Playing catch up again….Ryan had a fun Survivor party for his birthday WEEKS ago and here are a few pictures:
The Cake with the logo and tribal council area with torches
The Challenges:
Obstacle course
The Food challenge
Tug of war
and this year NOBODY threw up! :)
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!
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
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….
No news of Dennis’s tests…maybe tomorrow. BUT he seems MUCH better today and said he felt much better too. The inside of the house is taking shape. We have stairs to the bonus room. The windows and doors will be added soon. We have been staining the front door ourselves and it is looking good.
I went to an antique action for a store going out of business….should have bought much more…GREAT prices.
Two of my auction finds
Little arch cut out
Before the stairs
Finally …stairs (looking toward the DR and then into the kitchen
Love this picture of my dad, Dennis and Grant looking out the bonus room window
Luckily Dennis’s cousins were looking at the house when we needed help moving the door
Before!
Everybody helped
frame ready for sealer
Barrel ceiling in walkway under stairs from Kitchen to DR
One of Dennis’s friends flew over our new house and took some pictures!
Our house in the middle, my parents top left
Click on this next picture and you can see my parents house and then the little dirt area to the right is our backyard right now so you can see how close they are
Pretty cool!
What a crazy 3 weeks it has been and it shows no signs of slowing down. Dennis has been battling an ear infection for 3 weeks. It has led to much pain, Bell’s Palsy and now involuntary coughing and speech problems. Waiting on referral for MRI and EEG. Docs think it is viral and an interesting case! I started back to school and will post before an after pictures of my room soon. Doing home visits and parent referrals now. The boys started school yesterday. It is an “even year” Preston 10th, Grant 8th and Ryan 6th.
The house is coming along well. The guy that is in charge of the framing dove into a shallow area and broke his neck!! Not bad as neck injuries go. He will miss about 3 months of work. His crew is still working and my dad is checking daily.
Of course it has rained EVERY day lately!!
Dennis will kill me- but right now he can’t yell so ….here is a picture of him picking out toilets for the new house! Note his smile is not as crooked…making progress I hope.
OH….I DID survive white water rafting but was thrown out once…scary at first and then I just floated down the lazy part of the river on my back…beautiful and peaceful. Pictures soon.
More soon when I have a little more free time….hahaha
