Friday, July 25, 2008
We are off!
The Kudlas family is off on vacation in a few hours. We rented an awesome van (kind of a test to see if that is what we would like for our next vehicle) and have the whole thing packed. We are leaving before dawn to try to beat any traffic. We are heading to our good friend Jim and Stephanie Perdue's who live outside of Memphis for a few days and then off to Shreveport, LA for a few days to see Brad's older brother Devin and his family. Have a wonderful week! Talk to you all next week.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Carsyn is 3 Months!
Time flys by so quickly...our Carsyn Joy is already 3 months old.
My mom came into town on Thursday, so yesterday Brad, the kids and I went to the Gerogia Aquarium downtown. We are part of a field trip club in the area and go once a month to different attractions and events in the Atlanta area. Even though it was absolutely packed, Aidan and Brenna had a blast. Carsyn had fun riding in the stroller (and Gramma's arms) and stared at all the different lights and noises.
This 3 month old keeps us busy. As you can see from this picture with her big brother, she loves to lay on belly and look at books with her brother. He is starting to read books he knows well and she just loves every minute of it! Not only does she lay on her belly, but she rolls all over the floor. I can no longer put her on the bed or couch with out the fear of her rolling off. I guess she is just wants to keep up with her brother and sister.
My mom came into town on Thursday, so yesterday Brad, the kids and I went to the Gerogia Aquarium downtown. We are part of a field trip club in the area and go once a month to different attractions and events in the Atlanta area. Even though it was absolutely packed, Aidan and Brenna had a blast. Carsyn had fun riding in the stroller (and Gramma's arms) and stared at all the different lights and noises.
This 3 month old keeps us busy. As you can see from this picture with her big brother, she loves to lay on belly and look at books with her brother. He is starting to read books he knows well and she just loves every minute of it! Not only does she lay on her belly, but she rolls all over the floor. I can no longer put her on the bed or couch with out the fear of her rolling off. I guess she is just wants to keep up with her brother and sister.
Not only does Carsyn love to roll around, but she loves to EAT...well, drink milk. She does not miss a meal. We were able to give her a bottle within that first month, but now just in the last 2 weeks, absolutely refuses to take a bottle. We are trying all kinds of bottle and nipples, but she just cares for mommy. Oh well. I will keep trying, just to make my life a bit easier when we are out and about.
When she is not eating or sleeping, she is all smiles and giggles. We couldn't catch a huge grin for the camera though. Aidan and Brenna keep asking when she is going to start talking. (Mommy can wait on that!) Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Brad's project.....
Aidan and Brenna are finally home and had a wonderful time at Gramma and Papa's. They had so much fun, but are all quite exhausted...including my parents!
I thought I might show you a huge project that has been going on at our house since early April. To give you all some background...when we moved into our house a 1 1/2 years ago, the house had been sitting vacant for about 1 year. The previous owners had built it as their dream house and than moved suddenly out of state on a job transfer. The house was only 6 months old and just sat for a year. Nothing was done about the yard or landscape. So, when we moved in, we knew the outside needed some tlc! That is just what Brad loves to do. We always say that I can take care of the inside of the house and Brad does the outside. So, we did a little bit last year and than were going to take care of a large chunk of it this year.
Here are some before shots of the back. Our house bumps right up to the woods and so we don't have any yard in the back. On the side we have a large area with grass.
Because of the large slope in the backyard, it was in need of a retaining wall. (Ignore the date...something is off on the camera. It is actually the first week in April.) Brad is starting the digging. Lets just say, it was a huge mess for a while! Have to love that Georgia clay!
Here is a shot of the first layer going down.
The "dead men" as they call it, help the wall from moving. I sat pregnant with Carsyn most of the time he built this and I really don't know how he lifted and cut all those railroad ties. They are at least 200 lbs. a piece.
After the wall was up, you have to place drainage and rocks behind it and then backfill the whole thing. Our driveway looked and still looks somewhat like a landscape store. At one time we had all the railroad ties, 7,000 lbs of rock, pea rock, dirt and 7 yards of mulch sitting there. (Another 5 yards of mulch is being delivered this week.)
After the backfill and as the rock wall was being built.
Somewhat of a finished product. The stairs going up the hill. I know the hill might look steep still, but the two walls have made a tremendous difference in what happens to the rain (when it does rain). There is still lots of planting to go and more projects for the top of the hill. That is all for next summer. Stay tooned....
