The Best Part

There are lots of pictures I could and probably will eventually post about our new home.  But for right now, this is the most enjoyable part and the main reason we decided to venture across the street and build.

A place where the kids could imagine,

run, play ball, 

and climb trees!

We LOVE the open space, trickling creek, and most of all...privacy...of our back yard.  After the nightmare of trying to grow grass at our old house through the process of two hydroseeds and 2 drillings, we weren't the least bit enthusiastic about establishing a new lawn.  However, we're happy to peer out the back windows and look at a nearly full lawn after just 5 weeks!  Two words...SPRINKLER SYSTEM!  We would gladly become spokespeople for the company!!!

Progress

Our computer died and all of the "in progress" pictures are on that hard drive, which was able to be recovered...just didn't have it handy to update.  We're nearing the end of construction on our house and the excitement is growing.  Here's a little glimpse of the main living space we'll soon be inhabiting.

This is a view of the double sided fireplace from the front door.  Although the space isn't quite as large as we had envisioned on the blueprint, the precious sunroom on the other side makes up for it!

Here's another view standing at the top of the steps.  As you can see, I'm not quite sure what's going on that wall besides a TV.  Let's just say there's a lot of space to decorate!

If you turn around and look to the front door you can see we have about 18 1/2 foot ceilings in this room.  Hmmm, who is going to be changing those light bulbs?

 Just to the left of the living room is our kitchen and dining space.  The set of three windows looks onto the deck and back yard.  I can hardly wait to watch the deer and other wildlife down the by the crick as we eat.  Now, of course I won't be admiring those same creatures as they feast on my garden next summer!

6 Years Later

You know your kids are growing up fast when you compare two nearly identical pictures, spaced six years apart!

 We've gone from a 6, 3, and 5 month old to...

a 12, 9, and 6 year old!

There were no strollers, diaper bags, or bottles on this trip to the zoo.  The kids roamed freely, reading the map as we went and directing us to the next adventure.  

We did spend $6 to feed the giraffes (which by the way have the longest tongues ever) and $15 for a 2 minute camel ride!  Man, kids get expensive the older they get.

The boys had a whole new perspective on the zoo and it was fun to watch them explore and learn.

What a difference 6 years makes!

Out Our Back Door

What started as just a hole in the snow covered ground with barren trees in March,

and turned into the first story within a few weeks,

followed shortly by the second story, 

and topped with shingles and a fresh layer of snow on May Day,

is our new home!

We can't wait to enjoy this great backyard!  More details to come.

Another Year Gone By...

Well, it hasn't been a year since my last post, although seven months have passed!  Three handsome young men have turned another year older in our house and with each year, our schedule gets just a little bit more hectic full.  

Way back in January, Connor William turned 9!  Not sure why my children tend to be shirtless in a lot of pictures, but I'm thinking we were having cake after supper and baths!

Connor and his buddies from school and wrestling enjoyed an afternoon of bowling to celebrate in style.

Owen turned 6 in April and picked out a yummy Scratch cupcake for his treat.  This little guy keeps us on our toes with his sense of humor and nonstop talking!

Owen and his buddies celebrated at the inflatable park and mastered getting 5 kids on one tire swing!  I'm pretty sure that was probably against the rules.

Finally, Mason turned 12 at the end of April!  Baseball was already in full swing by this time, so we haven't had time for a friend party yet.  However, Mason has big plans for the lake with a few friends!

Thankful #9

So, I'm a couple of days behind, but that doesn't mean I'm not thankful!  Today, I'm thankful for youthful innocence.  As I was getting ready yesterday, Owen joined me in the bathroom and asked what I was doing.  I replied, "Putting on my makeup."  He questioned this action, "Why do you have to do that?" Of course after repeating this same action daily for the last 25+ years, I said, "It's just something girls do to look nice."  With the sweetest voice he said, "But you're already beautiful mom!"  The pure innocence of a 5 year old who loves his mom!

The kind young man himself!

Thankful #8

I'm thankful for the 19 smiling faces who greet me each morning!  What can we say...our future is so bright, we have to wear shades!

Thankful #7

I'm thankful my boys have such a connection with their dad, especially in the area of sports.  Being a dance team member and cheerleader myself, sports knowledge was not a strength of mine.  However, after numerous hours on a bleacher or in lawn chair supporting their adventures I am becoming a more knowledgeable fan.  Ron generously donates hours upon hours to coach the boys, and while I'm not always so thankful of the time away from home, I am grateful for the bond with the boys.  For some reason they don't want me to coach them in dance....hmmm, wonder why?

Thankful #6

I'm thankful for kids with an adventurous spirit!  While on our spring break vacation to the beautiful state of Colorado last year, my kiddos (and their cousins) were gung ho to go on a four mile hike.  I can't say that I was as thrilled, but was very happy with our accomplishment when all was said and done.  There aren't a lot of pictures of the uphill...possibly because I was out of breath.  But I did manage several at the top and on the downhill...much easier!

