Say what...?

Avery: We took a lot of family pictures and not many turned out (thanks Meg for the help. We got about 150 pictures and 4 maybe turned out because of kids moving, laughing, and running around).


Liam (after we lost every game at the school bingo night): We shouldn't have went tonight mom.

Mom: Why?

Liam: We need to stay home and practice more.



Ethan: When I grow up I want to be just like dad.

Dad: Why?

Ethan: Because then I go poo-poo in the potty.

Ethan likes to dress in my bike clothes before I go to work. Here is another conversation with him.

Dad: What does dad do for work?

Ethan: Rides his bike.

(I wish)

The never ending days

A lot of things have happened since my last post, so I will try and update you as best I can. Ethan turned three a few days ago! He was very excited for his birthday. The day before we had a boys night and made crowns, decorated the house, and made cards. It was pretty fun. Ethan had a great birthday.

Ethan and his fish cake!

Liam and Ethan. Brooke took them for a birthday doughnut.

Ethan's birthday dress-up outfit.

Two days after we had our ward trunk or treat. Andrew was a monkey, Ethan was a fireman, Liam was John (from Peter Pan), and Avery was Michael (from Peter Pan). The kids had a great time collecting candy, and really liked eating it. Avery had some friends come over after and they chatted while drinking hot chocolate, then stayed up to watch Lord of the Rings II (Avery has been reading the books).

Liam in his costume! He got to wear it to school and was very excited about the glasses. They are Avery's old ones with the lenses popped out. He likes to wear them all the time now. Maybe it is signs to come with him? He does look pretty cute in them.

I went as a Duck fan! Go Ducks! #1 in the BCS this week.

Avery and her friend.

Elisa came to visit the trunk or treat.

The witch costume was a hot costume for the night (Brooke, Sandi, and Tannya).

Our little monkey!

One of these two...

We got out the bike today and took Andrew on his first ride on the back of the bike. Our family always enjoys going out and riding around. We even went over to some dirt hills and I got the boys to ride over the bumps. It doesn't work to well for Ethan on his tricycle, he was definitely willing though.

As we strapped in Andrew it was like deja vu, somehow this face of excitement was very similar to another boy - Liam.


Andrew

Liam (just in case you couldn't tell)

Bang up day!

My day started like any other. I got to work and started plucking away on schedules and emails. But I got an unusual phone call from Brooke. I looked to see that it was only 7:30 in the morning. Brooke doesn't call me at work! It must be something at home. I quickly answered to find out that Ethan had been in our bed dancing and singing an Alvin and the Chipmunks song, "You spin me right round baby, right round..." when he fell off the bed and hit his head.

I met Brooke at the hospital, luckily I had driven to work because I had a race later that day (hear more on that later). I took Ethan into the dr's for his stitches. Ethan was great! He didn't cry one time! They ended up giving him 6 stitches in his head. What can I say, like father, like son.




But the day didn't end there. I raced a cyclocross race later in the day. Was battling for first when I went down pretty hard. I ended up braking my rim and couldn't finish.

First Day of School

Here are a few pictures from Avery's first day of 8th grade and Liam's first day of Kindergarten! Avery was not so hot on me following her into the classroom for close-ups!

Finished ... will it ever be finished?

I guess it is one of those philosophical questions...will my house ever be finished? When people ask I usually say the room is done, but there are a few things to touch up, mostly with the decor department. I won't post to many photos until it is completely done, but here are a few teasers to keep you up on our work.

This is the first night in their beds.


The boys were out causing some mischief in the backyard the other day and drug the hose to the dirt to make some mud. This was the result.

Best $24 dollars ever spent

Hot of the download are the latest pictures of our remodel. Doug and I have been working none stop on this house to get as much done as we can. This week I started roofing and it has made it more challenging for me to be there during the day, but Doug has been a great help.



We have been sheet rocking, mudding, and sanding lately. We rented a lift to help with the sheet rock and it was the best $24 I have every spent. We had 12' pieces that were 5/8" thick. Heavy!






The latest remodel we decided to rip out the half wall in the entry way, which meant we also had to rip out the old tile. The tiling has been added to the get done list as well.

The renovation!

Nature has a way of evolving - tadpoles turn into frogs or caterpillars changing into beautiful butterflies. Our family has changed as well since we have been in this house. We started with just one, but now realize three kids later that we have out grown our home.

So we have decide to utilize the empty space in our house and make another room. I am in the process of closing off the vaulted ceiling in the family room.


This is our room when we first bought the house. Brooke set up her painting in the living room.
Day 1 & 2: Obviously this wasn't the first day of this renovation. We did many things before this day, such as, working with Rob (many thanks Rob) on the plans, taking them downtown for approval, calling for bids, etc. But this was the first day of actual construction. I got a big load of wood and started wripping off sheet rock and putting up the ledger boards.





Day 3: Doug came for a visit to help lift the big stuff. It was nice to have him here to help (ok I was actually helping him). Got the floor up.




Day 4: Finished framing!



Tomorrow we have the electrician and AC guys coming. Good that the AC man is coming because ours isn't working! UGH!

Growing up so fast!

I can't believe how much can happen in such a short amount of time. Ok, so it has been a while since I posted, but number four has been quite the change for us. There isn't as much spare time as there used to be. But it has been a good time filler. Andrew continues to grow and is now the next Cottle boy to suck his fingers.

Liam and Ethan have enjoyed the outside, once in a while it does stop raining here, but not much this spring. They love to go out and run in the sprinklers, play with their soccer or baseball, or just explore in the garden. Ethan in particular loves to be out in the backyard. He will run out there at any time of the day.


I even got a nice shiner from our little Ethan. He kept getting out of bed and I would have to run him down (we put the lock on the door so he can't get out now). I got him and set him down. I reached behind him to get his blanket and he bucked back giving me a sweet bump within seconds. The eye went pretty black the next day and I couldn't open my eye to well. After a week of "are you wearing make-up" comments, it is finally almost back to normal.

Brooke took an abserd number of photos of the boys, so I will post a few for you. They are pretty cute though.







Finally, we got to have Elisa over for her 21st birthday! It was fun to celebrate the day with her. Elisa was very excited to get her "cheap" haircut and gifts. It is always nice to have family around on those occassions.