Siding and Such

This past week both Mike and I have felt so much relief.  My "breath of fresh air" came in the form of finishing my last day of school yesterday, and along with that, submitting my final grades!  Mike's happened this past week as well, when the project he has been working on took the reactor critical and finished shift work!

As of this past Wednesday, I was 2.5cm dilated.  My Dr. said it could be any day now.  Some days it feels really close; other days (like today) I feel just fine.  I'll go again at 40 weeks (June 4th) to get checked.  Our bags are packed and ready!  Just waiting on our baby girl at this point :)

We spent yesterday afternoon working in the yard and prepping for the last of the siding to go up today.  I even had enough energy to weed-whack the lawn since it was getting a little out of control.  And today, I helped Mike finish up the siding on the house.

With everything set for baby to come, we are enjoying these last few days of energy--but don't worry, we're resting well too--prepping for all those sleepless nights to come!

Because work and life have been so consuming, it's been a while since I've updated our blog with house progress, but I can't ignore the awesome job the hubby and our friends have done on the siding these last couple of days/weeks.  Thanks Luke, Jordan, and Ben for helping us finish!!

Mike measuring for the final cuts.

When we first started remodeling., there were several windows that had to either come out or be replaced.  Three to be exact, plus the large sliding door in the back.  Since we have basically finished the interior of the house, the time has come to start on the exterior.  We're not sure how it will all shake out, but we really want to refinance soon to get a lower interest rate.  In order to do that, we needed to finish the siding.  Plywood has been hanging up outside since last year when we blasted through the walls and went to work on the inside.  Here are a few pics to try to capture the before and after...  We finally decided to take the siding from the back of the garage and use it to fill in the gaps.  We bought a cheaper siding from Home Depot for the garage since they no longer make the kind we needed.

Last summer: note the large picture window on bottom right.

It came out, and plywood went up in its place.

Here's Mike framing in the new window.

This summer: now you can barely tell there was a window there!

We also replaced the big picture window on the left side.  It had jalousies on the bottom which we definitely didn't want.  Here's the progression.

Large window that doesn't open for air flow.

Window out.

Jordan and Mike framing for new window.

New window in.

Inside shot.

Now look on the bottom left.  Can't tell, right?!

And last, but certainly not least, we also took out a window on the side of the house where we ended up putting the beam.  It just didn't make sense to have one there.  Here are some pics to try and capture what went down.

The first walk through with a separated living room and kitchen.

Here's a closer view of the window and wall (on the right) we took out.
Angelica was testing out the coolness of the tile.

Demo.  Week ONE I think.

Window after the beam went in.
Vacuuming up the slosh of the newly poured footing.

Window with the beam in and the temporary walls removed.

Here's a shot from the outside.
Maddox working hard under dad's supervision :)

Same spot, finally removing the plywood and replacing it with siding.

And voila.  Finished.
You can barely tell a window was ever there!

Ok, that's all for now.  Hopefully my next update will be with pictures of our beautiful baby girl... Anytime now!!

Baby Shower #4

Teaching can be a very frustrating job.  There are some days you just want to BE DONE, especially this close to the end of the school year... especially when you teach middle school... especially when you're nine months pregnant!  I have to admit that I was reaching the end of my rope with my students.  Catching my breath and raising my volume has been getting harder and harder with the baby human growing inside of me.  Well, I'm happy to say, this week ended on a very good note!

Yesterday morning, my 6th grade homeroom students surprised me with THE cutest baby shower in the world!  I came in around 7:30, and they were all hiding in the dark classroom waiting to surprise me... I was suspicious, but still very much overwhelmed by the sweet gesture.

They had music, games, food and gifts!  Apparently the two girls who planned it sent out an email to students and parents saying, "gifts are mandatory!"  Haha, so funny... only 6th graders can get away with that!  It was also spirit week and "dress as your favorite fictional character" day.  That just added to the craziness :)  Enjoy the photos.  I will miss teaching...

The crazies.

Cute banner.

Cupcakes, mmmm.

Baby Bottle Pops with a sticker that says:
"Mrs. April's Baby Shower - May 23, 2014"

Yummy food!

Adorable gifts.

Happy class :)

Monkey onesies.

Mika's elephant toy.

Trajhen's cute clothes.

Chelsea's adorable sunflower jumper!

Mina's diaper cake!

Ashton's comfy head rest.

Noah's cute outfits.

Almost There

T-minus twelve days until expected delivery.  I can do this!  Just a few more days until school gets out.  Then I can finish final grades and focus on ALL of my attention on baby.  At 37 weeks I was completely closed.  At 38 weeks (this past Tuesday), I was 1cm dilated.  I've been feeling weird these last few days and more ready than ever.  I can feel my body getting prepared for Lily's big debut.

I'm soaking up these last few days of my quiet, boring life.  Mike and I feel like we're in limbo.  It's that same feeling we felt leading up to our wedding.  We were just ready to be married!!  And now, we're just ready for baby (so we think).  Enough planning and prepping.  "Let's just get this show on the road" type of attitude :)  Well, soon enough!  I know God's timing is perfect.

Jesus, help me to trust in you now more than ever before.  Be my rock and my fortress when the hard times come.  Thank you for your mercies that are new every morning!

May Day at IPA

This is a bit of a late post, but I thought I'd share our lovely day at school as we celebrated May Day 2014!  It was a beautiful day--nice breeze, not too hot, and no rain!  May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii.  It is a day set aside to celebrate island culture and the culture of Native Hawaiians in particular.  Song and dance usually accompany the celebration, and this day was no exception.  Each grade level performed a hula, including the faculty and staff.  All around, it was a great day!  

Afterward, I invited people over to my house to BBQ and enjoy the pool.  I love being able to host people!  Here are some pics from the day's festivities...

Here is my homeroom looking lovely :)

Again with their preggo teacher :)

Everyone on the field ready for the festivities!

A few of my 6th graders

Most of my 7th graders

Some of my 8th graders

More smiling faces!

After party at my house... making good use of the island!

Greg and Ches

Kaleo enjoying some pool time!

Kid doing what they love!

The girls chatting :)

Look at that face!!  Somebody loves the water :)

Angelo all bundled up :)

Angelo and Uncle Ben

Chesley showing us how he used to play with his baby toys.