RV Show

Gil's company acquired the contract to manage building automation for the HVAC and lights at Cardinals Stadium.  Ever since February or so, he's worked the majority of his days inside that massive building.  Every so often, the field is rolled outside and the floor is packed with RVs of all sorts and sizes.  These events are nice because the kids and I can get into the stadium for free, sometimes have lunch with Gil, and see some of the stadium.

For Wesley, the best part is getting to 'drive' every RV he possibly can.  He loves everything truck, train, heavy equipment... anything with an engine, a steering column, and a horn and he's in heaven.  

"Are you sure my brother's old enough to drive this thing?"

When we were in California, we'd ask Wesley where he was pretending to drive to and it was always Ta-foe Lake.  Now, we ask where he's going and he says San Diego.

Lots of Pictures of my Kids

In no particular order...

We had cabin fever pretty bad and spur of the moment, I drove 3 hours round trip to a playground in the mountains so we could play and run around.  It was about 15 degrees cooler and so worth it!  Wesley loves to swing and would have me push him all day.  I gotta teach him to pump his legs.

"Mom, there's a ghost in the car!" Gil and I were informed as we were running errands.  Love this picture!

Now that Lauren is no longer a new born and we're somewhat settled in our new house, I decided it was past time to toilet train the Wee Lad.  Here he is enjoying some well deserved ice cream for his achievement.

Look at those cuties!  They usually watch "Curious George" at 4:30 while I get dinner started.  Should Lauren be watching tv?  Probably not, but young as she is, she insists on being wherever Wesley is.  This little girl loves her brother.

Wesley attended a birthday party for a friend a few weeks ago.  He spent almost the whole time at the fishing pond.  He was in heaven.

Our first night in the new house, Gil was trying to assemble our bed and placed Lauren in this box.  So cute! (Sorry it's a bit blurry.)

Wesley loves his sister.  He is frequently asking to hold her.  

Lauren is starting to sit up on her own quite well now so we pulled out the chair for the table so she could join us there.  She loves being at the table and babbling away at us during meals.  Speaking of meals, look at those rolls!!  No failure to thrive for this little girl.

Lauren was starting to fuss while I was making dinner the other night and I asked Wesley to get her a toy out of her bucket.  He gave her all the toys out of her bucket.

The downtown Chandler library has this random play place.  Lauren was enthralled by this activity table that was just her size.

Love these cuties!

We Bought a House!

We did it!  At long last we are home owners.

It was fast and furious.  The first time we went out to look at homes with our realtor we found homes we loved in neighborhoods we didn't and neighborhoods we loved but the home had been smoked in for 30 years.  When we got back to our apartment, I was a little discouraged but looked to see if there were any new listings.  A cute little duplex popped up and I knew immediately it was ours.

I let our realtor know and she said they were only showing the house the next day, Sunday, and then choosing an offer on Monday.  We went to look Sunday afternoon, put in an offer Sunday night, tweaked our offer Monday mid-day, and by Monday night our offer had been accepted.  The house was inspected the very next day and a professional roofer a few days later.  Two weeks later we closed.  

We now live in Chandler, on the opposite side of the valley from Glendale where we were renting.  Our little home is perfect for us and we are thrilled.  Absolutely no buyers remorse here.

We had to put on a new roof (most folks nod knowingly as if this is standard when you buy a home).  It looks beautiful.  The house didn't have a dryer so I strung up a clothes line.  In the Phoenix heat, things dry pretty quick.  I am saving my pennies for a new washer and dryer though.

Gil has been busy with all sorts of projects.  It's been fun being able to make this place ours.  He's been doing quite a bit of yard work (108 degrees doesn't seem to bother him) and the yard which is already beautifully landscaped is looking well tended now.  He built a compost bin with old shipping crates, cleaned out the sink drain in the master bath, replaced the leaking facet in the master shower, removed the tree root growing in the plumbing in the hall bathroom, painted the kids' room so it is no longer bright green...  Wesley has loved being his helper and accompanying Gil to Home Depot.

His two latest projects were just for me.  He installed switches/controls for the living room and master bedroom ceiling fans so the light and fan are controlled separately; I can turn off the lights without turning off the fan from a wall switch instead of fiddling with the pull cords.  Love IT!!

Next, he un-gooped and oiled the kitchen cabinets and then installed lights under the cabinets.

Before

After

Only trouble is now I can see how dirty and splattered the wall is.  Another cleaning project.

We're still trying to decide how to arrange the house.  The living room has gone through numerous iterations.  We've had the current arrangement about a week and I'm not sure I like it.  Once we get things where we like them and decorations up on the walls, I'll post more pictures.

Hooray for a house!