There's a floor in the basement

So, the floor is in, just wanted to document that... and Serena witnessed that the floor is in... lol

Walls are complete!

So, after checking on the my new baby(the house) the other day, I got some new pics, was a weird weather day too... this week the framing starts, so that is definatly a good thing! Also, our builder called and asked Chad and I, and the kiddos to be his poster family for his ad, so that should be lovely fun! We were supposed to go get photos taken today, but Chad had his eyelid cut open yesterday to drain a sty ended up with quite the black eye. Needless to say, the photo shoot was pushed back a bit til we can be at our most beautiful, lol... I am glad the weekend is here, as this week has been rather stressful. Good news is, Chad and I finally found a table that seats 8 on Craiglist, so we will finally be able to all sit at the same table during meals and not have to pull up a step ladder, yay!! We also found a bed for $50 bucks for Nick. So, that is 2 items taken off of our "To get for House" list. Now, we just a need a fridge, another twin bed, lawn mower and washer. We still have time though, and I plan to hit some garage sales in the next couple of weeks. Am excited for Mother's Day this weekend, though the mother in me, will not get much relaxation as I am studying for an anatomy test on all the bones of the body. Oh well, such is life. Happy Mother's day to all the mamas out there! Do something nice for yourselves!!! :)

The house that Tim built... (he's our builder)

Chad, checking out the handy work.
Basement walls getting ready to be poured
Beginnings of a foundation to the basement
A big hole in the ground...



So, lots and lots of developments in the last few months. In December Chad graduated from Nursing School and had obtained his nursing license and a job by February 2010. With him working now, our income has FINALLY caught up to our family size *sigh of relief*... What to do when that happens? Buy a house! After looking at a few houses, and even putting an offer down on one, I just didn't feel very excited about things. I discovered that I really don't like looking at houses, and the less I had to look at the better. We also discovered that there were very few houses out there that meet the needs of a 7 person family, at least in Spokane, WA. Sort of by surprise, we stumbled into the opportunity to build a home in Spokane Valley. We met with the real estate agent of the property just to get more info, and by the end of the appt, we were picking out cabinets and paint colors. Two days later, the money was down and papers were signed. Just like that, we were building a house. Our home is going to be so great for our large family, with 4 bedrooms for the kids upstairs, and the master bedroom and bath on the main floor, and even an unfinished basement! I feel so blessed to be able to watch our home come to life, and I just wanted to be able to share it with others, though it's probably not quite so fascinating to them! So... I am going to try and post some pics at least a couple of times a week of the house being built. This is probably going to only happen once in my life, I'd like to be able to look back on this and smile, and also be glad that it's done...

Okay, it's been quite some time since I've posted a blog on here, I kinda forgot about it actually. So, I am going to make an effort to do better... This week has been a busy one. With me in school and Chad finishing up nursing school, it has been quite jam packed. I have a math test to study for tomorrow and on Friday Chad has clinicals, so I'm not up to posting much tonight... will try and write more tomorrow. With little Braeden sick, it has kinda put a kink into things, so we will see what all I can get done... ttfn.

Beautiful View

I have taken many pics from the balcony of our townhouse, which we joking say has a great view of the ghetto... but all joking aside, it really is beautiful, especially at night, or sunset... so here's a couple of the pics I have taken from our balcony!

Lilac parade May 17th

My common sense told me not to...that the lilac parade was going to be a zoo... and it was... but the good news is, the kids really enjoyed it, and if the kids are happy, so is mama! The lilac parade is a yearly thing that takes place in downtown Spokane . It closes streets, and creates hoardes of people, but it also is awesome for the kids and is in general something to do on a saturday night. So this year, my awesome sis Ali and I made the treck. We parked a mile away and parked Braeden in the stoller and Serena and Meg walked. We found a spot about an hour and a half early and tried to entertain the kiddos til the parade started.

This is what the kids did to entertain themselves... exciting sword fights and creative artistry!

The parade FINALLY started and the kids settled down to watch lots of pretty floats and flowered horses and beautiful princesses, some riding flowered horses, to which Serena exclaimed, "Someday I'll be a princess riding a horse, mom." I have no doubt in my mind she will too.

There was a lot of stuff to do with the armed forces, and honestly it brought tears to my eyes to see all the men and women marching in the parade that so bravely fight for our country! Way to go troops!

Lots of entertainment kept us all(including me) occupied!

About half way through the parade, lil Braeden fell asleep, and even the pounding drums and obnoxious fire engine sirens could do nothing to awaken him! At the end of the night everyone was quite tired and the treck back to the car was a long and tiresome one, but we made it, and Ali and I came out of the experience feeling as though we had survived some great heroic event. In reality it was just the Lilac Parade, but it was important to us, and the kids had fun, so that is all that mattered.

First one...

Okay, so I see that all my cousins are doing this whole blog thing with their families, so I decided to jump on the band wagon. I am going to get some pics up really soon, just need to get organized and with a family of 7 that is not always easy... anyway, hope to get things on here by the end of the weekend...