Gettin' closer to the finish line.....

A photo pictorial of what's been going on here:


Tile is done.



Stairs and cabinets are stained. Floor stain starts this week.



Lights are in. So now we don't have to rush over and get a look at the day's progress before it gets dark.


Started the rock and painting of the exterior on Saturday. These guys are fast. I bet they are done today. WOW!


This is just a small not finished version of what Robb refer's to as his 'Man Cave' (aka the Dog House by me). We are finishing the basement on this house, so Robb has had to put on his Interior Design Hat and has designed most of this area himself. Looking good honey.

One last thing.....interior painting - DONE - and friends, let's just say....if you don't like color...you won't like it. In paint alone, there are 7 different colors and let's just say, some came out brighter than expected (if you know me, I sampled them all and then some (I think about 14 - gotta love the sample quarts), but I sampled flat paint in small areas, not eggshell in larger ares). We had to visit it a couple times and vision our things in the house - but WE LOVE IT! Jacob's loves his NEON green room so much he asked for his closet to be repainted from white to green. We kept it white. Isabella, loves her pink room so much that if you stop by the house, she will grab your finger and take you to her room and tell you, 'look, it's pink - my favorite'.

Other than that, we are just busy living life, attending school, working, thinking of moving and the logistics, making plans for Halloween, and taking a bit of time to play. Have a great Halloween and I will post photos this weekend of the kids and their costumes. We have been invited to some old neighbors of ours that moved to trick or treat, then onto a small gathering at some other friends, to sort through the goods and eat until we pass out. Halloween on a Friday this year, is a lot of fun. Not to mention, it's also a NO school day. Enjoy!

Countin' the days away.....

Notice to the right of your screen......it's a count down until we are out of here and F-I-N-A-L-L-Y moved into our new house. We can't wait. We talk about it daily, are over there constantly, and even talk about our first meal we are going to cook (changes with each conversation). So, last week, the kids and Robb made a 'count down chain' and each night they pull off a link as we get closer and closer to our move. It's fun for all of us, but I think Robb and I like seeing that chain get shorter and shorter each night more than the kids do.



House Update - going great. We have a driveway, sidewalk, and they are currently working on the posts outside. As for the inside....they start staining and painting next week. We picked out some color for this house (7 to be exact and a stain color and this is just the interior), so it might scare most of you off - but I can't wait to see it come to life. Hip, hip, hooray!







We also took some time today to enjoy the weekend and fall. We went to the Pumpkin Patch and met up with some friends we havne't seen since this summer. It was so much fun. Kind of warm for this time of year, but it wasn't raining and cold, so the kids got to play and run around until they were ready to drop.







From our house to yours.....Happy Fall!

Enjoying some Fall Weather here.....

Well - when dad is away the rest of the house will PLAY!

Robb has been away at the American Royal BBQ since Thursday, so we ditched our responsibilities for the weekend and decided to play. Made not one house decision, didn't clean, cook, or bathe (just kidding)all weekend.

Actually, we took some time out to enjoy the weekend and the fall here. It's just gorgeous. So Friday night Isabella had a sleepover. We ordered Chinese food,
Tye-died some shirts for Halloween, and watched a movie. The kids were up late and up early, so I was tired all day yesterday.

Then yesterday we went to a local apple orchard and picked apples and played. It was so much fun. We met a friend, and cousins up there and we all enjoyed ourselves. We played, picked apples from a 'real tree' with a 'bucket that had a metal handle', had a picnic lunch, and apples desserts from the bakery. Made for a good nap in the afternoon.

The reason some of the above are in quotes, is something funny Jacob asked. You see, Jacob is a lot like me, we get so excited about the anticipation of an event and plan it just so in our heads, that most often once the event happens we are disappointed and fail to enjoy ourselves or we just exhausted from building our excitement up in our heads of said event. So, we have learned to prepare Jacob for the event but not to early. Therefore, I didn't tell him about going to the apple orchard until late Friday night (I am sure it was something like, if you don't go to sleep we won't pick apples tomorrow). Once I told the kids we were going, Jacob's first words were...."do we get to actually pick them from a real tree?", followed with, 'can I take my gloves, worker guys (that is anyone he is pretending to be at the time) have gloves when they work?', and 'will we use buckets with metal handles like in the books we read?'.

So, as you can imagine we had a tall order to fill in this little guys head. Therefore, never having been to this place, I was praying and keeping my fingers crossed on the drive up that they had real trees and buckets with metal handles...we supplied the gloves. Whew - Success - they had everything Jacob had imagined. It was perfect. In fact, I didn't get many photos of him because he was so busy running around with his cousin having so much fun.







