Rollin' Asa Rollins

Asa is now 8 months old! Where has this year gone??? He is just now starting to get more mobile with the rolling and I'm sure scooting will be right behind! I will risk sounding like a braggart here, but Asa is just the sweetest baby! He rarely fusses, sleeps great, wakes with a smile, and doesn't stop smiling all day! He *loves* Anson and Ella and laughs when they look at him. He has just started giving me "kisses" when I ask him. His favorite food right now is bananas (least favorite - green beans) but he will eat just about anything I give him. And he is a finger sucker... his first two fingers on his left hand which are the same fingers that Dusty sucked when he was a baby! I weighed him yesterday and he was 16.5 lbs. Getting bigger! We are all enjoying Asa and just think he is the cutest little guy.

Happy Birthday Ella!

This was just before she sat on her cake! :o) Graceful!

Ella's 3rd Birthday was actually well over a week ago... running a little behind with these posts! This year Ella looked forward to her birthday ever since Anson's birthday in June! Right now she is into princesses, castles, everything purple and green, and tinkerbell. Her favorite princess changes daily but she will usually say Cinderella or Snow White. And since we live so close to the best castle in America, we took a trip to Disney for Ella to see the castle and as many princesses as we could meet. It was great! She loved every minute! (So did we! Enough to buy yearly passes!) Jared, Brittany, Charlotte and Naomi went too and they also bought passes so we are looking forward to going to Disney quite a bit in the next 12 months! Ella got to meet Cincerella, Jasmine, and Sleeping Beauty. When I asked Ella who she liked the best she said "Cinderella... but I didn't like Jasmine" When I asked her why not, she said "because she didn't have all her clothes on!" Way to go Ella! You just keep that view as a teenager and we'll be alright! :o)

Then on Saturday the 11th we had her birthday party at our home. She had a lavender and green decorated cake with little castles and flowers and I made lavendar and green tutu's for Ella and her friend Grace to wear at the party with their pretend tieras. It was a nice little party and she received many wonderful gifts fit for a princess! We are so proud of Ella and can't believe that she is growing up so fast!

Princess Ella - and other musings of Anson

Auntie Aly just sent Ella a smocked dress that was Rachel's when she was a little girl. Ella couldn't wait to wear it because she thought is was so pretty. When I put it on her for church this morning, Anson said "Oh, Ella, you look just like a princess!" What a sweet big brother! Ella said "sank you, Anson!" as she twirled around a few times. So thank you for the dress Aly! Maybe it will fit Emily in the spring and we can send it back to you! We managed to get through lunch at church today without getting anything on it! :o) I can't believe how grown up Ella looks... and she is still just 2!

She loves princesses and castles so, of course, a trip to Disney is on order for her birthday! When we told her we were going to see Cinderella's castle for her birthday she said, "I want to meet a real live princess too! One in a big dress!" So let's hope we get to see at least one "real live princess" while we are there!

This morning on our way to church, we were talking about... going to church! Anson said "sometimes we don't go to church, right?" and we said "yes, when we are sick we don't go to church" and Anson said "or sometimes we don't go to church when we aren't in the mood"! Seriously, where does he get this stuff?? :o)

Lastly, (I have to get these on the blog or I will forget!) we just bought Financial Peace Jr. by Dave Ramsey to teach Anson and Ella about money. Dusty sat down with Anson (Ella doesn't quite understand all the concepts yet) and explained to him that he could work for commissions (instead of allowance) and laid out a few jobs he could do. One of them was to sweep off our sidewalks. If he sweeps off the sidewalks he earns a quarter. The kit came with a money pouch that clips to your belt and he wore it over to my parents house to show them. He explained to Papa that if he sweeps the sidewalks he will earn a quarter in commissions. Papa said "so if I go to your house and sweep off the sidewalk, could I earn a quarter?" Anson thought for a second and said "No, Papa. But I will pay you a penny!" I think he has the entrepreneurial mindset of his Daddy after all! Who knows, Anson may have his own business soon! :o)

Before and After - Kitchen and stairway.

The stairway in our home is in the kitchen.

The "lovely" carpet that used to line the stairs...

Carpet ripped up and stairs sanded down.

Stairs and risers painted. The treads were painted to match the stain of the floors upstairs and have a sandy texture so the kids don't slip in their socks!

Stairway complete!

The old kitchen had green tile floors, over lanoleum, over wood floors. The old wood flooring couldn't be saved.

The door in the distance lead to the exterior breezeway between the mother-in law suite and the main house. The floor had so much water rot under the sink that we had to replace most of the sub floor.

The walls/flooring being ripped up.

more demo

And our new kitchen! Terra cotta colored tile and Sherwin Williams shade of "Pennywise" paint on the walls. We really wanted a shade of orange somewhere in the house and the kitchen was the perfect place. Kitchen cabinets and counter tops were designed and made by my Dad and Mom!

Plenty of cabinet and drawer space in my little kitchen!

With the space we had to work with, I am thrilled at how it came out!

To the right of the fridge are two skinny pull-outs perfect for storing baby food, spices etc and a tray storage compartment above! Every space used wisely!

Some Before and After Pics - My Office

This room was full of mold which scared many buyers away from the property...But Dusty knew what to do and who to call and we had the moldy wall completely removed properly. The house is now joined together with the mother-in law suite throught this room we call the breezeway. (Arin's office!)

The breezeway being joined to the house... moldy wall removed.

The breezeway in progress

Standing in the kitchen doorway looking into the breezeway. This doorway used to go directly outside via a breezeway between the mother-in-law suite and the main house.

almost done...

And thanks to my Dad who is an awesome cabinet maker, I now have space to be organized!

I made my bulletin board...

So now my office is between the kitchen and the master bedroom/Dusty's office. The perfect place to do art projects with the kids, work on the computer, and sew!

