well, well, well.

where have you been? you might be asking that! We have been super busy, yet super not busy at the same time! No idea how that is possible, but that what it feels like.

the house is moving along sssslllloooowwwwlllyyyy. john is working his but off. the work he is doing isn't major, so it looks like not much has been done, yet what he is doing has to be done and has to be done first. we are currently living in the one side of the house. the girls room, our room, the hallway, and the bathroom are about 90% finished. just missing moulding! windows need to be replace but we are waiting on that. we accidentally cut down the money tree when we cleaned out the backyard, so we are waiting for it to grow back:)

the girls finished soccer season. they both had good teams, with good coaches, and good parents, so we really enjoyed it. hannah is hopefully becoming quite the soccer star. kate did really well too...she loved snacks and pizza parties, and scoring goals. meghan brings up the rear with a sassy attitude and a mind of her own. she loves going where we go though i try to pawn her off on anyone who is home:)

we celebrated thanksgiving with my whole family in arizona. it was so nice to hang out. kelsey hosted us all...including jj's mom and dad and niece. we got there on a tuesday and didn't see the big girls all week until we left on sunday. they had so much fun swimming, rollerblading, trampolining, etc. they finished the day off with a slumber party each night!

christmas season has rolled around. we spend a week with kelsey and the girls doing the usual...disneyland, fashion island, the mall, fast food, and a lof of trips to walmart. candace and paige are/were here and the kids had fun hanging out with all the cousins! we are anxiously awaiting christmas morning. john wants to spend our 1st christmas here, while i want to get the heck out, but he wins. we will open presents here and then head off to my parents. 2 days late, john will take the girls to ohio to visit his family. i am looking forward to 9 days to myself. as it closer i am getting a little nervous that they have to fly and are so far away. once they land, i know i will be fine. i have nothing scheduled because i know i can do something at the drop of a hat. it's been 7 + years since i've had this freedom!

our 2nd annual visit to see the lights in naples

we transitioned megsie into a bed:( she does well at night, not so much during naps, so she remains in my closet in a pack and play

a trip to a local church for a christmas celebration and smores

a little out of order...naples

hannah's christmas play

decorating the tree

one of about 10 trips to disneyland during december

ross*axline*robers*puts*kollen

late night slumber parties

trying to deep fry the turkey...about an hour before dinner was to begin

watching the osu michigan game

best friends

frenemies

It's paying off

it's not quite finished, but we are only left with a few minor details...grout and countertops which are all coming this week! i don't give john enough credit to everyone. he has done this almost entirely by himself. we have been so lucky to have our family and friends help when they can, but this bathroom is almost entirely john ross. he has worked a full long day and then goes to the house. he doesn't eat, has to go to stater brothers to go to the bathroom, and hasn't seen much of the kids:(. he stays until 11 or 12 and then comes home to hear me nag and complain and then starts the day all over again. he has done a fantastic job!

what we've been up to

soccer. house. packing. soccer. house. renovating. soccer. school. homework. soccer. you get it. here are some pictures of the girls. we did our annual pumpkin patch visit on sunday at cal poly pomona. if you haven't ever been there, i highly recommend it. kate and hannah are busy with school, practice, and games. they are very excited for their own rooms. meghan is a pistol...telling me don't help her, i want a drink of soda, i'm not tired. you get it!

Happy Birthday Kate

5 years ago tonight, we met my sister in law at a shoe store to drop off Hannah. Kate was going to be born the next day. I remember crying and wondering how I could love another baby! Well, boy was I wrong! What a gift this little girl has been. I feel like I should have taken wedding vows with her...in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad. She's given us a run for our money! It's hard to believe that it's been 5 years since we met her. We love her so much even when she is whining because she is not a kindergartener when we tell her she is!

lots and lots

kate's 1st day at arovista

my 2 school girls. really, where does the time go?

marmie and hannah on her 1st day (really her 2nd, but marmie got the time wrong so we couldn't take a picture on the 1st day):)

marmie and kate on her 1st day of kindergarten

kate. she looks really happy, don't let that fool you!

hannah's 1st day

i gave grandpa 20 minutes off to see hannah off to school:)

hannah's 1st day...kate HAD to have her backpack!

