Zutter Bind-it-All Instructional Video now available!

I have finally bested my technology woes and have managed to get an instructional video on my web site! For those of you who would like a helpful 20-minute tutorial on the Bind-it-All and its capabilities, take a look on the Kits2Remember Tips & Tricks page. Please bear with ,me, as this is my first attempt at a video, staged in my kitchen and filmed by my DH. If you have any suggestions, or see any major problems, please email me: jessica@kits2remember.com!

A busy Memorial Day Weekend

Well, let's see, what have the Guthries been up to this weekend? Rodney had a Marine Corps softball tournament Saturday, where his team came in 5th out of 10. He got sunburned, sore and thinks he cracked a rib ... but says he had fun for the most part. Will, Xan and Jessica watched "Indiana Jones" at the theater Saturday night, along with the rest of Orange County. It was crowded but not as bad as it has been for other movies. The movie was pretty good, with a few plot twists. Xan liked it more than Will, who freaked out at the though of aliens. Xan really enjoyed the motorcycle and when one of the characters swung through the trees like a monkey. Will asked a lot of questions during the movie and Xan shouted and cheered when the action parts took place.

While Saturday was actually GG's 87th birthday, we celebrated with dinner, cheese cake and gifts at Mark and Nancy's house Sunday night. The usual suspects were there: The Guthries, Joe, Gina and Brandon, etc.

Monday morning was coffee and donuts for us. Jessica drank iced tea, and after their milk, the boys had some of daddy's coffee. Xan asked repeatedly, "Coffee, please!" until Rodney had to admit that he had allowed him to try some coffee and he loved it. Mmm-hmm.

Potty training is going quite well for Xan. He lets you know when he has to go, so he is only wearing a diaper at night and sometimes at nap time (if he doesn't wear one, you need to hear when he wakes up so he can go to the bathroom right away!). He's down to only about one accident a week, usually when Daddy isn't paying attention to Xan's warnings.

Will is getting ready for his School's Open House Wednesday and excited about the talent show he is in at his TLC after school care. Oh, and, surprise, surprise, he is counting down the days until he gets to go to Illinois!

Pictures of the new house

We're sitting here killing time at the Pensacola Airport, so I thought I would try to upload some pictures of the new house. It is 4 bedrooms, two baths, 2,400 square feed on a third of an acre. Our offer has been accepted ($199,900, with up to 4.4 percent of the total house cost paid by the seller for our closing costs. With a VA loan we do not have to put any $$ down, so we should not have to pay more than $1,000 for inspections, etc., to move in to this house ... cheaper than deposits for renting!) and now we just need provide the Bank of America lender with some VA docs, etc., on Monday to continue the process. The standard home inspection will be completed Monday, and hopefully nothing major will turn up. The house looks to be in great condition and even managed to survive the illustrious 2001 Hurricane Ivan that the locals still make regular reference to. The "hip" roof (whatever that means) is designed to withstand hurricanes and, we have been told, will reduce our homeowners insurance by quite a bit. Score.

Will will attend an A+ rated school, Pleasant Grove, and Xan is on the waiting list for the No. 1 preschool in the area, Blue Angel Early Education, and there is a good chance he will be able to start in August. We stopped by both schools, and they look good, people are knowledgeable and friendly and were quick to invite us to view their reviews on several independent review web sites. Both schools are highly regarded, both by residents and the watchdog sites.

Now for a tour of the house ...

This is the house from the front, after a torrential downpour, I believe, We actually experienced one for about 20 minutes while we toured the house, ourselves, so some of these pictures are from the real estate web site and some of them I took. A photo of the RV access gate to the left of the house.

The front door, looking out to the front yard. Nice storm door.

The office, to the right of the front door as you come in to the house. We plan to put in some French doors.


The dining room, to the left of the front door, as seen from the front door and from the kitchen.




The living room, complete with lit plant ledges and fire place. Florida room straight ahead, kitchen and master bedroom to the left, other bedrooms and the guest/boys bath to the right.




The kitchen. The lady is our real estate agent, Judy Rice. She's been great.

The laundry room. The door goes out to the two-car garage, with door opener.


Master bedroom. Door to the Master bath is to the right and the window faces the backyard.


Master Bathroom, two separate sinks and closets, deep tub.

Boys'/Guest Bathroom, nothing fancy, but very clean with a small storage closet behind the door.

The Boys' bedroom. The window (located to the right of the photo) faces out to the backyard.

The Boys' play room. Window faces the side yard.

The Guest room. Hope you guys like purple. The window faces out to the front yard.




The Florida room. While some Florida rooms are merely screened-in porches, this one is a complete room, with heat and air.







The Backyard. RV access, a storage shed with electric (for K2R product), swingset, covered spa area, garden swing, full sprinklers, mature rose bushes, etc. The dogs will be sequestered along the side of the house to the right of the garden swing.

I won a lobster!

Check out the story on my Scrap Blog!

Strawberries and shaving cream

It was an entertaining evening at the Guthrie house tonight. I actually cooked (gasp!) and we had beef roast for supper. For dessert, we used the little Hershey's Kiss fondue pot Mom and Dad got Rodney and I for Christmas and dipped strawberries. Of course, the boys were quite a mess after that, so into the tub they went. We are trying to use up stuff we've stashed (we'll be moving in about two months) so, I gave them a can of "Cars" shaving cream we've had sitting in the shower for months. Will got creative with an Afro wig right away, but Xan was afraid of the foamy stuff at first, but soon warmed up to it.

Rodney and I will be heading off next week to go house hunting in Pensacola. The boys will be with my parents and Dad will have the HONOR of caring for our furkids and shellkids. I'll keep you posted on my first impression of Pensacola ...

A day at the beach

Somehow these were omitted from earlier posts. These are photos taken While Grandma Peggy, Grandpa Paul and Aunt Jilly were in town for the boys' birthdays. We went to Cresent Bay Beach in Laguna Beach Sunday April 13 for a few hours in the afternoon. Will had a great time helping Aunt Jilly build sand castles and playing in the water (only knee deep though because the surf was pretty rough - it WAS only early spring, after all). Xan hated the cold water, but loved knocking down the sand castles Aunt Jilly and Will built. So, everyone had fun in their own right...