J-O-N-A-T-H-A-N

When we were working on our floors, all items in each room were sorted and many were purged. While going through some of Jonathan's old school work, I found a paper that Jonathan wrote in August 2007. The first week of 2nd grade.

1st Day of 2nd Grade

J - Jaguars are my favorite animal.

O - Oklahoma is my favorite place to be.

N - New friends are the best thing ever.

A - Apples are my favorite thing to eat.

T - Thomas is my cat that ran away.

H - Hats are my favorite thing to buy.

A - August is my sister's birthday.

N - New video games are to play.

I love these assignments that they give the kids during the first week of school. They really let you get a glimpse into their personality.

Fun, Friends and Fireworks

The Garstka family was so gracious to host an early 4th of July event at their home on Saturday. Allen always does their fireworks a week early. It works out really well because Dave and Angela live within walking distance of Celebration Park.

Everyone brought their own meat for grilling, so there was an overload of food. It was all delicious. Both Dave and Angela's parents were there along with our friend, Abie. We really missed the Millers and Stacie this year!

We gathered the kids and went swimming. Angela and I watched on the sidelines will the kids and the men played in the water.

Jonathan and Madison getting thrown in the air by Dave and Abie.

Jessie

Dave taking advantage of the empty pool.

After swimming, the men and Jonathan played cards. Jonathan thought he was big stuff playing cards with the big boys.

Below - Heading out the park to watch the fireworks.
Jonathan

Ally

Jessie - yes, she took her purse... complete with a book to read, makeup and her phone.

Madison getting a makeover before the fireworks.

fireworks

Jonathan's new best friend... Aunt Angel. Sorry Angela! I know you're going to kill me for posting this picture, but it is too precious for words.

The fireworks didn't start until 10:00 p.m. After it was over, the guys started another round of cards because of the traffic. We didn't get home until 1:00 a.m.

Thanks, Dave and Angela for a great time. We always enjoy spending time with your family!

An Evening at the Pool

After days of working so hard, we finally were able to take Jonathan down to the pool. He had a wonderful time and was so glad to be back in the water!

Cheeeesssseeee!

Such form! Maybe he should take up diving. He kind of reminds me of J.J. from Good Times!

The Best Day Ever

Jonathan brought home a ton of papers on the last day of school. I was going through everything and came across a paper entitled "The Best Day Ever." It described our vacation last year to Port Aransas. (I'm guessing that it was one of his first assignments as a 3rd grader.) As you know, we are not taking a vacation this year. After reading Jonathan's paper, I am feeling very guilty!

The Best Day Ever - Port Aransas

by: Jonathan

We went out to eat. We went swimming in the ocean. It felt really warm.

My family and I went on a boat ride. On our boat ride we saw a lot of dolphins.

My family and I went swimming in the swimming pool.

My family and I were on vacation. We were in a hotel. I bought two shark stuffed animals. I got two shark teeth necklaces. My family and I played in the sand. The sand was really warm.

Days 7 - 10: We Did It!

The computer was down for two of the nights. Last night I could have posted, but I chose to soak my tired bones in a hot bathtub!

Day 7
We finished up Jonathan's room. Then we started to work removing furniture and carpet from our room. I started painting late Friday night. I didn't get very far before I retired for the night.

Day 8:

We painted our bedroom a nice sunny shade of yellow and then worked on the flooring in there. Jonathan helped a little bit. Have I mentioned that he really prefers the projects that involve a hammer.

Day 9:

We got all of the furniture moved into both our bedroom and the living room. I still have to hang pictures on the walls in the living room.

We weren't able to put our headboard back on our bed. It doesn't fit on our bed frame, so we had it propped up against the wall before. However, I didn't want to scratch up my newly painted wall. I guess that will be one of our next projects is to figure out how to get the headboard attached.

Don't you just love our mismatched furniture? We have never bought a single piece of furniture for our bedroom in the last 15 years! Eventually new furniture will make it to the family budget. We put up new blinds and took down the arch. A new arch is $345! Needless to say, we are going to try it for a little while without the arch. Our bedroom faces the east, so the sun is a little rough in the mornings. We'll see how long we can hold out without filling that space.

