Crazy Days of Summer

Just popping in to let you all know that I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth! I’ve been trying to soak up every last second of summer with my family. As my kiddos get older, it’s quickly hitting me that I only have so many summers left to spend with them.

And I want to spend that time making memories, not tied to my computer. And I’m so blessed to be able to take time away from the blog to do just that!

Our oldest daughter will turn 16 this year, and this momma is already dreading the day she leaves for college in 3 short years 😭  So here’s what we’ve been busy doing this summer:

We put in a pool!

building a semi underground pool | The Harper House

building a semi underground pool | The Harper House

building a semi underground pool | The Harper House

This has been quite the project! We decided on a semi-inground pool – which means it was buried about 24″ and the remaining amount sits above the ground. We hired a company to do the initial install, but we did the back fill, etc… 

And now Craig and his Dad are building the deck. Things always take twice as long when you do them yourselves (but you save a ton of money!) We thought we’d be able to use the old joists and posts from our old deck, but we noticed that it was about 2″ out of level (the posts had started sagging and several joists were starting to rot.) So new posts and joists it is! 

We also spent a lot of time going back and forth between treated lumber or composite decking… and we finally decided on composite. I wanted a gray deck with white railings and, while more expensive initially, composite decking has much less maintenance over time and will give me the coastal vibe I love 🙂 I’ll post more pics soon!

Walked lots of Dogs!

This girl started a pet sitting service in our small town, and it’s been a huge hit!! She’ll be in 8th grade this year, and loves loves loves dogs and animals and wanted to start earning some money for college. 

So one post on Facebook offering her services and she’s been booked all summer! She rides her bike or we drive her over to let the pups out around 7:30am, noon, 5:00, and 9:30pm. It’s been super fun and she’s earning good money too! So blessed to live in a safe small town where it’s possible for her to do this 🙂

Laundry Room Remodel

laundry room remodel

laundry room remodel

We’re giving the laundry room a quick facelift. At least it was supposed to be quick, lol. In trying to keep the kiddos occupied over the summer, I assigned our oldest some painting duties. So she painted those cabinets a pretty blue color and we’re going white on the walls (BM White Dove.) It’s amazing how just a coat of paint can drastically improve a space! More pics to come…

Vacay in a Tiny House

 

We went up to Traverse City, MI with some friends on vacation this year. They have a nice camper and go camping all the time. We do not have a camper, so we stayed in a cabin (or what my kids lovingly referred to as the “tiny house.”) It was really fun! 

Zach caught a nice lake trout!

Chloe found a potato chip shaped like Oklahoma! 😛

Hope you’re all having a great summer and making lasting memories with your family! 

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