The Duvall High Rise..

We are home. The extra night in the hotel was not necesarry but it was good. The boys were all cuddled up and loved hangin' in the pool. We ordered room service for dessert....it was fantastic. Christian stayed at Alex's house again. He loved it. We missed him. He did not miss us.

Today was crazy. I barely got the boys to school in time. I stopped by for a quick conversation with the plumber and then I headed out for a Library meeting. It was a very LONG meeting about tons of boring computer things....Its hard to focus on new computer systems being implemented in the library when I am really thinking about making sure the washing machine gets hooked up.

When I got to the house they were hard at work finishing plumbing, prepping for more demo and making me my beautiful temporary deck, stairs and entry. One more ways DB Davis has outdone themselves. No one in town has a temporary entry like this. They are super FAB!! They added extra railings to make sure little kids that come by have something to hang on to. They also fully stocked my wood pile for the fireplace before we went up. I got the fire going and it is finally getting warm in here. Chad and Tim took a few minutes to help me get my internet working again.

I was late to pick up all my kids today. Guess I am not getting that mom of the year award. I just couldn't get everything together for baseball and piano. I did make it to my practice barely in time. I was able to watch Jonah's game from my field. He is adorable. We just finished a nice family dinner and are all getting ready for bed. We are adjusting to the new height of our homes and are enjoying the views. Can't wait for the next step in this whole crazy thing...I need to remember tomorrow is Holy Thursday and somehow I have to get my family to church. I am looking forward to spending Easter weekend with Tanya. She is becoming Catholic and I am her sponsor. We are planning on staying most of the weekend with her family. I am looking forward to some girl time.

WOW! The house is up very high....

Well another huge day at the office....

The day started out at the hotel. The boys loved it and wanted to head to the pool first thing. Instead they got ready for school and we made it back to Snoqualmie in time for the bus. I stopped by the house for a minute before taking Christian to the ortho for his finger. The doctor cleared him for all activities...

As for the rest of the day...I showed up at the house in the early afternoon. As usual the guys were hard at work. They were raising and stacking, raising and stacking. They are all very nice and funny. Eventually, they all agreed the house was high enough. A carpenter showed up to build me a temporary entrance to the house. In the mean time they rigged up a ladder so I could go up in the house. Yeah....the ladder was sweet and very useful but I decided to high tale it back to the hotel instead of braving that ladder. Actually, the truth is the plumber had a couple hours left to go before we were up and running and I thought sitting in a hot tub at the hotel sounded better.

Everyday before the guys leave they try to clear me a "clean" path back to the house. This is adorable. As you can see in the picture, mother nature has different plans for my clean path but the effort they put into finding safe clean ways into the house for the boys and I is sweet. The boss man jumped around on the house and the ladder to prove how safe it was. It was crackin me up. I am thankful that these guys not only work hard on my house but they work equally hard at taking care of my family. Yeah for them.

I will post again tomorrow on the next phase of progress...Oh yeah, I need to post video too. Coming soon, I promise.

I'm Comin Up!

And we thought there was a lot of mud before.....yikes.
I am working and we are staying in a hotel tonight so the pics will be delayed. Sorry bout that.

Today was a big day. Lots going on. Chris came home from work early to watch the house raise. We let the boys skip school to see what was going on. Mostly it was a whole lot of rain....If there was a massive amount of mud befor we have beat it by a ton. Mud EVERYWHERE. The back addition was a pain in the butt for the guys and one of the sewer lines broke so that didn't make them too happy. Finally around three o'clock this afternoon we had lift off. I was able to run the hydrolic lifting machine which was pretty cool. House is up about 2 feet...They will finish raising in the morning.

The rain today was terrible. It was hard, constant and sideways. I feel terrible cause they were all wet and muddy but they never complained and they kept working. One of the guys brought his 12 year old son to hang out with him for the day. That was neat to see. He played with my boys and lots of the kids friends stopped by to check out all the hoopla. Ian, Alex, Cooper, Fiona and some of their parental units stopped by. It was fun for the kids to see what was going on. The whole thing is a little surreal for Chris and I.

I couldn't sleep last night and I am paying for it tonight at work. I am yawning here at the desk. Its been a full emotional, cold, wet day. I am ready to head to the hotel and take a hot tub. I have room service breakfast in bed planned out....(not gonna mention that part to my hubby).

