There's No Place Like Home

It's been a busy summer so far, and from the looks of things it won't be slowing down any time soon.  With just under a week to go in the month of June, he's a little recap of how we spent our summer.  

Culmination of the Vanilla Ice Hairstyle

I started the month attending a concert in Austin with my ol' buddy Josh.  We saw The Head and the Heart at Stubb's BBQ.  It was a fun weekend and a good show.  If I could have changed two things about the concert, it would have been inside (not out in the 95 degree heat) and there would have been chairs. 

The Head and the Heart singing "Rivers and Roads"

As soon as I returned from Austin my elderly neighbors had arranged for me to replace the section of fence between our houses.  Another neighbor, Jon (pictured below) led the project, which went quite smoothly.  

Aydan and Brennan, Fence Repairmen 

Since I was already making improvements to the house, I worked for several days to refinish the antique piano that has been in the garage for years, and I set about redoing several rooms in the house.

 Video Games in Brennan's Room

In Brennan's room I made a set-up more conducive to playing video games and watching movies together as a family (Every Sunday night I have the boys we enjoy "Popcorn and Cereal Night".  Tonight we watched a Don Knots classic, "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken.").  I built a loft (okay...more like assembled), helped a buddy clear his garage of unwanted furniture (thanks for the couch Mike!), added a shelf for the projector and added a screen to the opposite wall.  It's pretty sweet.  

 Former Superhero Mural

The boys once shared a room and I spent a considerable amount of time decorating it with a mural of superheroes.  Aydan has been asking to change the room that is now his own and make it more of a sports theme.  Rather than lament the work and beauty that would be lost I gladly complied to the wishes of my rapidly growing son.  

Aydan's New Paint Job

He picked out a nice color of blue and I just completed painting the walls this weekend.  There are still some details to be added so it won't look so boring, but I couldn't get them done last week.  

 Milestone Church, Father's Day

For Father's Day the boys bought me a butterfly to add to our growing collection (it is the Rajah Brooke's Wing in the top right-hand corner below).  They are too sweet, and they are only too eager to show off the now proudly displayed collection when visitors come.  Brennan, especially, likes to demonstrate his knowledge of the names of all the species we have.  

 Restored Piano and Butterfly Collection

I still need to return the front panels to the piano, but I left them off for the piano tuner I had scheduled to come.  Unfortunately, there are problems with the piano that prevent it from being tuned, but at least it's a nice showpiece.  

 Reading Nook

Finally, I decided to redo my bedroom.  I returned to a decorating scheme from our days in the apartment in Lewisville.  I brought the bookshelves (displaced by the piano) into my bedroom and made the room more of a library/reading area.  I love it.  Again, I still have some finishing touches, but I like all the shelves and the cozy feel.  

 Place of Rest, Place of Knowledge

And there you have it!  As June comes to a close, I am transitioning from house projects that needed to be done to art projects that I have really wanted to get done.  I suppose when August rolls around I will once again return to school work that needs to be finished before the year starts.  My how the summer speeds by.