House Project 000020

Our concrete is finally done. I have been planning and saving and preparing for this for over a year now and I cannot tell you how relieved I am that it is finally done. We have been so busy all summer with other things that we weren't able to really start on it until the middle of July. There was a lot of digging, measuring, cutting, hammering, compacting and digging and measuring some more and a little bit of swearing. ;) We worked for hours and got really dirty and I even rubbed a hole through my brand new leather work gloves. In other wards, I kicked some butt. :) Mostly, I was a good little grunt worker. :) Chris did most of the work. He is amazing and I am so lucky to have him.

Because Chris is a Structural Engineer and he looks at buildings all the time that are falling apart he is very against having water around the house. The #1 reason a building will settle and have damage is water against the foundation. So Chris's solution to that problem is to put concrete around the whole building. I talked him into putting some flower beds in the front for aesthetics and he reluctantly let me. It's not that I don't like concrete but I knew it would be a lot of work, a lot of time and a lot of money. But, now that it is done, I love it and I am so glad that we did it. The kids LOVE it too. Hopefully next year we can finally get some grass in the backyard.

We poured concrete window wells. This is where all the swearing came in. ;) Let's just say they were not fun to form. But I am glad they are done now.

We put concrete steps on both sides of our patio now.

This is pour #1. Part of the side walks, the North side patio and the window wells.

Chris recruited his two brothers to come and help us on the day of the pours. The DeMille boys are all pretty awesome. They each have their individual strengths and weaknesses. But when they get together it is like they are unbeatable, unstoppable, invincible! Between the four of them they can pretty much do anything!

We tried to get Austin to learn and help but sometimes that is easier said than done. He did pretty good but usually it is always accompanied by a lot of whining.

They make it look so easy. ;)

Finally the finished product! I have so many plans for this space. ;)

It is hard to tell in this picture but there is a ramp going from the upper sidewalk to the lower side walk. We were going to put in some large steps but Austin said we should do a ramp so he can ride his bike all the way around the house. We thought about it and decided that it would be a good idea. They kids LOVE being able to ride their bikes and scooters all around the house now especially down the ramp.

A huge thank you to Robert and John again!!! They were awesome and we couldn't have done it without them!

Back to School!

Back to school today. :( I am sad. I even teared up a little when I was following their bus to school. You would think this w

as my first time or something. As much as I love watching them grow up sometimes it seems that it is going to fast. Summer definitely went too fast! We didn't do nearly as much as I would have liked to have done as a family. Now the kids are back in school where they are gone ALL DAY! By the time they get home, get their homework done and dinner ate...it is basically time for bed. :( I miss them when they go but I know it is good for them too. On the upside, it will be good to get to spend a little more time one-on-one with Abigail and Asher.

The kids looked great on their first day. Especially my little Allison. She is so photogenic and it doesn't hurt that she LOVES getting her picture taken either. Austin is a little more camera shy.

Austin - Grade 4

Allison - 1st grade

I couldn't decide which pictures I liked of Allison more so I included all of them. :)

When we walked into her class she had about 10 little kids say "Hi, Allison." It was cute. I don't think I should worry about her making friends. ;)

They fight but I know they love each other too!

We always have a little back to school party before school starts to get the kids excited for school. Here are the treats I made this year. I always find some kind of fun school treat to make. Its fun for the kids (OK, and me too).

My little Man turns Two!

Wow, I can't believe my baby is turning two. The old adage "the older we get, the faster time flies," seems to ring more and more true.

Asher is very fun but he is such a handful. He is still the best talker of all my children. He can hold full conversations with people. It is really cute to listen to because he is still very young. He loves getting into trouble. Every time he gets caught in the act of doing something wrong he looks at you, smiles and does it anyway. This scares me and I hope it isn't a sign of things to come. When I tell him to stop doing something he looks at me with those puppy-dog eyes and says "o-tay momma." It always melts my heart. Several of his words sound like swear words so he keeps his siblings and father entertained. He LOVES to be outside and will do anything for us to take him out there. Unfortunately, we are in the very SLOW process of putting concrete around our entire house so there are lots of dangerous tools out there so he doesn't get out much. Every week there is a story to tell of him doing something crazy. Here are a few of the most recent ones that I can remember off the top of my head...

• Dumped out almost an entire gallon of milk and proceeded to splash it around the entire kitchen (see pictures below)
• Tore Austin's scriptures up (see pictures below)
• Flushed some of my expensive make-up down the toilet, got it stuck and Chris had to take the toilet off to fix it
• Flushed a rag, battery and some wrappers down the basement toilet which in turn broke the sump pump and Chris had to clean it out...and that is a very disgusting job and made my whole house smell like the worst poop you have ever smelled!!!
• Has taken up the lovely habit of removing his diaper and spreading whatever happens to be in it all over his bedroom (we spared you the photos)
• Dumped an entire bottle of lime juice on the downstairs couches
• Throwing cups at the people in front of us at church every week. (Having a cup is a double-edged sword...it helps to keep him calm for about 10 minutes but he always throws it when he is done...and he has a really good arm for a two year old and usually doesn't miss hitting the back of someones head...any advice would be much appreciated!)
• Oh, and every time I put a new kid shampoo in the bathroom he dumps it out even when I try to hide it from him or put it up high he still manages to get a hold of it (usually with the help of a sibling) and "make bubbles" in the bathtub.

Nonetheless, he is such a great little kid. He is funny and happy and very cuddly. He is a great sleeper and eater. He makes everyone around him laugh. He is very playful. And I love him!


Although, I should be very upset with Asher I was more upset with Austin for leaving his scriptures IN ASHERS ROOM! HELLO!

This WAS a FULL gallon of milk...just barely opened. But once again, I blame myself for leaving him within reaching distance of it while I went downstairs to get church clothes out for the girls. Chris had just left for his meetings. All alone and nothing else to do...

It took me over a half hour to clean it all up because he had splashed it ALL OVER the kitchen. It was on the couches, the cupboards and even soaked up underneath the glass on the table.

It is kind of hard to tell but in this picture he is fake crying. Stinker!

Here he is playing in Aunt Gail's laundry basket.

Here is the monster cake I made for his birthday. I thought the monster theme fit him perfectly! :)

It was also Kody's 18th birthday! Happy birthday Kody!