Off to 8th Grade

9-5-07

I was trying to get a good smile out of Nic but all he wanted to do was make faces. The normal 1st day of school pictures are getting more of a pain to him as he gets older. What is a mom to do???






I told him to deal with it so these are the faces I get.










This year he is in a brand new Kalles Junior High. The new school was being built last year while they attended school in the old Kalles. How many people can say they have been the first students in a brand new constructed school during their school days? I attended a new high school but we were the third year, so it wasn't brand spanking new.

Baseball season is finished for the year, but tryouts for next year's teams are going on now.


This is one of his practices. That is why he looks so board.












Nic's team played in a tournament in Kent.


Batter UP!!!










Get ready...this one is going out to left field. He actually had a triple. Great hit.

Hiking in Snoqualmie Pass...................

A group of us went on a 8 mile hike in the mountains.
We had to hike two miles to the trail head due to a slide that took out the road.
Hong's wife is hiding under her hat & Nic just turned his head before I could click the camera.

John & Tina are all smiles

Marching & Granite

Nic was in the Daffodil Parade on Saturday, marching with the rest of the Junior High band students. No matter how many times I got a picture I was unable to get a smile out of him. He did acknowledge me with a quick glance in my direction though. This was his first and probably last parade. He has decided not to continue band next year so he can pursue other electives (weight training & conditioning), wonder where that came from STEVE!!!

As I look back I remember I stopped band after 7th grade. I liked it but we also move to Texas over the summer & not knowing anyone, I didn't want to continue on with it. At least Nic is able to read the music. I never learned but had an ear for what we were playing. Look at how tall he is getting. He has passed both of us and is moving up & up. I had to buy him size 11 shoes the other day.

The kitchen granite was installed over the weekend & just finished up this morning. It will be so great to have a full working kitchen by this evening. The sink will be there & we can run water. The stove will be all hooked up & we will have a dishwasher. All that will be left of the kitchen will be the tile backsplash, toe kicks on the cabinets & crown molding on top of the cabinets. How amazing is that?! I shudder to think how people lived their lives many years before us without all this great stuff. They were far stronger than I!!!

We have new carpet installed & Steve has installed hardwood in the office. The lights have been replaced & we will be painting new doors & trimwork. That includes baseboards, door & window trim for the entire house!!! I love painting, I love painting, I love to paint!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yaha right.

We hope to be mostly done by the end of May. In that estimate we are including more dirt & sod for the backyard. We will just have the deck to build last.

Happy Birthday Steve!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Today Steve is 38, he is now just as "old" as I am. What a sweet and loving husband I have. He would beg to differ, but we both know the truth. He is super macho but has a heart of gold. This remodel we are going through is wearing on him but we are having small successes every day. He gets down on himself when something doesn't work right the first time & he doubts his ability to do anything, but then he takes a step back figures out the problem and it works.

I love you honey!!!

Update

Things have been moving fast & furious (mainly for Steve). The siding is finished & looks nice. The kitchen cabinets are mostly in & the hardwood floors are being buffed & repolished today. Once that is dry the rest of the cabinets will be placed in & we can finished the kitchen. Another week of no appliances, but the microwave works. I have all the painting done in the kitchen & stairwell going downstairs.

The railings are finished & the balisters will be replaced once the staining is done.

I will get more pictures posted when things look more polished. This is the exciting time & things are happening fast!!!

The Adventure Has Began............................



We have begun our home improvement process. We decided to go for all of it now & enjoy it for the years we would be in the house instead of fixing it up right before we sell.

Our siding replacement starts today. We have LP siding on the house & since LP was involved in a huge lawsuit it can hurt your resale value to have to disclose it. The weathered side of the house is also showing signs of the problems so all new lap siding will be covering the entire house. Then it will be painted a nice green color with white trim & we are even adding cedar accent shingles on the front of the house. The deck is also pulled off & will be replaced with a bigger & better one.

Steve has been moving, hiding & adding gas pipe for a new free standing gas stove that will be in the bottom floor. That large room will become our media room at some time in the future & the stove will keep us warm in the event we are without power for any amount of time again. I also love to sit by the fire & this will help to heat the house since as we all know heat rises.

The kitchen cabinets were ordered today & it should be about five weeks for them. In the mean time we will be replacing the can lights & removing wallpaper, texturing & painting. When the cabinets are in we will have granite countertops & tile backsplashes. New stainless steel applicances will compliment the cabinets.

Carpet will be replaced & rooms will be painted during this process. We are even shifting rooms so that Nic will have the large bonus room upstairs for his bedroom. It is our TV room now & with moving that to the bottom floor & making a nice media room, he was open for a bigger bedroom. It dosen't have a closet but he dosen't care. We can just get a larger dresser for him & hang any clothes in the guest room closet.

We will also be putting sod down in the spring so the backyard will be almost finished. That will be great to get done.

Is anyone overwhelmed????? We are just taking it one step at a time & making sure we have fun in the process.

Love the Snow!!!

These pictures are from Jan 10th looking at the parking lot out back at my work. We received three or four inches and it stayed around for awhile. It was cold & icy enough that the kids missed over 5 days of school. We are not used to snow in this part of the country so kids stay home. They have to make up those days so they will have some longer days in February, a missed scheduled day off and a few days tacked onto the end of the year. I sure hope we start earlier this next year so the kids are not almost going into July.

We are working on the stair railing at the house. We have not had a railing for several years and now it is going up. Once it is all done we will have the railing/stairs & floor all redone with a nice stain color. We are embarking on a large home improvement project all at once so we can enjoy it all for several years before we even decide to move. As I have stated we are not moving until Nic graduates (he is in 7th grade) or even later. We really want land in Montana & we need to be at more of a retirement age for that one.

Happy 13th Birthday Nic!!!

We are now the parents of a teenager. Hard to even imagine he is that old. I am looking at a picture of Nic taken when he was about 6 months old. That cute little boy has grown up to be a great guy. He is now taller than his mom & at the same height as his dad. I have already had to buy him new jeans, since the ones purchased in September are too small. He is wearing a size 10 shoe & I know that will shortly change. What a blessing he is.

Our prayers have been answered!!!!




We received a call on Saturday that Zoom was in the neighborhood next to our (Deer Creek). We both rushed over & sure enough it was him. I was shaking so badly & as soon as I saw him started to cry. I wasn't even able to go to him, I was so scared. He had been gone for 11 days and just looked terrible.

Our poor guy lost over 20 pounds, has a bone chip that will need to be removed via surgery, a wound on his leg and frost bite on a lot of his body. We rushed him to the vet that sent us over to the emergency vet hospital. His temp was dangerously low and he was very dehydrated. His spirits were up though.

He only had to stay at the hospital for one day and we brought him home yesterday. He still looks bad but is eating & is taking his medicine. It will be a slow process but he is a trooper. We had to cancel Nic's birthday party on Saturday, but will have one this Saturday. Thanks for all your prayers!!!

Where Did You Go?????



You decided that it was more interesting outside the backyard & busted through the fence. The problem with that is we can't find you and it has been 5 days. Dad has looked all over for you, Mom & Nic have looked all over & so has several friends. We have put up flyers all over the place but no luck yet. What was so interesting that you needed to get out? Was there a cute girl you just had to see?

It has been raining and will be getting cold enough to snow & with your short hair you will be so cold. Please come home so we can care for you. Please don't let the report be true that you were hit by a car on Shaw Road. I am hopeful you will go to someone so that they can call us. We miss you, you silly dog!!!

Love Mom