Summer Days...

I have to say that I am so thankful that we are on summer vacation, otherwise, I am not sure that I would ever rest! We have been running around doing multiple things these past few days. All of them wonderful, but exhausting! We have been spending the majority of our time at the house. On Friday and Saturday the girls and I loaded up the suburban at least 40 times and drove around the block to drop boxes into appropriate rooms throughout the house. Bless their little hearts- they were absolute angels during this time! Saturday Dave and his friend Eddie rented a Uhaul and unloaded the rest of our storage units. What a day to move! It was only 90 degress....We have everything in the house but have nothing unpacked it seems. We purposely put all the boxes into rooms that they would go in so that we would not put them in the garage and just leave them there! We have a lot of work to do but it will definately be worth it!

I have had to switch gears the last few days to try and get ready for our vacation to Florida. We are excited about going and we need to get away just the four of us but Dave and I are feeling like we want to be here as well organizing the new house. Taylor is ecstatic for the plane ride- we will see how long that lasts?? And Maddie just knows we are going to "Lorida"! I think that is about it- just unpacking, packing and getting ready for a sunny vacation to see friends and visit the princess castle! Wishing everyone a wonderful 4th of July! Talk to everyone soon when we get back! Love~ All of us- D, H, T and M

Taylor found these wrist bands in one of the many boxes! She made all of us wear them and she claimed that only "Cougars" could wear them....That made her dad quite proud! Here she is in her jammies and she ended up sleeping in them and wore them the entire next day before finally taking them off!

Here is Taylor (Maddie wasn't cooperating with the pictures!) in the girls new playroom doing some art work!

A couple of pictures of the house...they don't do it much justice- too many boxes, etc. but the top picture is Dave's "Man Room" - Go Cougs! Then, a picture of our great room and finally, a picture of Maddie's room (Taylor's is very similar except her walls are purple- shocking!)

Final Inspection!

As most of you know, Dave and I have been waiting patiently for everything to be done with the house so we could call for a final inspection. We have been waiting on steps to the front of the house as well as from the garage to the house to be done- Dave got tired of waiting and in the last 48 hours has been building steps with his buddy Grady! They look amazing and I can't believe he did all that! The inspector just left and we passed our final inspection! It is official....the Myers have a new house after 18 months! YEAH!! Just had to share our very happy news!

The Beginning of Summer Vacation!

We have been enjoying our first few days of summer vacation. The girls and I stayed in our pajama's our first day off and did absolutely nothing! It was fabulous! My mom, sister and Emilie just left after spending a few days in Olympia with us. We had a lot of fun visiting, going to Burfoot park and the school park as well as going to the marina every day! My sister is enjoying being a new mommy but I have to tell you that I am glad that I am not in her shoes anymore! When you are going through the baby stage you don't realize just how much work it is. Now that mine are so much more independent I was looking at her and feeling sorry for her! Babies are a ton of work! But our sweet baby girl Emilie is definitely worth it! Taylor and Maddie thought it was so great that she spent the night. Other than that, we haven't been doing much of anything else. We have our final inspection tomorrow- hopefully that will go well so that we can start moving things out of storage this weekend. Then, we are off to Florida on July 1st! We can't wait! I hope everyone is enjoying the sun!

Emilie enjoying the sun! 4 weeks old....

Maddie, Taylor, Nana, Emilie and Grandma eating lunch at the marina!

Grandma, Emilie, Taylor and Maddie going for a walk on the dock!

Grandma and her girls! Too sweet!

It's Official!

Well....I can officially say that on this day, Sunday (at 11:56 p.m.), June 22nd, 2008 that I have finished my Masters in Reading!

After 17 months of working on papers, projects, group work, discussion posts, journal entries and tutoring I have to say that it was very much worth my time. I honestly feel that I have learned so much about how I can help my students to become the best readers possible!

I have to thank my hubby for without him, this would honestly not have been possible! He was the one who from the start encouraged me to do this. When I was tired of writing a paper he was the one who helped me get through it. He was the one who literally took over bed time- he did bath time, story time and the putting of the girls to bed. From the bottom of my heart Dave, thank you for all your love and support! I love you!

