happy birthday baby

Gabe turned 9 on Friday. My sweet, good boy is growing up. I remember so many details of Gabe's birth and those first few, precious months that it's hard to believe it was that long ago. The days of elaborate birthday parties are all but gone now. We used to go over the top with hot air balloon rides, giant bouncers and extreme cakes. This year he just wanted a few friends to invite to the water park and dinner and cake with his family. That's exactly what he got. Sort of bittersweet really.

Gabe, you're my favorite boy, I love you so much you can't even imagine. I remember singing "You are My Sunshine" to you when you were a baby and it making my heart hurt. You may be almost as tall as I am, but you'll always be my baby. Happy Birthday my good boy, I love you.

going up

I found myself saying "are you kidding me?!" about 1000 times this weekend watching this addition go up. We had a great turnout for help and the results are truly amazing. Thank you Mom & Dad for coming and helping with the food, kids, Menards run and all the rest. Thank you to all our wonderful friends who took time away from their families to help us. We could not have done it without all of you. Thank you Bud always for everything you do. We are truly blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives.

So take a look see. Now there is roof. Yeah!




As I was taking pictures, I saw a head pop up over the very high peak of the roof. Not really weird since there's like 9 guys working up there, but is that Gabe???

Zoom in...um, yes. Holy crap. I better not say anything. "Get the hell off that roof right now!" may be disastrous.
Mind you I am terrified of heights so this "I'm not scared, Mom!" / "Look Mom, no hands!" move didn't sit well with me either.

progress

Remember the dirt pile that I told you was the addition? Progress has been made.

Plumbing has been put in.
Then concrete on the garage floor.
And concrete on the rest of the floor.
This week we have walls! I am in awe of the progress even though I've seen Joe do this so many times before. He works harder than anyone I know. He sets goals and pushes himself to meet them. He talks me through my freak outs over what color cabinets, how big to make the closet door, water in the island or no water in the island...he makes this fun. So tonight I am thankful. I am thankful for walls and a brilliantly talented husband that can build them. Thankful for friends and family that have come together and help put these walls up. I am thankful for 13 challenging years of marriage. Thankful that we've trudged through the hard stuff to build a family and a home. I'm really thankful for walls...

remodel part 1 of many

After years of discussing if we should add on, buy a new house, buy land and build a new house, we finally made a decision. We started our remodel project a couple weeks ago. The pictures are so un-interesting but so is a post with no pictures. It's a huge mess, my patio is all but gone, the driveway is cluttered with large equipment and tools, but the end result will be well worth it.



Here is the new view from my bedroom window. It's my very own attached garage right off a brand new mudroom. Can't you see it? The new kitchen and den are not shown here, but they look pretty much the same.

haircut

Remember the fauxhawk?



I finally gave in on the real deal. He's still pretty darn cute if you ask me.

nieces

I have a lot of nieces and nephews. Two of them are going to be seniors this coming year. My sister-in-law asked me to take their senior pictures. I gave her the "I'm not a professional" disclaimer, and they showed up on my doorstep anyway. I am so happy they did. We had such a great time! This was a great opportunity for me to spend time with the girls. They are silly and sweet (yes, Jolie, they are sweet!) and a lot of fun. I don't think I've realized over the years how much they've grown up. Thank you Heidi and Haley for letting me part of this time in your lives.

summer

Grandma's Marathon weekend was F U N fun at our house. I even took a few random pictures. Looky here...

Amy supervising giant marshmallow roasting. Clearly Steve does not know what he's doing (I just know that's what she's thinking - HA!)

Did I mention they were GIANT marshmallows???

How cute are little girls? Seriously cute.


You know you're a redneck when...you use the air compressor to get your fire started. Ok, this is probably not safe.


Ah summer....