Goin' to the Crick!

Since Opie lived in Mayberry and

even before, boys love "cricks".

When Luke first heard that there

was such an animal near here,

he was off and running.

Sam, our resident photog, does such a

great job of capturing the moment.

He and Luke had a great time hiking

over to the crick. I am so thankful that

our boys have fun doing things together

and make the time for each other.

Boys and cricks, gotta love 'em.

Must-Haves!

When we went to New York with Tim

once during the winter season, he

insisted that I purchase gloves and

earmuffs. He was so right! That

purchase made the who difference

in my trip.

I am learning the same thing

in Reno: gloves and earmuffs.

When your hands and ears are

nice and toasty, it makes

everything much more

tolerable.

My gloves were one of my

CHRISTmas presents from my

crew and that makes them all

the more special.

The winters are definitely tolerable

in Reno if you are dressed for them!

New Program.

Realizing that there are only so many

hours in the day, I have decided that

I am going to have to put more hours

in my day. The way that I have

started accomplishing this is by

getting up at 4:00a.m. with Mike.

I must say that I more than love

it. I have several hours to myself

for preparation, reading, praying,

and studying before the rest of the

crew is up. I am determined to make

the very most out of these moments

in order to accomplish all that is

before me with the new house

project, PhD program, internship,

and continuing to be patient and

love, love, loving my awesome family.

4:00a.m.gotta.love.it.

Our House Plans Are In!!

Today was the big day . . . We submitted

our plans to the city of Reno for approval.

Once they are approved in about 21 days,

(but who is counting?) we will be able

to begin the building process.

My crew rolled out of bed bright and

early to accompany me to the building

department. I do not know what I would

do without my helpers and cheerleaders.

(They picked me up off of the floor

when the little man behind the counter

gave me the total for the plans check fees.)

We are all so excited to get the building

process go, go, going.

It is going to be great . . . We are really

looking forward to every aspect of

building our home. The boys are

excited that they are old enough to

actually help with certain parts of

building our new home.

Why must they put up such a

welcoming sign when they are

getting ready to stick it to you

with fees???

Away they go . . . We can't wait!!!

Any Way You Slice It . . .

. . . this is the cuuuuutest fabric.

I am busily working on coursework and

another dynamite quilt that I cannot

wait to show off.

As soon as I complete my other quilt

and have a spare moment, I am

going to dive into this "juicy" fabric

to make a spectacular quilt for our

new home.

This is the fabric that the boys were

so generous to purchase for me

for CHRISTmas. They also chose a

fun quilt pattern and I cannot wait

to get started.

This fabric makes me think of

summer time already . . .

Chop! Chop! I had better get busy . . .

He Did It!

I know! I know! Everyone has been

sitting on the edge of their seats just

waiting to see if my Luke would pull

all FIVE of those baby teeth in order

to obtain the fifty bucks!!!

He.did.it!

Truly, I cannot believe it . . .

Three of them were pretty easy,

one was a little bit more difficult,

and that last one really proved

the old adage ". . . just like

pulling teeth" true. That last little

tooth was really tough. I could

not believe Luke's determination.

He worked and worked on that

puppy all day yesterday and

this morning before church, he was

working on it and it popped out!

We had a tough time finding it!

We were not sure where that tooth

went. Low and behold we found

it! Luke got his fifty big ones and

there is peace in the land once

again. Tomorrow is teeth cleaning

day and a dental visit for Luke as

he counts down the final days

before he gets his new braces on.

Four . . .

Yep! Luke pulled tooth number FOUR

tonight! Wow! He has really been

working hard on pulling all FIVE of

those teeth . . .

36 hours and counting!

Will he make it?!?