Seth's 1 Year Pics

And here are some of just Seth for his 1 year pictures. (from back in July)
He's such a happy and smiley boy!!!
LOVE him!!!

Boys in July 2011

My sweet boys!
Our friends at Solas Gallery in Salado took some pictures of the boys back in July.
[Ages: Luke 4.25 yrs, Daniel 2.75 yrs, Seth 1 yr]

Here are 2 of my favorites!

Being a little silly, and a little sweet!

5's of the Boys

This is a little summary of each of my 3 little guys right now -- some of the things that best describe them and each of their personalities at this stage.

-- Luke -- (4.3 yrs)
5 Adjectives to Describe Him: high energy, structured, quick learner, great helper, inquisitive.
5 Favorite Foods: chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, pancakes, spaghetti, ice cream.
5 Things He likes playing with: Legos, Magnaformers (thanks Sadowski's!!!), trains, cars, books.
5 Activities He Loves: swimming, fishing, doing "school work", helping me cook, being outside! (playing baseball or soccer in the backyard!)

-- Daniel -- (2.8 yrs)
5 Adjectives to Describe Him: detailed, focused, independent, goes-with-the-flow (usually!), very hands-on.
5 Favorite Foods: mac and cheese, chips, meat (hamburger, steak, chicken, etc.), yogurt drinks, grapes.
5 Things He likes playing with: trains (he is a little obsessed right now!), cars, his little wheeled Diego backpack, ride-on motorcycle, toy animals.
5 Activities He Loves: playing with the train table, swimming, reading books, getting dirty, singing songs.


-- Seth -- (13.5 months)
5 Adjectives to Describe Him: easy-going, loveable, smiley, on-the-move, happy.
5 Favorite Foods: apples, french fries, noodles, yogurt, ice cream.
5 Things He likes playing with: balls, cars, musical toys, ride-on toys, shape sorting toys.
5 Activities He Loves: swimming, giving hugs and kisses, being outside, going bye-bye, chasing after his big brothers!

Pool and Play Times

Well, August has been SO incredibly HOT and dry here -- we have been trying to stay cool! We have spent alot of our summer at the pool playing -- I just always forget to take my camera!!!! So here are a couple of pictures for proof! The boys are like little fish! They are swimming really well now! Luke and Daniel love playing with diving sticks/rings/torpedoes, etc. Seth is completely independent floating all around with his little arm floaties -- he just kicks his feet wherever he wants to go! It's been so nice having the pool so close, since the boys love the water!





We made it to one of our favorite parks (Whistlestop) early one morning and had fun playing before it got into the 100s!!! The boys have been a little deprived of good "park time" lately since it has been so hot.




Silly boys eating some fruit snacks -- hence the reason they are all 3 stilling still! Ha!

Happy Seth!!!

Playing in our little kiddy pool in the backyard. We have gotten our moneys' worth out of this little plastic pool!

More House Pics

So here are a few more house pics -- PRE construction. I want to take pics of before and after so that we can see all the improvements in the end!

This is the house from a little bit down the road -- it sits up on a hill and in the midst of trees/natural terrain.

Another outside view of the front (the entry steps there will be completely redone, and we will be adding railing to the balconies)

A view from the upstairs balcony -- you can see for miles and miles, and there is always a great breeze! The land is so dry and alot of the grass is pretty dead -- central Texas needs rain desperately!
Front door (from the inside) -- to the right here is the formal dining (which will likely be the playroom), and to the left is the office.

Office area -- with all the build in desks, drawers, and cabinets!!!

Guest room/suits -- with the mini-kitchen and bathroom area (bathroom is painted a lavender purple color, but that will go!)

Laundry room/mud room/Storage -- it's pretty dirty and grimy right now (and the electrical box needs fixed!), but lots of potential and lots of space!!!

Upstairs hallway -- to the right is built-in shelving (no doors yet), and to the left are 2 bedrooms (and that door there at the end is to the attic)

These next 2 are the "Jack-and-Jill" bedrooms -- they need a lot of work (flooring, sheetrock around the windows, trim, etc.)


Bathroom that is in between these 2 bedrooms

The 3rd upstairs bedroom -- it already has flooring, and it is a little bigger than the other 2... not sure yet, but I think this may be the big boys' room! They were enjoying running around and around!

Small balcony off of this bedroom -- we will be adding railing to this also.

Silly boys playing in the pool -- this whole room needs the most work -- lots to get done before we can enjoy year-round swimming!

And last one -- deer droppings... we have already seen deer running around on the land! The boys are very excited about this!!!

