View from the street.

WE HAVE A FLOOR!

Holy Cow! The progress that was made this weekend was INCREDIBLE! Reid showed up Friday and he and Dave finished framing the basement. Erik, bless his sweet heart, showed up Saturday morning at 7 a.m. from Seattle. Dave's nephew, Josh, and his Dad, Gary were all there on Saturday and they got the beams up and Saturday afternoon layed (is that the correct term?)all the floor joists! Sunday Dave, Erik and Reid put the plywood down for the floor on the main level. We were able to walk around the house and check out the view we'll have (mostly just the tops of houses and trees). Dave and JD are over at the house right now (7p.m. sunday) cleaning up the mess. It's really starting to take shape and it would never have happened without the great help from everyone. I got to use an airnailer today. My back is a little sore and so are my forearms (that stupid thing is heavy). Reid pointed out to everyone when we were in the basement that I missed some of the floor joists and went through the plywood...oops! We had a great time this weekend and look forward to another work party!

I'm a loser!

Yes, I'm a loser! I know I haven't been good about updating this stupid thing. We are much farther along on the house (or rather, Dave is), but these were the ones that were on my computer and not sitting in my camera which is way out in the van....boo hoo. I'll update this weekend, I promise.

3 Things

Okay, I have 3 things that need to be said, so bear with me:

1. LEAVING THE NEST: Our resident birds have left their nest.....so sad. One day Dave and I were watching the nest and Dave commented that the young bird looked like it grew 2 inches over night. A few days later it was out of the nest, resting on the beam and fluffing it's wings...the next day, gone! We've seen them flying around in the back yard a couple of times....mother and baby bird together. She's a good mommy, showing her baby the ropes.


2. OBSERVATIONS: So, I can tell you that women on an average will ask what the heck happened to my face and men.......they look, take a second look and have this look on their face like they need to beat someone up. They NEVER ask what has happened to my ever-changing face. So, I've come up with my own assessments: women want to help me if I'm in an abusive relationship and men, they're afraid to ask because they feel like they might actually have to go beat up the husband that did this to me. It's been very interesting and if you don't believe me, put some makeup on and try your own experiment. :)


3. YIPPEE!: We have officially started building our house! I know, I know I can't actually believe it myself. Sunday was our official start date. Dave has been busy over there getting ready to pour footings for our foundation. He put up our temporary power pole with our street address on it. He's such a great guy. Our kids are camping with Nana for a few days, so we're home alone with our dirt to play in. After work today I went and helped him and yes, got all muddy and dirty. It felt GREAT! Our blog will most likely become our house-building blog. I'm sorry if you will be bored, but for our out-of-town relatives, this will be great. Plus I can't help but brag on my awesome husband!

Here's our first picture of our dirt that will slowly become our home and our power pole. (Notice the address: 2009. Coincidentally that will be the year we move in!)

Shiner Day 3

I can see! Yesterday I iced it a lot and my eye opened. This morning it was pretty swollen, but after icing I was able to open it almost all the way and go to costco. I don't recommend going out in public when your face is looking like you've been in a bar fight. I made the kids go with me and they wanted me to leave my sunglasses on. But the few times I lifted them to see better or took them off, I got quite the stares. The entire right side of my face is now a bit swollen and tingly. The nurse called this morning and let me know that nothing is fractured, so that's great news! Dave knew the lab tech that did the x-rays yesterday and he printed a couple slides off for the kids to see. The kids keep telling me how scary I look. I thought it would be fun to do my other eye the same! :)

Shiner update

Yes, I'm going to the doctor. It's open, you just can't tell 'cause it's swollen shut. My vision isn't impaired. I can lift my eyelid to see out. I'll keep you updated....

Bruiser!

Dave and I are playing Jack and Jill softball on our church team. It's fun and usually pretty easy going and no one usually gets hurt......until today! A few years ago I hit a ball that came up and hit my friend Donna in the face and she had quite the shiner for a couple weeks! Well, paybacks are a (you fill in the blank). Tonight Dave was pitching and I was catching and a girl fouled one straight back at me and I didn't have time to think, let alone catch it! My first thought was, "that sounded like a watermelon cracking open on the cement. It should hurt, but it doesn't....that's not good." I felt my eye swelling in my hand at the plate. And, no, I don't have any eye makeup on! I'll let the picture speak for itself............

New Life

One day I was washing dishes and looked out our kitchen window and noticed this nest that magically appeared overnight. So, we've watched our momma bird sit on her nest. About two weeks ago she started getting up and looking at the eggs and within a week we saw a tiny beak appear. We have been eagerly watching our new residents every day. The tiny bird has grown and now the momma is feeding it worms. Yesterday I watched her feed her baby a live wiggling worm! :) It's been our entertainment lately....."You guys, come here quick, look at the baby bird!" Today JD asked if he could try to shoot the baby with his airsoft gun when he/she starts to fly. "NO! You may not!!" I think he's around the hunters too much...you know who you are. We do have one problem though....the momma is a bit slow or something because she keeps flying into the windows, leaving bird poop on the patio. So, if she's not careful, she'll be getting shot! Just kidding............

