Happy Birthday Ryan

Ryan is 11 today!  It is hard to believe that 11 years have gone by since he was born.  But sometimes I think he is older than he really is.  He has always been the most independent, self confident and outgoing of the boys.  Preston and Grant would argue over who would do something and “little” Ryan would say, “I’ll do it”  He is very inquisitive and loves to try new things.  He is learning to play the saxophone and golf this year.  He has never been scared to stay alone (often begging-leave me I’ll be FINE). He loves to help in the kitchen and made his own birthday cake yesterday.  Ryan is also very tenderhearted and good with animals and little kids.  It is so hard to try to imagine what he will be when he grows up, because I truly believe he could be so many things.  Right now he wants to be an actor, but has many “Plan B’s”.  We are “registered” with a talent/model agency in Dothan and will see how that goes.  He has enjoyed taking classes and doing small plays locally.  He is in the 6th grade this year (his ‘senior year of elementary school’) and is in the gifted program.  We are so proud of him in all that he does.   Happy Birthday Ryan….don’t grow up too fast…Life is fun!

     

House Progress

The outside of the house is almost done.  We have shingles and brick now and it looks great.  I was very tired of seeing the “green” roof.  Grant said he thought “we made good decisions on the house so far”.  It is fun to watch it transform each day.  Hopefully soon we can start on the inside.  I am beginning to look at light fixtures but there are so many choices.  Here are a few pictures of the brick and roof.

Ready for the next work day

Let me catch you up..

Time has sure flown by here.  I cannot believe that it is September and we are almost halfway through our first quarter of school!  So far the POD situation is working out and my kiddos are staying in our class area.  Great progress with one autistic child this week!! That’s why I keep teaching.

ALL of Dennis’s tests came back normal including a nerve measuring test last week.  His face is back to “normal” but he still has some issues.  He still has some pain, numbness and ringing in his ear and he still has trouble with his speech due to the involuntary air/coughing.  The neurologist we are seeing seems to be as puzzled as we are so I think we will be getting a 2nd opinion soon.

The kids are doing great.  Preston is playing varsity and JV football (with Grant).  It was rough the first JV game with both boys on the field at the same time.  I needed 2 cameras!  Our varsity team won big this week so Preston got a lot of playing time and so did all his friends.  It was fun watching them all play.  Ryan is not playing football this fall.  He is doing some acting stuff and learning the saxophone.

The house is coming along well.  I have been amazed by all the wires and water hoses running through the house.  It is like a spider web.  The windows are in and the fireplace has been started.  Next step: the roof. Of course there is a tropical storm heading our way so the roofing might have to wait.

 

Above the kitchen

 

Our tub…air jetted with a heated backrest!!

 

The fireplace will be framed out and then Limestone will be added to the entire thing including a hearth.

College football has started and Auburn just pulled off an amazing win.  It was a game they should have won by 40 but we are a young team this year so we will take a W any way we can!

Ready for kick off.

What would game day be without football food.  We did not know it but it is National Bacon Day.  Dennis has been wanting to make BACON EXPLOSION, a recipe he saw online while deployed.  He and the boys LOVED it.  I ate half a piece and feel like exploding –haha.  I think it needed to be on a biscuit!

 

Following the recipe on the laptop

2 lbs of bacon and 2 lbs of sausage all rolled up and smoked

Ready to eat!

Ryan and I went to a conference for 5th and 6th graders where a 19 yr old girl painted this picture with her fingers in  90 seconds.  She did it to music and it was really cool!  The coolest part was this was what she chose to do for a beauty pageant talent!

We are up for another busy weekend and week ahead but hopefully I will have time to update more often.

Until then….