Don't you love how the dog is sleeping on the bed instead of her pillow that is on the floor?

Day 10:

I returned to work, but Fred had one more day off. He did some yard work and hauled off the carpet. Right now, he is finishing up a small amount of trim work that he still needs to be completed.

Holy cow, I can't believe we really did it! We had awesome helpers. We couldn't have done it without Abie. He came and helped almost everyday and put in lots of hard work! My parents were also great. Glen's expertise and tools were much appreciated. We wouldn't be anywhere close to finished without these people. Thank you... thank you... thank you! I don't know how we will ever be able to repay you.

Day 6: The Big Jigsaw Puzzle

Exhaustion has set in and the work slowed down today. I don't feel like we've accomplished very much. We only have three more days to work, so we have to find renewed energy somewhere!

Fred finished the trim around the baseboards in Jessie's room. I was able to get her room put back together, so that did feel quite satisfying. I can say that I have one room completely finished.

We worked on Jonathan's room. We planned to complete his room tonight, but we just didn't get it finished.

Hopefully, we can get Jonathan's room finished tomorrow morning and then we can start painting our bedroom. This has been a very big project. I have new respect for Fred. It takes a lot of math to get the boards cut the right length and to figure out how many you need for each room. Our house has lots of angles that complicate the process. It is almost like a enormous jigsaw puzzle. If you are not good at math, this is not the project for you.

Fred and I worked together most of the day. However, Abie came and helped for a couple of hours. His help was invaluable, because it freed me up to work in Jessie's room.

Day 5: The Dynamic Duo

Our hardworking volunteers took the day off. Fred and I worked together and did a pretty good job. Fred was pretty patient with me, since I am not very adept at these types of projects.

We finished the laminate in Jessie's room. Fred was having trouble getting the trim around the baseboards. He at least got enough down that we could move in half her furniture. In my opinion, putting her bed back together was a lot harder than the flooring. I'm not very good with a screwdriver! In addition to Jessie's room, we got a short hallway completed.

I have only hurt myself once this week! I dropped a stack of boards on my ankle this morning. Thankfully, the boards weren't hurt!

Day 4: Liar, Liar Pants on Fire

Whoever said that slow and stead wins the race was a liar. After making progress yesterday, we slowed down today. Fred, Abie and Grady spent most of today working on this section of the floor. The two doors coming in at an angle caused the guys some trouble.

Jonathan proving, once again, that he can FALL asleep anywhere. He just can't stay asleep. We were all thankful that he slept in until 6:15 this morning! Usually, he tries to greet us between 5:00 and 6:00 a.m. (sometimes even earlier).



Jessie's bed has been taken down and her carpet has already been pulled out. She is sleeping on a mattress in the living room. I just hope these crazy girls let her sleep. I don't think there will be a problem - Jess can sleep through anything.

After our crew of volunteers left this afternoon, Fred and I got a few more things accomplished. I finished painting the baseboards in the living room and Fred added some of the trim in the living room. Hopefully, we will make more progress tomorrow.

Once again, we thank our wonderful help - MaMaw, Grady and Abie. We really wouldn't be able to finish in time without you.

Day 3: Slow & Steady Wins the Race

We are finally making progress! Fred touched up the painting this morning while I went in to the office for a couple of hours. While I was at work, our brother-in-law came over to help. He has already put laminate in, so he was able to give Fred a tutorial and teach him the tricks of the trade. We are very thankful, since we really need to get this project completed by Saturday!

Mom and I worked with Jessie in her room. We will be moving all of her furniture out tomorrow. We used this as an opportunity to completely clean out her room. I had no idea how sentimental Jessie is. She wanted to keep practically everything. Either someone special gave it to her or she was somewhere special when she got it. Boy, was it a long day.

Jessie has a shelf that goes around the entire perimeter of her room. She has Holiday Barbies and porcelain dolls displayed on her shelf. Every Christmas, for her first eleven years, I gave Jessie a Holiday Barbie.