Tomorrow, we go up the rest of the way. Christian heads to the ortho to find out how much damage he really did. I am thankful baseball was canceled tonight and I hope it will be canceled tomorrow. Could use a couple quiet evenings before we get back in the swing of things.

a broken finger....

Well, it is official... I am exhausted. We spent yesterday at the ball field (typical). The boys had a mini round robin tournament. Max had two awesome games. He pitched well. He is soo cute and his team is looking pretty good. We were a little agressive on the base running but that isn't such a bad thing as long as they listen to me at 3rd base (which they weren't) but we will get the hang of it. Jonah had a great two games as well. Max and Jonah played at the same time so I could only watch him from across the way. He leads his team in enthusiasm, that is for sure. He pitched some and got a couple of hits. Christian had a great day. I saw a little of him playing. He pitched well. He was catching in the 2nd game when he got hit with a bat. He still played in the third game. He pitched really well and was throwin some serious heat. Today after batting practice I took him in to have his finger looked at and sure enough the darn thing is broken. He is out for a couple of weeks. He can still play the piano...he made sure of that tonight. I don't know if he is going to be able to work out the saxaphone or not. I am sure he will find out tomorrow. A broken finger can't keep that kid down and sadly, that is what worries me.

As for Chris, he worked until midnight on Friday, coached all day yesterday and has been at work since 7am this morning. (it is 9pm) It doesn't look like he will be home anytime soon.

I woke up this morning and hung out at the laundramat...Good times. Then, I worked in the yard cleaning up a pile of junk that needs to go to the dump. I can't back up the trailer by myself so I had to wait on the dump run. Then a couple of baseball practices and some shopping to round out the night. I got a camcorder so we can video the house raise. On the way home from errands, I ordered pizza so I didn't have to cook.

Tomorrow is the house raise. We are staying in a hotel in Issaquah for at least one night. I am kind of lookin forward to some breakfast room service to be quite honest (don't tell Chris). The kids are looking forward to a pool. Even if baseball goes late, they will want to hit that pool. Well, that is it for now. I work a split shift tomorrow so I probably won't be able to post the raise until Tuesday...Stay tuned.

Steel and Mud

Wow, this whole house raising thing is a very muddy job. Yesterdays down pour didn't help things much. The "boys" are putting steel beams everywhere and every which way.

My boys are loving every minute of it. Max declared he was "born to ride a tractor." The only down side to this whole thing is they had to take out the plumbing in the back bath/laundry so now I am approx 4 days without wash in this crazy mud and baseball season...yikes.

The nice thing is they work really hard all day long and are very nice to the boys and me. Chris doesn't get to see too much of the "show" because he is always home after dark. I know Monday when they do the lift Chris and my boys want to be there. Mommy may let the out for the day.

Day 3-

Pics coming soon...Prob tomorrow. I am writing this from work.



Well, today was a very unexpected day. Guys showed up bright and early 7:30am and began working. I quickly shuffled boys out the door before sitting down to do a ton of paperwork for the project. That of course took forever but was finally able to connect with the heating and plumbing guy which is great since we are out of heat.



They demo'd more of the foundation and took out the slab in the garage along with my sidewalks. There are huge holes everywhere in the foundation and guys keep popping in and out of them. With more digging came more work for me. The guys surprised me by digging up 7 plants for me so I didn't have to but that meant all of the sudden I had to find them homes in my already crowded yard.



I spent most of the afternoon digging. I went inside to clean up and get ready for the afternoon rush with kids (piano/drums/baseball/work) when my friend called to ask if it was her day to pick up the kids cause I left them at school.....wooops



The HVAC guy made it to the sight in time for my outside water spout to break. I am still not sure what happened with that cause I left. Now I am sitting

Day 2-

While day 1 ended peacefully, day 2 was anything but. There was a lot going on yesterday. Those boys sure make quick work of things.

The day seemed like it was going to get off to a calm start. I left around 10am and no one was here. By the time I got home Tim was taking a sledge hammer to my foundation....good times. Poor Jackie was stuck under the house taking out our heating ducts. Unfortunately, we will have no heat for awhile....again. I think we are getting used to living without a furnace.

