we've moved...

Our address has changed!  We are so excited to finally be official owners of our new home and 28 acres!  The last few weeks have been a whirlwind - packing, remodeling, moving, more remodeling, and more remodeling!  It's amazing the changes that took place in the 10 days we had to renovate and be out of our old house... and we are definately not quite through.  Reason???? Well, my minor changes turned to some major changes, but I have to say, for the better!!  Original plan:  scrape ceilings, cover fireplace, and put new carpet down in bedrooms and tile in master bathroom... Then the painters showed up for a 2-3 day job, and ended up with a 6 day job, thanks to me.  Yes, once they are at work painting, the following is too common a phrase, "Well, might as well do it now, while they are doing everything else..."  HA!  I had my ceilings scraped and painted... plus: new built in cabinets built and repainted, all trim and doors painted, closets painted, two bathrooms hand textured and painted.  I also got my fireplace covered with stone... then added under the bar in the kitchen.  Which led to paint on the kitchen cabinets, and new counter tops.  They patched some holes in my ceiling where I had a furdown wall and cabinets removed, new lighting, new door knobs.  Then came the flooring... it started with tile in the master bath (which was previously carpet!!) and a little patch in front of the fireplace.  Turns out, they could patch that with wood and the "patch" tile (plus the additional tile I ordered) got assigned to the kitchen flooring.  "Might as well do it now," though, RIGHT?! ;)

Results... not quite finished... but AH-MAZING transformation!!!!!  I am really falling in LOVE...

Before:  Ugly fireplace with wood burning insert and cheap cabinets setting on the hearth.  Also, notice ugly patch of tile on floor in front of fireplace. 



And Viola!  After:  Stone covered fireplace, old hearth and columns torn out, stove insert removed, and new built in cabinets.  Still to come, a new hearth and wood flooring in front of the fireplace... no more ugly tile!  Plus, new paint color on walls this week!




Before... There was suede adobe red paint on the wall, brown cabinets, furdown wall with cabinets above bar which left the kitchen feeling extremely tiny and dark.



After!  Furdown wall and cabinets above sink and bar - down!  Brown cabinets - painted fresh dover white!  Stone under bar - bar cut down and lowered to counter height (to make one large counter top/bar instead of raised bar)!  New  stainless range and microwave and my black fridge! 

Still to come... tile floors, granite counter tops and new sink!! Plus, the walls are now hand textured and I am painting them in the next day or two! This is NOT the completed project, but isn't the difference amazing!?

Finally, the last MAJOR change... the master bath...




Before:  Gold fixtures, adobe orange paint, carpet.  Boo!  (Sorry, don't know why it won't turn horizontal!!)





After:  Working on tile (finishing this week), toilet in the bath (temporarily!!), new light fixtures, and hopefully painting trim on shower nickel to match! Don't you LOVE the color!! So "Spa" :) 


Soooooo, as you can see, we are HARD at work!  Still lots to do, and I will post more pics when it all comes together!! 

changes coming...

I must apologize... I have not upheld my promise to keep you updated as planned... Things have been extremely hectic around here - but here is a brief update... can't wait to tell you in more detail :)

We SOLD our house... a total answered prayer.  We had gotten super lazy about praying for direction in our house situation... 8 months on the market... growing girls with multiplying toys... cattle and horses in various locations around town... We were considering staying here and adding on, but really wanted to have all of our livestock in one place, and get out to the country - to our land.  So we prayed really hard about it.  And less than two weeks later, we had a contract on our home!  AND... where we had once wanted to build on our land, we found an older house and 30 acres (our land is around 18) right around the corner connected to another man who wanted to trade... so we did!!  Basically, he is getting our 18 acres to connect to his land, and we are getting his house and 30 acres!!  It is really pretty... an older home (which I find has more charm) that has been updated, but we are adding some "personal touches" to.  It has pipe fence around the entire place, a long concrete drive, a 2 acre fishing pool, a barn, and lots of TREES, which is my favorite part.  I can't wait to post before and after pics of the changes we are making, because even though it is very nice, it will make it even more "OURS" :)  We get started on rennovations and moving next week!!

