SOLD

We got an early Christmas present last Friday.  We closed on our Farmersburg house!  It is such a relief.  This house has been for sale for a little over a year and a half.  Way.too.long.  We've had a number of people look at it and even had a possible sale last year which unfortunately didn't work out.  A friend of ours needed a temporary place to stay and he ended up moving in shortly after we moved out in August.  This worked out great.  Then in November he informed us he'd been moving out before December 1st.  Shortly after that we had a showing and received an offer that we accepted.

I think sometimes things just work out the way they are supposed to.  As much as I would've liked to sell our house sooner it actually may have made things more difficult.  When we received our first offer and potential sale our new house was not ready so we had planned to move into my cousin's "for sale" house.  If that would've happened we would have had to move again because he ended up selling his house soon after.  And I'm glad we were able to help out our friend Chris who needed a temporary residence.  This was a good reminder to be patient and trust in God, he really does have a plan.   :)

O Christmas tree....

Last weekend we made our annual trek to D&J Pines to cut down our Christmas tree.  I really do like having a real tree, just dislike the mess that comes with it.  It's our tradition and I hope the boys will always remember it.

 It was a REALLY cold day, but we were prepared with extra gloves, hats and scarves as well as a couple blankets.  They usually provide sleds for kids but since there was no snow (yet) we brought our wagon, we know these boys are not going to walk the entire time.

 Jackson inspecting his dad's sawing ability.

The final product!  The boys have so much fun decorating the tree.

visit with Santa

The boys got to visit with Santa Claus yesterday.  Before we left they spent some time filling out their wish lists.  I found a free printable that they could color and write what they wish for.

 Talking about their lists.

They did very good, even got some candy canes before we left.

Our elf made its first appearance yesterday as well.  I'm pretty sure Jackson named it last year but neither of us could remember what that name was, so he renamed it this year.  The new name is Miss Rose.  Unfortunately, so far it has NOT improved any behavior....

house latest

We have a downstairs bathroom!  It has not been fun having to go upstairs every single time to use the bathroom.  Now I know a lot of people don't have bathrooms on each floor.  But when you are used to this, it is a big deal.  I am very proud of this particular room, we basically created it from nothing.

 Ready for vinyl!  

 This is the same floor as the upstairs bathroom.  I really like it, Furniture Showcase does a great job.

I went out of my comfort zone with the vanity.  I almost always chose oak but this is alder.  It turned out really good.  The open area on the left is a built in shelving area, the doors still need to be installed.  The tub/shower is to the right out of the picture.  This space actually used to be a bedroom.

We also have our entryway/laundry room area almost done.

 Most of this area is new but the bottom left corner is actually the old house (the wood part).  It was difficult to get this leveled but now that the floor is in you can't even tell.

 Love this floor!  Once again, Furniture Showcase...    The doorway on the left goes into the living room (old kitchen/summer kitchen). 

I'm standing in front of the door to the outside.  The hallway goes to the kitchen (old living room) and the first doorway on the left side is the new bathroom.  The washer and dryer will be straight ahead and we plan to reuse some of the old kitchen cabinets and put them on the wall on the left.

So glad these rooms are finally getting done.  I'm finally starting to get things where I want them and finish unpacking.  Still haven't put too many things on the wall, there's just something about putting holes into brand new walls....

Halloween

Wow, I'm behind with posts.  Here's how we spent our Halloween...

 The usual Halloween crew.  We trick or treated with our friends Ella and Wesley in Farmersburg.

 Then of course hotdogs at the community center thanks to the Farmersburg Fire Department.

Pumpkin Patch

This was our second year going to Pinter's Pumpkin Patch outside of Decorah.  So.much.fun.

 This slide is one our their favorites.  They must have gone down it at least 20 times.

 Lots of picture opportunities...

 This tire area was the inspiration for the small one we created at The Campsite

 Foels Family picture!

 Jackson being buried in the corn box.

 We love kettle corn!

 Jackson has a blast with any kind of race track.

 We didn't do this jumping pillow last year but decided to give it a try this year.  It was their favorite thing of the day.  

We had a great afternoon!

Fireman Tristan

Last week was Fire Prevention Week so both kids talked about fires in school and daycare.  They also get to make things...here's Fireman Tristan...

I just love the things daycare and school come up with!

Tooth Fairy

The tooth fairy finally got to come to our house the other night.  Jackson has had a loose tooth for about 6 months now.  I would bug him and bug him to wiggle it, he would....a little but he always told me "it'll come out when it comes out".  And I guess he's right.  But finally, the other night he came downstairs and the tooth was just hanging on....so I pulled it.

As you can probably see, the other bottom tooth needs to come out as well.  The new tooth is growing in behind it.  The hygienist assured us this is okay, it should move into place eventually.  It's loose, but as before Jackson isn't hurrying the process.  I guess it'll come out when it comes out...right?

