Colby's hair

Did I mention that Colby decided to chop her hair?? She donated 8 inches. =)

Now we even more alike.

A month? Really??

So I noticed that it's been over a month since our last post. I'll have to put up some more pics as to how the house is coming. Sadly I forgot to take a picture of the hole I left in the wall after falling off the radiator. Though on a positive note, it did allow us to verify that particular part of wall did have insulation. Not the correct amount.... but there was some there! Oh and there's a pipe in that wall as well and it hurts to fall into it.

In the mean time, is there anyone that wants to make me one of these???

http://solgrim.blogspot.com/2009/06/sirkel-i-kvadrat.html

Or maybe just teach me how. But then again, I'm kind of swapped with projects right now so maybe you can just teach me after you help me finish things. =)

House Pics

Here's some various pics of the new house in progress. Most of the pictures are from the main room as that has been the one that we've been stripping wallpaper and messing with the most. I'll try to get some pics of the rest of the place after I unpack the camera.

New House

We have officially bought and have mostly moved into our new house. FINALLY!! It was a long process and a lot of paperwork and a lot of signing our lives away, but in the end, we have a house where I swear the walls lean more and more each day. But they are my leaning walls and if I want to tear them down, I can (and Kevin would probably like that as there is a lot electrical updating to be done anyway).

So... we now live in the compound. I think you can just send all mail to the Freeman Compound, Dixboro, MI and we'll probably get it. =)

Party update

Party will be in Dixboro. Mason would like costumes if you're up for them. Not sure what house it'll be in... that'll be a TBA as we are hoping to close on the new place next week. =)

To a good home

Well, the world moves on. We still don't have a closing date for the new place. It's a lot of more paperwork and more paperwork and did I mention more paperwork? I'm hoping for maybe closing sometime this year.

Aside from that, work is work. The kids have started in new schools and seem to be doing well. I cut off 10 inches of my hair and added in some purple highlights.

And, I'm hoping to have Mason's birthday party on October 1st. I'm thinking around 1:30ish, though I have no clue where the party will be. I'd like it to be at the new house (please see first paragraph).

Big News take 2

No, I am still not pregnant.
But... It appears that we will be moving to the Freeman compound. We are currently in the process of buying a house that borders the property of both my mother-in-law and my brother-in-law. It is a house built in 1838 with a few additions and subtrations and it also the house that my father-in-law grew up in. Had it not been for Bob the mortgage guy, we would probably be in the house now. I do not recommend Bob. I really do not recommend Bob. Susie though seems nice and I think that we are finally making headway again. We've kind of waited to tell people the news as we are still afraid that something horrible will happen. However I am going to think positive and make the official announcement. I've signed the kids up for their new school, Mason will be at Thurston and Colby will be doing the pre-k program at Stone School. We still have some paperwork issues with Mason as we don't "officially" have an Ann Arbor address, but we are looking into ways around that. =)

As soon as things are officially official I will post an open house for people to come and see the new house as many have expressed an interest in knowing what it looks like inside now. Though, we are keeping the renter that lives in the upstairs portion so we can't really visit his space. But, you are all more than welcome to try to find the cowboy wallpaper.

Big News!

Let me start off with, No I am not pregnant. That would be very hard to explain.

The big news is that 2 days after we decide to not buy a new house somebody goes through our house and decides that they would like to live here for the next year, that they'd like to pay us full rent with no haggling and well... they'd like us out by Aug 1st. So aside from moving in with my parents in the very near future, I'm not sure what all this means. We have no clue if we will in fact buy a house in the next few months, next spring or anytime. We are willing to hear any arguments/thoughts anyone might have re:any of the previous.

In other news, the stairs are progressing. Here's a pic of Kevin showing them off. He managed to get a few more in that night and then I glued them, plugged them and have started staining them. Though, considering we need them to go into and out of the house, this process is going to have be done in stages and hopefully (fingers crossed!!) no one will step and leave a blurb while things are drying.

I've also started trying out cakes. This is actually my second cake. I made it for mom's birthday. Super yummy!! The marshmellow frosting layer is my favorite, then maybe the cake. Though, the chocolate frosting turned out well too.

This was my first attempt at the rainbow cake. I made it for Father's Day. Apparently it is NOT a good idea to mix up baking soda and baking powder.


So I tried it again and brought it to Jon's place. This one turned out well! It took us three nights to finish the cake but no one complained. (well, at least not to me.)


Now on to pics of our trip to DC area. This first is the kids at the National Zoo. It was very hot and as such not many of the animals were out. However the kids found the misty showers VERY fun.

You might have to trust me on this one, this is the kids at the Baltimore Aquarium. They are standing behind a set of shark teeth. Neither Jon or I had a 'real' camera and my phone does not have a flash. Trust me, my kids with shark teeth.

