See those red boxes? I gift wrapped bulk diaper boxes and glued the wrap on. It will work for now!
 I didn't realize how many books she had until I started putting them in the cubbies. I think we need to pass some down to Adi now. Jo has her favorites and that's all she'll touch anyway.

 The slide we are borrowing from Mamaw Griffin because Jo is in love with it. She stands on her tower and just hangs out, then like a dare devil takes off running down the slide. The tent to the right is Jo's Christmas gift from Grandma Coffey. She LOVES hiding in it to read. She also has fun throwing balls through the tunnel to the other side, then back again. The curtain is obviously temporary. All the curtain rods we had at the apartment are not wide enough for these house windows, and the heat was getting to us so I just tacked them up for now. We will get curtain rods soon enough. They are not top priority.
 For right now, the other side is holding her stuffed animals and balls. I need to find a permanent solution for those two things.
 This is the view looking into what should have been a 4th bedroom. That cardboard box has got to be one of the greatest $20 investments we've ever made. We got it for Joee for Christmas and she LOVES coloring on it. As you can see, she has a long way to go. This gift will last her forever! And that horse on the right, we fully plan on restoring it and giving it a fresh layer of paint. But, it's not top priority.
I love having the loft upstairs. It keeps downstairs so much cleaner and ready for unexpected (or even expected!) visitors.

When we bought the house last October, this is what the backyard looked like:


Nothing but dirt. And we were thrilled because that meant clean slate and we could do what we wanted with it.
Our first big accomplishment back there was Jonathan built Pergola. He only worked on it on Saturdays and only for a few hours at a time because of family activities we participated in, but it is finally done!










 See how all our junk accumulated in the back yard too? Those are just Jo's things to keep her occupied while we work in the backyard. It will look better when we finish the patio and deck and get rid of the junk and borrowed tools.

Offer approved on this new house, we got some work to do to close in a month and get Fannie Mae to pay closing costs, but we are moving right along, no hick ups yet. This is a 3 bedroom 2.5 bath nearly 2200 square foot home located in Homestead North in Maricopa. Seconds from the Fire Department, church, park areas, and down the street from Wal-mart and my commute is only 1 hour! ok really its 45 minutes, still no that bad. It's kind of like living in Troy, Mo and working in St. Charles, for thos eof you that live there. Here are some shots of our new house. We should be closing end of Oct.
Front of the house blocked by our beautiful tree.
The big backyard, perfect for my fire pit and bbq pad.
Dinning room, we'll swap out the light fixture, since it's past 1994...lol
This is the entry, there is an office right off to the right that you cant see, and a bathroom right in front of you, the wall is the stair case going up.
Kitchen with tin back splash, of course i couldnt talk Mandy into keeping it lol, tile back splash is on the list.
Living room great size, carpet has to go, prolly will swap out for hardwood floors before we move in, Jo can't play on that.
huge loft perfect for jo, and the space where the pic was taken in is our new media room, or 4th bedroom if we decide to have more kids lol
Master bed room leading to the bathroom and walk-in closet.
There are 2 other bedrooms for the kids which are just normal size, and they are across the hall from the master. She needs a little TLC but we're excited to DIY a little on our new house!