this room and they are lovely!







However focused I feel, I am having trouble narrowing down my paint search to just one color. So far - I am back and forth between 3 favorites. So, I'm looking for some input on paint colors!! Here are my leading contenders:

Princeton Gold

Urban Nature

Pale Daffodil

Feel free to come up with your own suggestion. I sorta have a vision in mind already, but input is always welcomed!!

PS - I have decided that the chandelier must go. It just isn't me. Despite protests from my husband and my eldest son.... !! I have in mind something a bit more rustic looking. Like something you'd find in an old ranch house (well, one that has electricity!)

PPS - The deadline for this project is the week before Thanksgiving!

In Bloom

Summer is turning into a scorcher! We are currently in a severe state of drought. It is painful to watch the land shrivel up in the heat. JL did an excellent job a couple weekends ago and painstakingly fixed every one of our drip-line heads. We had a few that had stopped working and a few that were leaking and still a few more that were gushing out water.

As the drought progressed and our time here has gone on, it has become obvious where the issues were. If a plant was dead: the drip head was broken. If a plant was doing great: the head was leaking too much water. If the plant was ok but the grass around it was flourishing: the head was broken and gushing water into the lawn.

Since his work, we have seen a major change in the landscaping. First, the lawn has stopped growing now that the breaks have been repaired. :-) But the plants are doing great! The trees in the front are greening up, the flowers have blossomed, and the plants are growing!

One of my favorite things about all the plants is that they are native to this area. I think it gives the house a very natural look. It's just beautiful around here lately!

Our beautiful Crape Myrtle
We didn't even know what color it was going to be when we first moved in
Beautiful red and yellow flowers surround the chicken and greet you at the door
The roses have exploded in the last week!

This bed is my favorite right now. It's right as you enter the gate and it is full of color! Plus, I can see it easily from any of the front windows.

The grass speaks of the drought, but even still the place is looking lovely! Plants I didn't know were here have bloomed out! The ones that were here, but looked small and sickly are now providing beautiful green coloring to the beds.

Our first summer on the ranch is bringing some high temperatures, but a lot of surprising color!

Top 10 Current Loves

Already a month has passed! I'm pleased to say that life on the ranch is spectacular. The land is everything I had imagined. The kids have a park right here all the time. They explore, they run, they experience nature, they spend time outdoors getting dirty, James rides his bike safely behind the gated yard, we all play basketball, and the list goes on and on.

I've noticed there are a few things that I have come to particularly love about our ranch too. Things I didn't really think that much about in the beginning, but now can't imagine not having. The house just seems so intuitive! If I need it, it's there. If I think it, chances are it's already been done! I love it!

Behold my top 10 list of things that I am currently loving:

10 The beautiful trees!


This is our first home to have mature trees on it. And boy, they make a huge difference! One of my current favorite past-times is to lay in the hammock under this beautiful tree!

9. The well


Well water? It is fabulous! It tastes like the water I remember from my youth! It's fresh and pure and FREE!

8. The 1980s intercom system


This awesome thing plays the radio and ipod tunes! Makes a PERFECT house-wide stereo system. It even pumps music to the patio and decks!!! I LOVE it!

7. The Chandelier


This item is growing on me. It looks very dated, and down the road I may replace it, but for now it's homey and strangely wonderful. It puts out a LOT of light which is great for the dining room. Plus, James and Daddy have kinda adopted it. They both are terribly fond of it, so for now it hangs happily above our table.

6. The Overhang Cupboards


Originally I thought I was going to remove these. But after a months time, I have discovered that I love them! They hold a LOT of my food! Each one is like a little pantry - holding specific items that are easily within reach!

5. The Stove


This love was a surprise to me. I thought it would be hard adjusting to electric after cooking on gas for so long. But, my fears where for nothing - this stove is really nice! Plus, it is a flat top, so clean up is a snap! And it doesn't even bug to be on the island. When I'm not using the stove, I just throw my groceries up there anyway!

4. The Mud Room


This almost should be my #1 - it is fabulous! The kids come in from playing outside, take off their muddy shoes, take off any muddy clothing (which then goes straight into the wash) and THEN they enter the house! Brilliant! Plus, at this time, it is housing the kittens too. It's a large room, and I'm a huge fan!

