We are Home "Buyers"...

...not "owners" since the bank has something to say about that, but we are "buying" at least for now. We moved in on 9/4 and were so blessed to have Vin's parents here to help us with the boys that week and the day of the move as Vin was/is still in training and there would have been NO way I could've dealt with the movers, the landscaper for the non-existent backyard, the Lowe's delivery truck for our washer/dryer & fridge, the AT&T U-verse "pre" installers, the surprise visit from Vin's Squadron Commander's wife, and Katie the Yellow Lab that took up residence with me that day, ALL day, till I took her to the shelter just right down the street at the end of it all where her pic was taken and immediately posted online so that her owner (a military mom who's husband had just gone TDY) could claim her early the next morning. WHEW! I'm tired just typing all of that, but all of that was AT ONCE at one point. I could NOT have dealt with the boys in all of that as well. Zoinks!

We are still waiting for the backyard which CA does not require to go along with the house when a builder is developing homes so they leave it out. Tomorrow our colored/stamped concrete will be poured...FINALLY! They spent *some* time last week putting in the sprinkler system for the sod that will be laid after the concrete is put in. We were still not sure about the expense of the backyard so I told him to take another job if he got one and he did and then I called him and told him we accepted his bid so he's been working both jobs as he can. He and his crew are very nice and I pray for their safety because it is very hot here with temps near 100 and it is difficult work.

They are coming tomorrow at 7am b/c they need to lay the concrete before it gets too hot as there could be cracking otherwise and it has been getting to 80 by 11am the past couple of days. We are getting a nice patio put in that we think will match nicely with the trim of this house from the color pad he brought us and then we are doing regular cement just inside our gate where our trash cans will be placed with a sidewalk put in so that we can wheel them out to the curb on trash day.

Pictures will follow once all is done. I'm still working on the house and we have yet to get curtains and pictures up. We're doing that thing that I think most military families do *before* moving from a place and sorting our stuff for a "Post-PCS" sale. (Permanent--HA!--Change of Station).

I'll be heading to WI 10/2-10/4 on a whirlwind trip to see Sue get "hitched"! Can't wait! She and Ryan are so sweet together and I'm so excited for them...and the "nieces/nephews" to follow! No pressure guys. tee hee ;)

Tonight we headed out to Lowe's after the boys' naps to get handles for our 71 cabinets. Yes. 71. Not 70. THAT would have been too perfect. We found 10 packs that we liked well enough and then started laughing maniacally at the thought of having to buy 1 more pack just to get 1 more handle so that we'd end up with 9 spares. Egads! But Vin found that Lowe's did sell the same handles individually so we grabbed one up and he'll be having fun with that over the next several days or so. The big advantage will be to get them on the cabinets we don't want the boys to get into as we found the only child-lock that Bren can't get into and it requires being looped around 2 handles. He's already "helped" Alex "trip" the door-latch kind so that Alex can get access to the bottom door of our Curiou cabinet and the glass vases that lie within. Alex is gleefully happy and Mamma is frazzled by the whole situation.

As it was later when we finally got to Lowe's and Lowe's not being a place that you can typically run into and run out of lickety split, it was dark by the time we left Lowe's at 7:30pm and Bren was just fascinated by the dark. He kept on about the sun: "Where dun?" "Dun fall down?" "Dun go nigh-night?" "No dun" "Dun fall down." It was so cute and Vin and I were just a-grinnin' at his "conclusions" to the situation. I kept trying to point out the sliver of a moon we had, but he didn't seem to care/notice the moon. So cute!

Bren did have his first Speech Therapy session today and she found that he's functioning at a 30-month old's level with speaking & comprehension so it's not too bad since he's only 33 mos. but she does want to do therapy with him twice a week to get him up to speed. Her office is set up for 2+'ers so not really a place for Alex as he was finding and stuffing anything and everything inappropriate into his mouth while I filled out a TON O'PAPERWORK and couldn't do ALL at the same time. I forgot the stroller so the next time I have to either find somewhere else for Alex to go or remember the stroller and try to keep him busy while Bren and Rachel do the play therapy.

She kept trying to get an estimate about his vocabulary and I told her he stuns us with the appropriate usage he has of words we have no idea he even knows and that it just takes us a minute or two to figure out what it is he's actually trying to say and then we're floored. He did it just tonight at Lowe's when he touched a piece of wood and said, "board." We were coaching him on "wood" and out he comes with "board...wood" as in "boards are made out of wood." He did that just the other day with, "duck....bird....qua qua." He KNOWS ducks are a type of bird and they say "quack quack"! Amazing! We've never discussed it or pointed it out. He's just followed the logic and come to the conclusion himself!

So that's the latest and again, pictures will follow once everything is mostly put away/decorated and to all of you who have asked, no I don't want to take pics of "the process" b/c I do NOT need a date-stamped photo stream reminding me of how little I'm accomplishing day to day. Hey, today was a MAJOR accomplishment in that I got all of our clocks re-batteried and set to approximately the same time so no more of having to carry my cell-phone around to find out what time it is. Now to just get the clocks hung up in their respective rooms...

Love to all,

Shannon:)