Get ready for a blogging marathon...I'm determined to catch up!
The first post gets devoted to our beloved shed. An entire post about a shed? Why, yes...this shed is worthy of an entire post!
Jon designed it from scratch on paper over the winter months and was eager to get it built once we moved in.
Lots of little helpers early on...
but only Scott lasted past the first 30 minutes.
Scott was a faithful shed helper and wanted to observe every step.
Despite his good help, we had to call in the reinforcements. Our parents came to our rescue and put in some long hours/days.
Mini Barn? Shed? Outbuilding? Taco Bell? This 16x20 structure ended up being bigger than we expected.
This was my least favorite day of the shed building. (And I was indoors!:) It was probably their least favorite day of shed building, too. My two favorite men were on top of this crazy large shed fighting the wind. I did a lot of pacing as I peeked out the windows and a lot of praying. Thankfully, God protected everyone, and we didn't need an ambulance.
"JON! Come in! It's bedtime!" This man spent days going from sun up to sun down.
The good-spirited painters came in to finish up the job when Jon headed back to work. Thanks, Dad & Mom!!
Final touches on the ramp...
Ta-da! Piece of cake. (Or not.)
Our list of projects is almost done. Time to start having some summer fun. But wait, where did summer go?!?! The kids start school in less than two weeks, and so now we are scrambling to complete our summer bucket lists!
Someone is thrilled to start school and loves to look at her new school supplies over and over. Someone keeps asking why they can't have half day first grade? Someone is thinking that if sister and brother get new folders for school that she needs some too, of course. Can you guess who is who?
We are enjoying our home in the "country" with the exception of the
insects. They are pretty bad. The kids have spotted quite a few deer, unusual birds, and frogs. Instead of hearing the sound of the interstate, we hear the sound of frogs croaking loudly.
A few years ago, we visited a small church playground on July 4th. We went back the following year. The kids have dubbed it our "Fourth of July playground" and so we obliged them and went back again this year. We are probably outgrowing this small playground, but we'll aim to keep up with the few traditions that we do have.
Manly power-washing time
The employees and fellow customers in Rural King probably know
you're not the real deal when you start photographing your kids by the
bunnies and chicks.
...or when you squeal when the
bunny relieves himself on the floor and you warn your children 50 times to
make sure that they don't step in it
...or when you pull out your hand sanitizer as soon as you leave the area
...or
when you alert the employee that one chick is being pecked repeatedly
and that it's bleeding. (The lady acted like she was concerned about
the poor little chick and told me that she would take it to "time out"
for awhile. My dad told me later that "Time Out" was probably code word
for the dumpster. Gasp. I thought about that poor chick for a long
time. Jon might tell you that I talked about that poor chick too much on our drive home.)
Guess who found my camera and was taking 1 or 20 selfies?
Scott is showing his new smile. I love it, and am dreading the day when the new BIG tooth comes in! My baby is growing up...
Kate's frequently been asking to be put in her crib during the daytime. She doesn't usually have to ask me twice. Her only request is that she has "yots of friends" while she plays in there. She's been playing for quite awhile in her own little space and then will yell, "I'm ready to come out!" when she is through. She may have to ask me twice on this part...it's so nice to have her contained for a few!:)
I'll leave you with Kate's parting words tonight at bedtime...
Me: Goodnight, Katey-Baby!
Kate: Goodnight, Big Mommy!
We are slowly, but surely getting settled in. Perhaps "slowly" isn't the right word. Jon has been working nonstop and putting in long hours to get everything in order in our new home. It's hard to sit back and put your feet up when your husband is plugging away on project after project. Thanks to him, I think we see the light at the end of the tunnel.
While I haven't made time for any blogging since the move, I have been jotting down the things I want to remember that have come from the kids' mouths. I've also continued to take a billion pictures. :) Here are a few highlights of the past month.
*Kate being Kate.
*Me: (Listening to Kate whine one afternoon.) Sounds like I have a whiner.
Natalie: (Very matter of fact) Hmm...I'm usually the whiner around here. Kate's not.
*Good-bye old house!
*Good-bye Kindergarten!
*Scott's class had a Kindy-500 on the last day. Scott made a "John Deere Gator" for his racing vehicle of choice. He didn't want to attach a "Slow Moving Vehicle" sign however. He thought for sure that he was going to beat all of his classmates. He was very proud of his creation. (Shame on his mom for asking if we could pitch it after the race...it was trash day afterall...and we were moving the next day...BUT WHAT WAS I THINKING?! In the attic it went, for safe keeping. Sorry, Son.)
*On the morning of our move, we were talking about saying
goodbye to our old house and how we would start sleeping at the new
house. The kids were processing it and one said, "Yeah...we are going to start living there
forever. And never, ever leave there again. Well...at least until
lunchtime."