3. The desk in the kitchen


There use to be one of these in the house I grew up in. I didn't understand it then, but I do now - this area is one of my favorite spots in the house. I put all the kids' craft supplies in the desk. It's SO nice! All the markers, and paper, and scissors, and stickers and pipe cleaners, and google eyes that the kids want constantly are in one place! What's better - it's just next to the breakfast table, so they even have a place to sit and craft away.

2. The Wet Bar


With a little out-of-the-box thinking, the wet bar has been transformed into the family fun center!! Full of popcorn poppers, milkshake makers, board games, FHE materials. You name it. Centrally located in the living room - ready and waiting for any family fun we're about to have.

1. The Kitchen


Compared to my previous taj mahal kitchen, I thought I'd never survive in such a small space. Credit to my Mother In Law for setting it up! Everything is so intuitive! I don't even have to think (or reach very far) for things I need. Making a sandwich? Great, just reach above your head. Gonna bake cookies? Even better, just reach to your side. Need to open the fridge? Stretch your right arm out and there ya go. It's cozy, but smart and I enjoy it! Plus, the kids can get along better in it. For whatever reason, it just works! (Plus it has the most amazing custom cabinets! They pull out and swivel and have secret cubbies just for cookie sheets!

So there ya go. Simply put:

I The Ranch

A Few of the House

Here are just a few to get you started. More to come!

The yard.

Living Room

There is a fireplace behind that large tv. The plan is to get a size smaller, and mount it above the mantle.

View from above
Dining room
Entry from front door
Yard from left of front door
Yard from right of front door
Moon rising.

A Step Back

Now that I finally have unpacked my camera cable (and found the charger for my camera battery) I'm finally able to post a few pictures of Buffalo Clover and our arrival. As we settle in, I'll provide a bunch more pictures, but for now these will have to do.

This is a picture of the side of the house from the driveway. We have a really long drive! At the street, there is a security gate that swings open/closed by the touch of a button (think garage door opener). Once inside, you drive around a curve, past a bush and up to the house. We have enough room so far to park the truck, the boat, and my van side by side and still have a spot for another car off to the side. Did I mention it was a huge drive?
About the first thing that happened when we arrived (even before a box came off the truck) was James and JL playing basketball. James has been so excited to have his own hoop! He would watch our neighbors play at the old house and long for the day when he has a flat drive instead of a steep one. Now he's over the moon and able to play whenever he wants. See that white house thing in the background behind the van? That is our pump house. We have a well. No city water for us, thanks. And I can tell you - well water tastes awesome! No chlorine or nasty chemicals. Just fresh (and really cold!) water. Ahhhh.
We also have a lot of trees and landscaping on the property. It's nice to be surrounded by green instead of concrete and bricks.

A Brief History

We made it. We finally got our ranch! 5 beautiful acres! But how? And why?

Being married to a country boy, this has always been a dream of his. Me being a city girl, I needed some convincing. But once the rug-rats came along, it became more and more obvious to me how country life could be so wonderful for them and me.

We began casually look around for a place. It was more like a hobby than anything else. We'd take afternoon drives to remote places to look at the options. Years passed and we began to think we weren't ever going to find "the one." And it would take "the one" to make us move, because we had a pretty wonderful thing going already.

Well, as things that are meant to be sometimes go, this ranch found us. We were casually looking at a place on 1 acre when the agent for that property told us about a beautiful spot on 5 acres that sounded more like what we had in mind. And you know what, she was totally right.

The house/land spoke to my husband the moment we walked through it for the first time. So, we took a leap of faith, trusted our prayers, and decided to go for it. After months and months of up and down emotions and second guessing our instincts things finally began to fall into place, and now we've finally arrived. There's no doubt in my mind this is the place we're suppose to be at this point in our lives.

We're excited about the new opportunities we'll face and the new life journey we're about to embark on.

Chapter 1

Welcome to The Buffalo Clover Ranch! I plan this blog to be my chronicle of life on the ranch. A memory capture into this new chapter of our lives. I want to post projects, updates, changes to the house, design ideas, and just life stuff here.

Here you are! Aren't you pretty! We are so excited!