Our Passionate Pursuit: 2008

Stair Sledding

So, the other night, Tom and his Dad are downstairs putting up the plasma TV mount and the lil boys start playing with the box. Next thing I know, stair sledding games had begun. Tom's Mom and I were laying over the love seat laughing hysterically. Laura rushed to the camera and here are the results:

In this picture you can see Garrison, the ever-cautious first born, watching and analyzing this silliness at the top of the stairs.

The box got away from Trey on this trip, but it didn't even phase him. He was up and down again.

Okay, here goes Garrison. I was able to get downstairs to see his face. It hurt is bottom so badly that he stood up and grabbed it, yelling, and kept backing up until he fell into Tom's tool box. Laura and I were laughing too hard to get that picture!

So this next picture shows my boys to a tee! Garrison, my little engineer, is measuring and planning, probably bossing and leading an idea to make his bottom more comfy on his next ride! Trey is ready to go to town with a gadget (in this case, a stapler)...and I'm not certain, but I bet the boy who drew the pictures in the box was the same one that drew circles all over the walls when he was a toddler...Alex!

Seriously, how cute are they?

I am happy to report that there were no injuries of real substance. I will admit that I was wondering how I would explain to medical staff or my father how bones got broken, but I just didn't have the heart to make them stop. Eventually, they put pillows in the box and enjoyed themselves immensely. They still have the box downstairs, but I told them they could not involve other people's children in this new sport!

New House Pics!

Well, here they are...the long awaited photos of our new pad!

Laura sweetly took these so you owe her the thanks that I can FINALLY get them blogged! hee hee

This is the view from our front porch. If you keep driving down the street, you end in a cul-de-sac where Rebekah lives.

This is the beautiful present we received from our sweet neighbors when they had our going away BBQ for us. (Thank you again Vicki!) It hangs by the front door. The photos in it were taken by Laura where she works.

Just inside the front door is our living room. The doorway you see to the left is the guest bedroom...where we hope many of you will come to sleep!

In the back right of this one, you can see down the short hall into the bathroom. To the right is another short hall that leads into Tom's office. To the left is the master bedroom.

I really like how the kitchen is set up. It has been a joy to cook in! There is a door to the left of the refrigerator that goes into the laundry room; then the laundry room leads into the garage. The dining area is rather small, and one of the only things I would change about the house. I love our pub table, but it's really too large for the area...hard to maneuver around it. Eventually, we plan to move it downstairs and put something smaller in the dining room.

The guest bedroom

The small hallway

Tom's office-we now have a comfy chair & ottoman in there by the window thanks to his mom and dad! You can't see in this pic, but at the top of the window is a giant arch. The lighting in there is fabulous! Perfect for cozy reading!

The hall bath

Master bedroom-you can't see the beauty of this bedframe in this photo, but Tom's brother-in-law made it for us. It is mahagony color with four drawers on either side and a neat storage compartment at the end...or a secret hide out...whichever!

Master bath-hey there's Laura! Okay, so the only other thing I think I would change is to have a garden tub again! I know a lot of people say they don't use their's, but I did a lot, and I really miss it now. BUT, absolutely nothing to complain about! I love our home, and I am utterly grateful to God for blessing me with something I so don't deserve!

Going down...

This is the front part of the long room. It looks different now even from Saturday when Laura took these pics, because now Tom has his new plasma TV up on the wall where you see the entertainment center here. Just to the left of the ent. center is a door to a small room that sits under the stairs. It will hold all of the components and Wii, etc... Instead of the keyboard, the sectional is sitting the normal way now.

Just past the small door I just mentioned are a set of double doors to the right. These open into a hallway where a storage/utility room is on the left and we have bookshelves on the right to hold games and homeschooling items.

I saw this wall sticker in a magazine and it totally cracked me up. I could hardly think of a funnier or more accurate definition for my boys! At the left of this hallway, you enter the boys bathroom.

Walking through the bathroom, you enter Alex's room...which he requested to be a rock n' roll room.

Big Sis, Laura, lovingly let Alex use her New York City skyline art.

You can see a small part of the blue rope lights going up the wall. They are very fun when it's dark!

There is a door that connects Alex's room to Garrison's and Trey's room. It's very convenient for me to sit in the doorway and read to them all at night in that comfy Popesan chair Tom picked up for me!

Garrison and Trey wanted an Indiana Jones/Explorer theme. My brother found really cool Biblical artifact photos and faux artifacts to hang, but we haven't gotten all that up yet!

Through that set of double doors you see, we walk into the school/playroom.

You go out of this room through another set of double doors, which brings you full circle back to the long room.

This is where I get to keep my stuff for school and scrapbooking! Directly across from this is the desktop computer the kids play on.

And, at last, here are a couple pics of the back deck and yard. You can see out into the cow pasteur I mentioned in an earlier blog.

Hope you enjoyed the tour! And I especially hope you will all come to visit!

Love...from our home to yours!

A Visit!

This past weekend some friends came to see us. Becky and Shawn moved into the house behind us just before we moved out. This was one of the saddest parts of our move because I instantly clicked with Becky. I felt we could be great friends, and I am so thankful that we are keeping in touch.

Becky and Laura also hit it off and hang out together, so we thought it would be fun if they came to visit and we could all go see a play together. My Mom joined us, and it was a great night.

We hope you will come visit again!

My Mom's Birthday!

So, for my Mom's birthday, I decided to make her dinner and make her favorite...apple pie. I had never made a pie from scratch. We turned it into Home-Ec day for school. The boys were not interested at first, but when I told them they could use knives and other sharp weaponry, then ran in the kitchen!

Here is Alex mixing...

Then he and Trey peeled apples. Don't all chefs where hambanas??? (Yep, that's how they say bandana!)

Even Dad got in on the action with us!

It turned out very yummy!

Aunt Sue was with us.

Aaahhh...my Mommy & Daddy!

Aunt Bekah's Birthday!

I watched Tom's sister's kiddos one night so we decided to put together a birthday party for their mommy. Rebekah is one of my dearest friends and how I found my wonderful husband! Her husband built our house and we are loving living on the same street!

Here she is trying to figure out what in the world her cake says!

Well, we used what we had to get to 33!

Adalee got the first taste...and she did NOT want to let go of that number 1! She was just practicing for her big first birthday that came on Thanksgiving Day!