this was once a regular size doorway

lots and lots has been acomplished and it's starting to be visual now, though I don't have the finished pictures. John and his dad worked for almost 3 weeks finishing the bathroom plumbing and electrical. The bathroom is now put back together, drywalled, taped, tub in, cabinets ordered. it's just a waiting game now. i promise i will post pictures in a few. he did make some doorways more open. he made the doorway into the hallway and the doorway between the living and dining room wider. He originally wanted to know down the entire wall to make a big room, but he had the wisdom of others to tell him to let it go:) we will make do with 2 smaller rooms for now.

in the meantime, both hannah and kate started school. hannah 1st grade and kate kindergarten. i'm still on the fence about kate. the flat lying crying fits every morning are beginning to drain me. you name it she whines about it. she seems to like it, it's half day which is good for her. i think she uses a lot of her brain power just to stay focused. those lost brain cells though cause her to be very tired at the end of the day. if she doesn't have soccer practice or get mc donalds for dinner she is laying flat on the floor in full tantrum mode. it's killing me!

Dinner!!

John doing some soldering of the new pipes!

the old pipes....GROSS!!

The new recesses lighting in the bathroom

John doing some plumbing!!!

My lack of house updates are not due to the fact that we are not (or John and his dad) working on the house! God bless my father in law. He flew in last Friday and was suppose to stay 2 weeks. It's midway through and he extended his stay for 4 more days. He gets up, barely eats breakfast, and goes to the house. He works all day there and John meets him there after work. They work a few more hours and then they come home....usually not befor 9pm! He has my dad's car, so John gives him a job to do and he gets it done with an occasional trip to the Depot!!! This work would cost us thousands of dollars, so I am SO SO grateful for him being here. We tried to give him the night off on Friday, we were going to a wedding so if he wanted to come home early and watch the girls while we were gone, he could have the night off. He chose to continue working on the house. That should tell you how much work these 3 girls are:)

Their job this week has been all internal so there's not much progress looks wise, but the fact that the water running through my shower will be running through clean brand new pipes is worth it!! They have been doing plumbing and electrical all week. In true Ross fashion it is taking much longer than anticipated. The rotted out floor in the bathroom underneath the tile didn't help matters much. During his down time, my day laborer has befriended the construction people next door! He had them over for lunch and has them giving us a bid on a little remodeling!! His lunch break is breaking away from the plumbing and electrical and ripping the linoleum floor out of Kate's room!! I'm telling you I am so lucky!!!

the original backyard. you can't even imagine unless you see it what it actually looked like. the depth is enormous!

after a little bit of work (really a lot)

a lot more work from herman the hired help!

the finished product

the finished product from the other side

right out the back door. this concrete ended up being 12 inches thick. HUGE!!!

ready to be carried away

the finished product

the original side yard

matt and john and a lot of work got us this pathway

uncle louie, the hired help and his crew helped out with this!

the finished product

words cannot even begin to express the gratitude we have for our friends and family for helping us out. really, we have neighbors driving us to the house so we can pick up a friends truck, friends lending us their truck, words of support from everyone, my dad meeting workers to open up doors, matty leaving work early, driving down from San Diego, and helping us out for hours upon hours of hard MANUAL labor, our neighbor johnny being john's 'helper', the visits we have had from friends, john's work friend lending us his trailer, my mother in law extending her stay so we could have uninterrupted time fixing the house, my mom for all her help watching kids, meeting people at the house, and giving us all her 'contacts', my father in law for coming out next week for 2 weeks, the boxes people have lent us, on and on. i am sure i forgot someone important:) i could go on and on. this past weekend we were helped by my sister and brother in law for a house warming gift of gutting the backyard. this is no easy task as john and matt and our friend johnny will tell you. they worked their butt off to clear the way for a view area. thank god they did because the work that was done this weekend couldn't have been done unless they could get their big truck through the side yard which was just one week ago, covered in trees. jj a.k.a. jeff lewis from flipping out was calling and wheeling and dealing with about 4 different 'penny saver' people. he had people coming over to the house and if they couldn't start that day, they were out. in the end people were calling him back, he had no idea who the job was going to! i was a nervous wreck that people would come at the same time, he was planning on them coming at the same time to show them he wasn't messing around absolutely hysterical to watch him in action! i believe now, due to the generosity of other people, we are ready to make our house a home! anyone interested in our fixer upper, i thank you! love to all our family and friends:)