Week 6

The Windows are IN!!!!

Celebrating Erin's Birthday

A few days after Matthew turned another year, so did mommy! This year we celebrated up-north WI. We packed up the van and headed 4.5 hours north to Minoqua, WI. A place where I (erin) frequented through childhood. My grandparents had a resort where we spent many summers and many Christmas holidays! Daddy packed a special cake in the car for us to eat when we arrived. It was a great birthday day. The best part about it was just being together as a family, in the north woods surrounded by peace and quiet outside of our everyday world. Thank you Brad for a great birthday and here is to another great year!

End of Week 5

Matthew: Cake, candles and presents

We celebrated Matthew's Birthday night at a Restaurant downtown. We had a picnic dinner at Northpoint! It was great! The weather was a little cool, but that didn't stop us from having fun.

My Mom is a Martha Sue! She provided all the party decorations for our little party! Check out the cute little hats everyone got to wear!

Then below was the birthday cake. The only thing he asked for for his birthday was diggers. And honestly, that is all he wanted. So, for that, he was so excited to have his hands full of diggers from grandparents! It was great. He started falling in love with diggers when we broke ground on our house. Ever since, his little world has been blessed with dirt and diggers.

Below: His Birthday cake from the ever famous Germantown cake lady Lori. She is amazing, and we missed her designs when we were in FL. Perfect cake for a perfect 3 year old birthday boy!

Matthew eating his cake
Matthew and Mommy on Lake Michigan.
Cake!
The boys waiting patiently to blow out the candles
Matthew the fisherman!!! Ready to go on our family vacation up north.

Happy Birthday 3 year old boy!!! Mommy and daddy love you so much :)

Happy 3rd Birthday Matthew!

Three years ago today, was a very very special day! Matthew decided to make his grand entrance into the world. He arrived witty and full of love. And here he is, three years later, still has that same smirk about him!

hAPpY 3rd BIrtHdaY MatTHeW

This year will be a huge year for you. You will start school, make new friends and move into a new home. Do you know that you have lived in 5 (FIVE) homes since you have been born? Hopefully this new home will be ours to grow in! Mommy and daddy are just so proud of you for who you are growing up to be. You make us laugh on a daily basis and you continue to amaze us. You always have an answer for everything and you are full of so much love. Yet you are as stubborn as can be and for that we wrap our arms around you even stronger!

You still do not like to watch TV, unless your brother requests a show, then you all of a sudden want a different show. You love your shoes, but you just can't figure out why they frustrate you. There isn't a moment that goes by where you are screaming at us, telling us your feet hurt, or your shoes are too tight, or the bottoms of your shoes are dirty. You fight like a dog with your brother as brothers should fight. You just know which buttons to pick, and for the Sam just loves being your brother! You love to eat. You eat anything and everything that Sam isn't eating. You are full of strength to be the best you can be. You always want to keep up with the "big" boys and you do a darn good job at it. Your favorite color is green, and you scream if you don't get your green plate, green cup, green shoes, green soccer ball, green crocks, green shirt etc. but we do cater to your green fetish, that is why we love you so much. We look at you and wonder who you will become. Mommy, daddy and Sam love you so much! We are so happy to be celebrating YOU today!

Tonight is dinner with grandparents at the beach of Lake Michigan!

Happy Birthday Matthew! We will visit the Dr's office in a few weeks and get all your health stats. For now, you are perfect!

"Happy Birthday Matthew", from Sam

Here you are, 3 years ago!!!
Do you look the same?

Week 4-Framing cont.

The boys touring the garage area...who am I kidding...they are looking for nails to throw into the street....

The second walls are going up!!!!

It's amazing what a day can do. Tonight was special, because we got to tour the home with our sales lady. It was so nice to step inside and see our HOME!!!

This is a view of the front. The boys (for some reason) LOVED this closet.

They thought they were funny and cute jumping in and out of it.

This is a picture of me standing in the family room, looking into the kitchen. You can see the pantry framed in. The wood boxes on the floor are approx where the island will be. The sink will be below the window.

A view standing on our kitchen, looking out our kitchen patio doors.

Standing in the kitchen, looking into the family room.

Sam, waiting patiently to go to Soccer Practice!

This happens to be one of my favorite pictures (below). This window speaks "home". The picture perfect farm land....we hope and pray one day this will still be here, but I'm sure this someday will all be built up. It is just so peaceful back there. You hear the birds flying through the sky and the leaves hitting each other. It is truly a WI picture.
One of the greatest parts of living in Grafton will be the variety. You enter the subdivision off a busy road. You can hear the humm of cars as they drive on the highway. Some days you can hear the train blow it's horn. Some days you can hear kids riding their bikes up and down the street. Other days you hear wind...lots of it. You turn south and you can almost see the Downtown skyline in the clouds.

You exit our neighborhood from the north and you can see the dairy farm smack dab in front of you. The large mommy cow just had her babies and there is just something so pure watching the little calves jump around in the grass. The boys LOVE it! Then, you drive a little further north up the busy road and there is Target, Sendik's (famous Milwaukee super market chain....almost as nice as Oakleaf Publix....it will do for now.) , a brand new hospital, a ton of stores and my all time, hands down favorite...a DRIVE thru Starbucks. Now, Floridians are spoiled. Almost every Starbucks in JAX was drive thru. NOT IN MILWAUKEE!!!! So, this my friends is going to be gold....Brad is already worried.....

Second floor...Sam bedroom?

Sam's view of the neighborhood out his window!!! This could be scary some day. Those are all his little friends :)

Not sure why I took this picture??? Stairs? They are not that exciting are they?

Week 4-Framing cont.

The garage has been added!

The second floor is on it's way up!

Soccer-Summer 2009

Micro Soccer in Full Swing!
Soccer started a few weeks ago. Sam is doing great. Micro soccer consists of 40 ish children running around the field aimlessly. I think we are going to look into "real" soccer as he calls it soon. But, for now, they are having fun learning the basics.

Here is Sam and buddy/neighbor Nico

Sam's Orange Soccer Ball!

Sam and Matthew warming up before practice!

Our Soccer Star

Framing week

Sam narrating the house to brother Matthew
This is the entrance/front

Great Grandma Shirl and Great Papa Foster came up for their summer visit to check out our new home. The boys had a great big story for them to share!

Another view of the house.

Brendan M....your room is in there :)

Day 18 - Let the Framing BEGIN!!!

The boys loving the dirt!

So excited

This is the first floor framing. They started it yesterday and got the entire first floor done. Brad saw all the markings for the actual structure to be started. We got a email below from the builder that said:

Hi Brad & Erin~

I hope all is well. I wanted to let you know that the framers are at your home today working on the first floor. In the next few days you will actual get to see your home go up in frame. Please come by and visit. If you want to walk through the house just call or stop by the model and I will join you. Have a great 4th of July!

Sherry Land
William Ryan Homes
2456 Pawnee Drive
Grafton, WI 53024

More pictures of the first floor. We were standing on our front porch

Looking down into the basement! The boys wanted to go down there oh so bad :)

Sam, with his soccer cleats on!

Before this, I took the boys to Covered Bridge Park in Cedarburg. It was an amazing place and I can't wait to take clients there to take pictures.

This was the best one I got of my darling duo!