A Few of My Favorite Things

Christmas is in full swing...at least in our lives. Here a few of my favorite images from the past couple of days. Enjoy and may you be blessed this holiday season!

Here are the cookies I made for my co-workers gifts. They are fun to make and everyone loves them!

Here is part of my class as we celebrated Christmas in England.

Here is the "gang". They are driving me bonkers this week but I still have to laugh at them! After all as Katharine Hepburn said, "If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun."

Home Sweet Home, The Big 3-0, the House and Signing Santa

That's right. It's been almost a month since I last posted. Thus there are several topics to catch up on.
First, Joel did make it home and is feeling great so far. We were blessed to be able to go to my parents house for Thanksgiving. We were even further blessed by snow in the Panhandle! It was cold but fun to see our first snow of the season. Rumor has it we will be in for more at Christmas in Ohio!

The week after Thanksgiving, we celebrated my 30th birthday! It started with a party at school (Thanks Rebekah!!) and continued into the weekend. We had a party at a winery close to the new house. It was so much fun to see all our friends and hang out. My parents came down which was so nice. My mom saved the day by helping with and cleaning up the food. Thanks mom!! I had an amazing time, ate some fantastic cake and enjoyed all the fabulous conversations. So far the big 3-0 is treating me well.




As far as the house, the progress is continuing. Since the last post, they have dry walled and textured, hung the interior doors, buried the septic and propane tanks, hung the garage doors, and leveled the land. We even have a mailbox and house number!They are supposed to paint and do baseboards/crown molding in the next two weeks. After Christmas we will be about 6 weeks from moving in. Crazy but very exciting.








Finally, we got to take the kids to see the signing Santa this last week. It is always so much fun to see their faces light up when they realize Santa can understand what they want for Christmas. I love going!!


Have a great week and finish that Christmas shopping! It's here before you know it!

Not so fun

Check out where we've been for the last 2.5 days. That's right....Joel has an infection in his intestines and has been on high dose steroids. We were hoping to come home today, but it got pushed back to tomorrow. Hopefully we will be home and get settled for a time before we leave for Thanksgiving.

Playing Hooky

It has been a long time since I've stayed home from work when I wasn't sick. Today was one of those few days. I did have good reason (a doctor's appointment) but I still feel as though I'm playing hooky. What a great feeling! I know my kids are in good hands, my appointment went well, and it is a beautiful day outside. What more could one as for. A guilt free day off....okay maybe I still have a little guilt!

We checked on the house this weekend and this is what we found...

Beautiful! They are almost finished bricking and are hopefully starting dry wall this week. Can't wait to see the walls go up. As you can see, they've finished the electrical, plumbing and pest control systems and they've treated for termites. They also poured the driveway. Fun stuff!


Here is what will surely be Woody's favorite part (and maybe ours too!).

Have a great week and get ready for turkey day....it's sneaking up on us!

Catching up

As was pointed out several times this weekend, I have been absent from the blog world for a while. Sometimes that happens with work, the house, and crazy weekends. So this is my effort to catch up.

The house is coming along nicely (minus the brick fiasco). We were out there today with our friends Henri and Allison. They have finished the electrical, the plumbing, the HVAC, and have started bricking. They have also installed both fireplaces. This week they will start drywall (hopefully!) and will finish bricking. They have also laid the path for the driveway so hopefully that will get poured this week.

Here is one of two HVAC units

Here is the shingled roof.

And the frame for the driveway.

The beginnings of the bricking process.

Margo hanging out on one of the brick pallets.


As mentioned previously, work included several field trips in October. We went to the pumpkin patch (which I have no pics of because I forgot my camera!), the fair, and Old City park. As you can tell from the pics the kids had a blast.


This weekend I helped host a baby shower for Holly. It was so much fun to see her and her belly! Even better was the fact Aimee got to come down from OK for it! It was fun to see her and catch up. Hopefully Holly (or in reality Justin) will post some pictures on her blog so you can see the fun we had. It was nice to have a reminder that this road we have been on will be worth it all in the end. Thanks Holly!

That seems to be all from our corner of the world. I will try to to be better about updates because I know you are all anxious to see the progress on the house (or at least you pretend like it!)

A Busy Week

This week is shaping up to be very busy at school. We have three field trips and parent conferences. Yes, one of those trips is the dreaded fair trip! I promise to post some pics of my class next weekend enjoying the three outings!

This weekend was equally busy. We went to a birthday party and a retirement party on Sat. Then today we went out to the house. We actually ran into our friends Andrew and Amy out there. It was fun to walk around and give them the tour of what is finished.

Check out the pictures of the latest progress. As always...call us if you want to check it out in person!

Here is the back of the house and a close up of the back patio. It will have an outdoor fireplace!


Here is an interior view from the front door. It looks into the family room and the kitchen to the right.

Finally the front of the house. They have put a few of the shingles on but obviously need to finish!

We have a roof!

Look at the progress on the house in the last week. It is framed and ready for the windows which should be in tomorrow. Call us up if you want a personal tour!

Here is the back of the house. You can kinda see the covered porch.

Here is the side with the garage. You can also see the stairs up to the gameroom.

Here is the front. It looks a lot smaller in pictures!

Columbus, O-H-I-O

Yes that's right. My very first trip to Columbus for the sole purpose of attending a home game at the Shoe. We had a great time as you will see from the pictures. My favorite part was going to German Village and getting to eat cabbage rolls at Schmidt's! Delicious! Joel was grossed out but I loved them! The game was fun too but after the first 5 minutes with a score of 27-0 it was anti-climatic. Nevertheless, I'd do it all again. Hope you too enjoy our trip via the pictures.

