Fireplaces and Jammies

Right now Collin is in Denver participating in the 911 Stair Climb....his knee has been bothering him so I am hoping that he makes the climb without problems...He was also interviewed for the local paper and there is a really nice article about him and the other guys from Cheyenne that go to the 911 Stair Climb in Denver every year........

Jammie's....Dylan is so cute in his new Jammie's....all summer he wore only shorts to bed since it has been so warm....but a couple of nights ago we started putting him in his new Jammie's since it has cooled down enough at night to wear them........his Nain got him two new pair of Jammie's....they are so cute on him.....I am going to pick up 3 or 4 more pair for the winter....he loves them.....Dylan is also putting so many words together and has decided that he likes food again which is a relief for us......he is so much fun...and today I am off so we are going to spend the whole day together...

Projects....well the house is going to be pretty much a disaster zone starting tomorrow for the next 3 weeks or so.....so here are the projects....some are more exciting than others

The family room is getting a face lift....a new fireplace...ceiling is being torn out and we are installing can lights and fans and new trim....and then finally a new paint job....the sheet rock alone will create a lot of dust and mess but I think we will really enjoy it and it will finish out the room nicely...

Our bedroom is getting several windows ripped out and 2 new windows installed...right now the headboard sits against windows....it looks kind of dumb so ripping out the windows behind the headboard and installing one on each side of the headboard should look nice....we are also getting a french door in our bedroom it is replacing the old patio door.....this was not a planned part of the bedroom but there was a mistake on one of our new construction homes so we are getting a pretty pricey french door pretty reasonable and the old one really needed to be replaced anyways......of course more sheet rock work so lots of dust and mess and then we will need to paint once the bedroom project is done....

We are also getting several plumbing and roofing repairs taken care of.....our plumber is adding a couple of outdoor faucets to make it easier for watering...he is re installing a heater we have in our shop and adding some safety shut offs and thermostat features so that it will be more economical and the dogs and mooks will love it in the winter....the big plumbing improvements are that they are installing washer and dryer hookups in one of our master bedroom closets...it will be so nice that we don't have to go downstairs to do laundry any more...of course we will still keep the 2nd washer and dryer in the lower level....they are also going to disconnect the gas line at our gas fireplace in the front living room.....we are going to turn that back into a wood burning fireplace....this was a huge compromise for the Moody family....Collin hated the gas fireplace in the front room because it offered no real heat and was pretty much just for looks and cost money with no real return except for my personal enjoyment....I loved it well because I liked the way it looked and loved the ease of having a fire with a push of a button.....so the compromise was that we would turn the front fireplace back into a wood burning fireplace....so a true heat source at little to no cost and I would still have a pretty fireplace to look at...but we also agreed to install the gas fireplace in the family room so at a flip of a switch I will have pretty fire....the good news is the fireplace that we picked is actually a furnace rated unit ...so it is designed to put out some serious heat and was pretty darn efficient...it will be the primary heat source in the family room and is actually thermostatically controlled.....there is a old gas heater on the side of the family room that was put in to heat the room...it is old and kind of dangerous with a little one....it also looked out of place since the family room had a different heat source....so need less to say I am very excited....we have known that we have wanted to do these improvements since we have moved in so it is nice to be able to get them done and cross them off the list.....

Today....Dylan and I are going to head down to the farmers market and then head over to the park....Collin should be home sometime this afternoon so we are hoping to have a relaxing evening and BBQ this evening and burn a fire out on the patio tonight.....

Updates

Lets see life have been good...busy but good....business is good...Dylan is oh so wonderful....talking so much....though I can't always understand what he is saying... he is talking all the time......he is such a special little man that I just can't get enough of him.....we are fairly relaxed parents ...so far it seems to be working......but I guess I am waiting for the back lash of bad baby behavior....if it comes I guess we will adjust at that time....for the most part we enjoy his art and attempts at manipulation.....I must say though when we do get serious and put our foot down he usually falls in place with what we are asking ....it is amazing to watch him carve out his place in our family and the world......to watch him grow and become his own unique little person...with likes and dislikes...with little quirks....and his very own concerns....most days we don't sweat the small stuff...perhaps a blessing of being a older parent.....I guess only time will tell.............

So we got our new bedroom set....and we are really enjoying it so much...have bought a couple extra wall sconces that hold candles.....the windows should be done here in the next 2 weeks or so...then we will pick out window coverings....paint and call it good

Last week we attended a benefit auction for one of Collin's good friends.....I am glad that I have been so busy...it allowed us to be the winning bid on a autographed baseball bat from one of the star players of the Rockies...we are super excited to be able to get it for Dylan....we also managed to be the high bid on a 2 night getaway to Estes Park...at what looked like super luxury accommodations.......

