August

Well, I see that we haven't posted for a while....that should be an indication of how busy we've been!  For the first two weeks of August Dave was working non-stop on our bathroom renovation and this past week we spent a lot of time travelling around and visiting family!  So I thought we'd show you how far we are on the bathroom since I know people are waiting for an update.  It's not quite finished--we still have to finish and install the cabinets, counter and sink.  But the rest of it is pretty well done!!!!  As of tonight, I finally have a shower and a toilet upstairs, so that will be really nice for my middle of the night bathroom breaks-I won't have to walk all the way downstairs!  Here are a couple of pictures of the project thus far:

Baby Update

So we're at 29 weeks + 1 day today.  That means 11 weeks to go!  Sometimes this seems like a long time and sometimes and incredibly short time!  Anyways, we had a midwife appointment this morning and she said everything is going really well, for which we are very thankful!  Today's heartrate was 140 and she was able to find it immediately (the last time it took a while because the baby was moving too much!!).  Speaking of moving, this baby is extremely active--I have been getting kicked/elbowed/whatever else A LOT!  It's almost constantly moving--some people tell me they work out their sleep patterns in the womb, well this baby has 11 weeks to figure it out because at this point I'm not sure it sleeps much!

In terms of getting ready for the baby, we have the nursery assembled and sort of cleaned out.  I'm working on quilting some things for the walls--they're quilt squares with bees on them and different sayings like: "I beelieve in family"....And I'm hoping that by the end of August we'll have all the basics we need in place so that I don't have to worry about it when I go back to school in September.

So 11 (or less--wishful thinking) weeks to go.  11 (or less) weeks to get everything ready.  And 11 (or less weeks for us to agree on a boy's name(--not sure how this one will happen!)  CRAZY!

Risk!

My brothers should recognize this game:  It's Risk!  The 1975 version. 

Recently, I've had the opportunity of playing the new 2008 version.  Which has some cool stuff in it. 
So I decided to update the 1975 version! 
So here is the 1975/2008 version blended.  Which is awesome because of the cool retro cards featuring cannons, soldiers, and horsemen; and still has Siam, Ukraine (the Ukraine is Strong!), Quebec, and the Congo.
I'm looking forward to playing it now.  Anyone up for a game?

Above, is the whole game, complete with the ability to play with SIX players (although, who wants to be pink when you go to war -- I have no idea...!)

And below, the new Risk objectives (major; minor; rewards; and capitals; cities; and new reward system - the more stars you turn in the more armies you get)

Dave's Handiwork

Big project #1--DONE!!!  (Other than a bit of clean up).

We've been talking about moving the fence to halfway up the house ever since we moved in.  We didn't use the side yard for anything so we thought we'd meld part of it into the backyard.  So on Monday Dave started working on the fence and here's the final product.

The frame that you see in the forefront is where the fence was--we still have to pull the frame out and cut down the ugly cedar you see there!  And we moved the fence up--so now we have more backyard and can see part of my side garden in the backyard!

And here it is from the front.  And Dave-being the genius that he is-made the section of fence to the left of the gate on hinges so that is can be opened if we need to get bigger things in or out of the backyard.

Thanks for working so hard, honey!  It looks awesome!

Wahoo!!! Our Garden Worked!!!!

So for those who know anything about our vegetable garden escapades, you'll remember that last year's garden didn't do so hot!  (And that's really an understatement!)  But this year it's a whole new world!  Today I picked our beans for the first time!!!  We also have lot of tomatos (hopefully they'll ripen) and a few little green peppers.  Very exciting!

We've also been working on a lot of projects around the house.  Hopefully we'll have some pictures to post of our new fence by the end of the day!

Does anyone want it?

Okay, so now that we've established that the plant below is a foxglove.  Does anyone out there want it?  I don't think we're keeping it....
Steph and I can't say that it suits our garden (which isn't very English).

Anyway, if you want it let us know.  First come, first serve I guess.

NETHERLANDS!!!