The Dump guys came by to pick up my "carport pile." With a tear in my eye, I said good bye to that rotten pile of wood. It was a good thing the cleared out when they did because Dell showed up with a semi-truck full of supplies which is now scattered happily in the yard. I left them to their own devices in the early afternoon. The Max and Jonah had a play yesterday, Christian had a Jazz workshop, two baseball practices and then we watched a set of the great pianist Christian wanted to see at Boxley's. We finally arrived home around 10 to see the presents that were left in our yard. I had to take pictures of it on day 3 but it does mark day 2's progress.

Max is still lobbying to be allowed to stay home and supervise construction. He asks me all kinds of questions about what is going on. He was disappointed to miss the action yesterday. Christian is worried the steel beams in the yard will stay in the lower portion of the house when they are done hence destroying his dream for a batting cage. I could only laugh at his concern, I didn't even bother correcting it. Jonah oddly enough is just going with the flow. No worries or distractions. He has a lot of baseball on his mind which is terribly cute.

I will keep you all posted on the progress...construction and family. Lots of love, me

Duvall House Raise Day 1

Well, the day has finally come. We are raising the house so we don't have to go through another stinkin flood. I am a little sad to see the brick go. We really loved it. They made quick work of tearing out the carport and the hideous storage shed. I am not really sure what they are going to do tomorrow but I know the debris pile in my yard will be gone.

Max came home from school and instantly put on a hard hat to start working. He helped clear out the plywood from the garage. He has since asked to skip school and stay home to watch the workers. I told the boys on the day they actually do the raise I may let them out of school a tad early to watch. However, I work a double that day so I don't know if I can hold true to my promise.

You can see a house in the top right corner of the photos. That house was just raised and is as high as my house will be.

Who left their tractor in my yard?

Christian called me after school today. He is so sweet. While we were talking he started telling me a red truck pulled up to the house and left a tractor in our yard! The funny part is that no one said a word to us about it.

The tractor is there to start phase one of the house raise. Yikes. I can't believe it is here already. By next Monday we should be up in the air. I am nervous, excited, overwhelmed but certainly glad this day is here.

I have been sick the last few days which is not helping anything. I have a fever, sore throat, muscle aches...the works and I am scheduled to work all weekend. The contractors need everything out of the garage this weekend and all my plants moved. Not the most ideal timing. I am sure I will get it done it is just gonna be a big push. Frankly, my muscles aren't in to any more pushing.

Baseball is already going and in full swing. Chris and I are coaching despite my better judgement...or lack there of. It is hard not to because we love being involved and hanging with the kids. Kids are awesome!!

Well, check back for new posts on the praject.
I will try to post pictures too.

Playing in the Sand Box with the Big Boys.

I have always maintained the reason I am involved in Little League is to one day write a phenominal book about all the crazy things that happen in youth sports.

This week, I have been "thinking" about how funny it is to be a women in this boy world. From the draft to board meetings, coaching and tournaments many funny things happen. I can't really talk about current events because then people will know who I am talking about. However, there are a few funny things that have happened in the past that I will go ahead and share.

One day Chris and I were in the midst of moving gear from one field to the next...(back to back games on Saturday). We were walking back to the field to get a bucket of balls that was left behing. A little boy (aprrox) three years old was standing next to the bucket. He reached in and grabbed a ball out and was holding it. This was particularly alarming to Chris cause he hates loosing balls. Every year it is a struggle to keep enough balls for batting practice. So he starts to hurry over to get the bucket. The little boy proceeds to put the ball on the ground. He pulls his lil pants down with his hiney showing and begins to pee all over the baseball.
Thankfully, Chris decided it was best to leave that ball behind. If the boy needed the ball that bad he could keep it.

Coaching a tournament team definately presents it challenges. However, nothing is more challenging than introducing yourself to the opposing coach. I would be warming up the boys getting them ready for a game. The coach of the other team would come looking for the manager. I would stand back and watch. The coaches never approached the woman actually working with the boys. The would approach any dad who looked remotely "coach like" standing by the dug out. The dad would direct them to me. Without fail, I would be asked one to five times in different ways if I was the coach. For example

"Are you the coach?"
"So you coach the team?"
"Are you the team Mom or the coach?"
"Oh, you coach?"
"Are you the coach and the manager?"

Valentines Day

Valentine's Day is here again...well, almost.

