Can you find the cat?

I wish I could keep her out of the tree, but Yoda just loves to climb in the tree, find her favorite ornament, knock it down, then play with it.

Christmas is Coming!!!

We are settling in nicely. Once we got a routine down, things have gotten much easier :) Amber is doing well in school, other than being a little overly dramatic from time to time! She knows all of her letters and their sounds, can make predictions, and excels in artistic endeavors. Amber helped me make a beautiful gingerbread house (see picture above).

Jason has made the most progress - although he was testing us the most! He loves to go the zoo - and everytime we go, he has to see the alligator. He helped Mark put up the Christmas lights outside this year (picture with the green jacket).

Jacob, despite the pouty picture, is really becoming quite a jolly kid. He is completely fascinated by the cat and Diego. He is saying a lot of new words and sentences, but my favorite phrase is..."thank you mommy." It's adorable!

***OUR NEW FAMILY***

I know it's been a long time since our last blog, but I didn't want to post info and pics without protecting the children's identity. So...here are Amber, 6; Jason, 4; and Jacob, 2. They came to live with us on October 26th, and life has definitely changed! For those of you who don't know, they were taken into foster care because of neglect by a drug abusing mother and father. They were in foster care for 2 years with a relative, a step-grandmother, who did a wonderful job of raising them. That fact has made the transition SOOOO much easier.

We are settling in nicely, there are daily struggles with obeying, sharing, being gentle with the pets, being respectful of each other, but all normal stuff. Amber is full of life and energy. She loves to sing and play. She is a good helper around the house. Jason has a smile that can melt your heart. He loves to sing too (didn't I find the perfect kids?) and enjoys going to the playground at the park. Jacob is very loving - he loves to be held and cuddled (which is great, since it's the closest thing to a baby I'm going to get :). He is learning to talk and will repeat whatever you say. They all love the pets - I don't think the feeling is mutual, but the pets are tolerating it all!

Will write more later!

Jennifer

Fun in Fayetteville!

Here is my nephew, Kaleb and my neice, Savannah after we

built a pillow "fort" in Granny Onia's living room! Believe it or not, we all climb inside and read stories.

Before
After

Patio is finished!
I finished laying the paver stones last week, then started on refinishing some used patio furniture I got for a steal! The teak set was cleaned up, re-oiled with a mahoghany wood oil, then I made custom cushions to match the loveseat set. The loveseat, chair, and table were primed and painted, then I made custom cushions (complete with shower curtain liner underneath to keep out moisture!). I also installed a patio mister system - which uses a fine mist to keep the patio 20 degrees cooler than the outside air temperature - it'll be great on those hot summer days (which we haven't had too many of this year - which is good news for my power bill!!!).

Bathroom Before!

It is finished! (Well, almost :)
The bathroom remodel is completed, minus a few details. I still need to install the mirror and artwork, but the bathroom is definitely usable now. And believe it or not, I did it all myself (except for the plumbing and a friend helped me get started on the wainscoting)! My favorite things? The wood tile floor (looks like wood, but it's ceramic!), the double showerheads (the rain showerhead is fabulous), and the new toliet (it's one of those new high performance ones).

So what's next on the DIY list for me? Well, I'm finishing up the patio today - laying all the stones. Then I'm on to refinishing some used patio furniture I purchased last week

!

Update June 29th

We visited San Antonio a few weeks ago, and I thought I'd show you one of Mark's best friends - Phyllis the donkey. He loves to feed her carrots and pet her shaggy coat - but don't get on her bad side...she does kick!

The bathroom project is coming along - the floor is tiled, the shower is usable, the wainscoting is going up, things are painted, the cabinets are installed...it's really coming together. I have to finish installing the wainscoting, install the toliet, and the new countertop (which has been ordered, but isn't in yet) - then I'm finished!!!! Well...I have to install towel bars, the mirror, and some other stuff, but the major stuff will be finished :)

In other news, Baby Vader caught (and I think ate) a big old lizard this week and Yoda is attacking her namesake (I had to hide Yoda from her, because she hates him!).

ALASKAN CRUISE

We just returned from our 7 day cruise to Alaska. I can't tell you how beautiful it was...there was never a moment that there wasn't something wonderful to look at, even when at sea, we got to see the mountainous coastline of Canada and Alaska.




Our first stop was Ketchikan, where we went on a jet boat ride to the back country of Alaska. We saw bald eagles, harbour seals, and man-of-war jellyfish in the wild, as well as beautiful views of mountains, streams, and villages.




Then it was on to Juneau. We split up here because Mark went sportsfishing (and unfortunately didn't catch a salmon like he was hoping). I went canoeing across Mendenhall lake, site of a huge glacier and waterfall. The lake was full of icebergs and I could reach out my paddle and touch them. It was really cold because of all the ice, but luckily I was bundled up in rain proof gear (as pictured)!



Next stop was our favorite, Skagway. We took a 2 hour drive into the Yukon Territory, Canada. The views were amazing. We went on a summer dogsledding ride through the forest, probably the highlight of the trip!



The last stop was Prince Rupert, Canada. We did a lot of souvenir shopping here. It was probably the only town on the tour I could actually see myself living in because it had a movie theatre, grocery store, and mall!



Jennifer

Last Day of School!

Today was the students' last day. I had a great class this year...they weren't really like this picture (okay well sometimes they were like this picture)!

Tomorrow, Mark and I leave for our cruise to Alaska. I am so excited!!!!!!!

My sister wants to know where Baby Vader is...this pic shows all 3 pets hanging out together on the couch. Yoda and Baby do a lot of play fighting, but get along pretty well. Yoda loves Padme and likes to sleep near her. Padme likes Yoda too, but not when she tries to grab her tail!

THIS WEEK>>>

Here is the pergola after picture and french door after picture. The house is really coming together!

Yoda is enjoying a playful stage. She really loves getting into boxes and bags. Mark snapped this photo of her sleeping in a grocery bag! Don't you just love it?

This week, I started tiling the guest bathroom. As you can see, it is in complete shambles. I had to tear out all of the drywall in some areas due to mold growth. I replaced it with mold resistant drywall and concrete backerboard in the shower area. I finished tiling, but still need to grout...then you can get a finished picture.

Pergola Project

Here is part of the pergola project we started this spring. The pergola is finished now (I'll post pics later), but we are still working on the paver patio installation.

Introducing....YODA!

Here is Yoda the cat. We adopted in January after Pappa passed away. She is a bundle of energy, but loves to snuggle up with Jennifer at night.

Remodel Time!

Here are the new additions to the sunroom. We replaced the old patio door and the patio door between our bedroom and the sunroom. The back door got a new slider with grids and the bedroom door is now a french door, in which we had to close the original 8 foot gap to accomodate the 5 foot door. That gave us room to bring the piano in! I'll post the after french door picture later!