Jonathan reading

We must have the day off if I have time to upload all these pictures. Here's Jonathan, reading his "guided reading" book for school. I love first grade!

Updated house pictures

We had our first walk through yesterday afternoon. The house is not quite ready yet, mostly due to the lack of electric. But we were able to see a lot of finishing touches that were not there previously. Here is Alexander and Jonathan's bathroom, all functional and ready to go.

Our hot water heater will be taken out when the solar panels come. We are getting solar electric and solar hot water, which comes with its own heater. Anyone want to buy a brand-new hot water heater? To the left are our hurricane shutters. They are aluminum and fold up into this small bundle. The screws are already in the house walls, so they should be relatively easy to install.
I hadn't seen these outdoor lights before, right next to the back porch. Alexander's window is directly above.

Carpet has been installed in the top floor and up the stairs. As I type this, the installers are working on the first floor.

This stair rail was stained, and I think it looks great! Much better than the half-wall that was standard. This is one of the few upgrades that we chose. Chris is looking at the first floor air conditioner.

More of Benjamin's band

Benjamin's band concert

Video from last night's concert - these kids have been playing for 6 weeks. Pretty amazing in such a short time.

A video bonanza

Here is the first of a few videos I have to post - finally got around to downloading them. This is from last night's beginning band concert. The 6th graders have only been playing for about 6 weeks, and they held their first concert. Benjamin (along with 24 others) volunteered to do a short solo:

WE HAVE ELECTRICITY!!!!!

Finally, we have electricity in our house. FPL came yesterday and, instead of digging up the street, bore a hole in the ground from across the street, then under the street, and up into our yard. A light is on in the upstairs, so it's connected. The carpet people are currently laying carpet, and the sod truck is down the street. We're scheduled to close on the 20th and move on the 23rd. More details and pictures to follow!

Next week's run

Beginning at Crane Lakes, here is our 18ish mile run for next weekend. We'll have to do it Sunday afternoon, after I get back from my weekend retreat. It's almost 18 miles - we'll have to detour past Ritters (to get water, not ice cream) to get 18 miles total.

http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/us/fl/port%20orange/446125764951043450