Family is here for the weekend...Grandpa Moody got in yesterday....we headed to Fort Collin's today to pick out a new fire place for the family room....get me a much needed purse at the outlet store....pick up some new Lego's for Dylan at Toys R Us and rounded out the day with lunch at 5 guys burgers........yummy good and took Dylan to go play at a Jump House Play Ground...where he jumped, jumped, ran, climbed and jumped some more......for a good hour and a half....little boys and their energy....right now he is still running, jumping, climbing and jumping some more......Dylan seems to have boundless energy........

Tomorrow Aunt Carol and Uncle Herb should be arriving in the late afternoon.....we are planning a Saturday afternoon BBQ for friends and family.....Collin and his Dad are going to the opening college football game for the Wyoming Cowboys on Saturday night....a colleague of mine has pretty good season tickets and offered us her tickets for the game....only 2 so we thought it would be nice if we made it a father and son night....Monday we are thinking about heading up to Estes Park....and I believe I am going to be taking the whole weekend off....I have to work about a 1/2 day tomorrow....otherwise I should have the whole weekend off.....I am really looking forward to the time off with family..... well with that until next time

road trip

I actually got home fairly early today at 6:45....tomorrow evening will be somewhere around 8:00 and my day will start somewhere around 5:30 am...but then I will have all day on Wednesday with Dylan...I love it when we have all day together....he is so stinkin cute right now....this evening he tried on his new wet suit with foam padding and his rain boots....he now loves his rain boots....which is thrilling for Collin and I since 3 months ago he screamed every time we put them on....now we can't get them off of him....we are getting excited for our trip to Las Vegas at the end of September...we are looking forward to the road trip...the first day on the road will take us to Provo Utah....we are planning a little swimming at the hotel pool a little investigating the community then off to Vegas on the second day....we are actually staying outside of Vegas at Lake Meade....both grandparents from California our meeting us at Lake Meade for the weekend...we will stay in Vegas (lake Meade until Monday morning) while we are there we are hoping to take in quite a few kid friendly activities....I think they have a old train station in Boulder City, a candy factory tour in Vegas, a children's museum in Vegas, and a couple of other activities....and of course we have to cheer on dad for the triathlon and spend much needed time with grandma's and grandpa's...on our way home we are stopping in Glenn wood Springs Colorado and actually have booked a 2 day stay there at the lodge that has the natural springs....and the best Italian food ever at the Italian Under Ground...we are also hoping to visit a state park by tram and take a tour of some underground crystal caverns....we will end up at home on Wednesday......
until next time....

by the way we are having a small celebration here at the Moody household....we are pretty much debt free again except for our mortages....we were able to get Collin's truck paid off today..........and we are still on track for a new fireplace keep you posted

Friday night

Right now Dylan and I are hanging out upstairs in our bedroom....we got our new bedroom set last week....and wow we really like it....Collin made a comment yesterday that it finally feels like a bedroom....we still are waiting to get the new windows installed in the bedroom and still need to order new window treatments...but wow it is just turning into such a enjoyable room to hang out in.....I have been going back and fourth on what to do with the bedding....but we have decided to stick with the clean crisp look of a white down comforter....I also bought a beautiful cable knit dark brown Ralph Lauren blanket to flank the bottom of the bed.....I also purchased the most beautiful white pillows that are embroidered with fire flies and birds.....they are whimsical and yet so beautiful in detail and yet kind of simple...they add just the right amount of color to balance out the bedding....since the bedroom set has such large massive heavy and formal pieces I wanted to lighten the mood with simple bedding...I am really quite pleased

