Nice weather for painting...

My FAAAAAAAVE chair-to-be fabric

Max modeling in front of the floor model of the couch we ordered

The exterior painting of the house has been started; we've had temps in the 40's the last few days so they jumped on the chance to get this stage done.  We did just find out that our appliance delivery date has been moved to Feb. 10... yes... FEBRUARY!  Man.  They are more behind than we thought!  Anyway, here are a few pics from the weekend... the green color isn't as dark as I thought it would be and the trim isn't as light as I'd hoped, but it looks great nonetheless.  We also did some damage with the credit card at the furniture store this weekend... we bought a leather sectional for the great room and my very favorite thing is the new chair we are having made.  I took a pic of the fabric... I LOVE IT!!!  I don't know if those are leaves or acorns, but whatever... it's sooooooo cute!  

the front exterior paint...

Our Math Whiz

Chris and I had our first parent/teacher conference with Miss Heather this morning at Max's preschool.  It was scheduled for just 20 minutes and I wondered how in the world we would squeeze all our questions into one session, but at the 15 minute mark, we were already done.

Here's what it boils down to... Max is a math whiz and pretty much an overall genius.  Well... you know... kind of...

Miss Heather did sing his praises saying he is so well-behaved and very respectful to everyone in class.  She also said that there are a few kids that get in "trouble" daily and Max is smart enough to know not to associate with them; he knows who is good for him and who is not.  

She also bragged (er... I am bragging) that he is the most advanced in the class at putting patterns together, which she taught us is an early math skill, and she is very impressed.  He MUST get his math skills from his dad cause I got a C in Calculus in college... shhh!

We let her know that we (ok, I am) are becoming more and more bothered by the fact that Max prefers to play with girls and girly things.  She said he does choose girls in class too, mostly so he can love on them, but she will make more of an effort to have him associate with boys when she can.  She also made us aware of the fact that he is very good at sharing EXCEPT when it comes to the dress up clothes... if someone takes the veil off his head, she said "watch out".  Grrreeeeeaaaaaaaaat...

Anyway, it was very fun getting to sit down with Miss Heather today to hear about what a bright, fun, charming boy we have... what parent wouldn't love that report?

Happy 10th Anniversary to us!

Wow.  Either I got married young or I'm getting old... or both?  Ten years ago today, Chris and I tied the knot...  I can't believe it's been that long ago!  Time truly does fly.  

I reflected a bit on the last 10 years as I started making this post:  we've each had two different careers (well, 3 if you count parenting!), are working on building our third home, had a child, taken trips, and been healthy and happy... what a great start!  

I hope the next 10 years don't go by as quickly... and I wish them to be just as happy as the last 10 have been...

Happy Aluminum/Tin Anniversary to us!  :)  

More house updates...

We just got word that dry wall was started today.  Finally!  :)  It's starting to come together quickly now... although I admit I'm in no hurry to leave Grandma's basement; we love it down here!  :)  Here are a few pics...

the outdoor fireplace (minus one hearth stone)

Looking into the great room at the delivered dry wall

Covered patio and part of the back (can't wait till that hardi plank is painted!)

Another partial view of the back

Our new garage doors... unpainted

Christmas Parade.... BRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Don't worry about us... we just spent an hour outside while it was 28 degrees, waving to the parade participants and waiting for Santa.  I don't remember it ever being this cold this early in the season... it's bitter!!!!

Max didn't mind, mostly because he conned me into buying him a $5 bag of kettle corn.  Before you "tsk", keep in mind it is VERY yummy, and the bag was pretty huge, so that makes it better.  We were actually on a hunt for cotton candy but couldn't find any.  Oh, they had an ice cream stand though, as if anyone would want ice cream!  

It was very cheery though, and put us in the Christmas spirit.  We came home and got the Christmas tree out and lit it up already.  Next... stockings!

Ok, I cannot look at this picture without busting out in laughter.  Look at it!!  This is Max's preschool class!  Can you imagine getting a group of 3 and 4 year olds to smile and look at the camera all at the same time?  And look how mischievous they all seem... I bet Miss Heather and Miss Missy go home and cry tears at night from laughing so hard about these kids.  What a bunch of rag-a-muffins!

