The New House - Part 1

This isn't the first time we have moved, but we don't do it often.  Our first house as newlyweds was mostly updated by us and our family.  We wised up when we purchased our second home just before Lincoln was born, and we hired a crew to come in and take care of the painting, floors, and bathroom updates.  With this house, we are going all the way with a general contractor to handle all of the renovations.  We both work full time and can't be around to supervise or find people to do random jobs throughout the process, so Steve to the rescue!!!  Steve had a crew for painting, floors, plumbing, electrical, demolition, construction, and so much more!   It was a giant effort to figure out what we wanted the new house to look like, and we had a tight three week time line to work!!! Many evenings were spent at Home Depot to select fans and doors and such. 

Many hours were spent at the flooring store to select the hardwoods that would go throughout the house.  Juan was ready to install with his team and gave helpful guidance all the way through!! 

Oh, the paint!!!!  It seemed easy at first . . . paint all of the ceilings and closets and boys' rooms white.  It got a little complicated downstairs, but we really worked with Robert to find the best solution.  Their detail work was amazing! 

Flacco's team helped us out with the built-ins in the living room, and we are so happy with how it turned out.   

One of the most major parts of the renovation was tearing down the second story deck and closing that part off.  It was pretty rickety and didn't pass inspection.  Instead of repairing it, we chose to rip it down.  There are too many boys who would want to jump from th4e second story deck into the (shallow end of the) pool, and it just seemed like the right thing to do to seal that up!!   

Where that sliding glass door to the deck once was now is walled in with two windows.  Safety first!!! 

The hot water heater was replaced, and a new refrigerator took it's place,  The doors leading outside from the bedroom and the laundry room have been taken out and walled in.  Who needs so many entry points?! 

So much more construction is going on, but the house is looking so great.  It is such a blessing that we have time to live at the old house while most of the work is going on at the new house. 

Life Lately

Jackson's 3rd birthday party was so fun on Saturday afternoon!  We had fun at the camp-themed party.  So many activities in the backyard.  Happy Birthday, Jackson.

We met up with our besties at Canyon Creek for dinner on the patio on the warm evening.  The parents had a great dinner, and the kids had too much fun running around on the putting green and dining on the patio too.   

We did some shopping during the week for some new furniture for the new house.  Deciding on accent chairs for the living room required some testing!!   

Our church recently upgraded the playgrounds, and the boys have been so eager to play.  After church on Sunday they got to play for a while.  They definitely approved of the new playground! 

We are in full remodel/renovation mode at this point and anything to keep us out of the house is a win!  It can't take that much longer, right?

What's Going On (starring Lincoln)

Lincoln has been loving 1st grade and has loved having his best buddies in class this year.  One unsuspected surprise was meeting Berkley.  She and Lincoln were assigned to sit next to each other at lunch, and they really hit it off.  Like . . . REALLY hit it off.  Lincoln has his first little girlfriend, and he's kind of ok/embarrassed to talk about it.  They are sweet friends, and she and her family are very nice.  We try not to talk about it too much because Beau likes to tease him a little too much, but it's super cute! 

Since the move to the new house is coming so soon, we aren't really doing any Halloween decorating.  (No time for giant pumpkin carving!!)  Lincoln brought home a mini pumpkin and asked to have it carved one evening and that seemed like an easy request to fulfill.  (Beau brought home one the next night, but no picture goes with it!  Sorry Beau!)  We will go all out next year at the new house for sure . . . the Halloween boxes are labeled and ready!!

The Ninjas soccer game was on Thursday evening, and it was an exciting one!  Lincoln is definitely more interested in the defensive side of the game, but something weird happened on this night and little guy scored two goals!!!  Daddy left after the game to go to his softball game so we went to have dinner on the patio at the club to celebrate!!   

October is normally so busy with sports and birthday parties and regular life . . . more fun pictures are on the way!

State Fair of Texas 2015

FAIR DAY!!!!  After the excitement of the Rangers game, we hit up the State Fair of Texas on Monday.  RISD gave the kids the day off on Columbus Day, and the kids got a free ticket to the fair.  Beau was happy to take the day off to join us.  Daddy was out of town for work, so Pop Pop offered to be our driver!  We discovered very quickly that going on Fair Day was WAY different than our usual visit on Opening Day (in the morning).  We are used to minimal people and no lines for rides or food . . . this was a ton of people and way long lines for everything.  We definitely had to pose for our annual height check at the sign.  Two excited boys!

These two were ready to jump into some serious rides.  They happily climbed into this car and anxiously awaited for it to start.  Their mom was about to have a heart attack wondering if the attendant had properly fastened them in or they would freak out after a minute or if they would sustain some terrible injury or if they were even tall enough to be on this one.  But these two happy faces weren't worried about a thing!

