House Drama part 2

If you saw the earlier post called House Drama, then you would know how our foundation is not what it's supposed to be...as in it is sinking or has sunk or something like that.

This week included five days of digging and drilling 24 concrete piers around the house. It started off somewhat quiet...digging with shovels...6 workers...music playing in Spanish. 

The drama began to build on Tuesday when they brought out power equipment to begin to dig deeper and achieve the 12-foot depth required for each pier. The cement truck showed up, as well as, the dump truck and bobcat-type digger to haul away the massive pile of dirt in the street. There was a lot of noise (think lawn mower meets revving motorcycle) and people and craziness...oh, yeah and they hit one of the sprinkler lines too.  (To drown out the noise, I ended up baking banana bread, chocolate chip cookies and cutout sugar cookies...kitchen therapy!)

Wednesday started with a lot of noise as well and after being here for 30 minutes, there was knocking on the door and then ringing of the doorbell (about 5 times in a row). I ran to the door thinking something was wrong. It was. They had just cut the water main to the house. Luckily, I had just gotten out of the shower and gotten dressed minutes before the knock on the door!!! (I am so grateful I decided to procrastinate on the workout that morning and I wasn't doing laundry!) The drama heightened on Wednesday afternoon when the supervisor informed me they were going to need to break up part of the garage floor because there was not enough room on the outside of the house between the house and the a/c units or between the house and the pool equipment. Ok...so three holes in the garage floor. Well, it’s better than accidentally hitting the lines for the pool equipment. Then he said they needed to put in two more piers along the back of the house...and would need to break up the decking. (The decking we had put in to go around the pool and had it colored to match the rocks...oh no, no, no.) I took a deep breath. Ok...so I texted Matt to tell him we'll need to discuss the latest and told him he might want to consider working from home on Thursday. 

On Thursday, Matt worked from home and had a stroke of genius. What if they used the empty space under the stairs (along the back of the house) to put in the two piers instead of the breaking up the decking? I thought it was a brilliant idea! The supervisor said they could do it if they could have access to the inside of the house and remove the landing of the stairs. And so they did!! I'm sure it wasn't the easiest from a digging standpoint, but it saved us from trying to patch up the concrete decking after it was all done. So Thursday and Friday brought more jackhammering and loud noises, but at the end of the day, the staircase was put back together (the girls can get to their rooms), the piers had all been dug and cement had been poured in each. 

And now we wait. The concrete has to cure for 10 - 14 days and then the next round begins...stay tuned!

(In case you were wondering...yes, they used their microwave on the front lawn every day! LOL!)

House Drama

Today begins a little bit of crazy at our house. Today the company came to begin to dig around the house...24 or so holes, so that they can raise the foundation...because it is settling or sinking or something not so good. 

So, this morning the crew showed up with shovels and wheelbarrows. They brought a radio and were playing some music in Spanish and working together. Around lunch time the music stopped and I glanced out my front window. I did a double take...I couldn't believe what I saw!! I grabbed my phone and snapped quick picture. 

Take a look:  

A microwave on a sawhorse!! I was cracking up. They set up this little cafe on the front lawn. One guy must have been in charge of lunch. He was putting lunches in and setting everything up. Then they moved the microwave and used the sawhorse as their table. Later, when everyone was finished, they spread out all over the lawn and took a nap. Six men napping in the front yard, spread out everywhere there was a bit of shade. Laying all over the yard like that...it almost looked like a crime scene!!

Alexa's Softball Try-Out

Alexa tried out for a new 10U softball team in August. This team is a tournament only team and is called the Fort Bend Bandits. She made the team and is their number one catcher!! She had a round-robin tournament yesterday (Sunday). She played four games in one day...what a long day!! They won the first game, lost the middle two, and tied the last game. It was the first time they had played together as a team. They have another round-robin this coming Sunday. Here she is, looking spectacular, in her new uniform.

Go Bandits!

Back to School 2012

August 27th was the first day of school for the girls. Mackenna headed off to 8th grade and Alexa to 4th. They are getting so big so fast!!

