I DID IT!!!

I DID IT!!! This year I walked all 60 miles. No, I didn't take 1 picture! My sister, however, took about 1000 (very true) and put up a great variety on here blog. Just click HERE to see our journey over 3 days/60 miles! We are excited to walk Chicago next August 2012. If you are interested in joining our team, either to walk or crew please let me know! It is an awesome experience and such great cause!!!

BIG changes!

The pond starting to fill up. The green stuff around the pond is.....grass!!!! Slowly but surely we will no longer have a house completely surrounded by mud!
The deer on the left is a common sight at our house. At times there have been up to 6-8 walking across the back or drinking in the pond. Ben...they are waiting for you :)

A close up! Ben...are you jealous?! :)

The pond looks about half full. There is an drain tube at the back center (hard to see in the picture) and that is about how high the water will get.

No rain was scheduled in the forecast on this day. My dad had serious words for the weather man! They quickly constructed this tent over their pour to keep it dry.

Another angle on the tent. Nate took about a dozen pictures of their construction. Very proud builders that day...but also very upset. You can see from this picture the mud we have been surrounded by waiting for our new driveway!

Day 1 the front stoop and parking pad were poured. Looks awesome now! You can see how we have been living amongst the construction. The front of the house has been exposed like that for awhile, the shed in the background covered with just plywood is going on a year or more. The new windows and siding will all be complete before winter hits...that is what I have been told. Those who know us well, know not to hold their breath :)

Everything poured!!!! Yeah!!!! My dad rocks!!! My dad, his crew and Nate did a sweet job on the driveway, walkway, front porch and parking pad. They brought in 2 loads of gravel to put down on the first half of the driveway coming in from the road. GOODBYE MUD!!!!

My new front porch. Landscaping is next years project! I'm planning on buying some rocking chairs and a small table to put out here. I just love it!!!!!!

Our nice big walk up to the front door. The siding is a sage green, white windows and a metal roof...the color on the roof I can't remember or we are still debating.

Tradition! My hand print and name are present at about 6 homes in Iowa City. We loved doing this as kids. Conley and Shay thought this was AWESOME!

They point it out to me every time we are outside. It is so funny!

My dad is the best. He believes in perfection and is the best at what he does. He knew how important it was for our house to be perfect. This is just a couple pieces to the huge puzzle, but very important pieces! We love our new cement out front and the kids love riding bikes with all the new space. We cleaned our house on Friday and kissed the mud goodbye!

Pre-K first day!

Conley and his best buddy Grant. They are both going 5 days a week to Heritage Christian Pre-K program. School is from 8:30-1:30. Conley will then stay on from 1:30-3:30 in his classroom and at 3:30 go into the after school program until I get off work.
They got to pick their seats today and of course Grant and Conley sat right down next to each other. While all the kids and parents were saying goodbyes and dropping off supplies they started right in on a project!

You can see Shay wanted to stay and "play with the toys". She was excited to go with us to drop Conley off this morning.

Working on writing their names.

In front of their lockers. They got lockers right next to each other. They are VERY excited to be in the same class together this year.

Ready for school with his new backpack on!

Of course Shay wanted to get her picture taken and of course had to cheese it up!!! I thought Nate was taking her to daycare, so last minute put on some clothes with no time to do her hair because she just HAD to help take Conley to school. So funny!

No words necessary!

First day of Pre-K. Super excited!!! Packed his bag and lunch first thing this morning. Nate and Conley packed his money bag so he could buy milk. They packed quarters and dimes and went over how to make $.35. Nate will be in charge of Conley every morning. They will pack their lunches together (Nate packs his own everyday) and Nate will drop him off.

I have the day off today so I was able to take him and can pick him up at 1:30. I can't wait to hear what he thinks about school!

The Red Carpet

2 weekends ago my parents, aunt, the kids and I went to Chicago to participate in a cheering station for the Susan G. Komen 3-day 60 mile walk. This guy was awesome. He was dressed in his pink shirt cheering on the walkers. Conley sporting his only pink shirt (Longaberger of course!).
My mom found a guy to donate a piece of red carpet. Shay lined the carpet up with pink boas and we cheered on the walkers. It was so much fun!!!!!!!!!