All of the Barbies and porcelain dolls came down. We are boxing everything up and putting it in the attic. I sure hope she has a daughter that likes Barbies and porcelain dolls (most of which are Disney Princesses).

We want to thank our flooring and cleaning crew: Uncle Glen, MaMaw and Grady. We appreciate and love you all.

Day 2: Grady Saves the Day

We got up early and started taking care of chores that have to get done on the weekend - whether you are putting in a new floor or not. Jonathan resumed working on the gunk from our ceramic tile entryway. He beat on the floor with a hammer. Chunks were flying. You can see his determination.
Jonathan commented on the debris that was everywhere (he pronounced it the way it is spelled, so it took us a moment to realize what he was talking about). Like a good helper, he swept up the mess.

My parents came over and Dad (known as Grady to his grandkids) brought over his grinder. I'm not sure what made it better than Fred's, but it did the job in no time flat. If only we had it yesterday! The grinder made a huge mess! The clean-up took forever! And, once again, we are behind schedule. (See below: Jonathan was in charge of holding the door open for Fred. He thought he was pretty cool in his goggles and mask.)

Once we finally got the mess cleaned up, we could start painting. Whoo-hoo. I chose a very light sage green for my paint color. At first, it seemed too light. However, it is growing on me!

Our helpers didn't last long. Jonathan painted for a little while. Hammering is Jonathan's speciality. Jess painted long enough to figure out that it isn't that much fun!

Here is what it looks like tonight. It looks very streaky. We're letting it dry and then Fred and I will go back over it tomorrow morning.

We appreciate the help of our awesome painting crew: MaMaw and Grady. Day 3... here we come!

Day 1: Demolition Derby

Today was the first day of our little summer project. We are ripping out the carpet through-out the house, repainting and laying down laminate flooring. We are on a tight deadline. We have one week to accomplish our mission. We would love to get all three bedrooms plus the living room completed. However, I am willing to settle for completing only the living room and the kids' rooms.

We moved furniture last night. This morning we were feeling quite impressed with ourselves. We got up early and removed pictures from the wall along with moving a few more pieces of furniture. We made both a Lowes and Home Depot run to get supplies. Then we came home and ripped up the carpet and padding from the living room. We did all of this before our help even arrived. Once they arrived, we tackled the tacks around the baseboards and knocking out the tiles in the entry way. We absolutely thought that we would start painting this afternoon.

The one thing we didn't count on... the adhesive that they used for the tiles. Three different trips were made to obtain alternate tools. Nothing has worked. So far, using a hammer and chisel has worked the best. Unfortunately, that method is SLOW going. Hopefully, we make our deadline!

It was a very long day. Jess spent the day tucked away getting her fix of TV, cell phones and internet. I don't think she has ever gone four days without any electronics! Jonathan spent the day hanging with the demolition crew. He was a real trooper. I am very proud of him.

The demolition crew consisted of Mom, Dad and our friend, Abie. Their help was very much appreciated. I think we are all going to bed tonight with war wounds. Hopefully, Day 2 goes much smoother.

Home at Last

Jessie came home from Girls' Camp today! We are so glad to have her home.

Meteorologist Jonathan Fortenberry

Last night, we had a very large summer storm roll in. As a result, our high-wind sirens began to go off. Jonathan was not happy about this situation.

We piled into the closet. Jonathan had just had ravioli's for dinner. After viewing this picture, I will be digging this shirt out of the dirty clothes so that I can apply an ample amount of Spray and Wash. My closet looks like a big mess, but it really is very organized. Since we have a small house, it is not just used to store clothes! Jonathan was happy as long as he had his DS and someone with him in the closet!

Jonathan became obsessed with the weather report. After we were able to leave the closet, he watched it until he finally fell asleep. My parents live in Lavon, so he watched closely to find out what the weather was doing there. He called my mom a couple of times. Once he called and said, "MaMaw, I'm watching the weather station. Lavon is in the RED!"