41

Someone turns 41 today. I thought I would share some things about Lee, mostly from this last year....
1. He's an awesome Husband./He works really, really hard. (It's a tie)
2. He's a great Dad. When he walks into the house, you would think he was a Rockstar because of the way the boys greet him when he comes home.
3. He thinks he's still in his 20's when he rides his Motorcycle.
4. He cracked his rib last spring riding his Motorcycle with his brothers (thinking he was 20 something).
5. He likes Christmas lights and is sad when they come down every year the day after this birthday.
6. He doesn't like to make a fuss on this birthday. He doesn't want any cake, any presents, etc. But I do it anyways.

7. If he shave off his beard tomorrow, he would look 25.
8. He's a great Dad.
9. He loves to tease his siblings like when they were kids.
10. He likes to quote things from Movies.
11. His favorite T.V. shows are NCIS, CSI:Miami, The Unit (it was cancelled), Heroes, Eureka, The Mentalist, and many, many more...
12. He wears kilts (Utilikilts) but can't at work because it's not OSHA approved.
13. He's become a little annoying since he has been OSHA approved and takes safety classes for work.
14. He calls himself "The Dad".
15. He has a "Silver Palate" when it comes to food. I'm not sure if this is my fault or his Mom's.
16. He thinks after almost 19 years of marriage I should be able to read his mind.
17. He hates it when it rains, and starts mentioning "wanting to move to Arizona or California" almost every January thru March. Then the sun starts to come out in April and then he forgets about it until the next January.
18. He loves James Bond movies.
19. He likes things done right the first time.
20. He's a great Dad and Husband. (I know I mentioned his before.)

That's 20 things. I could list 41 but I've still got stuff to do today.

Happy 41st Birthday Lee!!

Easter Eggs!

In the past.....dying Easter Eggs wasn't always fun. There has always been an issue with patience, and, waiting for the eggs to turn color. Then, after the first 2 batches, I was left to finish the eggs, by myself. It didn't matter how many stickers there were to put on the eggs afterwards, or what cool egg dying kit I bought-I was always left behind to finish the task. Mac enjoyed coloring eggs, up until last year. He just lost interest, it was bound to happen, he is 13 years old after all. This year, Mason totally got into dying eggs.

This was batch #1. The waiting was killing him. I got these green plastic egg grabber things. They worked really well, and Mason didn't touch one egg with his fingers.

Mason with his favorite color, green. He could have dyed 6 dozen eggs. But, I only boiled 2 dozen.

Lee came home during the process. Mason said "Hey Dad! Why don't you come and join us." Lee told him "Why don't you ask your Mom about Dad coloring Easter eggs." Dad doesn't color Easter eggs. His job was to carve pumpkins at Halloween. That was the deal. But he came over to take a picture with Mason.

Can I tell you how much I LOVE these little egg shaped plastic cups for dying eggs? They are perfect!

All Done! This is what he did when he was finished. It was funny.

And this is what we ended up with. Aren't they pretty? We hope all of you have a Happy Easter!

Happy 40th Birthday Lee!

I am not going to write 40 wonderful things about my husband, because I still have to bake his cake, and it would take me all day. But I am going to share why I love him so much. I promise, this won't be too sappy.
You married me despite the fact that I couldn't cook, bake, sew, or do crafts. I introduced you to your first frozen entree our first week of marriage, and you ate it.

When you come home from work, you say "Hello", take a shower, eat dinner, and then relax, sometimes falling asleep.

You are a good Dad to our boys. You include them in almost everything you do. You teach them right from wrong, how to ride a motorcycle (and make them love it), how to play X-Box (is that really a good thing), how to work and the importance of having a work ethic, how to be prepared, and a bunch of other stuff that is important too. When Mason was born and in the hospital, it was the worst time of our lives. You were strong enough for both of us. When I was falling apart at the seams or going crazy in the head, you managed to calm me down and reason with the crazy woman you were married too. Even though I was mad at you when you took me home for the first time, 8 days after Mason was born, and I left kicking & screaming-crying non stop all the way home....You were right about telling me it was time for me to come home and distance myself a little. You don't like going to hospitals, but you managed to put your feelings aside to be with our baby boy.

You like to go fast, on your motorcycle. You like tight corners. You like to take the backroads. And I'm so glad you don't own the blasted thing above anymore. But you still have your other 2 machines in your garage.

You can design something on a piece of paper, have someone else do the engineering, and then build & construct it. You can do anything and everything. You work very, very, very, hard for our family. I am grateful I am able to be a stay-at-home Mom for our boys, and you make it all possible.

We think alike. I can't read your mind (like you think I should), but when we have an idea for something, we always manage to think the same things, come to compromises, and meet in the middle. You have strong opinions about all things pertaining to our home-like wall paint colors, furniture, and appliances. Why can't you just say "Yes, Dear" and just agree?

You often times do things that you don't want to do, but do them anyways because I asked you nicely (not nagged). You do listen to me when I don't think you are.

You love James Bond. When you were at Border Patrol Academy, you were once told "Mr. Bryant, your reputation has preceeded you". It wasn't a good thing at the time, and I won't disclose the reasons why. But, this was something that you always wanted to hear. However, when I asked you who you would rather be....James Bond or Jack Bauer-you said, Jack Bauer.

