11.25.2008
It has been a while...
It has been a while since I have posted anything and due to an overwhelming amount of trials and tribulations we have not been online.
Jason and I have been busy. I can hardly believe we are almost in December. Yikes!
Jason is working at his new job with Triamp Group and really enjoying it. Cavanaugh Auto is still going, but more part time. He also continues to work at our Church leading the Truck team (the church) on Sundays.
Liam is loving Kindergarten. He is learning to read and doing such a great job. He just had his first parent/teacher conference and had a great review. He loves to write and draw (no idea where he gets that, i.e., mom) and he loves to sing in choir (hmmmm...dad). He is growing so fast and learning so much.
Reilly is active and all boy. He loves John Deere trackers (hence the Christmas photos) and camo. He wants to hunt and be with his dad at all times. Yet, he is my snuggle bug and loves to be with me. He is learning to read and writing his name and learning the alphabet and sounds.
Natalie is funny and sassy. She loves to be with me at all times. "MOM where aur you?" (yelling of course). She loves to change her clothes about 10x a day. One drop of anything and a new shirt or pants go on. She is loving the library and we are doing gymnastics together and she loves that. She has fun hanging with her brothers. She still eats a ton!
I have been busy being a wife and mother. What more does there need to be! Well lets see. Besides those two jobs (most important)...I trained in Oct. to be a Stroller Strides Instructor and will start teaching January. I am taking on a babysitting job 4 days a week because it brings in the extra money we need to get out of debt. I am a neighborhood advocate for our property rights. I am researching, meeting with city officials, attending city council meetings, and reading piles and piles of RCW codes in order to save our home from being taken by the city. Oh did I mention that I also do MOPs on Thursday twice a month (for me) and that I teach Sunday School second service on Sundays.
It all sounds crazy, but honestly my life would feel weird with out so much stuff. See until the house stuff came along I was feeling pretty good about the family calendar. Now I am not overwhelmed. I have a lot of friends who have been helping out. I also realize I am one person and can only do so much. So there you have it!
December 2nd is the next meeting with the City. Basically in a nut shell we live on Category I wetland (the highest protected due to wildlife habitat and aquatic). This means that the city wants to protect this wetland from being endangered by noise, light, and other strange factors. So they have a created a Sensitive Areas Ordinance that includes a CORE Complex (that would be us) and a 225ft buffer onto our property (our property is like 325ft or something like that). The SAO has strict guidelines for use of property within this buffer. The city does not pay us for our property, they just take it. Well tell us what we can and can not do on it. We pay for it, we own it, we pay the taxes on it, but we have little rights to it. That is it in a nutshell. Sounds fun...it gets better, really!
The county (King) has presented us with presentation showing what they would like to do to upgrade the sewage treatment facility in this area to accomadate the growth that will be happening in the next 5-20 years. One example includes 2 12ft pipes (where a current 9ft pipe, underground exists), a county workers access road (where our easement is) and a odor/pump house on the back side of the property. We told them no. However, it is in writing and they are doing the research and going to sit on it for a year thanks to the budget cuts.
What this means to us? First, if we put our house on the market we have to disclose all of this information to the buyer under section 17. Second, the property value of our home may/may not go down (most like it will). Then we will be backwards in our loan and well you know the rest of the story.
Fun times. OK so what I have failed to mention in all of this. Jason is working three jobs, I am busy with all I am doing, the kids are busy. BUT we have a home, food on the table, we are happy, we have a good marriage. We have the LORD! He is sustaining us and making us laugh. We are wondering and waiting in anticipation to see what the outcome of it all might be.
Jason says we should walk away move to Africa and teach. Funny I probably would do it. I would miss my family like crazy, but I would do it for the experience for something much simpler.
Through all of this we stay true to the fact the Lord has us here for a reason. He loves us and he will protect us. As Reilly says "Mom, Hes in our hearts, do not be afraid". Childlike faith, it's priceless!
Happy Thanksgiving and remember what you are Thankful for this year. May God Bless you!
Jason and I have been busy. I can hardly believe we are almost in December. Yikes!
Jason is working at his new job with Triamp Group and really enjoying it. Cavanaugh Auto is still going, but more part time. He also continues to work at our Church leading the Truck team (the church) on Sundays.
