Carpet and Mulch

Well, we survived our weekend! Saturday was a very long day -- we were all so tired and sore by the end of the day. But now we have nice new mulch and nice new carpet -- and we really hope the two of them don't mix! :-)

We've still got a few things to finish up before we actually get the house on the market, so I'll just share a few pictures this morning and get back to work.

First, here's the new chandelier we bought for our dining room. We have to raise it up since we don't have a table under it and we don't want to bonk our heads constantly. (Our old chandelier got pulled apart by some little "monkeys" who decided to try swinging from it once.)

We had to get creative in where to put all the "little" stuff before the carpet guys came.

Here is the "food tower" the kids made as we emptied the food storage closet:

We put things in the laundry room...

And the bathrooms...

And Brian moved the entertainment center into the kitchen beforehand...

Saturday morning the mulch was delivered (one smaller load of a slightly different type to put under the swingset):

I put the girls to work bagging pine needles from our huge pile. (We have been dumping needles and leaves here in sort of a homemade mulch pile but we need to get rid of it.)

And then the carpet guys got here and got right to work ripping out old carpet and putting in the new (there were 4 of them and they finished by 4pm!).

Mulch is almost done! McKay was a SUPER worker and worked hard all day long doing loads of mulch.

Mulch under the swingset...

And NEW carpet in the whole house! It's a very similar color to our old carpet, just a little higher quality.

The kids enjoying a card game on the new carpet.

Now the stress begins of trying to keep it as clean as possible. But I'm sure glad this weekend is over!

Here We Go...

Tomorrow (and tonight) is going to be a crazy, chaotic, exhausting day. They are coming to install our new carpet AND we are crazy enough to have a huge load of mulch delivered the same day. So we are working diligently to get the house ready for the carpet.

We have to move all the "smaller" stuff into the kitchen, bathrooms, garage, etc (anywhere that does not have carpet). Yesterday afternoon I had the kids all help me unload our food storage from the closet under our stairs and put it in the kitchen. They had fun making food towers! (I had a cute picture to add here of the food towers, but I just realized that Brian has already turned off and moved our file server for the carpet project, so I can't access it. I'll post it later when everything is back up!)

I think (hope!) we finished up the painting today (finally). I did the office this morning and tried to touch up some other areas. I will be happy to not see another paint roller for a long, long time.

I had best get back to work trying to move stuff out of closets and other rooms. I hope we survive tomorrow!

Flat Stanley

We had a little visitor over Spring Break - Flat Stanley. Actually, his official name was "Flat Michael" (the kids had to think of a new name for their own version). He came from McKay's class to spend Spring Break with us.

I think most 2nd or 3rd grade classes do some sort of Flat Stanley project these days. Many times the kids have to send Flat Stanley out to a relative, who then takes pictures with Flat Stanley and returns him. But for McKay's class, they were just supposed to take Flat Stanley with them on their Spring Break, take some pictures, and make a small poster to share with the class.

So here are the pictures we took of McKay with "Flat Michael":

Love Notes

Hannah & Courtney decided to write me some little heart-shaped notes this afternoon (among other paper craft "projects" going on at the kitchen table). I just have to share them!

Hannah wrote me this note (I've corrected her spelling, which is getting better!):

Dear Mom
Here is a poem of why I like you.
Mom looks up at the blue blue sky,
And you will always be loved as the love passes by.
Here is a song of love.
Constant stars of you above,
Always know that you are loved.
As my love shining in you,
Will help your dreams come true.
Love,
Hannah

So then Courtney decided that she wanted to write me a love note too. She has been trying lately to write more on her own and sound out words, but at this beginning stage it is usually just letters on the page. The other day she wanted to write a story and had written a couple of lines of letters, but apparently forgot what she had already written, so she asked me to read it to her. I couldn't decipher any of it, so I told her that she was the one who needed to read it to me. She couldn't decipher it either!

So I was quite impressed to get this note from her today. And I will leave her spelling exactly as she wrote it:

DEER MOM
YEEW UR DHE BESD MOM

(Translation: Dear Mom, You are the best Mom)

I love getting love notes!

Bug Catching

The kids were outside in the backyard yesterday when they managed to catch this moth (at least I think it is a moth -- we're not sure exactly). A neighbor boy was over in the yard playing with them and they were bug hunting. They were pretty excited! It is quite big and has a pretty camoflauge pattern on its green wings.