Jackson

The Jackson posts continue!  Here's his progression to being a 6 year old...

 I remember this day so well...we were so excited to meet our little guy!

 Birthday #1

 Birthday #2

 Birthday #3

 Birthday #4

 Birthday #5, I see so much growth between 4 and 5.  He looks so much more grown up here.

Birthday #6

Jackson is such a joy.  He truly is a really great kid!  He takes kindergarten very seriously, constantly telling me "it's a lot of work".  He loves riding the bus.  He does great with getting his homework done because he really does love learning.  I've already gotten praise from his teacher.  He really hates getting punished, it is devastating for him.  He strives to keep his "pom poms" at school because then he gets to pick something from the prize box and he takes great pride in that.  He enjoys helping his Dad fix up the house, but doesn't always like the cleaning up part.  He'll usually try to delegate certain tasks to his brother (we think maybe he'll be a manager some day).  He does NOT like toads, salamanders, etc and definitely does NOT want to touch them.  

It's been very interesting watching Jackson grow into his own personality.  I see certain things that are just like his dad and I see certain things that are just like me.  He is really a pretty good blend of both of us.

October 1, 2007

We celebrated Jackson's true birthday quietly at home.  It was a Tuesday, so he had school of course.  Per his request, he took donuts as his birthday treat.  Then I let him chose what we have for supper.  His choice?  Moore's chicken and banana pudding, of course!

 This is the annual "show me how old you are" picture.

 Moore's chicken and banana pudding, I added the peas for a little nutrition.

I picked up some cupcakes as well since we already had cake.  Here's the big 6 year old blowing out his candle!

Jackson's birthday party

Jackson recently turned 6.  We decided this year to do his birthday a little different.  Instead of the typical invite family over we let him pick two friends to come with us to Jumpin Janes.  Needless to say, he was VERY excited for his birthday.

 I didn't get too many pictures of them playing, it was hard to catch them.  They were pretty hungry when the pizza came.  The dug right in!  Jackson is above with his friends Cayl and Dayne.

 Does that cake look familiar?  When I asked Jackson what kind of cake he wanted he would only tell me he wanted a "candy cake" like what Tristan had.  I made it myself this year, it turned out okay.  There's all the kiddos, Tristan was starting to get tired as you can see from his face.  There's Lucas in there too, he lives in Dubuque now so we invited him as well.

 Present time!  Jackson loaded up on Beyblades, and he couldn't have been happier.

One final group pic before we came home.  Tristan was pretty much done at this point, as you can plainly see.

Jumpin Janes was fun, and I know Jackson and the boys had fun, but I'm not sure if we'll do it the same again.  Mom and Dad, Shirley and Mike all came as well but it's impossible to visit due to the noise.  Next time, if there is one, we'll probably just take the kids and then have a meal at our house as well with grandparents and Uncle.

Apples!

We inherited 3 apple trees when we bought our "farm".  I have very fond memories of pressing apples with Grandpa and Grandma and my entire family here.  As I recall, every fall we would get together to pick apples and make cider.  It was a time we all looked forward to.  

This year has evidently been a great year for apples.  We have more apples then we know what to do with.  I've already made applesauce and apple crisp as well as given the apples away to friends.  

I happen to have some store bought apples that I purchased a few weeks ago.  Just to prove my point about a good year for apples I took a comparison photo.

As you've probably figured out, the one in the middle is the store bought one.

Well, I'm off to make some more apple crisp!  Yum!

Outside comparison

Before:

 After:

Can you believe it's the same house?!

Upstairs comparison

For some reason, I don't have too many "before" pictures of the upstairs.  So this is the best I can do.
Upstairs hallway before (or during as the case may be):

 Upstairs hallway after:

We moved the doorway to the north room and added a small linen closet next to it.

North bedroom before (or during):

 North bedroom after:

Obviously, we turned this room into a bathroom.  It was a pretty small bedroom and there was no upstairs bathroom.

Tristan's room before:

 Tristan's room after:

We removed the windows facing north and made the closet bigger (it's out of the picture) otherwise this room stayed the same size.

Jackson's room before:

 Jackson's room after:

We removed the windows facing the east and added a closet (not in the picture).  This room had the built in closets surrounding the windows to the south.  It's funny but after removing the built ins this room IS a bit bigger but for some reason it seems smaller.  

Loft room during construction:

 And after:

 This is all new space, it is above the entryway/laundry room.  I'm standing at the top of the stairs taking this picture.  This room is a TV room/play room/treadmill room/etc.  It seems to be one of the favorites when people see the house.  We were originally going to wall this space off for more of a "storage area" but then decided to keep it open.  Wise choice.  The room straight ahead is our bedroom which is above the garage.

Our bedroom.  To the right you can just see the closet and out of the picture to the right will be a bathroom.

Karsten has been spending the weekends continuing to get the outside sealed up, he should have it done well before winter gets  here.  In the evenings he tries to work on inside projects.