Max is INSISTING that I name everyone for you... so here goes...  :)

Back Row, L-R:  Miss Heather, Drew, Taylor M., Xander, Taylor E., Max, Rachel (of course, right next to Max), Amanda, Chase L. (the one who screamed bloody murder last year and made Max cry from the noise he created), Miss Missy

Front Row, L-R:  Joelle, Brayden, Chase G., Reese, Garrett, Cade, Becca

Hope you all get as big of a laugh out of it as I did!  Click on the picture to see it HUGE on your screen, then you can see their faces better... 

Look who's in town!

Santa!!  Max actually sat on his lap without being afraid this year and even told him what he wants:  Handy Manny Tool Truck, a Prince Eric doll, Spongebob Operation game, and a new bedroom set.  (thankfully Santa is getting him those things... shew!)  Here is a pic of them together... Santa was sooo nice to Max and told him he has grown so much since last year.  

House Update... finally!

I apologize for being such a slacker... I have so much going on in my life/head right now that I just haven't had time to make a new post.  Not to mention workers are at our house till the sun goes down at 5:30 so the only time I have light enough to take pictures is on the weekend.  Unfortunately this weekend is wet, cold and dreary so the pictures don't look great, but at least you can get the idea.

The hardi plank is on, but not painted, so keep in mind that all that grayish yellow stuff will become a really deep, dark greenish brown color.  The stone is completely done, minus the fireplace in the great room; the brick is yet to be started.  So everywhere you see Tyvek paper, imagine brick.  

The drywall was delivered at the end of the week so that will begin going in very soon...  after that it's cabinets and hard flooring (tile, wood).  It's finally coming together.  I doubt we'll be in by Dec. 30th though, which is our 6 month mark... but it may not be too far from that date.  :)  At least we have a great place to stay in the meantime, so we're not in a hurry!  

Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet...

Trick or Treat was the 30th here this year (please don't ask me why because I don't know, and yes, I think it's silly too), so yesterday was a big day for Max... er, Spongebob.  He started the day dressed as Spongebob for his school's Halloween Parade and ended it dressed as Spongebob for Trick or Treat.

We went around our old neighborhood with our friends, the Knights.  Max had a great time running up and down the streets with his friends!  He was way into it this year.  I took a few pics to share with everyone... 

Today was Max's Halloween Party at school.  Xander's mom and I worked together to put on the first party of the year.  PRESSURE!!!  LOL!  We made footprint ghosts, drank lemonade with eye ball ice cubes, and played lots of games.  I will admit that I had a plan for this party, an ORGANIZED plan, but alas I found you cannot be organized with three year olds.  It was chaotic, but they all had a lot of fun. I have a pic of Max at the snack table and a group shot of his class but Blogspot is being rude and not letting me upload it for whatever reason, so I'll add those later I guess.

Happy Halloween!

It's Pumpkin Time!

We took Max to Kleather's this weekend to pick out a few pumpkins.  "Luckily" my mom found a Sleeping Beauty stencil design for Max to carve in his pumpkin this year- thanks Mom!  ha ha.  She also found a prince for him as well, so two pumpkins made it home with us.  Max's favorite part of Kleather's is all the Wizard of Oz decor they have around, including the wicked witch riding her bicycle above the cash register.  He just looks up and stares at her.  Is he scared?  Is he studying her?  Who knows.  He loves it though.  Here are a few pics...

heavy....

with the Pumpkin Man... (sign said he's Frosty the Snowman's cousin or something?)

posing...

Max, as the Tin Man...

About 43" tall this fall!

He wanted to buy this one, of course.

Here is one he got instead...

House Progress 9.28.08

The roof is almost covered with tar paper; shingles will be coming soon.  Some of our windows have been installed as well...  I took pics from all angles this morning.  :)  We went to the Donut Haus and had breakfast on our driveway while we checked out what they had done this week.

From the left side:  garage bays and part of the covered patio...

From almost the end of our driveway near the road...

A closer view...

The right side view...

From the back, right side...

Centered in the back yard...

We're out... :(

*cry* 

Friday the 19th was our last day in our house.  I was VERY emotional all day; I think it's because of all the memories we have made there cause I certainly didn't get emotional when we moved there from our last home!  

We spent the day packing a few last things and taking them to my grandma's.  In the evening, I made sure I went in each and every room and thought about good times in that space.  (am I corny?)  Max's room was the most difficult for me, of course.  