We aren't big Valentine Day celebraters around here but it is important to remember all the things in my life that I love. Sometimes, I get so caught up in the everyday comings and goings that I forget to tell the people I love how I feel. (ah who am I kidding, I tell the boys I love them 800 times a day). Regardless, I am a sucker for love and I thought I would tell you why I love my little men and my big guy too.

I always tell the boys the story of when I found out I was pregnant (with Christian) I prayed and prayed so hard for a boy that it worked really well. Thats how God gave me three.

Being a Mom is awesome. The fact that these guys came from me is amazing. I have to tell you they are the best thing I have ever done. I am not a perfect mom, but one thing is certain: My kids know I love them. I love that they are very different from eachother. I love to hear their stories and find out what makes them happy. Everyday it is something new and that is what makes them so fun. I love it when we all snuggle in our bed and watch movies together. I am afraid and excited to meet the men they will become. I am thankful they love God and eachother and at the end of the day that is all I could ask for.

As for that guy who is my husband. I met Chris when I was very young...

The truth is it never occurred to me to be nervous about marrying him. He is honest, kind, stubborn, funny, quiet, hard working and a pain in the butt. He knows what he wants he goes for it. I watched him work hard to finish school (with perfect grades I might add) earn money for us to live on, be a strong husband and a great father. Today I am so proud of the Dad he has become and even more thankful of the husband that he is. He lets me be me and that is tough to do.

So this year to my Valentine's all the love in my heart and I promise to work hard to be the mom and wife they deserve.

Jonah and Max

Jonah and Max are going to perform in the Alladin play today. Jonah is Alladin and Max is Abu. It should be super cute. I am looking forward to it. The boys are so adorable.

Christian has been working really hard at school. He recently went downtown with his school for a Tower of Power Jazz concert which he loved. He truly loves music, they all do. I just love that about my kids.

Chris and I have been busy getting ready to raise the house. Soon, very soon. I call everyday and get told any day now....every day. However, any day should come soon and I am really excited to be done with this chapter in our lives.

Finally, I am a freak. There is a song stuck in my head. "What if I stumble, What if I fall? What if I loose my step and I make fools of us all? Would your love continue when my walk becomes a crawl? What if I Stumble, what if I fall?" I know we all make mistakes in life. I have been so blessed in my life that I forget that sometimes you hurt people without even realizing it. I have stumbled and hurt people. I am just thankful that I have had the opportunity to live the life I set out to live and I hope that my future is so much better than my past. After almost 13 years of marriage and kids, I am thankful that we have stayed strong and committed. Everyday I thank God for my family and the blessings in my life. I hope I have learned from my past and will continue to strive to be a good strong woman.

Merry Christmas

Christmas came and went so fast. However, there were many highlights and fun times to be had.
We started the season with our annual tree trip with the Paulson family. We met with Santa and had fun on the hey ride. Tanya and Trav + kids came over for some chili and wine after. It was awesome and a great way to kick things off.
We had a holiday party at Chris's work. That was fun.
Christmas Eve, we spent with Claire, Mark and the girls. We did a little last minute shopping, along with Carousel ride and pizza. We tried to go to church but there was no room in the inn.

Christmas morning we woke up to darn early, opened presents and then walked to church. Trev came by for a bit. We just spent the rest of the day hangin out as a fam. We played Life and ate way too much food.

Thankfully, I didn't bake too much this year. However, my mother in law did and sent me many cookies that I ate...Still can't breathe.
We went to the tri-cities for a weekend with the Duvall clan. It was nice. All the kids were home. Kim moved into a new house which is so beautiful. Christian cried when he left his grandma and cousins. The boys had such a great time.

Now I am switching gears to New Years. Christian turns 12 in just 3 short days and I am not ready. How fast time flies. I am thankful for all the blessings in my life and looking forward to a great 2010!

27 Things

As most people know, I work at the library. Recently, I have been asked to do some extra training. One of the things I have to do is create a blog. WELL ALL BE! I am smarter than I thought I was and already have a blog.

The purpose of this assignment is to communicate thoughts and ideas in a clear organized fashion. Lots of librarians use blogs for books, ideas, information, book clubs, etc. etc. I blog to tell the story of my sweet family. Hey, its important to me.

