All About the Shop

I know... it's been all about the shop lately! We're so excited! Our building is finished- the electrician is wiring it up this week sometime, then the work of moving Jim's "toys" over will begin!! Last week, I got our builder to admit we weren't too difficult to work with... quite decisive- at least we think! But, after they poured the concrete, I decided we needed a bigger pad for the boys to play basketball on. It just wasn't wide enough to practice those 3-pointers! So, they're coming back to pour more concrete.

We're going to fill in the whole space that Coleman is standing in (in the large photo). From the edge all the way out to the three posts on the porch will finish off their court. It's a lot of concrete, but with all boys- boys who love basketball- I want it done right! The shots above are from the front, side porch and the back.

As you can see, our little Ladybug already thinks she's the guard dog. I had the boys put their hand prints in the concrete- should be fun to show grandkids... since now we're definitely not wanting to move again!

We have a ROOF

It's just about finished! The siding is complete, and the roof is on. They're working on pouring more concrete today and those big 'old doors! Yes, it feels just about as big as a house... but, "we" didn't want to outgrow it. Jim's most excited to have a clean garage again for our vehicles with the mowers and tractor parked out in the shop. He's also planning to put some walls up so we can have a wood working area set up for business. Yes- it will be a forever project!
The piles of dirt and sand have been a huge playground for Coleman and Caden. As soon as the workers are gone for the day, they gravitate out there (with or without shoes) to run their dump trucks around and get dirty. I'm about tired of the sand they manage to carry into the house each evening, but they LOVE it. They're definitely all boy!!

Taking It Easy

Coleman put this door hanger on my bedroom doorknob, but I'm positive he doesn't have a clue what it means! He just knows it's for the door. Jim bought some cute pj's this week for my birthday. Along with super cute packaging this little hanger was inside. It's a nice idea, but I'm pretty sure I could never get away with shutting the door for some quiet time!

While birthdays aren't usually too exciting for me, Jim really went all out and made this one great! Along with some surprises, he even ordered an ice-cream cake (and brought dinner home). Definitely took me back to being a little girl with my "own" birthday cake- so fun!! Of course, he didn't forget to put on there how old I am... Thanks for everything, honey!
Makes me laugh reflecting back to being a kid and thinking that the 30's were so old. No way- I feel so young!!

Our New Web Site

I'm thrilled to finally have our new Web site LIVE and ready to take orders! Yikes... guess that means I have to go back to work after taking two months off! After months of working on it along with an excellent Web Design Team, the kinks are just about worked out!

I'm especially excited with our Custom Vinyl Lettering section. With our font preview option, you can easily add your text, then change up the font as many times as you'd like until you're happy with it.
Our goal was to create an easy-to-navigate site with the option of ordering both custom lettering and custom plaques. We're quite excited with the result!

End of the Season

I may be lost in a couple of weeks... Not really, but basketball season is quickly coming to an end. Coleman's basketball ended on Saturday.
Tyler's team will finish this week with a tournament game tonight. As automatic league champs, they had a bye on Saturday, and should finish things up with this game. Justin's down to two (or so) weeks of play left. After that- it's a long wait until November. Basketball season is long, but I just LOVE it. With football, they have one game a week and a much shorter season. We figured between boys, we've had six games in the last eight days.
This week alone are three games from 30 minutes to an hour drive away. Crazy thing- I'm really not tired of it! Luckily, track is just around the corner.

Three Windows & A Door

It's coming along! (These photos are for you- dad) We now have three windows and a man door! It's supposed to hit 70 degrees today, but the Kansas wind is supposed to kick in. They've started on the metal siding/insulation... we'll see how far they get. It actually is starting to look like a shop!

The Dentist's Chair

There are a few things that I'm not fond of (heights, winter cold, curry), but only a couple things that terrify me. One of those is visiting the dentist. I'm not sure why. I always had regular cleanings and exams growing up. I had the same dentist most of my life- he was a nice guy. I brush regularly, no major problems.

With a little encouragement, I finally scheduled myself for a long overdue cleaning and exam. While sitting in the chair, the thought crossed my mind (again) that I'd would have rather been in labor having another baby than sitting there.
It went fine- I survived.
Anyhow, I'm realizing it's much easier (for me) to schedule my kids for these appointments, than take the time for myself. As moms, it's easy to put ourselves last but, need to take care of these things too! I'm going to work on this...
Caden and Coleman had their cleanings this week as well- Caden's first. I wanted to start them early so hopefully, they don't end up with the fear that their momma has!
I actually ended up holding Caden the whole time in the chair. Luckily, he was pretty excited by the end and said next time he'll sit alone!

Our Shop- A Reality (finally)

It's actually going to be built! We made all of the decisions and paid the down payment long before Halloween. Yesterday, they finally started working on our shop and said it should be finished this week. I told our builder that I was going to take off until he had it finished. It was fine with me that he take his time getting to us. Guess my vacation is quickly coming to an end- back to making plaques!Seeing it framed up and the posts set definitely make it a reality! It's going to be 30' x 45' and is placed on the south side of our property. I have a feeling once it's finished, I'm never going to see my hubby...YIKES!

FINALLY... a win

The first smiles I've seen on the court this year. If you look closely at Justin in the middle, he's grinning from ear to ear! After 10 brutal losses, Justin's team finally notched a much-deserved win. All of the boys played so well... but, it was a tied game with 8-10 seconds left on the clock, and it wasn't our ball. I was just excited for the chance to go to overtime and the possibility of a win.
On the inbound pass, Justin stole the ball, passed it up to his teammate Todd for the easy lay-up at the buzzer for the win.
Of course, we couldn't be more proud!