The Summer House List: #21

So, most of the items on the Summer House List are family activities.  In fact, I think only 2 are specific to just one person.  One of them?  Take a photography class with Mrs. Everything.

Those of y'all that have read this blog for awhile, know that's been on my to do list... longer than I've been blogging.  But we finally did it!  Mrs. Everything found a local photog Jenna (of That Wife) to help us learn a few things. 

Our main objective:  To learn enough to take (slightly) better everyday pics of our families and the events of our lives. 

Objective met?  Yep!  Jenna was so wonderful to work with.  Totally laid back and didn't laugh at the fact that we knew absolutely nothing.  She even brought a beautiful model.  I only wish I'd taken some notes (the class was on a Fri evening after a particularly long work week), but now I just need to spend some time (what's that, right?) playing around.

And so... a few shots I took that night in Aug.   You can see (hopefully!) all the playing around we were doing... focusing on the subject, on the background, etc.  We were in this beautiful area near where I live.  It's modeled after a Croatian village and no detail has been left undone.  This is the church - it's gorgeous!

More Summer House List activities to come!

And maybe now I can breathe...

Because we have dirt!

(Um, can you imagine what my laundry looked like this weekend?  After visiting the land to check progress both days?  Small price to pay though for PROGRESS!)

Saturday morning, Mr. Fix-It heads to the land to work on a few things and I follow later with the kiddos.  Mr. Fix-It promised I wouldn't be disappointed... and woo hoo! 

We have forms! 

Trenches have been dug! 

I am (finally!) happy to have progress.

Sissy helps Daddy measure, by throwing off the tape measure after each measurement.  In a dress.  Because that's how Big Sis rolls.

And G-man pulls himself away from the dirt long enough to help measure, too.

Oh, and to tell our new neighbor that he is TWOOOOOO. I was thrilled to meet one of our neighbors.  She and the other neigbhors have been chatting about how excited they are that we're building across the street. There are lots of kids in the area (which we knew.  Duh, haven't we been stalking the land every weekend?) and they like to get together and have neighborly shindigs. Perfect.

On Sunday, we go to church. 

Kids nap (okay, G-man naps and Sissy watches Hello Kitty). 

Mr. Fix-It and I switch up our workout routines and do the C25K (prob more on this later... I've been too.bored.to.believe with my current running and treadmill location in the Summer House!)

Then we head to the land.  We can see the orange netting from down the block - MORE changes!!  I kiss Mr. Fix-It.  ;)

Plumbing work has been done.  Here, Mr. Fix-It is standing in the master bathroom.  I have to say, since we're building the same floor plan as our last house (with a few modifications and more sqft), it is MUCH easier to visualize than any of our previous houses!

Um, this is one way to meet your new neighbors!  Think they'll mind?  They have a couple dogs and Sis was trying to get a closer look! 

Next up:  we've gotta pass a few inspections before we can pour the foundation.  Keep your fingers crossed for green tags, perfect scheduling and NO RAIN!

xoxo

Put 'Em Up or Tee Up?

So, I'll tell you this..... I haven't run any of these ideas by G-man yet.... But.  Here is MY Top 5 list for G-man's Halloween Costumes.  I plan on getting his opinion tomorrow.  But, of course, I want to hear what you think, too!

1.  A boxer - lately it is NOT unusual for me to get a call at work from the kiddos' school.  And it's almost always an 'incident report' about G.  That kid is all boy, a total bruiser.  Depending on the day, we might not even have to add the fake shiner.  Love this one!

2.  A Golfer - it's almost the anti-costume of #1 and I love it equally.  ;)  Mr. Fix-It lit up when I showed him this costume, complete with the set of golf clubs and bag.

3.  Lil Frankenstein - I don't know what it is about this one, but I can totally see G-man as a Lil Frank.  (Mr. Fix-It brought up a good point.... G prob will NOT wear anything on his head.  Which seriously takes out 92% of all boy costumes.  Geez.)

4.  Woody (or Buzz Lightyear) - this boy is OBSESSED with the Toy Story movies.  He'll stay glued for the.entire.movie.  (Moms of 2 yr old boys know how amazing that is!)  He's got Woody and Buzz toys, cars, movies, even a hooded towel!

5.  A Lil Devil - I couldn't resist this one!  For all those days he's being insanely onery.  ;)

Now... to figure out what I'm going to be! :)  Last year, I was a semi-homemade witch.  I bought a witch hat, spiced it up with some purple and green tulle, and wore my black dress.  This year?  Maybe... the Queen of Hearts.  Same black dress with some heart accessories?  I heart Halloween!

My New Favorite Thing

Ain't that the truth?  So why do we all keep tryin'??
By last night, I was really wondering if having Monday off was worth it.... when I worked 25 hrs Tues/Wed to make up for it.  But tomorrow is Friday - we can make it! :)

xoxo,

What are YOU gonna be?

I LOVE OCTOBER!  Those of you who know me well, know that it's probably my fav month!  What's not to love about the pumpkin patch, homecoming (with its parade, walkaround, sea of orange, and the big game!), and Halloween!  I have never outgrown my obsession with dressing up!  When else do I get to abandon my real life persona (thirty-something, full-time working, momma of 2) and be WHATEVER I want? 

