Hanging out at Mandy’s house

Every week we get together with my friends Mandy and Nikki. We usually just hang out at one of our homes. Gavin and Carissa, the oldest of the two, were a bit bummed this year to have to miss out on all the fun. Here are some pictures of the kids just having having a good time at Mandy’s house. She has the perfect layout because her house backs up to woods and they have a large wooden swingset right next to them at the end of a cul-de-sac. The kids can freely ride bike up and down without any traffic to worry about. Micah and Joey are the youngest and typically give us a good laugh when they are together. They usually just size each other up for a while silently and then slowly start interacting without too much talking. It might be just sitting by one another to eat and smiling, like in this photo, or it might be kicking a ball and then smiling, which usually ends up into a fight over it. They both love “The Hulk” and tend to get upset about who gets that toy. It’s so fun though.
The move we will be making in August will be very difficult because of weekly routines and friends like these! I’m still trying to figure out how we will leave friends that have become family. I’m not sure what my kids will do without them and what I will do without their moms!

Aubri's End of the Year Preschool Program

Aubriella stood proud among her friends as she sang her songs and fingerplays for us. It was a perfect opportunity for her to get a picture with her fun and caring teachers, and invite some friends over for her birthday party. She had been begging to have a playdate with two of the little girls all year long. Overall, I think Aubriella enjoyed her preschool classes, but even towards the end of the year the teacher said she would occasionally have some “tough” days because she was crying for her mommy. I was thankful to be able to volunteer in her classroom several times this year and I am still trying to form an opinion on how I feel about a regular classroom for Aubri. It seems that the Montessori approach would be much more fitting for her (too bad it would break the pocketbook). The typical classroom offers very little for individual interests and talents to blossom but rather treats projects and activities as more something that needs to be done and checked off the list. I’m not trying to sound snobby or unappreciative I just question the traditional approach to teaching in general. Hmmm…just my opinion.

"The Waiting is the Hardest Part"!

You know that song by Tom Petty, it's been in my head for over a month now! As we're doing our best to be patient about the house and business, I think some things might be happening this week.


The business sale is still waiting to have a signed purchase agreement. We've been going back and forth between our attorneys to have a purchase agreement that both of us can agree upon. On Monday morning, they sent over their final draft for our approval. Everything looked good from our end so we should be fairly close. Once we've agreed on the phrasing of everything on the purchase agreement, Fastframe Corp. takes a look at it to make sure they're ok with all the changes that were made to their original template. Then we'll both sign it and begin to move forward. The store transfer date is still slated for July 28th.

As far as the house goes, it's been fairly slow. But, Monday night we had a showing and they came back and looked at it last night too. We also got a phone call asking when we prefer to close on the house. So, we may get an offer today or tomorrow. The "waiting" drives us nuts at times.


Last night when I was praying with Aubri before bed she said, " Lord, please let us sell our house because my mommy's crazy, so let us sell our house so she doesn't have to be crazy anymore..." Amen to that :)