No More Hole in the Ground

We no longer have a big ol' hole in the ground! 

It's not that much different than before....but it will be in a week or so. 

In recent days the sub floor of the ground level has been put in place. Which also means that the basement is covered. 

The framework for the stairs went it in. 

The footings for the porches and garage have been poured.

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Westynn got to work...throwing the scrap pieces of wood!

Edwin and Brett put the stairs down into the basement.  

Brett got LOTS of supervision while he leveled the stairs and secured them! :)

Rod and Janis came over to see the progress.

I tried to get a "good" picture of me and the kids ON the house...apparently this is as good as it gets!

That's okay...I love it and them and us just the way we are!!

I think it will be fun to take a picture of us in this same spot once the house is finished.

We had a little impromptu photo session this morning before Sunday School. It's pretty obvious who was the most into it and who wouldn't stand still for a minute!

They turned out pretty cute....but I was so mad at myself for not checking my camera before shooting away.  My ISO was up too high and they are grainy...oh well!  These kiddos are cute, even with the grain!

I sure to LOVE these kids and they are growing up way too fast!!

Shedding Tears

I just shed my first set of tears over a house decision.

Cut me some slack!  It was a MAJOR decision...a permanent one!

It's over now.

I feel tired, but I know that somehow the right decisions will be made.  

However, it might involve sleepless nights, more tears and more printer ink than I care to think about!! (Printing lots of inspiration photos these day!)

Let me get on my soapbox for a moment.  

Don't take your windows for granted.  They may not be anything fancy or glamorous, but at one point someone had to make the grueling decision about:

*What rooms need windows

*How wide they should be

*How tall they should be

*If they should be picture, double hung, single hung, casement

*Grids or no grids

*Grid pattern if one is needed

*How far from the floor to put them

*How far from the ceiling to put them

*One big window or a more smaller windows

*Which color the interior should be

*Which color the exterior should be

*Vinyl, wood, aluminum

I am sure you look at your windows and you can think of something you like/don't like about them.  I will never EVER look at windows the same again in my life.  Why is this so stressful?  For one thing I will have to look out these windows every day for the rest of my life....I don't want to look at them and think, "man I wish I would have done that differently."  Carpet colors can be changed, paint re-done...Windows are PERMANENT.  

NEVER changing.  Yes, they may eventually need replaced, but when that time come you are pretty much stuck with the same size and placement.

UGH!

Please, please thank your windows for all they do for you!  And go easy on the guy or gal who had to make all the hard decisions!!

Mr. Fix It

It seems nearly impossible that my "baby"turned 2 a couple of weeks ago.  I suppose that I have waited so long to blog about it, because you know the old saying, "It's not really true until you blog about it."  Okay, so that's not an old saying, just one I borrowed from a fellow blogger, Megan.

As is our Stapleton Family tradition...cinnamon rolls on the morning of the "real" birthday.  For Westynn it was a Friday and I was happy 'cause that meant I didn't have to get up at 4:00 am to let the rolls rise!

He was a little gun-shy with the candle, because just moments before this picture he had put out the candle with his fingers...OOPS!

Then on Saturday we had the house all spiffed up and ready for Westynn's big party day.

His most fabulous daycare provider, Stacy, gave him a Melissa and Doug tool set and I was very willing to let him open it early that day so I could get the last minute things done for the party.  He was super pumped about the "amma" aka hammer.

The birthday boy enjoyed his "do it yourself" lunch of a sandwich and chips! 

Busting out the tools to work on the car!   At one point during the day my kids and a couple of their friends were trying to take the car apart piece by piece.  Thankfully the mother's were there to coral this activity.  The dads?  They were just watching!!

Westynn came in and saw his workbench, his eyes lit up, and he quickly got right up on top and had a seat!

Then he got out his pliers and started a new project!

I had to post this next picture, because Jeremy's face is TOO funny!  My dad got him a baseball tee and bat and Westynn went right to swinging the bat!

Wearing his new camo OU hat and working the power tools!

Finally, a pair of pliers, just like Papa Rodney!  Well almost, these are plastic.

A new bike from Papa Rusty and Jennifer.  By the time the weather warms up in the spring, he will be just the right height to pedal his new bike.

The cupcakes had chocolate hammers on them and when the candles were lit, they melted the top right off the hammer!  Westynn couldn't believe his 'amma' fell off.

Then his dad made him laugh and all was right with the world again!

Westynn and Uncle Russ, the superb builder of the workbench.

The bike had to have a few adjustments.  The seat that came on the bike was still a little high even after it was at it's lowest point.  So, Papa Rusty and Dad came to the rescue and put the seat from Preston's old bike on Westynn's new bike and Wa-La...problem solved!

And now here's my letter to my baby on his 2nd birthday:

Dear Mr. Westynn,

Not a day goes by that I am not extremely thankful that you are my baby, my boy!  Having you made me believe 100% that only God knows what is best for our lives.  He knew, even when I didn't, that my life was missing something.  He planned you from the moment time began and he planned for me to be your mother.  What an amazing gift I have been given.

Seeing your eyes light up, your snaggle toothed little grin and hearing you say "Mama" makes my heart so full that it feels like it should burst from my chest.  It seems that from the moment you turned 2 on August 19th, you morphed from baby boy to little boy!  You even managed to sneak from your crib on Sunday the 21st!

You have started talking so much and you repeat just about everything you hear.  Anything round that can be thrown, kicked, or hit finds it's way into your hands.  You are quite frequently seen carrying a football around like a running back.  Kicking the football is a newly acquired skill and it is a hoot to watch you kick!  Some kids carry around stuffed animals or dolls, but not you!  A wrench is your comfort item.  You ask for it each morning when you wake up, you carry it in the car on the way to Ms. Stacy's and you immediately ask for it when I pick you up.  Just try to take it from you...you get a deathlike, ninja grip on that thing!  It makes me nervous, but at the same time I think it is so perfectly you!

While my heart breaks a little each day knowing that time is going too quickly and I am losing my baby, I am also so thrilled to watch you grow and thrive.  I love you Westynn Cole!!

Mama

CheerLeader!

 This year as a Kindergartner, Cambree got to attend the Mini Cheer Camp put on by the SCHS Cheerleaders and their awesome Coaches, AJ and Jaymi.

Cambree was SO excited to go and had her suitcase packed and ready to go early that week.  Camp started Thursday evening at 6:00 and lasted until Friday at noon.  They got to spend the night at the high school...VERY COOL!

Proud to be a FUTURE Timberwolf Cheerleader!!

 Friday when it was time for the parents to pick up the girls, we met them at the football field and they put on a little exhibition for us.  You could tell there were some VERY tired girls out there!  There's Cambree's friend and classmate, Molly, in the pink!

I don't remember what they were yelling...something about feet together, hands at your sides...but it was so funny to watch these little girls yelling for all they are worth.  ADORABLE!

 

Later that night at the High School football game, the girls got dressed in their matching outfits and put on one of the best halftime shows I have ever seen!  They divided the girls into two smaller groups and each group learned 2 chants and a routine and the entire group of 50+ girls did a group cheer together.

 

My pictures from that night didn't turn out superb...blurry a lot of them because it was so dark and they were moving so fast.  I do have a little video, but I haven't gotten it put on YouTube yet.

During the first half of the game, the girls all sat together in the stands.  Here's Cambree and her 1st grade BFF, Kailey!  Sweet girls...even if Kailey is a burnt orange fan!!

How is it possible that MY daughter is now old enough to attend the Cheer Camp that I used to help with as a CHS cheerleader?  Another one of those things that makes my heart smile!!!!!!!