We have a house!

The house is ours. We closed on the 27th (my favorite number!) and got the keys the next morning. Kate was sick and Doug took her to the doctor, so Andy and I went to meet our realtor at the house.  It was the beginning of what turned out to be a very rainy few days--the sort of weather that makes you want to cocoon in a blanket and eat soup and not go anywhere at all.  Not what I would have picked for embarking on such a venture, but you can't plan these things. 



I had a guy come out and look at the bathtub (which we are hoping to get replaced), so Andy and I hung out at the house for a while, waiting for him. Andy amused himself by making letter shapes with his body in front of the reflective fireplace doors. (Here he is making a "J".)

Moving is a pain--even without torrential rain and sick kids--but we are excited about having our very own house.  Lots more space, a bedroom for Andy (who's been sleeping in our room since he was born), a garage, and a lovely little yard with flowers and birds.  There are a lot of things that need to be done on the house, but they don't have to be done all at once.  We will take our time settling in and making it ours. 

"About Me" Bag

Kate had an assignment to bring in a paper bag with 5-8 items representing her. She came up with the idea to have this sock puppet coming out of the bag. She had me cut the hole in the bottom of the bag and attach the sock (duct tape), and then she made the eyes.



I can't think of a better way to represent Kate. She's always finding ways to turn things into funny little creatures. (I don't think she came up a name for this one ahead of time, but her class started calling it Bob.)



We also included her swim goggles, a pencil, a drawing of a dragon, a family picture, a picture of Wrecking Ball (Skylander figure), and Lego Kate.

I remember doing the same thing for a Relief Society activity at church.  It's a fun way to find out about people!

17 years

Catharine Tracy came over and took our traditional anniversary-day pictures for us (not in the field this time, since it had been raining).  17 years!  It's been quite the ride.  And here we are about to become home owners (or at least mortgage owners) for the very first time.  We're excited to embark on this next phase of our life together. 



Goofy kids!

I'm still messing around with post-processing images from my 60D. These are looking a little weird to me, but it may just be that I've been staring at them too long. Sometimes I really hate editing photos.

Third Grade, New School!

Moving is a big deal.  We haven't even begun the actual move yet, but Kate gets to move school districts.  She started her first day of third grade at her new school on Tuesday.  It was a rainy morning, so we couldn't do our traditional pictures out on the sidewalk steps. 




I digi-scrapped Kate's lunchbox!



University Place schools started the day before Tacoma. They also start forty-five minutes earlier, and until we get moved into the new house we've got a commute of 15-20 minutes, so we've had to adjust our schedule. We will miss walking to school, and chatting with the crossing guards. Kate has some good friends that she will miss also, but hopefully we can still get together.  (I also had to buy "real" clothes this year, since this school does not have the uniform-like dress code.  Lots of adjustments!)



At her desk and ready to go!

I wasn't sure how Kate was going to take switching schools, but it's going well so far.  She's already made a couple of friends in her class. They play something they call Pink Ninjas at recess. Sounds like Kate's kind of crowd.

Evening at Owen Beach

A quick outing to the beach on the last evening before school starts.



The water is cold! Andy only sat down in the water once this time (on purpose). A few weeks ago I had to wade out (in my Salt Water Sandals) and rescue him when he tripped and sat down not-on-purpose.



Andy goes in and out of the water, and throws rocks. Kate finds sticks and other interesting things.



A lovely way to finish up summer vacation!

Kate's Dragons (2013 edition)

Kate wanted to do more dragon pictures like the ones she made a couple of years ago, so we went out after church and got some photos, and then she went to work in Photoshop.



This little guy wants a bite of Kate's marshmallow.



The bright sunshine drove us into the shade by the rock wall, where I discovered that we were getting some great reflected light off the parked cars. (That's Santa Pillbug crawling up the wall in the background.)



Dragon in a tree.



This one's hatching out of an egg.



(I helped with the arm overlapping on this one--she had it down but I just smoothed out the lines a bit.)



So cute!