We're movin' on up!

Okay, here is the next chapter in the Gardner housing saga, and my excuse for infrequent blogging these last few months. Despite my apprehensions toward building a house (see former posts), we have decided to take the plunge. After things went sour with our short-sale, we cried a little, moped a little, then got up, brushed ourselves off, and started the house hunt once again. My list of must-haves is not long, (a neighborhood with kids, a three car garage, an open kitchen/great room area, a mud room, and room for a grand piano), but there wasn't anything out there to match our list, so we are building. The closer we get the more excited I am. It is fun to be able to put together a home I really love. It may not be my dream home if money were not an issue, but it is my dream home for real life and real living. I am so excited to see it through from start to finish and look forward to being "settled" for the first time since I left home a mere fifteen years ago. I will post pictures of the progress as it occurs! Wish us good luck!

EMILY!!

Sweet Emily! Emily just celebrated her fifth birthday. I am so excited to be able to tell people that she is five. People would just roll their eyes and mutter a "ya, right" when I would tell them she was four. You just don't run across too many 4 foot tall four year olds. Especially with a vocabulary like Emily's. These are just a few moments from the week before her birthday that I actually wrote down (Yeah, me!):

While reading a valentine from a class mate aloud she said: "To: Emily From: Elsa - hey! that's alliteration!"

"This ring pop has an exquisite taste!"

(Jeff had just told Emily to clean up the living room and they could play a game she had just invented called Karate Ping Pong afterward. Emily went to clean, then came back and said:

"Dad, God just told me that we are supposed to play games THEN pick up." Jeff said: "No, he didn't." Emily answered, "Yes, he did, you just can't hear Him because he talks to my mind."

and finally - "If I were cheese, I would eat myself."

How can you not be entertained with a child like this in the house. I love you, Emily!