They kept it in the bug jar for awhile (they named it "Abby") and decided to let it go. Only it didn't want to go anywhere, so they got it to perch on a stick they had. (I wonder if they somehow hurt it or damaged its wings.) Finally it disappeared somewhere.

This afternoon Courtney was outside again and saw the same moth, so she caught it again! She let it go after a little while and it flew away pretty quickly this time!

100%

McKay came home from school today very excited with the news that he got 100% on the recent TAKS test. This is the state-mandated reading test that all the kids must pass to move on to 4th grade. I knew he would do just fine, but he was a little worried because they make such a big deal about this test. He said all the kids in his class passed, but he didn't know how many others also got 100%.

Way to go, McKay!

A Ghost Story

Hannah came home from school yesterday telling me that her friend had told her a scary story about a ghost on the bus ride home. Later in the afternoon, she sat down to write her own ghost story (I think a small part of this comes from her friend's story).

She asked me to please type it up here. (Sorry if you're getting tired of Hannah's stories!) She also drew pictures to illustrate her story, which won't be included here.

So, here is the story (with the spelling corrected and some punctuation added). :-)

The Howling Ghost
Written by Hannah and Illustrated by Hannah

Once there was a little girl named Sally and it was the middle of the night so she was sleeping when she heard a howling sound. It sounded like a ghost!

It was a ghost. Sally was so scared that she screamed! Then the ghost chased Sally all over her room. Sally was so scared that she did not call her mom or dad. Then finally the ghost went out the window and was gone.

In the morning Sally found blood on her covers! Then the next night the ghost came back all in blood!

The little girl had had enough of this silliness so she threw water at him and he turned into a cute bunny so Sally had a pet.

The End

I love her ending! (I think the blood-covered ghost is what she got from her friend's story.) She definitely enjoys creative writing much more than McKay ever has.

It's Springtime!

You know it's Spring in Texas when you start to see these pop up along the roadsides:

I love when the bluebonnets come out! I love that they seed many of the roadsides here in our community with bluebonnets so we can enjoy them as we drive around.

There is a patch of bluebonnets this year within walking distance of our house, so this morning I had the kids get their Easter church clothes on a little early and we walked over for bluebonnet pictures. This has become an annual tradition for us -- I really hope there are still lots of bluebonnets when we move!

It was fairly breezy this morning, so the wind kept blowing the girl's hair and McKay's tie around, plus they were squinting a lot because of the breeze, but I thought overall the pictures turned out good.

On our way back home, I had the kids stop for one more Easter picture in our front yard.

Hayley & Courtney also wanted individual pictures in the front yard too!

I hope Spring is starting to show where you are -- Happy Spring!

Our Day at the Lake

On Thursday, the kids and I spent the day up at "Lake Livingston Lodge" -- the home of my aunt and uncle. My two cousins were also there with their kids, so the kids had lots of second cousins to play with. We had a very fun and relaxing day! It was nice to get away from the stress and craziness of everything going on around here for a day.

There were lots of fun things for the kids to do. They decided to brave the COLD lake water and wade a little and play with the mud.

Hayley watching from the pier (although she also got in briefly):

There was a paddleboat:

and rides on the "big" boat:

McKay got to go out and try some fishing with my uncle on the little boat (they didn't catch anything):

And then there were the kayaks -- a single and a tandem. McKay first went out on the tandem with Conrad, who gave him a quick course in how to paddle.

McKay LOVED it and went back out in the water several times (in both the single and the tandem):

He even tipped over once (I didn't see it happen) and told me he was scared but Conrad helped him get the kayak righted and get the water out of it. (They just stayed in the lagoon area and didn't go out into the main part of the lake.)

There was also a trampoline:

And a spa to warm up in!

After lunch we had a big Easter egg hunt for the kids outside. They all waited on the trampoline for the green light to start hunting eggs.

They each got to find about 20 eggs and they were hidden all around the house.

Then it was time to check out the loot!

As always, my uncle and aunt were so hospitable and we really enjoyed our visit. I had to drag the kids away when it was time to leave. I'm glad we were able to have one "fun day" during Spring Break!