Liam is loving Kindergarten. He is learning to read and doing such a great job. He just had his first parent/teacher conference and had a great review. He loves to write and draw (no idea where he gets that, i.e., mom) and he loves to sing in choir (hmmmm...dad). He is growing so fast and learning so much.
Reilly is active and all boy. He loves John Deere trackers (hence the Christmas photos) and camo. He wants to hunt and be with his dad at all times. Yet, he is my snuggle bug and loves to be with me. He is learning to read and writing his name and learning the alphabet and sounds.
Natalie is funny and sassy. She loves to be with me at all times. "MOM where aur you?" (yelling of course). She loves to change her clothes about 10x a day. One drop of anything and a new shirt or pants go on. She is loving the library and we are doing gymnastics together and she loves that. She has fun hanging with her brothers. She still eats a ton!
I have been busy being a wife and mother. What more does there need to be! Well lets see. Besides those two jobs (most important)...I trained in Oct. to be a Stroller Strides Instructor and will start teaching January. I am taking on a babysitting job 4 days a week because it brings in the extra money we need to get out of debt. I am a neighborhood advocate for our property rights. I am researching, meeting with city officials, attending city council meetings, and reading piles and piles of RCW codes in order to save our home from being taken by the city. Oh did I mention that I also do MOPs on Thursday twice a month (for me) and that I teach Sunday School second service on Sundays.
It all sounds crazy, but honestly my life would feel weird with out so much stuff. See until the house stuff came along I was feeling pretty good about the family calendar. Now I am not overwhelmed. I have a lot of friends who have been helping out. I also realize I am one person and can only do so much. So there you have it!
December 2nd is the next meeting with the City. Basically in a nut shell we live on Category I wetland (the highest protected due to wildlife habitat and aquatic). This means that the city wants to protect this wetland from being endangered by noise, light, and other strange factors. So they have a created a Sensitive Areas Ordinance that includes a CORE Complex (that would be us) and a 225ft buffer onto our property (our property is like 325ft or something like that). The SAO has strict guidelines for use of property within this buffer. The city does not pay us for our property, they just take it. Well tell us what we can and can not do on it. We pay for it, we own it, we pay the taxes on it, but we have little rights to it. That is it in a nutshell. Sounds fun...it gets better, really!
The county (King) has presented us with presentation showing what they would like to do to upgrade the sewage treatment facility in this area to accomadate the growth that will be happening in the next 5-20 years. One example includes 2 12ft pipes (where a current 9ft pipe, underground exists), a county workers access road (where our easement is) and a odor/pump house on the back side of the property. We told them no. However, it is in writing and they are doing the research and going to sit on it for a year thanks to the budget cuts.
What this means to us? First, if we put our house on the market we have to disclose all of this information to the buyer under section 17. Second, the property value of our home may/may not go down (most like it will). Then we will be backwards in our loan and well you know the rest of the story.
Fun times. OK so what I have failed to mention in all of this. Jason is working three jobs, I am busy with all I am doing, the kids are busy. BUT we have a home, food on the table, we are happy, we have a good marriage. We have the LORD! He is sustaining us and making us laugh. We are wondering and waiting in anticipation to see what the outcome of it all might be.
Jason says we should walk away move to Africa and teach. Funny I probably would do it. I would miss my family like crazy, but I would do it for the experience for something much simpler.
Through all of this we stay true to the fact the Lord has us here for a reason. He loves us and he will protect us. As Reilly says "Mom, Hes in our hearts, do not be afraid". Childlike faith, it's priceless!
Happy Thanksgiving and remember what you are Thankful for this year. May God Bless you!
10.22.2008
Going back to Cali...
We are back...what an amazing trip!
First of all my mom is amazing as she came and watched all three kids for us while I was gone. Since Jason is working 3 jobs he was not around to much. He did help carve pumpkins one night with the kids.
I went to San Diego to attent the Stroller Strides Instructor Training on Wed & Thur (Oct 15-16) and then I flew from SD to San Jose to meet Jason, Ken and his wife Dana and we drove to Carmel, CA (about 1 1/2hr towards the coast). We attended Dave & Kristen's wedding. It was fabulous, fun and just beautiful.
