Our Baby

The Master Carpenter

First floor progress!

East side of house... the large square window is the kitchen, the protruding part to the left will be the chimney, with two casement windows flanking it.
Back of the house... the large doorway leads out from the dining room. I really wanted French doors here, but this wasn't practical because of the large size of our dining table (the doors would not clear the table when opened). So we compromised and will have sliding French doors. I'd never heard of them before and they aren't exactly old-fashioned, but I know they'll work out great. The small door opens from the back of the garage. Mitch added this himself as a convenience. The space created by the "L" shape of this end of the house will be our patio. By the way, this photo was taken from atop the actual "hill" with the "persimmons" on it!
The west side of the house... of course the two big openings are for the garage. The small window is to mine and Mitch's bathroom and the large doorway leads from our bedroom to what will I hope someday will be an enclosed courtyard to relax in. This doorway will house a set of 48" French doors.
Front of house!! The middle opening is of course our front door which will be topped by a transom to bring it to the height of the four windows. The porch is a generous 8 feet deep... lotsa room for our porch swing.

Turkeys!

At the end of January, we discovered a large flock (20-25 birds) of Rio Grande turkey on top of Persimmon Hill!

Ceiling Joists/Decking

Progress

Persimmon Hill is (finally!) Ours!

It's happened... we closed on the property on January 17. And you know Mitch didn't waste any time getting started on the house. The gracious buyers of our home have given us 8 months to rent back from them, so that is the timetable for the new house. Here are pictures of the progress! The slab has been poured, but we don't have photos of that yet. Check back soon!

bella

Please go see bella... help it to bring in lots of money to show Hollywood that movies don't all have to be filled with foul language, sex, violence, etc. Face it, money talks, and if films like bella do well, more like it will be made for us to enjoy.

Halloween

Here are the kids dressed up for Halloween. Andrew's costume was the biggest hit- he is a good sport.

My Favorite Quotes

"It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness." Motto of the Christophers

"If not you, then WHO?"

"If not now, then WHEN?"

Last two found in Maryknoll magazine.

In case you don't realize the preciousness of each and every single day we are given, please watch this video about a baby named Eliot. Since I haven't figured out how to post video, just follow this youtube link.

Yo Baby Cover Baby Contest

We were hoping that this entry would be an appeal to our family and friends to vote for Pete in the finals of the Yo Baby Cover Baby Contest. In a moment of parental pride, we entered this photo into the contest run by Pete's favorite yogurt, but alas, there were 44,ooo entries and Pete was not chosen as one of the 4 finalists. Actually, the one boy in Pete's age group looks quite similar to him (or it could just be the setting). Oh, well, the silver lining is that we have this adorable picture of Pete taken by his Uncle Jason!

Does this count...

... as Jay's first kiss? Hee Hee!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!

This weekend, we traveled "home" to surprise my mom for her birthday. I won't say which birthday, but it was a milestone one, so you can probably guess! Yes, we made the 5 hour drive, but the real treat for Mom was that my sister, Leah, and her husband secretly flew in from Virginia. That's love! Thanks, Sil and Chris!

First Day of School

Here is the annual first day of school picture... boy do they look excited! I have mixed feelings... in my heart I know I am a homeschooler and reading blogs by such admirable, devout ladies such as redcardigan
kinda makes me sad. I truly wish I could be as organized, motivated, and creative as to teach my own kids, but I guess we can't say we didn't try.

Jay is doing well in middle school, taking the changing of classes, etc. in stride. I think the little ones have good teachers. I'll just keep praying for a successful, safe school year!

BIRTHDAY BOY!

Our little toot is ONE! What a fast year it has been. He started his party in a bit of a grumpy mood, but grew cheerier as it went on. Isn't he a neat eater for a baby? Thank you to everyone who sent him presents! He loves all of his new toys.

Best Birthday Present!

I have always wanted silhouettes of my kids and this year, Mitch very kindly obliged me. They turned out wonderfully and I know they will always be family treasures (at least to me).

Any Potter Fans Out There?

