Sparkle’s Family Blog

Cody's First Grouse

nobody@vox.com(jacolily) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:57:14 -0600

Cody's grouse

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Things on Thursday

nobody@vox.com(jacolily) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:42:45 -0600

Thumbs Down:

A woman looked at our house last week and just loved it. She brought her husband to see it on Monday and he was very quiet except to say one of the bathroom's needed remodeling and they'd already done a lot of that on their current house. Our realtor is hoping the woman just needed some time to talk her husband into it. I'm afraid it was a woman who thought she needed a new house and her husband didn't.
I was a crabby patty today. It's not very often that I'm in a cranky mood all day but this was one of them. Several little things that put me in the mood.
My great uncle passed away. He was my step grandpa's brother. Grandpa died when I was 12 but he lived in town and I spent tons of time with him. Out of his 3 brothers, this was the one I was closest to. He and his wife have lived in AZ the past 10 years and had just moved back to MT to be closer to family. I've made at least 3 trips to Billings and wanted to stop and see them but always had other things to do. Now, I regret waiting. I'd also like to go to his funeral tomorrow but it's not going to work out. He has such a twinkle in his eye.

CliffPeterson

Thumbs Up:

We really are making good progress on the house. We've started painting the basement even though we don't plan to totally finish the basement right away. The tile is done in the foyer and Lily's bathroom floor and shower. Ray's started hanging interior doors and putting on base trim so the carpet installer can come. 2/3 of the kitchen cabinets are done. I need to get pictures of some of the lights Ray's installed because they are gorgeous! We're very tentatively hoping to be in around the end of the month. (No laughing, mom).
There's no school tomorrow so Ray's taking the boys hunting. This will be Cody's first time going as an official "hunter" since passing Hunter's Safety.
The 1st quarter is done at school. Cody really struggled the past few years but is finally taking school more seriously. There is still room for improvement but he made the Honor Roll so we're very proud. All his teachers had great things to say. This is Jace's first year to receive letter grades and he earned all A's and B's. He's also suddenly taken a huge interest in reading. He's always hated reading but is now reading 300 page novels!! Lily is also doing well. All of the kids' teachers are very impressed with their transition into new schools. It truly has been amazing and we couldn't have asked for the move to be any smoother.
Cody has started Middle School wrestling and his first tournament is Saturday. Wrestling is such a different environment here. In Jamestown, Cody was teased a lot for being a wrestler instead of playing hockey or basketball. Here, wrestling is huge! Last night, they had a photo shoot for their team poster!! He's best friend here is also a wrestler and a super, nice kid.
Though the weather in October was awful, November is off to a gorgeous start. It's even supposed to hit 60 tomorrow.

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House Exterior

nobody@vox.com(jacolily) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:36:24 -0600

The stucco guy estimated it would take about a month to do our house. Well, 3 months later, it's finally done! Aside from taking forever, he didn't do a very quality job but it looks great from a distance!

Front house stucco Nov 4 crop

Back house stucco Nov 4 crop

Garage stucco Nov 4

W. side house stucco Nov 4

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QotD: Kids & Social Networking

nobody@vox.com(jacolily) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:35:41 -0600

How old do you think children should be before they join social networks like Facebook and MySpace?

I think it depends on the child and the family. We just let Cody join FB this summer at the age of 12. The main reason was for him to keep in contact with his friends back in ND. I'm on his friends' list so I can monitor all of his activity. I think that's the real key - parents' monitoring what their child is doing online. We went to a great lecture on social networking at the beginning of school and were told that FB is much safer than MySpace so that made me feel better. I'm guessing we won't wait quite as long to let Jace to join.

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QotD: Your Choice of Beverage

nobody@vox.com(jacolily) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:25:43 -0600

If you could only drink one beverage for the rest of your life (not including water), which one would you choose?

Easy. Pacific Spice Chai Tea.

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Happy Halloween 2009!

nobody@vox.com(jacolily) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:53:00 -0500

I'm not sure what exactly Cody is but he suggested going to his first dance as a ghost. Then, when it was time to slow dance with a girl, he was going to take off his ghost sheet and be wearing a tux with a rose in his mouth. Well, I told him that was a little expensive. We went down to Party Central and they really didn't have any costumes but a few wigs. However, we found a tuxedo tshirt and a black rose!

Cody's costume

Jace is a character from G.I. Joe.

Jace as GI Joe

Lily is a genie. So far, she hasn't granted me 3 wishes.

Lily as Barbie genie

Cody's big celebration was last night at the dance. Tonight, he's going to do a little trick or treating with some friends. Lily's at a friend's party. Afterwards, we'll take her and Jace over to a friend's house. The guys are going to take the kids out (they have 4 kids) and the women will stay at the house and hand out candy. We'll order pizza when the kids are done.

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J.A.C.E.

nobody@vox.com(jacolily) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:56:33 -0500

J - Joyous

A - Awesome football player

C - Cool dude

E - Egg eater

That last one really cracks me up because my mom's been making a warm breakfast for the kids each morning usually with eggs. She's going to have to move into our new house with us because the kids aren't going to be happy when I point to the cereal!

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QotD: Top Coat

nobody@vox.com(jacolily) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:25:22 -0500

There's a chill in the air. Show us your favorite coat.
Submitted by jacolily.

I have 2 favorite coats but have only managed to get a picture with one so far so will have to share the other one later. My mom bought this one for me this summer.

Heather red coat

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QotD: Vacation, All I Ever (Didn't) Want

nobody@vox.com(jacolily) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:55:55 -0500

What's the worst vacation you've ever taken?

Growing up, we took a vacation every Labor Day weekend to the Black Hills in South Dakota. On one of those trips, I got the stomach flu plus an asthma episode. My friend, Michelle, came with who also has asthma and she ended up with the same thing. We spent the weekend together on the floor in the bathroom thinking we were going to die!

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Guest Bedroom Painted

nobody@vox.com(jacolily) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:03:24 -0500

Guest bedroom painted

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