Readying the troops!

Time for another update! Since my last post, things have slowed down a bit, which is good...we've had a lot to catch up on. The last weekend of August, we got errands done, went to a church BBQ, and a BBQ at a good friend's house. (It's Thomas' friend Calvin from the play group and his parents). 

 They look grumpy in this picture, but they really did have a blast!

 Isaiah, Thomas, Calvin, and Hannah (way in the back!)

The next week, I saw so many cute "first day of school" pictures, I got itching to take some cute ones of Thomas (just because!). We had fun. :) I couldn't pick which of these to show, so I'll post all of them!

                                                                       "Light!"

                                                                  I love this one! It really shows his little personality...

                                                               Hugging a tree.

One of his favorite pastimes!

Labor Day weekend, we got a lot done. We went to the fair in town. They had a breakfast in the morning, then a parade, and lots of carnival-type activities. We didn't do any rides, but we walked around and saw the photography, crafts, and foods people submitted. Thomas made a "potato critter" and went to the small petting zoo. The goats worried him a little (they were the height of his face and kept sniffing him for food!), but he had fun patting the pig and the bunny.

We also finished digging the trench for the second half of our retaining wall....and this is saying something, since we were on our own, digging as deep as my waist in rock-hard dirt laden with mini-boulders and random concrete slabs!! (The reason for digging so deep: our yard is apparently not level, so in order for the two halves of the wall to be level, we had dig a lot deeper). We also put the road base in the bottom and tampered it down and laid down the first row of bricks.

On Labor Day, we headed out early (about 6 am) for Reno to buy some furniture at killer deals at RC Willey. Ok, now I have to brag a little--we got a cherry wood bedroom set in clearance with an extra $100 and 5% off (family discount b/c of John's dad and brother-in-law), a solid wood computer desk also in clearance with the same discounts, a nice leather chair on sale and 5% off, a "doorbuster" sale brown storage ottoman (huge!). We also got $25 off for going in! WOOT. Also, we got a 5'x7' rug at $50 off from a local store, a nice wood entertainment center from Target, and a large black hutch on clearance for our kitchen from another local furniture store. Let's just say our house echoes less and looks significantly nicer. :)

Here's a few pics:

 Hutch

 Desk (we'll get a nicer chair later)

 Entertainment center and TV setup

 Thomas playing in the ottoman :)

 Bedroom set

And now for a few random pictures!

How often do we take pictures of ourselves??

Thomas loves tomatoes! He's enjoying some of the (small) fruits of our garden!

He's our little eater! Lovin' the mac 'n cheese.

The next weekend, we were able to FINISH the brick wall! It was a lot of work, and a lot of heavy lifting and entertaining Thomas outside in the dirt, but it was good to get it all done.

The second half

So Thomas' birthday is coming up in just over a week and he got an early present in the mail from Grandma and Grandpa Kimball. John and I couldn't wait and let him open it--hey, he doesn't know the difference! Besides, we'll probably still be traveling to Virginia for his "actual" birthday. He got some awesome trucks and a cute outfit. Here's his reaction to the trucks:

Of course I loved the outfit, and he'll look so cute in it. :) (Plaid shirt and black cords)

As for a few more general updates...This last weekend, we ran a lot of errands, spent time cleaning and purging, and went to dr./dentist appointments in preparation for our trip east. It feels good to go through our stuff (lots of it we haven't gone through for a WHILE) and throw away/donate things we don't need. The house is looking a lot better and we're a lot closer to being ready to go...though I still feel there's so much to do! We also gathered some of the HUGE weeds in the RV parking area and burned them in a barrel. (Stinky!) We had the couple who will be renting our house while we're gone over for dinner and they seem really nice. (An older LDS couple out here for a 5-month contract--it's perfect!)

We both went to the dentist for x-rays, exams, and cleanings for the first time in almost 4 years! (Don't judge!) John had no problems besides just needing his sealants redone. Me, however.....I firmly believe pregnancy did a number on my teeth. ...Aaaand not going for so long might have something to do with it. Well, I had quite a few cavities to take care of, and today's my third separate appointment to take care of them. I'm REALLY hoping they get them all taken care of. It's been pretty miserable. My grit-your-teeth-and-get-it-done resolve is just about out...it's been rough. But it serves me right!

Also, about a week ago, I almost stepped on a mouse. In our house. Barefoot. Yep, I shouted like a little girl and was thoroughly freaked out that night...(pretty uncharacteristic of me) but the next day I bought and set some mousetraps and caught him that night! Several more days amounted to no mice in the traps, so we put them in the garage. 

Oh, and this was exciting--on Thursday, Thomas sprayed Round-Up directly into both eyes. I was right there close, but he was too quick. He has done this before with the hose--it's too hard to squeeze facing away from him, so he turns it around and squeezes the trigger...right into his face. He ran to me and cried, "Eyes!" and I ran him into the house and did my best to wash his eyes and face a little before going back to read the Round-Up label. I called poison control and was told to flush his eyes for at least 5 minutes and she gave me some helpful tips on how to do so with a kid his age. Don't get me wrong, it was still extremely difficult and traumatizing, but at least possible. His eyes were okay, but the surfactant in it burned his little cheeks, so they were pretty red that night. Later that same day, he managed to find one of the mousetraps and set it off on his fingers! Luckily they make mousetraps a LOT more forgiving these days. I tried it on my own fingers and it hurt, but didn't cause any damage. Poor kid! He really can give us a run for our money...

So it is now Tuesday. We plan to leave Thursday (the 20th) after John gets home from work and after settling things with the renters and we'll drive to Layton (about 5 1/2 hours). John has to report on base on Sept. 30th, so we have just over a week to make the drive out. Hopefully that means we can take our time and see things on the way! (And take a break if Thomas is screaming his head off) We had thought about having Thomas and me stay and fly out in about a month after my sister Candace is sealed and after John can get housing settled in Virginia, but decided against it. I'm glad we'll be together and that I can help with the drive out. Instead, Thomas and I will probably be staying with our good friends Adam and Chuchie in Virginia Beach for about a week. I can't wait! I'm excited for this new adventure!!