Gemini Springs and Music Camp

The storm that came just as we got there. It passed quickly.

You can't swim in this part... because of the next picture.

Baby alligator and a turtle

Anson spotted this alligator first so we told him he could name it... he named it "baby-growing-up-soon alligator". :o) Nothing is simple with that kid.

We are having fun exploring our new home town! This springs is just south of Blue Springs where we went last week and runs along the St. Johns river. Isn't the color of the water gorgeous?? I am trying to post some really pretty pictures of Florida to entice our out-of-state friends to come visit! Is it working?? :o) What you can't see in the pics is the steam room/sauna like atmosphere we are living in right now in the peak of summer! I forgot how hot it could get here. But don't let that stop you from visiting, anyone!

This week Anson has been in music camp at Stetson University (my Alma Mater) and he is loving it! We can't tell if he likes the music aspect or just that he gets to go there by himself... yesterday when Dusty asked him what he likes the best he said "lunch"! He gets to pack his own lunch and is so excited about that! He goes M-F from 9:30 - 3:00. That is a full day for him since he has never done anything like this! I was a little nervous about how he would do but at the end of day one I was greeted at the door by all 3 teachers just raving about my little man! They all said what a great kid he is and how well behaved and attentive he was. (Dusty and I were worried that he would be labeled ADD!! :o) So I guess he is doing great! They are having a recital on Friday evening to show all the families and friends what they've learned. Can't wait! I am trying not to be too proud, but we are very proud of Anson! :o)

Florida Fun - Asa is 6 months!

Evidently squeezing your toes together helps you to sit up better!

Or crossing your feet!

You talkin' to me?

Just chillin' out after his bath...

Can you see his peach fuzz?

Happy 6 month old!

Rollin' on the river...

Away they go!

Ella was a little apprehensive at first but she LOVED it!

This one cracks me up! This reminds me of a papparazzi photo or something! Ella with her glasses on upside down, sucking on a lollipop and Anson with his wild dinosaur shirt (that he just HAD to have and I gave in :o) pulling Ella around by the wrist, spouting off directions for her to follow...

Me and Sharon

Now it is feeling more like home here! Dusty had to travel every week for the past 6 weeks but this was the first week he was home all week! Today he took Anson and Ella out on the St. Johns River in our little john boat. They loved it!! They saw a few alligators and had a fun time just riding in the boat. Ella loved putting her hand in the water as they went but that freaked Anson out. He did not want his hand in where an Alligator could bite him! Ella is my little dare devil :o). Asa and I didn't make it on this trip. We are holding out for the bigger boat! :o) And we had out first over-night guests! Sharon and Sagan, our neighbors from Atlanta and Anson's best little friend, came on Tuesday! We took them to Blue Springs (and i forgot my camera!) and Dusty cooked dinner for us that night. It was fun to see them!! Anson LOVED having Sagan here... he has missed her quite a bit. He loves for us to tell him stories in the car and EVERY story has to be about Sagan! :o)

I am also slowly getting the house decorated and situated the way I like it. There are still a million little things to finish but they will get done sooner or later. No real rush I guess. But it is with mixed emotions that I can say I have a working laundry room now. We have a new drain field in our back yard so I can use the washer now! My Mom had been doing my laundry for the past 6 weeks and I have been pretty spoiled! :o) So now it is back to reality and doing my own laundry! What a great Mom I have!! And my awesome Dad is installing the last of my "office" cabinets tomorrow! I will post some pics asap!

Asa turned 6 months old on Sunday! I can't believe that he has been with us for half a year already! He is such a blessing to us and makes us laugh and smile all day! Every time we look at him he is already smiling as if he is just waiting for us to see him! And he has the BEST belly laugh you have ever heard! I will try to get a video of him and post it. He laughs when he is getting tired which is pretty darn cute! He is eating solid foods now and doing pretty well. He will eat every thing I give him, although no matter what it is he gags on the first few bites! He is learning how to sit up and how to grasp things and bring them to his mouth. He is "talking" quite a bit now and tonight he talked himself to sleep. So cute! He really is a great baby! I just kiss those little cheeks all day! Now if I can get him to freeze at this age ...

Atlanta vs. DeLand

So we have left the big city. There are definitely pros and cons to living in a big city vs. a small town. We were never socialites and we didn't have a ton of friends that kept us busy with outings. We didn't have a sparkling night life, but we had everything we needed/wanted within 10 miles of our house... Church, shopping, zoo, aquarium, airport, chiropractor, doctor, parks, restaurants (every kind you can imagine), skyscrapers... and then there is the smog, trailer trucks and fire engines whizzing by our house, police search lights from helicopters lighting up the sky on a random Tuesday night, Boulevard between Freedom Parkway and Ponce De Leon Ave, Rubber Man Tires, The sock man who sold socks and rims for your car...

But we have traded all of that for...

90% of our family within a 1 1/2 hour drive, Gramma and Papa 10 minutes away!, having a "little" birthday party for Anson with 26 people(mostly family!), a quaint little downtown with shops and restaurants, a BBQ restaurant that I went to once and on the second time going, they remembered me!, being able to meet my Mom, Aunt and Uncle, Cousin and her son for the Wednesday morning farmers market held at the fairgrounds, having Gramma willingly take the kids to her house for the afternoon and Toto coming for the day to entertain them!, hearing the crickets at night instead of the hum of traffic, the St. Johns River right down the road and the Atlantic Ocean 25 minutes away, seeing beautiful Florida sunsets from our second story windows, and even a palm tree in our front yard! So yes, it may take two weeks to get our foreign car fixed and two hours to find a store with just the right thing we need (but they could call another location and get it here next week!)but, culture shock and all, we love it! We are glad to get to raise our kids in a small town and glad to be near our family!