New House!!!

We have been in the process of buying a new house in Salado for the past 3.5 months or so, and as of tonight we are the proud owners!!! We are so very excited, and ready to move on to the next phase.

The story of this house is that it is a 5 bedroom, 4.5 bath house that was originally built in 2001 by a home builder who was building his own "dream home" but he wan't able to finish it, so he sold it. A couple in their 60's bought it and started finishing the interior -- primarily all of the downstairs (kitchen, laundry room, living room, dining room, office, master bedroom, bathrooms). But due to a divorce, they had to sell the house.

Robert and I went out to see it for the first time in early April, and we really loved so much about the house -- the parts that were already completed are just amazing! We just like so much that the house has to offer! It has plenty of square footage for our family to grow into and stay long term! It is not completed though, so we knew that it would take some work to get it all finished. The way that everything started to work together was a "God thing", and we started the process of buying the house in late April. We ran into some hold-ups with financing the house since it is not completed, but God is good, and he has brought many great people into our path and we were finally able to get it all worked out!

We are now at a point were we can start some of the construction on the areas that need to be finished, and since we haven't sold our house here, we are planning on staying out of the way (and mess) of all the construction! Hopefully in the next 2-3 months we will have most or all of the construction done and we will be ready to move in!!!

Here are some of the pictures of the house (from the realtor with the previous owners furniture... I will try to take some more soon.)

The house sits up on a hill and has beautiful views from the front porch and balcony!

This kitchen is A.MAZ.ING!!!! My favorite part of the house!!!

Formal dining room -- off of the kitchen

Living room with staircase leading to bedrooms upstairs

These are 2 of the upstairs bedrooms that need to be finished --

flooring, sheetrock, trim, paint, etc.

And this is the indoor pool area that is just behind the living room glass windows. We are excited about having a pool -- and one that we can swim in year round! This pool has actually been one of the "problem areas" of the house because it is an increased risk and liability, but hopefully we will get all the kinks worked out and will be happy to invite lots of family and friends over to swim!!!!

We are so excited about our new house and hope to have lots of guests over to enjoy it as well throughout the years!

Tidy

I, personally, like for things to be neat and tidy -- I am a "clean-as-you-go"/"a place for everything, and everything in its place" type (A-ish) person. That is just my natural tendency, and it is how I used to keep things (before I had kids).

Well, truth be told, I still do often try to keep them this way (we have our house for sale right now, so keeping it clean and tidy is sort-of required), BUT I think the kiddos are showing me that those things are less and less important.

Each night before we do our bedtime routines of brushing teeth, potty, and reading books/prayers, etc, we take a few minutes to put all of the toys back where they belong... we all sing:

"Clean-Up, Clean-Up

Everybody, Everywhere

Clean-Up, Clean-Up

Everybody Do Your Share"

And usually (on a good day) all the toys are back tucked away in their bins, buckets, shelves, etc. in just a few minutes.

Making for a nice and clean room for the big boys to go to sleep in -- BUT after the lights go out, my sweet Daniel has recently started getting back out of bed and finding ways to "play quietly" in their room... he wanders around (in the dark) playing with this and that, and not bothering to put any of the toys or book back where they go, making a scene like this picture in the mornings:

Granted, this really isn't that bad, or that big of a deal, right? RIGHT??? Well, I tell myself that it's not that big of a deal, and I thank God for the ways that He is using my boys to mold and shape me into a better person. Because, really what matters is that I love Daniel unconditionally -- whether he is neat or messy, whether he goes right to sleep at night or plays quietly for a little bit longer. I am so thankful for a Heavenly Father who extends that unconditional love to me, so that I can then give it to others.

And that is so much more important than things being tidy! And who could resist the charm of this handsome 2-year-old?!?!?

Fun Moments

These are just a few fun, random moments from the past couple of weeks around our house! We are keeping busy, as usual, and we spend lots of time playing and being silly!

My Sweet Guys!

Silly Seth is constantly on the move and getting into ANY and EVERYTHING that he can! He is curious and wants to explore everywhere and he has no fear! He can climb in and out of his little toy bucket...

Climb up the little step-ladder

Run around like a little naked jay bird! He just loves running around right before or after bath time "free"

Getting a free ride from big brother!
Swimming!
The big boys love playing with their trains -- they line them all up and play for long periods of time!

Riding in circles around the house on their motorcycles before bed time! (Here Daniel is "sharing" with Seth, and Luke is on a different one behind them)

Bath time!

Just a little bit of the day-in, day-out things that we do around here.... and I wouldn't have it any other way! I love my boys!