Then to make the last day of our 'taking the weekend off' fun, we are going Halloween shopping. You see, I am a planner, so I have costumes for the kids already, but Isabella's is way, way to long and Jacob's - well, it's just not what he wants and who am I to get in the way of pretend playing. So, we are off to look for the greatest, least expensive police officer, soldier, or pilot costume for Jacob and the greatest, least expensive police officer, kitty cat, or witch costume for Isabella. Wish me luck, I am going to shopping with two children 5 and under alone for costumes on a budget. Crazy mom, I know - but at least I am not home cooking, cleaning, or doing laundry.

Enjoy! I am sure I will keep you posted on the shopping adventures.

House front - coming along nicely. We have a side walk, a driveway, and a patio this week. The cabinets are coming in nicely and all the trim work, stair work, and closets are looking great. No photos, sorry didn't have camera. Still no exterior house color, but narrowed it down to two...so we are closer.

Oh yes, I forgot....on our way home from the orchard, Jacob spotted a helicopter hovering around in the air. We went and looked for it and it was so cool. There were some 'worker guys' working on some electrical towers and they were using the chopper to bring them the large material needed to work. We snapped a quick photo just in time before it moved.

Catching Up!

First Day of school photo - Finally!


She loves her back pack!


Garage view of house....!


Kitchen Cabinets Installation.....aren't they great!

Where does the time go? Fall is here. WOW!

Catching UP!
Kids - School, going well. Jacob is doing better and better each and every day. He still asks every morning if he can stay home, but doesn't fight me on it when I say, 'no'. It's just amazaing how fast and how much he has learned in 6 short weeks. He empresses me more and more each day. Isabella is loving school this year. She asks everyday if it's her school day.

House - It's going great and looking like a house. I am getting more and more excited. Best part, we turned in our notice at Shangri-la so we are seeing and end to this journey. This week they put in the wood floors, worked on cabinets, trim work, and doors. I am having so much fun watch it come together.

US - We are busy just trying to keep up with kids, house, school, work, election information, and our economy. We are doing well and just livin' life.

Happy Fall!

What is your favorite exterior house color?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm, where do we start, it’s been a while. What’s going on?

School, work, travel, colds, flu, dance, karate, gymnastics, house, and just living life is what’s going on in our little piece of the world.

I think right now, I just want to state…..I LIKED SUMMER BETTER!

Well, school has started as you know; day one was a success…..not day two and so forth. Apparently, I was a bit over confident. We have received no less than three phone calls from the teacher, a personal phone call from the counselor at school, and about half a dozen email exchanges or so. You see, we get up in the mornings and start the moaning and groaning right off….’I don’t want to go to school’, and it just keeps going. However, somehow, we do manage to get out of bed, get dressed, eat breakfast and out the door. Then the tears begin all over again at the actual bus stop. In fact, most everyday we put Jacob on the bus in tears or whining. Then he gets to school and tears up for a couple of minutes and then it stops and the day gets better. I guess it’s just getting used to a routine, something new, and a lot of tough learning along the way. So, as for the first three weeks of kindergarten for Jacob….I am chalking it up as….WE SURVIVED! WE are looking for a better attitude in hopes of not looking for ‘survival’ the entire school year. I have faith and IT WILL get better if it kills me. BTW, did you know in Kindergarten there is homework….., which btw again, Jacob loves that part of the day.

Isabella has not started school yet. It started this week, but with out us. I have had the stomach flu for almost three days now. She had it for about 24 hours, but can’t seem to shake the fever. Therefore, I opted to keep her home until she is better and not to get anyone else sick. So, we are hoping to start school next week. She is very much looking forward to it, as she has a friend in class that she just loves.

Gymnastics and Karate did start this week. Both the kids are taking gymnastics this fall, Isabella is enrolled in dance (which starts next week), and Jacob is enrolled in Karate also. Robb did the car pooling this week, since I was sick, so no photos – just one exhausted dad from taking on both rolls.

Isabella did take a dance class over the summer at our local community center. She loved it. She had another friend in there that she loves and they had fun. They had a small recital last week in their last class, but unfortunately Isabella wouldn’t stand still long enough to get a good photo.



House update, it’s coming along nicely. Our move in date has been pushed back a bit, but we kind of expected it. We are looking at the end of November of so….therefore, we will be spending a bit more time in Shangri-La. The house is up, framed, front porch poured, garage doors on, and temporary front door locked. The rough electrical, plumbing, insulation and drywall are in. In fact, Friday when we were there, it was framed, by Sunday it’s all sheet rocked. So, it should start looking like a house inside real soon. We have been busy picking out the interior items for the house. I love this part. We have finalized our cabinets, doors, pulls, and knobs, door knobs, counter tops, exterior paint colors, stain colors, and more that I can’t think of right now. We still have a lot to do, but it’s coming along nicely. Will keep you posted as it changes.