We got a few pics of us while the house was completely empty and clean... one of Max lying on the floor where his bed was, one of the two of us kissing in the spot where I first sat when we brought him home from the hospital, one of Max and Chris pretending to color on the desk in Max's toy room, and so on.  We are soooooo sentimental, aren't we?  I know some of you are saying "gag me" right now!  ha ha!

The very saddest part of the day was the nighttime... we hung around to eat some cake with the neighbors (it was Drew's 3rd bday and we wanted to celebrate too!) and when it was dark I told Max to "tell the kids we'll see you soon!" and he literally broke down!  Crying and kicking and screaming and saying he doesn't want to move!  Tears poured down my face, I felt terrible!  He was soooo upset!  The crying lasted for a loooong time!  Luckily, we had a "moving present" waiting for him at my grandma's, where we're living the next three months.  Once he saw his boy doll from Barbie and the Diamond Castle he was happy again.  Today he even referred to our "old" house as "Kate's house"... she is the little girl who moved in.  I thought that was surprising!

So here we are... unofficially homeless I guess, since my grandma is kind enough to share her home with us.  I think it'll be a while before I can even drive by our "old" house again; last night was just too sad for me.  We loved our time there... it is so sad for me to even look at these pictures!!

I hate Hurricane Ike

Who knew hurricanes could hit Ohio?  Honestly.  We started out on Sunday knowing the storm was headed our way, but we didn't expect it to deliver category 1 force winds and knock down trees, shingles, siding and power lines on it's way through.  GRRRR!!!  We have been without power for THREE days!!!!!  And can I tell you how unprepared we were for that?  We are moving out this week and had a garage sale last weekend, so I sold all our coolers, packed our candles and flashlights and was in the process of cleaning out the fridge.  We had NOTHING!  Thankfully I have a very nice cousin who let me borrow candles and a cooler, and kind parents who did more of the same, including making tacos for us on the grill for dinner!  :)  Yum.

Just so you know, we have power RIGHT NOW, but we may not in a few hours...  so I'm getting this all in while I have a minute.  We did close on our house tonight as well, so we are officially homeless... we will spend our last night here on Thursday then move in with my grandma...

Enjoy your hot water and cool refrigerators if you have 'em!  :)  Stupid hurricane!

"Mommy, Mommy, it's ok, it was getting too long"

This is what happens when you're so busy cleaning, organizing and packing that you leave your 3 year old downstairs alone watching tv...

I came down the stairs to find this...

He somehow found little kid scissors (thankfully!) and proceeded to cut my plant to shreds!  I had to hold back the laughter because he said the reason he HAD to cut it, was that it was just getting too long... which was honestly true.  Anyway, what a sight!

For Justin..

Here JuDill... I went over to the lot in the rain JUST to take a picture of the house with the trusses...  HAPPY??  :)  Really though, I'll go back on Sunday and take more when it's nice and sunny and I don't have to worry about mud.

Enjoy! (and stop nagging me now!  hee hee)  XOXO!

First Day of Preschool!

It's here... the first day of school.  Last year Max was in the Kids' Morning Out Program (2 days a week) that readied him for preschool, but today is officially his first REAL day of school.  

Max's teachers this year are Miss Heather and Miss Missy.  Miss Missy is his favorite only because she has "very long hair", he says.  We are lucky enough to have his best friend, Rachel, in his class again this year.  In fact, after school Miss Heather told me those two are a "hoot" and played together the entire time.  He gets to go to school Wed, Thurs and Fri.

It was a great first day and Max was sooooo excited to be there.  As you can imagine, we took 23489435634782 pictures, but I'll only post a few here.  :)  Max was wearing his monogrammed shirt (it has been my tradition to buy him one each season as he grows and he wore a red one on his first day last year) and his new, SUPER FAST (super bright) Saucony shoes.  Please notice cause he is VERY proud of them!  ;)  FYI, his shoe size at age 3 1/2 is a 12!!!!!  WHAT!?!?

At our front door...

He's got his backpack ready!

In front of the school...

Hanging up his backpack...

Miss Missy showing him where his name is to "sign in"...

Using his name tag to "sign in"...

All the kids' backpacks...