All together now

I realized that I have very few pictures of all three of my kidlets together. So I made sure to snap a few pictures during last night's bath party. What a silly slippery set of scrawnies! I'm so proud.

Happy 5th birthday Andrew!

What fun we had for this birthday! Mike said "I think our family was looking for a reason to celebrate." after days of counting down to April 13th. for some reason we were all really excited. At preschool Andrew's class had a little ceremony where he had to walk around the room with a globe symbolizing his trip through a year. Repeated 5 times. Each time around I showed pictures and told about Andrew when he was in that year. It was really special.

The party later that evening was allot of fun. Andrew wanted a "How to Train your Dragon" theme, so I ordered a party kit that had everything you could need, including blowy things and balloons. I experimented with a bakery frosting recipe for the first time, and I think it needs a bit of improvement.

Grandpas and Grandma, Uncle Dan, neighbor buddies, and our family consumed pizza and pop, watched the present melee, and took it up a notch with cake and ice cream. Everyone had a blast, and our middle child got a fabulous few hours in the spotlight.

I can't believe Andrew is 5. Kindergarten in just a few months. Its so sad, and so exciting all at once.

So far so good

So I figure everyone is probably dying to hear the update on the new house...well, maybe not dying, but I am excited so I will share! The hole was dug two weeks ago and then we were delayed for rain. But with a little bit of sun and a concrete crew with a whole lot of gusto, the entire foundation was formed, poured, and tarred in three days. Today they backfilled (just before the thunderstorm hit, whew!) and lumber is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. Framers will be here Wed, and will be done by next Friday. So if you are handy with a nail gun and don't have any plans for April 30th, come on down and join the roofing party! We are doing quite a bit of sweat equity, and the shingles are step number one for us.

Everything is going really well, and we are very excited for our new home.

This is the .495 acre lot in Gunnison. It is just one block from both the elementary and middle schools, so everyone will be really close to home.

After excavation

Insta-foundation!

That Silly Little Girl

Tonight Mike and I sang a few numbers at the Lions Club birthday party. (they are hard-up for entertainment in Mayfield) We took the baby with us so while I sang he held her, and while he sang I held her. We ended with a duet, so I just took her up with us. Half way through the song she decided she wanted to make it a trio. She was singing along with such gusto! Loud and unashamed, Caitlin stole the show!

Mayfield Park Plan

Mike and I have been working all winter on a plan of the Mayfield park for the Lions club. Mike has taught me a thing or two about drawing plans, and I find that I enjoy it. I don't know if the city will implement our plan, but they have lofty goals and it will be good for them to have it on paper.

It's official: We own a hole in the ground in Gunnison. Not very exciting in itself, but the promise of a nice new home in that hole is very exciting. Hopefully we will be in our new house before the school year starts. We have a half acre of land in a nice new residential neighborhood just one block north of the schools. To see our house plan go to http://www.hearthstonedesign.com/plan/r-1287b .

Jaussis Jaussis everywhere!

My sister in law, Carrie, went on vacation to New York with her daughter Carlie last week. I got to take the rest of the kids for a day while she was gone. We had a great time playing games, decorating cupcakes, watching movies, etc. It was really nice to see Josh and Abby playing together. They are only one month apart and look like they could be twins. Andrew and Isaac disappeared most of the time in the boys room playing and reading books. The baby girls got along really well and both loved "mama". Zion was such a wonderful helper and babysitter. It was so nice to have a house full of life and noise and to get to spend time with my nieces and nephew.