Beautiful view!

All, Maya, and Owen enjoying lunch half way up.

My two hiking buddies!  I love Maya's comment about half way up, "I sure hike a lot and I'm still not any good at it."

As Owen says, "Our favorite Colorado cousins."

This was our trail, which was very close to the Colorado fires this summer outside of Fort Collins.

Yep, here was the bottom and you can almost see the top!

Thankful #5

I'm thankful for my camera and the ability to capture moments and turn them into memories.

 Like skipping rocks,

building sand castles at the beach,

and finally making it up on the knee board.

These are the moments that make up the memories of a great vacation!

Thankful #4

I'm thankful for my large family.  Now days, a family with five kids is nearly unheard of, but years ago this was the norm.  While it is difficult to get everybody together, since we now cover 5 states, I love the idea of my kids having lots of aunts and uncles and cousins to grow up with.  Some of my best childhood memories were playing with my cousin, Amy, who lived nearby.  Of course, I had many others to play with as well since I was one of 52 grandchildren on my dad's side and one of 16 on my mom's!  Ron's family is very similar in size as well, both immediate and extended.  Think of it this way...there's never a shortage a family to visit!

The Bormann clan...all 5 kids, spouses, grandkids, and mom and dad.  Don't forget Mugs, the dog!

Thankful #3

I'm thankful for the many kind and giving people in this world, who think of others before themselves.  We had an excited trick or treater at our house this year, thanks to the generosity of Carlos Anderson, a UNI football player.  Connor wanted to dress as his idol, and through a few connections, his dream came true.  Carlos generously loaned him two of his jerseys to pick from and a helmet for the big night.  What a guy!

Our own little Carlos!

The real Carlos in action!

Thankful #2

Oh, how thankful I am to have time in the kitchen.  I'm sure some would not see this as a reason to be thankful, but rather a burden.  However, I truly do enjoy trying new recipes, cooking, and baking.  Homemade applesauce is a favorite in our house and even though we had a busy fall as usual, the boys and I squeezed in a little time for a batch.  There's nothing better than a warm bowl of fresh applesauce, with cinnamon of course.

Thankful #1

I've never attempted to post daily, but I'm going to give it try.  Short and sweet...I can do this!

Easily, my first thankful post is my boys.  Even though we had a crazy evening involving two separate wrestling practices, basketball practice, baseball practice and to top it off I had to work an event at the high school and Ron had a meeting.  Yep, still love the boys, but man are they hard to keep up with.

Halloween 2012 Goblins...Carlos Anderson (Connor), Batman (Owen), Carlos Anderson (Mason).  A big thanks goes to Carlos Anderson for letting us borrow his jerseys and helmet.

Changing of the Seasons

Around here changing of the seasons means a change in focus.  Focus as in, let's go from swinging the bat in the backyard with kids in the 'hood to strapping on the football pads.  Nobody pays attention to the change in weather patterns, temperatures cooling, or the pretty colors of summer changing.  Nope, it's all about the season of sports!

So it happened.  We went from cheering at around 80 games for the North Stars...

and Full Count...and Cardinals...

and the Ninja Cheetah Tigers (yep you read that correctly) to cheering for...

the Southdale Cardinals...

and the Blue Dragons...

and the Panthers (he looks like a one man team doesn't he)!

Now, we're wrapping up our fall sports season and moving on to winter.  I'm sure we'll ignore the snow falling on the ground, below zero wind chills, frozen ground and white landscape.  Instead we'll be focusing on the echoing sounds of bouncing balls in a gym, the sweaty smell of wrestling mats, and countless hours on a bleacher.  We wouldn't have it any other way!

Off We Go!

Summer has come to an end, and after 80+ baseball games, multiple days lounging at the pool, a couple of trips to the lake, and oodles of memories made, we're ready to head back to school.  This is the one and only year all three of the boys will be in the same school.  From here on out, we'll have at least two schools and several years of three boys - three schools!  Add my school to the mix and we'll be juggling four schools.  I'll just scream now...arghhhhhhhh!

I am so grateful to have children who LOVE school and all look forward to a new year.  Boys being boys, they don't get worked up about what they're going to wear on the first day, but instead worry about what day PE will fall on and finally being able to wear their new tennis shoes.  Following the tradition started by his big brothers, Owen learned how to tie his shoes before entering kindergarten, so he was rewarded with a new pair of "tie" shoes too! (This is one of those skills I insist on because I can't imagine being a kindergarten teacher with 20+ kids who don't know how to tie their shoes.)

Check out the new shoes on Connor and Owen...Mason's still fit and are fine!

So, we headed out the door today.

Mason as a 6th grader...

Connor as a 3rd grader...

Owen as a kindergartner...

And myself as a 3rd grade teacher, ready to greet 19 kiddos!