Deathly Hallows is officially my favorite Harry Potter book, now. So many poignant moments/revelations. Harry, Ron, and Hermione venturing outside the confines of Hogwarts , finally able to use what they'd learned the past six years was refreshing. And they MAKE MISTAKES... they are still kids, after all.

Some touching parts to me were:

~ the fate of Dobby and its effect on Harry
~ finally learning why Petunia was so bitter toward her sister/Harry
~ when Harry, Ron, and Hermione (or was it just Harry?) discovered the mural on Luna's ceiling. My heart ached for her.
~ don't know why, but Kreacher becoming "good" really satisfied me
~ Snape

Anyway, I just read that JK Rowling is working on a detective novel at her old haunts in Edinburgh (though I'm sure it's just not the same- from struggling single mom to billionaire). I'll read it- I prefer that genre and I think she is a good writer. I'd be interested in the differences between her writing style for "children" vs. that for adults.

Any thoughts... Sil? Kim?

~NEW PERSIMMON HILL UPDATE~

This weekend was chipper-shredder weekend! The picture below is some of the cedar that was condemned to mulch. And Mitch got through it all! The homesite is cleared, ready for various contractors to visit for estimates.


We (well, Mitch and his friend Bill) figured out how the house will sit on the hill, and it was done so that NO (desirable) trees will have to be cut down (especially the persimmons! what would become of the name if they had to go?).

We've gotten materials bids from two places, though comparing the totals is like comparing apples and oranges since they don't contain exactly the same materials. I have found out that windows are incredibly expensive. Who knew?

Like I said, I guess next up is getting the concrete guy, electric co., septic co., etc. out there.

On the homefront, I just need to finish in the bathroom, then do the boys' room and the master bedroom. I am valiantly attempting to keep the rest of the house clean. I think it's going well, but I want to get this house up for sale SOON because all of this horrible real estate talk is starting to get to me. Luckily, Austin and San Antonio are still hot markets, so we have some breathing room.

More later!

Been Awhile!

Hi, Dear Blog Readers,

It has been almost 2 weeks since I last wrote because I have been having trouble with my camera. I'm sure I was missed dreadfully! Since then, most notably, I turned 33. Yippee.

Anyway, I am just going to post some random pictures I have taken in the past 11 or so days.


The boys have been banned from video games due to fighting, so, Horrors! they had to break out the Monopoly.

Pete loves to bang on the piano.

Pete eating corn on the cob and... glue.

Christine's birthday cupcakes ready for us to decorate!

Some of the finished cupcakes.



Pete's new shoes for nursery school!

Persimmon Hill Update... No Pics :^(

Well, since this blog was set up for chronicling our Persimmon Hill progress, I have been terribly lax in providing news on that front. So here is what's been going on:

Mitch has continued to cut cedar on the property, and has even devised a way to take Pete out there so I can have more free time to devote to the house. He has hung Pete's swing from a big cedar tree and charged Andrew with swinging and entertaining him. A great help!

So now, he is ready to tackle some of the huge brush piles he has made. We briefly considered buying a used chipper shredder from craig's list, but we finally decided to rent one instead. He hopes to get out there this weekend with a friend and gobble those up while reserving the big cedar logs for various projects.

I am slowly, I mean slowly working my way through the house, mercilessly flinging old school papers, plastic toys, outgrown clothes, etc. into a big plastic bag to be sorted and disposed of. The kitchen, dining room, and living room are done, yet not done. What I mean is that each day before I work on the particular room that is my current project, I make sure the kitchen, dining room, and living room are immaculate. Then and only then can I work on the new room. That is why progress is so slow, but I think my strategy is effective because the rooms I have totally finished cleaning are tending not to get out of hand again. I am currently on Christine's room. Who thought so much junk could be collected by a little girl in a 12x12 room?

Today was my target date for putting the house on the market. The best laid plans blah blah blah.

Mitch has gotten a materials bid from one supplier and I think we are going to another this evening to detail what we want so that they can bid. I am learning that I am going to have to make compromises in some areas, and honestly, it doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would, considering I have had my "dream home" pictured in my head for most of my adult life.

Well, I think that brings us up to today. Though frustratingly slow, I think we are steadily building upon each accomplishment toward each little goal.