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Monday, November 5, 2007
Our House - Before and After
This summer we did a lot of work to our house. We had the kitchen made over (refaced the cabinets, new sink, new dishwasher, new counter top). We also had new siding put up all around the house, but left the original cedar shake on the front (for character). We had a new deck built and a year prior had a sidewalk put in - the stones were pretty, but a tripping hazard. After the siding was finished, I had the house painted a more classic color. Getting our house painted was a whole other drama. Originally, we hired a guy (Jeffrey Wallace who owns A Touch of Class Painting) to paint our house. He took our $800 down payment for paint and took off. I will be seeing him in court on November 14th. It's a good thing he was licensed and bonded, his bond company will pay the bill when they see the judgment. We hired another guy (Brad Bernhardson of Best Buy Painting) and he did a fabulous custom job. Here are some before and after pictures.
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Friday, November 2, 2007
Last 2 months at a glance....
Halloween was a blast! The boys made out like bandits. We have so much candy from trunk-or-treating plus the leftover bags that I couldn't get rid of. I am thinking of sending it to my friend in the middle east or some other soldier for them to hand out to the local kids - I've heard of their candy bombs.
David got into some permanent ink, it took days to come off and he was obviously sorry about it when I caught him. Oh well, we survived and at least I had just enough sanity and humor to document it.
I went to Toronto and upstate NY. There is nothing like fall on the east coast! I went to both the Palmyra and Toronto Temple, it was a neat experience.
Toronto Temple
Palmyra Temple
Full moon (and the largest it was all year) over Lake Ontario
At the end of September, we went to the circus (Barnum & Bailey Ringling Brothers) and had a blast. We got the best seats on the floor and in the front row. The clowns picked Jared and David out of the audience to hoola-hoop with them. The clowns were hilarious, Jared could barely contain himself. He jumped up out of his chair to laugh and turn in circles from excitement. Poor kid has so much energy already - add clowns to that and it's impossible to keep him in his chair (and we didn't even try).
Now that time has passed, we can all laugh about this one..... At the end of August, Jared was playing with matches and accidentally burned 1/2 an acre of land in back of my parents property. Thankfully, there was no property damage. He was hiding in back of my dad's camper, I was looking for him because the house was quiet (a warning sign) and when I walked by the kitchen window for the 3rd time, I saw a frantic child running toward the house and in back of the camper there were tall flames. Horrified, I called 911, Larry and I went out to fight it with hoses. 2 other neighbors were also fighting it before the firefighters showed up. When they were done, I had Jared come out and look at the damage. I was hoping a firefighter would come over and talk to him, it was even better, he took Jared up in his arms and walked on the burned land to talk with him about the danger of playing with matches. The story made it to the local news, they got footage of the firefighter with Jared (not showing his face, of course).
David got into some permanent ink, it took days to come off and he was obviously sorry about it when I caught him. Oh well, we survived and at least I had just enough sanity and humor to document it.
I went to Toronto and upstate NY. There is nothing like fall on the east coast! I went to both the Palmyra and Toronto Temple, it was a neat experience.
Toronto Temple
Palmyra Temple
Full moon (and the largest it was all year) over Lake Ontario
At the end of September, we went to the circus (Barnum & Bailey Ringling Brothers) and had a blast. We got the best seats on the floor and in the front row. The clowns picked Jared and David out of the audience to hoola-hoop with them. The clowns were hilarious, Jared could barely contain himself. He jumped up out of his chair to laugh and turn in circles from excitement. Poor kid has so much energy already - add clowns to that and it's impossible to keep him in his chair (and we didn't even try).
Now that time has passed, we can all laugh about this one..... At the end of August, Jared was playing with matches and accidentally burned 1/2 an acre of land in back of my parents property. Thankfully, there was no property damage. He was hiding in back of my dad's camper, I was looking for him because the house was quiet (a warning sign) and when I walked by the kitchen window for the 3rd time, I saw a frantic child running toward the house and in back of the camper there were tall flames. Horrified, I called 911, Larry and I went out to fight it with hoses. 2 other neighbors were also fighting it before the firefighters showed up. When they were done, I had Jared come out and look at the damage. I was hoping a firefighter would come over and talk to him, it was even better, he took Jared up in his arms and walked on the burned land to talk with him about the danger of playing with matches. The story made it to the local news, they got footage of the firefighter with Jared (not showing his face, of course).
Joining the Land of Blog
I've seen a few other blogs and it is nice to keep up with friends and family so we are doing our own blog. Jared turned 6 this year and David is 4. Both of the boys are highly energetic and keep me on my toes. Larry is a Safety Engineer and just got a job on the east side of Washington State. I am a stay-at-home mom and enjoy photography on the side. We lived in Tacoma for the past 2 years, it was a good experience for us just getting out of the Air Force. We miss the health benefits! But the benefits of living over here outweigh the benefits of living in Tacoma. We have had our house up for sale since August and hoping for a sale. We did get a low ball offer, but after counter offering, the buyer pulled out - which is okay by us! We spent 15K on upgrades and improvements so we aren't ready to give it away.
Jared is in the 1st grade, he is struggling with his extra energy. He has a good teacher who is doing her best with him. We are working on a good parent-teacher relationship and I am going to start volunteering to help her out to lighten her load. Jared does seem to enjoy school altogether. He is a very happy boy, his enthusiasm for life shows in his eyes. Everyone says Jared looks just like his daddy, I agree.
David can hardly wait to go to Kindergarten next fall, he is very envious of his older brother and the things he gets to do (mainly, riding the bus). He is more mellow when he is by himself, whereas he suddenly changes personalities when he and Jared are playing. It's fun to watch and sometimes stressful. While they can be great playmates, they can also be the worst kind of trouble together. I guess that is how brothers work. David takes after me with his features, almost everyone tells me he looks like me - I say "almost" because there are always a few odd people who don't see it.
Jared is in the 1st grade, he is struggling with his extra energy. He has a good teacher who is doing her best with him. We are working on a good parent-teacher relationship and I am going to start volunteering to help her out to lighten her load. Jared does seem to enjoy school altogether. He is a very happy boy, his enthusiasm for life shows in his eyes. Everyone says Jared looks just like his daddy, I agree.
David can hardly wait to go to Kindergarten next fall, he is very envious of his older brother and the things he gets to do (mainly, riding the bus). He is more mellow when he is by himself, whereas he suddenly changes personalities when he and Jared are playing. It's fun to watch and sometimes stressful. While they can be great playmates, they can also be the worst kind of trouble together. I guess that is how brothers work. David takes after me with his features, almost everyone tells me he looks like me - I say "almost" because there are always a few odd people who don't see it.
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