Scary news....our next door neighbors came over yesterday to inform us that they have had someone snooping around their home the last 3 nights and Wednesday night someone actually came in their home.........how scary is that..especially since I am home alone with Dylan quite a bit and always leave windows and the back door open for the dogs to go in and out....so tonight...everything is locked and Dylan and I are barricaded in the upstairs bedroom...we enlisted Jackson to sleep in the bedroom tonight....he is a great barker so at the very least I will have a little warning....it is kind of scary being up here in the bedroom...because if someone decided to break in downstairs I would never hear them until they were right in front of us...especially with the air conditioner going now.....Collin doesn't really seemed to worried.....I guess not since he will be at the fire station...he reminds me that I have 3 dogs.....we also are wondering if the neighbors are imagining things....since they didn't call the police until the next day...and you would think the police would come through the neighborhood and warn everyone but who knows.....it is probably just as well that we are more careful....I just don't want to be scared....
Dylan has finally made his way to enjoying movies I know we probably shouldn't be proud of this...but we recorded Dr Seuss' Horton Hears a Who......he really loves Horton...it is so fun to watch him giggle as he watches the movie.....our little guy is talking more and more and he understands everything........last night we were taking a bath and I asked Collin to grab the shampoo.....as soon as I did Dylan tried to get out of the bath tub.....he knew exactly what was coming.....
Tomorrow morning as long as no one gets us in our sleep tonight....we are going to head to the farmers market in the morning...then I have 3 open houses for the rest of the day....oh and did I mention I actually am going to get a whole day off on Sunday....
Collin has been training for his triathlon, mowing, working and I think is ready for a break....he has the whole month of September off and I think he is really looking forward to it....well with that until next time.......

off

Oh my goodness I had a full day off today...what a treat and I am truly enjoying it with Dylan...slept in to about 8 or so...enjoyed reading the paper...and absolutely loved the cool morning air....it has probably been the first sign that fall is just around the corner....I am so looking forward to fall....since summer just zoomed by....it has been a prosperous summer but I can't really say a enjoyable one....Dylan and I headed to the farmers market this morning....we managed to come home with a loaf of cranberry nut bread, home made tortilla chips, some chocolate cookies Dylan eyed early on.....I wanted to get some peaches but they just weren't very sweet yet...we then stopped by the fire station to say hi to dad.....Dylan loves the fire trucks and went back and fourth between two of them climbing all over them....how cool is it that your dad is a fireman....lucky boy.....as we headed back across town we stumbled upon a craft fair in the park and made our way through the booths....kind of a mom and pop type craft fair.....I almost bought a giant wooden Frankenstein for the outside for Halloween but decided against it.....we then made our way to Hobby Lobby which I managed to drop a little cash....we then headed over to Lowe's....where I dropped a little more cash on some more perennials for the yard....the front yard is looking well......I am though a little disappointed with my pots in the back patio....some have died, some look kind of leggy....the inpatients I planted are doing beautiful in the back patio...next year I am planting all inpatients they seem to manage well with little sun and are happy back there....well I guess its just part of a learning curve with a new house.....after Lowes....I stopped by TJ Maxx and picked up some wonderful soaps and goodies for our upcoming guest.....I love beautiful soaps.....such a indulgent treat...Dylan usually enjoys our outing together like this...he loves to run through the stores.....and absolutely loved playing at the craft show....it was quite interesting though when we were at the farmers market he stayed close to me and in fact reached out to hold my hand....it was packed full of people.....anyways we played ball in the front yard this evening and I also ordered a bedroom set that Collin and I have been eyeing.....we are doing a small remodel job in our bedroom...I absolutely hate that we have windows over our bed....that means we have little to no head board and draped right above our head.....I had Mike our trusty handyman come over and give us a bid on getting rid of all those windows and replacing them with just one on each side of the bed....this will make room for our new headboard and bed.....we purchased a bed, two night stands and a dresser....they are huge beautiful carved pieces with marble tops on the night stands and dresser ....we have a pretty large bedroom but this set will easily fill it...hopefully not overly....it is a pretty taste specific piece of furniture and kind of looks like a king should be sleeping in it... it will go well with our era of home.....anyways needless to say I am super excited to be getting it...we are also going to move forward and get Collin's truck paid off here this month....we haven't fully decided on the fireplace for the family room yet....we need to get some firm cost before we move forward on that project......well with that I am going to sign off for now....until next time