Other than that, we are enjoying the heated evenings of political information, doing homework, and preparing for the next day. So, for now, we hope all is well with you and Thanks for stopping by.

FRONT DOOR:




KITCHEN:




GREAT ROOM:

Watch and Learn my Friends....watch and learn...

This morning, I softly opened your door
Reluctant to rouse you from sleep
Your blond hair all tousled from a little boy's dream
And your body curled up in heap.

My mind reached back into time
To a little blue bundle cuddled up in my arms
And gentle hints of nursery rhyme.

Was it not a mere yesterday
That you were learning how to walk
And I know that it was just last week
We were teaching you to talk.

But somehow, I managed to waken you
To your breakfast waiting there
You dressed your self in your finest clothes
And you carefully combed your hair.

Oh little boy, I love you so
And I felt like such a fool
To be so hesitant to let go of you
On your very first day of school.

Author: Unknown



Today Marks the very first day of Kindergarten for Jacob. I am going to keep this short....as I can sum it up in as little as 7 words......

After Jacob got all ready this morning, including picking out his own clothes, dressing himself, eating breakfast for brain power, brushing and flossing his teeth, picking out shoes that make him run faster, and putting gel in his hair because it will make him look cool to the big kids, he put on his back pack and announced to all:

"Watch and Learn My Friends, watch and learn". Then he headed out the door to catch the bus.

It was priceless and there are very few times in life I am speechless and this was one of them.

Day 1 - SUCCESS!

What's Happening!

Hey - What's happening with you? How is the summer going? Anything new? Any trips planned?

We are just busy plugging away through life - house stuff, tonsil care, gearing up for school, Robb's travels, birthday parties, BBQ, babysitters, and errands.

Friday we spent the night ordering Chinese food and watching the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympic games. Say what you want, don't really care.....we LOVED it. Every moment was captivating to us and enjoyed it to the very end.

Saturday Uncle Luke (my youngest brother) took the kids to the zoo. A first for Uncle Luke to watch the kids. They had a great time and Luke said, he did to. However, after watching them for 5 hours, he went home and took a nap all afternoon. Ha, ha!

Meanwhile, Robb and I picked out the rock for the front of the house and fireplace and had a three hour lighting meeting. WOW! My head was about to explode after that meeting. I couldn't make another decision if I had to. However, it was fun looking through all the lights and imagining them in our home.

Saturday night the kids had a sleep over. Each one of them had a cousin over. We went and played miniature golf and then went out for pizza. It was a lot of fun and the kids did great. However, I must admit....Robb and I looked like the in laws that don't have kids and took the nieces and nephews for the night to attempt to be cool auntie and uncle....4 at a restaurant and the two of us, they won. They went to bed around 10:00, all slept in the same room and through the night. SUCCESS!



Sunday, the kids got to go to the cousins and go to the spray park and play for the morning. Robb and I met with our cabinet guy to make a plan for the house. Now that was fun going through the work shoppe seeing all the options and custom work the cabinet maker is working on. I think this may have been my favorite part thus far.

On the house front....we have a roof with shingles now and the covered back porch is on. So, I imagine it's time to start going to work on the inside. We meet with the electrician tomorrow, so wiring here we come. Therefore, might be time to start taking pictures of the inside. Coming soon!

Sneak Peak!

Ni Hao!

I just can't, just can't look at them (it's killing me)....but if you want, here are some sneak peak photos of the Opening Ceremonies.

ENJOY!

It's time...It's time...It's time!

Oh my, oh my, oh my.......we can't wait until 6:30c time tonight....our tushes will be planted in front of the television (probably the only time you will see me write that comment), taking our breathes away watching the opening ceremonies. CAN NOT WAIT! In fact, I already have the local Chinese food menu sitting on the table for review. Have fun, cheering on your favorite countries and athletes.