Calming Down?

I finally feel like things are slowing down for us just a little. Of course we are still busy with the day to day but the absence of sports in our lives makes a huge difference. We are coming up on Winter and I am looking forward to hitting the slopes with my family. It is one of my favorite things we do.

The rain is falling all the time and I can't help but panic a little inside. I know Chris and I feel the stress of the next phase of remodel that is coming up ahead. However, we did find a little time to go on a date this week. We went to dinner and a movie. It was fun. Not my movie choice but still nice to spend some time together. Tanya is taking the kids this weekend so we can head to the SU Gala for a night of dancing. Chris and I are taking dance lessons again so I hope it pays off.

I haven't had much time to write but I am getting there and with each task completed I feel like I may just get to a point where I can make some real progress..
Thanksgiving is coming soon and I can't wait for apple and pumpkin pie. I love it!

Finding Time

It has been so difficult since the flood to find time for much of anything. I realize that I need to take time for the little things. When I look back at my blog, I read it like a diary and I realize that I am glad for taking those few moments to document my favorite memories. This year has been very difficult. The boys have been so busy with their activities and Chris and I do our best to keep up with them and make sure we still have our family moments.

The boys have grown and changed so much. So to restart my blog, I thought I would write a bit about my favorite things for eac boy.

Max....My Macaroni Man. He is more and more like his faher everyday. He is still my baby but everyday he needs me just a little less. He loves to make his own lunch but he is so slow. Peanut butter goes everywhere and there are always messes after...Iwouldn't change a thing. He loves to cook and I love that he responsible for his own lunch. He loves to listen to Mozart before bed. He climbs in his bed, reads andjust listens to his music. He is soo sweet to his mommy and is always available for a good cuddle or a mommy smooch. He sings to himself and loves art, science and math. Mostly, I just love those few moments where he has a ton to say..It cracks me up. He is so quiet and then bam...you can't get him to stop talking. He and Jonah will get to telling eachother jokes and Max will laugh and laugh. You have never heard anything so sweet as my little Mackey's laugh.

Jonah...Or should I say the next Michael Jackson (80's version). Jonah is such a free spirit. He is so sweet and sensitive. His imaagination is unparralelled. Where ever we go there are kids shouting Hey Jonah, Hey Jonah. He knows everyone. One of my favorite things about Jonah is his ability to entertain. He goes to the football games and shakes his groove thing by the band and they all cheer for him. He loves it. That being said he is sweet and humble. He tries hard and plays all his sports with enthusiasm and joy. He is soo cute with his piano teacher. He loves to listen to people and their stories and he is always coming hometelling me about other peoples lives. He cares about other people and wants to help them.

Christian....What can I say about my first born. He is smart, funny, driven and just a cool kid. The two thing people say most about Christian is "His eyes are gorgeous" and "he has the best manners." Things a mother loves to hear. All the boys love music but Chirstian is developing a passion. Today foot ball was canceled and he spent three hours playing piano. He loves it. He loves learning and loves to work hard. Christian strives to be the best he can be without wishing someone to be "worse" than him. He is the kind of kid who is good at a lot of things.
He is a fantastic big brother and loves to take time to teach the boys what he had learned. I think Christina going to middle school was hardest on Max because Christian always take such good care of him. When he doesn't have practice he wants to be on the field with his brothers.

Oh boy, the trouble I am going to have when they start liking girls...Yikes.

There is no doubt that I have been blessed beyond my greatest imagination and I will continue to watch these boys grow and change into men. I pray that weare doing the best we can for them and I look forward to their future.

Hello Blot Where Have You Been

Well, it has been a few days since I blogged. Since then baseball season has finished...well almost one more tournament weekend to go plus one today and tomorrow. Jonah turned 10 years old. Holy Cow. I will write an omage to the Jo Man soon. The house has come together and we are living again which is lovely. Just in time for the Grant money to come through so we can tear it apart again. No time like the present. Life has been hectic and busy but good. Summer has been fun and I am getting excited to get thing together for a vacation to Maui. I can't wait. Oh yeah, I turned 33 which was fun. Now I have to write my 33 favorite things too. Ahhh, all of that will have to wait til work on Monday. I have only a few moments left on this shift and then off to watch the skip play ball. He is soo cute. Will post back soon but glad to have found my blog again.

