Update on Our House at The Village

Its been a while since I'v posted pictures on the progress being made on our house at The Village.

This week Brian installed the windows, so that really made the house look real. They also started to layout out where the walls are suppose to go and fastening the footplates to the concrete floor. The bathtub and shower are sitting in the house now and the interior of the house has been plastered. Brian started doing this and quickly discovered he needed to hire this part of the house out. He's never plastered before and it was taking him too long.

Pictures are always better-so here ya go.

{back of our house before windows}

{bathtub and shower}

{a local company sent a backhoe and driver to help us on a Saturday.

The were able to backfill the sewer trench, dig a new trench for electrical service and

backfill that trench in one morning}

{Lindie enjoying some raisins off the dirty floor}

{There is always a little bit of time for fun with daddy}

{front of the house with windows in}

Liam "Where the peanut"

Yesterday after picking up Liam from preschool, he came home and wanted a snack. He took his snack of peanuts and raisins to the living room and sat of the floor to play . Lori Wegner, from the POG team, was sitting in the living room with him and I was in our bedroom putting things away. Pretty soon I heard Lori say "I think Liam put a peanut up his nose." I came into the room and Liam said with his hands in the air "where the peanut" and then he pointed to his nose.

I found a flash light and looked up his nose and found the peanut. It took a bit to find it because it was really high. Lori and I were trying to show Liam how to sneeze but he couldn't understand what we wanted, he would just throw his head forward like a sneeze. I sent Brian a text and told him about Liam and he came home shortly after that. Before Brian arrived, I tried getting the peanut out with tweezers but the snot around it was making it too slippery. When daddy arrived he also tried the tweezer but that was not going to work.

Only Brian would think of this. He taped a drinking straw to the end of our vacuum hose to suck out the peanut. It was a bit different but it sure did work. And of course I had to take a video of it. Hope you enjoy the video of the Liam and the Peanut.

{Disclaimer: Do not try this at home. Serious injury could occur to the nasal and sinus cavity if not done under the proper supervision of a Master Building in South Africa. If your child gets a peanut stuck in their nose please contact your local doctor and don't take our advice. But it did work and we didn't have any medical bills afterwards.}

Ah Kids

I noticed its been a while since I'v posted pictures of Liam and Lindie. Well, Liam often makes it into the construction pictures. Lindie doesn't get in the pictures because she gets left in the car while I deliver lunch and take video of the progress...poor little girl.

Lindie is growing leaps and bounds, she is just so cute. For a while she has been pulling herself up and walking around the furniture. She loves letting go to balance for a few seconds and then falling down on her bum. She thinks this is great fun. She especially loves doing it in her bed because she likes the bounce. She is learning to sign 'Thank You', 'Please' & 'More'. If she forgets how to do it Liam is quick to take her hands and show her how.

Liam and Lindie really enjoy playing together, so far not many fights. Liam is very good at sharing his toys and making sure she has plenty of things to play with. For Christmas, Liam got a play tent with an attached tunnel...Lindie loves playing in the tunnel and Liam chases her through it. {you can watch them play in the video}

Liam is growing up and is a little boy these days. We have been 'seriously' potty training for more then a month now, as in no diaper during the day, even for naps. Somedays are great, one 1 or 2 accidents, other days are bad with many accidents. Friday was a super duper day with no accidents! We might be making progress!

Liam has learned how to take off his shirt, so he is often shirtless. He can count 1-5 and is trying to get his fingers to show the right numbers. He has a wide vocabulary and is now putting many words together like "How are you" and "Happy Birthday Pops".

Liam and Lindie share a bedroom, during nap time they are so funny. They talk to each other for about 10-15 minutes and then finally fall asleep. Somedays it gets a little loud but most of the time they stay under control.

People warned us that having kids 15 months apart was going to be a lot of work. I have to say, we so enjoy having our kids spaced closely. They were both really good babies and are both good little kids who enjoy each others friendship. I am praying they remain good friends and loving siblings!

Being Flexible-that's what life is all about!

Ah, life has been Good, Hectic, Encouraging, Always Changing & Never Dull.

From August 4-17, we hosted a group of guys from ISU and thoroughly enjoyed getting back into the groove of having teams. All of the guys stayed with the O'Tools but we were involved daily with the team.

Brian organized all the daily projects and kept everyone busy at the property. I was mainly involved with helping Amber cook at their house. Everyday around 11Am, the kids and I would go to their house to make lunch for the group and then take it to the property. We made a lot of sandwiches! In the afternoons, I'd go back and help with supper preparations. Sometimes we would join the group for supper and other times just headed home. We never knew when the guys were going to stop working for the day-so supper needed to be ready anytime between 6-7:30pm. {This is one area where flexibility was important}

{24 tune-apple sandwiches}

{Lunch at the property}

Sometime the kids and I would visit the property 2 or 3 times a day to keep up with the progress being made. I need lots of pictures and video! On really busy work days {pouring cement} we provide mid morning and mid afternoon snacks and drinks. Liam loves visiting daddy and the guys at the property. It is a true highlight of his day. I often don't know what Brian will think of next for Liam to enjoy. Check out the latest video of Liam! Who would have thought? But it worked out just fine! Liam loves watching this video clip. Meredith also enjoyed her turn. By far, this isn't the craziest thing he has done-I do believe riding in the cement mixer still tops it all! {to view Liam riding in the cement mixer check this post out http://niehoffsa.blogspot.com/2010/06/unconventional-daddy.html}

Liam and His Dirt Bike!

Shortly before Liam's first birthday, Brian sold my dirt bike because I rarely used it and he bought a small quad bike and this little dirt bike to replace it. At the time he was teaching the kids at The Pines how to ride a dirt bike-so it was the perfect teaching size. It was also the perfect size for Liam's first dirt bike, for when he is a little bigger. Since Liam was about 10 months old he had been riding with Brian and he has always LOVED it. His love for dirt bikes and fun naturally comes from his father!