San Diego was warm and the people were all so nice. We stayed at a hotel just 5 min from Sea World. We did a lot of excercising and meet lots of new people from all over. Our fav girls from Lake Charles, LA Jenni (pronounced Jenna) and Courtney. We got to know them and hang out. We had yummy sushi right on Pacific Beach.
Our trip to Carmel was fabulous. We stayed at a little bed & breakfast kind of hotel just a block from the beach and about 5 mi from Pebble Beach. Jason was so excited we had to take a picture of it from the beach. Jason and Ken were both in the wedding and Jason sang at the wedding in the middle of a vineyard - breathe taking. The weekend was fast and busy, but we had a very relaxing and much needed time together.
We got to fly home on Sunday because one of Dave's pilot friends works for Alaska Airlines and gave us some buddy passes. It sure beat the 14 1/2 hr drive home that Ken & Dana got to do (sorry guys) :O). We wanted to get home as mom was pretty tired and Natalie was really sick. It ends up the kids all got sick by Monday with some sort of form of Tonsilitis with blisters on there throats. FUN to come home too, but everyone is on the mends now and feeling a lot better.
10.08.2008
10.07.2008
Our Mission Statement
The Cavanaugh Family mission is to be a healthy and happy Christian family while preserving a fun family atmosphere.
We will accomplish this by applying God's truths to our lives, being faithful, loving, kind, and compassionate to one another and having a lot of laughs.
We will consistently strive to improve the way we walk in our Christian faith through personal spiritual growth and studies, fellowship with others and by being in God's word and prayer. Also, by being silly, forgiving, and finding time to just be ourselves.
Our goal is to be the best family we can be and show God's love in our community in which we live and to be a "World Class" Christian John Deere Family.
By accomplishing our goals, we will be able to support the activities that we love the most, like riding our John Deere tracker, visiting the John Deere store, wearing our John Deere attire all the while making ourselves fit right into our small town community of BD.
This is our Mission Statement.
We will accomplish this by applying God's truths to our lives, being faithful, loving, kind, and compassionate to one another and having a lot of laughs.
We will consistently strive to improve the way we walk in our Christian faith through personal spiritual growth and studies, fellowship with others and by being in God's word and prayer. Also, by being silly, forgiving, and finding time to just be ourselves.
Our goal is to be the best family we can be and show God's love in our community in which we live and to be a "World Class" Christian John Deere Family.
By accomplishing our goals, we will be able to support the activities that we love the most, like riding our John Deere tracker, visiting the John Deere store, wearing our John Deere attire all the while making ourselves fit right into our small town community of BD.
This is our Mission Statement.
10.05.2008
Be who you want to be...
We got this table off of Craiglist for FREE. Yes, that is right FREE. I wanted something more country for our kitchen and this was a price I could not pass up. I figured the kids would trash it over the years and then one day I would sand and repaint it and recover the seats.
That one day just came. I was so tired of looking at the stains on the chairs it grossed me out and I am sure our guests. I was trying to decide what to do when my mom suggested we recover them. In order to save money on fabric we went to Goodwill. I decided to let each of the kids pick out fabric for their own chair. Reilly of course got the "camo" or "hunting" fabric "jus like my dad". Liam went with the Transformers (his new favorite, it changes every week) and Natalie went with Dora. I used some fabric I had gotten over a year ago to make aprons out of and the kids decorated a chair for Mema with hand prints. Dad's is not done just yet because I want some Oregon Duck fabric for it.
This was such a fun project. I even got vinyl. Yes,vinyl. I swore I would never get it, but I figured this way I could just wipe them down and then one day I could replace them with something more grown up.
The kids LOVED this idea and think their chairs are the "cooles".
Just another crafty day at the Cavanaugh house.
That one day just came. I was so tired of looking at the stains on the chairs it grossed me out and I am sure our guests. I was trying to decide what to do when my mom suggested we recover them. In order to save money on fabric we went to Goodwill. I decided to let each of the kids pick out fabric for their own chair. Reilly of course got the "camo" or "hunting" fabric "jus like my dad". Liam went with the Transformers (his new favorite, it changes every week) and Natalie went with Dora. I used some fabric I had gotten over a year ago to make aprons out of and the kids decorated a chair for Mema with hand prints. Dad's is not done just yet because I want some Oregon Duck fabric for it.
