House Update

Not really an update, more like a holding pattern. We've had a lot of showings, but no further offers. I get up everyday, clean everything, pick up after Maggie constantly, take her out of the house when it is shown. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Growing Dexterity

For Christmas my mom bought Maggie this great big jar of pop-together beads. I was really sad to find out that Maggie wasn't dexterous enough to pop them together, though. So we only played with them sproadically this past winter and spring. Then, she and some friends threw them all over her room, to up to the top shelf they went after I found them all.

Last week she asked to do her beads, and wow! She can do them all by herself. I showed her how to pour out the jar in the lid of one of her dress-up boxes so they don't let stuck in her carpet and away she went! She now wears all kinds of necklaces and bracelets and rings made of her beads.

Showing off her big necklace. You can see the lid full of beads at the bottom. She did that all on her own.
Daddy showing off Maggie's wares. I'm surprised but pleased that Tyler lets her decorate him with jewelry.
I am constantly amazed at how much and how fast she is growing up, and how I'll never get back those cuddly 6-month old perfect baby days. And I am incredibly thankful to the Lord for blessing my life with such a wonderful child even though I feel incredibly lacking in parenting skills at the moment.

Ahh, Fried Chicken and Dancing

This weekend was our church's annual WCBC Radio Hour: Fried chicken potluck and a concert on the back lawn. It was so much fun! Here's Maggie and friends dancing.
Enjoying a cold popsicle to help combat the heat.
Some short clips from the night.
DANCING

SINGING

"PRAYING" This one kills me! She did her best to keep her eyes closed, but still is not understanding the purpose behind closing our eyes.


{House update: we had an offer last week, but they rejected our counter offer. So, we wait and keep the house perfect for showings.}

Here's Our House

Here's our wonderful little home all ready to be sold. I still smile every time I drive up.
The backyard.
The hammock. Tyler relaxes there every Saturday afternoon after mowing the lawn.
The living room windows. I love our new windows!
Living room, view from the front door.
View from the door to the dining/kitchen.
Kitchen view from dining area.
Another view of the kitchen.
The dining room.
Our cheery little 1960 bathroom. Our bedroom, view from the door.
Our bedroom, view from the powder room.
The powder room off the master bedroom.
Guest bedroom.
Built-in shelves in the guest bedroom.
Maggie's room.
The rec room, view from the kitchen door.Office area in the rec room.
Utility room.
So there it is. Our sweet little home. I love how spacious it feels without all our "extra" stuff in there, how it's perfectly picked up and clean, how I still feel so happy here. We know that a move to Williamson County is beneficial, especially for Maggie's school options, but I will always have fond memories of our first real house! When we sell, I'll let you know. When we find a new home, I'll definitely post about that!!!

My Apologies & Some Updates

I hope to be able to blog a little more frequently now that my busy schedule is slowing down a tad. As I mentioned before, we've decided to try and sell our house. So the last two weeks I've spent every day cleaning, sorting, boxing up, donating, tossing and finally cleaning and scrubbing getting our little home ready for the market. We meet with our Realtor early tomorrow morning to put it up for sale. All that is a little more difficult with a bum ankle. And also I wonder if in a couple of months of living without all the non-essential items I boxed up and put in storage if we will decide to have a garage sale and sell everything except the sentimental stuff. Hmmm.

Maggie has been such a trooper with me so busy during the day. She likes to "help" is getting better at playing by herself and asks to read books all the time now - I think it's just so she can sit on my lap and have some Mommy time - to which I can barely say no to. It's very sweet, and I love that time with her.

I went to the doctor on Monday, two more weeks in the walking cast: my ankle still really hurts and feels pretty weak a lot of the time, but another set of x-rays showed it's not broken. So it's good news about it not being broken, however my inability to walk normally is a downer. Maybe I should get off my feet a little more, but there's a lot to get done around here to get everything ready for selling our house!

