Back to School

And just like that the summer was over! Time for school again for the 4th and 7th grader!! It is our second year at FWC and we feel a lot less stressed about trying to figure out a new school. Ethan is still playing cello and started football. Caleb...well I haven't been able to commit him to anything yet. Maybe next year. ;-)

Off to school! Ethan has athletics in the morning so he wears his PE clothes to school then showers and changes after.

Caleb was super excited to get the teacher he wanted! He already knew her because she was his teacher at church the year before. :-)

The first week of school means a Camp Thurman retreat for the middle school! This is the whole middle school. I love that they have a tight knit group of kiddos!

Getting ready to zip line!

After a lot of begging, we finally let Ethan play football. I'm so worried about his brain and neck! But, it is a great social experience for him. They boys are already getting so close.

Every Thursday is game day so the football team has to wear a white shirt, khakis, and a tie. Ethan chose a bow tie. ;-)

7th grade football team.

We had a little getting to know you event at Mr. Gatti's pizza.

Eek! Game day! One of the mom's coordinated with the other football mom's to get these "fat heads" made of our boys so we can cheer them on at the games! Hilarious!

The mom cheering section.

There he is! My little #2 on the edge. He plays wide receiver.

All sweaty after the game...but he survived!

Cousin Blaine is one of his biggest fans. He lives right down the street from the school!

So funny!

By boy is outgrowing me.

During the second week of school, the elementary has a sock hop. He had so much fun!

I tried to get him to wear a white t shirt but he chose to pick out his own outfit. ;-)

This picture cracks me up! He's so much more outgoing this year. FWC was a great decision for my babies! :-)

New House!

Building a house was never in my life plan. It was a long, LONG road but I'm glad we did it! It took about 9 months to complete with lots of decisions to make and several set backs but...we survived and now we love our house! We also survived living with my parents throughout the entire process. Really, it was kind of fun and gave the boys a lot of Nana and Papa time. :-)  Although it was crazy stressful and took FOREVER...we'd do it again...but hopefully we won't ever need to!

Day 1...the land is our's!

It took FOUR MONTHS just to get a permit from the city to start the building process. That was definitely the most infuriating part!!! Here is the foundation prep.

We had to wait a LONG time for the foundation to pour. We had several days of rain which delayed the process a week or 2. :-/

The framing was exciting to watch. Finally looked like a house!

Adding the drywall.

We stopped by the house every chance we got. It was fun to finally get to go inside!

Roofing and a back porch!

Super exciting to have the walls closed up.

Brick!! There was also a long wait to finish the brick because they ran out...and we had to wait on the stone for the front of the house.

Brick all done, now working on the sidewalk and driveway!

Landscaping done.

Finally....it's DONE!!

My favorite place...the kitchen!

LOVE my island.

Living room.

Game room.

Boy's bathroom.

View from the living room to kitchen.

Master bedroom.

Master bathroom. His and her's sinks. :-)

Mondo's baby...the frameless glass shower.

Closing day was oh so stressful! Closing got pushed back a week due to not passing the final inspection over something trivial. :-<  Then on closing day we had to wait literally until the last minute to find out if the inspector would let us close. Mondo and I sat outside of the title place in our car waiting for a text. We were SO RELIEVED when we heard it passed and we could close!

Move in day!!

Caleb was excited to have his own room again.

Our furniture was still in storage until the next day so that first night we made a pallate! It was an adventure but we were SO READY to have our own space again!

Love, LOVE living on a cul-de-sac!

Backyard. Definitely smaller than our last house but they kids always play in the front yard so the backyard had now become a hangout for Mondo and I. :-)