A Week in Review (August 16-22)

A Week in Review (August 16-22)

Watched: The final episode in Parks and Recreation.  After reading Amy Poehler's book, Yes Please, I felt that I had to watch the show she referenced so many times.  Plus, my brother has often recommended it to me.  I really enjoy it.  It was literally a great way to spend some free time.  I loved that they wrapped it up with a future cast so that I got to see a glimpse into everyone's future.  If you liked The Office, you will like this one.  It does take several episodes to get going, but once it does you are hooked.  

Read: I finished up I Will Always Write Back:  How One Letter Changed Two Lives.  As you know, I have been in a bit of reading slump for a while and this book was just the change I needed. It reads very quickly and really inspires you. It often reminded me to focus on what a blessed life I lead. I can't imagine having to ask my children to sleep under my bed on a dirt floor. I can't imagine the fear that would come from knowing that without someone else's generosity that you would be homeless and starving. It makes my heart so happy knowing that there are such great stories out there to be told.  Next, I decided to try and finish up The Girl Who Stopped Swimming.  According to Goodreads, I have been working on it since July 16th!  I didn't make it quite halfway through so I am not sure if you will be getting a review next week or not, but I do intend to finish it soon.  
Listened: To Jack be surprised that his took had fallen out.  He was chewing on piece of licorice and out it popped.  I am so excited for his top teeth to finally be falling out.  They have been on the brink for years!  The gap it left is crazy big though. It made him a little self conscious they day before school.  I don't think it took very long to realize that most of his classmates have holes where teeth used to be though.

Made: A photo tour of our new place.  If you didn't already see it and would like to, you can check it out HERE.  I didn't include any of the photos in our weekly run down.

Felt: Nervous for my little man.  He had his first day of 2nd grade, at yet another new school.  He seemed to like it okay.  It is always hard to know how things will go as everyone is finding their rhythm.  21 out of 25 of the kiddos were in first grade together and the other 3 kiddos came from within the school so Jack was the only kid new to the school in the room.  I didn't know his schedule or any other procedure so I couldn't really prepare him for lied ahead.  He was in a chipper mood when he came out.  He really likes the independence that comes with being in second grade.

Planned: To have a quick fix for a couple burnt out bulbs in my car.  One was the third headlight.  Of course, that couldn't be a quick fix.  It turns out that the whole assembly needs replaced and not just a bulb.  None of the local junkyards that were open had my car in stock.  I found a listing on Craigslist in Denver who had one he was parting out.  When we were there, we saw those seats were in way better condition than mine were (but really how could they not be), so we decided to go ahead and swap those out too.  Umm, the things that were below my seats were quite shocking.  I did find a good deal of candy, lego pieces, and change.  While the seats are not in perfect condition, I might have a decent chance at getting them to come cleaner when I have it for a few days.  Nick is taking my car to Utah, so it will be a while before I get a chance to do it.  Since we were in Denver, we had to eat at bd's. It wasn't nearly as good as our KC experience, but it does hit the spot.   

Loved: Spending the day at Santa's Workshop at North Pole, Colorado.  It is a small amusement park (really more like a permanent carnival) which is Christmas themed nestled at the base of Pike's Peak.  We opened the park at 10 and closed it down at 5.  There was hardly anyone there and we were able to ride all the rides without a wait.  I guess that is the beauty of the school district taking two "testing" days just as soon as school started.  We did choose to spend about 15 minutes in line total so that we could ride Santa's Sleigh Ride Zipline several times.  It is a ride unlike any that I have been on a major amusement park. It was probably my favorite of the park.  We even got to see Santa and got an ornament made with their picture on it.  It was a good time and I am sure that we will be back.  There are several pictures below.

Here are the pics for the week:

Happy to be a bd's

One more missing tooth!

First day of 2nd grade

Our adventures at Santa's Workshop

This ride was neat because you could control the way it whipped around by turning the front piece in different directions.

This ride was awful.  Way jerkier than any wooden roller coaster, but he didn't seem to mind.

The view from the World's Highest Ferris Wheel.

This was my Friday project.  I also made a pair for my master bathroom. I think they turned out pretty well.  I had a friend ask me what was frustrating about it.  Here was my response. "Well I should have bought some fabric scissors for the project and then I ran out of supplies and then the curtain rod didn't work for my first pair."  They make me smile when I see them and that really is the most important part about them. 

New Home Photo Walk

I have had a few people ask to see inside the house. I thought I would put together a photo walkthrough so you all could see it. 

We will start in main living room.  This what you see as how walk in the front door. 

This is directly to your right as you walk in. 

Then you head up the big set of stairs 

We have three bedrooms, two baths, and a linen closet up here. 

I like the boys closet better than mine.  He has a ton of space!

Just waiting to put up the air mattress for more guests

The linen closet hall area

Main bath

The master

The bathroom square footage is pretty much all the garden tub. 

Back down the stairs

The dining room

Which leads to the sunroom

Which leads to the patio, which is out the sliding door on the opposite side.   The backyard is pretty good size too. 

Back inside the dining room is connected to the kitchen 

Walking down the hall to the basement or garage we have a huge pantry and a powder room. 

Downstairs we have the den 

And the ball room

You can either walk down the hall, which doubles as my laundry room

To the cramped storage room

We are using the four bedroom as a craft/crap room

The door with the Kansas flag and the ball room both lead to the 3/4 bathroom. 

