Big changes at the Anderson house

I'm putting our hilltop waterfront property up for sale and starting homeschool tomorrow!

Until now we've only had a waterview property. Today we nearly have a waterfront property so it looks like it might be a good time to sell. :o) Oh, and the siding is finished on the back side of the house. That will help, I'm sure, if someone isn't sure about "the house with the unfinished project".

After 3 missed school days for snow; 2 days and counting for flood; and 2 full weeks of winter break we are going to hit the books bright and early tomorrow morning. (Plus, they'll be missing 2 weeks in March for a trip to Cancun.) The kids are too wet outside, too bored inside, and too irritable with each other so the lesson books are coming out. Eli will be joining us again, as his nanny is flooded in. He'll be learning his abc's and math facts 0 thru 9. Next week we'll start him on multiplication and division.

This is a picture I got from the local news. It isn't our exact view but very, very similiar to the low farmlands just west of us.

This is a landscape/firewood sales establishment not far from our house. It is completely underwater. When I drove past it today I saw a little car just barely above the water level. It is definitely below the surface in this picture. In the very center of the picture there's a tiny black dot beyond the establishment. That is the top of a stop sign. The stop sign is next to a park and ride (widely known as the "park and swim") that is 6+ feet under water. I understand a levee broke and flooded into Stanwood this evening. The water in this picture would have flooded to the right, directly into the town.

So far our friends in the farmland areas around here do not have water in their houses and the water is receding. yeah.

Christmas 2008

~Christmas with the Smith Family~

Christmas day was full of fun...after a white-knuckle drive to Enumclaw!

A White Elephant Gift Exchange

Just a few of the treasures...

A magnifying mirror...I never have liked those things. See what they do to your image?!

Grandpa got a matchbox car and several other goodies from one of the boys' overflowing toy boxes.

Randy is ready for the kitchen

Auntie Beth is pretty proud of her new travel case

A midnight snowball fight among the cousins

I thoroughly enjoyed kicking up my heels with a baby and a magazine while everyone else kept busy with games and food prep. This was my first time to see my great niece Ellia. She let me rock her for both naps. What a perfect little baby girl.

One of the many gaming tables

Uncle Marvin came down from AK to surprise the family.

Kendal and Pam hosted brunch and a Show and Tell.

Grandpa and Tessa played a duet. Tessa played several other pieces too, as duets and solos. She had a her first recital (that her mean mother MADE her do) in the beginning of December. She decided then and there that she was NEVER going to do another recital. She must have gotten the performance bug because she kept volunteering!

Anderson Christmas at our house.

Jared loves to eat so much that he even tried out the new plastic drumstick.

The Anderson grandkids

What on earth was I thinking??!! An indoor basketball hoop?! This was a purchase for the playroom that is not complete yet. Its completion will not be soon enough. My entry has turned into a gym, kitchen, and storage room.

Ping Pong Ball guns. Grandpa and Trevon had way too much fun.

A nice Christmas Carol to finish the festivities.

Misc. December

Some cute December pictures.

Look closely at Trevon's mouth! He used to feed Kaylee and would do the same thing! So cute.

Brich Bay

December started with the Sister's Weekend in Lynden and quickly moved to Grandma and Grandpa weekend at Birch Bay. The kids got to spend some time with G&G while Randy and I went shopping for the house. In all the looking we did, we bought 7 lights!! Not exactly the high priority, but they were the only things we found that were "just right".

House update

There's not a lot to show since the last post...windows are installed, doors got put in yesterday, plumbing is done, the house is wrapped in Tyvek and ready for siding today. The electrician should be out this week. Then it is insulation and sheetrock. Then....we get to take over and finish it!