The shot of the rock walkway behind the deck. Eventually the deck will be finished off to a closed-in porch. It is just so great to look out my kitchen window and see this instead of red clay with a bunch of weeds growing. Awesome job Brad! We all love it!
I thought I might show you a huge project that has been going on at our house since early April. To give you all some background...when we moved into our house a 1 1/2 years ago, the house had been sitting vacant for about 1 year. The previous owners had built it as their dream house and than moved suddenly out of state on a job transfer. The house was only 6 months old and just sat for a year. Nothing was done about the yard or landscape. So, when we moved in, we knew the outside needed some tlc! That is just what Brad loves to do. We always say that I can take care of the inside of the house and Brad does the outside. So, we did a little bit last year and than were going to take care of a large chunk of it this year.
Here are some before shots of the back. Our house bumps right up to the woods and so we don't have any yard in the back. On the side we have a large area with grass.
Because of the large slope in the backyard, it was in need of a retaining wall. (Ignore the date...something is off on the camera. It is actually the first week in April.) Brad is starting the digging. Lets just say, it was a huge mess for a while! Have to love that Georgia clay!
Here is a shot of the first layer going down.
The "dead men" as they call it, help the wall from moving. I sat pregnant with Carsyn most of the time he built this and I really don't know how he lifted and cut all those railroad ties. They are at least 200 lbs. a piece.
After the wall was up, you have to place drainage and rocks behind it and then backfill the whole thing. Our driveway looked and still looks somewhat like a landscape store. At one time we had all the railroad ties, 7,000 lbs of rock, pea rock, dirt and 7 yards of mulch sitting there. (Another 5 yards of mulch is being delivered this week.)
After the backfill and as the rock wall was being built.
Somewhat of a finished product. The stairs going up the hill. I know the hill might look steep still, but the two walls have made a tremendous difference in what happens to the rain (when it does rain). There is still lots of planting to go and more projects for the top of the hill. That is all for next summer. Stay tooned....
The shot of the rock walkway behind the deck. Eventually the deck will be finished off to a closed-in porch. It is just so great to look out my kitchen window and see this instead of red clay with a bunch of weeds growing. Awesome job Brad! We all love it!
Friday, July 11, 2008
Leak Update
We have fixed the pea size hole in our roof that caused such a mess. The other night, Brad squirmed his way onto the roof while it was raining...yeah...please don't do this any guys that are reading this. It just might give your wife a heart attack! Anyways, we found it by shinning a flashlight through the attic and Brad was able to see the light coming through. It was where the 2nd story meets the 1st story and where the garage roof comes off of that. There actually should have been some flashing or something, but the water was coming right at the correct angle to get into that hoe and down into the attic and eventually into the garage. Brad was able to fill it with roofing tar and now we just have to have the drywall and insulation fixed replaced. Thanks to everyone that has gotten us info on roofers. We still always need that kind of information!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
A bit of a problem...any advice?
I came home from bible study last night to have water coming through our garage ceiling. Yes, we have a leaky roof. Our 3 year old house has a leaky roof? What in the world is going on? We finally got some good Georgia rain last night and our roof has to leak. Brad and I have been praying for rain and last night we were praying that it would stop! Thank goodness it is not coming into our house, but it has still caused a huge mess in our ceiling and wall. We found in the attic where the rain is coming in at around 1 am when it was still raining! So, does any one know a good roofer in Atlanta that is trust worthy to give us a good estimate? Any good stories about water leaks out there?
Monday, July 7, 2008
Weekend 2
We spent the rest of the weekend at the my parents pool, relaxing and eating delicious food everynight. The kids all decked out in their red, white and blue. (Carsyn wanted to add a bit of drool to her dress. She took a break from sucking on her fists for the pictures.)
We got to see an amazing fire works show in Columbia. After a late thunderstorm quickly came and went, the show was amazing. Brad and I were in San Francisco last year, and I would have to say that this show was just about as good as that...and much louder. I was worried about how Carsyn would do, but she loves every minute of it. As you can see from the picture, she has her eyes wide open like she is going to freak out, but she watched the whole 30 minute show with out making a noise.
We had a great time. Brad, Carsyn (the dog) and I headed home on Sunday evening. Yes, Aidan and Brenna are staying at Gramma and Papa's all week for the second time this summer. The kids love to spend time with my parents and although, my parents are exhausted by the end of the week, they have so much fun with the kids.