*On that note, Kate was crying one day and saying that she wanted to go
to McDonald's. That was not in the plans, but Natalie went up to her
and told her that we would go through the drive thru. ?!?! Anyway,
Kate stopped crying and said, "Natalie calmed me down." (Thankfully she forgot about the Golden Arches and went about her day.)
*Scott was trying to talk me through how to drive the gator over
breakfast one morning. Then he said, "It sounds more complicated than
it is."
*Scott celebrated his 7th birthday a week after we moved in. He came up with the idea to give everyone a gator ride. He came up with 4 different "Gator Experiences" for the people to choose from. (An easy ride in the cornfield, a trip through the wooded trails, a mud tire test, or a sampler ride during which you could try out everything.)
*Natalie operated the ticket booth. Scott told me that my job was to try to talk everyone into going on a ride and to convince the ones who seemed hesitant to give it a try.
*Even 85 year old Grandma Joyce gave it a try! We steered her clear from the "Mud Tire Test" ticket.
*We made several trips to the house while it was in the construction
phase, and the kids would start to beg "Can we come in?" as soon as we pulled into the driveway. Sometimes we were in a hurry, and Jon would just run in while
the rest of us moaned and groaned in the van. A couple of days after we moved, we were all
coming home from the store and we pulled into the driveway. Kate started her begging,
"Can I come in? Can I come in?" We let her come in this time!:)
*Scott & Natalie both got rain boots for their birthdays. God's sending lots of rain for them to test them out.
*We were having our first meal on our newly constructed picnic table.
Natalie was asked to say the prayer for the meal and with all sincerity
she prayed, "Please help nothing to happen as we sit at the picnic table
today. Please help it to be able to hold us all up."
*Shortly after we moved, Scott and Natalie were outside riding their
bikes from the front to the back. Kate went out and looked for them and
then came back in and said, "I can't find my friends!"
*I bought a game called KerPlunk from a garage sale. It's a game that I
fondly remember playing as a child. The kids shared in my excitement
and wanted to play round after round. I told them I had purchased it
for $1 at a yard sale. Scott said, "One dollar for all this fun?!?!"
Kate and Natalie were calling out different types of fives to do to one another...high fives, low fives, soft fives, hard fives, tickle fives. Then Kate said, "Identifive!"
*A picture from Natalie to Uncle Derek & Aunt Maggie!:)
*I was reading a book to Kate, and we came to a dinosaur page. I told her that dinosaurs were extinct. The next night, we were reading the same book, and when we turned to the dinosaur page, she exclaimed, "P.U!" It took me a moment to figure out that I did tell her that they were ex-STINKED. :) Tonight, we were talking about stinky animals for some reason. She said pigs. I said skunks. Then, she said, "And dinosaurs."
*A cousin picture- It's so fun watching them play with one another.
*Scott is all into tractors these days so instead of replacing train batteries, we've been replacing tractor batteries. Kate and I saw a tractor pulled off on the side of the road so that cars could go around, and she said, "The tractor needs new batteries!"
*I'm realizing that a lot of these stories are about Kate. She is 2 1/2 and at that stage where funny things come out of her mouth quite often whether she realizes it or not. The kids and I often get a kick out of her and start laughing. She will sometimes get mad and try to get us to stop laughing. With a scowl, she repeats, "Stop laughing! It's not funny! Turn the laughing off!" which makes Scott and Natalie crack up all the more. :) We love her to pieces!
*I've hesitated to post anything because we still needed to get through
inspection, but a couple of weeks ago, our house did sell! PRAISE THE
LORD!! We celebrated Lindsey style (which is quickly becoming Scott,
Natalie, & Kate style too). They are helpful when it comes to
thinking of things we need to celebrate with a big cookie!:)
*Natalie's told me a few times lately that she's humid. :)
*Natalie had her dance recital last month and is sad that it is over. She LOVED going and LOVED her dance teachers...two great Christian teenagers who served as sweet role models to Natalie this past year.
*Sister Fun!
*
A couple of weeks ago, when I picked Natalie up from Sunday School, I
saw that she had written "Natalie CFG" on the name line of her paper.
When I asked her what in the world CFG stood for, she told me that it
meant "Cool Fashion Girl." Oh, of course, why didn't I think of that?! Thankfully, her teachers didn't notice/ask.
*Scott was getting ready for a shower, and I told him to make sure
that he got all of the black grease off of him. He said, "But I like
the grease. That will show people that I don't just sit around all day
and watch T.V." :)
*Natalie recently celebrated her 5th birthday!! She had been talking about her birthday for a very long time, and she was so excited when the day finally arrived. She's been asking if I think that she has been throwing less fits now that she is five...and you know what???...I think that she truly is maturing. We love her so much!
*Kate was getting into Scott's piggy bank this morning. When I walked in to find her, she quickly put her hands over her own eyes and sternly said, "DON'T PEEK ON ME!"
*Time for more packing...after some snacking...perhaps I'm slacking...okay, okay, I'll stop. :/