There is so much more going on, some family stuff, some job stuff, etc... but I have to go and will get back to you later... at least now, you know what is keeping me away!  Coming back with more soon, I promise!!

Love, Holly

I love this...

"A mark for every breath you took, every blink, every sleepy yawn. One for every time you sucked your thumb, waved hello, closed your eyes and slept in the most perfect darkness. One for every time you had the hiccups. One for every dream you dreamed within me. It isn't very pretty anymore. Some may even think it ugly. That's OK. It was your home. It's where I first grew to love you, where I lay my hand as I dreamed about who you were and who you would be. It held you until my arms could, and for that, I will always find something beautiful in it."

humility...

I am mostly relieved to have this week behind me... not so much because it wasn't a great week, just exhausting!  I can't say today was easy - I ran a 5k this morning {we will get to that later!}, but otherwise I showered, and then because it was so hot and we all needed to recover from the week, we played inside and took multiple naps, and now we are in bed, and it's only 9pm!!  Pure BLISS!

This week was VBS {Vacation Bible School} at our church, and since I have not been working full time this year and last year, I have had the priveledge to teach a class.  Last year was so much fun teaching Reese's class, that I requested them again.  My class was much different this year - the group I had last year divided... the reason being their birthdays... some are 5 going into pre-k, and some are 5 going into kindergarten.  I had the latter {which included Reese}.  This year I had a little boy with cerebral palsy.  Now granted, I work for a rehab hospital where we see these kinds of diagnoses all of the time.  But I was fully in charge!  The first day was a complete surprise!  I was not prepared at all for all of the challenges we would face, not so much the disability with his ambulation {he has a rolling walker}, but other things, more disciplinary.  And he is five... so not a small child!  It was me and a couple of teenage girls, and after the first day, we were zonked!  We quickly realized we would need additional help, and the rest of the week became much easier.  It did require a teenage boy {especially for lifting on the playground}, and eventually we got a teacher from his school to help... it made handling him + 14 other children much easier!  But I learned more from them, than they probably learned from me this week.  The first day, everyone was a little hesitant.  The other children were not sure about his walker {which was used often to mow over people in his path}, as well as his behavioral issues {he oftened loved on other kids using extra force, or "popped" them on their heads, and sometimes even spit}.  But they did not judge... they were not ugly, nor did they name-call... and by the end of the week, even a few of them who got hit repeatedly, helped him on the playgroud as he maneuvered himself on the equipment.  It was truly amazing, and it showed the sweet innocence of children.  I will admit, it took a lot of praying to get through this week, but God was faithful!  Each day got easier and easier, and more pleasant, and we faced fewer challenges.  And I was knocked to my knees in humility and gratitude for my chilren's health.  How often we take that for granted!!  I have been a little more patient with my own, a lot more grateful, and appreciate what we {Tanner and I} as parents have to offer them.  Not all children are so fortunate. 

So this is about how the week went: P31 bootcamp every morning at 5:15 am.  Usually a feeding {Ryan}before I left to go to class to ensure she didn't wake Tanner and the girls while I was gone.  Then come home, load of laundry, shower, get ready, get girls {all 3!} ready, breakfast, load car, pick up friend, unload 4 kids and get them into church, 4 hours of VBS with 14 five year olds, load 3 kids back into car {friend's gma picked her up... don't worry - I didn't forget her!! :)}, figure out something for lunch, naps, load kids up for Reese's swim lessons, entertain babies for an hour during that, go home, get Reese ready for one of two things depending on the day 1) VBS at Tye's church or 2) softball game, figure out something for dinner, baths, and bedtime. This went on 4/5 days...

And then I ran a 5k this morning.  And Reese ran the kid's "Fun Run" {1/2 mile}.  She did great... I, on the other hand, nearly died!  I originally wanted to beat my time from last year, but was a few minutes behind it.  I did, however, just have a baby 10 weeks ago, and just start exercising two weeks ago.  Last year, I had a few more weeks of exercising and running behind me {ha!  not too many more, but atleast more}.  Plus, the temperature and the wind did not help.  My goal is to increase my speed and distance, and start running 5k's more often, and eventually, God willing, a half-marathon.