Shay gave out high fives to all the walkers and would beat her thunder sticks together. Hilarious!

The tent next to us was handing out freeze pops. These are the best treat when walking!

Some ladies were giving out ziploc baggies of ice to cool down the walkers. Many would put the bags on their neck and be holding them as they walked the "red carpet". Shay did the same with her water bottle. She is so observant...doesn't miss a thing!

The Mt. Prospect police department wears pink shirts and decorate their squad cars for the event. They ensure the walkers safety as they cross busy intersections.

Mom and I in front of our sign "You deserve a walk on the Red Carpet". Thanks to Debbie for making our sign and to Jim for donating the carpet!

The crowd at the cheering station. They had a great turnout. This helps us walkers get through the day. Usually there is a cheering station in the morning and one in the afternoon. It pumps you up to make it until your next pit stop. Thanks for all who came out in Phoenix and for those we will meet in Dallas in November. We can't do it without your support!!!

People have signs, thunder sticks, music, candy, ice, water, etc to make the walk just that much easier!

A close up of the sign, carpet and boas!

Thanks Debbie for the awesome sign!

This is the start of the cheering station...took some time for the supporters to all arrive and for the walkers to start to come in.

Goodbye Diggers!!!

The extra parking area...finally a little more room for guests. Currently the driveway is gravel, but we will pour concrete when the garage addition is complete.
Standing in the garage looking towards the end of the driveway to the road. The berm on the right gives us some privacy and keeps the kids safe to ride bikes.

Our new drive entry onto West Overlook Rd. We will worry about grass and landscaping next year.

Looking back toward the house. I had a helper taking pics with me :)

Nate working away. My dad dropped his bobcat here for Nate to use. Nate has been putting on some final touches. Notice Conley in the upper right hand corner. He always wants to help/watch.

Looking back at the house. This has already changed since I took this picture. The pop-up camper is now next to the shed on the far west of our property and the white shed you can see in this picture is up against the house. This gives more parking options...but soon there will be another garage there.

The very last brush pile to be burned!!!

The pond already has some water. The rain we have had has filled up a little bit. Nate puts a flag in the ground to track the progress. I'm sure he prays for rain everyday so the pond will fill.

The pond will have a "beach"/small sand area on the right side of this picture. This is taken from the backyard looking out to the pond.

Go Big or Go Home!

We finally have a driveway...more on that in the next post. This will show the progression of the drive. Nate of course couldn't let the excavators have all the fun...he had to cut down some more limbs off trees so they wouldn't interfere with the bulldozer.
Ezra moving the dirt to level off the new driveway and create the new berm. The father/son duo did a great job on our project. The weather worked against us many days, but they persevered and are finally finished.

To the right of the bulldozer is where we used to enter our driveway up to the house. I'm standing in the garage taking these pictures.

The new driveway entrance being dug out. You now enter our driveway before you get to the house. This created a berm for seclusion and safety for the kids riding their bikes. We will have a nice long drive and more parking for guests.

Here is a shot showing how long the new drive will be. It is currently gravel, but Wayne and Nate will have concrete down next year. We plan to add on to the garage for Nate's work supplies and machines, so the concrete will have to wait until that phase of the project is done.

Again showing where you used to come in. The berm is pretty high (that is how Nate wanted it), but this picture is before he knocked it down some.

This is the backyard pond. This is the beginning of the digging process. I believe this is the back end of the pond.

This is standing at the back of the pond looking toward the house. Again, at the beginning of the digging. It looks very different now.

Just a different angle. Remember this area was THICK with trees. It took months to clear all the trees and for Nate to cut them all up and burn the brush.

This is standing up closer to the house looking out to the backyard. It is almost done at this point.

Lots of people ask about the kids. Naturally it makes me nervous, but we have strict rules about being outside with parents at this house. They cannot go outside and play unless Nate or myself is out there. There is barely any water in the pond right now, so we will see if the temptation rises as the pond fills. I think they are thinking they will fish in the pond, not swim. They love swimming at Mary and Tom's house, so I'm sure they think of the pond as a fishing activity not swimming.