The First Sleepover in the New House!

The girls have begging us to sleepover in the new house and so Dave and I decided to give it a try last night. We don't have anything in the house yet (still waiting for final inspection...deep breath Heather!) so we brought two mattresses and a blow up mattresses down to the house. We had popcorn, read stories and snuggled in together. It was quite fun. However, let me break down the evening for you so you can get the whole picture on this event!

8:00- We all head down to the house with mattresses, blankets, books, drinks, popcorn, pillows and stuffed animals and babies.

8:05- Everything is set up and we start eating our popcorn.

8:30- Girls are running around the house, Dave and I are putting together new kitchen table chairs.

8:45- Story time (Fancy Nancy and Faces of course!)

9:00- Lights out

9:01- Maddie says: "I want to sleep at Grandma's house"

9:02- Taylor says: "I want to sleep at Grandma's house too"

9:03- Dave has both girls in his arms carrying them back up to Grandma's house.

9:15- Everyone is snuggled into their own beds fast asleep :)

Taylor and Maddie eating popcorn at the new house!

Maddie and Taylor snuggled up in their "bed" and smiling big for the camera!

The Big Cleaning Weekend!

Dave and I spent all weekend at the house getting ready for the big move. After almost a year of construction there was a TON of sawdust and dirt to clean up. My job was to clean and Dave's job was to install all the closet organizers. It took him and two of his friends the entire day! I think they worked over 12 hours on the closets! They did a great job though and they look amazing!! The cleaning really made our house look like a house. It will probably still need another wipe down before we move in but I am happy that it is all cleaned up. We are still waiting to call for our final inspection- we have to do our final grade on our front yard and we have to build our front steps. We are keeping our fingers crossed that this will all happen this week. I am not stressing if it doesn't happen- my week is horrible in regards to being pulled every which way. It's the last week of school (we are out Thursday), I still have to write 25 report cards and it is also my last week of my master's program! Busy times! I will leave you with the highlight of my weekend ( Okay, it might not have been the greatest highlight, but it brought a HUGE smile to my face!)

I have heard people say that when the Porta-Potty finally leaves your property that it must be time to move in! Hip, Hip, Hooray!

I had to post now (it's after midnight) because I know our weekend is going to busy and then next week is the last week of school which is always a crazy time! So, here goes...

Today was a beautiful and warm day in Olympia. Taylor got a new sprinkler for her birthday and has been dying to use it! As soon as I picked them up from daycare she said that she thought it might be a good day to use it. We got home and the girls got in their swim suits and didn't waste any time getting the sprinkler going. Taylor had a blast~ Maddie? Not as much fun! She let Taylor drag her in one time and once her feet got wet and had grass stuck to them she was DONE! She cracks me up! It was a nice way to end our Friday~it has been a long week!

Taylor jumping through the sprinkler!

Maddie was all smiles once she was done being dragged through the sprinkler!

2 sweet girls enjoying each other's company!

I had to let everyone know that I successfully unloaded all 47 boxes today that were delivered to the house for our closet organizers. The woman on the phone said that it should take around 2 hours to do this- At 2 hours I think I had done only 19 boxes! I finally finished somewhere at the 6 hour mark! Not bad for doing it all by myself. I pity my darling husband who has to actually put all those pieces together tomorrow! I am glad that I will be upstairs wiping dust off the walls :)

I kid you not~ This is what Dave and I came home to one day after work!

I hope everyone is off to a great start to their weekend! As my dear friend Jenna always says....Smiles and Hugs to Everyone!

Sunday!

Dave and I had the honor of standing up as Emilie's godparents at Darci and Paul's church this morning as Emilie was baptized. The pastor did an amazing job welcoming Emilie into God's family! We were truly honored to witness and be a part of such a wonderful moment of Emilie's life! After the service, we went to Paul's parents house and had an amazing brunch! Lots of good food, conversation and celebration took place!

