Pictures

Wishing you all a beautiful and blessed Christmas and New Year!

Remodeling

Here are some pictures of our remodeling project. It is coming along nicely. It was a pleasant surprise to come home (from Kentucky) to a nearly completed room! The pictures aren't the greatest as the walls are still wet with primer, so I was trying not touch anything!

from the far wall looking toward the rest of the house

from the door to enter the room
looking into the bathroom

Now we have to choose a paint palette and accessories. Any ideas?!

and things keep going...

Where to start?! Well, our addition is coming along nicely. I forgot to load the pictures, so I will have to post those later...anyway, the drywall is going up as I type this, which is exciting. They are hoping to have the drywall completed by Monday. Then the plumber should be returning to hook up the bathtub/shower, toilet, and sink . I am keeping my fingers crossed that all of these will go as planned.

Tonight, we are leaving for Kentucky. My brother is flying into Louisville tonight. He will be staying with my parents until December 18th, so we are going down to visit with him. We haven't seen him since last February and he is being deployed to Iraq in January, so I definitely want to see him! I am sure it will be a good visit.

ohhh...in a previous post I mentioned Cailin's "walking" and she is now walking everywhere. She still resorts to crawling when she wants to get somewhere fast, but she trys to walk everywhere. She looks so darn cute walking around...she seems so little to be walking...

Cassidy is really developing a sense of humor...she makes me smile. She loves to "read" and be read to, and she loves to color in her coloring books, on walls, tables, really wherever. We are trying to curb the whole coloring on anything...

Well, I have to finish packing for our trip...

Holiday Season

Wow! I need to be better about updating this...sorry!

I cannot believe it is December 1st! This year has flown by with so many blessings and adventures. Since Halloween we have had some big developments in the Hart household.

First, we have decided to put an addition on our house that consists of a bedroom and bathroom. This will provide enough room to make our home much more comfortable. We currently have 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom, which makes it a little crowded with 2 adults and 2 children. Adding this space will also give us a bit more room when we have people to visit, so that will be nice too! (Pictures will be posted soon!)

Secondly, our littlest pumpkin, Cailin, has started "walking." She takes, at most, 5 steps. Each day she is getting a little steadier and bit braver. She is certainly excited to be able to chase Cassidy around the house even though she is a fast crawler! Cailin is 10 months old and doing very well developmentally. She is a bit of a Mama's girl and she adores her big sister.

Finally, Cassidy is potty training...oh wait...no she isn't...wishful thinking! Cassidy has absolutely no desire to sit on the potty. I have tried stickers, encouragment, and we bought her a little seat that allows her to sit on the big potty...she doesn't care...*sigh* I will have to resign myself to the fact that she just isn't quite ready yet...let's hope that things will turn around in the next couple months! I am keeping my fingers crossed! :-)

In other happenings...Thanksgiving went well. We enjoyed a lovely meal at Shirley and Abe's house surrounded by family. This year we are especially thankful for our service men and women. Currently, Lucas' uncle Terry is serving in Iraq with the Army Corp of Engineers. Terry is actually in the Navy, but he is an engineer on loan to the Army. He is supervising rebuilding efforts, which include water treatment facilities, schools, and a prison. He will be returning to us right before Christmas and we cannot wait to see him! Also, my brother, Josh, is in the Air Force and will be deployed to Iraq in January. I am wishing him a safe journey and a safe and swift return to the states. In addition, Lucas' brother, Derek, will be deployed to Afghanistan next March. He was in Iraq for a year, '05-'06. Derek serves in the Army and works in Military Intelligence. We look forward to a time when our service people will be home without the thought of being deployed to these war torn areas. We pray that time will come sooner rather than later.

We wish you all a blessed holiday season.

*disclaimer: You may notice that Cailin has more of her own photos, well that happens because Cassidy has decided that she doesn't like to sit, stand, or be still very often...she is a mover!

