And we Have LAND!

Well, okay not fully, but we are under contract for land!

We are in the addition we wanted to get in, but so thankful we were able to start when we did - for many reasons, but the lots are selling like MAD all the sudden and we got the LAST interior south facing lot!

So we are in Olde Rockwell Estates (off SW 89th and Rockwell) and we are looking at plans to finalize that decision then we move on to the finalizing of plans and pricing out.

I will be so grateful to have Robert's commute be only 5 minutes instead of 45!

Joseph's two big concerns - Will we be further from the dinosaur museum? A LOT closer, so he is now VERY excited that it will be easier for us to go! Is there still going to be a pond where I can fish? Yes they seem to have an even better one than we do now. So he is now super excited as well.

Katherine's concerns - Will we be close to the zoo? About the same so no biggie on that one. Will I be able to ride my bike? It will actually be a lot easier because the roads are actually good! They are also not community roads like we have now (where the HOA is responsible for maintenance) but the city is!

Looks like we will be on City water and septic. There is also a play ground in the neighborhood so it will be easier to take the kids somewhere to play! Right now it is a 30 minute drive.

More to come as we go through the process!

Storm Damage

We SO needed the rain, but seriously could have done without the wind. Straight line winds make it look like a tornado hit. We are not seeing any damage to actual structures yet... But there is a TON of work to be done!

Robert went out to go to work to find kids play sets (not toys, but the toddler climber/slide, kids play house, etc.) in the ROAD. They were not anyways near the road when we went to bed last night.

We completely lost the pear tree. Kids are very sad! This was one of their favorites.

Katherine and Joseph standing next to the downed pear tree.

 We have had this same tree hit my straight line winds before (took half the tree before) and it survived and grew back in. I sadly do not think that is possible this time. :(

(Left) This is a limb that fell on the fence where the propane tank is. Tank appears to be fine and no odors, but not so sure that there is not damage to the fence around it.

(Right) This WAS one of the largest trees on our property. Several of the largest limbs toward the top where broken off. Hopefully the tree itself will survive. This is near the shed, which looks okay currently, but getting the limbs down may be tricky.

 This is our "lightning" cottonwood lost several limbs, but is THANKFULLY still standing! This is the tree that has been hit by lightning at least 3 times (that we know of and since we moved here). It was just starting to look a lot better!

Cottonwood tree limbs on the ground.

So you can see how big these limbs are Katherine is standing next to one of them. The limbs that the cottonwood lost (like this one here) are the smaller of the limbs we lost.

 Other miscellaneous pictures from around the property. I only took pictures of the significantly damaged ones even! Tons of smaller limbs scattered around everywhere.

Joseph's comment was the best! He was devastated about the pear tree, but when I said we would need help cleaning the limbs up (which is one of his favorite chores to do!) he said "This is the BEST day EVER!" I think someone is going to get a good nap on the way to the city today...

A Little Too Much Excitement!

We have had a very interesting past week!

First the kids and I did some baking together.

Joseph making No Bake Cookies...

Joseph mixing, before it went on stove. 

Joseph figuring out the cookie scoop.

Joseph admiring his scooping work!

 

One happy boy looking forward to eating the cookies!

And Katherine made BREAD - Honey Almond Sourdough (yes both projects were Gluten Free!)

Dough in pan before going in oven.

Baked bread cooling.

THEN... My brakes started making funny noises so we figured with the 100+ temperatures it would be best to fix Robert's car air conditioning... He and my dad put in several cans to recharge it! They also FIXED the tire that everytime Robert would air it back up SOMETHING on the car would break. The air conditioning seemed to be working better, but on the way home it was working less and less. About half way home the battery light came on in the car. So we just plan on taking BOTH cars into the repair shop first thing Monday morning. Get all kids up early Monday and we head out... Robert's car completely DIES right at the underpass for the highway - it ends up being towed in. 

Long story short, two days and about $1400 later... We now have two functional cars.

Other things going on... but going to save some for later. ;) Needless to say this has set us back a bit on trying to build the house...