And we will conclude with a couple of views of the front. 

A Week in Review (August 9-15)

A Week in Review (August 9-15)

Watched: Jack make fast friends with our neighbor. When I came home from an errand on Friday afternoon, the neighbor boy was crying and they were both holding lightsabers. I asked Nick if things were okay and he said they had said yes. When they came in, I asked him if he had gotten hurt. He said no, but was upset because he couldn't sleep at our house and Jack wasn't wanting to sleep at his. When it came time for him to leave Jack changed his mind and decided to sleep over. He had a great time. I am so thankful for a friend who seems a good match for him. 

Read: Because we are getting into more of routine, I hope to resume my regular reading pace.  I knew I needed something that would capture my attention and so I chose a novella with two short stories by Stephen King.  The title story was Blockade Billy with the bonus story Morality.  They were definitely not my favorite Stephen King short stories. I enjoyed the bonus tale, Morality, more than Blockade Billy. I must admit I was a little taken aback by the plot twist in Blockade. It wasn't at all where I thought the story was going to go. If you love baseball or a Stephen King fan, I would recommend them.  If you aren't, then I would take a pass on these two.  Next I began, I Will Always Write Back:  How One Letter Changed Two Lives .  It really captured my attention and I read a little over half in one sitting.  It is an inspiring story how when one person cares, a lot can get done.  I will give a full review next week.

Listened: To the sound of rain and hail beating down all around us. We went out to get new shoes for school and decided to have Chick-fil-a for lunch. When we were there, the sky just opened up. It was amazing.  We decided to make a run for it, hoping it was mostly over, and got stuck on the road in white out rain. We saw some amazing drainage going on. We tried to take a picture for Nick. There isn't much in this week's pictures so you can see it too. Haha

Made: More progress on the house. We are just really left with finishing touches, outside of the craft/crap catching area. It is the only area that kind of overwhelms me when I look at it. I have a feeling I am going to need to do the 15 minutes at a time task just so that I know I don't have to get it all done in one setting. 

Felt: Bummed that Nick already had to be back in Salt Lake and to make matters worse he found out that he will need to be out there, Tuesday through Thursday for several more weeks.  I think it will be easier once Jack is back in school.  It does make the prospect of getting a job a lot less flavorful because our house runs much smoother when I have more time to get all I want done while Jack is gone.  This allows me to just focus on him when he is home.

Planned: On getting a lot of information at Jack's sneak a peek on Thursday.  What we found out was that his teacher isn't quite ready to give up summer.  Her classroom looks like she walked out the last day of school and didn't walk back in until that night.  While I totally understand where she is coming from, I thought she could have faked it better.  She is looping with the majority of her class, so that will be interesting for Jack.  She did take the time to introduce to a family that just lives a couple houses up the road so that will be nice if a friendship develops.  I am hoping I get something before the first day of school, but I won't hold my breath.

Loved: The last days of summer break with my boy. While we did have to adjust to going to bed earlier and waking up earlier, we managed to pack in plenty of fun in our day. We went to Chuck E Cheese, went to see the Minions movie (if you are wondering--wait until you can rent it or better yet watch it for free somewhere), and played lots of games together.  I can't believe that next week he will be a 2nd grader!  

Here are the pics for the week:

Look how wide that drainage path is.  

Isn't he so cute???

A Week in Review (August 2-8)

A Week in Review (August 2-8)

Watched: My handy husband remove quite the ugly brass fixture in our kitchen and replace it with an updated one that I found at a garage sale for $2. The difference is amazing and the price was just right. 

Read:  Again this week, I have been so busy that reading just wasn't a priority. As we work on settling into a back to school routine next week, I hope to get back into the swing of things myself. 

Listened: To a bunch of different radio stations, but I have yet to find one that I really like. I got used to radio without radio personalities in Utah. I would like that again without having to use my data for Pandora or my phone's storage for songs.  We will just have to wait and see. 

Made: A 35 minute drive just to enroll my kid in....soccer. We missed the cut off for tackle football and so he didn't want to play flag either. Try as I might, I just couldn't convince him. This will be his first experience playing outdoor soccer. I hope that he enjoys it. 

Felt: Overwhelmed as I was watching the movers help unload the truck. I just can't believe we have so much "stuff". When I got into the house the feeling continued because I wasn't sure how I was ever going to make it all work.  However, I got right to work unpacking boxes and it really helped how I was feeling.  With a ton of work, we were able to have the house 90% unpacked and cars in the garage by Saturday evening.  There is still some final touches to be made and the last 10% to go, but those can wait. 

Planned: To have a little more storage space in this house, but most of it has been converted into living space.  When we were trying to move boxes that would traditionally be in storage, I realized that I keep a lot of stuff.  Luckily we managed to find spaces for everything, but accessing them won't be quite as easy it was in Draper. 

Loved: That my brother and sister in law drove down to see us. The took Jack hiking and camping on Saturday so that we could hit the house hard. If they hadn't done that, I don't think we would have gotten the office and garage as far as we did. We also got to chit chat and play several games with them. It is going to be amazing living so much closer to my family. Weekend trips will be an option now!

Here are the pics for the week:

My kitchen was a tale of new halves for a while. And look at what a difference good lighting makes in a photo. 

Found a Blue Moon bottle which featured the artwork of a Kansas Cityian who also happens to be a good friends cousin. 

Pictures from Aunt Jess with their Saturday adventures 

The cars made it in the garage