Hello All!
Hope everyone is enjoying their summer. The Feyen Family has been busy updating the outside of our house. Last week, Jon laid our new walkway in the front. It turned out differently than we expected, but it looks awesome! So much more character and the landscape looks great. Jon ripped out all the old plants and we purchased new stuff that would not get so big and over grown.
Julianna has been enjoying her new swing set. She loves swinging and has mastered the rock wall going up AND down. She also enjoys having Toby in her clubhouse. Hopefully when we get back from the lake, I will get around to repainting it. We also have to put in her sandbox.
I've been enjoying her swing set when it comes to discipline. A lot of you know I'm having issues with Julianna calling me stupid. I had come to my wits end on how to deal with it, when my mother suggested trying to teach her that her actions have consequences. The swing set has been a great consequence. She first gets a warning about calling me stupid and then, if she does it again, she isn't allowed to play on her swing set for the rest of the day. It has worked wonders. I also use other things for consequences, but the swing set has worked the best. Now she catches herself before calling me stupid. It still occurs, but a lot less frequently than before. I also recently purchased a book called 1-2-3 Magic which was recommended to me by someone. It's a discipline style. I'm looking forward to reading the book and trying out their strategies. Kelly also gave me a book called Toddler 411, while it covers ALL kinds of topics, it's been a great read, full of great information.
Jon has been busy tending to his garden. We aren't having a lot of luck. We have to many bunnies and ground hogs. Jon's been putting off putting up a fence, but I think he is finally caving in. He also purchased a BB gun in hopes of scaring off the animals, but according to him, they don't make them the way they used too because it doesn't shoot as far. Who knows. But he's enjoying all the outside work. He has many grand ideas that use all his "toys." Whatever keeps him happy I guess!
Well we are off to the lake soon. Looking forward to some family time and a change of pace. It should be a great week! Hopefully we have great weather this year!
Hope all is well with you and yours! MUCH LOVE!
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Friday, June 8, 2012
Saturday, May 5, 2012
What We've Been Up To
So here's the latest with the Feyen Family:
Our septic tank has been fixed for a lot less then we were first quoted. We were very happy with the company we went with and so happy the job is complete! Now we just need to reseed the yard and put in a patio. However, that will all have to wait.
Jon is back to studying for the CPA exam. He has two sections left to go. Both are retakes. He decided to retake the audit section at the end of May because that is the most recent section he took, so it's relatively fresh in his mind and he has less time to study for it. He hopes to take the other section later in the summer. Praying he passes these sections this time around so the exam part will be over for his CPA license. He will then have to get so many hours of tax and auditing experience before they issue his license, but that's the easy part. He is looking forward to getting this behind him. =)
Jon HAS found time to start his garden. It's huge! He has planted red potatoes, normal potatoes, yellow beans, green beans, zucchini, cucumbers, little pumpkins, watermelon, carrots, lettuce, corn and tomatoes. Yes, its a ton, but this is our trial year to see how things grow and how bad the deer will be. One of the downsides to Pittsburgh. Wish those deer weren't so brave!
Julianna has been loving the warm weather and being outside. She's still afraid of Jon's tractor, but she's learning to tolerate it better which is good. She is definitely a very active toddler. I'm glad the weather is so nice so she can be outside and run off some of the energy she has.
We all recently went to Michigan for a few days. While we were there, we went to Big Star to see Jon's parents new trailer and so Jon could help them start rebuild their deck. The trailer is awesome! After being up there, we are very excited for our week at the lake.
Well that's about all I can think of right now! Hope you are all doing well! MUCH LOVE!
Our septic tank has been fixed for a lot less then we were first quoted. We were very happy with the company we went with and so happy the job is complete! Now we just need to reseed the yard and put in a patio. However, that will all have to wait.
Jon is back to studying for the CPA exam. He has two sections left to go. Both are retakes. He decided to retake the audit section at the end of May because that is the most recent section he took, so it's relatively fresh in his mind and he has less time to study for it. He hopes to take the other section later in the summer. Praying he passes these sections this time around so the exam part will be over for his CPA license. He will then have to get so many hours of tax and auditing experience before they issue his license, but that's the easy part. He is looking forward to getting this behind him. =)
Jon HAS found time to start his garden. It's huge! He has planted red potatoes, normal potatoes, yellow beans, green beans, zucchini, cucumbers, little pumpkins, watermelon, carrots, lettuce, corn and tomatoes. Yes, its a ton, but this is our trial year to see how things grow and how bad the deer will be. One of the downsides to Pittsburgh. Wish those deer weren't so brave!