On the drive home from Bothell, we stopped at Home Depot and picked out our vanity mirrors and toilet paper holders for the bathrooms. Who knew such a decision could be so stressful? We are finally able to start cleaning up the house now and that is exactly what I did! For everyone who knows me well, they know cleaning is not my favorite thing to do, but today it was SO rewarding! To be cleaning something that you have waited for, for almost 18 months is fantastic! The process however, is going to be very slow- I cleaned for 5 1/2 hours and only got the girls rooms, one small hallway and the girls bathroom done. I think I know where I will spending all my free time!

Oh, I almost forgot to mention a funny story about Taylor! She has been reminding Dave and I that now that she is four that she can be in a booster. She got it in her head yesterday that since we were driving to Everett that we should stop at Babies R Us and get her a new booster (this had been our to-do list anyways!). She waited patiently all day long and when we finally got to the store and she picked it out she told me: "This is the best day of my life!" She has shown anyone and everyone her new booster and is quite proud of the whole thing! Very cute!

One last thing...I promise! Maddie started potty training this week and it has been going very well! Our daycare provider (Miss Tammy!) should start a professional business on potty training! She has done an amazing job on both of the girls. Maddie is still having some occasional accidents but has been diaper free for 7 days now! I am loving life :) Yeah Maddie!

** By the way....Can you tell Maddie is our 2nd child? Poor girl! I just realized I didn't get a picture of her using the big girl potty! I know what I will be doing tonight....

Have a wonderful week everyone! Did I mention that I have only 9 more days of work??? Summer vacation here we come!

Maddie Girls New Hair!

Maddie got her hair cut today and I just had to share a few pictures of her! She was starting to sport a serious mullet and she hates having her hair up so I took her into a hair salon today and had her get a new hair style! I think it turned out cute! Happy Wednesday!

Here she is...being her usual silly self!

Who couldn't love this sweet face? Too cute!!

A view of the back of her hair! (By the way, we took these pictures at my school tonight~it was parent volunteer appreciation night so the girls and I headed to the event for a while)

Taylor is 4!

It's official....Taylor is 4!

What a fantastic and fun birthday weekend- yes, I said weekend, Taylor had! On her official birthday she requested that we have steak and rice for her birthday dinner so we had a quite evening at home with my mom, Dave's mom and Jerry. She loved getting presents (what 4 year old doesn't?) but her favorite present was her Fancy Nancy Doll that her sister gave her!

Taylor's Fancy Nancy Doll!

On Saturday, Taylor made her debut as a ladybug at her ballet recital! She was very nervous about the whole thing but when it was all said and done, she went out on stage in front of a lot of people. Now, had you been there you would know that she looked as if her parents had forced her onto the stage- she didn't smile once, kept rolling her head all around like she was bored out of her mind and I do believe I saw her pick her nose once! We are quite proud!! After the recital, the entire family came over and helped her celebrate her birthday. Everyone got a sneak peak at the almost complete house and had a nice time visiting with everyone! Thank you to all of our wonderful family for helping Taylor celebrate her special day! We appreciate all that you do for her!

Taylor (3rd one in) at her Dress Rehearsal!

Taylor after the recital!

I consider myself to be pretty crafty- but not in the cake department! I was pleased though with how my 1st attempt at a 3 tier cake turned out!

Now, remember, I did say birthday weekend....so, Sunday came along and we got ready for Taylor's Fancy Nancy kid party! If you don't know who Fancy Nancy is she is a little girl who loves to get fancy (which fits Taylor to a tee!). Per her request, her guests arrived dressed as fancy as they pleased! The kids enjoyed making fancy journals, princess wands and eating Parfaits (that's a fancy word for Ice cream sundaes!). Everyone had a great time....and what can I say? I had a great time as well, but am glad that it's a whole year until Taylor has another birthday! Happy Birthday to our Taylor Bug! We love you lots!

Daddy and Maddie dressed quite fancy! (You can't see it but Dave's bow tie lit up! Nice touch!)

Here are a few of the guests (and myself) all looking quite fancy!