Initiation

 

With great anticipation we finally got to splash around in our pool!

Awesome!!!!!

New Adventures

First Day of Kindergarten, Last year of Preschool and then...the rascal.

Hope you all had a good day!!!

Mission Complete

Aside from plants on the sides, our little piece of paradise is done! Tonight - WE SWIM!!

Brooklyn!!!!

Brooklyn has finally gained the confidence to swim without floaties! I am thrilled for her! I am so proud of her.  For the longest time she would just sit on the steps at grandmas house afraid to let go and swim out; floating around, holding her breath basically swimming but lacking the courage to come farther out. I finally really pushed her this week to just try and swim to me, and she did it! I knew she could.  I think the Roed family today concluded she is the youngest one yet to learn how to swim.

Mommy is so proud of you sweet girl!

Phase 2

Countdown is officially on - a 30 day wait until we can plaster the pool, fill it and SWIM!

Yesterday, Derek and I had to fill in all of the trenches from the plumbing and electrical lines. So hot. The dirt was everywhere, and I'm allergic to dust terribly so I had to wear a mask. Shoveling dirt for a few hours in this heat is NO FUN! We had to fill in the trenches so the guys today would have a nice flat surface for working and plus they didnt need to be open anymore...

Today at 6:30am, all of these guys showed up for the concrete pour. We took up every parking space down our street with trucks. I didnt get a picture but we had a big cement truck in front for the pour. Exciting stuff.  The pictures kind of show the progression of the morning, the pour started at 7:30am, and ended around 11am. Took 43.5 yards of concrete. It finally looks like a pool to me.

Next up is the flat work and tile for the pool - we are going to be getting the forms ready next week for the deck around the pool, have to call for an inspection and then the pour. I CANNOT WAIT TO NEVER SEE DIRT IN THE BACKYARD AGAIN!!!!!!!! 

We are going to have a few little sections for plants - minimal maintenance.

When you look at the final pictures from today you can see, we have a baja step to chill and relax, there's 2 little spots for umbrellas, the massive rock that's incorporated into the pool decor (which I'm sure will be a hot spot for jumping in), a little sloping step that had to happen and a few random steps that were put in as we went along this morning.

Exciting stuff :)

11 months

11 months!  Here's the latest and greatest

- Good at Crawling
- Good at crying haha
- Pretty good at feeding himself (Inspired by hearing a friend's mom just giving a cup - not a sippy cup just a regular cup to the babies to teach how to drink from a cup, I tried that today. FAIL FAIL FAIL lol I didnt even fill it up that much! He just dumped it out everywhere. LOL)
- Identify dog, siblings, dad
- Does the motions for the song "itsy bitsy spider"
- Sleeps pretty good - first nap about 8am, 2nd nap around 2, asleep for the night between 7:30-8pm, up for the day around 6am.
- Seems to get a little more brave when cruising but I still think we have a ways to go before he walks
- Loves to watch older kids
- Loves to splash water

Thomas is doing great. I think maybe teeth are in the works but who knows. Such a guess until the sleep is really disrupted or something. He's had a runny nose that just wont stop but ...???

Just finished my last 2 summer classes last friday - WHAT A RELIEF!  I have good grades despite all the other things I have to worry about.  I walk in the spring and debate on taking this 1 class over winter session or just doing it over the summer session per the school's calendar/schedule.

Since all of that is behind me, really been trying to soak up the days of Bobby not being tied down to school 5 days a week - KINDERGARTEN STARTS IN A MONTH!!!!!! He's ready and so am I. I can't wait to watch him really flourish.  In the car he never stops talking and asking questions (can get annoying) but I know its healthy and the way we learn.


Happy August, stay cool!

Phase 1

Pictures of our unused waste of space aka the backyard

Our beloved doghouse which relocated to my mother-in-law's house 

The excavator aka a really big shovel 

Papa, Derek, and Jerry (who's helping us run the job as owner builder - thank goodness)

The bobcat shoveling more dirt out of the yard

About 6 hours of work done is pictured below

Enormous rocks that have now become part of the pool because there's just no way we are going to pay for dynamite to remove them, they actually look pretty cool

 Toward the end of the 12 hour work day

Kids back home seeing the almost finished pool

"Oh mom! Can I go on the rock!?!"

Phase 1 of digging the pool is almost done. We would have been if we wouldnt have ran into so many G-D rocks! And I dont mean little tiny ones, or even medium sized ones, I mean giant boulders! Ughhhhhhh then as we get deeper we start scraping decomposed granite, oh joy. We've had to change the layout of the pool along the way, and hopefully today we really figure out where our deep end is going to be. Its an extremely messy, hard project. Me, Derek, Bob, heck anyone that had arms was outside yesterday using a shovel to help scrape edges, smooth sides, and move dirt so the bobcat could access everything easily.  We've had to inconvenience a neighbor to get the machinery in the back, had to have our dog inside all day long (who leaves me "presents"), and help entertain the guys working (food, drinks, bathroom etc..) so I have to be around for certain times/days. 

Poor Derek literally has not had a break from working for 8 days straight (today makes 9 straight), and left about an hour ago for his regular work day.  As owner builder, you have to help as needed (to save on costs) but dang - its hard to manage when you have a regular job. I wish there was more I could do but with the kids and stuff, I'm limited.  

To get rid of all the dirt, we have these dumpster looking trucks which the bobcat goes racing through the neighbors yard to the street to unload. Its been pretty neat to experience and see how all this construction works.  We are all however, stressed out to the max and thankfully my mother-in-law fed our family dinner last night because I absolutely had no plan!

I hope today (which was not planned) goes much more smooth (and they're arent here as long), we finalize all the digging and move on to the next step.