Julianna has been loving the warm weather and being outside. She's still afraid of Jon's tractor, but she's learning to tolerate it better which is good. She is definitely a very active toddler. I'm glad the weather is so nice so she can be outside and run off some of the energy she has.
We all recently went to Michigan for a few days. While we were there, we went to Big Star to see Jon's parents new trailer and so Jon could help them start rebuild their deck. The trailer is awesome! After being up there, we are very excited for our week at the lake.
Well that's about all I can think of right now! Hope you are all doing well! MUCH LOVE!
Monday, April 9, 2012
Easter Weekend
Wow! The past 3 days have been eventful. On Friday, Julianna and I went to the zoo with my really good friend Ali. We had a great time despite the large amount of people that were there because of the kids being off for Easter break. Julianna enjoyed seeing all the animals and we were lucky enough to get a glimpse of the new baby ape and the new baby seal. Also, for the first time ever, we got to see the polar bear swimming above and around us. We have never seen that before in all the years the new aquarium section has been open. It was very cool! Hopefully later this summer we can go again. Here are a few pictures of our day!
Saturday began uneventful. However, after dinner I had gone down to the basement to crate the dogs before my friend arrived to see the house and noticed a horrible smell and a large wet/gritty spot on the floor near the dryer. I went and told Jon, who then went to investigate. Turns out the septic backed up into the basement due to a blockage. Jon went and purchased a snake to get the blockage out. In the process, he managed to get the snake caught and we had to call my parents to ask if we could stay with them until we could call the septic guy on Monday to come out and solve the problem. Jon and I began clearing out the storage stuff in order to cut up the rug that was no drenched in septic yuck so we could throw it all away. My dad arrived and helped us pull the rug sections out the basement window and throw them away. He then took Julz to their house while I helped Jon get stuff to clean up the basement floor and pack for our night at my parents. Finally I took off while Jon finished up cleaning. Later I called him to see how he was doing and he had managed to get the snake out and had snaked the pipe outside the house and the blockage was removed. We spent the night at my parents anyways because it was pretty late and we were going there for Easter the next day so it just made sense. Wednesday we get the septic pumped, so hopefully we will have no further issues afterwards!
Yesterday we had a very nice Easter dinner with my parents and grandparents. We all came back home and took long naps and were happy to be sleeping in our own beds last night.
Today we are supposed to have a paving company come and give us an estimate on expanding our driveway. Hopefully it's reasonable because I'm having issues getting other companies to call me back. Don't know what that's all about, but we are looking forward to getting the driveway done and the mud gone!! Plus, extra parking!!
That's all for now! 7 more days until tax season is over!! MUCH LOVE!
Saturday began uneventful. However, after dinner I had gone down to the basement to crate the dogs before my friend arrived to see the house and noticed a horrible smell and a large wet/gritty spot on the floor near the dryer. I went and told Jon, who then went to investigate. Turns out the septic backed up into the basement due to a blockage. Jon went and purchased a snake to get the blockage out. In the process, he managed to get the snake caught and we had to call my parents to ask if we could stay with them until we could call the septic guy on Monday to come out and solve the problem. Jon and I began clearing out the storage stuff in order to cut up the rug that was no drenched in septic yuck so we could throw it all away. My dad arrived and helped us pull the rug sections out the basement window and throw them away. He then took Julz to their house while I helped Jon get stuff to clean up the basement floor and pack for our night at my parents. Finally I took off while Jon finished up cleaning. Later I called him to see how he was doing and he had managed to get the snake out and had snaked the pipe outside the house and the blockage was removed. We spent the night at my parents anyways because it was pretty late and we were going there for Easter the next day so it just made sense. Wednesday we get the septic pumped, so hopefully we will have no further issues afterwards!
Yesterday we had a very nice Easter dinner with my parents and grandparents. We all came back home and took long naps and were happy to be sleeping in our own beds last night.
Today we are supposed to have a paving company come and give us an estimate on expanding our driveway. Hopefully it's reasonable because I'm having issues getting other companies to call me back. Don't know what that's all about, but we are looking forward to getting the driveway done and the mud gone!! Plus, extra parking!!
