First Day of Kindergarten

Wow - What a day! We are brave parents I tell ya...no tears when we dropped our baby off at Kindergarten. It is truly amazing how strong and independent she has become! We started off the morning taking pictures at the new house. Our tradition will be to take pictures out front of the house every year at the beginning and end of the year to note how much Bean changes and grows each year. She really had a great day and already was scheduling herself an after school play date with a new friend. Her favorite part of school today was "learning." That is what she tells me anyway......LOL! I learned some things today too!

• We survived the boo-hoo / yahoo breakfast with no tears....seeing how far she has come puts a smile on my face....
• I am glad I have a week to transition into the Bean walking herself into class...I hover a lot...I mean a certain husband may have called me on my cell from the door of the classroom to tell me to quit...just saying
• Car pool lines are not for the weak hearted...I saw them...I am glad I can park and walk and very soon just walk from my new house!
• I keep looking up how to spell Kindergarten...somehow I think it looks like it needs a "d" instead of a "t"
• Kindergarten has evolved....it is high tech...computer labs, learning center, arts....WOO HOO!
• I am a proud Momma!

at school posing for Daddy

outside the new house!

So tell me did you have any rituals before the first day of school? I personally obsessed for weeks over the first few days outfits....but that seems normal amongst girls. Bean was already vying for a different outfit to wear today...but I pulled the Mom Card. So one funny thing I pretty much always did before the first day of school was a long bath (mind you I am not a bath person). I mean I showered every day....but the night before the first day of school I always took a bath. It helped me get ready and get my school groove on...and I always (as far as I can remember) tried to use Jean Nate....after I got out! It made me feel grown up and special! I found my inspiration commercial on YouTube and am posting it here for you to watch.....aw brings back memories! I don't remember when I parted ways with Jean Nate...maybe when I moved on to Avon's Skin So Soft....but maybe I need to go out and get me some...wonder if they still make it?

Updated House Pictures!

So much work has been done! It is great to see all the progress!

view of kitchen with tile, counter tops and cabinets stained

i love you maple cabinets

decorative tile in master shower

pendant lights in kitchen

fireplace with mantle

The homestead update

Wow - what a difference a couple weeks makes. Seems like things are really moving again which makes us so happy. We are delayed about 4 weeks now....so looking to close near the end of September. Here are the updated pictures. We have insulation, drywall, brick, the staircase, cabinets and today they were putting the doors and frames in! It is very exciting to see it all take shape!

drywall in game room

a whole lotta insulation

brick in the front

a man and his garage!

stair case with wood and iron

porch bricked

cabinets in kitchen

iron detail on stair...I love how they came out!

Cowing Around at Chick-fil-A

We had our annual trek for free food to Chick-fil-A. This year we got to go with my adorable nieces and nephew and my amazing sister-in-law and brother. We procrastinated on our cow attire - but we pulled it together a couple hours before dinner. I was drying some of the shirts with a hair-dryer at the last minute. The girls had a fun, and I think the boys even enjoyed themselves. I know my brother was impressed that the food was in face free. We some some interesting cows while we were there. One guy looked to be putting on some sort of haz-mat converted cow costume in the parking lot. It was pretty funny to watch him get ready.

the girls ready to go


My bro (still bashful about being a cow) with his lovely wife

the girls enjoying their cow toys

me and Roon

Happy boy Finn

More pics of the Homestead

We have progressed quite a bit in the construction process since my last update. We have a roof, electrical, plumbing and should have HVAC this week. The brick and drywall have been on-site for about two weeks, but due to a red tag (over some engineering issues - inspector is very detailed - that is a good thing) and the copper being stolen out of the house....our time frame is looking to be pushed back till mid-September. Hopefully that is our only delay!

porch in back of house

view into kitchen at bar area

fireplace (which will have stone around it)

roof going on

front of house

Barbie Camp!

Believe!

I have been trying to get these uploaded for a few days...finally am getting blogger to cooperate. Bean had so much fun learning these dances to some of her favorite Barbie songs. These are a couple of the clips!


Connected!

More House Pics

Here are some highlights that have happened over the past two weeks. Seems like they are really booking it since the slab has been poured. We had some really bad storms last week (while our house was being framed), but all is well and God blessed us and our frame was just fine. Another home a bit ahead of ours in the schedule was completely blown down though. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

view from the front of the slab

first floor going up

2nd floor going up

the stairs...I love the curve

view from the picture window in game room - window seats being framed

This is so exciting!! Thanks for reading!

The New Homestead!!