My camera phone does work well outside though. Here we are getting ready to go for a ride around a very small enclosed area of the bay before the aquarium. The kids thought this was SUPER COOL for the first 10 minutes. Then for the next 20 Jon and I pedaled around.

But seriously, how can you not stop to ride a purple dragon around the bay???

Here is Rachel, Jon and I post-prostate cancer race or the 'Dash for Dad'. This was a 4 mile run in which I got the pleasure of veering off at the 1 mile marker to put a tie on, finish the race with a tie and then exchange if for a free mug! Well worth wearing a tie for 3 miles. And, the race had a free beer ticket afterward. I think I need to find more races with free beer tickets. Also, I did this one in under 12 min so it was nice to be a little faster. (That's under 12 minutes per mile, not under 12 min for the whole race. That would be amazing!)

After the race (and showers for Jon and I) we headed out to Dulles airport and checked out some planes. This was the kids favorite. I'd like to say because they admired how sleek and well made it is but truthfully they liked it best because it was in the movie "Transformers".

And here is a picture of Jon not picking his nose while driving.

And here is another picture of Jon driving.

I also have pictures of the back of Mom's head and my book as well as movies of traffic not moving if anyone is interested. I'm not sure it was the brightest idea to give Mason a camera phone while we were stuck in traffic. =)

Watch out for the cranes!!!!!!!

Oh, wait.... it was just a false alarm. They just wanted to sneak by.



I was going to update with more pics but the internet seems to be slow this evening.

Written update

Well... the stairs look the same; no updates there. As far as putting an offer on a house... we thought about it, decided to do it and then didn't do it. Then we decided that we weren't going to buy any house right now. Though, we are still going to keep our place listed for now. Hopefully mom and dad are ready for us to move in!

As I am at work trying to not fall asleep, I don't have any pictures of our trip to visit Jon. Though, I would like to thank Jon for letting us all invade his space and for taking us out and around the area for a few days. I know it can't be easy to go from bachelor living to dealing with 4 other people, especially ones you are related to. =) The short of our trip: day one- National Zoo, Day two- Baltimore: we rented a dragon shaped paddle boat, lunch at the cheesecake factory with Mikey and then off to the aquarium. Day three: race day! Jon, Rachel and I ran a race in the rain while the kids slept in and hung out with Busia. Then we went to out to the airport and checked out some old planes. Day four: Chill day. I think we all had a good time. I know the kids love visiting Uncle Jon.

Hmmm... were there other no picture things I was supposed to update on?? I'm not remembering. Oh well. In other news, Stephen, I do read your blog but I can't get the videos to work at work and it wouldn't let me comment on anything either. Many apologies, though I'm sure the video game is awesome.

Notice anything missing?

Of course there are a ton of other things going on and things to share. We visited Jon (the kids and I), running more races, pics of the previous race, playing with things around this house, looking at a new house that we might put an offer on if Kevin likes it... ya know, we have stuff going on! However, the kids and I are off to GR to watch a musical so we'll have to chat about all the rest later.

The Dx-A2 race

So I survived the Dexter-Ann Arbor 10K race. My overall unofficial ended up being a 12:30 mile for a total of 1:17 for the race. I'm not as sore as I was the last time I ran 6 miles so I'm thinking that I might have been able to push myself more than I did. Truthfully, the heat and the stupid hill to the finish line kicked my butt a little. I also don't currently have pictures as I brought my camera but left it in the car and I have yet to steal the pics from Glynda's camera.

I would also like to say a big THANK-YOU to everyone that came out to support me. I have a wonderful family! Thanks Glynda, Mom, Dad, Caleb, Mason and Colby!!!

New sprinkler

Ahhh.... a great way to spend a 91 degree day. I bought this at Target this AM to replace a definitely not as cool sprinkler. This one also has some benefit of being able to not only entertain the children but cover a wider area for watering. This should come in handy if we ever move to a new house. Water the lawn and the children!

Clean and decluttered

I'm so excited that our house is so clean and decluttered right now that I had to take some pictures and show it off. I got things started the other day and Kevin finished things off today while I napped.

Doesn't it look soo good! I mean, we have floors without random junk on them.

The beds are all made. The kids toys are all put away in the right places.

Ahhh.... it feels good. For us anyway. The kids claim it looks "creapy" without the stuff on the counters, fridge and walls.

Though I will probably have to share as to why it looks so good as usually we don't even clean this well for parties.

The realtor was over today to take pictures to list our place. Looks like we're going to be renting this one out and moving to the compound.

Fruit Salad, Yummy, Yummy

This is what the kids made while I was really busy making the main course. (Because it take finesse to make macaroni and cheese.) Doesn't it look good?

