We Begin A New Phase...

Isn't that the most precious thing you've ever seen? OK, so maybe it's a bit more wonderful for the Mama of the two cute kiddos. But what a snapshot of our new beginning! We've gone through many new beginnings as a military family. This one is different, however. Although military we still are...the guard counts right?! We are settling down for the first time in almost 11 years. South Carolina is our home and is going to be for the foreseeable near future. I thought it may be a little sad to see that part of our life end...but it's not for me. I relish the thought that in 2 years 8 months we won't have to find a new church home, not to mention a new home, a new dentist, doctor, hairstylist, friends, etc. And I won't have to sew another set of curtains or plant another yard from dirt. This one is it! I can decorate at a leisurely pace instead of weighing every move on "is it worth it for 3 years?". That my children will get to grow up in the same community and home makes me sort of giddy! But most of all I'm in such awe that God had this all worked out. He knew this whole plan from the beginning. And even though I'd have loved to have had a glimpse of this about 5 years ago. I know that the journey has been the point of it all.

So the day they poured the concrete, we put M&M's hand prints just inside the garage. They actually were excited to see it! This is their house and I think they sense that.

A little hot out that day...hence the squinty-eyed red faces, but you can see them sitting by their hand prints.

And a final "Hooray" for our house and their new home!

House Progress...So Far

OK...so this is where we are now. Doesn't look like much for almost a month, you say? Well, we'd definitely agree! But we are trying to balance the need to keep the builder accountable (aka, lots of phone calls) with being patient :-) It is a process and involves lots of people. Some doing a great job and some not so great. What a blessing to be living across the street to see the action as it unfolds...we LOVE you CAS and Christy! So let's take a mini-journey through the steps thus far...

Breaking ground the first day. I can't tell you how exciting it was to see the first crew doing SOMETHING on our land. It was a month delay with permits that was almost laughable as we watched our builder, the land owner, and our lawyer chase their tails. None of them, by the way, getting anything done!

The concrete trucks filling in the trenches with concrete. We are building on a "raised concrete slab". Which means that instead of laying a concrete slab on leveled ground. They are doing a raised portion with brick and back-filing with dirt and then the slab. Nice look with the vinyl siding and gives the house a bit grander appearance.

This shows the trenches that they filled with concrete ready for the brick work.

This delivery was exciting. They deliver the roof trusses bound in a bundle and slide it off the end of the truck in one swoop. Very dramatic!

Good picture looking from the corner of the house by the side-entry garage off across the front of the house to the side yard. Isn't it beautiful land?!

This was dirt delivery day. I think after it was done, we had 8 truck loads of dirt to fill inside the brick foundation.

This was yesterday as the plumbing guys work to lay the hot/cold water pipes in the foundation. They brought the pipes up in the needed spots so it's ready for the concrete slab.

So that's where we are so far. Hopefully we'll have the concrete down before the weekend and ready for the walls to start going up next week. It is exciting to watch. Just wish it was going a bit faster. Timing is out of our hands. I guess it will be done when it's done. Stay tuned for the next step...we'll keep you updated!

Fishin' & Snackin'

We spent a fun Saturday at Poinsett State Park. M&M had a little snack while they watched Daddy fish. M&M always love to be outside and find the bugs, squirrels and they really love the fish! We finally settled on this spot to have a rest in the shade.

Andrew caught 3 or 4 little brim. M&M would leave their snack each time to go say "hello" to the fish. Mary Ellen even wanted to kiss them!

Michael loves everything about fishing. He loves looking at the fish but more than that, he loves the fishing pole. He will look at it forever just trying to figure out how it works. We had a little plastic fishing pole that they both enjoy playing with. One afternoon it broke and I didn't think Michael would ever recover. He was so upset when we had to throw it away!

Fun and very HOT afternoon! I'm learning to go with the flow when M&M get dirty and sweaty. Even when the dirt gets in their snack :-) Just part of the experience of growing up in the hot, humid south!

Happy Birthday America!

The 4th of July we actually spent "at home" with our best friends CAS & Christy. The kids loved shooting off fireworks. M&M enjoyed watching from afar. This is Carly and Daniel doing smoke bombs of all colors.

While David and Daniel ran around with their super-duper sparklers, Michael was more interested in the plane flying over-head.

Andrew lit some small sparklers for M&M. Mary Ellen wasn't so sure about being that close. Especially after she burned herself on a smoldering one a little later.

