FYI

just wanted to let you all know that we are still alive and i haven't forsaken blogging...life has just been nuts. our project this week has been tile for the kitchen - so i was out of the kitchen and playroom (which is where my computer) from tuesday until right now...so i feel behind on everything!!

Brent has been gone to a conference since wednesday morning and won't return until tomorrow at dinner time. I had no desire to pack up the kids and head to a hotel - I'ld rather deal with chaos but have our own beds and rooms to sleep in!! And CHAOS its been! We have watched lots of movies and I have eaten tons of tomato soup - but we now have a newly tiled kitchen and bathroom, new floor molding, and everything is back in place.

So don't despair, I'll continue my blogging soon!

Another Update

Update from today:

We finally have floors and a wall!!! WHOO-HOO!! They finished laying the floors and sheet-rocked our walls! We're getting somewhere! The wood has to sit for 2 weeks before they can sand/stain/finish them...but I am thrilled to be able to have real floors to walk on and thrilled to have all of my furniture and toys back in place. And its just in time - I am working tomorrow and didn't want to have our sitter deal with the disaster!

The next project is tearing out the old tile in the kitchen and bathroom and then installing new tile. That is scheduled for Tuesday-Thursday of next week...I'll keep you posted!

Update from Tuesday

Many of you have been asking for an update on the house...so here it is: as of Tuesday, all of our hardwoods had been ripped up and they were starting to lay the new wood down....there was controversy over the type of wood we had so it was a slow day - they started, then stopped, and restarted! (they decided that we previously had one type of wood in the living room and a different type in the play room...) And on top of that, one of the guys cut through his fingers on the saw while here working!

My nerves are holding up much better than expected! I've kept the kids out all morning then brought them home for a quick lunch and then thrown them in bed...and somehow they have actually slept through nail guns and hammering! And I've had to get creative for afternoon ideas to get out of the house as well. But we're surviving!

Spaghetti Night

Gotta love spaghetti night!!!

Roll Tide!

I worked yesterday so Brent had the kids....and this is how he dressed them!! In 100% Alabama gear! Avery had been asking for a "pink sister Alabama hat" for several months so Gammy hooked her up while we were at the beach. They are ready for football season!

Avery's Big Day

Avery had a very big day today...she had her first day of school and her first day of dance!

She is going to preschool 2 days a week at Epworth UMC. She was giddy this morning when I told her that the day had finally come. And she stayed excited until we got to the door! She was a little hesitant going in - no tears or anything, just a little reservation. However, she did not like the idea of having a name tag on her back! She fussed and squirmed so they didn't even put one on her. But the day went well and she was the last one out of the classroom when the day was done. When she saw Griffin, she said "I'm so glad you came back...I missed you so much!"

Avery is taking her first dance class this fall. It meets for 45 minutes and she gets to do both tap and ballet. All the girls wear the same dance uniform - Avery was so excited when each person arrived that she announced "you look just like me!" She enjoyed the class and when we got home, I had to sit on the kitchen floor and close my eyes - then she would yell "surprise" and show me something she had learned...

Beach Trip

Brent had a week-long class out in Washington State that he had to go to so I packed up the kids and took off to ATL. I spent saturday-monday at mom and mike's. We cooked out with my high school friends, went to a baby shower for ann/peyton, and took the kids to monkey joe's. It was lots of fun seeing everyone.

On Tuesday, mom, mike, and I packed up the kids and headed to Grayton Beach. We wore the kids (and ourselves) out everyday - swimming in the pool, jumping waves, riding bikes... We had great food (thanks mikey) - homemade salsa and guac, lots of seafood, and avery even had her first fish and loved it! We played cards in the evenings and I went to bed early! It was wonderful! On Saturday, Brent and Gammy arrived and we all stayed until monday. We really enjoyed our time there.

I'll post all the pictures to a slide show but here are a few teasers...