Kate's Art

Thought it would be fun for you to see how Kate writes her name and draws people. While this isn't her best work it is a fairly similar to how she usually draws our family. This is what she came home with from Sunbeams today. Pretty cute if you ask me.

We Have a Foundation

Not Much Left


Front Porch Footings


Back Footings

Despite the protest of some of our neighbors, the foundation was poured on Friday. As you can see, the back of the house is gone and the new foundation footings were poured. On the front of the house, they are increasing the size of the porch so we'll have a true porch that we can sit on and enjoy. The last one was so small that we never used it. Things are moving along well and we are overall very pleased thus far. Stay tuned!

New Tooth!

This week Ava's 3rd tooth came in. Yes, she is nearly 15 months old already but it seems that all of our children have their teeth emerge later than most kids. Ironically, one of her favorite household items is a toothbrush and unfortunately she doesn't care which one she grabs! We are trying to get her attached to her own but she seems to prefer Jackson's or Kate's to her own. My germ-a-phobia personality trait has really been challenged with the addition of 3 children to my life. :)

Lazy Sunday

Nice Hair


Sunday Reading

I had to take a few pictures of our lazy Sunday activities. After church we all took naps today (as is evident by Jason's hair). What a welcomed treat that was for everyone too. I think that the first week of school plus weekend activities really took it out of everyone.
Saturday was a really fun family day. We all went to the gym together and exercised first thing and then went to Waffle House for breakfast. Much to the dismay of every fellow Georgian, Jason has lived in Atlanta for 4 years and has never been there to eat. I had gone for the first time this week when my brother, Kyle and his wife Jenny and daughter Abby came to visit. (It is a southern stop so we had to try it out.) After breakfast we stopped by our house and took a look around. The back yard has been dug out for the foundation to be poured on Monday and the yard has been fenced off for the construction. In the afternoon Kate went to a fun gymnastics birthday party and Jackson and Daddy went out for some special time together. They went to see Over the Hedge and then got sprinkle donuts. Reportedly, the afternoon was a blast.
So, after all of the Saturday fun we had to take it easy on Sunday. The kids jumped at the chance for Daddy to read a few stories and they enjoyed it until Ava took all of the books away!

Construction August 16th

Front View


Great Room?


What's left of the back

The progress continues! The kids ask me every day if they can take pictures of the house and see what is happening. Today they were able to watch the Backhoe actually move things and do some demolition. We going to check things out again this weekend.

Thank You Party

Thank You Party

Jackson must have had a Sunday School lesson on gratitude because he asked me on Monday if we could suprise Dad with a thank you party. He said that Daddy works hard for our family and takes care of us so we should say thanks. Jackson formulated an idea for the signs and helped plan the special meal. The kids especially loved hiding and "suprising" Daddy but the entire event was really fun for all of us. (Originally the sign was only for his Dad but he added the and Mom part the next day.)

Jackson is an incredibly thoughtful boy. I sure am proud of him!

Construction August 10th

Front View


Entire First Floor


Great Room

Just 10 days later, this is the amazing progress. No roof, no walls just framing. Reportedly, this is the quickest phase of the construction so we aren't getting our hopes up that things continue to move as fast for the duration. Starting to get excited about things now...

Construction August 5th

Front View

Great Room 1


Great Room 2

Just four days after they began the tear down process this is how things looked. Still a little bit stressed about the looks of things. Jason keeps reminding me to look to the future not the current state of affairs. I bet it will get easier.

Construction August 2nd

Front View


Great Room


First Floor

When I saw what had happened to our home in just 24 hours my heart actually seemed to palpitate. As if we couldn't before, I knew that there was definitely no turning back! Wait til' you see how things look now!

1st Grader!

He's Ready to Go


All Smiles for the First Day


With somewhat less teary eyes than last year, on Monday morning I brought Jackson to Briarlake Elementary School for his first day of 1st grade. His teacher's name is Mrs. Wise. Jackson woke us up that morning at 6:52 saying "that it is time to get going".
After force feeding a few bites of yogurt and bagel, checking the backpack, and taking the obligatory pictures, we headed out. This year Jackson didn't hold my arm quite as long, give me quite as many kisses or keep my gaze as I left the classroom. (But he did give me lots of hugs).
I found myself lingering at the doorway not wanting to part ways quite so quickly. This made me realize that the tables have already turned at the young age of 6! The toddler years where he clung to my legs and cried when I left are fading faster than I'd like, too. I envision that for the next 12 years I'll be the one that is holding on longer and crying instead. I'm not ready...

Mayfield Dairy

Post Tour Hair Nets


Rocking Chair Front Porch


Mayfield Dairy Cow


For the past two weeks we've tried to fit in a few last minute summer adventures. One trip was to the Mayfield Dairy. While there, we were able to see how the milk was processed, packaged and shipped. As an added bonus, we wore hair nets for the tour! Kate and Jackson thought it was cool but Ava was NOT thrilled. They were sticklers though and she had to keep it on her BALD head. Another treat was eating Mayfield ice cream at the end of the tour on their rocking chair front porch. The kids want to go back already.

AVA'S A WALKER

Crawler



Walker


Just shy of of 14 months Ava decided to start walking and hasn't stopped since. In fact, every time she fell for the first few days she'd make a determined grunting sound and get right back up. That was about 2 weeks ago and she hasn't crawled since. The last picture of her crawling was taken at a blueberry patch on July 28th and the walking picture just 3 days later. It is hard to believe that our "baby" is now entering the toddler phase.

New Jammies

What a grin!



Happy Girls



All smiles


We had fun buying some 'I love Dad' and 'I love Mom' jammies for the girls. As you can tell from the smiles, they had some fun goofing around for the camera. We are blessed with two very contented girls who love to smile!

Pre construction August 1st

August 1st 8:00am


August 1st 8:00am

So this is what our house looked like prior to any major construction. We had given away our cabinets and refrigerator when these pics were taken on August 1st but other than that and extra dirt from the move it is what our home looked like when we lived there. The next post will include what the home looked like the next day!