Kevin's new toy

Because who doesn't need a vacuum sealed monkey? I mean, you can even take it in the tub!

What to do on a windy, chilly day

"Mom, can I build a robot using the old Roomba?"
"Sure! Have at it!"



Good thing Colby had her toolbox.

Playing Chicken

So I'm driving home from work this morning and I see this turkey on the side of the road near the shoulder in the right hand lane. I figured that since I was in the left hand lane I was probably good. Because... seriously, even pigeons and squirrels run away from fast moving vehicles. The turkey though decided to take a couple of steps like it was going to cross the street. Still I thought, "no it's not that stupid". Then by the time I realized that yes, it is that stupid, there was no way to avoid him. He took flight right into my windshield and then I watched him catch some good air before landing in the median. Based on damage and the decibel level the "thunk", I'd say he was dead.



Lesson learned for the day: Do not play chicken with turkeys, no one really wins.

New house?

So today we looked at a couple of houses. The kids really liked this one. It's a renovated school house on a weird shaped lot. The playhouse in the back has electrical, heating and even an AC unit. =) We also looked at one that was on a really cool lot, but the house was in need of A LOT of tlc. By A LOT we mean, needs to be completely gutted and redone. That sounds fun and all, but not for the price plus the cost of what needs to be put into. And well.... then there's the problem with not selling our place and having the money and such for a second house...... We apparently just like to taut ourselves.

So... does anyone want a condo in Howell?

Antibiotics

This past month has been a little rough around here. So far Kevin is the only one of us that hasn't been on antibiotics. I had bronchitis for 6 weeks taking 2 courses of antibiotics to final "cure". Colby then was diagnosed with bilateral ear infections. And, Mason just finished up a course of amoxicilin for strep throat.

Now that everyone is starting to feel better we are looking again at projects around the house. Kevin (and a little of me) just finished a trundle bed for Mason's room. I (with help from some friends) painted the staircase going to bedroom level and am currently working on placing pictures in the stairway. The kids, well... they are the kids. Colby has MASSIVE abouts of energy lately. Mason has been a most wonderful kid, doing very well in school as well as being a wonderful brother. (For that, a Bone book magically appeared at the house.) Both kids are taking gymnastics and seem to be enjoying it. Colby more so than Mason, but I think that he likes it even if he won't come right out and say it. I have yet to have to drag him into getting ready or going.

That's the short of life around here. I'd put up some pics for you all but our computer is a little full and we haven't downloaded the camera in a while. And, well, I'm updating this from work and trust me... I work the urology floor, you don't want me to update with pics from here.

Lindsey's Birthday gift

Remember awhile ago I mentioned that I had a really cute pic of Colby modeling Lindsey's birthday gift... Well, Here you go!



And, yes, she is riding a unicorn.

Colby's birthday party

It was a great party, all had a lot of fun. Apparently there was a snow storm in the Ann Arbor area so the party started a little late and we lost a few guests. However, the rest of us partied like 4 yr olds! (Including a princess tiara pinata)

She asked for a breakfast themed party

with a chocolate Dora cake.

Oooh.... looking a little toasted. No more of that "special juice" for you! And, I'm not sure about the hoody... maybe she was just cold??

I too am cut off from the special juice.
(I told you we partied pretty hard!)


From us on her actually birthday, I made/gave her a heart shaped pirate pillow and frog blanket. If I was to do it again, I don't think I would have made the top of the heart as deep of a V as I did and please, don't look too closely at my top stitching on the blanket. Colby likes them both so I'm all good!

Colby Stats

As of her well-child appt this AM:
Height 41.5in
Weight 45lbs

Thus putting her in the 84% for height (with a guesstimate of 5'7" as an adult) and 95% for weight.
3 shots all taken without tears.

Oh and she has bilateral ear infections.
(That really explains yesterday's picture.)

What came down from quiet time

Save the date!

Colby's birthday party will be Saturday Febuary 5, 2011 at 1pm, our place.

See you there!

Monsters!! (small spoiler alert for certain people getting presents)

Due to the weather, volleyball was canceled this evening. So, what's a group of crazy people to do with all our free time?? (No silly, I mean aside from watching movies and playing the wii.) Much to Mason's original dismay, we decided to make monsters! I found this great book and I happen to have a problem passing by the remenants at Joann's....

Colby named her's "uncle jon"

Mason named his "star"

This morning I put the finishing touches on Lindsey's birthday gift. I have the cutest pic of Colby modeling it but you'll have to settle for this small spoiler as I know you're one of the few who read this blog.

Last week, using this as a guide:

I made these as a Christmas gift for the Balcerski girls.


And... TADAA!! The curtains are all trimmed, hemmed and up! (Please excuse the mess that encompasses the rest of the picture; try to just look at the curtains.)

Here's a close-up of the fabric print.