A bit of a Happy Anniversary shout out to my brother in law Mark and his wife Amanda who celebrate their 1 Year Anniversary today. They live in California and we wish they lived much closer. Have a great day you two!
We got to see an amazing fire works show in Columbia. After a late thunderstorm quickly came and went, the show was amazing. Brad and I were in San Francisco last year, and I would have to say that this show was just about as good as that...and much louder. I was worried about how Carsyn would do, but she loves every minute of it. As you can see from the picture, she has her eyes wide open like she is going to freak out, but she watched the whole 30 minute show with out making a noise.
We had a great time. Brad, Carsyn (the dog) and I headed home on Sunday evening. Yes, Aidan and Brenna are staying at Gramma and Papa's all week for the second time this summer. The kids love to spend time with my parents and although, my parents are exhausted by the end of the week, they have so much fun with the kids.
A bit of a Happy Anniversary shout out to my brother in law Mark and his wife Amanda who celebrate their 1 Year Anniversary today. They live in California and we wish they lived much closer. Have a great day you two!
Weekend 1
Wednesday started our long weekend off. (Brad finally has some time off from basketball camps, practices, FBLA, and drivers ed.) So, we headed to our friends Jarrard's neighborhood pool for swimming and a nice picnic lunch. Their daughter Sydney and Aidan are best buddies. They insist that they are boyfriend/girlfriend. It is to cute! Kate and Travis' younger daughter Addyson and our Brenna are a year apart and have fun playing as well. Carsyn is just along for the ride. :) Here is the the group of them...
Their pool has this awesome waterslide that the kids would not stop going on. I think the daddy's had just as fun running up the stairs and going down with the kids!
Aidan and Brenna on their many times down the slide...
Thanks Travis, Kate and girls for such a great afternoon. We will have to do again soon!
Later that evening we headed to my parents in South Carolina. I am sure you all have strategic traveling plans when traveling with children. Even though we have been blessed with wonderful travelers, lately our two oldest have been a bit, shall we say, a royal pain the the butt. Fighting with each other, not sleeping when they should be, going to the bathroom every hour (if you know Brad and I..we don't like to stop often....yeah we know that they have small bladders..but COME ON!) and not being entertained by anything. So our strategic plan was and is (even though my parents only live 4 hours from Atlanta) to either travel at bedtime, or in the early morning. So, we left around 8 pm and got to my parents in SC around midnight. This has worked great for our family. All 3 children were asleep (oh, 4 children, because we took the dog too). We just transfered them from their carseats to bed. We will see when our long trip comes up later this month! Should be interesting!
On Thursday was my dad's birthday. You can see that from my previous post. The kids helped my mom make the 4 layer chocolate cake. It was delicious! Here are the kids and my dad blowing out the candles.
Their pool has this awesome waterslide that the kids would not stop going on. I think the daddy's had just as fun running up the stairs and going down with the kids!
Aidan and Brenna on their many times down the slide...
Thanks Travis, Kate and girls for such a great afternoon. We will have to do again soon!
Later that evening we headed to my parents in South Carolina. I am sure you all have strategic traveling plans when traveling with children. Even though we have been blessed with wonderful travelers, lately our two oldest have been a bit, shall we say, a royal pain the the butt. Fighting with each other, not sleeping when they should be, going to the bathroom every hour (if you know Brad and I..we don't like to stop often....yeah we know that they have small bladders..but COME ON!) and not being entertained by anything. So our strategic plan was and is (even though my parents only live 4 hours from Atlanta) to either travel at bedtime, or in the early morning. So, we left around 8 pm and got to my parents in SC around midnight. This has worked great for our family. All 3 children were asleep (oh, 4 children, because we took the dog too). We just transfered them from their carseats to bed. We will see when our long trip comes up later this month! Should be interesting!
On Thursday was my dad's birthday. You can see that from my previous post. The kids helped my mom make the 4 layer chocolate cake. It was delicious! Here are the kids and my dad blowing out the candles.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!
Happy Birthday to my Dad who is 52 today! He was able to do what he LOVES to do and that is golf with my brother, Drew and Brad today. Later we had a wonderful steak dinner on the grill and then playing a mean game of croquet! My dad is know for taking goofy pictures. This is one of them about 18 years ago with one of my cousins baby hats on. (He still looks just as young!) 
We love you Dad! Hope you had a great day!
Love
Brad, Angie, Drew, Aidan, Brenna and Carsyn
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