Too much time on their hands!

Here's an example of what your children will do when you're at work and they're bored! They took pictures of it and left them for me to find.

Summer fun!

Here are some more summer fun photos. Jenna and Lily in their matching dresses and playing in Lily's pool.

JD tried out the Surf simulator at the Moses Lake Aquatic Center. :)

Josie's new dresser & nightstand

Aunt Katie and Lily came last week to stay with us and while they were here, Josie and Katie refinished Josie's dresser. We purchased a great nightstand from our favorite furniture store, "The Pine Shop", so they finished it the same. It turned out great!!! Here Katie is hard at work while Josie teaches Lily how to play RockBand!

Kindergarten Graduation!!

Tuesday night our Jenna graduated from Kindergarten. (The dress she is wearing was Josie's. This is her teacher, Mrs. Lund.) It seems like it was only yesterday when we were home together every day and she was taking naps, coloring, going to bible study with me and being my 'little helper' every day!! My little helper is now a first grader and she's fiercely independent. No longer does she need my help getting dressed or deciding what to wear. Those days are LONG gone. She would love to stay home by herself and doesn't even want to go on errands with me anymore. How did she grow up so fast? You girls with little ones at home, here's a warning. One day you, like me, will wake up and your dependent children will be independent and be off to friends for the day, playing soccer, creating/crafting, READING and you will wonder and be tearful as you try to think how those days went by so fast. Jenna is now asking for sleepovers, reading in her bed before lights are out, playing with her big brother and sister and is anxiously looking forward to her first grade class at The River Academy. I can't wait for all three kids to be in one school. I will be working there full-time in the fall and am so excited to know I can go eat lunch with them and see them every day. Dave and I count it as a huge gift from God for the job at TRA so we can send all three kids there. We are extremely blessed!

Okay, enough for today. We have a picnic lunch to pack and we're off to the park to play for the day! Trying to create memories that will last knowing we only have 4 years left before we're celebrating Josie's HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION!! I'm not going to go there for today, that might bring me to tears or give me a heart attack! One graduation at a time.....

Skidamarink

Isn't she so cute?! :)

'Mom Brag' about JD

So, humor me........let me brag about our son! JD won 3 awards at the Sunnyslope Elementary School Awards ceremony yesterday!!!

• The 'Flashlight Award'-given by the Librarian to the students who have developed a LOVE for reading. She awarded them with a cool flashlight and encouraged them to read under the cover.


• The President's Achievement Award-for his achievement this year.


• Most Improved Student Award-given to one boy and one girl in the school. (I have the report cards to show it!)

We are so very proud of JD and his accomplishments and his diligence to persevere with his dyslexia. He has worked very hard these last two years. He has had a terrific tutor and outstanding teachers and one encouraging principal. We are encouraged and hopeful that he will continue to grow and learn more about his learning challenges. He has a great attitude and never gives up! We are indeed very proud parents and it is so awesome to see the benefits of changing schools two years ago.

Anyway, I was a bawling mom at the assembly and couldn't get a photo of him receiving his 'most improved student' trophy, but here's one of him and his buddy Kaleb with their trophies. Kaleb won the Outstanding Student Award! Way to go, Kaleb!

Soiree' in Yakima

Katie said if I didn't update my blog, she was going to get rid of my link of her blog. So, I'm being guilted into this. Guilt, peer pressure, whatever it takes, I need to update. So, here's some photos of the soiree' down in Yakima. What a great time we had. It was so much fun to get dressed up and have a night on the town. Katie did a spectacular job on the food (with the help of her slaves--me and Josie). :) Way to go Sabari's for organizing this. Looking forward to next year! The photo above is Katie's artistic side coming through. I told her it was a waste of time to do a 'beautiful design' on the plate and then place the appetizers on top. But, she felt much better knowing it was artistic and gorgeous. Now if it had been me I would have just dumped it on the plate. That's one of the differences in us..............she takes the time to do things beautifully and spends time on whatever she is creating, cooking, sewing, crafting..........and I just want it done. The world without 'Katie's' would be a boring place, non-creative place! ps Please don't delete my blog. I'll try to be better...please?

JD on his snowboard at Mission Ridge

Here's JD last weekend up at Mission Ridge. He's getting pretty good.

Luke Griffiths first walk

This is Dave's nephew Luke Griffiths. Dave, JD, Doug & Spencer Merrill went to Idaho and skiied at Silver Mountain a couple weekends ago and stayed with Dave's sister. This was Luke's first time at walking.

Tracy's 40th retro party!

Okay, I couldn't figure out how to email this video to Tracy but I figured I could post it on my blog for the world to see! :) Enjoy Greg and Tracy singing at Tracy's 40th retro party! Oooh, this blogging thing is going to be fun! I promise I won't use it for blackmailing purposes!

Yea, yea, I'm finally doin' it!

Okay, okay........I finally was guilted in to this blog thing. Not sure if I just want you all to see my beautiful children or I'm a little intrigued by this whole blogging. Either way, here ya go! See what a day at home does to ya when your laundry is caught up and it's a quiet snowy day!

So, here's the photos we took when we surprised the kids with a new puppy.