Read!

"read read!" is a familiar saying that Case says. Here's Grandma reading a book to Case, and he's thoroughly enjoying it!

Trick or Treat!

So, here we have a little hunter, Mary Ingalls, a Harvard graduate, and the Wicked Witch.

It was a fun time going trick or treating. Case didn't like the idea at first, but once he saw candy was involved, then he seemed to be all on board!

Fall Soccer Celebration

These are pictures of our team, the Mystics (U10), after our last game of the season. We are celebrating our coach, Fred Levinson (in purple), for a fantastic season!

Our league schedule looked like this, and we ended up 3w-4l-1t:

8/29/09 FCA Freedom (East Moline) Lost 2-7
8/30/09 NSSC Extreme (Bettendorf) Lost 0-3
9/13/09 Firecrackers (East Moline) Lost 0-3
9/19/09 BSA Kixx (Bettendorf) Won 2-1
10/3/09 EISA Buzz (Bettendorf) Won 3-0
10/17/09 RIFC Rebels (Rock Island) Disappointing loss 1-2
10/24/09 MU 99G Maroon (Moline) Tied 3-3
10/25/09 QCS Tigers (Quad Cities) Won 6-2

We are making progress! We used to be beaten every time and usually ended the games with the mercy rule 0-10. It was exciting to see progress made, and defense getting stronger. Looking forward to the indoor season and the spring season!

Ah, to be a kid...

Case is investigating his new cars from a garage sale this afternoon.



Ok, so I would rather have a hot tub, but the foot massager will have to do!

Case's Birthday

Monday was Case's 2nd birthday, and we celebrated for three days!




Here's Case with Opa's presents - a John Deere tractor and a bunch of new HotWheels!


Haley made a wacky cake and all three girls decorated the cake.


I believe Case thinks the cake is a race track...?


What? I don't have a car with compacted chocolate cake in my hand.

Wow, it's been awhile since I've updated!!!

Well, we had a showing today. Haven't heard back from realtors yet, so not sure about how it turned out.

For MONTHS, nothing, then a phone call last night....house a wreck, a sleepover in progress, projects started & quickly (if you call 8 hours quick) putting the house in order.

Soccer season has been in full swing, and we have four more games.

Haley and Moriah had a babysitting job last night (during those 8 hours previously mentioned) and thoroughly enjoyed it.

School is going by quickly, and this year seems so much better for me, as the kids are doing more learning on their own.

Case is almost two! He's becoming more bold.

Life is good.

It's a Zoo out there

Lunch time - Don't Feed the Animals!



Case: "Puppy!"
Me: "No...that's a Bear!"



A Couple of Monkeys
watching
A Couple of Monkeys


Case: "Horsey!"
Me: "Giraffe"

We went to the zoo today with the home school group. It was a busy day! It was fun to watch Case see all the new animals. Had beautiful weather and a great day.

What Case Does While We Do School

Field Trip

This is from the first day of school (August 20th) - a field trip with the Home School Assistant Program. There are many trips ahead, and many that we won't take part in due to our school schedule, having a toddler, and so on. Some coming up include the Niabi Zoo, Bison Ridge Farm, Galesburg, and more.

He CAN fall asleep in the car!

This is what happens when you go out to eat and then drive around for an hour while your house is open for an open house, and it's normally nap time for you....Of course, after only a 10 minute nap, he thought he was good for the rest of the day. What a crabby-patty he turned out to be.

Open House Update

We've had two open houses and two showings and one price reduction in the past two weeks. Still no offers, but I'm a little more hopeful since there are still some "interested" parties who have come through.

It's always been very hard to be patient for me, especially with school starting this week - I wanted this whole process to be over by now! But, I'm hopeful that this will make a great home for the next people, and I'm still hopeful we'll be able to move to the place we have an offer on. I'm nervous that the sellers will sell to someone else, though. It's all truly in God's hands, and I know that....must remind myself occasionally!

If You Can't Go to Krispy Kreme....

...then by all means let Krispy Kreme come to you! Thank you, Paula Deen!

Corn!

I was able to get 21 pints of corn ready for the freezer this year. Mmmm. It's sooooo good.

Thank you, Darrell and Carmen!

Getting Ready

...for an open house this Sunday.

May the next owner of this house be someone who comes through Sunday!

Let's Go!

Case tests out the massive engine on his new pick-up truck. "Mmm, good traction, nice gear ratio....glad I went with the 3/4 ton."

Camp Week

On Sunday, we dropped Haley and Moriah off at camp for the week. Here is a group shot of their cabin-mates. They apparently have 2 counselors (far left, and far right).

Brooke got to spend some time with a friend from Florida on Monday. She invited another friend - a soccer pal - over for swimming and an overnight. She had tennis this morning. This afternoon, she's feeling a little lonely.

No movement regarding the house yet. Depending on whom you talk you, the real estate market is either in a slump or is doing very well. I'm still trying to remain optimistic....especially since we have placed an offer on our next home (contingency, of course). Surely someone wants a house this big with tons of character??

Now that's the biggest ant I've ever seen!

Brooke apparently likes digging in the ginormous pile of sand at Grandma & Grandpa's!

Vroom Vroom!

Case's first time in a car cart at Best Buy. He liked it!

Tennis, Anyone?

Tennis Clinics are going well for everyone...including Case! He's spending about 30 minutes every other day chasing a ball and holding a racquet.

We Have Signed

...a contract for the services of a Realtor.

I hope they have connections (i.e. a Buyer).

