Grandparent's Day!

Ashleigh was so excited that Grandparent's Day was coming up! She reminded me several times about the date! She called last night to remind us and wanted to remind me to "bring money for the book fair"! How smart was that for the school to have thier book fair AND Grandparent's Day at the same time? The school is brand new this year and can really use lots of things for the entire school, but the book fair is going to help the library with some much needed things! From the looks of things, they should have made a lot of money since there were a lot of Grandparents buying their grandkids books and other things!
For lunch we had chicken nuggets, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, pineapple tidbits and a roll. We also had our choice of milk, chocolate milk or tea (no tea for kids...just adults)! All for the price of $2.25! Sure can't eat for that at McDonald's! Yummy! The kids that didn't have Grandparent's got to eat their lunch in the gym and have a picnic! The kids that DID have Grandparent's didn't have to eat quite so fast and got to leisurely eat their lunch! Of course, most of them were so excited anyway...that it took longer to eat than normal!

They also had pictures for $5.00/each! Now how can you resist that? Of course, I would have taken my own , in fact, I asked the photographer if he would take one for me. He did, kind of relucantly! I did buy one before I even asked him to take the picture so I didn't feel too bad asking him to use my camera as well! When I asked...no one was waiting in line!

After lunch and taking pictures, Ashleigh got to take us to her classroom and show us around! Since she was one of the last ones back, we didn't stay too long but got to see her desk and where she sits! She was very excited to show a couple of her friends the books that Grandma & Grandpa had bought for her! It was so funny to see the interaction! Her teacher spent a few moments talking to us. She was also very proud to tell us that Ashleigh had just moved up in her reading group...she's in level 8 already and after 4 weeks of school, her teacher told us that they expected them to be at level 4! Way to go Ashleigh! Ashleigh has always loved to have you read to her and one of her favorite things to do is to have a "read along book". Of course, her mom and Grandma have always loved to read!!

We had a fun time today and wish we had the opportunity to do it with all of our grandchildren! It's so hard to think that this year Ashleigh is in 1st grade, Allison is in 2nd, Shae is in 3rd...and it won't be long before Justisse and Brian are starting school as well! Before we know it, we'll be attending our first graduation from high school! Man these kids grow FAST!

The lumber pile is growing smaller!

It's getting pretty exciting as the walls and now the sheeting on the roof are going up! It's so much easier to visualize the house with the exception of all the lumber "inside" the house! It will eventually come out when the roof is all sheeted. The guys have been working hard this week to get the front done so the bricklayer can begin laying the brick on the front. We've been told that it will still be a few weeks before they are done getting the roof "stick" built and get the "paper" on. I hope it's soon that the inside is covered so it doesn't get wet it's already been wet a few times and there are a few ponds after a rain, but mostly because the wood nailed to the floor is holding it there! The garage(s) and the great room were able to have joists because of the long "runs" and the slope of the great room but the rest will be built by hand and therefore take longer. It's been fun to be able to watch the guys and I am amazed at how they can easily walk along the beams or work up in the air!

Do you see the picture with the equipment raised in the air (not sure what the "equipment" is called, except that it goes up a LONG way!)Well, actually there's someone inside the bin, but isn't the bird flying next to it kind of cool? I thought it was, but then, I'm easily entertained! :-)

And finally, Don took a picture of me for a change! I'm not behind the camera! I'm in the great room! :-)

As always, lots of pictures of the progress in our Picasa Web album, it's here...

From California to Arkansas and on to Indiana!

Don and I left California on Tuesday morning, Aug. 28 at 8:30 a.m. We didn't intend to do it, but we ended up driving all through the night! Guess I should mention that although we flew there we ended up driving back in Earl's Cadillac. Earl loved that car! Don decided that since we were building the house and now only had one car that we needed another car. Since you never get what it's worth, he decided to keep his dad's car. We weren't sure it would make it or if we would be buying a car in New Mexico or other parts unknown! We already had to have it towed one of the first days Don used it, but it made it and so did we! At 12:00 noon on Wednesday we pulled into Cabot, Arkansas to pick up Tess from Kim & Tim!! That's 25-1/2 hours only stopping for gas, potty breaks and food! Have to mention that Tess wasn't that excited to see us! I think she had a wonderful time playing with Bandit and Missy, being able to run in the yard and being able to go outside whenever she wanted! Once we got home, she even slept in her crate with her back to us! Not her normal!

Spent some time trying to get my mom unpacked since I had basically left right after her furniture and stuff had arrived! Kim & Tim had gone over while we were gone and helped tremendously where I had to leave off! I knew that we were due to leave again, so I tried to at least get the boxes out of her house!

Took off on Friday heading to Wakarusa, IN to have some things worked on in the motorhome. We had some warranty work done earlier and they still weren't working or fixed properly. Left fairly early in the morning and drove to Stanton, Missouri! It had been raining off and on since we left Arkansas and had let up by the time we stopped. Stopped at the first park, I went to pay and found out that it was the "honor system" (you pick your spot and then pay using an envelope put into a box). We started around a corner and quickly got buried in mud! Don tried a time or two getting out and finally we decided to unhook the car and back out a ways. Tried twice backing up but got stuck once we tried going forward again! A simple solution really...we backed right out of the park! Hooked the car back up and on down the road we went! Decided that we really didn't want to chance getting REALLY stuck! We would have had to unhook the car anyway and the chance of getting satellite was pretty slim! Although we don't generally like staying at KOA (Keep on Adding) parks, that's where we ended up!