Take a look at how fast this thing was going!!!  Crazy fast and not appropriate for two little people barely sniffing 50 lbs each!  Not only did it go on for too long like this, it changed direction and went in reverse for just as long!!

The good news is that the boys actually liked it.  Each time their car came around, they had a smile or laugh or wild squealing look.  Not gonna lie:  This Mom actually cried behind her sunglasses that her little boys were grown up enough to survive/enjoy a bid kid ride!!  They were walking a little crazy and were pretty dizzy, but they had fun.  We took a walk in the Children's Area and did some posing and exploring to take a break.

There is no photographic evidence of lunch, which is odd for us.  No one had a corn dog, and I'm sure we were the only family that could make that claim at the State Fair of Texas.  Daddy usually takes care of that for us at Fletcher's, but not this year.  Pop Pop was the only one to try out one of the special new items, and it was pretty good.  We found a semi-shady spot on a ledge and ate there.  It was super hot and crowded!  We made our way back to the action after lunch and got ready to have some more fun!

Lincoln and Beau did a few more "real" rides, but they weren't that exciting.  (And they weren't that patient to wait in line.)  We all went through a roller coaster haunted house thing, and Mommy didn't love it.  They thought that was pretty funny!  There isn't too much to choose from between baby and big kid rides, but they definitely loved these "fun house" type things.  Climbing, sliding, obstacle course stuff was their favorite!  We did a pirate one, a musical one, a Halloween one, etc.

A few Midway games were on the list, and Lincoln used his awesome baseball throwing arm to win a great prize.  Beau was just kind of interested in the games.  (He wasn't really sure he would be good at the game, so he kind of shyed away.)  He was ready to get back to the fun houses! 

After countless trips for Pop Pop to restock the tickets and game cards, we did everything we had set out to do.  We stopped for a souvenir on the way out.  The boys had been eyeing the Minecraft weapons throughout the day!  They were carrying their Midway prizes as well.  We were all pleased with our day and ready to get some air conditioning and water!!!

Lincoln had made a paper version of Big Tex at school, so he and Beau spent a few hours talking like Big Tex!  The fun never ends!!

It was a great trip to the State Fair of Texas!  We are so glad that Pop Pop was there with us.  He was a great navigator and very patient at waiting in the long lines.  (We should all have taken a lesson!)  The boys got out of their comfort zone with that first ride and liked it, but then they worked together to find things to enjoy on their on level together.  Who better to go to the State Fair with than your best friend (and most frequent annoyer)?!?!  Their bond is amazing and really stood out in the best way possible.  Can't wait until next year!  (Except that we should totally pull the boys out of school on Opening Day in the morning so we can get back to our way of doing the Fair!!) 

Rangers ALDS Play-Off Game

In the midst of crazy life going on (football, soccer, school, etc), Mommy got two tickets to the Rangers home ALDS play-off game.  We are still major Rangers fans, and Lincoln was so excited.  Daddy was a little miffed that he didn't get the other ticket, but he was traveling for work.  So after a busy day of Sunday School, brunch, soccer practice, and a tennis lesson, Mommy and Lincoln put on our favorite Rangers gear and made the drive to the Ballpark in Arlington.  (Beau wasn't really bothered about it; he was playing with Nana and Pops.  He actually finds sporting events to be a little too loud for his super sensitive ears.)

To complicate matters even more, the Cowboys had an afternoon game that day.  Traffic and parking was so wild, but Mommy scored us a spot that wasn't too expensive and still easy to walk to the Ballpark.  (Mommy isn't EVER in charge of driving to games or figuring out where to park, so this was a major accomplishment!)  We posed by our spot with the Death Star in the background.  Lincoln was so interested in learning that Cowboys Stadium is sometimes called the Death Star, and the conversation lasted for most of our walk.   

We got to our seats in time to see the pre-show and the players introduced.  We were on the first level on the back row (under the awning of the second level).  Play-off games are super fun and have so much more excitement than regular (hot) season games. 

Lincoln was eager to wave his rally towel as much as possible.  He got a little crazy in our seats and waved it on everyone, so he got to stand at the end of our row and wave for a while.   

After the first inning (that wasn't very eventful), we set off to get dinner.  We walked the entire first concourse trying to decide what to buy.  We made a stop in the outfield for a picture. 

Lincoln decided on a little pizza, and Mommy got a grilled hot dog.  That lasted for the third inning, and then we went off in search of a lemon chill.  That was a huge hit!! 

After another inning of not so much exciting baseball, Lincoln requested ice cream in a Rangers hat.  He posed for a picture, and we took our ice cream to go.  He said the walk back to the car was way better because he had ice cream to distract him.   