This was such a fun project. I even got vinyl. Yes,vinyl. I swore I would never get it, but I figured this way I could just wipe them down and then one day I could replace them with something more grown up.
The kids LOVED this idea and think their chairs are the "cooles".
Just another crafty day at the Cavanaugh house.
10.03.2008
What is new...
Liam ~ loving school and having so much fun learning. He loves his teacher Mrs. Evans. He misses soccer and being with us during the day. He loves to be creative and do all sorts of arts and crafts (hmmmm who does that sound like?). He also loves to read and write. He has made lots of new friends and is growing like crazy. He has grown 2 in since August 13th.
Reilly ~ Is back from his trip to Oregon with Mema and is settling in nicely. He had so much fun and did much better then I expected. I guess he loved all that attention from the ladies in the family. He loved hanging with Grandpa Chucker and I LOVED that he got a chance to spend time with him and grandma. He will remember this trip for a long time. He is learning to write a lot and loves to pretend and tell stories. He is really into John Deere trackers right now and anything John Deere. He has one t-shirt that we have to wash daily!
Natalie ~ Loves to be naked still and changes her clothes like 9x a day. She is potty trained and loving being a big girl. She is a mama's girl although she really likes to hang with dad while he is working outside. She is always on the move. I think it is another Grandma Joyce, Mema and me. She never sits for more then a minute before she is off to another task or into something else. She loves her friend Will. She is so happy and hilarious. It is hard to capture it all and she is growing sooooo incredibly fast.
Jason ~ Starts a new job on Monday. He will be working as a Project Manager for Triamp Group . He will be working Cavanaugh Automotive on the side and he has a guy coming to work for him at the shop. The doors are not closing as of now. Business has been really slow the past two summers and he had to make a change. We have been so fortunate to own our own business and to be able to afford to live on one income. God has continued to bless us and will continue in the future. He is trying to find time to hunt and watch football but it is hard to fit in with all the work he is doing. He heads to Oregon for a game on the 11th. He also lead worship at church last Sunday. It was so great to see the Jason I married 11 1/2 yrs ago up there singing away. I hope God allows him to do it again soon.
Me ~ As always busy, busy, busy. I am finding time to workout - yahoo! I take a Stroller Strides class three times a week with Reilly and Natalie. It is a one hour class with circuit and strength training with the kids in the stroller. It is so much fun and the kids love it. I am busy scrapbooking, doing MOPs, playgroups with friends and just hanging out. It has been an interesting start to Fall. I enjoy the time I have with Reilly and Natalie but I miss Liam. I am heading to San Diego in Oct to train to be a fitness instructor with Stroller Strides. My neighbor & friend Jenni bought a franchisee and I am helping her get going. I am so excited and hope to make it a business of my own one day.
Mema ~ I could not get away without mentioning her since she has been at our house for the past 2-3 weeks (off & on). Lets just say I have not thrown any chicken nuggets at her, she has not yelled at me and cried, we have not had any major melt downs so far so good. Yes, she drives me crazy sometimes, BUT I love her and she is such a BIG help. She is heading home on Sunday after being here a week, in Oregon a week and back here a week. Goobs came over this past week and took her out on a date. I guess she loves being retired (semi).
Reilly ~ Is back from his trip to Oregon with Mema and is settling in nicely. He had so much fun and did much better then I expected. I guess he loved all that attention from the ladies in the family. He loved hanging with Grandpa Chucker and I LOVED that he got a chance to spend time with him and grandma. He will remember this trip for a long time. He is learning to write a lot and loves to pretend and tell stories. He is really into John Deere trackers right now and anything John Deere. He has one t-shirt that we have to wash daily!
Natalie ~ Loves to be naked still and changes her clothes like 9x a day. She is potty trained and loving being a big girl. She is a mama's girl although she really likes to hang with dad while he is working outside. She is always on the move. I think it is another Grandma Joyce, Mema and me. She never sits for more then a minute before she is off to another task or into something else. She loves her friend Will. She is so happy and hilarious. It is hard to capture it all and she is growing sooooo incredibly fast.