Early start the next morning and headed out! Driving through Gray Summit, Pacific and St. Louis brought back lots of memories of when Kim, Nathan and I lived there for a few years in the early 80's! Again we had rain off and on but nothing like the rain we had as we were driving through Indiana north of Indianapolis! Shortly after the radio had an emergency broadcast siren warning of flash floods, flooding, etc. Decided we really wanted to get to Elkhart Saturday so we could have Sunday free. After all the rain and being gone, the coach needed some cleaning inside and out! Ended up getting to Elkhart about 5:00. We found a campsite at Camp Monaco, Elkhart with no problems. Lots of empty spaces on Saturday evening but by Sunday night we were glad that we had gotten there when we did! Sunday was spent cleaning the coach! Don did a nice job shining it up outside and getting all the dust, road grime and muck off!

Monday morning Don was up early and headed into the Monaco lobby to sign us up. They told him that we were in the wrong place! We were supposed to be 8 miles down the road at the Wakrusa facility! Since we were already "ready" to go into the service bay, it was no problem heading out and driving to the other facility! We decided that once we got here...we really like the Elkhart Service Center better! This Service Center has no hook-ups, there is only a dedicated parking lot. The lounge leaves a lot to be desired...in fact, Don and I were the only ones in there almost the entire day on Monday! In Elkhart, a local RV dealer brings donuts on Monday and Wednesday...nothing in Wakarusa! That really ticked me off...I missed the donuts! :-)

Don and I took a journey over to a couple of the Amish furniture stores nearby! Lots of beautiful furniture but right now we have no place to put it if we did get anything! Not to mention that at the rate the house is going...no telling when it might be ready to move into!!

Today is Tess' 3rd birthday! To help her celebrate we took off for a few hours and went to Shipshewana to the Farmer's Market/Flea Market that they have on Tuesday and Wednesday! I wasn't too impressed with the flea market so Don and I went into some of the shops. Found a few things that I couldn't live without and found an awesome bed, dresser and nightstands! The only bad thing is that since it's Amish owned...there is no website! :-(

Thought that we might finished today, but I told Don that more than likely we would be. Sure enough, once we got back...we weren't done! Won't be leaving on Wednesday morning! Might be afternoon, but it won't be in the morning! We can't get back to Shirley (RV Park) before Sunday anyway! The park is having a big "bash" this coming weekend, and they had already told us they would be packed! So there you have it...not sure when we'll head back for Arkansas and might stop off to "see" some things we haven't seen before!

The pictures on this post...lots of Amish around the area! I wanted a picture of one of the buggys driving around and lucked out with four in one! The horse on the end was very small! When I went to take "his" picture...found out there were a few kids inside! The horses must be very used to getting their pictures taken! They looked right at the camera and stood still!

A floor, walls (and a wacko dog)!

Haven't done much updating lately, but you can watch the progress on our house at http://picasaweb.google.com/vickileith/EmeraldIsleGreersFerry. Took Tess over one day when they had put some of the floor joists up. Now there is NOTHING under these...except the ground which was 6 feet or so below! They are spaced something like 16" apart (or whatever they are supposed to be) and Tess is trying to walk on them! Of course, we didn't let her get too far because more than likely one of us would have had to go "rescue" her! We took her down more than once, but she kept on trying to cross them! The good thing was she didn't see the guys walking on them or she would have really been trying to walk across them!

I think it was the same day when she got "trapped" underneath! She was so funny! Barking and barking because she couldn't find the "door" to get out! The sides are still open above the block so she could see out, but she wouldn't jump out that way! She could see us up above, but couldn't figure how to get out of there! I finally had to go down and show her where the doorway was!

We left for California shortly after the first picture was taken. To say that we were disappointed when we returned is an understatement since very little had been accomplished. We were gone for two weeks and all that was done was the floor was laid and the walls were marked on the floor. Once we got home, however they started working on the house again. Not sure how long that will last since we left for Elkhart, IN on Friday! Before we left though...they had begun putting up some walls! It was pretty exciting to see the walls going up! Sure makes it seem more "real"! Don "helped" with standing up two of the walls! I told him that they were going to end up charging

us more when he was in there offering his help! :-)

Between the time that we got back to Greers Ferry and left for Elkhart we spent a day on the lake with Kim, Tim and Ashleigh - in OUR boat!! After more than two years out of the water and a few $$ making sure everything worked right we had a fun day out on the

water! Of course, you always have your doubts if it will run or even start, and after Don fired it up it seemed a little rough, but soon it was just like it always was! Ashleigh and I had a great time in the water! At first she kept telling me "don't let go" but after a little while she was swimming between Tim and I and didn't want anyone holding on to her at all! The water is so clear and felt so good! :-)

Some of the Best Times...

Are those spent with grandchildren! :-) I always love spending time with our grandkids. Whether it's just for a few minutes or all day, it just can't be beat!


Ashleigh & Grandma - Greer's Ferry Lake, AR (Aug. 31, 2007)





Allison & Grandma - San Gabriel, CA (Aug 17, 2007)



Brian, Allison & Grandma - San Gabriel, CA (Aug. 17, 2007)