We cheered, we sang, we waved, and we ate . . . and then we headed home.  The Rangers didn't win that game, but Lincoln and Mommy had a great time doing something out of the ordinary just the two of us.  So much fun with this 6 year old!

Birthday Parties and a New Roof!

Sunday was another fun-filled day.  Alexander's Dinosaur birthday party was just after lunch, and the Jacob's were kind to include Beau.  He especially loves dinosaurs and hanging out with the big boys, so he was in heaven!  Ms. Sarah had tons of fun stuff for the boys to do . . . bounce house, dinosaur bones buried in sand to dig up, and super cool masks to wear.  These two made their scariest dinosaur faces!!!

Mommy had tennis later in the afternoon, so Daddy took Lincoln and Beau to West's party at Pump It Up (the bounce house place).  Daddy wasn't able to provide any fun pictures of them playing, but Mrs. Kate sent a picture of them enjoying the pizza at the end of the party!!   They definitely had fun@

We went about our week as normally as possible with school and work, then we had another dose of moving stuff.  We got a new roof one day!  We had plenty of hail damage from a hail storm earlier in the year, and it was time to fix it.  Another first time experience - getting a new roof sounds like living in a war zone.  Those loud nail guns shooting all over the roof at once will make a person pretty scared just standing around inside!  As with the foundation repair, they were gone as quickly as they came.  Hooray for a new roof (that insurance paid for)!! 

At this point, the move is impending.  We still have a few more weeks before we can close and begin renovations on the new house, so we are just living our busy life and waiting on the next step. 

Bowie Fall Festival 2015

Saturday afternoon was the much-anticipated Bowie Fall Festival!  We volunteered to help with set up and were assigned the photo booth.  Lincoln had so much fun helping get the decorations up and taking silly pictures.  When Daddy and Beau joined, Beau loved it too!

One of the most popular attractions is always the confetti eggs.  What could be more fun than smashing eggshells filled with confetti on your friend's head?!?!  Lincoln and Canon were the first ones at the booth, and they had a blast!  (Because Lincoln and Canon are just the sweetest guys ever, they gently smashed eggs and had so much fun.  No wild and crazy with these two!) 

Bounce houses and inflatable obstacle courses were a big hit too.  The boys went through this obstacle course 10 times each and pretended to be on American Ninja Warrior!! 

Out of all of the carnival games, the Toilet Paper Toss was their favorite . . . of course!  Beau thought it was hilarious to throw rolls of toilet paper into a fake potty.  Boys!! 

Lincoln did some toilet paper tossing as well, and he was followed by the rest of the first grade boys.  Toilet humor and little boys . . . priceless! 

Lincoln was off eating candy with some friends, while Beau gave his all at the strong arm swing.  He was determined to get the bell to ring, but his sweet little self just couldn't put enough muscle behind it.  He was rewarded for his efforts with two pieces of candy, so he got over it pretty quickly! 

There is no photographic evidence to prove it, but we went through the Haunted House as well.  We all held hands, and Mommy had to yell, "Little kids, No scare" as we went through.  The Bowie 6th graders think it's an honor to be in the Haunted House, but they are super kind when little kids are going through.  After we had participated in each and every part of the Fall Festival, we made plans to take our party for pizza.  The back room at Palio's was kind a zoo as we took over.  The families in attendance: Kuhlman, Katsoulis, Moody, Boyuls, Greeson, Evans, and Cruse.  It was a fun way to end the day! 

 

We had so much fun at the Fall Festival with so many great friends.  It's a tradition we all look forward to!  Emotional backstory for Mommy:  In October 2012, Mommy and the boys sent Daddy off to Belgium for his first really extended overseas work trip.  Mommy was a little more worked up than anticipated and was doing a little aimless driving.  An extra long week with little communication and a person on the other side of the world seemed like way more than a day business trip one state over.  We stumbled on the Bowie Fall Festival two years before Lincoln would go to Kindergarten there.  We didn't know anyone there, but the boys were excited about the activities and it was a great distraction.  As we were unbuckling from the car, Daddy called to say love you for the last time before the flight.  A round of tears from Mommy were hidden behind sunglasses and excitement about games and bounce houses.  We spent a fortune on tickets to play every game and bounce in every bounce house, but the boys didn't notice that Mommy was sad.  During a performance by the Pearce Country Western Dancers, Daddy got to sneak one more call before the plane took off.  Bless those people around for not confronting the crying lady!!  So for only Mommy, the Bowie Fall Festival comes with a lot of emotional memories.  Thanks to the committee chairs for their hard work not just this year, but in a year when it meant a whole lot to us.  But seriously, Katrina and Andrea - y'all really gave us a great event this year!  We are so happy to live in a community where we all get to do so much fun stuff together, and each year just gets better and better. 

