Almost Done

So, we were hoping to have our addition done by Christmas, but it didn't quite happen. It's getting close, though. Merlin Miller has done a beautiful job and I am very well pleased. Our house now looks huge from the outside, too. The painter is almost done, the bamboo floor is in (I love it!!!!), but the carpets, bathroom fixtures, closet shelving, light fixtures, and other finishing touch things are pretty much all that's left. Merlin says maybe by the end of next week... Here are some pics so you guys can get an idea of what it looks like! Of course pictures don't do it justice. You'll have to come personally if you want to see what it really looks like...

So that's the outside while walking around from the front of the house. We're gonna have to work on the landscaping. And where you see the maroon van parked, there is an area large enough for the boys to play basketball... a large half court.

Now for the inside tour... We'll start from the kitchen going into the addition. You'll see the new dining room with the tiger-stripe bamboo floor. I love the look, the kids love to run and slide on it. It's not all pretty yet, there is still construction equipment laying about. Anyway, the doorway off to the right is my new pantry -- plenty of room for the extra fridge and the deep freezer and shelving for food storage. Straight ahead is the stairway to upstairs. On the left are windows and the french doors leading out to the patio.

Entering the dining room, you can see a doorway leading into the "office" A door off the "office" and the second doorway off the dining room is a full bath. The third doorway (right next to the chimney area) leads to the under-house area. We are putting a woodstove where the ladder is standing.

Looking from the corner of the dining room, you can see the french doors and back into the kitchen. We plan to extend the patio out several more feet to center the french doors. Next we head upstairs... Halfway up the stairs is a landing and the door leading out to the garage. At the top of the stairs on the left is a small doorway leading to the above garage storage.

At the top of the stairs to the right is the full bath with linen closet (first doorway on left). The other doorway leads to the room that will be Josh and Devon's. Just to the right off Josh and Devon's door, but not pictured is a laundry closet. The boys will be doing their own laundry!! (see the smile on my face!!)

The first pic here is the teal room which will be Josh and Dev's. It has 3 nice windows. Up the stairs and take a sharp right (180 degrees) you enter the large bedroom (blue) which is going to be Michael and Rhett's. It only has two windows. The closet pictured here is the same size as the one in Josh and Dev's room. Josh and Dev's windows open out to the front and driveway side of the house, while Michael and Rhett will have the pretty view facing the yard /patio.

And that's the tour! Family and friends are welcome to visit anytime and see for themselves.

Josh and Devon's calves

Josh and Devon decided to try to make a little extra money this coming year by raising a couple of calves to meat out. This past fall, the purchased a couple of newborn dairy bulls and then bottle fed them for several months. Now they are getting bigger and are eating hay for the winter, but I wanted to get their pictures posted while they were still small.Devon's calves are Spot and Spunk, and Josh's calf is Beef. As you can see, Sage likes to make sure the cow's faces are washed after they're done eating! Unfortunately, Spot passed away for an unknown reason this past Saturday. Devon was very upset. He really enjoyed the calves... not just because of their money making potential, either! Sometimes I wonder if the boys will get too attached to sell them for meat this next year!

Monkey see...

Last month, after returning from Scott's, I had noticed the air was low in one of our van tires. So I used the foot pump to put a little more air in so I could drive it to get it fixed (there was a nail in the tire. The next day, I was outside with Carolynn, taking care of the animals and what not. I turned around and she was gone. This is what I found her doing...
Monkey see, Monkey do!

Sunday at Scott's

Sunday dawned warm and sunny. Caelin went to church with Mom, me and mine. I think Caelin sat the best of all the kids. After church we went for a walk again. Chase and Carolynn shared the wagon. They loved being pulled by Granny all over! The weather was absolutely beautiful! We drove to the "beach" near the opening of the development and the kids waded into the cold water and played in the sand. Chase didn't really move from the spot he was placed for a good 15 minutes as the others played and wandered around the beach.

That afternoon, Trevor and Caelin carved some pumpkins for Halloween. The boys helped clean out the guts and Granny and I carved the faces they designed. Carolynn and Chase wandered around the yard, checking miscellaneous items throughout the experience. Then everyone posed for pictures.

The rest of the day, was spent relaxing and chatting with Lori (who fixed a fabulous dinner), watching the kids play, and trying to decide if we should stay and enjoy the company, or if we should go home in the morning so Trev only missed one day of school and I had a chance to catch up on the laundry before I had to go back to work. We decided to leave early in the morning and head back to PA, taking wonderful memories home with us to treasure.