The house sold and we are spending our summer in a town home. It is cramped and we have a ton of stuff in storage and in boxes - but we are so blessed. Our house got a contract just after six weeks and that is a huge Praise. Here are some house pictures. We are super excited to build and watching the house go up is so much fun!

the lot being formed

kitchen granite, throughout tile and accent paint in kitchen

closer view of granite in kitchen

exterior paint color and carpet behind...dig the plush

my maple cabinets...ours is the finish on the left...oh I heart you so maple cabinets....

decorative tile in master bathroom

exterior brick

Piano Recital

Bean had her first recital for piano this April...I know I am so behind. I have video but need to pick it up from my Aunt still. She did great - no fear - and did a pretty impressive job playing Mary Had a Little Lamb in octave form. After she was done, she liked the applause so much, she wanted to do it all over again. Little Ham I tell you......I love this dress by Gymboree..but it will never look this pretty again...it is something fierce after you wash it and my ironing skills are not up to par...well they are pretty non-existent...but seriously.....come back tomorrow for construction pictures of the new homestead.

So...this picture sums up the last month

Lots of busy and Lots of tired! I know that some of you were really tired of seeing Woo Hoo - Walgreens at the top of the blog. No more - I am back now! I have the computer and camera up and running again...so I hope to be posting more regularly now! Here is to more blogging!

Walgreens Woo Hoo!

I decided to go utilize some of the Walgreens Register Reward deals this week. I paid $3.52 for all this stuff and still have $7.00 in register rewards to roll again! I love shopping the sales! For deal match-ups check out moneysavingmom.com or survingthestores.com! Happy shopping!

Easter Celebration

We had a wonderful day together celebrating Easter as a family yesterday. We slept in a bit then headed to celebrate at Church. It was a great service! I am so thankful for all the blessings that Jesus has bestowed on me and mine. The sacrifice for us is amazing. Praise God - He is risen!

The weather started off rainy, but cleared by mid-day! The Bunny done good in Bean's eye's when she spied a Barbie Rapunzel doll with real "zizzors!" You can attach fake hair to the doll and then cut it. Barbie does it again - those people are brilliant. Bean, though, is very curious as to how the Easter bunny obtained the barbie doll. "Mommy did the bunny take it from Target?" No - the Easter Bunny has ways of getting them I told her. Doesn't she look so happy (see below picture)?


The only piece of candy that wise bunny left was this chocolate bunny. I imagine the Easter bunny may have felt some guilt with not leaving jelly beans....but sometimes a bunny has got to do what a bunny has got to do. Don't worry though, I spied some speckled jelly beans for 50% off today at the grocery store and I bought them. I am not a huge jelly bean fan, but the speckle seams to kick the jelly beans up a notch. Those are some good munchin...just sayin.

After Church and a quick lunch we went to a local Easter Egg hunt at a nursery. Look how pretty the flowers are! Bean did great...she stayed calm, did not run and looked high and low. She really took her time enjoying the egg hunt. However...she did not when it came to the floppy eared wonder. Bean was all over that bunny like a fly to honey. Every time she saw him, she would wave, make cutie eyes or want to go talk to him. Thankfully the bunny complied and was happy to take her kisses and Barbie stories. One of the nursery workers told us she is pretty sure that our daughter is the Easter Bunny's number one fan. It got tricky when Bean spotted some skin (Mommy I saw peach skin under the costume)...don't worry I explained sometimes the bunny uses helpers like Santa....."Mom - you mean that is Santa in the bunny suit (note eyes are lit up like saucers now). No honey - bunny helpers.....and with that I quickly changed the subject. Boy she is good.

We sure hope you enjoyed your Easter!

Give your husband the camera and you will get...

Lost of nature pictures. He loves to take pictures of landscapes. Pictures of trees, water, the sky, birds, rocks, grass....you get the idea. Here are some pics from his recent trip to Seattle. I was happy to see him in at least one of the pictures!

Uh Mommy...this smells funny

Well...looks like bath time Ariel will be heading to our local garbage dump. It is a great concept for the bathtub...barbies in the bathtub. The downfall is that Bean had no desire to keep this as a bathtub toy. After her maiden bathtub voyage...she begged that it become a land loving barbie so she could love it and snuggle it at any given time. We dried her off and she became a full time member of the land loving barbie brigade. So the other day we are in the living room and there is a funky smell. Generally the dog is blamed for every unusual smell...but I noticed that Bean was flinging the Ariel doll around and the smell was worse. Turns out Bean has been bathing Ariel every morning in the sink to get her hair to change colors. Then she puts the wet Ariel with the other Barbies in the Barbie drawer (yes we have an entire drawer dedicated to them) and dry. I asked her have you been drying Ariel before she goes in the drawer...of course Mommy I use the skittles fan to dry her every morning. See exhibit B below. That is awesome cause the skittles fan is about as powerful as my dogs breathing. So - you see the Barbie had to go - cause something was festering in her hair. Good-bye Ariel enjoy your new adventure!

I know you are all wondering, where can I get a $6.50 skittles fan. Yeah it really was that much...but Bean had a gift certificate to Limited Two (Justice for Girls now I think) and she choose that along with some webkinz. Oh and don't worry, Bean also snuck the skittles fan and enjoyed the sweet delectable candy for breakfast one morning. I always know she is up to no good when she says "Mommy everything is fine in here - don't come in." Yeah I am coming in even faster now!