The Greatest Show On Earth!

For once, being a RR family has had a perk that our family could take advantage.  We were offered free Ringling Bros circus tickets.  The entire family had a great time and loved all the entertainment.  We haven't gone to the circus since we lived in Jax before - about 5 years!  

Here are the world famous RB elephants!

8 motorcycles in the ball!  Wow!

Here's a video of the motorcycles:

We had a great time as a family.  What a treat to go to the circus and have fun as a family.  Sadly we had to leave early because we had dinner plans with a former colleague of Andy's.  The kids are already looking forward to next year's circus event!

Celebration

Kendall has a friend here in Jax who she knew from church before we moved away.  Since we've been back, they haven't been able to play because sweet little Emily has Leukemia.  Em got diagnosed about the same time that we moved back.  Due to her treatments and lack of a healthy immune system, we haven't been able to have a play date.  We've taken meals to their family and things to help keep Em busy during her long hospital stays.  Kendall has been diligent about praying for her little friend Emily.  It's the sweetest thing I've heard.  She prays for Em ALL the time - at school, at night, at meals, in the car, etc.

Emily just finished up her treatments and has started the maintenance phase.  She also just turned 5. Emily's family decided to have a birthday party to celebrate turning 5 and that she's finally able to play with her friends and return to some of her activities.  She had her party at Build A Bear.  Kendall was thrilled to celebrate with Emily and all her friends.  

Catching a quick picture with Emily!  I want to put this pic in her room so she can see it while she prays for Em.

K built a dog (surprised?) named Buttercup and dressed it up in some glam clothes!  She asked me to spend the rest of an old gift card on some high heeled shoes to go with it!

Place Your Bets!

Most of you know that we like to head to our favorite burger joint on Friday nights.  This past Friday I decided to go with nachos instead of my typical Amontillado burger.  I ordered the jalapeños on the side so Andy could eat them.  Andy decided to ask the kids if they wanted to eat one.  He typically offers them money to eat olives or jalapeños to get them to try it.  

He offered Riley a dollar to eat one and he agreed.  Poor Ra is trying to earn $150 to replace the broken screen on his iPad so he'll do about anything to earn more money!  He then offered to pay Riley for another one.  Ra got smart though and asked for more money.  He ate 2 for a grand total of $6.  Riley handled it well.  He quickly sucked down some water, but no screams or tears.

Andy then offered to pay Kendall to eat one.  She's smart and said NO WAY!  Dad started to increase his offer.  When he got to $5 for one, she caved.  She at the jalapeño but cried while drinking not one, but TWO glasses of water!  Our waitress felt bad for her so she brought K some crackers.  Poor girl said her mouth was on fire!  As you can see in this picture, holding that $5 made it all better!

Pool Progress...

The pool tile was installed!!!  Getting closer...

Not sure about this color.  It looked more tan in the pictures and in person it looks like white and yellow...Hoping it gets a coat of sealant or something to make it match the travertine around the pool better.  The travertine has tans and off whites in it.  
**UPDATE** - This is the WRONG stone!  It was sent to our pool guy by mistake.  It is going to be corrected!  Whew!

This dirt portion between the porch and the pool will eventually be tiled to create a patio.  It will extend to the driveway along the back porch.  I want a walkway with ground cover and stepping stones from the porch to the back side of the garage where the pool pump/door to the garage is located.  I'm thinking of putting a few palms along the fence (new one is going to be installed) to provide privacy from the neighbors on the west side.  I also want plant some bushes/small shrubs between the pool and garage.  I have this idea that a destressed blue wooden sea horse needs to hang on the wall between the windows of the garage...They sell them at a store around the corner from our apt...

Winter Jam

After seeing the effect the Toby Mac concert had on Riley, we decided to take the whole family to Winter Jam this past Friday.  It's a fabulous concert - great line up and $10 general admission.  We started out waiting in line almost at Everbank Field where the Jags play when the concert was at the Veterans Memorial Arena.  You can see in the picture below just how far it is between Everbank field and the arena!

We thankfully got in and luckily found 4 decent nosebleed seats all together!  That was my fear - either we wouldn't get in the door or we wouldn't find seats together!  The concert started with Colton Dixon, who Riley and I saw with Toby Mac.  He was great.  The next act was Newsong who sponsors the tour.  After them, Plumb came out on stage.  Kendall and I LOVE Plumb.  What a great surprise that she sang my song for Sis: In Your Arms.  That song is so incredibly appropriate for my baby girl from the "curly q's" to the "baby blues."  After Plumb, Andy was thrilled to see Thousand Foot Krutch (or as Kendall calls them, Ten Thousand Foot Crunch).  He was rocking out and both kids were following his lead with their head bobs!  Next was one of my all time favorite Christian bands...Tenth Avenue North.  We saw them in Utah in a very small setting and they were fabulous.  I'm happy to say, in this larger arena, they were JUST AS GOOD!  Loved it!!!  Next up was Lecrae.  Nobody in our family is a huge Lecrae fan but I'm glad that there are artists like him for kids who enjoy rap music.  At least Lecrae offers a Christian version of good rap music with a strong faith message in his songs.  He glorified God with every word he spoke.  The final act was another favorite of mine and the kids...NEWSBOYS!  "God's not dead, He's surely alive!"  What a great show!  