Jacob has survived his tonsil removal remarkably. In fact, we keep commenting on if we hadn't seen them, we wouldn't be to sure that they took them out. It's been tough attempting to keep him calm this week. I am a believer of when the kids aren't feeling well, let them call the shots as to the activities they chose to do and what to eat, and he has chosen to do anything and everything and the eating has not stopped. In fact, maybe since he can breathe better and possibly swallow better he is enjoying his food much better. We also have been busy gearing up for school. I can't believe Kindergarten! WOW! It's been an unbelievable fast 5 years for Jacob. I think maybe he is getting a bit nervous and he keeps telling me he isn't going. He keeps telling me that 'preschool is more funner and that he wants to go back there, because in Kindergarten you have to work and he isn't ready to go to work'. I just tell him, you never are and it's the law. No seriously, we talk about it and all his new friends, recess, lunch time, and all the fun things he will be learning. I even made a date with him to come visit him and have lunch the first day Isabella goes to school. I hope that works for now. We decided to not to many activities this fall for Jacob since school and moving is going to be an adjustment. So, in September he has decided to start Karate again. I can't wait and hope he enjoys it this time. Some how I think he will be karate chopping everything in site.

Isabella is doing great. She is excited about pre-school and thinks all her same friends will be in her class. I haven't suggested otherwise. I am not that crazy! We enrolled her in a small dance class at the community center for the end of the summer to see if she enjoys it well enough to continue on at a dance school. Well, she enjoys it. She is all over the place, not paying attention, there to see her friend, and adds words to the song they are learning. That being said, she loves it. So she is enrolled in gymnastics and dance this fall. I am not sure they will keep her in the class since she really does dance to her own drummer, but we are going to try. She is talking more and more lately, and even tells on her big brother. Last night she told me she likes Jazz music and Princesses, so that is where her dreams lie at night. I want to be 3 again.

On the house front. It's coming along. No pictures of the house (keep forgetting the camera when we go), but our apartment is filled with samples, books, catalogs, and a wish list a mile long (possibly a map of the banks we plan to rob). We are meeting with vendors whenever possible and I am enjoying the process every step of the way. Robb on the other hand, well a lot of choices makes him nervous and I just keep seeing him wipe his brow when it comes to money (maybe even a few more grey hairs). Below is a photo of just a few of the samples that have taken over our pad (I noticed a lot of neutral colors - I am trying not to do that - off to make changes). In fact the kids have started using them as toys, they make great tunnels. So, this weekend...plans to get lights and light planned done, meet with the cabinet guy, and get our appliances completed. That is ambitious for us (since we have limited sitter time and the stores aren't open on Sunday), but I do hope it happens or I am on my own next week as Robb is leaving town for work....does that also mean 'carte blanche' next week?

4 Days, 11 Hours...and so on.....

Our house is so excited about the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. We have been learning a lot about the games as well as the country of China.

Click here to learn more.

Or here to check your favorite sport and it's air time.

So, our plans are to order Chinese, stay inside from this heat wave we are having here in the mid-west and watch the opening ceremony on Friday night. What are your plans?

The THEME/SLOGAN for the Beijing, China 2008 Olympic Games:

"One World One Dream" fully reflects the essence and the universal values of the Olympic spirit -- Unity, Friendship, Progress, Harmony, Participation and Dream. It expresses the common wishes of people all over the world, inspired by the Olympic ideals, to strive for a bright future of Mankind. In spite of the differences in colors, languages and races, we share the charm and joy of the Olympic Games, and together we seek for the ideal of Mankind for peace. We belong to the same world and we share the same aspirations and dreams.

"One World One Dream" is a profound manifestation of the core concepts of the Beijing Olympic Games. It reflects the values of harmony connoted in the concept of "People's Olympics", the core and soul of the three concepts -- "Green Olympics, High-tech Olympics and People's Olympics". While "Harmony of Man with Nature" and "Peace Enjoys Priority" are the philosophies and ideals of the Chinese people since ancient times in their pursuit of the harmony between Man and Nature and the harmony among people, building up a harmonious society and achieving harmonious development are the dream and aspirations of ours. It is our belief that peace and progress, harmonious development, living in amity, cooperation and mutual benefit, and enjoying a happy life are the common ideals of the people throughout the world.
"One World, One Dream" is simple in expressions, but profound in meaning. It is of China, and also of the world. It conveys the lofty ideal of the people in Beijing as well as in China to share the global community and civilization and to create a bright future hand in hand with the people from the rest of the world. It expresses the firm belief of a great nation, with a long history of 5,000 years and on its way towards modernization, that is committed to peaceful development, harmonious society and people's happiness. It voices the aspirations of 1.3 billion Chinese people to contribute to the establishment of a peaceful and bright world.

The English translation of the slogan is distinctive in sentence structure. The two "One's are perfectly used in parallel, and the words "World" and "Dream" form a good match. The slogan is simple, meaningful, inspiring, and easy to remember, read and spread.

In Chinese, the word "tongyi", which means "the same", is used for the English word "One". It highlights the theme of "the whole Mankind lives in the same world and seeks for the same dream and ideal".