Our New Addition

We have a new member in our family--he's a 10 week old Golden Retriever puppy. We named him Shadow. Maggie loves him, but he doesn't know what to think of Maggie. He's really a sweet boy. We look forward to getting to know him; and him getting to know us. We'd like to thank the Hill family for entrusting us with one of Jewell's sweet babies.

Harrison's First Track Meet

Harrison ran in his first track meet as a member of the JV Northgate Track team. He ran two events--the 1600 m (1 mile) and the 3200 m (2 miles). He was pretty nervous this morning, especially about the 3200m race. He has never been able to run 2 miles without stopping to walk. This was going to be a real test.

He did beautifully in both races. He finished the 1600m (4 laps around the track) in 6 minutes 27 seconds. The boys and girls both ran at the same time during the 3200m race. So, he was able to run with Caroline Hanks. Since they've been competing with one another in one form or fashion since they were newborns (who can talk first, who can walk first, who can potty-train first--Caroline has always been first except for talking and that's only because Harrison is 5 months older...LOL), we were all interested to see how the race would play out. They both did exceptionally well. Harrison finished the 3200m race(8 laps around the track) in 14 minutes 48 seconds. Caroline and he stayed together for about the first 5 laps; and then, Harrison passed her. He thinks she was holding back, though; and probably could have

given him a good run for his money. You're a good friend, Caroline :c).

By the way, he never did stop and walk...another personal best.

Both times were personal bests for Harrison. His next meet is next Thursday. We can't wait to see what he does next time.

Hannah's New Room

Well, it's been three whole weeks, but we finally have Hannah's room 90% done. So, we revealed it to her and moved her back in ( This was her reaction).

The only thing we have left to do is refinish the antique bed that I bought (for a steal) and buy her a boxspring and new mattress set. That will have to wait another week, or so. (The weather isn't very conducive to painting and waiting for that paint to dry.)

This room is TOTALLY Hannah! This was not necessarily what I had in mind when we talked about redoing her room. But, she picked out the bedding and the paint; and I went from there. Anyway, Hannah LOVES her room. She said that she NEVER wanted to get it dirty. I'm going to hold her to that.

We started with some INSPIRATION:

THE WALLS:

Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort (two tone walls with the chair rail molding around the top.)

THE BEDDING:

THE COLOR PALETTE:

Then, Harry and I went to work from there. Basically, I designed; and Harry made it all happen. I would tell him what I wanted it to look like; and he would figure out how to do it. This was wonderful, too, because I do not do so well with the measuring and leveling...all the math stuff. I purely an ideas person.

And here is the BEFORE:

And the AFTER:

We're happy with the results because Hannah's is happy. We'll post pictures of the new bed when it gets done (probably in another 3 weeks).

March Weather Madness

Holy Cow! We had snow on March 1st! Last night it was 60º and then by noon today it was snow flurries everywhere. We got about 2 inches total. It was the darndest thing, too, we had snow flurries AND thunder and lightening at the same time. We've never seen anything like it. Harry had to go to an 11:00 am church meeting. By 12:30 pm, they had decided to cancel church; and by 2:30 pm Harry was home. The kids and Maggie absolutely had a blast. The kids played outside for a long time; and, of course, Maggie had to be out there with them. She absolutely LOVES the snow. Even if the kids were inside, she wanted to be out. Since the kids came inside, we've been having fun drinking hot chocolate, snuggling up in our PJ's, and watching movies. The kids are hoping they cancel school tomorrow.

PS- If you look closely at the picture of Harry and I, you can see I'm missing "something." (psst...it's my braces. I got them off on February 18th).