Happenings In Our LIfe

This week felt like it was forever long, but it was technically shorter (daylight savings, bleh). The days were full and super fun, but it just felt like every day lasted forever and that the weekend was taking forever to come. However, now the weekend is here and almost over and it flew by. It went way to fast. Time is so weird that way. Sometimes it seems to crawl by, other times it races past, and then other times it is just normal. Either way, I can't believe tomorrow is Monday of a new week. Although, I am pretty excited for this week because I only watch Trent and Tori one day, so that means the rest of the days I get to just be with my kiddos, and do stuff with them. YEAH!

Most of this week and a couple days last week we have been to a park. So far my crew and I have been to the train park, Stephen Day park, the park by my house, Left-hand Creek park, and Sandstone ranch. We have meet up with friends a couple of times, but a few times we have just gone on our own. Last Friday, we were hoping to have friends join us, but no one came. That was a bit of a bummer mainly for me, because the kids of course still had a great time. It was a windy day, so we took their kites with us and they had a grand time flying them and it was so easy to fly them. It was awesome! Plus, the park we went to has a really cool toys, so the kids really enjoyed playing there, so it was definitely well worth the visit.

Tia running with her kite.

Kylee and Tori with Kylee's kite.

Tori, Kylee, Tia.

Another one.

 On Wednesday, we met up with Jensen, and Jacob and their mom's--my friends--Bethany and Carolyn. We met them at Sandstone Ranch. We were out there for almost two hours and the kids weren't even ready to come home. It was so great. The kids just rode their bikes, played on toys, made up games, and just played it was so awesome.  Thursday we met up with a couple of the mom's and girls in Tia's class at the park. It was kind of fun to hangout with different people. Kind of weird to be the new one who didn't know anyone's history, but refreshing at the same time. Tia played well with the girls that were there and when Tori showed up she played with her and Kylee, but eventually did go back to playing with the other girls too. Actually they all kind of joined together and play. I thought it worked out really well, and I had a good time visiting with the moms that were there. We have had amazing weather this last a couple of weeks, so I am glad we have gotten out and enjoyed the parks and playing with friends.

In other good weather adventures, we have started riding bikes to school again. My kids seem so much happier when they start out the day getting their bodies moving. I love it. We have a great time riding. They are ready for school when we get there and most times we are actually early/on-time for school, so that is awesome too. Kylee and Tia are awesome bike riders. Tia can ride her bike all the way home with out crying which is great because it is a huge hill all the way back almost. The two of us have enjoyed taking different routes home, and Tia has loved choosing all the different turns and stuff we should take. Sometimes it takes awhile for us to get back, but hey when it is good weather, I can't think of a better thing to be doing or a better person to be doing it with. Kylee is doing great on her bike too. On Friday, she said, "Okay, I can make it all the way up the hill without stopping." I said that would be great. You know what she did it! That girl, when she says she will do something and it genuinely comes from her as a personal goal, watch out! She will do it, even if things get in the way. For example, Tia stopped on her way up, and Kylee just steered around her and kept going. It was amazing. She was so proud of herself and I was proud of her two. These two girls of mine are quite the riders and I honestly don't think I could be more pleased. I love sharing the joy of riding bikes with them.

Another significant event of the times is we finally redid our porch. Our porch has been settled probably since we bought the house, but we didn't know. Anyway, it was pretty bad. It has some really big cracks in the cement and the particle board was showing, and the roof was bent. It just wasn't a good thing. However, it is a big expensive project, so we have put it off because we just couldn't do it. But, we have the money and it somehow made it to the forefront of our thoughts and so we are doing it. It is almost done, but not quite. Monday was demo day. I knew it was starting this past week, but wasn't sure the exact date, but Monday it was. Because I didn't know, I didn't hurry home from dropping of Kylee. So, Tia and I were taking our sweet time getting home and I get a text from my neighbor saying, "looks like today is demo day." I texted back, "What?! Just kidding. I know exciting, huh." Well it was pretty exciting. We have had a great time watching 'the boys' as Tia calls them work on our porch. Monday they took out all the cement underneath. Oh boy, did the contractor that built this house cut some corners. We have a pipe to plumbing or something like that on the porch. Anyway, when they started taking of the cement from around it we found they had extended it--meaning the pipe was too short and they needed to make it longer, so it wouldn't buried by cement--well instead of extending it with you know more PVC pipe, they did it with a coffee can. Yes, that is right. There was Foldgers coffee can rusting away under there extending the difference from the pipe to the cap. I couldn't believe it. It is just so cheap. We also found as they were removing cement that there was no rebar in our entire porch, which could defiantly have aided in the huge cracks. However, my favorite part of demo was watching the boys jump when they found the snakes under the cement. I really shouldn't laugh because I don't like snakes either, but it is way more funny when it is someone else. The snakes were pretty slow because it is still pretty cold her at night, but they found 3 pretty darn big ones for sure. It was pretty comical. Anyway, we watched the guys demo, and prep the ground for cement on Monday.

