Putting Utensils Away

Patrick is getting pretty good and helping with small chores. He can put his clothes away in the hamper, pick up toys, water the flowers, help set the table, and put away the clean utensils.

More on the Walls!

Our house is definitely staring to feel like we live here. In the last couple of weeks we have gotten more decorations up on the walls.

I found these cute letters at Hobby Lobby and used scrapbook paper, Modge Podge, ribbons and buttons to liven them up.

Then we got that mirror hung up:

And my cross-stitch that my mother-in-law so generously and beautifully framed for me.

I love that our house is coming together, and I can't wait to sew some curtains this winter and be on the look out for cute little things to add.

Color!

We have had a BUSY weekend painting. I have been waiting many years to be able to put some color on my walls, and now I have it! We painted the living room and hall a pretty green, and then the long wall in the living room that goes into the kitchen and the kitchen itself are red. Really red.

All the walls in the house were brown, so it is FABULOUS to have some color in our house. I have a mirror to hang behind the front door, and some pictures and other decorations to hang, too, and once I get curtains up it will really look like our home.

It was a lot of work, but it sure was worth it. I LOVE IT!

Master Reed

Reed got a phone call this evening informing him that he has been accepted to Argosy University to begin his Master's program in Marriage and Family Therapy! Whoo Hoo!

Argosy is a small private university here in Denver (one of many locations). That offers programs for working adults. The classes are every other weekend, with each class lasting 2-4 weekends. We have been really busy this summer working on Reed's certification for his BCABA (Board Certified Associate Behavior Analyst) and now with the seminary calling, applying for school has been pushed back, Luckily, the process when very quickly, and now he can get started! It will make things much more hectic and busy, but the sooner he starts, the sooner he will be done. Hooray!

A Work In Progress

Here are some pictures from this weekend's efforts. Please ignore the mostly dead grass; that will be revived next spring.

We put rock down in front. It still needs to be smoothed out a little and eventually we will get some big colorful pots to sit here.

Here is the berm we made. A vast improvement on the chunk of dead ground that was here before. This afternoon I planted 40 bulbs (daffodils and tulips) and added the mulch. Theoretically, next March/April there should be a lot of pretty flowers in there.

The hedges in the background were also trimmed (a lot) and shaped by my wonderful mother-in-law.

I have a cute little row of mums right in front of the porch that will eventually form a small hedge.

So excited that we are making progress! Next up -- painting the living room/kitchen. We bought the paint this morning!

Patrick Knows His Letters!

I finally got Patrick to sit still so I could get a video of him reciting his letters.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjNmqt8D4Mk

Laboring for Labor Day

I'm not sure what we are supposed to celebrate on Labor Day, other than the unofficial end of summer, but this year we celebrated by laboring in our yard. We love our house, but it came with a lot of potential. In other words, we have a lot of work to do. Our yards, both font and back, were basically blank slates when we moved in. Fast forward nine months, and you have a jungle that has filled in that blank slate. I didn't take any before pictures, but it looked something like this:

With the help of our loving family, we got a really good start on our front yard this weekend. Before we bought the house, the previous owners had to fix the foundation because of water damage, so we had to create drainage around the foundation. We got dirt rototilled and plastic laid down for drainage, and then rocks on top of that. Eventually we will get some large pots to set on top of the rocks so it isn't so bare. On the other side of the house, in front of the porch, we formed a nice berm with some bushes, mums, and bulbs that will come up in the spring.

We trimmed some hedges on the side of the house, and our nice neighbor even helped us pull out two huge stumps. We still have like a dozen more to pull out, but we really feel like we accomplished a lot this weekend.

The other thing we celebrated yesterday was a WIN FOR BOISE STATE! They played Virginia Tech last night, and even though the second half was a nail-biter, BSU was able to pull off the last-minute winning plays. This was their biggest game of the season! I am so excited that they have a real shot at the championship this year. I will be rooting them on all year.

Mockingjay

I received the book Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins for my birthday. This is the third in the Hunger Games trilogy, for those of you not in the know. It was fantastic, and I highly recommend this series. Even though it is labeled as young adult fiction, I really think it is best suited for older teens and adults. The stories are very compelling and hard to put down, and even though Mockingjay was a little dark, I think the author was true to the characters. I can't say much more because I'm sure there are people out there who are reading it or who want to. But definitely a must-read.

New Adventures for the Haight Family

Reed and I both have new adventures starting. First, Reed was called this morning to be an early-morning seminary teacher for our stake. It was a little surprising, but I think Reed is excited because he has always wanted to teach seminary. The timing is a little interesting, but then again, it always is with callings, isn't it? He is teaching his first class in about 9 hours, and doesn't have any information other than the time, what building, and that it is Doctrine and Covenants. This will be a fun few weeks!

My adventure isn't as big, but I am excited about it. I really wanted to find another job that I could work from home, but when I thought about what I loved to do, I really just wanted to tutor, because I loved it so much when I did it at BYU-Idaho. So a couple weeks ago I put some ads on Craigslist just to see if anyone was interested. Luckily, I got a hit in only four days. I had my first tutoring session last Thursday, and I am so excited to be doing it again. I am tutoring a man from India who has lived here about 10 years, and his English is great, but he wants to move up at work to a manager position, so he wants to polish he grammar and writing skills. Which is awesome because grammar is my favorite. So glad I kept those books from college.

So life here is getting busier, but we are super happy about it!

Saying Prayers

A little bit about our Patrick boy. He is talk all the time now, even though a lot is still gibberish. This week we have started helping him say our nightly prayers, and sometimes it makes me tear up it is so darn cute (and sometimes we giggle). He usually just says the last word that I say, but tonight he did a really good job repeating. We are very proud of him.

He also thinks he doesn't need a nap before church, and then is too exhausted to last through nursery, so we end up holding him/pacing until he passes out. Luckily we only have four months left of 1pm church.

He is currently obsessed with owies. If he gets the tiniest scratch, he wants a band-aid and limps for an hour. If he sees anything on you that looks like it may be an owie, he gets very concerned, puts on a sad face, and kisses it better for you. He is a cross between very sweet and kind of dramatic.

Pretty soon I will get a video of him doing kung fu with daddy. Hilarious.