Expertec

(dirk and sarah going to senior? prom)

I just have to say, Chris and I LOVE our mechanic. (Not just 'cause he's family either). First of all, he found us our car and got us a great deal. If you've ever bought a car from a dealership you will recall the hours of haggling over the price, the extra costs they throw in somewhere and all the other headache of buying a new car. We've done it a lot (as you know) and we SOOO hate it. But buying our car form Dirk was awesome. We told him what we wanted and how much we wanted to spend and he found us a car (in our first choice color) within a few days. All we had to do was show up, sign a few papers and within half and hour we were on our way with our new car. You just don't get that anywhere else. Plus, it's really hard to know if a mechanic is being honest with you about what your car needs or if they are over charging you. Chris and i know NOTHING about cars, but that's ok, because we have Dirk! You should all be so lucky.

Yesterday we took our Envoy in to be inspected, have new tires put on and an oil change. Chris took the car in on his way to work and Dirk gave him a car to drive to work. How's that for service. Dirk wasn't there on Chris' way home, so I called this morning to pay him. Our car was in desperate need of new tires, you didn't have to look very close to tell. Chris found a good deal on tires online and then dirk put them on for us. This morning he told me that the rear passenger side tire was a miracle. Apparently tires have metal rods in them to help them stay strong, they also have some mesh cloth after the metal that give them a little more strength. Well, apparently, the aforementioned tire had a chunk missing, he said about the size of a football. He said it looked like someone had taken a grinder to the metal rods and I was essentially driving around on mesh cloth. He said it was amazing that it hadn't blown out. Then he said, "You guys sure must be paying your tithing!" Which I so appreciated...because does your mechanic remind you that the Lord is looking out for you and blessing you for doing the best you can?

Seriously, we LOVE our mechanic!

Poor Little Guy

So last monday, my friend asked me if I would watch her little boy after kindergarten (he's in Mykenzie's class) for a few minutes because she had to be somewhere when he got out. So we watched him for like 45 mins. Well, his mom called me this monday...a week later. She said that her son had gotten pretty sick later that afternoon (after he'd been here) then she said they all got sick. With what you might ask....the swine flu. She called to see if anyone in our home had gotten sick. Well.......last Wednesday/Thursday Jayden and Mykenzie were not feeling great. Fevers, aches, coughs, etc. And then poor little payton got it. He's been so sick. He's been running a temperature and coughing and been really uncomfortable. Everyone else has gotten better, but him. I was going to take him into the doctor, but my neighbor (a nurse) told me that there isn't anything they can do for him except treat his symptoms...which I've already been doing at home.

So payton has an unconfirmed case of swine flu...i just can't see paying a couple hundred dollars for the doctor to confirm it!

Something NEW!

Payton standing

this is what he kept looking at these guys and laughing

a good looking bunch of kids!

Sheetrock is DONE!

Yeah, I know I'm behind. If you and I have talked about this lately, you probably think this is pretty old news. But yes, the sheetrock is done. This (above) is going to be a built in book shelf--like in the front room.

this is jayden's room...well, his closet door and part of his bedroom door.

this is where chris' desk will go...it has yet to be built, but it's gonna look really nice when it's done

this is the mudroom wall...

we are hoping to get painting soon, but chris has had to work late every day this week and probably most of next week...so we'll see!

New and Improved Jaxon

You may be asking yourself, has GQ come out with a junior's version? But nope, that's the new and improved Jaxon. He has finally got his glasses! We were a little slow on the uptake, apparently he should have had them last year, but better late than never, right? He's had them for a whole hour so far and is so excited about them. I, however, am skeptical that they are the exact presciption he needs. He still seems to be squinting to read stuff. But at least they are a starting point and should help him a bit at school...and home! But really, isn't he just so stinkin' cute! (I mean handsome. He would be so embarassed for me to say he's cute...babies are cute. Big kids are handsome!)

I Can't Believe I Forgot to Do THIS!

I was sitting in bed last night thinking I had a lot of things I haven't blogged about when it occurred to me that I still hadn't blogged about Mykenzie's 6th Birthday! How embarrassing is that? Anyway, she wanted a castle cake...so that's what she got...bedecked with Cinderella and Prince Charming (are they ALL named Prince Charming?) Anyway...it was a LOT of cake (3 layers!) and the frosting was overly plentiful...I kept forgetting a major ingredient so kept adding others to try to fix it...it took my a while to find my mistake.

I told her to stand by her cake...this is what I got
CLASSIC!

we all know how long that will last

I believe these same items were used the next morning to give me a "makeover"

Thanks for coming up everyone who was here. We had a great time and the little princess' thought her birthday was well worth the wait!

My Favorite Feature

I know I'm skipping a little ahead of myself, but Chris just finished this the other night and I am SO excited about it. This is the bench seat in the mud room...

the seat lifts up and we can store shoes in there--so NO MORE SHOES IN THE LAUNDRY ROOM!!!!

anyway....I think he did a really good job! I just LOVE it!