We are now listed on the mls site: www.muscatinemls.com and you can put in the street name search field "Mulberry" and there we are...1420 Mulberry...the giant Victorian.

Now the hard part...waiting....oh yeah, we've been doing that for 2 months already.

Waiting some more...

Signs Signs Everywhere Signs

Our sign will soon be removed from our front yard. You know, the one that says, "Hey, House for Sale!" It has our phone number on it, and our website: www.1420mulberry.com

Not because we've sold the house.

It will actually be replaced by another sign next Wednesday or Thursday.

Unless someone makes us an offer before then. :)

Unlikely.

We have been persuaded to list with a Realtor.

And can you believe he actually thinks we have priced our house too low????

It's going up in price.

Well....we'll see how this will all unfold.

Meanwhile, we are waiting for a buyer so we can move!

...tick...tock...

Exploring & Experimenting

So, I graduated from college with a BA in Art & Design. Wouldn't know it, though, because it's been a long time since I've picked up my art supplies and done something creative. Well...it's summer, and dog-gone-it, I'm going to explore what's left of my creative side.

So far, I've only done two experiments in pastel painting:



The soccer weekend inspired me. 11 x 14 pastel



Sunset in Iowa. 11 x 14 pastel

If you have any composition ideas, please let me know. That's the hardest part...what to draw??? Hmmm....

Photos from Spring Soccer Tourney

These are photos from the last of the three games the Mystics played this weekend (June 20-21). I forgot my camera the other two times.

Brooke is in purple and is just to the left of the ref.



Here's Brooke trying to delay the offensive player. Brooke played great defense this game.


...until she got injured! Here she is icing her foot. It looked like the bone that runs on the outside of the foot was broken.

News

• Summer is officially here - no denying it! It's HOT!
  
• We should open an account at the ER. We took Brooke there Sunday after her soccer game to get her foot checked out. Upon examination, the doctor even thought it looked like it could be broken, but the xrays confirmed there was no breakage. Whew! She sat out one day of soccer camp, which started yesterday, and was determined to join her soccer buddies today. So, with a wrapped foot and a slight limp, she went.
  
• Tennis clinics have begun and the girls are about 2 weeks into it. They really enjoy this sport, although not so much in this unbearable heat. They got their new rackets today.
• Case is learning the parts of his body - he's a bit confused on toes vs nose, though. He's the parrot of our house now, repeating words like crazy.
• No news on the house. It's a bummer. The house we would like to buy just dropped drastically in price, too. We will not do a bridge loan, so I'm worried that someone else will snap it up.
• My brother had a near-death experience earlier this week. He was riding home from a group bicycle ride in the bike lane (Minneapolis), and a minivan turned in front of him...he hit the side of the van twice, broke its side mirror, laid the bike down (all the while thinking he was about to be run over by the rear tire), scraped up his knee badly, but survived to go to work later in the day! Whew! Thanks to God!
  

Family Photo

In an attempt to get all six of us in the same frame, we tried the 10 second delay on the camera. We're going to have to try this again when Case is feeling more photogenic.

Brooke the Runner

On Saturday, May 23, Brooke ran her first road race in Mason City. The Stu Nevermann Memorial 4 Mile Race. She completed the four miles in 39 minutes 37 seconds! The best comment was about a mile into it when she said, "This is so much more fun than riding a roller coaster."

After she got over her soreness, she went running with me this morning about 2 1/4 miles. I think she might be hooked. :)

Looking for some more races to try this summer....

Case sports his new dew

Taken with my phone camera, so not the best quality. But, look at his new hairstyle and his new digs -- monkey pjs. He wouldn't stay still long enough for me to get a non-blurry photo, so this will do for now. He's looking more and more like a boy and less like a baby!!

Hey, House for Sale!!!

Check out our website:

www.1420mulberry.com

it has all the up to date info on our house.

Yes, we actually want to move from this mansion! Call us crazy, but we are hoping to spread our wings, do some gardening/farming (light farming), maybe some 4-wheeling, etc out in the country. We have a place picked out, so now it's just a matter of finding a buyer for 1420.

More House Pics

Here are a few more pics of the house. Our house is FOR SALE! We hope to move to the country. So, I'm in the process of getting the house decluttered and ready to show.


Music Room


Dining Room


Foyer


Living room looking into foyer

The Activists

Moriah convinced me to take them to the Capitol today to show our support against House File 807, which is the bill that some of the legislators are trying to push through to eliminate federal deductibility. They are calling it a tax "cut" but in reality, after two years, it becomes a major tax increase. As a future taxpayer, she is very concerned about this issue.

To see a quick news report from Channel 13 out of Des Moines, in which the girls are spotted, click on this link: http://video.whotv.com/global/video/popup/pop_playerLaunch.asp?clipId1=3652966&at1=News&vt1=v&h1=Income+Tax+Plan&d1=150200&redirUrl=video.whotv.com&activePane=info&LaunchPageAdTag=homepage&clipFormat=flv

Moriah now wants to join in the Tea Party tomorrow.

Barnstormers Game

From Saturday night's awesome AF2 Barnstormers Game!



It's a little blury, but can you see the guy in red off to the left, ringing the cowbell into the opponent's coach's ears - who is trying to direct a play to the QB. The guy leaning down is just a guy who is moving something.

more pics from Floor 3

Taken with my Blackberry, so not sure about the quality...and everything really isn't in "it's place" yet...i.e. I don't see a big screen tv, do you?

more carpet

This is a LOT of carpet!!! This is a huge room.

books