I won a Blog Award!!

My wonderful friend Laura tagged little old ME as one of her favorite blogs! Click on her name to see her blog. Thanks Laura!! As a recipient of this award, I now have the responsibility to share the love! Here are the rules for winners of this lovely award.

1. The winner can put the logo on her blog!
2. Link the person that you won the award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of the girls you nominated!

Here is my list of nominees:

• Jen
• Dawn
• Paula
• Colleen
• Carlee
• Lady Doc/Karen
• May Flaum
• Amy

What a summer we are having! And it is FLYING by!!

The kids have kept us busy with all the typical summer activities. Playing outside, trips to the park, afternoons at the pool, summer blockbusters at the movies, and more!

Katie's big excitement was finally removing her training wheels and going solo on 2 wheels!! As a reward, Papa promised her a new Hannah Montana bicycle if she did it on her own. So, here she is in action, and now there is no stopping her!! This has motivated Jacob to remove his training wheels, but he is still trying to get the hang of things. I think it will happen soon!

Jacob's excitement was the loss of his second tooth! It's really fun to watch how excited he gets over something so small.

Emily, not to be outdone by anyone, has graduated from her Little People Tricycle to a "Big Girl Bike". She's now cruising the sidewalk on her 12" Little Mermaid Bicycle (with training wheels, of course!). I predict she loses the training wheels next summer. Stay tuned!!

Last but not least, here are a few construction update photos! Since my last post they have set the forms for the foundation walls, filled the forms with concrete, and then removed the forms. Today they came back and backfilled around the walls, and graded around the house. When Patrick finished work today he went to check the progress and found a delivery of products to begin the framing! This work is scheduled to start tomorrow. Our builder set a goal to get us into the house October 1st!! He is ambitious, and knows how much we want to get settled in.

Hope everyone is having a fun and safe summer!!

Two kinds of concrete ...

My husband and his father always say that there are only 2 kinds of concrete in this world.

That which is cracked, and that which is going to crack.

Yes, they are hilarious!!

BUT, here is OUR new concrete!!!

Construction Update!

We have officially started the construction process of our new home!! Today was the big day! After delays due to schedules and crazy Iowa weather, we were finally able to begin! Patrick called us around 8:30 a.m. to let us know that the excavation company was there, and looked like they would be starting soon. The kids and I excitedly got dressed and drove right up to check it out. It appeared that they had gotten started shortly before we arrived. The man running the equipment was nice enough to stop for a few minutes so the kids could check everything out, and even offered to let them get in for a picture. The kids got all shy, and none of them would do it! Even Jacob who got really excited to see that they were using a John Deere!! So we stood back and watched for awhile and snapped a few shots. We were soon joined by the family that will be our next-door neighbors! Adam (dad) works swing shift, so he's often home during the day. He and their three girls joined us to watch for awhile then invited us into their home for some snacks, playtime, and a very nice visit. Their girls are Emma (age9, going into 4th grade), Molly (age 7, going into 2nd grade, like Katie!), and Tess (age 3-1/2). Katie is SO excited to have someone her age to play with who will also be a potential classmate at her new school. Jacob was happy to learn that on the other side of this family there are several young boys ranging from ages 3-6!! My visit with Adam left me with the feeling that we have chosen the perfect spot for our new home! The area is filled with mostly young families with younger, school age children. He told us that we do not have a 1.3 acre yard, we have a 10 acre yard, as all the kids run the entire neighborhood, and are welcome everywhere! While we talked and got to know each other, the kids were playing all over ... upstairs, downstairs, inside, outside, and having a ball!! We're looking forward to meeting his wife (who was at work) and the rest of the neighbors. The adventure has just begun! I'll try to post pictures of the process often. They should be done digging the hole today, and pouring the footings for the foundation tomorrow! Wish us luck! I hope you are all having a wonderful summer!! Please have a SAFE and HAPPY 4th of July this weekend!!!

Parker Look-alike Meter

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