Flashback Not Quite Friday

It's hard to believe they used to be so little. Aren't they cute?? This is December 2003 right before John went to Iraq. This was a very good Christmas. I even got jewelry!

Is progress in the toilet?

Yes, actually, it is!!! We have plumbing!

Dishwasher!! I have been without one for a long time and I still know what one looks like. I wonder if I will remember how to operate one?? Maybe the kids will.

Emily wants everyone to know we have running water.

I love to stand in the laundry room. It is the most done of all the rooms. I can pretend that the house is finished and I am waiting for my handsome delivery man to deliver my washer and dryer.

Let there be light...

We may actually be able to move in sometime soon. We are looking at closing the middle of October. Really! Yeehaw!! It's good to see some of the final work getting done. It just makes me feel so good!

The Paint

Well, here it is. I know it doesn't look that bad, but ceilings ARE supposed to be WHITE!! It does look better now that some of the trim is painted white, but I haven't been able to bring myself to take any more pictures. AND there's not really anything new besides the trim. Are they moving too slowly or does painting really take that long. They will not be finished by the end of September.

Emily started dance this week. Very exciting! She is taking ballet and jazz. Loves it! Ethan's teacher quit this week. Today is her last day. He is not very happy. She is the teacher that he hoped he would get. It was a hard day for him when he found out. Hopefully, his new teacher will be just as lovely.

Alright, I am going to try to go back to sleep. I woke up at 3 and couldn't go back to sleep. I will be grouchy today and jittery from too many sodas. But I get to sleep in tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it.

Alright, I am over feeling sorry for myself and ready to sociable again. A few things happened last week that just got the best of me. John was almost activated and sent to Baghdad. Some things went horribly wrong with the house that I can't fix until we move in. For one, in some GREAT misunderstanding the ceiling got painted the same color as the walls. Kind of an off white color. Cost to fix $2000. In the budget? No! &%#@%$#!!!!! Very frustrating! And a couple of other minor little things. It was just one thing after another. BUT, things are going well this week. John is not going back to Iraq. The house is getting finished, however slowly. And I will paint the ceilings as soon as we close.

I've had a long week.

Catch Up

Just wanted to tell everyone about the fun weekend we had before school started. We went to Outer Banks, NC. Everyone, but everyone has an OBX sticker on the back window of their cars here. OBX stands for Outer Banks. So, we had to see what all the hoopla was about. It is a really fun beach. The waves are better than Virginia Beach and OBX is not so busy. We had a great day. We did not go to the Wright Brother's Museum. Another day. Most of our day was spent on the beach relaxing. Before we left Outer Banks we visited Jockey's Ridge Sand Dune to watch the sun set. It is HUGE! And what a workout! Climbing the dunes is exercise. We had a great time. What a good way to end the summer!


I'll spare you all the beach pictures....except for this one. This is Ethan's sand castle. Ethan is a very determined boy! One day in the 3rd grade Ethan had math homework. It was over some new math concept that they had learned that day. He was quite frustrated because he couldn't grasp it. I could tell that he was getting upset when I thought his eraser would go straight through the table while he was erasing. I told him to take a little break and go back to it later. He could NOT do it. He sat there and cried and fussed until he figured it out. And then it was as if the crying never occurred. He got over it that fast. It wasn't as easy for me, but good for him. I needed a good long nap after all of that. What does this story have to do with a sand castle, you ask......we got to see that version of Ethan all over again when he was trying to build "the perfect" sand castle. It was very entertaining. Trying and optimistic alternating with crying and despair. But here is the result. Beautiful, isn't it? And he is so happy.

And now school has started. I'll keep it short. I know your eyes are probably tired by now. Everyone had a great first week at school. Even John. Ag is his favorite class. I survived first week too. The first two days were nail biters, though.