On the first day of school, we always have the same dinner...spaghetti! We always follow that up with a special cake to celebrate the first day. Each year I decorate it differently to celebrate the grades they are in. Here is a picture of this year's first day of school cake.

Here's to a great year!!!

Road Trip!

This summer, on our way back to the Midwest, we planned two stops in Missouri. First, we stopped for dinner in a town called Sikeston where they have a famous restaurant. I saw a show on the Travel Channel featuring places in the United States and this looked like a winner. The name of the restaurant is Lambert's Cafe. Their claim to fame is ridiculous sized portions and throwing hot yeast rolls at you from across the restaurant! We had so much fun at this place and would definitely return! Both girls caught rolls, larger than softballs, from across the restaurant. So much fun!!

Our next stop was St. Louis, Missouri. A few days before leaving, we looked on-line for activities to do in the area. We came up with some ideas from taking a riverboat cruise and visiting the arch to going to an amusement park. While the girls were pretty excited about going to the amusement park, after looking at the weather (predicted to be 105 degrees...ugh, no thank you), we decided to visit the amusement park on another trip when it wasn't so hot. So, we bought tickets to go up in the arch and to take a riverboat cruise. The view from the arch was pretty amazing and we all liked that! Because of the temperatures, we took the earliest riverboat cruise in the day. It was still about 90 degrees at 10:30 that morning when the Tom Sawyer cruised up and down the Mississippi River.  It was hot and humid and I'm not sure the girls had a great time, but now we can say we have cruised on the Mississippi River!

Isn't this a great picture?!? We are cruising down the Mississippi and look so happy... this is what it was really like:

I'm hot....how much longer is this?!? (forget the educational stuff, they just wanted to get into the car in the air conditioning!)

THE hip hop girl

On June 1st, a small miracle in our family occurred....
In case you missed this....

The back story: Alexa wanted to take hip hop dance class. 

I found her a class. 

She told me she was NOT going to do the recital. 

Knowing how timid and shy she can be, I was unsure if this was going to be a good idea at all. 

We went to the first class and only one other girl is in the class. Oh boy...the spotlight.

About a month before the recital was to take place, the other girl quit!! 

Oh great. Now what?!?

I knew there was no way this kid was going to go on stage by herself. Ever.

Her dance teacher said she'd dance it with her. (phew!)

I was worried she'd get on stage and cry and then not dance. 

Well, she got on stage, rocked it out and I cried!! 

I am just so very, very proud of her. In fact, proud is not a strong enough word!! 

Enjoy!!

As we were in dress rehearsal, the other girls backstage said, "Are you THE hip hop girl?!?" She just shyly smiled and nodded. Yes, she was the one and only hip hop girl. All of the other dances were ballet, tap, and jazz. When Alexa finished, the crowd erupted with applause and cheers. She was so amazing!!!

A Busy End of the School Year

The school year finished on May 31 and both girls had a great first year here. They both finished the year with straight As for the entire school year. I think that's quite an accomplishment!!! I am so happy and proud of both of them. The have made the transition here and have been very successful.
Speaking of successful, Mackenna has some exceptional successes to note. First, she was accepted into the PALs program at her school. Even though I posted about this before, it is worth mentioning again. It was not an easy process and highly competitive...way to go!! Also, before the end of the last school year, Mackenna was invited to awards night at the middle school. She received awards for perfect attendance and for all As all year. Lastly, she was also invited to join the National Junior Honor Society. This is quite an honor!! They only take the best of the best and they had to have at least a 93% in all of their classes to even be considered. Way to go, Mackenna!!

Alexa had an award ceremony at her school too. While she was disappointed she did not receive the perfect attendance award (darn strep throat...missed only 2 days), she did receive an award for her exceptional grades (all As), an award for great citizenship, and awards voted on by her classmates (most likely to be a mathematician and most likely to be a scientist). 

Wow, how they are growing up! Good-bye to 3rd and 7th grade!