Happy Father's Day to all of the dads out there... especially my dads {Dad and Brad} and my husband, Tanner!  I'm so thankful for you!!




Ryan ~ 10 weeks old ~ holding her head and chest up so well ~ 12lbs



Ramsey loving on her little sister :)

Me, middle and little... exhausted after VBS

My girlies!!

Ryan ~ during bath time... love those eyes and eyelashes!!

Passed smooth out after VBS... this is the girl who NEVER naps!!

Reese and best bud Haylee at the "Fun Run"

Reese crossing the finish line!

Reese's first run

Daddy and Ramsey

I've got some major plans for my time {what time??} when things slow down in a few weeks... Things have been a little tight around the Ragan home with three girls on one income, and what once was a joke {Tanner suggested I start making our clothes} may become a reality... ha!  just kidding... well not in the money-saving sense, anyways... but I did think to myself, "How often will I have all summer off from work?  I will always have a job that requires year around work, including the summer.  I will never teach school  and have summers off - teaching is just not my calling"  And then I thought, "I should learn to sew.  My grandmother sews, and when she dies, who will pass along that trade?   What a terrible thing to waste!"  So guess what... it is in my plans to spend some time with her learning to sew in the near future.  I even have plans to make a few adorable things for my girlies, like this and this.  I also like this for me.  In searching my new favorite site, "Pinterest", I also found these, and these.  Will let you know how the sewing turns out!! 

{enter panting noise!}...

Ahhh! Will be back soon.... I promise... days are filled to the brim with P31 Fitness which starts the day off at 4:45am, VBS, swim lessons, more VBS, softball... and did I mention... 3 children?!  This week any small chunk of free time I get is dedicated to sitting down, resting, and snuggling my babies... will be back next week!!  We are having fun, though :)

and many more...

Guess who's the Dirty 30??  That's right... We celebrated Tanner's big birthday yesterday, June 1 with family, burgers, and homeade ice cream {the HIGHlight of every summer!}.  I remember just 5 years ago, right before our one year wedding anniversary, we got together and celebrated his "half-way to fifty" birthday... and now here we are, just like that, five short years and three kids later, celebrating his 30th!  And mine is only six months away {nailbiting!}...  Don't you remember saying things when we were younger, like: "When {insert name} is {insert age} or does {insert event}, we will be thirty!!"  And that sounded like soooo far away, and unbelievable that we would every actually turn 30!!  And now we are living it!  Man, how time flies!

Anyhow... I am so thankful that 30 years ago, God blessed Truman and Deanne with Byron Tanner Ragan on June 1, 1981... And that I caught him and get to share my life with him :) 

Celebrating a previous birthday at The Capital Grille

Remember how I told you about my climbing monkey we call "Ramsey"?  Yeah, well I recently caught her in action.  She really is very good with Ryan... the only problem is, she wants to share - as in, share her bouncy seat.  We have caught her trying to climb into the bouncy seat with Ryan very often, and attempt to bat at the attachments while laying on top of her baby sister.  And of course, there is the standing on the coffee table, climbing the bed, and the list goes on...  But she does LOVE her sisters :)

move over, Chelsea...

There's a new girl in town :)  Try to imagine this new do' on a face with makeup!!  Thanks to Mrs. Chrissy, I'm sporting an easy new style - I couldn't stand it, and after catching yet another glimpse of Chelsea's hair on DWTS finale last night, I caved.  But I'm pleased!!

The 5+ inches I cut off...

The final result...

One of Reese's best friends, Landri Lawrence who lives out of town, turned "5" today, and she and Reese got to celebrate together here in Sulphur ~ In addition to pizza and bowling, they got to get a manicure and  pedicure to match.  Pink with polka dots :)  Landri's younger brother Sam, also came to visit, and I'm positive he and Ramsey could get into some serious mischief together if they lived closer... Turns out, they both LOVE to climb!



And my little Ryan turned 7 weeks old today... She has begun to grace us with her amazing smiles, which are hard to catch on film... Isn't she beautiful?!  Her blue eyes and lashes are amazing, I think...