Happy Birthday Chris.

Chris and I had a fantastic weekend. The boys had four games between them and they won all of them. Yeah. A friend of ours had all three boys over for a sleepover. Chris and I went to the movies, woke up, made breakfast and played a little Tiger Woods golf before picking up the boys. Chris worked on the permit set of the house while the boys played baseball. All in all it was a nice weekend.

When its my bday, I always write my favorite things. I thought I could do the same for Chris.

1. He is a the best kind of Man.
2. He is honest and stubborn.
3. He is an amazing father of three boys. When I say amazing, I mean he truly gives 150% to them all the time.
4. He supports me in everything I do.
5. He is not only there for me and the boys but he put equal amount of time in volunteering for our church, the summit, little league etc. etc.
6. He will wear just about anything, I made him dress up as the male SNL cheerleader one time, and Jonah made him dress up as Aragon and a king.
7. He is super freakin smart.
8. When he is angry he does not yell or swear at me. He listens to what I have to say....I wish I could learn to do that.
9. He is nice to my friends.
10. The other day we were talking about something and he said he wanted me to take care of myself so we could sit next to eachother in our rockers.
11. He laughs at my jokes. Even the dumb ones.
12. He works super hard to bring home the bacon.
13. He would rather pay for piano, gymnastics, baseball, football, fishing gear, ski passes, etc etc than go sit at a bar for a guys night.
14. He builds things with Max, does Math with Christian and plays legos with Jonah. Always, meets them on their terms.
15. He is driven.
16. One of our first conversations was about raising our kids to love God.
17. Somehow he always seems to be right and he will admit to me when he is not.
18. He rubs my back when it hurts.
19. He always gets me a glass of wine when he thinks I need one and he is usually right.
20. He trusts me.
21. OH yeah, he buys me clothes and usually gets the right size.
22. He pretends like he won't watch girl movies with me but let me watch Pride and Prejudice on his birthday and didn't complain one time.
23. He loves music
24. He doesn't get mad when I throw a glass of cold water on him in the shower!!! All is fair in love and war.
25. He gets worried if we haven't talked every morning by 9am.
26. He actually wants me to get pedicures.
27. He is handsome
28. He is a thinker
29. He is a fantastic cleaner.
30. Sometime when he laughs really hard he cries.
31. He is the only coach I have never heard not yell at the kids.
32. He is my best friend
33. He doesn't care if I order lobster
34. He new what forever was and he meant it.
35. He is my prince charming. The best man I have ever known.

Furniture

Oh, what a day we had yesteday. We woke up early to get out of the way of the contractor. We took the boys for pancakes and then begin one heck of a day of shopping. We ordered our tables/chairs and our bedroom furniture. We then went and picked out a couch and chairs. Chris's "chair is on order as is our table, chairs and bedroom furniture. They should arrive in 6-8 weeks. (well some of it will be longer). I am excited about what we have now. I still need end tables and a few odds and ends here and there. After furniture shopping, Jonah had a practice, then we desperately needed groceries. We came home piled on the couch and watched a movie. Chris and I fell asleep almost immediately.
I am not sure what is on the agenda today, I don't think I can handle two shopping days in a row. However, I do need to start replacing blenders, toasters, waffle iron etc. etc. I think I will wait til next week. Afterall, if I have a waffle iron, the boys will make me make them waffles. I am just too tired. Hope you enjoy the pics.

The move home went well. Several people from the library came over to help. They were Fantastic. After church we had another three families stop by to carry things from one house to the other. Chris's parents came up for the weekend. They went shopping and ran errands with Chris while I worked. We had a lovely dinner out and then they helped us move on Sunday. My goodness we got a lot done and a tone of friends to help. It was great.

The piano was delivered today. Chris and Christian went right to playing some tunes together. After about 20 min or so, I recorded this. The piano is beautiful and the boys are so thrilled to have it back. Once it came, it felt like we were home again. Max's room is super cool. Its like a little bachelor pad, it cracks me up. Christian and Jonah are happy in their new Husky bedroom. I was unsure about the colors but they are growing on me.

I am thrilled to be home and looking forward to a couple days off from work. Chris took the week off to spend with the boys over spring break. I have to work most of it but it is nice having him home. Things are definately getting back to normal and I love it.