Ready for Winter Jam!!!

Colton Dixon

 Serious light show by TFK!

Plumb - One of Kendall's favorites

One of my FAVORITE bands!

NEWSBOYS!

Kendall got tired as the night wore on, but she loved it.  It will be better for her to wait a few more years to spend money on concerts for her, but she was thrilled about the chance to go and see what a concert is like and hear Plumb, Tenth Avenue North and Newsboys.  Riley and I were standing up, dancing and worshiping during Tenth Avenue North and Newsboys.  It's incredible to see your son raising his hands to worship God as such as young age!!!

CABINETS!!!

Now things are starting to look like "home."  We had a meeting at the house today with the pool man, landscaper and builder.  When I walked in the house afterwards, well, let's put it this way, it's really getting hard to not get excited!

Here's why:

The island is going to have a large piece of granite on it so we can all sit at the island to eat together.

I can't wait to start making meals in my new kitchen!!!

This is the downstairs bathroom.

Riley's bathroom.  You can see a bit of his tile below the cabinet.

This is Kendall's bath.

Upstairs guest room/craft room bath - this bath has a shower/tub with white subway tile...This one is going to be so awesome!  

This is our master bathroom.

I can't wait for our laundry room - I've been wanting a counter over top of the washer/dryer for years!  

Now to start cracking the whip to get the countertops installed!!!  These pictures are a bit grainy because I had to increase the exposure so you could see them well enough - still no lighting in the house.

Stay tuned!  More to come...

A Nice Surprise!

I had to run over to pick up some paperwork for our lighting that our designer left at the new house.  The kids and I went inside since they haven't been there for a while.  I heard squeals of delight as they turned the corner - CABINETS!!!  Actually I think Sis called them "boxes" but that's essentially what they are, right?  

What a relief to see them sitting in the house.  The kitchen cabinets are in the front office and the bathroom cabinets are all sitting in the rooms waiting to be installed.  Laundry cabinets are ready as well!  Finally feels like we're moving forward and making progress.  Wonder how long they will sit there now...

The view in the office

 The kitchen in it's current state

The mantle in the family room.  It will be painted white and have tile on the floor as well as between the wood and the actual unit.  

The other surprise was stepping outside and seeing the pool pump and heat pump for the pool.

Let The TOOTH Be Told!

My kids and I all headed to the dentist yesterday.  It's been a while since our last appt. and I wasn't sure what to expect.  I know Sis isn't crazy about brushing her teeth but Bubba does a pretty good job.  

Sis (thankfully) had a clean bill of health!  I was bracing for the news of cavities because I know how much she doesn't like to brush.  Whew!  Then was Bubba's turn.  I love being able to see their x-rays immediately.  By looking at his film, we could see that he has all his adult teeth except his two back molars.  The dentist took one look at Bubba's mouth and was shocked that he had lost so many of his baby teeth already.  She said that he has the mouth of a 12 or 13 year old!  When we looked at Sis' film, it's going to be awhile yet for her first tooth fairy visit.  She also said he's lucky and all his teeth have come in straight and he doesn't have an overbite...Sis isn't going to be as lucky.  She's like momma and will probably need braces.  At least we won't need to pay for both kids!

Bite Sized Apple Crisp

I wanted to make some baked oatmeal with apples in muffin pans so that we could pull them out of the freezer for quick snacks or breakfast.  I found a muffin recipe - probably could have just used my baked oatmeal recipe and altered the time, but this one is rather yummy!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. old fashioned oats (gf for us)
1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour, sifted (gf flour substitute for us)
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce (organic cinnamon for us)
3 T canola oil (sunflower oil for us)
1 egg white
1 T 100% pure maple syrup
1 apple, peeled and diced

Topping:
1/4 c old fashioned oats (gf for us)
1 T brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 T melted butter

Preheat over to 400.  Mix dry ingredients in large bowl.  Mix wet ingredients in small bowl.  Mix both together.  Fill muffin tins with mixture.  I used paper liners and a mini muffin pan.  Mix topping and spoon on top of muffins.  I could have used a second batch of the topping - not enough for all my mini muffins.  Bake regular sized muffins for 16-18 minutes.  I baked my 2 trays of minis for about 10 minutes - or until a toothpick comes out clean.  

I make my apple crisp with oatmeal & flour so this reminded Riley of dessert rather than breakfast and he thought it was an extra special treat!

