Come on mother nature ... bring on the heat!!

Exciting things happening here at the red house ... another item on our spring maintenance list was taken care of today.  We woke up to rain this morning and cold, so I was a little surprised the pool people showed up, but they did.

Sometimes you have to make things look worse before they look better (although if I'd have included a picture of the pool before they took the old liner out, you'd say this was an improvement ... it was gross!!)

New liner and 1st load of water went in today.  The water guy will be back with another load sometime this week.  I think I'm going to LOVE the new patterned liner, it's very pretty and makes the water look REALLY blue!!

And, so far, the project has come in under budget, so we may look at replacing the deck boards on that top section of decking.  We'd like to put composite decking up there ... that area of the deck gets a lot of exposure to water, so it really takes a beating.  I used that new "Deck Over" stain on it last year, and I'm not impressed ... I also don't like how it looks.  It was worth a try, but I think the boards are still in need of replacement with something that can withstand the water better.

Now, we just need some sunshine and warmer temperatures so we can start swimming.  We've never opened our pool this early in the season, so come on sunshine .... I want to use the pool vs. look at it.

Hope all is well with everyone.  

Talk to you soon!

~Kati

Spring Cleaning and Projects have Begun!!

This spring at the Red House is all about finishing up projects and doing maintenance.  The first of those projects has been finished, and although it meant a lot of furniture moving, I think it was worth it.  (The pictures with the wrinkles are of course the before ...)!!  Much improvement.  It was actually kind of nice to move all that furniture and clean the layer of dust that normally can't be reached, and get rid of the extra cables that had accumulated behind the entertainment center over the past 8-10 years.  We have everything back in place and this weekend we'll be on to some of the next projects on the list.  Enjoy this nice weather folks .... it seemed like winter really wanted to hang on, but I think spring is truly finally here.


 ~Kati

It's Officially Official ...

His "real" license came in the mail.  I made him pose for the obligatory picture.  :-)  He was happy though, he didn't like carrying around the paper version.

~Kati

My Kind of Town Chicago Is ....

... well, that's what Frank Sinatra always said.  Personally, I think it's a great place to visit, but I don't know as I could ever live there.  So many people, so many cars (and they drive like maniacs) and so many buildings practically on top of each other.

We had a great time and I think all the kids really enjoyed themselves.  It wiped me out!  Mrs. Sutton was our tour guide -- she's still going strong.  We got back about 11pm on Saturday evening, she was turning around and leaving with another group on Sunday for Florida for a week.   She told us she's turning 80 this year -- WOW.  I hope I have half her energy when I'm 80!

Here is a photo gallery of a few of the pictures I took ....

Hope everyone had a great Easter.  I rather feel like I missed it -- I wasn't kidding when I said the trip wiped me out, I slept all day on Sunday.  :-(

<3 p="">~Kati

Catching Up

I realized I have missed a couple of things over the past month or so ...

David attended the Snowball dance back in February ... he and several of his friends got together beforehand to have pictures taken and then went out to dinner.

The bands attended District Band Festival on March 3.  The HS band got II, II, I, II for an overall II.  The MS band got straight II's.

David and his friend Eryn!

David is in the back in the middle!

The High School band on stage for the concert portion of their performance.  David there in the front, his friend Zoe behind and to the left of him.

Chris leading the kids through the sight reading music.

The Middle School band on stage for the concert portion of their performance.

Jonathan and the other trombones in sight reading.

Happy Birthday

So today was kinda a big day here at the Red House ... David (he's 4 months old in the picture to the left) turned 16.  He and I started out the day going to Mt. Pleasant to get his driver's license.  It's official now folks, he can drive all by himself.  I've been pleased with the way his time driving on his permit has gone, so I'm confident that if he keeps his eyes and mind on the road all will be well.  He was excited to take his first solo drive.



After returning to school, he spent the day practicing with other students from our league for the MSAC League Honors Band.  They had their concert for the public this evening.  It was a very nice concert and it's a great event where kids from all the schools can come together and work together vs. compete against each other.



No rest around here though .... Chris has the 5th/6th grade concert tomorrow evening, David starts track practice tomorrow as well.

We hope you are all enjoying the spring-like weather we've had and you are adjusting to the time change.  More to come later!

Love,
~Kati

14-5 .... What a season!

Hard to believe basketball is over .... the team went 14-5.  What a GREAT season they had.  Looking forward to watching them play again next year!!