Land Update

Well, we FINALLY got the logger to get out to the land to start cutting the trees.  Kris hates pine trees and that is mostly what we have on the land.  So, we plan to get rid of all of them.  We were so excited!   We went out there almost every day to watch the progress.

June 12th:  Just getting started.

June 13th:  We went out there with the kids.  They got to check out the big equipment.

This picture was looking out to the street from approximately where we will put the house.

June 14th

Looking so different already!!

June 15th:   I drove out there with the kids at lunch time and the logger let the boys climb in the cab of this monster and watch him work.  So cool and so nice of him.

This was about the time we had a little issue with one of our neighbors.  The lady called and asked Kris if he would leave a bunch of trees on the side of our property closest to hers.  She was worried about her privacy.  They had recently bought the house next door and were basically shocked that we were cutting down all the trees.  Kris told her that he hated pine trees and that we were going to get rid of them.  She was distressed because she thought it was going to affect her property value.  She came out the day before and talked to our logger.  He told us that he saw her walking up and down the street in front of our property throwing her hands up and down.  She was so upset.  We tried to be nice about it, but it is our property and we do have plans for it.  The logger told her that we wouldn't leave the property like this and that we had big plans for it and would make it look nice.  We have since reiterated that to her which has helped some.  However, she definitely thinks she can be opinionated about our land for some reason.

June 19th

June 22nd:  Trying to get a panoramic view from the front.

From the side of the property.

June 24th:  Looking at the street.

Mom and Dad were in town and so Dad came and walked it with us.  We dreamed and imagined everything we want to do!

The next thing we'll do is go mark the trees that we want to keep.  There are more trees other than pines than we originally thought.  We will try to keep as many as we can and then will plant our own at some point.  After marking the trees, the next thing is for one of Kris' co-workers who owns a dirt work company to come and clean everything up for us and do the dirt work for his workshop and the house.  Kris is hoping for a "brother-in-law" deal, as he calls it, from this co-worker, so we are just going to have to wait until he can get to us before anything else gets done.  We can hardly wait to see what it will look like then!!!

Tidying Up

I got the itch to tidy my kitchen one day and just went after it.  I didn't take any before pictures of my cabinets because I just jumped in.  I did get some pictures of all the stuff that I pulled out and went through though.  I had way too many cups in my cabinets that were taking up too much room.

I also had too many cooking utensils many of which I never used.

I boxed up a lot of stuff to sell later in a garage sale!  Here are my cabinets now.  They function so much better and are much neater looking.

I still love the idea of tidying up my home, but right now I just get to it when I can get to it.  In this case, it was on a whim.  I love the results and really hope it will help me out down the road when we go to sell our house and move!

PV Picnic

PV had its annual Fourth of July Picnic at the end of June this year.  It is always a lot of fun!  This year Mr. Ledger got to check it out for himself.  He loved it and I know that it will only get more and more fun for him as he gets older.  

Hannah was "too big" to do the water stuff this year.  She and Katelynn were more interested in looking cute!  Ha!

Tim Sitler took this picture and I LOVE it!!!!

Lincoln was excited because he got to play with Jack!  Layton was sick this year and didn't get to go.  :-(

Layton is 7!!

My Layton turned 7 on the 21st!!  I can't believe he is getting so big.  We didn't do a big party this year.  We went to Chick-fil-a for breakfast to get the day started off special.

He got a new bike for his birthday from us.

Then, he got to invite Connor to go to see Cars 3 at the movies.  Connor brought him over a gift as well.

Here are some of the things I want to remember about our Layton at 7:

**You love to hang around with the big boys.  This is definitely due to having a big brother.
**You are naturally athletic and good at sports.  You like basketball and baseball.  You are super fast.  You are also a great swimmer.
**You love to be outside and love especially to work with your daddy.  This is so neat to watch and I hope you stay this way.
**You are in a pretty shy phase right now especially with adults.
**Your laugh is infectious.
**You like to comb your hair.
**You have had a rough transition to having a new baby brother.  Things are getting better though.  I know you love him.  You just weren't too sure about him coming in and taking your place I think.
**You know how to throw fits when you don't get your way.
**You wear size 6 clothes mostly and about a size 12 or 13 shoe.  You are a little thing.
**You are reading great and I can tell you are going to be a great student.  You are a smart boy and were at the top of your Kindergarten class last year according to your teacher.
**You still like to play with my hair sometimes and love to help make scrambled eggs.
**You are sweet and very inquisitive.  You ask lots of questions about lots of things.  You just want to know.

Layton, we love you so so much and are so proud of you!!!  Happy Birthday Buddy!!

Travs Game

Since we haven't been able to make going to a Royals game work this summer, we settled for a Travs game instead.  They were playing a Royals AA team, though, from Northwest Arkansas.  It worked out well because we got free tickets from the library for signing up for the Summer Reading Program.

It was a warm night, but we found a good spot that was slightly shaded.  We were right behind the visitors bull pen, so it was fun to watch them warm up right below us.

Our character-- Lincoln.

Our sass-- Hannah.

Our quiet, shy one-- Layton.

And our surprise-- Ledger.

We had a great time and actually stayed for the entire game!