Addition Post #1

Well, week one of our addition...and we are well on our way! I will try to remember to post a "before" picture next time...but I am sure most of you already know what our house looked like. Anyways, after the deck was about half off I remembered to ask Ben to take pictures of this process! This will be our master bedroom in about 2-3 months... 

My sister's boss came with his back hoe and did all our excavation! He is truly amazing! Such a great guy and was a huge blessing to us! Thanks Thor!

Needless to say with all this rain we have been getting...it is a bit of a mud pit! But it will be beautiful soon!!! I can't wait!

 

This is our beautiful view from our current bedroom...haha we keep our blinds closed most of the time now.

But when we do open them...Ace always wants to be out where the workers are! He has been having some serious puppy anxiety with all the changes around here. Hopefully this little guy gets used to the idea of change...because there is a lot more coming his way!

We are definitely still in the early stages of this whole addition thing...but it is getting pretty exciting! Can't wait for the finished product!

A Weekend Away...

Probably not the post you were expecting! My sister and brother-in-law went away for the weekend...so the littles stayed with grandma and grandpa. Well, you can imagine since we are grandma and grandpa's neighbors...we also have the littles for the weekend. Landen has become extremely comfortable crossing the yard by himself (sometimes without notifying anyone!) This weekend away also landed on our church family's annual Thanksgiving Banquet! Of course we gotta get all cleaned up for the event! Here is grandpa and Kyla...ready to go! Matching even!!! (that part wasn't even planned!)

 Landen....hair spiked up and clothes changed!!! All ready to go...HANDSOME!

 It took about 10 tries...but I finally got an "okay" picture of Kyla on her own! Side note...she is much too familiar with the phone...finds it no matter where it is located and immediately puts the phone to her hear and says "HI" or "HEY" too cute!

 Landen was SO good once we got to the banquet! He literally colored and listened to the speakers the entire time! He was so excited to go this year...he asked me approximately every 10 minutes if we could leave for the banquet! On the way there he wanted to be assured that he was going to be early...when he saw all the cars in the parking lot he told me in a very grumpy/bossy voice "Great, we're late!" I quickly reminded him that we were actually 1 minute EARLY!

When we got home it was time for baths!!! Landen and Ky were both a little under the weather so it just seemed like a good idea to get all clean and warm before bed! Landen took a big boy shower...

 ...while Kyla took her bath in the kitchen sink...check out that sweet smiley face!

 Of course we had Joe Boxer too! He definitely missed his daddy while they were gone! (I think even more than the littles!)

We had a great weekend with the littles and are glad to "practice" parenting...and it is a quick reminder of how amazing my sister and brother-in-law are for doing this parenting business all the time! (and for raising two sweet kids!) Thanks for sharing them with us!

Happy Birthday!...and Our Update...

It was Ben's birthday on Tuesday so we were off to his favorite place to eat, Herb Niemans. He got his usual Cajun Steak...and we both got dessert...not something we do very often! It was so nice to go out to dinner for a date after the past few crazy months! 

 

Here is a little update:

-Ben just finished up another season of coaching football...it was a fun season and I went to a lot of the games this year! (Including Friday Harbor...in the rain!)
-I don't know how this happened, but I am going to school again! I am taking an online class (one a quarter) until summer...to earn a certificate in Teacher Leadership. This keeps me a little busy along with my role in the school with implementing these new structures. But what a great opportunity!?!
-We have decided to make our house a little bigger...so we are adding on! We looked around at other places and decided, there just isn't a house out there that we like as much as ours. Plus we love where we live and who we live by! It was a little bit of a process but we finally have our building permits and everything is a GO! We are preparing ourselves and our house for the addition and hope to start by the end of the month! Yippy!
I am hoping to keep you updated on the house progress...it will be a good reason to blog...!  Until then, enjoy this beautiful Fall Season...I LOVE IT!

Little Helper

On Monday, Tuesday and Thursday I teach an after school program called PACE. My mom often comes and reads with kids during this time, but last week she had Kyla with her. We weren't sure how it would go with the little lady, but she is so good. She loved sitting on Grandma-Grandma's lap and listening to little first graders read!

Some how I know it wont be long and she will be a first grader learning to read! Time sure does fly!

Big Boy!

Landen was asking for a new Seahawks jersey for his birthday. Uncle Ben and I bought him a jersey when he turned 1...and let's just say it has been well worn...and is a touch small. We bought him this new one for his 5th birthday...he thinks he is pretty cool. With the way this kid is growing I'm not sure it will fit him next football season! But he sure looks cute (excuse me I mean COOL) in it now!

A Girl and Her Cake-Pop!

My sister has turned into the the Cake-Pop queen...and this little princess absolutely loves them. She eats them as fast as her Mommy makes them. Can you say Junk Food Junky??

Silly Puppy...

Our sweet little dog is a little picky about which toy he plays with these days...Here he is IN his toy box trying to find the right toy.