Home Repair and First Part of the Weekend

Important note to start out this post:  We are buying a new house and selling our current house.  This has been in the works since August, but things have been pretty slow.  The owners of our new house needed to wait until mid-October to move, and the buyer of our current house wasn't in any hurry to move in.  One of the perks (totally sarcastic!!) of selling a house is finding out all of the things that are wrong with it . . . first up, foundation repair!  The signs were pretty obvious with the cracking above doors and floor pulling away from the baseboards, but the major spring rains combined with the major summer drought really added to the problem.  The fix was to dig under the east and west sides of the house and use these concrete cylinders to lift the house back where it was sagging.  The team arrived at 8:30 on Thursday morning and began their work. 

All holes dug under the house, and that was a lot of dirt and shrubs just lying around.  In a few spots they had to drill through concrete.  Not a quite job! 

They dug really deep!!  Like when the guy climbed down in there to set up the pillars, his head was barely poking out of the ground.   

They got all of the holes prepped on Thursday and planned to come back on Friday to do the actual lifting.  No clue what to expect!!  While they were working on Friday morning, Beau and Mommy were busy at home.  We had a play date scheduled after school with Canon and Case.  Canon and Lincoln had a birthday party to attend that Mommy would chaperone, and Beau and Case would hang at Case's house with Ms. Katrina.  Everyone was excited, until Canon got a bit of a fever and wasn't feeling so awesome.  His mom decided he needed to bail on the fun, but Beau thought otherwise.  He had worked out a plan earlier that since Lincoln and Canon would be getting cupcakes at the birthday party, he and Case should get something sweet too.  So we got a cookie cake for the little brothers.  Beau decided that he would deliver the cookie cake to Canon and Case so they still got a treat . . . after he got a giant piece reserved for himself at home!!  He loved walking it over to their house and leaving them a fun surprise.  He has a sweet and kind heart after all! 

We went out for a little lunch and shopping and returned to the "lifting" action.  It was pretty loud and involved a bit of shaking of the walls and windows.  We were happy to pick Lincoln up from school in the afternoon and spend some time in the library.  Lincoln found Crawford taking AR quizzes too, and they worked quietly.   

Beau grabbed a few of his favorite magazines and comics then made himself comfortable in one of the reading lofts.  He can't wait to get real library time next year in Kindergarten! 

After the library fun, we headed to Kyle's birthday party at Lil' Ninjas!  Beau took Canon's spot since he had been under the weather.  Lil' Ninjas is always a favorite, and they had Campisi's pizza and cake!!!  That's a good looking table of awesome school friends, and we were happy to wish Kyle a happy birthday. 

When we got home, it was almost like the foundation repair had never happened!  The guys and their equipment were gone, the shrubs and dirt were replaced like before, they had poured a new layer of concrete on the spots they had jackhammered up, and all of the cracks and separated spots were back to normal.  It was a little unbelievable that it happened so fast!   

Flag Football came pretty early on Saturday morning, but the boys were ready to play!  Let's get another win in the books! 

Someone woke up with extra crazy shark hair, and we just rolled with it.  (They have an appointment with Mr. Danny soon because this is crazy wild!)   

It was colder than we had anticipated, so Daddy warmed Lincoln up on the sidelines with a beach towel from the car.   

The Saugier's brought donuts to enjoy after the game, and Beau was the happiest about that.  Having to sit in the early morning cold to watch big brother definitely earned a donut! 

The weekend had so many activities . .  more on the way!

Exciting Weekend!

Flag Football on Saturday, and we were all excited for the game.  Lincoln was playing extra hard on defense at the Safety position.  After one defensive series in the 4th quarter, Coach Malachi walked to the sidelines with Lincoln and was concerned about Linc's pinkie finger.  He had a hard fall and there was some pain and crookedness.  Coach recommended that we get it checked out ASAP.  We headed to the nearest x-ray spot, and Lincoln was brave and smiley.  The x-ray showed that his finger bones were fine, and perhaps he just has crooked pinkies.  Not something we would have noticed, I guess!!!  Lincoln was an awesome patient, and the doctor gave him a CD with his first x-ray just for fun. 

We had plans to watch some college football with friends in the evening, and Lincoln was more than happy to help prepare the kids fruit and cheese tray.  We attempted to make it in the shape of Captain America's shield.  That pinkie injury isn't slowing him down! 

Brother hug before Sunday School!!!  Beau was rocking some serious shark hair, and Lincoln had his finger taped up for good measure. 

After lunch, we went to swim at the club for the last day the pool was open.  Oh, the fun we've had this summer and the amazing memories we've made.   

Exciting weekend for sure!  We are hoping for a quiet week of school and practices.