We have colors!

I met with a friend on Tuesday, and we picked out most of the colors for the house, including the colors for the outside. Virtual Taupe and Tony Taupe - don't you love the names of paint colors?

We also picked out colors for the inside - Magnetic Gray, Whole Wheat, Copper Mountain, Svelte Sage, Macadamia, Windy Blue, and Tanager. Yay for paint colors!

Here's the side of the house, as of Friday afternoon.

We're from the country

Well, not really. Cash spent the first two and a half years of his life right in the middle of Bowling Green, and Baylen's first nine months were bordered by an alley and a busy city street. That's all about to change, though. 


If this is how country life might be like, I think my boys will "like it thata way." Every time going to Nanny's house is mentioned, Cash asks if he can "run on that hay."

Just set Cash up there, and away he goes. He loves it!

Kenle likes it, too, but is a bit more cautious. 

Back and forth, stumbling a few times, but he's never fallen.

Who needs a balance beam?

I'm sure we'll be doing it again soon... although the line of hay keeps getting smaller.

B likes to watch, but give him a few more months, and he'll be up there, too.

You know warmer weather is here...

 when the Doggetts get their new Crocs for the year.

Cash's

Baylen's first pair

Don't mind if I do!

One!

Where did the year go?

My little baby, B - a year old today!

Such a joy to your Mommy!

"I love you right up to the moon - and back."

(Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney)

Dear God,

 Hi up there. Just wanted to send you a short note concerning a few things. Life is great down here. Your grace and love never cease to amaze me. Just when things get tough, leaning on You always helps me to bear my load. I thank You for that, and I thank You for all the ways that You seem to turn my attention back to you. I'm a wanderer by nature.


 I do have a question though. Remember how I asked You to slow time? I think it was a few months back, or maybe I asked it a year or so ago. I can't remember now, but I'm wandering when it's going to happen. You see - tomorrow my little baby boy that You blessed Heath and I with will be turning a year old. I'm still trying to figure out how this can be. It seems like only yesterday we brought him home from the hospital in his little blue sleeper. It swallowed him. He was so tiny, and now he's this cheerful, bubbly, walking and running and climbing Heath look-alike. What a blessing he has been this past year. There have been rocky, tough times with him, but they have pulled by Heath and I closer to You. 


 So after tomorrow, You'll slow down time, right? Things will stand still for a bit, and I can savor these moments with my one year-old with ease? Okay, thanks.


Humbly Your child,
KJ

Going so fast...

but that's SO okay by me!


It seems that the house is coming together faster than I can keep my blog updating with it all, but really - that's not a problem! Here are some recent pics of what's been going on.

Drywall started last Monday, March 14. This is taken from the dining room looking into the kitchen.

Here's the family room and stairs going up. It looks completely different with walls! 

Heath took off this past Thursday and Friday. He formed the front porch and got it ready to pour on Thursday, and then poured it Friday morning. It looks awesome!! I've always wanted a big front porch with a swing.

There it is. Do you see it? Oh, yes. It's Heath's new favorite thing.

Bring on the ice storms. We'll be able to keep everyone warm with our new log stove.

And this was taken yesterday. We were finally able to move that huge dirt pile in front of the house, and you can actually see the front door now!

More dirt work is being done today.

Siding was also started yesterday. No, this isn't the final color. We're actually still trying to decide on that. Any suggestions?

Best buds

Cash loves Wednesdays. 

Wednesday is the day that mom watches Kennick, so he's at the house all day - this means lots of play time for these two.

As we were getting ready to leave, Kennick asked Cash to tie his shoes. Cash tried.

They both tried, actually.

I love watching these two grow up together.

If you're not finished...

 

make sure you guard your plate.

What's better?

What's better than throwing rocks in a mud puddle?

Throwing rocks in mud puddles with your two "best, best friends," of course!

That's right. Last weekend, Kennick joined our boys for some good ol' dirt-y fun!

In case you haven't noticed, B doesn't care that he's half the age (and size) of his two older cousins. He's always right in there doing whatever they are doing, and honestly, that's how I like it.

He can pretend to be big, but he's still my lil' britches.

Yes, it was a good day for splashin' some mud around. 

Oh, yes. Dad and Derek helped Heath do some work on the walls of the garage.

Three men at work...

three boys at play.

Boys, rocks and shovels

I've been at the house for the past few weekends with the boys. Heath has taken off a few days here and there to form porches and pour the concrete, so it's been fun to have the boys there to watch daddy "build dat new house," and they have both enjoyed playing with the sand, dirt, and gravel. Here are some pictures from two Saturdays ago (yes, I'm behind on posting pictures).

Cash has two sets of shovels/rakes/hoes. He keeps one set at the house, and the other set stays at Grammy's house. A boy like Cash can't be without his shovel.

He loved this bigger gravel. He had to "hep daddy move dat rock."

He wanted Heath to help him climb the rock pile first. Then he got braver and began to climb it by himself.

Someone felt left out,

but not for long. Heath made a trip down so B could be on the rock pile, too.

Rocks and shovels - make boys so happy. 

Cash continued to climb up the rock pile, and to the expense of his pants, loved sliding down the pile.

Shovels also make great teethers, right?

Mickey shirt and boots - classy.

Heath and I got a kick out of B, like always. He walked right into a hole in one of the blocks. He didn't seem to mind, and of course, big brother was there to help him out.

Wordless Wednesday

Who needs toys?

When you have a cardboard box and a fun daddy,

who needs toys?

Mom's apprentice

For as long as I can remember, my mom has been the "bookkeeper" for my dad's office. I can remember her standing at the kitchen counter with her adding machine, red pencil and green and white ledger paper. Month by month she would go through adding columns, deciphering dad's messy numbers, and saying to my sister and I, "Which one of you is going to grow up to be a CPA?"

Obviously, it wasn't mom's favorite thing to do, and she was eager to hand the job down. 

Too bad Karalee and I didn't take that route with our education.

But there may be hope for the next generation...

Cash loves playing with mom's adding machine

Sorry, mom. I think it's a love for buttons, not numbers and math!

Fun in Roseville

Last Wednesday, mom and I invited ourselves and the three boys out to my cousin's house in Roseville. We thought it would be a great way to pass a rainy morning. After getting the okay, we joined my aunt and cousin's daughter, Kenle, for some inside fun.

This is Kenle. She is the spittin' image of her daddy, my first cousin, Jeremiah. She (with some encouraging) gladly shared her fun toys with her second cousins.

Kennick hopped right on the battery-powered four wheeler and had a blast. We got a kick out of him getting off his ride to turn it. He eventually got the hang of it.

Lil' man strolled around the basement in Kenle's little coupe. 

Even though there was no grass in sight, B spent some of his time mowing with the bubble mower.

Just in case you're keeping track, this little one will be ONE next Wednesday!

Being the smallest of the bunch didn't stop him. He tried everything that big brother and big cousins did, of course!

But the highlight of the morning was ...

Kenle's indoor trampoline!

Or, as Cash says, "dat tampodean."

Thanks, Kathy and Kenle, for a whole lot of fun!