What a Week!

Last week's crazy activities are worthy of being shared. Without further ado, let me share our good news:

First, our house was sheet rocked! Now, I can really see what the size of the rooms is going to be like and how much light each room will get. Let me just say, I'm so excited to come home to this house every day! Here's a peek...

Front

That's Will's bedroom window on the far left and the guest room windows closer to the middle.

The view from the front door. 

The opening on the right will be french doors leading to what I affectionately call "the library". Straight ahead is the family room and on the left is the hallway leading to the bedrooms.

The family room (view from the kitchen/dining area). 

I am so happy to see the amount of light coming through those windows. Graham calls me a lizard because I like to bask in the sunshine streaming through windows. I don't deny it, and I'm thrilled to have a good basking spot in this house.

The kitchen/dining area.

I'm so excited (have I said that yet during this post?) to have a nice kitchen in this house. Ours right now is a "one-butt" kitchen (as Oma Reshatoff would say), but the new one will be a many-butt kitchen. I love that it's open to the family living space so I can cook and stay involved in family activities and kids playing or doing homework someday. The doorway at the far end leads to our awesome walk-in pantry, and the hallway on the right leads to the half-bath, laundry room, and garage.

Welcome to our master suite! 

It's not elaborate or ostentatious, but it will be a nice size with a big window with a view of a big tree. The master bath and closet are through the doorway on the right.

Once the house is finished (currently scheduled for Nov. 21!), I'll do a more thorough tour, but for now, I think this is sufficient. I can't believe how soon we'll be moving. I've been gathering boxes; pretty soon I've got to start filling them.

....

Second, Friday night we got tickets from Graham's work to go to a pre-season Jazz game. Now, I'm not the biggest sports fan, but when I found out that we had tickets to dinner before and that it meant a night out with my love, I was happy to go. Date nights are an extra-special treat these days. Thanks go to Graham's dad for watching Will for us.

Oh, and did I mention that we had 3rd row seats? Below, you can see our view. Actually, they were more like first row when you consider that the first row was filled with the Jazz players, and the second row was the injured players and other Jazz team staff. Yes, those heads in front of us in the picture below are the players. You know you're close when it's significantly easier to look at the court itself rather than the jumbo tron. I didn't know sports could be this much fun. 

Graham was only a little giddy. 

Lesson from the night: although it's cool to be close enough to hear what the players are saying to each other on the court, what's coming out of their mouths isn't that profound...mostly they repeat over and over again things like "That wasn't a foul!" or "Good D."

...

On Saturday, we went to the pumpkin patch. I don't really thrill at the thought of Halloween (I just don't get into ghouls, goblins, and the undead), but I do love visiting the pumpkin patch. No grocery store pumpkins for me. I want to wander the fields and find the pumpkin that speaks to me. This year, it was fun to introduce Will to the tradition and get some fun pictures in the process.

Will's favorite part of the experience was trying to eat the hay. Apparently, he has lofty goals of being a horse. I can't wait to introduce him to carving the pumpkins and the squishiness therein.

I love starting family traditions. I love my family. I love life.

I Spy: Week 4

September has officially given way to October, but I'm not giving up my warm, sunny days without a fight. Yesterday, Will and I went to the park and relaxed on a blanket under a tree. He got his first ride on a park swing (he wasn't too sure he liked it) and attempted to eat the grass (I stopped him). It was perfect for picture taking, but we'll get there in a minute.

Day 25: Change

This little boy is changing SO quickly now. I was putting away his 0-3 month clothes today finally, and I had to laugh as I looked at how much he's grown. I held up to him the sleeper we brought him home from the hospital in, and it ends about mid-calf now. He's chewing on his TOES instead of his fingers these days (which makes diaper changes interesting), and he wants so badly to sit up. To help him learn, we bought him a Bumbo seat at a yard sale on Saturday. He's still a bit floppy, but he looks like a little king on his throne in it. What's next???

Day 26: Peace

I love the view of the park from my comfy blanket on the grass. A cool breeze, a warm sun, and the quiet of nature. Love.

Day 27: Paper

This picture is old, but it's something I'm proud of. My sister got married in August, and I helped plan the decorations for the barbecue we had the night before (so the two families could meet). We wanted it to reflect the personalities of the bride and groom, so we decided to combine words and nature. Kind of an odd combination, I suppose, but I think it turned out well. The paper hearts on the table are even cut from Shakespearean sonnets. I'm a nerd--I know.

Day 28: Motion

This is also an older picture, but it fits perfectly with the day's theme. My awesome brother created a rope swing for his kids in their backyard (they also have a zip line). Here is my nephew taking a ride. I love the look of pure joy on his face.

Day 29: Divine

This little boy has strengthened my belief that we are all divine...he is a child of God...right down to his adorable little toes.

Day 30: Me

It's a little tricky to get pictures of myself these days, but I played around with the self-timer function on my camera yesterday. I got about 50 pictures that were trash...and this one, which I think is actually pretty fun.

Well, that's it for September's photo challenge. I found one for October, but I haven't decided yet if I'll do it. I don't want to overdo the picture posts, but it does give me motivation to learn about this camera of mine. There's a good chance you'll see a lot more of my attempts at photography around here. Until then...happy fall! Go make some soup. Mmmm!