Happy Halloween!

What a lovely evening! We could not have asked for better weather this Halloween. When we left our house at 5:30 it was 64 degrees! It stayed pleasant entire evening! We started our evening at the Hart's. We enjoyed some pizza and cupcakes. The girls got some special treats from Grandmom and Grandad. We suited them up in their costumes, took some pictures, and head out. We stopped at Great Grandma Magnus'. She thought Cassidy and Cailin looked adorable as a cowgirl and a butterfly. We visited with Grandma and Uncle Ed then headed out to Abe and Shirley's. There, Cassidy and Cailin received some more special treats and then they helped hand out candy. We stayed and visited with Abe and Shirley, which was nice. Caleb stopped in and so did Cameray and her friend Christa. It was a short but enjoyable Halloween.

Have a great weekend! Don't forget to change your clocks!

Kentucky & Louisville Zoo

This weekend we went to Louisville, KY to visit Lucas' brother Derek and his wife Emily and to root on the runners in the family during the Louisville Marathon and Half Marathon. It all started on Friday...Lucas took a half day at work, so we loaded up the Tahoe, dropped the dogs at the kennel, and settled in for a 7+ hour drive to Louisville. After listening to Barney for about 4 hours, a couple naps, pit stops, and a little crying we arrived in Louisville. We had decided to stay at a hotel, so we checked in and Lucas took Cassidy for a swim (she was a little wound up from the ride!). We relaxed after that long, long drive. On Saturday morning we headed over to Derek and Emily's house for some bagels and coffee. Then Lucas and I took the girls to the Louisville Zoo. We met up with my parents and had a great adventure. The Louisville Zoo is very nice and we went early enough that most of the animals were out and about.

It was great afternoon. After the zoo we went to Cumberland Brew's for lunch, which was nice. I had a delicious grilled chicken salad with apples...yum! Then we went back to the hotel so the girls could take a nap. They were quite tired from our morning and afternoon. My parents visited for a bit and then headed home. After naps we met up with the Hart family and headed to Wick's for pizza...we enjoyed the Big Wick, which is a ridiculous 10lb. pizza.

On Sunday we headed to downtown Louisville to watch the finish for the marathon and half marathon. Caleb, Vickie, Janette, and Christine participated in the half marathon. They all did really well. Bill and Tom Ryan participated in the marathon. Bill had his best marathon time ever and qualified for the Boston Marathon. Yay! After the race we headed back to the hotel for some naps and then headed to the James' for a birthday celebration for Bill and Vickie. We had a lovely time. The food was great, especially the birthday cake! Yum! What a lovely evening. Then it was back to the hotel for bed. We woke up early Monday morning, packed up our things, and headed back to Michigan.

7 hours later...we arrived home, unpacked, picked up groceries, and relaxed from all that driving...

Pumpkins

Happy October! I have to say that I absolutely love summer and warm weather, but Fall is such a beautiful time here in Michigan. There are colors everywhere and the weather is crisp and clean, with occasional smell of someone burning leaves. It is apple season too! YUM! With that being said, we took the girls to Johnson's Giant Pumpkin Farm. We had never been there before so we weren't prepared for all the activities. We are planning on taking the girls back...maybe a weekday evening, so we can enjoy some of the activities. They have a tractor train, a soybean maze, a small petting zoo, warm donuts, and cider. We just walked around and picked put a couple pumpkins. I think Cassidy would enjoy the tracto train, so we may go back during the week when it is a little less busy. It was a fun experience though.

Last night we had Sunday dinner with the Hart clan, the Ryan's, and Perla (Aunt Vicki, Uncle Terry, and Cameray's exchange student). Aunt Vicki made a roast with potatoes and carrots. Then we had apple and pumpkin pies! Yum!

It is the last week of soccer. Lucas' last game is Thursday, October 9th. It seems like this season took so long, but flew by at the same time...

Have a beautiful day! Enjoy!