A new builder and floorplan!
So, I got email, confirming that the company we WERE going to use did indeed stop servicing Missouri. I have spent about one week researching more companies. I have requested oodles of brochures. I think we have found a new company and floor plan. We don't need the log exterior, and probably not the rustic interior (hopefully those are expensive, and it will save us SO much money to cut them out). We do like the two story great room, the open floor plan (we want the dining and living room to be one huge space) for family gatherings, and the separation between boys rooms and the master bedroom. So, this is it for now. We can go tour the house, in Boonville, MO. I'm not sure when we'll have the time to do that, but I'm quite anxious to do so!
The above photo is our bat house. We got it for Jared about three years ago, and never hung it up. So, I hung it at our new place. This gives the bats time to find us. I was suppose to hang it 15' in the air, but my ladder was only 6', and I'm only a bit over 5'. I'd guess it's about 9' off the ground, because I had problems reaching the top screw. Hopefully it's a fast growing tree. Or we get some bats that are scared of heights, and appreciate our accommodations. Anyhow, they are suppose to eat 600 mosquitoes an hour. It's cheaper than a mosquito magnet.
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A musical weekend
This past weekend was a music filled weekend of fun. We went to my grandma's ice cream social at her church and played some music. The two older boys each had a banjo. That increases the banjos by quite a bit! My grandma was quite pleased that I could lead "Whistler and his Dog". It wasn't perfect, but she could tell I was trying. I will keep practicing, and have it perfected before our next visit.
Jonas told everyone that would listen, that next year, he'll be playing the fiddle. We're not real sure why he got so stuck on this idea, but, he did. So, my mom pulled out my first violin.. and I started showing Jonas how to play. He'll be ready to lead a song or two next time.
We went to Jared's Granddad's house on our way home. We played music with him too. His singing is so beautiful. It reminds me of Johnny Cash. Greg made a video of him singing about a year ago. Jared learned this song, and played it for his granddad.
So, now that we're back home, the boys are feeling the music, full swing. I got Alex TWO new piano books. One is just the next one in the series he's in, and the other is popular songs he knows, at his level. His cousin had it, and he loved it.
I got Caleb and Alex both a Banjo book, filled with easy songs. I also got them thumb and finger picks.. for proper "pickin", and Jonas needed some rosin for the violin. We're ready to keep making music. We've decided to play together every Friday night. Anyone's welcome.. come, join us.
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Whistler and His Dog
My great great grandpa's favorite song was "Whistler and His Dog". Jared and I learned the song tonight. I recorded my mom playing the song, and I played it over, and over, and over again, and played along with it. My mandolin book, gives me cheats, which has allowed me to not learn to read music. But, the violin (which I studied for like 9 years) reads the same as the mandolin. So, I read the music, and attempted to play along with my mom's playing for about 20 times. Playing repeatedly brought back my reading knowledge. My fingers are now numb. But, I know the song. Tomorrow we play with my grandparents again. So.. I'm ready. Jared's ready.
A video.. for my fans. I need a new mic for my computer, the built in one is not very high quality.
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A hitch
The company we were going to use to build our new house, has relocated to Colorado, and no longer build in Missouri. I think if we had been going by our original plans, of talking to them in August, I would be even more frustrated. However, now that we're not talking until January, I am calm and cool, and searching for other options.
My to do list for this house isn't getting done as quickly as I would like. I have a list of work, that I think needs to be done before selling the house. Jamie has agreed to help us "stage" our home. I need to get busy, before school starts, and I get too tired to do this. We're all ready to get moving.
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Family gathering
We spent the past few days in Missouri, with the purpose of celebrating my grandpa's 95th birthday. The boys' cousins came up from North Carolina, and we stayed with my mom, so the kids could play, play play. (They're officially second cousins once removed, I believe.. but, for the sake of simplicity, we just say "cousins".) Growing up, when the family all got together at my grandparents' house, we cousins would sleep in piles in the living room. It is fun to watch the next generation experience the same thing. Next year, Kaylee might be old enough to get to sleep in the living room and whisper late into the night with the big kids.
No July family gathering is complete without fireworks. The kids had a ball, shooting off smoke bombs, tanks and catching parachutes. When the sun went down, the night time stuff was shot off. The next day, we piled all the dead stuff with the trash, surrounded the fire area with sparklers, and burned the trash with style.
It was a wonderful time. I'm glad the boys are developing wonderful relationships with so many of their extended family members. I hope to only foster those relationships, and help them have fun with additional family members in the future. You can never have too much family.
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Land owners!
We're now officially land owners in Missouri. Whoo hooo. It is falling in place wonderfully. We have to talk with the bank again at the end of December, because the land has to be in our name for six months before we qualify for loans. I'm a bit apprehensive about that, but worrying won't get me anywhere, so I'll just assume it will work out for the best. I had the thought, as I was at the county treasurers office today. That next year, I won't have to renew our tags in Kansas, and battle those lines. Although, I suppose, that Missouri has lines too.
A side note.. I have plenty of photos to post. Random photos that have nothing to do with blog posts. For example, our farmette in Missouri does NOT have this lighthouse on it.
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Vacation DVD
I don't go crazy buying souvenirs when I'm vacationing. Rather, I force the children to pose for 100's of photos. They put up with it pretty well. This year, I also took some movies. I plan on combining these things, along with Alex, Jonas and Jared's photos and videos and making a fabulous vacation DVD. Caleb complained at one point, that he never sees these photos again, anyway. I guess I just don't play my vacation DVDs often enough! I splurged and bought a new editing program, that was recommended to me by Cheryl. Here is the intro clip. Not created by the afore mentioned software, but rather Blender a free program available to anyone who wants it, and has the patience to learn it.
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Missing cat food
Someone stole our can of cat food, while we were away. That's a bit weird. The eleven year old that was in charge of feeding our cat, told us, "You'd have to be pretty hungry, or pretty broke, to steal cat food."
The photo above was taken on Route 66. A shoe tree. Jared turned around, so we could go back, and pose in front of it. We had no spare shoes to add to it, unfortunately. Gas, not far from this tree was $5.29. The only gas station for about 100 miles each direction. Luckily, we didn't need any gas.
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We’re Home!
We had a wonderful trip. We put right around 3000 miles on the new car, broke it in good. We saw one national monument and eight national parks. We took Disneyland by storm. Jonas now loves roller coasters. We had a good time at Sea World. We played in the ocean, and floated down rivers.
I'm sure I'll write more later, but, I'm a bit tired.
See *some* of our vacation photos here! (Just a hair under 250 photos and videos)
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