The day before the fourth, we drove to the upstate to visit Andrew's sister Amy. Papa and Mama Jo were there too, so it made for a complete family reunion. We celebrated with a flag cake that all the kids were excited about! We went to the pool and played and generally the cousins got to know each other. They haven't seen each other since M&M were about 6 months old.

Michael and Mary Ellen are so much like how Andrew and Amy were growing up. Although not twins like M&M they are very close in age. Mary Ellen shares many physical characteristics with her Aunt Amy, as Michael does with Andrew. Great picture of the 4 of them. M&M are still waving flags around the house...they loved it!

I love these last two pictures of Andrew with M&M and Brygs. Brygs was born just 2 months before M&M. It will be so fun seeing them grow up together. I'm sure they will be great friends!

I hope everyone appreciates those who sacrifice for our freedoms this year and every year. Great weekend of celebrating with OUR hero :-)

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

Papa & Mama Jo Visit!

It's been so nice to actually live near family again! Andrew's parents came for a visit a few weeks ago to help out with M&M. The initial stages of building our house has kept us busy and having to attend several baby-free meetings. So thoughtful that they would drive across the state just so we can go to a few meetings. We did lots of the standard stuff while they were here, like going for walks and playing in the pool. But you can rest assured that if we were inside, you'd find Michael with the train set....

...and Mary Ellen with the books!

We did get to spend time outside in the water too. The pool, the sprinkler or just the hose are hours of fun.

They were both fussing over who got to sit on the sit-and-spin. So our solution was just to put both of them on it. They seemed satisfied and had fun trying to spin it!

Mary Ellen hated the sprinkler at first. I think it was just cold and startling to her. So we eased her into it by stepping on most of the sprayers until she got closer and then used to it. Now that's the fun game...to stop up the sprayer with her foot or hands.

That little girl loves sticking her face right in it now!

Now have you ever seen a happier little guy? Michael has always LOVED the water!

I'm telling you...we've been to some really fancy pools but this little blow-up one is a hit! The best $10 we ever spent...got to love Walmart :-)

Fun time with Papa and Mama Jo! We truly feel blessed to be back in the South and know that M&M will be able to grow up seeing their grandparents often. Life is good!

Riverbanks Zoo

We were so excited to make a day trip to the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia a couple weeks ago. A really great zoo with lots of fun things for little kids. It was such a hot day but the zoo has lots of shaded winding paths which made it tolerable. This picture of all of us on the elephant statue was my favorite of the day.



The gorilla was right up against the observation glass. I'm sure he was trying to stay cool but it provided us a good look of him. We just heard yesterday that this gorilla escaped his enclosure after the park was closed and the worker that was feeding him was injured. The funny thing is about 5 minutes after he escaped he just walked back in and went back to his favorite spot to take a nap. I guess he realized he had it pretty good in there!

Michael and Mary Ellen loved the farm area. Of course those are the animals they know best. They had goats and cows that you could feed and lots of chickens and a turkey.

But hands-down our favorite thing at the zoo was the bird sanctuary. This enclosed area had dozens of colorful birds, we think they were parrots, that would sit on your arm and you could feed them. Mary Ellen's favorite thing lately is birds of any kind so this was by far her favorite part of the day. I have to admit it was pretty cool...as you can tell by one of the pictures above, I was truly awe-struck :-)

We LOVE the zoo! And because M&M get in free it's a pretty inexpensive day trip, even without buying a yearly pass. We are looking forward to going again before the summer is out!

Beach Fun!

We were able to spend a few days in Florida as a family before we made the trip back to South Carolina last month. We needed to get back to get started on the house build process but couldn't resist the free babysitter, thanks Mom, and the beautiful weather! We were able to take M&M to the beach for the first time. It was a perfect day and we had great fun even though we only spent about an hour there. Poor Mary Ellen is so fair skinned...sunscreen is going to be her best friend!

We stopped in Floyd's at the Boardwalk to have some oysters...well, Andrew and I did and M&M had juice and crackers. Then, we set up behind the Boardwalk to enjoy the sand and water.

Mary Ellen's favorite new thing is birds. She loves looking for them and exclaiming with out-stretched pointer finger, "buds". So needless-to-say the seagulls were her favorite part.

Michael, as you can see was headed straight for the sand toys. He loved playing in the sand with his shovel and bucket. He also loved the water, which freaked Mary Ellen out a bit. She just didn't like the feeling of the waves pulling her out.

Two great pictures of M&M with Daddy. Andrew helped them with their first steps into the Gulf of Mexico!

Such a fun day...and M&M loved it! We're looking forward to another trip to Florida in July and more time at the beach!