It took us a bit longer to get home. We stopped to get breakfast, stopped to get gas, stopped for a potty break, and stopped for lunch. We left around 6:30 am, and got home in time to pick up Josh from his football game around 5:30 pm. I think I like driving at night better!

Thanks to Lori for a wonderful visit. I look forward to seeing everyone again, hopefully soon!

Saturday at Scott's

I know. It has been about a month since I wrote anything on here. I have a lot to write. Unfortunately, as it goes around here, some things may be left undone. Hope you enjoy what I am able to do!

Anyway, I'll start with my visit to North Carolina. Mom had told me that she was planning to go see Scott before he was shipped off to Iraq again. After thinking a few seconds and realizing it had been at least 2 years since I had seen him last and that I had never even met his son Chase who is 2 months older than Carolynn, I decided I wanted to go, too. I planned to take Carolynn with me, and a week before the trip, we added Trevor to the visitor's list. He was very excited to go see Caelin. I had to beg some fellow co-workers to trade days with me at work (which ended up causing some minor difficulties with Mike's schooling) in order to have the time to drive the 9 hours down and 9 hours back and still have time to visit. Trevor would miss a day or two of school, but I wasn't that worried.

We left Saturday October 10th in the evening about half past 6 pm. I figured if we drove all night, then the kids would sleep in the car, making for a more pleasant trip for them. We had a back-up plan to stop if Mom and I got too tired too drive. We made great time, only stopping once for gas and potty and got down to Scott's a little after 2 am. Carolynn had fallen asleep shortly after we left Granny's, and when I tried to move her into the playpen to sleep in the house, she woke up. She decided she wasn't tired anymore (even tho I was exhausted because I really hadn't slept the whole way), and even after I tried putting her in bed with me, she stayed awake until after 5 am. Then shortly after 6 am, Caelin, excited to start playing with Trevor, came in and woke me up with a cheery "it's morning time! Time to get up!" And the day's adventures started!

We started off the morning with Caelin's soccer game. Caelin didn't seem to care much about the game, but he did go after the ball and actually got a kick on it a couple of times. It was hard to get good picture as my camera's zoom isn't that great and the kids all tended to converge around the ball making a good shot nearly impossible. Caelin was #6. Scott spent most of the game entertaining Chase while trying to watch Caelin.

I finally got to meet my nephew. And Chase is absolutely adorable! Beautiful curls surrounded his cherubic face. His whole face lights up in a smile when he is happy, and he has the most adorable giggle! Unfortunately, that evening before Scott left, Lori cut all those beautiful curls off of Chase. He sat very patiently, never uttering a complaint through the whole procedure. And when he was finished, he was just as cute as he had been when she started!

Carolynn loved playing with someone her own size. She and Chase were the best of buds as she played with all his toys, jumped on the trampoline and rode in the wagon with him. Chase was a little slow to warm up to this creature invading his domain, but he was sweet and didn't fight back when Carolynn wanted the toys he was playing with. And Carolynn has never seen such fabulous toys in her life! Not only did Chase have fun things to play with, but he had two dogs bigger than her that didn't even try to knock her over!

Trevor, in the meantime, was having the time of his life with Caelin. Caelin's bedroom floor, spotless when we arrived, was quickly covered with Transformers, cars, dinosaurs, and myriad other toys. And after spending hours playing with toys in the bedroom, they went for walks with Granny and I, caught frogs, jumped on the trampoline and acted like boys. Trevor was as happy as could be playing with Caelin and his toys! That afternoon, Granny and I took the kids to a playground where we had a blast playing tag, swinging, and climbing around. That night, Caelin introduced Trevor to his Xbox 360. You can guess what Trev wants (and isn't getting) for Christmas now.


Scott left for Iraq Saturday night. Our prayers follow him. I know I don't say it often, but I love my brother. I am so glad I got to see him before he left. He is remembered in our family prayers every night, as well as many times throughout the day in my personal prayers. Thank you, Scott, for the service you give to our country. Thanks to you and the other men and women of our military, I can tuck my children in at night and know they will be safe in their beds. I know the sacrifice it must be to leave those beautiful children you have so that my children can have peace and safety. Thank you. I love you.