christmas pictures

oh hank. i love you to pieces. your little face lights up my own....even when you are silly in 149 out of 150 pictures! :)

windows, shingles and dormers oh my!

my goodness.....so much has been happening at the house! i am so thankful for the dry month of november to make up for the ridiculous amount of rain we had in october.

the shingles are starting to go on. we opted to go with a black shingle that had some definition to it.....which means there is actually a little bit of variation in the color. overall it is black and we are very happy with the choice.

the dormers. i think they may be a favorite feature. they are faux, meaning there is not a room that that they are attached to, they're just for looks. but i think they really cozy up the roof line.

the shed dormers over the garage are real :) they are part of a bonus room over the garage. again, i think they add so much to the roof line.

yay...the windows are in! they will have grates in them but those are added at the very very end so dust doesn't settle in the little spaces.

the basement floor was finally poured. isn't that interesting that it is poured so far into the process? i thought it was! :) they actually cut a hole in the floor of the foyer and stuck a "shoot" down to the basement to deliver the cement and the workers smoothed it.

here you can the pile of lumber 'in waiting'. this week they will be working down here framing. straight ahead you can see the cutout for a fireplace and to the left is the back of the house.

pumpkin patch and apple orchard

a few pics of our fall adventures....

dancy picked THE hugest (is that a word?) pumpkin she could pick up.

the apple orchard was great. it was freeeezing....unusually cold for october but we managed to pick some yummy yummy apples. here's deanie picking 'one more'. all the kids wanted 'one more'...can we pick just 'one more'? :)

the roof is almost done....

so much progress has taken place this past week over at the house! almost all of the roof boards have been put on and tar paper on top of that.

these are the breaker boxes being installed in the basement. when i went out to the house i asked the technician..."so how are the fuse boxes coming?" .... apparently that is pretty old school? he said "uh...they're breaker boxes". whatever.

the windows are supposed to be installed next week and i think that will change the looks of things so much!

oh! i have to add this picture...... poor hank fell in the mud, then literally got stuck. mr. daddy had to pull him out first, then his shoes.

little honey got a nice warm bubble bath when we came home :)

Friday Favorites

a few of my faves :)

bare minerals foundation medium beige

i have been wearing this for about 7 years now! currently i apply it over a tinted moisturizer. but it can be applied alone too. i'm just getting old :) i purchase mine at ulta. and as much as i love this product i do despise the word 'beige'. it just sounds bleh.

archipelago botanicals candle in lavender spice

mmmm......i love love love the fragrance this candle gives! i purchase these at ulta too.

osis dust it

my hair stylist talked my into this tiny little bottle of wonder. :) it is like a fine baby powder. but it emulsifies or something when it makes contact with your hair. i can't even explain the texture it feels like on my fingers....hair products are in a league of their own!

but i love big hair and this is perfect. i dust a teeny bit in the ratty area i backcomb and it keeps the volume there. :) it should last a looooong time because you use such a small amount :)

first birthday party

what a FUN birthday party! i was sad my sister and kiddos couldn't come because they had fevers...poor honeys...but they are better now and we can play soon..yay! so the party was simple and sweet. i can do "simple and sweet" with dubs because he's still my baby! :)

below, the "kids" table was set for more seating.

the cupcakes were the perfect portion of "sweet" for everyone. i purchased them with plain whipped frosting and added the chocolate, blue and pearly white sprinkles at home. my sister helped me make the toppers with her cricut machine (she's a scrapbooking hero!) didn't they turn out so cute?? :) oh! and the cupcakes were a total of $5.98 for all 24 from our local big box store....and really yummy. yay!!

getting ready to blow out his first candle! that little hat was 40% off $6.99 at hobby lobby (with coupon). i made the little banner behind the highchair. the baby boy figures are actually one of mr. daddy's first birthday cards that i scanned and cut and mounted on plain card stock. the number "1"s are leftover cupcake toppers mounted on the same card stock. the 'string' is a torn piece of white fabric leftover from my in-laws anniversary party.

he finally started to 'dig in' ! :)

me and my little love.

present time! basil the bunny was first...so cute.

and this little 'hammer' toy....dubs loves this! he pushes the little rods with his finger instead of using the hammer.

and did you know that fisher price relaunched some of the classics??!! they are available at target....maybe other places. i was so excited when i first spotted them. here he is receiving the wind up t.v. that plays "row row row your boat". we also received 'chatter' the pull along phone, and the wind up clock.

and finally my little one year old in all his messy clothes glory. happy first birthday buddy!

framing is almost done

we're continuing to make progress on the house! and actually the trusses are up so more updates will be coming soon....

here is the front of the house starting to take shape. it has been raining like crazy here so work days are interrupted and not consecutive.....kind of frustrating but progress IS being made and it sure is exciting!

these are the two samples of stone that we are trying to decide on for the front of the house. it will cover the entire center section.

the picture below is the girl's bunk room. instead of separate bedrooms for each of the children we decided to do a boy's bunk and a girl's bunk. that way, Lord willing, if we ever have another child we won't have to RE figure the room situation. i never liked having to do that in this house so this is a great solution for us! :)

this is the back of the house. dancy and hank are standing in front of the garage.

it is rainy and super windy today....but we're still hoping to stop out to the house and take some updated pictures and write more scripture.

on a side note....little dubs first birthday was wonderful!! i'll hopefully get to posting his party soon. he has still not taken any steps on his own.....little stinker :)

my little laughing baby

today dancy had my little one year old in stiches!! i am so glad i caught this on video :) she was blowing a leftover party balloon up and letting it go.

oh...and mid laugh he manages to stuff some puffs in his mouth :) funny little man!

happy first birthday little dubs..

precious little boy. i can hardly believe that one year ago today our 5th little blessing was born. how thankful i am. how much i love you. your full little lips, your dimples, your soft blond hair, your smile......and for most of your first year you were so calm and laid back.

now that you are one, you are finding your voice, moving around, and letting your own little personality shine. i love it!

today we are blowing up balloons, decorating the house, and smothering you with kisses (which we always do :) ). your big party is tonite! God has been so good to us, we are so thankful He gave us you!

Happy First Birthday Dubs :)

marking the house with scripture

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 6:5-9

When we go out to see the house I have been taking sharpie markers with me. We have all been taking turns writing scripture on various parts of the house! :) It has been really important to us, throughout this entire process, to remember that God is the most important, the all giving, the everlasting. Things and people in this world will come and go but HE alone is our desire.

It's starting to get cold and rainy here. And while I truly do love the change of seasons I am more aware of how much RAIN we get this time of year! .....we are about 2 weeks behind schedule. The builder is not concerned at this point though. The goal is to get the roof on before the snow starts to fly. And please, let's not talk about snow yet! :) :)

Also, we are attempting to sell our house by owner. I put a website together to market it, yet have not "announced" per say, or "started" selling it yet...(does that even make sense?) because we are painting the inside of our garage. So hopefully the 'For Sale by Owner' sign will go out on Monday and I will begin to be a bit more aggressive in posting the house site on free classified sites.