Story Time Around the World - weeks 1 & 2

Since Grace has started full-day kindergarten, I've been trying to come up with activities to get Claire and I out of the house (and to keep us from getting too bored).  I heard from a friend that the Knowledge Knook in Longview sometimes does a story time, so I checked it out.  I just so happened to get the info on this story time the day before a new 8-week session was starting.  It's called "Story Time Around the World."  We go every Friday at 10:30 in the morning.  Each week the kids learn about a new continent and some of the countries that make up that continent.  There are usually 2-3 stories read, and then a craft that relates to the week's theme.  The lady running it usually brings items that are either from one of the countries or represent one of the countries.  Week one was about North America.  The kids learned about maps and what towns, states, countries, and continents are.  She read a story about a Canadian boy and also about a Mexican artist.  Claire really wasn't that interested, but I'm hoping the more we attend the more she'll get in to it.  The Knowledge Knook is actually two stores in one.  It's a teacher supply store and a specialty toy store.  The first week Claire was much more interested in the toy store. 

She's excited for the first story!



The story lady brought a hockey puck from Canada for the kids to pass around



There was also Mexican and Canadian money. 

The craft this week was a cute little flip book.  on the front page the kids drew their house. Next page they drew their town.  Then they colored their state.  Next they colored their country in their Continent.  The final page was of the entire world. 

They also gave each child a passport.  Each week Claire gets a stamp in her passport.  At the end of the 8 weeks if she has at least 6 stamps she will get to pick a toy from the store.

The second week was about South America.  The story lady read a book about llamas, and then a couple about rain forests.

Again, Claire had a hard time sitting still for the story so I pulled out the camera to entertain her a bit

The story lady brought this necklace from Ecuador.  She didn't want to give it back.

They did a little parachute activity.  I don't recall how this related to the stories or South America.

The craft was sand art.  Claire drew a picture of her choice with pencil, then I outlined it with glue.  Claire sprinkled the colored sand on the glue.  She was pretty proud of herself for making that heart.  I have to admit that I was too!

Wendy's for lunch after story time.  I thought it was time to teach her the proper way to eat a frosty... with a french fry instead of a spoon!

Meanwhile... it was homecoming at Harmony so Grace was having fun at her first pep rally!

Nessen Dream Home 2013

We're currently building our "dream" home.  It all started about 18 months ago when a realtor friend of ours called and asked if he could show our house to some first-time home-buyers.  Our house wasn't on the market, but we did own a lot in a rural subdivision where we were planning on building a house at some point in the near future.  The home-buyers were renting a home in our neighborhood and really wanted to stay, but none of the homes for sale were in their price range.  We ended up with a contract a couple weeks later, and less than a month after that we were at the title company signing the papers.  While at our closing, the other realtor shared another listing with us.  It was 2700 sf home on 11 acres with a pipe fence and a metal barn.  It had a small pond in the pasture as well.  The home was owned by a widow in her 80's.  The house had caught on fire earlier that year and the woman's children and grandchildren moved her into an assisted living complex and convinced her to sell the place.  It was love at first sight for Justin, but I was much more hesitant because of the hefty price tag.  We ended up buying it with plans to demolish the house and rebuild on the existing foundation.  Eleven months later (and a whole lot of work) we were framing our new house!  It has been a true labor of love.  Designing the new floor plan with the architect took a few months longer than we expected.  Justin had to cut out sections of the slab in order to move plumbing and then fill it with new cement.  The original house also had a sunken living room we had to take care of.  Gravel and rebar had to be put in place so we could fill the sunken room with cement.  To save money, Justin is acting as the general contractor which has proved to be very time consuming.  It's nice that we are currently living about a mile from the construction site so Justin can swing by early in the morning and talk to the subs before he heads to work.  Most of our evenings for the last 5 months have been spent working and cleaning up at the new house.  It's coming along beautifully and we're sure excited to move in next month.  Below are the MOST recent pictures of the progress (I took them this morning).

all the windows on the front of the house will have wood shutters to match the front door

this is standing in the garage looking into my mud room



LOVE my mud room!  I designed this myself.  There will be a shelf under the bench for shoes and hooks above the bench for coats and backpacks.




1/2 bath off the mud room



my laundry room. I'll have a sewing desk under the window and the washer and dryer will be next to it.

this is the wall opposite the desk and washer/dryer.  our upright freezer will go inthe empty space.

this is the same wall as the freezer. we will have a clothes rod for hanging clothes to dry.



this is the storage closet off the laundry room



Kitchen!!

walk-in pantry

closer shot of cabinets

i took this standing in the kitchen looking at the dining room

entry way

study

living room



playroom/4th bedroom



Claire's room

Claire's walk-in closet

Grace's room

Grace's closet

Hall bath

Master bedroom from hallway

master bath vanity.  The cabinet in the middle of our bedroom will go on the vanity between the two sinks.

from left to right: master closet, toilet closet, linen cabinet, walk-in shower

soaking tub!



justin's side of master closet.  my side is basically the same




built-in book shelves in living room



another view of the living room.



we will be adding stacked stone to the hearth and inside the mantle as soon as it is delivered :)

garage.  the double doors on the left side open to a storage closet which houses the electrical panels and hot water heater, as well our side by side fridge.  the entire garage, including the garage door will be insulted so we can use that closet for food storage if needed.

First day of kindergarten

Our family has entered a new phase: the school years.  Grace started kindergarten on August 26, 2013.  She attends James Poole Elementary School in the Harmony ISD.  She has been more than ready for this day.  I truly believe she could have gone to kindergarten last year and been just fine.  She's such a bright little girl and follows directions so well.  She LOVES learning and has great social skills. 

The Thursday before school started we went to "meet the teacher" night.  Grace met her teacher, Mrs. Ward and was able to walk around the classroom, find her seat, put her school supplies in her cubby, etc.  It was a great night.  Grace is so tender hearted and always wants to please people and do the right thing.  I think Mrs. Ward's personality suits Grace perfectly.  We are into the second week and She is still loving it every day. 

So excited to get to work!

meet the teacher night

Justin took the day off of work so he could go with me to take Grace to school and pick her up at the end of the day.  I'm so grateful he did.  While she was at school we kept busy with "house" stuff.  We picked out and ordered all of our counter tops and the stone for the fireplace.  We looked at light fixtures and tile.  The distraction was nice.  While Grace has been looking forward to this day for a long time, I had been dreading it.  I certainly shed a few tears.  It's hard for me to watch my babies grow up.  I feel like I waited so long to be a mom, and my time at home with them is going by way too fast.  I definitely miss her during the day and find myself checking the clock A LOT until I can pick her up.  I'm proud of her and who she is becoming, and I'm excited for her to experience all the wonderful things that this year has in store!