Saturday, July 25, 2009

Changes

I've been a bum about posting lately. That is primarily because we've been busy around the house. I hardly take the time to turn on the computer. When we get home at night, we are typically outside all evening unless there is any cleaning or laundry to do.

Our little house is shaping up quite nicely. We've done a ton of work outside, and Danny has put down a bunch of edges around all of the flowers we've planted with big rocks. I'm sorry there are no pictures of these, but blame Hailey for the malted egg in my purse that is stuck in my camera. Up front, we have dianthus, vincas, a hibiscus, and a couple of other things planted. In the back, we have impatians, geraniums, begonias, lantanas, hostas, and on the side of the deck, we tilled up a 350 square foot area that Danny edged in rock. We filled that in with a couple of bottles of mixed flower seeds just to see what would grow. Everything's doing pretty well back there...no blooms yet, and we don't know what is a weed and what is a plant yet so it looks a little wild. It's fun to watch it all grow though.

I have become an avid bird watcher. My favorite place to sit is on our bottom deck watching the birds and squirrels in our backyard. I have a suet feeder, a songbird feeder, and a finch feeder out there. I'm going to put a bird bath out there sometime soon. Right now is one of my favorite times to watch them because they are all so active! Just this morning, I've seen goldfinches, purple finches, sparrows, cardinals, a blue jay, and a mourning dove. We've had a couple of woodpeckers too. The squirrels may be my favorite though! I was just telling my mom that they look different than the squirrels back home. These are a chocolate brown with really thin gray tails and their tails have a black stripe down them. They wave them around like crazy too. Unfortunately Journey has made it her mission to rid our yard of the squirrels. She sends them running up tress every time and they will yell at her like crazy.

Hailey is so happy here. She plays outside with the neighbor kids every day. We register her for school on Monday, and even though she is nervous about changing schools, she is also excited about 2nd grade. Softball ended a couple of weeks ago, and she did very well. We spoke with her soccer coach from last year, and he feels she is ready for competitive soccer instead of the just for fun league she's played in previously. I'm working on finding a team for her now. This will be a big commitment for us as this means tournaments on the weekends and such, but I think it will be a lot of fun as well. Hailey is having her first little sleepover tonight too. Her friend Neely is coming over and we're going to make homemade pizza and watch some movies. It should be a really good time.

Last weekend, Danny and I painted the living room and got our new couch. The pictures were taken on my cell phone, so they aren't showing the colors well. Three of the walls are a chocolate brown color and one wall is a mocha. We also bought a big easy chair that is a mocha color.



Dad and Deb and the kids are coming over in two weeks for three days. We are really looking forward to it. While they are here, we are going to get the kitchen wall, hallway, and entryway painted. Once that is finished, I really think our house will look so much better. Just having the living room finished has made a huge difference.
The beginning of September will be bringing another big change in the Shaver household. My sister-in-law, Kim, and my niece, Adi, will be coming to live with us for a year. My brother-in-law, Tommy, is a W-2 in the military and flies blackhawks. They are currently stationed in Hawaii, and Kim doesn't want to stay there by herself for a year while her husband is away. She also doesn't care to move back in with her parents, which I don't blame her for at all. It's tough to move back home after you have been living on your own. She will be our live in baby-sitter too as she will be able to stay with Hailey before and after school which will save us both time and money. She does bring with her a St. Bernard and an English Mastiff however. It will be an adjustment for all of us, but we are very excited about being able to spend so much time with Kim and Adi. There is also a part of me that feels the need to pay it forward as Uncle Tim and Aunt Janet were so wonderful to house me during a tough transition in my life.
Right now though, I'm going to go steal the riding lawn mower and mow the backyard before Danny has a chance. That's right, we argue over who gets to mow the lawn. We both love doing it!