Before and After...

Before: Ugly sliding glass door - oh and still carpet in living room

After: beautiful new door (I think it's called a "4-panel door" or something like that) and a peek at the wood (laminate) floors...so happy we decided to go with the laminate.

I hope to be done soon with all the landscaping we're having done. We're having a retaining wall put in on one side of the house (complete with laying of rebar, concrete, and all that jazz) and a few fixes on the fence. Our new grass looks so inviting...ahhhh.... And I must add that I adore our landscaping guy...he's really, REALLY good and really, REALLY afordable...there's more about why but I can't post that here...but I would totally recommend his company.

Okay, off to bed...well soon...have work to do first...(oh, and keep reading below...)

My funny boys...

At Logan and Seth's pre-K class they were discussing birthdates. Their birthday is July 15 (and may I add they were born an HOUR and a HALF apart...Seth!!!!) and it just so happens that they will be turning 5 right smack in the middle of the cruise. So, when their teacher exclaimed that her birthday is also July 15th, they responded with "Oh, so are you going on a cruise too"???

Oh, my sweet boys...thinking this whole cruise is for their birthday...hope they don't expect the same "present" next year!

Next week baby!

Front View of the house with grass...

And then, we got lots of unpacking done today...so we took a few hours out of our day to do this:

The water was perfect, the solar blanket really does it's job well. Lots of exercise was had by all.

And we're finally finishing up our landscaping. Phew! These guys work so hard, they start before 8am and are still working at 7pm. I highly recommend them to anyone in the area. They are NOT a big-name company...just a cool guy with lots of busy hands to help...and they do a really good job.

Time for bed...more tomorrow...

Got Grass?

No, not that kind...

This kind...

Before:


After:

And altho you can't see it, the grass continues behind the shade structure. Isn't sod wonderful? Instant backyard. We had some of the concrete slabs taken up since there is so much more area to the left of the picture (around the pool) and we wanted more grassy areas. We also had our front lawn done (I have to remember to snap a picture during the day and post it later on) and sadly we had our palm tree taken out as well - for various reasons. One, it was a date-producing palm and dropped hundreds of dates all over the front lawn, another reason was it was really too close to the house and roots and slabs don't like each other, and finally, the flowers it produces for the dates attract bees. So, bye-bye palm tree.

We had an underground sprinkler system installed as well - both front and backyards...so no more forgetting to water it! And because here in Southern CA we are in such a restricted area as to how much water can be used for landscaping, the sprinkler system is developed so that after the first 10 days of our sod being put down, the sprinklers will go off for just ONE minute every other day. That's it, just one minute. They were developed for just this type of region where water restrictions exist.

Everything else is coming along. We sold Logan and Seth's toddler beds and now they sleep in Foster's old bunk beds. They transitioned really well. I'm loving the front-loading washer and dryer...not loving putting anyway everything. I love our french door fridge, not loving the fact that it's counter-depth (makes it 5 cubic feet smaller than a "normal" fridge) but it is what it is. Totally loving the pool and our solar cover - ahhhhh - not loving having to get out! ;-) I'm also loving having Cox cable TV - I've totally been missing out on "Movies on Demand"... Oh, we also put down laminate (wood) in the living room/dining room...totally loving that especially after ONE dinner of pasta with red sauce...'nuf said.

Our goal is to have the house totally put away by the time we leave for vacation. We fly up to Seattle on July 10th and the cruise leaves on the 11th. I really think we can meet our goal. I really did not want to come home to a house that is still in chaos.

Now, chores are done, time to catch up on some TiVo'd crap.

This is much better than the chaos that is our new home!

We made it...

We have moved and I am so tired. Internet and tv to be hooked up Monday...

First Day of Kinder-Readiness

Moving Right Along...

So, we now have a water supply to our soon-to-be-delivered fridge...we HAD to get a counter-depth fridge (don't ask) which if you don't know is about 5 cubic feet smaller than a "standard" fridge but $500 MORE. Yeah, makes sense I know! Anyway, because of the way our kitchen is laid out we have a door (which BTW, I LOVE having a door in the kitchen - so breezy) and the spot for the fridge is next to that, so we needed a counter-depth to fit. Oh well, it is what it is...and what it is, is a fantastic stainless french-door LG fridge....ahhhhh...

Pool handle in and pool-cleaning person coming today. Installation of pool fence and solar cover happening (hopefully) today or early next week. LOVE the pool!

Patio furniture has been purchased and assembled by Laura (thanks sweetie!) - yay!

Blinds are up (no longer living in a fishbowl)and home alarm has been installed.

We're already getting mail at our new place (which we don't move into until the 13th) and we're getting some awesome "Welcome to the Neighborhood" coupons for all kinds of free stuff...gotta love free stuff.

Met our neighbors - they are so nice. Apparently our neighbor to the left - Chris has a few kids (seems like one may be Foster's age) and a dog (something mean-ish looking like a pit-bull or something? but they do have a few kids so it seems like a nice dog - tail wagging at me - the whole bit) but still we've told the kids that by NO means do you stick your fingers thru the fence at the dog. After our cruise and after we settle in we'll be getting our pooch at the pound...Laura knows what she wants so we'll be on the lookout.

Also met Stefan (sp?) he lives 2 doors down and has a BIG 'ole German Shepard that is VERY scary looking but OMG, the nicest dog EVER! He claims that the dog is the block's "warning alarm" - good to know! On our other side to the right is _______ (forgot his name) but when he walked over to us the first words out of his mouth were "Oh good, NORMAL neighbors!!!" LOL, we asked him how he knew we were normal! He gave us a brief run-down of the block and it's history. Also, he let us know about the short-cut to the hiking trails about 3 blocks away!

Met our mailman - Gary - he's a really nice guy. He welcomed us to the 'hood. He did let us know that we made a great decision to move there!!! Yay!

So there we are, "moving" right along (no pun intended). Tomorrow is also delivery of our washer and dryer (high-efficiency and both are front-loaders) and pedestals to put them on.

Oh and we now have phone jacks and a new phone #. Cable tv and internet to be installed on the 15th, after we move in the tv's and computer.

Move Date = Saturday June 13th 8:00am. Wish us luck!