Sis and I have been brainstorming our costumes for a few weeks now..... and over the holiday weekend, she put together HER Top 5:

1.  Batgirl (but not just any Batgirl... the PINK one!)

And G-man would just have to be her Batman (I like the one with the muscles, lol!)

2.  Cat - she's never mentioned wanting to be a cat before, but after seeing this cute costume, I can't really blame her for picking it!

3.  Southern Belle - I have to say, a part of me (the same part that loves her Southern drawl!) is just lovin' that she picked this in her top 5!  I don't really love the mermaid-like color combo, but I could def see her in a hoop skirt!

4.  Hannah Montana - the choice she mentions the most often, but that I often don't quite hear.  ;)

5.  Alice in Wonderland - there's the sassy version and the sweet version.  And while I usually go for tradition and know that Sissy would make a sweet, traditional Alice... I'm liking the sass!

Now that Sis has narrowed it down, I've gotta spend some time with G-man and see what he likes!  And I have a few ideas for myself.... but since we can't throw a Halloween party at our house this year, I've gotta find somewhere to go and dress up!

xoxo

The "Summer House" List

Remember that super cute idea I saw on eighteen25 about making a "summer list" of all the fun things you wanted to do over the summer?  Remember that it was back in June when I blogged about it?  And remember that I was so excited to get started, that we sat down as a family that very day and pulled together our list?

Well..... this summer has gone anything but according to plan.... So, I decided to make ours a "Summer HOUSE" list - a list of all the super fun things we're going to do before we move out of the Summer house.  A list that will keep our minds OFF the fact that we're still IN the Summer house (and will be thru Oct... Nov... parts of Dec...)  So our list now includes items like:

Carve pumpkins
Go to a football game
Eat turkey
Walkaround
Make a recipe with pumpkin in it

Mr. Fix-It is gonna hang my masterpiece next to the giant calendar/countdown in the dining room.  (Ohmigosh, I won't be sad to say goodbye to the horrible lighting in this place either!)  We should be getting our permit back tomorrow (from what appears to be THE slowest small town in TX!) and then watch out!  You'll finally be getting progress updates on the 2010 Semi-Homemade House!

Enjoy the last day of summer!  We sure have - we went swimmin' and then crashed at The Everythings for some yummy grillin'! 

xoxo,

Say Cheese!

My favorite time of the year is coming up quickly!  First it's fall, which means football season, my favorite smells and pulling out all my fav recipes.  Then we're on to the holidays!  I love, love checking my mailbox for all the amazing cards from family and friends.  So.... if you're in the Dallas area and wanting to have a truly special holiday card this year, contact Kristie!  Y'all have seen the great work she's done with my family (she did the family pic in my sidebar, as well as the pics of Big Sis and G-man over there, too!)  She's a teacher and a whiz with kiddos. 

Contact her and tell her I sent you!  (Awww, look at those cute kiddos in her flier!)  ;)

xoxo,

Back to the basics - it's SCHOOL time!

The kids have been back to school for 2 whole weeks... so I'm finally getting a chance to show you the big day!  We started the year with appreciating our new teachers (y'all know how much we love teachers!)

$3 fun clipboard from Walmart

+ oh.so.yummy popcorn from our local shoppe

+ a handwritten note (I used the apple notes from The TomKat Studio!) 

+ tulle

= several happy lead teachers!

And we love assistant teachers, too!  For them:  a bag of savory popcorn with a candied popcorn ball and a note about how much we appreciate them.   Big Sis and G-man loved picking out the flavors!

Here's Big Sis on her first day of Pre-K - I can't believe it!  She's so grown up... when I picked her up after the first day, she showed me her pencil case and composition notebook and everything!  (When did she get so grown up?!?)

Big Sis with her onery brother on their first day of school

I'm surprised to say... but I just love my pretty girl in a UNIFORM!  Being the girly girl that she is, we didn't waste time with shorts/pants/skorts... so nothing but jumpers Mon-Thurs!

But watch out for Fridays - when her true style comes out.  ;)
Happy back to school, y'all!

Watching grass grow....

Here's our land on Aug 1, 2010

And here it is again, on Sept 1, 2010

Nothing.has.changed.  (Okay, shut up, we all know it's the exact same picture... but that's the point!)

OHMIGOD!  Most of you know that patience has never been my strong suit.  And the speed (or lack thereof!) of this building process is killing me.  Or in the least causing me sleepless nights, failure to be motivated, and weight gain.  Seriously.  We've run in to more roadblocks and slow downs than we ever dreamt was possible. And my hubby is a professional builder!

We MUST break ground this week before I lose my mind.  I'm ready to be excited about this process!

But in the meantime.... the view of our neighbors to the back:

And these are our neighbors across the street.  I hope to meet them soon, when we start visiting in the evenings several times a week.  That's how we met Neighbor Mike at our last house and we ended up as great family friends!  (Love Texan hospitality!)

Come on, House of 2010!  Happy Labor Day, y'all!  I'm debating on spending it with a shovel, breaking the ground my ownself!