TL is one great kid.  Friday night he took his first belt test at the new taekwondo studio.  He's rolled with the punches with all of our moves.  After two and a half years doing taekwondo in WA, he had to switch to karate when we moved to CA, and now is going back to taekwondo.....but its a different style so he had to start all over.

After the first class, his instructor informed me that he was ready for his belt test.  So after the third class, he took his belt test on Friday and is moving up to the next belt.  He has been given the go ahead to move up the belts as fast as he can to get to the equivalent that he was in WA. 

Personally, I love his new studio and his instructors!!  Here's some photos from the test.

Nervous before the test

Getting ready to break the board

After breaking the board

Getting settled

Wow, what a crazy two weeks.  We started school but with the closing and stomach flu bug, we have yet to complete a full week of school.  I'm praying it goes much smoother next week.

The kids are all involved in their activities.  TL has joined boy scouts again and has find a nice taekwondo studio.  He did two years in WA and then had to switch to karate in CA.  This style is different than the one in WA so he has to start all over again, however, after his first class the instructor told me that he was ready to test for his yellow belt.  Wow!!  Very proud of  him!

The girls have joined American Heritage Girls and seem to really enjoy it.  Awana was a bust, we gave that up and won't be going back.  None of the girls enjoyed the club and the Cubbies were ignored for the first 30 minutes so we're not going back.  I'm looking into 4H for the girls, the only problem is that the club that is closest to us meets at the same time as boy scouts and in another town, so not sure that one will work.  The big girls have also joined the Bible Quiz team at the church.

The church has a wonderful homeschooling co-op that is extremely relaxed and fun for the kids.  I'm enjoying meeting everyone and all the kids have made friends, except for TL.  He's the oldest out of the group.  The church opens up every Friday night from 7-12 for the teens in the area, they get about 30, so I'm hoping that he will meet some friends there.  Our town has about 250 people and the town the church is in has about 700 so its pretty small town living here.

I'm spending this weekend doing lesson planning for next week, finishing organizing my desk, and hopefully removing wallpaper.  I'm going to try removing the big girls' wallpaper and the upstairs bathroom this week so I can paint next weekend.  Then I will probably be doing the dining room before it gets too cold that I can't open the windows. 

Take care everyone and have a blessed day!

Finally!!!

My camera has decided to die, otherwise, I'd post photos of our new home!!  Yeah!!!  We FINALLY closed yesterday!!  We were supposed to close Aug 31st! 

Thankfully, we're already in the house.  I have a lot to do now though that we're finally official.  I have about ten boxes of crafts and school room stuff that I didn't want to unpack until I knew we were closing for sure.   I had to buy some more shelves to hold all the stuff and I'm sure it won't be enough.  The books have already been unloaded onto the shelves but need to be more organized.  I do have all of history and science together, but thats the extent of the organization.

I'm also in a rush to get some painting done.  Let's face it, it gets cold here in Minnesota and soon!!  I started painting the little girls room tonight.  Their room is about 9x12 but then has a smaller room attached (about 7x8) with shelves built into the other end.  Perfect little play room for them.  Anyway, I'm painting their main room a light purple and the other room a light pink.  Don't be too impressed, I got the idea from a painting brochure at Home Depot.  It looks like it will be really cute.  I'm excited for them.

The big girls have picked two really bold and dark colors for their room.  I'd love to steer them to a lighter something, but it is the first time in their lives that they've been able to have color and not just white walls. 

TL likes his wallpaper and duck border in his room.

The upstairs bath needs to have the flower wall paper removed and get painted.  Its not to big so it shouldn't take too long.

I'd also like to do the dining room before snow falls.  I have to remove the wallpaper there and then paint. 

This of course, with all the regular day to day stuff plus raking leaves from about thirty trees and starting to clean out the barns......we should be busy for a while!!

Take care everyone!!  Have a blessed weekend!

I'mmmmm bbbaaaaccckkkkk!

Okay, at least I have internet access again.  It has been a crazy month.  Delay after delay has delayed our closing.  We will finally be closing this Thursday and I'm so excited!!

The owners of this house are truly wonderful Christians.  They had already moved to KY last year and the house has been vacant.  They graciously offered for us to move into the house while Kevin was still there so that he could help us get settled and some things ready for winter before he had to leave to head back to CA.  It was about five days before we actually spent the night here.  Our bed is against the wall and looks out french doors into the back pasture.  The sun rises there and it is truly beautiful to see in the morning.

We were able to take care of some much needed maintenance before the winter months arrive on us.  And unpack a good portion of the house before he left.

I didnt have to transfer over the water because we have a well system and only the electric had to be transferred.  We did that immediately, not wanting to impose on the sellers.  I held off on phone and internet though until we had a definite clear to close from the bank.  The many hold ups were definitely because of the fact we were using our VA loan.  I don't know that we'd ever go through that experience again.  It was definitely challenging!  Our phone and internet were not supposed to be hooked up until Monday but we live in a small town......and that has its advantages.  The gentleman called today and asked if he could come and install it..........oh yeah!!  internet!!1

My inlaws came into town last night and we did some exploring today.  The next nearest town, with 700 residents, has a world class meat smoker and we bought some great meat.  Apple cinnamon bacon.....yum!!  Then we ventured into Hope, which has a creamery.  Bought a pound of butter, its supposed to be fabulous.  Also spent $10 on local honey....two pounds!!  Its like $7 for a pound in the supermarket.

