Phase 2 completed and funny phone mess-ups

Out with the old

So, I finished phase 2!  It is far from perfect.  In fact, some of it looks like a women did it, if you look closely.  :)  Hopefully nobody will.  But I am so happy with the overall effect, especially when I look back to what it used to be.  It has given me the motivation to finish the rest.



In with the new!

Change of subject.  I almost always do just voice texting since I got my iphone.  It's fast and easy.  The problem is that it sometimes hears things differently than I actually say them.  This one will go down in history.  My conversation with Audrey:

AJ's important pictures

AJ's typical smile whenever he's with Nicole :)

 These are AJ's senior ball pictures and also his official senior picture.  Thanks Teresa for always being a great photographer!


Can't get the picture to turn

summertime is here!

On Fri. morning while the kids were at their last day of school, I had a few mom's call me asking the details of the big party Ian was having.  I didn't know Ian was having a big party but was not at all surprised.  I just pretended that I knew all about it.  And when Ian came home, I said, "I hear that you're having a big party today at our house. "  The response was "Oh yea, I was going to call and tell you that today."  That's my Binsky!

I told Alicia and Isaac that I wanted them to still practice the piano every day during the summer and that I also wanted them to read every day.  Alicia was not excited about practicing but she  immediately took it upon herself to convert Isaac to reading.  She became converted when she read "Tales of Despereax" a year or so ago, so she brought it out and has read a little quite often to him.  It's cute to watch. 

G day

Whenever AJ went to or had a party--this was the crowd

AJ has had such a crazy few weeks.  There are times when I watch my kids do something and I remember doing the same thing so well that it almost hurts.  (That sounds dumb but it's the only way I can think to describe it.).  I remember the end of my senior year so well and how busy I was, how much I loved my friends, how much I didn't want it to end, and how emotional I was the day of graduation.  I watched AJ hugging everyone, singing the school song with his arms around his friends, going to parties every night for a few weeks and just having so much fun.  I am so grateful for the awesome friends he has had during high school.  I have never worried about him, where he's at, what he's doing because I always knew he was with great people.

Mario and I kept it all together during the whole  thing until Audrey ran over and hugged AJ and burst into tears.  It was really sweet!  I love that they have always been so close.

Grandpa and Grandma came and survived the hour of them just reading names



AJ with his very best friends

House problems and Memorial Day

Sometimes, I am jealous of people that just rent a home.  Right now is one of those times.  It seems like lately everything is falling apart.  1st--we had a major septic back up in our basement and we now have the hassle of dealing with insurance and a zillion fix-it people down there.  We have decided that we have now had water in our basement enough times that we are going with a tile floor down there.  At least on the hall, half the TV room and the bathroom. 

A few days before Memorial day, Ian asked me if we could have a pool party and invite all the Durrant family.  At the time, I hadn't even thought about setting up the pool and I told him that there was just no way that I could get it ready that fast and every year, there were things about that pool to deal with and I should just plan on that always being a 2 week process.  Ian used his puppy dog eyes on me and promised that he would spend any amount of time day or night to help me.  I gave in and he and I went to work.  It really did take us 3 days of constant diligence (and we did have a few usual set backs) but we did it.  But, one of those mornings, we walked out on the deck and looked over at the hot tub and saw that the deck was caving in.  I ran downstairs and got the flood handyman that was down there at the time and he came running to look at it.  He said, "This deck was built for people weight, not hot tub weight."  He put our flood walls on hold and came and jacked up the deck and did a temporary fix to get us through the summer. 

The party ended up being really fun and worth all the stress of trying to get ready for it. 

The kids all loved having Aaron in the pool to throw them through the air

My springtime project

The garage before

Last year, I had this goal to at least care about our yard.  I'm just not into landscaping or gardening.  I planted a lot of things and told Mario that I could probably learn to enjoy landscaping depending on what percentage of my efforts survived.  I can't say that my record was too great so I quickly started putting effort into something that makes sense to me--Home Improvement.  I have loved working on the outside of our house.  So far, I have phase 1 done and only 3 more phases to go.  This was supposed to be a springtime project while the kids were in school.  Looks like it will also be a summertime project when the kids are in the pool.

And After--not a big change.  I'm most excited to show my porch before/after when I get done with it.

Senior Prom

 Right now is a bitter/sweet time for Mario and I.  It seems like with every event these days, I get this feeling of "Where is the rewind button?"  AJ and Audrey both went to Senior Prom last night.  They both came home very happy and this picture was taken at 1am.  I'm pretty sure that AJ no longer has his VL's (virgin lips).  This has been a question that I have asked him after every date for a long time.  Last night was a dead giveaway by his reaction.   But I guess it is the last week of his Senior year and he has liked this girl for a long time now. 

Audrey's date was with a German exchange student.  She thinks he's hilarious.  He also is interested in the church and is coming over for family night with the missionaries next week, so we're all excited about that.  I don't have pictures from AJ's date yet so I will put them on here later.