happy birthday to daddy!

yesterday afternoon, nana arrived from visiting her mom in indiana and then papa, uncle derek and miss ashley (soon-to-be "aunt") arrived late night. (matt and i grabbed an impromptu anniversary date while we could!)

since everyone had arrived so late, we left the morning open to be at home. papa was the first one of the guests to join us in the morning and he was totally into pbs kids with the boys - so cute!

did i mention that it is daddy's birthday?! i got up and made him pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes and let him sleep in. after breakfast, "the boys" went downstairs to hit some golfballs in the indoor driving net - one of daddy's favorites.

madelyn was at school so we didn't want to do anything too much fun without her. so we went to do something she has done before - chocolate factory tour! none of the guests have been before and, hey, there are free chocolates!

manning loves horses and was excited to see this one.

"look how long i am" - mason

when madelyn got home from school, she said hello to everyone since she hadn't gotten to see anyone yet. now for some presents! the kids were pretty excited about their presents for daddy - i was too!

the kids parading in daddy's load...

all of the kids selected a tie they liked for daddy - always practical gifts for daddy (as is his preference).

the kids made daddy a book of all the things that they like to do with him. this was one of his favorite gifts.

i made daddy a t-shirt quilt. he asked me to do this over a year ago and i had almost all of the supplies so it was going be easy to keep it a surprise because there would be very little expenses for him to notice. but then there was the time... i have been setting everything up and putting it away every day for a few weeks. and since i have never made a quilt, and had almost no time because i was working on it while the kids were awake, i had to rip it apart over and over. i didn't think i was going to finish it on time and it isn't perfect (there is a lot i would do different) but i was so happy to have finished it in time and to have TOTALLY surprised him!

then we went off to get some dinner at a new restaurant - baja pizza fish - to get daddy some fish tacos. we were pretty pleased with the meal and look forward to eating there again.

daddy really wanted pumpkin ice cream cake but that was for thanksgiving - tomorrow. instead he chose brownies and peppermint ice cream.

we love him so much and enjoyed getting to spend a day celebrating him! love.

run, daddy, run!

this morning we got up bright and (very) early this morning to go cheer daddy on in the akron half-marathon. we surprised him with signs when we got to the parking garage. he was nice enough to pose for a picture because we were super late (traffic was crazy! worse than last year according to matt). matt ran the relay last year, but this was his first half-marathon. unfortunately, he was super congested.

wheel chair start

ringing of the starting bell

it is akron after all...

daddy crossing the starting line. he didn't look up to see us though.

this guy was wearing a lebron mask, dribbling a basketball and juggling three balls in the other hand.

matt between 3 and 4 miles - he is towards the back in this picture.

the kids were sports about all of the waiting. we met up with a friend and her kids so there was lots to keep them busy.

manning really liked trying to knock over the barricades. 

matt about to cross the finish line in the rubber ducks stadium.

matt didn't have his best run, but he did very well and finished! he finished in 2:21:26 with a 10:48 pace. he didn't get to celebrate though because we had to race over to mason's 10:40am soccer game. we pulled into the parking lot at 10:30am. matt ran over to the field to coach after changing into a dry shirt while i gathered up the kids and got mason into his cleats.

we are so proud of all of his hard work and loved cheering him on! love.

house - week 2

the basement form is in.  i should probably know more about it, but i don't.  it is a system for optimal energy efficiency and styrofoam, but i don't know more beyond that - matt does.  maybe i will question him before i post next time.  the basement will have 10' ceilings as well which is why it looks so high.

looking up the driveway.

the 'boarder' is the outline of the garage pads - there is a double (center) and a single (left).

matt and mason standing in front of the single garage where it will face the road.

back of the house, walkout basement

matt and mason in the basement.

madelyn and mason in the basement.  they were really excited to play in the rocks.

from the path behind the house (mason is walking down)

some of the duck neighbors

maddux' first time outside of the van at the lot (it has always been super cold/windy so we have just left him in the van).  i think he approves.

i showed the kids how to use a big stick for walking.

happy boy!

contingent upon

it has been a very busy week around here, but not for the normal reasons.  we were given a unique opportunity last weekend when we met with our builder.  we met with them to discuss some of the areas we liked and some of the lots they had found that might fit our needs.  since we are in a lease until the end of the year we were discussing the possibility of them renting our built house back to use as a model until we were ready to move in (something we would be interested in doing).  and then they mentioned the parade of homes.  the family that was going to build the home for the "parade of homes" backed out (it was their second time to build with this builder, but with two kids in college and the recent market behavior they got a little nervous about a new house right now).  if we would be interested in being the parade house we could be, but we need to decide by the end of the month!  the urgency is so that the house can be complete in time

for the parade in july or august.

so matt and i got online.  we had driven the neighborhood for the parade a few weeks earlier by chance and liked it.  it is the only neighborhood we have found with sidewalks.  and it has a community pool, kiddie pool, playground, and county (i think) walking/biking trail access.  the only reason we had written it off was because the lots were smaller than what we were thinking.  we have been looking at 1-2+ acre lots and the ones in this neighborhood were about 1/3 an acre.  we also hadn't done a lot of research on that particular part of town so we had to look into the school system, commute time, etc.  we also needed to decide on floor plan customizations, finishes, and features as soon as possible.  and they sent us the list of incentives from vendors because it was going to be a parade of homes house (which is one of the reasons this is an appealing opportunity).

friday night we met the builder at the lot to discuss it and our 'wish list' for the house.  they also gave us a quick driving tour of the area.  they aren't trying to rush us but they needed to know if we might be in by monday when the builders association meets to discuss the parade. 

matt and i went back today to try and get another look at the neighborhood and drive around a little bit.  and after much discussion and planning, we called to let them know that we are "in".  everything is contingent upon accepting a quote on the house and, of course, our financing.  so we have an out if everything comes back too expensive in the next week or so.  i am trying not to get too excited because we don't know exactly what it will cost yet, but we think that this could be pretty great for our family.

here is matt and the builder standing in the lot.  it is on a corner and around .44 of an acre.  the walking/biking trail passes behind and up the one side of the lot.  there is a retention pond behind the lot on the other side of the trail.  these pictures sort of show the whole lot if you put them together.

i had to feed maddux, so matt took madelyn and mason to check out the playground.  i took pictures of them and the closed up pool and clubhouse.

it was crazy windy and cold yesterday and today though!  the kids waited in the car last night, but we thought that we would walk around today since it was nice and sunny.  um, no.  it was so, so cold!  we walked around a little but had to pack it in earlier than we planned because the wind was just brutal.

daddy and mason checking out the lot.

here are some more views of the lot from behind it and behind the retention pond.

while this isn't the type of lot we had in mind, we are really excited about the opportunity this is for our family.  the nice thing is that if this falls through, it isn't a huge deal because we aren't committed to this part of town more than any other.  although it is really nice.

we are trying to make the process a family affair and everybody was sitting at the table tonight talking through the floor plan.  madelyn wanted to know where her room was and where everybody else would be in the house and how to get there.  it was cute and fun to dream a little together.

we are going back tomorrow to start trying churches in the area and then going back to the lot to see it with the plans we picked up this afternoon of our floor plan in the space.  we are going to have to make some decisions about how to place it on the lot soon.  we just have a lot to do in the next few weeks to make this happen.  and lots of meetings.  say a prayer for our family as we work to make this important decision.  love.