You also like Chicken Divan, Pumpkin Pie, & Korean Food. You are a "Gadget" guy and manage to talk yourself into or reason yourself into buying these said gadgets. Your favorite gadget-your GPS/Navagation system-that speaks several different languages-in a female voice (which you have names for all of them), that won't yell at you when you take a wrong turn.

I am grateful you are my husband, and the father of our boys. Happy 40th Birthday! Now I have to go and bake your cake.

I found them! Spec House Pics

So....I was looking around in Lee's office to find the disks for my scanner, so I can actually use it. I didn't find them, but I did find another disk. It was a disk that Lee made over the summer when he emptied out the Memory Card from our Camcorder/Digital Camera. The disk said "Spec House Pics"-so, here is the house, that consumed us for about a year )the end of 2006-early summer 2007). We were so blessed that the house sold in less than a month. We know we are blessed, and we say that everytime we talk about it. When I went back to S. Whidbey a few weeks ago to see Mason's Pediatrician, I saw homes that are still on the market-that have been ON THE MARKET since before we broke ground, while we were building, and of course after, and now.
The building lot for this house was small and challenging. Our options were to build a 1 level house that was under 1,000 sq feet , or a 2 story. Either way, we were looking at building a house without a garage, because of how the lot was. Building a new house, without a Garage and/or a Master Suite in this day and age is almost unacceptable-and would not sell. So, while I was browsing through some home plan books, I came across this one and asked Lee if this house was possible. It is 3 stories. The lower level is the Garage, with some storage space. Second level is the Living Room (with a 2 story ceiling), Family Room, Kitchen, Dining Room, Powder Room, and Laundry Room. The third level had the Master Bed/Bath, second bedroom, "office" or third bedroom, and another full bathroom. It also had a linen closet, which Lee said there was no space or room for-but low and behold, he found space after he framed it.

The front of the house. Notice the shingles-I stained each and every one of them by hand. All of them. The 2 decks on the left-the lower one is off the Family Room and the upper one is off the Master Bedroom. There was a veiw of the water from the deck and bedroom.

We put in Bamboo Flooring. It was very inexpensive to put in, and it came pre-finished. It was beautiful after Lee installed it. It was in the whole main floor level-except the Powder Room and Laundry Room-Lee intalled Tile in those 2 rooms.

The Master Bath corner tub. Lee tiled the tub area, and the floor. When I tell people Lee can do everything, I'm not exaggerating. He has to sub-contract the plumbing and electrical because he's not licensed to do that....but he can and has on a few occasions.

The double vanity sink in the Master Bath. There is also a separate shower in there, and a toilet room as well, but I'll spare you of those.

The living room windows-that I took from upstairs. You can see the loving room below from where I was standing. I accidentally put this pic on here, I couldn't delete it-does anyone know how?

Experiancing some technical difficulty. The pic below is the Master Bath from the doorway. I couldn't flip it around or delete it. Just turn your head (or laptop) and you can see the tile floor.

This is the fireplace in the Living Room. Lee, tiled it as well. He left room on the left for someone to place a T.V. in there, or bookshelves.

This is the Dining Room area, that is off of the Kitchen. There is a sliding glass door that goes to the back yard. It doesn't look like it, but it's a bigger space than it looks.

Below, the Kitchen. It has Maple Cabinets, we were able to put an Island in it. It is a nice size Kitchen, with plenty of space to work in.

The back of the house. The long narrow window is the stairwell. It let in alot of light into the house. The little back door on the right went into a little hallway where the laundry room was on one side and the powder room was on the other.

The retaining wall in the driveway-with a little fence thing built on top of it. The fence thing was a code issue. Someone could fall off the top part (which is the front yard) and hurt themselves. The little red head boy got in the way. He wanted his picture taken.......

so I did. And he left me alone. This is a really cute pic of him though. If I don't say so myself.

A close up of the shingles I stained. I don't know how many I stained, but it was alot. We have some left over.

Thanks for humoring me. Now all of you know what Lee does for a living. And I help him out a little.

Honey Pumpkin Pie

Lee's favorite pie, is Pumpkin. But not just any Pumpkin Pie, Honey Pumpkin Pie. I have used this recipe for over 10 years. Everytime I try out a new Pumpkin Pie recipe, he knows once it touches his tongue that it's not the Honey one. The original recipe came from a cookbook my Mom has had for years and years, that is now out of print. It's a Better Homes and Gardens Step by Step cookbook, and she actually gave me the book so I could cook, bake and become a better wife, to my poor husband who was eating frozen dinners. Here is the recipe, with my modifications. It's a combination of the Better Homes and Gardens recipe and the Libbys Pumpkin Pie recipe. This makes 2 - 9 inch pies, but you could cut everything in half to make one.

1 29 oz can of Pumpkin (I use Libbys, it's better, and there is a difference)

1 1/3 Cups of Honey (3/4 cup if you are making 1 pie)

2 teaspoons ground Cinnamon

1 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon ground Ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground Nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground Cloves

6 eggs

2- 12 oz cans evaporated milk

Single pie crust for 2 - 9 inch pies (I use the roll out pie crusts)

In a large mixing bowl, stir together pumpkin, honey, cinnamon, salt, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Add eggs. Beat eggs into pumpkin mixture with a fork. Stir in evaporated milk, mix well. Fill pie crust shells, dividing mixture between the two pie shells. Bake at 375 degrees for 55-60 minutes or till the pie is set.