Here is Schmidt's. I highly recommend strolling through German Village and eating here if you ever find yourself in Columbus.

Here are the fantastic cabbage rolls. I couldn't resist a picture before I dug in. By the way the potato cakes and applesauce were just as delicious!

Here's Brutus Buckeye! We happened to run into him on our way to the Skull Session. I felt kinda silly asking for a picture because the only other people around were little kids but Joel really wanted a picture of us (don't be surprised if it shows up on our Christmas card!). The things one does for love!

Inside the stadium as the football team warmed up. The Shoe is huge and we were part of the 12th largest crowd ever at almost 106,000 people!

Getting ready to dot the I for script Ohio! It truly is the "Best Damn Band in the Land!"

The hot, sweaty and happy couple. We had to celebrate the 58-7 victory with a picture of my first home game.

Finally, here is Woody sporting his new Ohio State collar tag. He's not spoiled at all!

Check It Out!

Look at the progress made on the house in the last week. We are very excited! The plan is to have the windows in by Friday!

Here is the house on Sunday evening after we returned from Columbus. Notice they have the plumbing ready to go and sand down for the foundation.


Here is is Friday afternoon after my doctor's appointment. We have a foundation!!


And on Saturday afternoon, we have the downstairs framed!


Fun stuff! We can't wait to finish it and show it off! Stay tuned for more...and the long awaited post on our trip to Columbus.

We Are....

officially land owners! Yes, we finally closed on the land and can get started building the new house. We will be updating you all on the progress here. It is very exciting and we can't wait to begin! The quote of the day today is very fitting as this process is full of fear. It says, "Don't let the fear of striking out hold you back." ---Babe Ruth.

In the meantime, we are going to Colombus this weekend for the Northwestern game. It is my first home game, and I'm excited to see what all the fuss is about. I'll take some pictures and update you on the whole experience when we return.

Have a great week!

This and That

Just thought I would catch everyone up on what's happening in our world. We are three days away from moving and I'm so ready to just be done! We hopefully will close on both houses next week. We are very excited to begin seeing progress at the new house.

A welcome to my mom who has started reading the blog. Guess I'll have to censor what I say (just kidding!). I'm so glad she has finally joined us because this is an easy way to keep up with our lives!

I have survived the first two days of school. I officially have 5 kids this year and they are a hoot. It will definitely be a fun year and they will keep me on my toes for sure! I'll post some pics as soon as I have time.

For those of you who have been waiting....Mindy's wedding pics are finally up. Just click here and type in McLemore and use the password: mindydoug. As Mindy said, "Pop some popcorn and enjoy...There are over 500 pics." They are all great!

Did you know we are 4 days from opening kickoff to the Buckeye football season? Someone I know has been counting down since last season (I'll name no names!). However, since we are moving we have had to go to plan B to see the game (our cable won't be hooked up yet.) We will be hanging out with the Alumni Club in Dallas. It is always an interesting time! I'll let you know how it goes.

Finally, I apologize in advance for not posting in the next week. Hopefully you all understand! When we get resettled I'll update you all. Until then....Go Bucks!!

Can you believe

that we are just a few weeks away from moving? I can because I've been packing boxes for the last week. I'm trying to get as much done as I can before school starts. Whatever doesn't get done will be taken care of by the movers but the more I do the more money I save for furniture in the new house. Speaking of the new house, we are very close to finaliziing the mortgage and getting started. It is very exciting and overwhelming!

I want to take a minute to acknowlege our one year blogiversary! It is hard to believe that I've been doing this for a year. Thank you to all who read and comment. It's been great fun and I can't wait for more! I'd also like to give a shout out to my silent readers (I know you are out there!) and encourage you to leave comments (it is very simple). It is always fun to read your opinions of what is going on in our lives! As for my goals in the next year, I'm going to try to post more frequently. I've noticed I've been slacking this summer. Hopefully with the new house and school starting I will have ample motivations to blog about.

School starts for me in one week. It is hard to believe that the summer is over but I think I'm ready to go back. However, I'm sure a week into the year I'll be needing another vacation! Good thing Labor Day is close!!

Just for you

Aimee this post is just for you. I was reading the newspaper this morning and stumbled upon this article. It made me think of you (and Holly). Check it out here.

See....your trip up the the St. Louis arch could have been much worse. And after reading this...Holly will never go up!!

Would you believe

that I got home with absolutely no pictures from the wedding. That is what happens when you are in the wedding and leave the photography up to your husband! (Just kidding Joel!) I promise that as soon as they all become available online I will share the link with you. There will surely be some beautiful pictures. Until then here is a picture of Mindy and Doug's boat house on the lake near Maryville. It is beautiful and we are already planning a cousin reunion there next summer!

We have some exciting news....our house is under contract!!! We accepted an offer yesterday and are very excited to think about starting to build the new house. The only thing I dread is packing boxes and moving twice. We have a lead on a rent house from our realtor so hopefully that will work out and we don't have to spend time searching for a temporary place to stay. We'll keep you updated.

In case anyone is interested...here are some pictures from the fantastic bed and breakfast we stayed in after the wedding. It is in Townsend, TN and had a great view of the smokey mountains. There was no tv or internet (which meant Joel couldn't work on vacation, yeah!) and our room had a huge jacuzzi tub in the bathroom. It was great!! We would highly recommend a stay as the atmosphere was relaxing, there are tons of places to see and hike, and the breakfast was delicious!!! We hope to go back again.

Here are the pictures....a) the view from our balcony; b) the sign for our room (each room is themed after an influential person in the history of the area); c) the lock on the door...there are no keys you use the lever to open and a wedge to lock it; d) a view as we drove through Cades Cove...it was beautiful and we spotted lots of wild life and came close to seeing a black bear!