Saturday

I am enjoying a Saturday morning with Dylan....we baked cookies...watered the flowers...played a little and now he is taking a break from me and me from him with a Little Max and Ruby....it is such a sweet children's show about a baby brother rabbit and his sister rabbit and the Grandma rabbit I love the fact that Dylan loves it..................jeez we just really have a pretty good time together.....he is talking quite a bit more and saying all kinds of words that we didn't know that he knew....it is amazing watching him grow up....lately he has been taking this little red wooden wagon with him everywhere....he puts his drink cup in the back of the wagon and pulls it everywhere he goes.....
Spending money....well being so busy at work well has kept me from spending money......don't worry I am sure I will find time to get some spending done here shortly.....a couple days ago we took a 1/2 day off or so and headed to Fort Collins and stopped by to see Penny in Eaton....we headed to REI....where Collin picked up some leg protectors for mowing ( i can't think of what they are called right now) anyways while we were there.....I noticed the most adorable down REI jacket for Dylan....it was a little more than I wanted to spend but it is pretty practical for the winter.....it wasn't bulky at all and I think he will wear it quite a bit...it is fairly light weight down jacket.....we also headed over to Old Navy and picked up some armless t shirts for Dylan, a couple of long sleeve t shirts and 2 pair of jeans......I am not crazy about their stuff....but for the t shirts I don't think you can go wrong...the jeans I don't know yet we will have to see how they wash and wear...I still like Gymboree....their clothing wears well.....I have though fallen in love with a new catalog called Chasing Fire Flies......and have found 4 or so pieces I am going to order for Dylan....it is kind of pricey stuff....if they had a actual store I am sure that I would have at least those pieces plus 4 more....but it is tougher for me to actually purchase things online.....I look at the catalogs over and over again....pick and re pick what I think he needs...then I add it up.....have a moment of shell shock and think that I probably shouldn't be buying it....this will go on for at least a month or so ...over and over again.....then I will come to a moment wear I decide that after 2 months that I am not going to buy anything from that over priced catalog and chuck it into the garbage...or I will decide that I was so lucky that they decided to put me on their mailing list and that how could I ever let Dylan live without these wonderful pieces....and how I have worked so hard to be able to buy these indulgent pieces and that by the way Dylan is our one and only son.....I will never have this moment again to enjoy these wonderful little works of art on my son......and with that being said I find a 5th piece that I can't live with out....hold my breathe add everything to the cart and try not to look at the total as I hit send.....at this very moment I am not sure whether Chasing Fire Flies catalog will get chucked or ordered from....with over 8 closings that means size able checks coming in the next 6 weeks I am thinking it might be that I will become one of Chasing Fire Flies newest and best customers...
With that being said business I guess has been amazing....I am just so tired...and slightly over whelmed....I was hoping for a lull in the action starting this next week....but that doesn't look like that is going to happen....I had 3 new listing this last week and have 2 more for next week....it also looks like we have to bid out another $450,000 house, most likely will have our spec house under contract this next week..and are almost at a green light with another $530,000 project we have been working on....I have 8 closings by the end of the month and 2 more at the beginning of September and we are at a critical framing and ordering stage on our over $515,000 custom built home....so lots of clients with lots of needs....lots of emotions....lots of small problems that always need fine tuning..whether with appraisals, repairs, banks, overages, financial problems....or just the plain old stress of buying and selling a home, I have to be the emotional rock for these clients the problem solver the positive force when things don't go as planned.......there are times that I don't want to show one more home....or take the extra hour to make sure they feel good about their new home.....or hold there hand as they go to the bank...or go look at lots for the 5Th time to figure out which one will work best for their dream home...or help re design the floor plan for the 8Th time...or to listen to how tired they are after they worked 8 hours today...and they don't realize that I am on hour number 12 for the day when they say this and all I want to do is go home and see my boy.....but this is the reality of being successful at what I do......I am hoping that perhaps in 2 weeks or so things will slow a bit....who knows I will keep you posted....it is a wonderful blessing to have this kind of business and I think if I can manage a full day off here sooner rather than later I will be more appreciative than I seem right now.....well until next time........it is time to cuddle my little guy before I head out for the day....

God wants me to have a new fireplace

That's the only logical thing that I can come up with.....God must want me to have a new fireplace in the family room.....business doesn't seem to be slowing down like I had hoped this week....I picked up a new client via a referral earlier this week.....I was suppose to show 7 or 8 mid range family homes on Sunday maybe a few more on Monday and most likely put a deal together...as we meet today I am advised that they will actually need to buy 2 homes by Tuesday for investment purposes somewhere in the neighborhood of $550 to $600 for both.....I know I know.....great news right.....except this now means that I needed to show properties pretty much all day today.....good portion of tomorrow and on Monday...this means once again no day off this week....I was hoping for little down time for Monday because I pretty much booked the rest of the week.....Dylan got to go with me today to help show houses....tomorrow I am going solo....he slept most of the time.....we still managed a nice mommy and son day and made our way to Sam's Club, Wal Mart, and a play area...tonight I am going to indulge myself with a cup of hot tea, a hot bath and some of my $2.99 Wal Mart bubble bath....I love the stuff.....at $2.99 it is a completely guilt free pleasure...I don't worry about waste or to many bubbles at $2.99 for a giant jug of the stuff I just pour it in and enjoy.....I will also light my $5.00 Wal mart candle for a little ambiance.....and dream about how wonderful our new fireplace will looking in the family room this winter.....well with that until next time