Demolition.

A closer view of the removing of cement.

During the prep, they were trying to reshape my steps, because they didn't like how there was a huge step up on part of it. So, I was watching this and I wasn't sure that what I was seeing was correct because I thought surely these guys have done stuff like this before they know. However, about that time our contractor came up and asked me and I said do you think that is going to be a step there? He walked over and asked the guy what his plan was. Well that was the plan, to make a really long step and then a short one. Well, I didn't really like that and the contractor didn't either, so they were talking about it for a bit and couldn't come up with anything. So, Greg (the contractor) turns to me and asks, "Katey, do you have any ideas?" I suggested that we possibly round the steps. It look me a little bit to explain what I was thinking, but I finally got someone to understand. So, they framed it out that way and we made a few adjustments, but we got it and it looks GOOD! 

The frame before cement.

Then Tuesday the cement truck came. We let the girls stay home from school, so they could see it. They LOVED it! They were totally fascinated by all of it, so it was totally worth keeping them home for a bit. Tuesday, the porch was poured and I don't know how you say it but all the cement stuff got done, and it looks good.

The girls watching the truck get on the lawn.

Being as close as possible.

Still watching.

The filled steps.

Wednesday they straightened out the roof and got new posts put in. Then today they have widened the posts a bit and then we will see what they do next. It is coming along really well and I am really excited about it. I think it really opens up the front of my house and makes it look good.

The middle post is wider than the rest here.

In other events, I have been to a baby shower the last two weekends and it has been fun. Baby clothes are so cute! They have a played some fun games and it was fun to just hangout with some ladies. Gaupo also got some man time this last Saturday at an Elders quorum breakfast where he was introduced to scrambled pancakes. He made them for our family that night for dinner and they really are good. Gaupo has pretty good breakfast tastes. Gaupo also managed to get our garden planted in strawberris on Saturday, so that was awesome. Additionally, Gaupo has also been working hard at his internship project for room reservations at the library and is also developing a webpage about biking here in Longmont for another one of his classes.

One other big thing for Gaupo and the rest of us is since the 1st of March we have tried to incorporate more fruits and veggies into our meals. Gaupo has a challenge at work to eat 5 servings a day of fruits or veggies. Well he is doing it and the rest of us are benefiting from it greatly. Both Gaupo and I crave sugar so much less and when I do want sugar, I am satisfied with just one thing. I think we both Guapo and I have more energy and we are learning a lot about cooking veggies and our children think they are being so mistreated because they are getting exposed to so many new veggies and things they have to try. They have found some they like and it has been a good challenge for us to not only think about what we are going to eat, but how to round out the dinner with veggies and fruit too. It has been a really good change for out family.

Our life seems busy to us, but it is full of wonderful things. I love playing with my kids. It is fun to watch my home change a bit and consequently making it a little bit more of our home. I love learning to cook new things and try new things. However, growing up can be rough and over the course of all these great things there have been times I have wanted to just give up on the project, or hole up in our house, so I would never ever have friend problems or drama, or just hoard all our money or spend all of it on frivolous things. There have been times we have broken down and eaten a whole batch and half of cookies in 4 days. There are times, but not getting stuck in those times is so important. We need to face fears, and broaden our horizons. One thing that has really been reinforced to me over the course of these events is that I am not doing any of this alone. Heavenly Father knows I want to feel my home is beautiful and gave me the thoughts I needed to make that possible. He lets good weather come so I can play with my old and new friends. He knows what I need and want and he helps me with those things as He sees fit. I know Heavenly Father is very much aware of me and as I try and do my best stays by my side, so that as growing up gets tough I don't have to do it alone. I can rely on Him. He is in the details.