Jason ~ Starts a new job on Monday. He will be working as a Project Manager for Triamp Group . He will be working Cavanaugh Automotive on the side and he has a guy coming to work for him at the shop. The doors are not closing as of now. Business has been really slow the past two summers and he had to make a change. We have been so fortunate to own our own business and to be able to afford to live on one income. God has continued to bless us and will continue in the future. He is trying to find time to hunt and watch football but it is hard to fit in with all the work he is doing. He heads to Oregon for a game on the 11th. He also lead worship at church last Sunday. It was so great to see the Jason I married 11 1/2 yrs ago up there singing away. I hope God allows him to do it again soon.
Me ~ As always busy, busy, busy. I am finding time to workout - yahoo! I take a Stroller Strides class three times a week with Reilly and Natalie. It is a one hour class with circuit and strength training with the kids in the stroller. It is so much fun and the kids love it. I am busy scrapbooking, doing MOPs, playgroups with friends and just hanging out. It has been an interesting start to Fall. I enjoy the time I have with Reilly and Natalie but I miss Liam. I am heading to San Diego in Oct to train to be a fitness instructor with Stroller Strides. My neighbor & friend Jenni bought a franchisee and I am helping her get going. I am so excited and hope to make it a business of my own one day.
Mema ~ I could not get away without mentioning her since she has been at our house for the past 2-3 weeks (off & on). Lets just say I have not thrown any chicken nuggets at her, she has not yelled at me and cried, we have not had any major melt downs so far so good. Yes, she drives me crazy sometimes, BUT I love her and she is such a BIG help. She is heading home on Sunday after being here a week, in Oregon a week and back here a week. Goobs came over this past week and took her out on a date. I guess she loves being retired (semi).
9.06.2008
9.02.2008
Kindergarten Orientation
Liam had his Kindergarten orientation. His teacher is Mrs. Evans and she is kind and very funny. We got to see the classroom and just kind of warm up to the idea. Liam was off and running while I sat back and tears welled up in my eyes. I was fine until we walked into the classroom and then I almost lost it. I gained my composure and I was the only one crying (is that weird).
Liam got to sit at his desk and there were about 10 kids there today. BD Elementary offers full day Kindergarten so half the class came this morning. They will come tomorrow for a full day (10 kids) and then Liam will go on Thursday full day with the other 10 kids. Friday, is his first full day with all 20 kids.
I took him and Reilly for a little treat at the Bakery. Liam is so excited he can hardly stand it. I am sure once he realizes that it is all day every day he may resist a bit, but for now he is ready to go!
Liam got to sit at his desk and there were about 10 kids there today. BD Elementary offers full day Kindergarten so half the class came this morning. They will come tomorrow for a full day (10 kids) and then Liam will go on Thursday full day with the other 10 kids. Friday, is his first full day with all 20 kids.
I took him and Reilly for a little treat at the Bakery. Liam is so excited he can hardly stand it. I am sure once he realizes that it is all day every day he may resist a bit, but for now he is ready to go!
The Apple of My Eye
My big brother Liam loves to play with me. He always plays dolls with me and house. He showed me how to paint my baby dolls toes and fingers today with markers. Then we gave the babies green eyes and I colored all over the babies legs. It was a lot of fun and mom was not even mad, until she realized what we had done. I love my big brother...I hope Reilly will play dolls with me when Liam goes to school.
9.01.2008
BD Labor Days
It was a great Labor Day Weekend. We spent the weekend over at the Hood Canal with friends at their family cabin. We went claming and crabing and spent one day on the lake jet skiing and fishing. The kids had a blast! I forgot my camera so no pictures...ugh! We came home Sunday night to beat all the traffic.
The kids and I headed up today to the BD Labor Day Parade. They had so much fun getting a lot of candy and snow cones. Natalie mostly stayed in the stroller as she did not like all the noise. The boys loved the John Deere trackers and the cool cars. I of course, loved getting to meet and shake hands with Dino Rossi.
