We're done!

Our remodeling/deck addition project is done! We added a 4' bay door onto our dining area, which has made all the difference in the world. We can easily get around our table now; who knew when we built our house 7 years ago we'd have such a big table in it. lol When we were looking at plans to build our house, I always wanted a railing on the front porch and Bill wanted a box with windows - he got the box and I was promised the railing would come. Well, I finally have my railing and the house looks much less boxy - it's all good!! We're loving the deck and wonder why we didn't add it on sooner. I have been pushed so far out of my comfort zone while this little project was going on that I'm really glad it's done. Making small talk with different workers as they're wandering through my house, calling lots of people, just having things out of place and not the regular routine was hard. Although, at least having Trent as our contractor was great. We knew him before so it wasn't hard to talk to him and the kids had a great time waving to him all the time and telling him to jump off the roof, and more. He was even named "Kronk" for a while by Maddie until she could finally remember Trents name. Then his other worker was named "Kronk" instead of "the orange guy" because they couldn't say his name. We're having a great time on it already and look forward to many, many bbq's and good times out there.

Before

After
BeforeAfter

Kia! (The yell you make doing karate moves)

Another update, Natalie tested last night and is now an orange belt! Luckily we didn't have mutual last night and I got to pick up Natalie from class where they informed me she was testing. So I got to watch her spar and everything. She was awesome! She first sparred with a younger girl and she really took it easy on her. Then she went up against her former friend who is now really not a friend and she kicked her butt! It was awesome. You could tell she was letting out some pent up aggression towards her. :) The poor girl could hardly hit Natalie because Natalie was so good at blocking her. Then Natalie went against an adult. She did pretty good, although I could tell she was getting a little frustrated. The guy kept hitting her head and she said he was blocking all her moves, but she had a smile through it all. Next up is her green belt!

Here's another picture of the progress that is slowly coming along on our house. We're down to hopefully a few more days and everything will be finished.

My Little Boy is 6!

How did this sweet little baby get to be my big, rough and tough, 6 year old boy? I can still remember very vividly the night Billy was born, watching the Jazz get beat in the playoffs. Bill eating Taco Bell in front of me, me having a cold so at least I couldn't smell it. The doctor being a dork and the nurse being absolutely wonderful. Even having a nap before they told me it was time to push - ahhh, an epidural was fantastic!

Now fast forward six years later and Billy's still just as sweet. Now don't get me wrong, this child has tried my patience more than all five others put together. But he's still my little buddy and I miss having him go to school now. His younger brother and sisters adore him. He loves to annoy his older sisters. He loves to help/hang out with his dad. He's a tease. He's a great reader now and his favorite things are transformers and legos - he has built all of his new lego models all by himself, no small feat. Now we'll see if he can master his new bike just as fast.Because of his love for legos, we had a lego birthday party for him. We played pin the door on the lego house, drop the legos into a jar, and each boy built their own lego cars and we raced them outside. The party actually went pretty smoothly thanks to Cheyenne and Natalie's help.
Now if only Billy would just stop growing. I love the age he's at now, right between a little kid and a big boy. I love that he still wants to sleep with his blanket each night (we have it folded up and hidden in his pillow so his dad won't see it) and a little sad to see him so excited to leave me and run off to the bus each day. I love you, Billy!