That's all for now! 7 more days until tax season is over!! MUCH LOVE!
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Michigan Trip
So Julianna and I had a great trip to Michigan. We did some shopping and met the newest member of the Feyen clan. Joslyn is adorable and Julianna loved her. It will be great to see them play together when Joslyn is older. We are looking forward to returning to Michigan when tax season is over.
Speaking of tax season, Jon has gotten even busier these days. He goes to work early and arrives home after Julianna is in bed. As the 17th approaches, the only time Jon will probably see Julz is on Sundays, but the end is in site! I know everyone there is looking forward to the end along with all their families. =)
Nothing much else is going on with us. This Friday, my friend and I hope to take Julz to the zoo. It will be fun to get out and do something different. Hopefully the weather cooperates. That's all for now! MUCH LOVE!
Julianna holding Joslyn with the help of Opa
Speaking of tax season, Jon has gotten even busier these days. He goes to work early and arrives home after Julianna is in bed. As the 17th approaches, the only time Jon will probably see Julz is on Sundays, but the end is in site! I know everyone there is looking forward to the end along with all their families. =)
Nothing much else is going on with us. This Friday, my friend and I hope to take Julz to the zoo. It will be fun to get out and do something different. Hopefully the weather cooperates. That's all for now! MUCH LOVE!
Julianna holding Joslyn with the help of OpaMonday, March 19, 2012
Whoops! It's been almost a month since my last post. There really isn't much to write about these days as tax season is still in full swing and Jon spends most of his time at the office.
Tomorrow Julianna and I are leaving for Michigan to visit with Oma and Opa and the aunts and uncles and cousins. There happens to be a new cousin in the bunch and for once it's a girl! Jon's brother's wife had her baby on the 15th, earlier than expected, and after having 4 boys, they finally got their girl. It's very strange to think of them with a girl. It's strange thinking of anyone on that side with a girl because Jon's sister also has 2 boys. It will be fun for Julz that there is another girl she can play with when she gets bigger. We are looking forward to meeting the newest addition while we are up there.
Otherwise, the only exciting thing around here at the moment is our new mailbox. =) Because we live on a busy road, our mailbox has been hit a few times. Only once since we were living here but clearly its been hit a few times before we purchased the house. We aren't sure how it gets hit because the post is just fine but the box, not so much. But either way, we purchased a new one on Saturday so hopefully this one will keep my mail dry and it's plastic instead of metal so maybe it has a better chance of surviving these little hits. Who knows! If we need to replace it again in six months, it didn't cost us much.
Jon also purchased a plow and disc thingy to start our garden in the back yard. We aren't planting yet, it's still to early, but he has begun to play with his new toys so our backyard looks interesting at the moment. We purchased seeds of things we want to plant so we are ready when it's time. This year is more of a trial year to see how things grow and how bad the deer will be. Next summer we will try to do more serious growing.
Anyway, that's all for now. I will write another post after our adventure to Michigan! MUCH LOVE!
Tomorrow Julianna and I are leaving for Michigan to visit with Oma and Opa and the aunts and uncles and cousins. There happens to be a new cousin in the bunch and for once it's a girl! Jon's brother's wife had her baby on the 15th, earlier than expected, and after having 4 boys, they finally got their girl. It's very strange to think of them with a girl. It's strange thinking of anyone on that side with a girl because Jon's sister also has 2 boys. It will be fun for Julz that there is another girl she can play with when she gets bigger. We are looking forward to meeting the newest addition while we are up there.
Otherwise, the only exciting thing around here at the moment is our new mailbox. =) Because we live on a busy road, our mailbox has been hit a few times. Only once since we were living here but clearly its been hit a few times before we purchased the house. We aren't sure how it gets hit because the post is just fine but the box, not so much. But either way, we purchased a new one on Saturday so hopefully this one will keep my mail dry and it's plastic instead of metal so maybe it has a better chance of surviving these little hits. Who knows! If we need to replace it again in six months, it didn't cost us much.
Jon also purchased a plow and disc thingy to start our garden in the back yard. We aren't planting yet, it's still to early, but he has begun to play with his new toys so our backyard looks interesting at the moment. We purchased seeds of things we want to plant so we are ready when it's time. This year is more of a trial year to see how things grow and how bad the deer will be. Next summer we will try to do more serious growing.
Anyway, that's all for now. I will write another post after our adventure to Michigan! MUCH LOVE!
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