The kids and I headed up today to the BD Labor Day Parade. They had so much fun getting a lot of candy and snow cones. Natalie mostly stayed in the stroller as she did not like all the noise. The boys loved the John Deere trackers and the cool cars. I of course, loved getting to meet and shake hands with Dino Rossi.
8.27.2008
What we have been up too...
Natalie is potty trained. Yahoo! It is so great and she has literally done it on her own. It is like the light clicked and she was ready.
Liam is getting ready for Kindergarten.
I am sad that the weather already feels like Fall.
Jason is working as usual to support us and pay all the bills. He might be going Dove hunting this next week and not sure on early season this year.
Reilly is learning to write his name and loving that he is like his big brother. Although, Liam always makes sure to mention HE knows more. :O)
I have been excersing FINALLY 4 days per week pretty consistently. Now if I could just stop eating so dang much. I start a supplement program next week in hopes to getting slim before our friends wedding in October.
Summer is ending fast. We have one last trip to Hood Canal with some friends over Labor Day weekend. The years are flying by...I can hardly beleive that summer is almost over. Ugh!
Liam is getting ready for Kindergarten.
I am sad that the weather already feels like Fall.
Jason is working as usual to support us and pay all the bills. He might be going Dove hunting this next week and not sure on early season this year.
Reilly is learning to write his name and loving that he is like his big brother. Although, Liam always makes sure to mention HE knows more. :O)
I have been excersing FINALLY 4 days per week pretty consistently. Now if I could just stop eating so dang much. I start a supplement program next week in hopes to getting slim before our friends wedding in October.
Summer is ending fast. We have one last trip to Hood Canal with some friends over Labor Day weekend. The years are flying by...I can hardly beleive that summer is almost over. Ugh!
A Political Mission
Mom, daughter, sister-in-law, friend, wife, grand daughter and now Political Activist. I have taken on the mission (because I need more to do) to advocate for our neighborhood against the rezoning of our property from R9600 (4 parcel per acre) to Urban (1 parcel per acre) as part of the City of Black Diamonds updates to the Comprehensive Plan and Development Regulations mandated by the Growth Management Act by the State of Washington. That was a mouth full!
I have petitioned our neighbors and presenting this to the Planning Commission. Now the Planning Commission has moved forward to the City Council with the CP and DR. So I have sent e-mails to all City Council members and a copy of the petition and letter. The GMA of Washington does NOT require a city to have Urban Reserve in its CP and DR. The City of Black Diamond is just choosing to have it.
What it means for us as property owners is unclear. So far it takes away our rights to build on our property, subdivide, or use our land for anything we want. It will probably raise our property taxes and lower the market value of our homes.
Urban Reserve is a designated area that a city by definition zones for future use, but may not be limited to. This to me sounds like the city is planning on limiting us on our use so that they can use it for something. What that is no one will explain.
It is interesting to say the least that three months after we have been dealing with King County about the land use to test and possibly use our property to upgrade the sewage conveyance system (putting a pump house, a odor eliminator and a utilities access road on our property) that the city is now deeming our properties as Urban Reserve. The same property owners that are in the works with King County and the same property owners who are fighting King County.
Something fishy is going on...and well I am getting to the bottom of it.
That is my cause.
I have petitioned our neighbors and presenting this to the Planning Commission. Now the Planning Commission has moved forward to the City Council with the CP and DR. So I have sent e-mails to all City Council members and a copy of the petition and letter. The GMA of Washington does NOT require a city to have Urban Reserve in its CP and DR. The City of Black Diamond is just choosing to have it.
What it means for us as property owners is unclear. So far it takes away our rights to build on our property, subdivide, or use our land for anything we want. It will probably raise our property taxes and lower the market value of our homes.
Urban Reserve is a designated area that a city by definition zones for future use, but may not be limited to. This to me sounds like the city is planning on limiting us on our use so that they can use it for something. What that is no one will explain.
It is interesting to say the least that three months after we have been dealing with King County about the land use to test and possibly use our property to upgrade the sewage conveyance system (putting a pump house, a odor eliminator and a utilities access road on our property) that the city is now deeming our properties as Urban Reserve. The same property owners that are in the works with King County and the same property owners who are fighting King County.
Something fishy is going on...and well I am getting to the bottom of it.
That is my cause.
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