Here is the house with the shutters on. What a difference they make! And the porch is finished. They did that this morning.
They are working on the back porch here. After they got the whole space filled with concrete they decided that it was going to collapse. The cement guy was not happy! We didn't stay to watch it fall. He was not in a good mood and I think having us there staring at them was just making it worse. So, we will go back and see what happened.
The bar area is all framed in. This view is standing the breakfast area looking through the kitchen into the dining room and out the front windows. We ordered the cabinets and did NOT go over our budget. They will be delivered on August 6. We ordered our appliances this weekend and bought some of the lighting. That was fun!
This is Emily's dance recital 2 years ago. She loved it! I thought she would be nervous when the curtains opened and she saw all those people....what was I thinking?? She starts summer dance on Thursday and she can't wait!
John started summer school today. Poor guy! He was very nervous. It is being held at a different school. But we saw some familiar faces. The hall monitor lady (I don't know what else to call her) from our elementary school was there. That made John feel more comfortable. Ethan got to see his teacher. He wanted to go to summer school when he found out she would be there. Ethan really had fun in her class.

Our Exciting Day

The siding is almost completed. That went really fast. If the sheetrocking and finish work goes that fast we will be in good shape. All the plumbing is in and most of the electrical. Those guys make putting all of that stuff in look so easy. Maybe I should have been a plumber!

We have been poolside this week. Working on our glowing tans! The kids always have a ball. And they sleep so well, I get double benefits. We all have a good time and I get a quiet peaceful evening! Ah, the joys of parenting.

And here is the excitement for the day. While we were at the house today, checking it over, a helicopter kept flying overhead. And then we realized it was landing. So we walked over to take a gander. It was very exciting to see a helicopter right in the middle of the street in our neighborhood. Although, I'm sure the guy that needed it would not agree! He was building a dock and fell off his ladder. Everyone there said he wasn't badly injured, but they thought it was worse initially. The perils of construction work.

Civil War Camp

Civil War Camp is over. The final day was a reenactment of the battle that actually took place there. The war was also decided that day too....in the interest of time. And for those of you who don't know--the Union won. The boys had a great time. Ethan cried himself to sleep last night saying "it should have been longer" over and over.



Emily didn't want to be left out of pictures. And she's so cute! Who wouldn't want a picture of Emily??

Summer is Here

All the windows are in. The door is on. It will be painted black. The plumbing is now in. That was really fast. It only took a couple of days. Now the electric goes in. Almost all the essentials are in place. We could just move in. Well....when the A/C gets hooked up!

The kids are out of school. They are very excited. The boys are in Civil War Camp this week. They are having fun! They started off as farmers and were recruited to join the army in 1864. John was a doctor recruited by the union army. Ethan was a hotel keeper recruited by the union army. They (all the kids) got in trouble for "gambling" yesterday. John came home with 72 confederate dollars. Ethan came home with 2. They got union army caps and nap sacks. They learned how to load their powder and bullets and shoot. They are already talking about going back next year. Emily and I went grocery shopping at the commissary yesterday. She wanted to use the self checkout. So, Emily "deeted" all of our groceries and I bagged them. AND she did not need ANY help. She was quick. She did it cheerfully, even. It just begs the question......If a 7 year old girl can do it that well, why can't the cashiers at Walmart do it that well????? She's just perfect, that's all!

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5th Grade Graduation

Way to go John!! It was a tough adjustment to a new school. So far away from home and so far ahead of where he was in his class in Texas. John is a tough kid, though, and he didn't give up. As you can tell from the pictures, this whole graduation ceremony was not for John. He was not very excited about it all. Just give him his report card and let him go home.

He is such a good boy! One of the three coolest kids I know! We are very proud of him.

Still here

We are still here. I have been lazy about updating lately. I am having a hard time adjusting to being actually having a real job again. I never have enough time to get anything done. I'm always tired. And I'm always whining.

So, in the past couple of weeks we have seen great progress on the house. The roof is almost 100% completed. Doesn't it look great?? The windows were delivered on Monday and those guys worked fast. I checked on them in the morning. They were getting started on the first window. When I got back in the afternoon, they were almost done with all the windows. No progress today because of the rain, I guess.

We picked out cabinets last Thursday. That was fun! Now we are trying to make them fit into our budget. That's not as much fun. Not really fun at all.

School is out tomorrow. Hooray! The kids are so excited! By Tuesday they will be saying how bored they are. We are planning to spend a lot of time at the pool. When we are not at the pool, we will be at the beach. John and Ethan are going to Civil War Camp next week. Emily starts summer dance in early July. Poor John is going to summer school in July. He doesn't have to. His grades were ok, but he was just so far behind where the 5th graders were here in Virginia. We want him to be able to start 6th grade confidently. So, mom and dad are the bad guys. John is taking it pretty well. He's a good boy!

Alright, that's all I have for now. Love to all!