Okay, as requested: House Pictures
Front Yard with Cameron and Soren
Backyard views
The treed area is a steep slope up to that wall with lots of struggling fruit trees, grape vines and overgrown pathways with rosemary. We have a lot of work to do over the next year as we try to save some trees and remove some and plant some. But it's a great hill for hiking and exploring!
Birdseye view of entry from outside master. Front door is on the left with LR/DR combo. If walking in the front doors, to the right is the 5th bedroom/our office with a full bath and the laundry room/passage way
View from Living room. The Kitchen is to the right of the pool table. Also access Kitchen/FR to the right of entry way after passing stairs
The office
Kitchen and Family Room. Please pause at the kitchen tile in a lovely pale shade of pink. And the nook area behind Will is a useful full sized bar and sink for all our entertaining needs!
The Master Bedroom and lovely mauve tile accents or is that overload? And please don't overlook the pink carpet that is throughout our upstairs. It's my favorite! I never got my girl, so I found a house all done in PINK! Even the blinds are pink and give nice pink undertones to the contents of the room!
Looking from the Master down the hallway.
The first door on the left seen in the hall pic is the playroom. No, we did not do the painting. Although, a ceiling to floor Winnie the Pooh mural would've been what I would've done first!
Bedroom at the end of the hall is the Pink room occupied by Cam, Nate, Soren. You can see my trying out of some possible blue wall color changes.
After the playroom, the hall turns to the left and this is William and Clark's room. The old bunkbeds of Rich and Danny met their death with this last move and were laid to rest. But the mattresses still live in this picture. However, as of last week they have been replaced by new mattresses and bunkbeds. However, due to the proximity of the ceiling fan and the top bunk, much to Clark's disappointment, they are de-bunked.
So at long last, I post. Stop the cheering and applause, I know, I know, you've all been waiting with baited breath! Hopefully it is worth the wait... So I'll begin my ramblings with a Clark story! What else is there?
This morning I went into the boy's bathroom and could smell urine a little stronger than it should smell when a boy just forgets to flush. Then I noticed all the soaking wet tissues and paper in the garbage can. I'm not sure why we do this, but I put my head closer to get a better sniff. Maybe I read "Robert the Rose Horse" a few too many times. My eyes began to itch. My nose began to itch. And then "CLAAAARK!" Evidently he saw I had thrown away one of his drawings and was mad so he peed on it. I don't understand the reasoning, but that's what he told me. And just in case you are wondering, even though he peed in the garbage can doesn't mean it all went in there! So one bathroom is definitely clean at the moment. Perhaps I should be checking the other two!
William is reading like a champ. He gets tested each week off a list of 10-20 words he should know. I have a copy of the words he should be learning for the next several months. He breezes through the entire list without a hitch. And the little practice books he is sent home with take him 30 seconds to read. Last night he read me the entire "Are You My Mother?" without any help. He is loving soccer, but it looks like his flat feet are catching up with him and it sounds like he has shin splints. So we'll see how things progress and we may take a trip to the podiatrist. He's also started seeing the orthodontist to see if we need to start widening his tiny jaw to fit his permanent teeth. I meet with the Dr. next week to review all the x-rays. He is also loving piano lessons and it feels a little deja vous-ish with the comments coming out of my mouth---"Sit up straight, What note is this?, You have to count, Come on, we are almost done, just play it one more time!"
Clark loves preschool and soccer and pushing the limits and mommy's buttons. He found my hidden stash of Crayola markers and he and Cameron enjoyed coloring their finger and toenails red--and also the table and chair and Soren joined in on the fun coloring the door and wall. Crayola is not as washable as they say!
The twins are loving their enormous stash of Hand-me-downs from Ben Wright! (Thanks, Anne). The only problem is each morning they only want to wear clothes from Ben and then they rotate through at least 3 outfits each day and at least 2 pairs of pjs each night because of their excitement of new things! I detest laundry more than mopping the kitchen floor! Maybe because the laundry now piles up faster than my floor is dirtied
Soren is starting to talk up a storm-many words only well understood by family members! But he makes his point well. And he thinks he has taken up residence in Mom and Dad's bed each night. If we weren't so exhausted each night, we might be more prone to break the uncomfortable habit, but sometimes it's just easier to throw him in bed with us than try to settle him down back in his crib!
I now teach the 16-17 yr. old SS class. The previous teacher was a poor match so the kids would often go to other classes or sit outside. I've taught for 2 weeks and usually spend the first 15 min. trying to round them up from around the building. The only problem is since we are new to the ward, I don't know who most of them are. I've succeeded in having 2 in my class each week. I'm somewhat terrified because they just sit there like zombies and I want them to be excited, but I guess it's the age and we'll keep playing the BRT game and bringing food!
Ryan is now the YM 1st counselor so I'm adjusting to Thurs. nights with him gone and occasional meetings before church. And this weekend he's gone on a campout. He's been in the yard after work this week (cooler weather at the moment) replacing all our sprinkler heads, etc. We love having a big yard, but the work involved is a killer. Mom and Dad perform regular miracles on making PT always look so beautiful! (No pressure intended for the Oct. wedding!)
Well, that's all folks! You better have loved it or just lie and say you did because it took me 2 hours 45 min of frequent interruptions to get this done!
We surprised Ryan with updated photos of the boys for his office. I had to remind myself throughout the photo shoot that it is impossible to get all 5 to sit still, smile, and look at the camera at the same time and then hope I caught the moment! Oh yeah, and be reverent the whole time because we were at the temple. I'm so glad I have so many little boys because they are so easily my excuse for my many shortcomings and failed aspirations! They're so worth it all!
