Coming Along

Jack, ready for his first soccer game.














For those who have asked, this is VERY close to the look of the house we are building. The roof, the rock, and the windows are all very similar. The porch will be different and we'll have a three car garage, but this should give you a good idea of what we are embarking on.


Things are coming along here. We closed on our construction loan last night so we can start our house just as soon as the weather agrees. Not easy to do in January but we'll try to be patient. Jeff is now officially out of the Army and will be moving into the National Guard at the end of February. Jeff left early this morning to go put the lake land on the market and cut trees so the view is better. Hopefully we'll sell it quickly because the longer we have it, the harder it is to part with it. If there was any way we could hang onto it, we would. The kids are doing fine now that they got over a terrible stomach virus. Molly was sick for six days followed by six days for Jack. If I never see vomit again it will be too soon. The good thing is that Molly was able to bounce back on her own but Jack required a little medical intervention. After a full bag of IV fluids he was on the mend and is now doing fine. I think they both still have a little catching up to do because all they seem to do is fight and WHINE. It's the sleepiness coming out I guess. Jack has started an indoor soccer league for three and four year olds. I think it is the single most frustrating thing for us as parents but he loves it. He basically runs around chasing the ball (and the other kids) and once in a while gets a kick in. For his very first time out he is doing fine. At our last game half of our team was on the sidelines crying but I guess if you start at three that is what you get. Molly really wants to play too and at Jacks first game there was a major temper tantrum because she didn't get a soccer shirt. I guess we'll have to sign her up next year. Well, that is about it. Keep checking back because we'll be posting pictures as we get our house started and such.

Christmas Morning

Molly was very excited about her Mickey's Christmas Carol DVD!















The Geo Tracks was the favorite. Jack didn't stop playing all day and still uses it everyday!














Wearing rollers like Grandma. She got really mad when she saw that daddy was taking her picture. She started screaming and ripping them out of her hair. Just like any self-respecting lady would do....right?

UPDATE:
Things are moving along here. It looks like Jeff will be going back to work for the government (in a non-deployable way) and we are going to be starting construction on our house in the next few weeks! We are SOOO excited. It is going to be a custom-built home and will cost more than we anticipated, but we will get everything we want. In the meantime, we are selling the lake property (any takers give us a call) and trying to figure out what parts of the house we can do ourselves to cut back on costs. Right now it is painting, landscaping, clean-up, and that's about it. Anyone with special skills is welcome to volunteer! We are just getting over the "sickies " here but are looking forward to a new week and more new adventures. Stay tuned!!





Molly is getting pretty big! She is potty-trained now (it only took about two weeks) and she is getting more and more independent. She knows what she wants and it is usually pink and involves Mickey Mouse in some way!






















One of the reasons we moved, here are the kids with their cousins (three of them) on Christmas Eve. We spent the evening at my brother's house with Tami's mom too. It was great to be with family.















Ringing in the New Year. No, it wasn't midnight--we staged the picture ahead of time.