Playing at the Park

Last week we had a few nice days, so I loaded Kate up in the stroller and took Owen down to the little park on our street. After a long winter being stuck inside, it was so nice to get out and enjoy ourselves. Owen was so proud of himself for being brave enough to go down slides by himself and climb all over the playset. He kept saying, "Take my picture!".

Running

I signed up to run a half marathon in June.  I caved to pressure from my crazy running sister Shauna and signed up, but in the back of my mind thought I'd end up backing out.  But, Scott talked me into taking it serious and actually doing it, so I'm stuck having to do it.  I really do love running, but finding the time to do it with the demands of a 7 kid family, is nearly impossible.  So this race is not going to be about speed, it's only going to be about making it the distance.  I just don't have to time to train properly.  But I am trying.....

Finished Kitchen

Our kitchen is finally done!  It has been a long winter full of construction, but it was worth it.  It turned out perfect.  My favorite thing is having the wall gone between the living room and kitchen.  It opens the area up so much and makes the space seem much bigger.

My eating area is large enough now that we can all fit in it.  I just need to get a table now that will seat us all.  My plan is to build a long farmhouse table this summer.  I love the windows around it that bring in so much light and allow me to see the kids playing in the yard.

I love my cooktop.  It's a 6 burner gas one.

My pantry is awesome.  We have a fridge in it to store the 10 gallons of milk that we buy each week.  And I have a counter that I keep the toaster and bread on, to hide away that mess.  And it's a perfect color of cheery blue.  It's perfect.

My island has a beautiful farm apron sink and two dishwashers on either side of it (they have panels to disguise them as cupboards). 

It's gorgeous, right?  And looking at it, it's easy to think its finished, but then I step outside and realize that we've still got a lot of work to do.

We still have to build the addition upstairs.  We are adding a bathroom and bedroom in the attic space above the garage.  You can see where that will go in these pictures.  It will come out as a gable roof.

And we have all the sprinklers that need repaired in the backyard.

And we have to build a new deck.

And we have to put stucco on the whole new kitchen addition.  They are waiting till the upstairs is done, so they can do it all at once and have it match.

Our backyard is a mess of wood waiting to be used in the upstairs addition, and dirt left over from when they excavated for the kitchen.  Josh has had fun burning the scrap pieces of wood, and has had a fire going every day for the last 5 days. 

 

I know it can all be repaired, but it's hard to see my yard in such rough shape.  My yard has always been my favorite thing about this house.  I just have to remind myself that it really will be worth it in the end!

Basketball

Josh played basketball this winter.  His best friend Carter was on his team.  They had practice every Thursday night for 2 hours and had games every Saturday.  Josh did really great this year.  His defense was intense, and he scored some great shots.  It was fun to watch him.

Seriously, though, when did my little boy grow up?  I still think of him as this grubby little kid who used to play in the gutter.  Watching him this season of basketball, it really hit me just how big he's getting.  He's an awesome kid, and I'm so proud of him and who's becoming.  But I also really miss him being my baby boy.