Lillie turns seven!!!

Lillie celebrated her seventh birthday last weekend. Six of her friends came to the party and they had a great time jumping on the trampoline, making bracelets, cooking in the play kitchen in the basement, drawing & coloring on the easel Mike made for her, and eating pizza and the butterfly cake Mike baked & decorated.

The house is here!!! It arrived Tuesday (10/28) and was placed on the foundation by an enormous crane. The process was fascinating to watch.

We were able to go inside and check it out on Tuesday as well. Mike and I are thrilled with the results!

The outside crew finished their work on Wednesday and today we are backfilling and having a gravel drive put in. Mike is busy cleaning the floors and securing the floor protection with tape.

We have been told that the inside finish work will take about 3 to 4 weeks to complete. Will we be out of the apartment by the time the lease runs out on November 30th? We shall see...

Skytop Orchard

Well, Lillie got her trip to the apple orchard after all. On Saturday (10/11) we took an 80-minute drive up to Skytop Orchard in Flat Rock, NC. We grabbed a basket and headed into the orchard to pick a peck of apples: Fuji, Granny Smith & Gala. There were many more varieties, but we didn't have any room left in the basket. Lillie enjoyed climbing trees and eating apples (I think she ate four just in the time that we were picking) and Samuel had fun feeding grass to the goats. We all enjoyed fresh donuts coated in cinnamon sugar and a leisurely hayride.

We happened to run into friends Lynn & Craig Campbell and their 6-year old son Duncan and wound up following them into downtown Hendersonville, where we ate a late lunch/early supper at an Irish pub called Hannah Flanagan's. I decided to go out on a limb and try the Bangers & Mash - sausages over fried cabbage with mashed potatoes & gravy...pretty good. We also spent time in the Dancing Bear toy store which is very much like O.P. Taylor's in downtown Greenville. Lillie wanted a 50-cent hand fan and Samuel wanted a forty-dollar remote control motorcycle (you can guess who went home empty-handed!) But don't worry too much about Sammy - I bought him a Spiderman backpack today which he refuses to take off.

Mike has been at the property today meeting with the crew who will be forming and pouring our basement walls. The word from Joey at Select Homes is that our house went online at the factory in Laurinburg, NC last Wednesday. No turning back now!!

September 30, 2008

Finally! Work on our basement began today. Weather permitting, our basement should be finished in about two weeks' time. Then we can order our house...

Lillie's first field trip (to the apple orchard) was cancelled due to rain, but I think she still enjoyed having her dad with her at school all day. The rain meant that he couldn't work, so he just stayed and volunteered at school. He plans to volunteer there every Wednesday morning.

Samuel is trying to get used to being left somewhere without me. My friend Michelle Tennant and I have started a "mother's morning out" with each other - she keeps Samuel on Tuesday mornings and I keep Ryan (also 2) on Thursday mornings. Samuel cries hard when I leave him, but Michelle tells me that he recovers quickly. I'm hoping he will get used to being dropped off and not cry anymore.

I've included a picture from the Foothills Chorale Donor Appreciation Concert on Sunday, 9/28. These are the "Downtown" girls. We had a blast!

September 2008

I've decided to try my hand at blogging, so here goes...

We have now been living in Hunter's Glen Apts. for 3 months.

We finally have our building permit and the footers for our basement are scheduled to go in the ground next week. We are still hoping that we can be in our new home in Ashley Estates by December.

Lillie started kindergarten last month. She has adjusted very well, despite having to change classrooms and teachers two weeks after she started. This Friday Mike will accompany her and all the Clemson Elementary kindergartners on a field trip to an apple orchard. Lillie is counting the days.

Samuel, I think, would rather have Lillie around than be an only child for most of the day. He misses his big sister and asks about her constantly. He gets VERY excited when she comes home. They play very well together. Samuel is showing himself to be every bit as chatty as Lillie is.

Mike is working on a screen porch addition in our old neighborhood, so we still drive by our old house quite a bit on our way to visit or have lunch with him. I don't miss living there, but I am very eager to see our new house materialize.

I am doing the usual - teaching 4-year old Sunday School and singing with the Foothills Chorale. I'll be playing dress-up this weekend as I sing for a Chorale Donors' Concert at the Pendleton Playhouse. I get to be Sandy from "Grease" and a 60's girl with go-go boots to perform Petula Clark's "Downtown." That's all for now...