On our way...

So I heard from our mortgage broker today. Our mortgage has been approved but we are waiting on word from the appraisor, which should happen by Friday (3 days from now). YEA!!! In reality, I have no idea the significance or effect of the appraisors estimated lot value on our mortgage but I am thrilled to be past the money stage. WOOOHOOO!!! I couldn't handle any more talk about expenses and estimates... I'd almost rather shoot myself in the foot than have to dig that all up again. Now don't any of you "experienced" builders get me wrong - I realize the biggest challenge of KEEPING the budget is yet to come. But it's such a relief to be thinking about stage two! I'm praying that the mortgage will continue smoothly until the papers are signed and we can order our house package. YES! I guess then the new prayer will be for wisdom and speed in building this thing. Anyway, here's another glance at what we've been looking forward to (scroll to the bottom of the page once opened). Thanks for all your prayers (and please don't stop!) :D

Mothers...of all kinds:)

Yesterday was Mothers Day ~ my day:) Infact, it was my second one ever and it was quite something to think back to when Atalie was just a wee little one who couldn't talk or crawl or really do anything "noticeable" to anyone other than Kev or myself. She was (and still is, to a lesser degree) completely dependant on us. If she were in need of anything, all she'd have to do is cry and we would "fix" it. Well, I couldn't help but smile this morning when I saw another mother doing the same for her little one(s). Much to my dismay, I noticed a nocternal, smelly little creature running back and forth along the road infront of our house in broad daylight! It was a skunk, and she was in quite the hurry! She wasn't wandering around or trying to be discreet, she was in plain site rushing back and forth, back and forth. I'm not sure how many times she's done this already but I just noticed her going by for a fourth count, but this time she was carrying something tiny and floppy in her mouth. Food?! was my first thought. No. Not during the day like that. I got a better look to see that she was carrying one of her babies in her mouth:) She must have been moving them to another location. And now I'm just dying to find out why and where, and boy would I love to get a better look at those lil' ones (it was soooo tiny!!). Anyway, I'm not about to sneak up on a skunk - that is for sure. But it was just the sweetest thing I've seen an animal do! Clearly her babes were in danger or she likely wouldn't be moving them in broad daylight, running tirelessly in plain site. I don't know why but it was touching:) I hope she gets them all there alright (and that "there" is not near our house).

Icecream Monster!

...continuing the previous post, we made a quick trip to Dairy Queen for some icecream...mmmmm! Atalie is just too dang smart already. The moment we sat down she hollered for icecream ~ then decided to give it a try herself (maybe we just weren't fast enough fo her?!) as she just learned how to use a spoon and is loving the new-found utensil! pretty dang good ...right down to the last bite! :D

Mothers Day weekend

This weekend was a good one! We started out by having a relaxing day Saturday... pancakes in the morning and yard work in the afternoon. Atalie had a blast sitting on the deck watching Daddy mow the lawn, then trim the hedges, then mow it again (this is Lawn Master art coming into play) ;) Well, truthfully there was quite a bit of "stress", shall we say, between the pancakes and yard work. Getting the lawn mower out of the garage was quite the effort, as it was tucked behind all our storage boxes in the very back... Kevin came out stinking like gas and grumbling about a sore back b/c he had to lift it over his head (thus the gas smell - poured out all over him). Saturday evening I got to go for the first cruise of the season with Kev, then we had some friends over for a bbq and fire (complete with smores!!!) in the backyard. Sunday was also pretty good, inspite of a lack of sleep from the night before. Mom :D got breakfast in bed ~ french toast, orange slices & tea!! We headed out for lunch after church and came home to spend the reeeeest of the day indoors, as it was quite a wet, droopy day outside. We're ending it off with a trip to DQ :) YEA!! Here's some pics from the weekend:

Summer Fun (in Spring)

Most of these were taken today. The one of Atalie and Kev BBQing was last night (burgers..mmm!). It's been so nice here lately that Atalie and I have been summerin' it up outside in our shorts and tanktops:)

Something nice :D

Taken today. As you can see, Atalie is learning how to use a spoon, and another spoon, and there's even a "dipper" in there, which is supposed to help them learn the hand-mouth coordination... she chose all three:) Taken last weekend ... we appreciate our weekends so much here!! It's fantastic living infront of the lake and going for walks now that the weather is sunny and warm! Kevin works four 10hr days so he gets Friday, Saturday & Sunday off. Yea!! Atalie loves to climb all over her Daddy and will take any piggyback ride she can get. Taken after opening a belated birthday gift she got in the mail from her good friends in Kelowna. She was very pleased to get some new shoes ("soos") and pj's... the shoe thing seems to be quite the fascination(!), I think it may be the velcro. Taken from the kitchen window as we were making french toast last weekend. This little guy hung around each time we came outside and didn't even mind me sneaking up to him outside while he was taking a sunny nap!