Seattle Trip Pics

Here's a brief rundown of our trip:
Montana: Grandma Pearl, MT family, Flathead Lake - sprained ankle
Spokane: Poppy & Mimie, downtown Spokane, Cat Tales Park, Riverfront Park, Manito Gardens
Seattle: Tyler's parents, my parents, my grandparents, Papa Dave's ash-spreading & memorial service, Everett Children's Museum

Tyler, his mom, and Tara at Papa Dave's ash-spreading on Saturday. Papa Dave passed away several weeks before our trip. He will be greatly missed!
The last picture we have of Maggie with Papa Dave, summer of 2008:

Sunday we headed up to the Bellingham-area to see my grandparents and family. Mount Baker from the car window on the way to grandpa & Grandma's.
My Grandpa and Grandma DeHoog. Maggie loved that Grandpa handed out candy from the duck dish, and that Grandma gave her cookies!
Reading the comics with Grandpa.
Here I am!
We visited with my other grandma, Grandma Margaret the same afternoon. Grandma let Maggie give her a ride on her electric chair, again.
Maggie with Grandpa Jones and Gramma Sue.
Sharing some kind of treat with Uncle Brian!
Gramma Sue's lovely garden.
Feeding Gramma Sue's koi.
We took the girls to the kids museum. They had fun the entire time!
Dancing on the stage in the theatre exhibit. It kept them entertained for a good 1/2 hour.The second trip through the different areas, there were other girls on the stage. You can tell Maggie and Alexis were not pleased.
Milking a cow in the farm area. Water came out of the udders, the girls thought that was a lot of fun.
Playing in the train exhibit.
The playground is on the roof, and the playground was 3 stories high! Maggie and Alexis scaled all three flights of stairs to go down the big swirly slide. It was so cute!
Reading a story with Auntie Tara and Alexis. Maggie loved the time we spent at the Spaid's, getting to see Alexis was definitely the highlight of her trip, and she complains often about how much she misses her! I didn't get a good picture of their farewell hug at the airport - Maggie was too sour-faced. And let me tell you about the fit she pitched in the security line about her cousin. It was not pretty.

Good Grief, Charlie Brown!

I realize I've not posted our pics from the Seattle portion of our trip, or updated about my leg. Sorry! Maggie and I got home on Saturday, 7/18, and it's been a whirlwind ever since. Tyler decided we should try to sell our house to make the jump to Williamson County (for our non-Nashville friends, that means better schools for Maggie). Our house has gone up enough - and Nashville has not been hit by the real estate boom or bust - and houses in Williamson County have depressed a little bit making them within our reach. So I am in the middle of cleaning out every last nook and cranny, clearing out clutter, staging, etc. There are also some small home-repair items I am working on, which although are small are taking me forever!

I think just moving would be easier than paring down and staging, but we'll sell our house quicker if it isn't packed to the brim. On a related note, I am continually embarrassed by the quantity of THINGS we have in our possession. We've stuffed a garbage can and brought a huge load to Goodwill and it's barely made a dent. It really makes me think about what all we buy and bring into the house.

Spokane Pics

We had a relaxing 3 days in Spokane with my Dad and Sylvia (Poppy and Mimie to Maggie).

My beautiful girl outside Duncan Garden at Manito Park in Spokane.
Balancing on the lawn's edge. You can't tell, but the grass is a steep hill. It was a little dangerous.
Riverfront park.
Maggie was so excited to see the giant Red Ryder wagon slide. She climbed up it and slid down a dozen times!Tyler took a turn on the slide. Whee!Poppy thought the slide looked fun, too. Oh boy!Me at the carousel. I rode on the tiger, it didn't move up and down.
Maggie has a great time on the carousel this year!!! I was so glad that it was fun for her, last year she was terrified!
I think visiting Cat Tales rescue park will be a tradition at Poppy's house. On the stone lions at the rescue entrance.
I love this sign at Cat Tales. I was using a wheelchair there, too far to walk on crutches, and had to move away from two different tiger pens - they were getting excited by the spinning wheels on my chair. One of the keepers said it looked like a toy, but I think they knew I couldn't move very fast.
We also went to Greenbluff, outside Spokane to some orchards. We stopped at High Country orchards and picked FRESH Bing and Rainier cherries. I've never picked cherries before, but they were so darn good I don't knwo if I will ever be able to eat cherries from the store again! Maggie thought it was great fun to be able to pick them right off the tree and eat them (everyone else thought it was pretty awesome, too).Look at those gorgeous Rainier cherries!Enjoying lots and lots of cherries!
Thank you, Poppy and Mimie, a lovely time was had by all!!!