The kids and I are enjoying the small town living.  We're starting to get our activities in place.  Found a fabulous homeschool co-op at a church that we were looking to attend.  Tomorrow is our first day there and we're excited.  The kids really enjoyed meeting new friends there.  Monday, TL will check out a taekwondo studio and boy scouts.  The girls are heading to American Heritage Girls on Tuesday.  Awana is on Wednesday.  Things are falling into place.  We really miss having daddy nearby but are consoled that with his schedule the next two years, he won't be home much anyway.  He'll be lucky to be home six months out of the next 24.  Thankfully, he'll be making several trips home to see us and we're very excited to get our little farm up and running.  We went over plans while he was here and it looks like we're on the same page on a lot of things.  We can't wait!

With all of the upheavel and unpacking, we finally started school this week.  Our first week went well however, there are a few things that I still need to get for school for the kids.  I hope to place that order this week.

Have a wonderful week everyone!!  Enjoy the beauty of the fall, the colors here are fabulous!

and waiting and waiting and waiting

Well, we got word from the bank (ten days before closing) that we couldn't buy all of the land.  Its seperated into two different parcels, the front four includes the house and barns.  They wouldn't let us add on the back parcel of about eight acres.  After several days of back and forth, the sellers are going through the county to get it resurveyed to make it all one parcel.  Seriously?

Delaying our closing until how long?  Thankfully, its a small town and their real estate agent knows the surveyor so it will be filed this week.  We're shooting for the 7th!

Hubby is on his way here now.  Not all of our stuff fit in the truck (that's a shocker).  We have a small room of stuff left.  Not sure how or when we'll get it here.  Kevin also told me that they unpacked boxes and through stuff into all kinds of drawers, anywhere they could fit stuff.  Oh, the fun of unpacking it will be!! 

So, please pray for hubby's safe travels and also for our closing to now take place on the 7th.  We plan on taking a trip up on Wednesday so he can see the house and we're unloading our stuff into his cousin's garage.

Have a wonderful week everyone!!

Here's a few more pictures of the house:

The side yard looking into the front yard.  The three apple and one crabapple tree are right by those pines.

The front pasture.  We need to take out that dead pine.
 

The back of the horse barn.  We need to do a little TLC to it.



The kitchen

 

The front yard

 

Have a wonderful week!!!!

We're in IA

We arrived in Iowa last Wednesday.  We drove the two and a half hours up into Minnesota to see our new home on Friday.  Here's some photos that I took of it:

This is the north barn that also sits along the side of the road.  There are three stalls in ther, but we will probably put the chickens in it

The main horse barn with nine stalls in it.  Also the garage. 

The barn with the corn crib and also the smokehouse.  They had friends pasturing their horses in the back acreage

The front of the horse barn

The back 8 acres.  Fencing goes all the way around our land

The back of the house with the deck

The side of the house

Leaving the house.  Kevin's navy friend retired ten years ago and lives 20  miles away.  He met me up there.

I was excited to find out that the property has three apple and one crabapple tree on it.  I was planning on planting some next year, now instead, I need to just prune and spray.  They were in need of some TLC.

We close the 31st.  So every excited.  Lots and lots of work to do, but very  happy to do it!!

Have a wonderful week!

Washington

Washington was our most favorite duty station.  We loved the people, the island, and the beautiful scenery and animals.  Here's some photos of our week so far!

I pick up TL from boy scout camp tomorrow.  We leave Monday morning to head to IA.  It should take three days of hard driving, but we'll get there and relax before we close on the house on the 31st.  Can't wait to see the hubby again!

Diarrhea

So we left CA this past Thursday.  A very long day of driving....850 miles to Washougal, WA to visit our friends.  The kids were champs and did really well with the traveling.

The day before we left, the littles gave the dog and entire bag of his dog treats that have medicine in them to help with his joints and stuff.

Six hours into the trip, on a three lane highway in the mountains, the kids started screaming that the dog was pooping.

Everywhere.  Dog diarrhea.  Thankfully, he had a pillow and sheet and it landed on that, only a few drops everywhere else. 

The smell was awful.  I got him out and cleaned it all up.  I wrapped the sheets up and told the kids we'd stop at the next place to throw it all out.  I rolled down the windows.

Got back into the driver's seat to see smoke ahead.  I went around the bend and the entire road was covered with smoke.  Flames were going on both sides of the highway.  It looked like it was burning itself out, there was a large blackened area already.   Little Miss Trouble was crying and upset, but the big girls calmed her down....they were fantastic the entire trip.

The good news is that the smoke killed the diarrhea smell. 

Right now, we're back in Oak Harbor, WA enjoying some slightly cooler weather.  ITs in the 80s, which is warm for here.  I'll be honest, I was looking forward to some 70s.  I can't complain though, because the entire nation is so hot right now.

I dropped TL off at camp.  It was so nice to be welcomed back to a great troop.  TL will have a great time.

The girls and I will be doing some visiting and sight seeing this week. 

Have a great week everyone!