**UPDATE**  I made these again tonight because 1/2 of my batch from yesterday was already gone!  I made regular sized muffins and they are even yummier (is that a word?) than the bite sized!  We are trying to move away from cereals/processed breakfasts but it's a lot more work for me and we don't have the freezer space so I can make a bunch of things at once and pull them out when we need them for lunches or breakfasts...Soon though!

Jewelry Making

Most of you know that I enjoy making jewelry.  For Kendall, mom's jewelry making skills paid off for her!  I noticed that the AGD website offers jewelry for Saige and it's in a package with a bracelet, necklace, earrings and a purse for $28 (plus shipping).  There's no way I'm paying that much for jewelry that my darling daughter might happen to break or lose so we headed out to the bead store and made our own!  

We have the best accessorized AGDs in town now!  I also made a number of other necklaces and earrings for her dolls.  If she loses them or breaks them, I can fix them or replace them easily and inexpensively.  I have one very happy little girl!  Score one for Mom!

Beach House Update - Upstairs Interior

Our builder is standing firm on his finish date of mid-April but I can't help but start to get anxious...This cramped apt feels like the walls are closing in and I still have 4 months to survive!  I think I can...I think I can...

I went over to the house for a bit by myself.  It was a peaceful time to plan, dream, imagine...

I also took some panorama shots with my phone - it's so hard to get good interior pics without our lights installed.  Everything is dark, even in the middle of the day.  FYI - If you click on the picture, it will enlarge and make it easier to see!

Here you can see they finally took down the scaffolding from the front of the house.  They need to finish the upstairs front porch railing.

Here is Riley's room in panorama.  His closet and bathroom are before you actually "enter" his room.  The bathroom is behind the wall on the right of the picture and his closet window is the one pictured above on the front porch.    The door to the left goes out to the front porch.

This is the window seat in his room.  He's excited to be able to sit here and read books.  I'm going to have to make him a cushion for it once his new bedding gets decided on for his dirt bike themed room.

This is a peek into Kendall's room.  She has double doors that lead out to the front porch.  I think that will make her room feel so bright and she's going to love it.  We've been planning a beach/surfer girl theme like her nursery.  She's very excited!  Her closet is to the right and her bathroom is the door on the far left of the picture.  Her room is probably slightly smaller than Riley's and she's got the most furniture, but I've always felt this room spoke her name.

This is our master bedroom.  We've been fortunate to have had rather large master bedrooms in the past and this is no exception.  I'm standing in the doorway and the 3 windows in the back overlook the backyard/driveway/garage/pool area.

 

I know this is going to sound silly, but I'm so excited about the way this master bath is turning out.  I can't wait to see the cabinet, granite, tub and fixtures installed!  I requested the board & batten in this room.  I'm thinking of a light sea glass color for the walls.  My big stand alone tub will go in front of that big double window with a beautiful light fixture above it!  The toilet is on the far right, the closet straight ahead and the shower is to the right of the windows.  

The master bath shower...The floor of the shower (as well as both kids) have an awesome pebble tile.  It has a real "beachy" feel to it.  There will be 3 adjustable body sprayers with a shower head above it.  On the right will be our adjustable hand held shower head.  I can't wait to actually USE it!  Although, what I'm really looking forward to is taking a long, hot tubby - something I've not done since we moved from Utah...

This is an attempt to show our closet.  We've had built in shelving before, and I highly recommend it over those wire Closet Maid shelving systems, but this was custom.  We got to decide what and where everything got built in all of our closets.  What a treat!  We'll be putting in a few double bar racks and saving a small section for my long dresses, etc.  We even have shoe racks!  I feel so lucky!

This is my attempt to showcase the upstairs hallway.  The far right of the picture is coming up the stairs.  It will be getting a rail at some point.  The paneling from the downstairs continues up through the staircase.  The hallway in the middle of the picture goes to the laundry and Riley's room.  Kendall's room is the doorway to the left.  Directly across from her room is the guest room/craft room.  This room also has it's own bathroom.  My mom sounded excited to not have to share a bathroom with my kids during her visits anymore!  I am standing in front of my doorway and the hall linen closet.  

I spent the better part of today online picking out the bathroom hardware - towel bars, toilet paper holders, etc.  I also nailed down our door knobs and worked on some paint ideas for our master bedroom and bathroom.  Our lighting was ordered last week so that should be coming in and installed soon.  The carpenter was starting on the fireplace mantel today and is looking to start our mudroom bench and building a door behind our stairs for storage. 

I am praying daily for patience as we wait for our new home to be completed.  I think once the kids head back to school tomorrow, it will be much easier to keep myself busy and occupied so that it doesn't overwhelm me living here.  I keep reminding myself how blessed we are to be able to afford this dream house and that this is going to be so appreciated by every member of our family after spending over a year in this apt. It will completely be worth the very long wait.