Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Pumpkin carving

We carved our pumpkins today. We squeezed in a half hour of fun to get it done before Halloween. Beau really wanted to save his seeds he was contemplating and discussing all the money we would save by keeping them and planting them next year, or maybe they would be a good snack if we fried them, or maybe he could use them as sunflower seeds around a cupcake. All fabulous ideas for a mom with some extra time on her hands...that isn't me right now, they went into the garbage with the rest of the guts. He was okay with that once we got to the face drawing.








They did have fun and we enjoyed the time with them. I ran out of time and batteries to get pictures of the finished product but we will get those posted later with the kids in their halloween costumes. Luke is spiderman, Beau is Obi-Wan, and Anna is a pink cowgirl (although she really wanted to change to Barbie the Diamond princess, but I wouldn't go for it.)

Hockey

Beau started hockey, Tuesday night was his first practice. Below is a sequence of what happened most of the night. It may look painful and miserable to you, but he loved every minute of it and was very upset when it was time to go home. I was so proud of him for continuing to try because this is how he spent most of the evening...FLAT ON HIS BACK.

The coach did come help him from time to time, knowing Beau he half listened to what they said and was having too much fun flailing around the rest of the time.
Beau is finally on his feet and the coach is teaching him how to hold the stick, me I though they should focus on a little more staying on his feet before stick handling, but I'm no hockey coach.
Ben went on the ice to help a little and Beau is on his feet in front of him in this shot...Ben was lucky Beau didn't pull him down with him when he fell. Beau is #11. I think he looks like a really big kid in his hockey gear, it was kind of hard on me to watch him be so grown up out there. He really did try.
He got the hang of standing up and eventually sort of skated about 15 feet...
before landing back on his back.
But again, the important thing is that he loved it, he can't wait to go back and he'll learn as he goes. Beau makes everything interesting so we'll see what happens. We are just extremely proud of him for trying something new and different.
Sorry about the picture quality, I was taking them through the plexiglass, I'll try to get some from the doorway next week. There were a lot of parents crowding there this time.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

I Bit My Finger...Wah!!! Episode 2

So as strange as it is that my daughter will bite her finger while eating, she hasn't done it again...but it must be a family trait. Last night we went to the Knights of Columbus family dinner it was spaghetti. I was feeling a little out of place since 90% of the population was over 65, but I felt better when we said prayers and all of my children participate and Luke was extra loud. So when he was eating his spaghetti one strand at a time some with butter he had spread on it, it wasn't too horrible when he burst out screaming crying...he had bit his finger...I was incredulous. He was fine after a little kiss on it, he went back to eating. Me, I was disturbed, how do my children do this, are they so engrossed in their food they forget their fingers aren't food. I don't know but it still makes me wonder.

In other news today is wear red day at school for Drug Free week, in absolute bewilderment I happened to pick a red shirt for Beau who said "thanks mom for remembering it is red shirt day." I didn't tell him it was dumb luck or better yet the Holy Spirit gave me a little brush on the shoulder, and then I was able to find Anna's only red shirt on the very top of the storage bin in the boys room. She has so much pink I could only think of one red shirt and there it was. It was a good morning. The kids are off at school, I have to get my oil changed, buy Beau a costume (he says any one will do as long as it is made of silky material he likes the feel of it). Then I have to get bread, make Beau lunch, eat lunch with Beau, go to Anna's class and help in there for an hour, and the whole time not worry about the shower that is only 1/4 tiled, I'll get it done.
Life is good, only 20 days (I might start panicking soon.)

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Not Me...Monday #2


Well I'm going to try this again...thanks to MckMama for such fun times...

I absolutely did not start crying when I realized the tile I had laid at 1 a.m. was wrong and I was more than happy at 1 p.m. the next day to pry some up and relay it, only girls cry and I am no girl. Well maybe I am, but don't tell anyone.

I am not secretly pleased that I am doing all the tile myself and I don't think someday I will look back and feel a real sense of accomplishment in getting the tile done, if that ever occurs.

I don't mind that my hands feel like sand paper, my nails are all broken and there is a constant layer of thin set under my nails, nope I love the feel of dry cracked skin it makes me so happy.

It wasn't me who didn't have all the ingredients to the soup for the weekend so I didn't visit Taco John's, Pizza Hut, and Subway to feed my family, that stuff isn't healthy and it would kill my budget I would never do such a thing.

I didn't forget to return a movie on time and now I'm not dreading the late fees.

I didn't forget that we were almost out of bread and out of desperation use the only viable piece in the bag that wasn't falling apart at all, slap pb on one side and honey on the other fold it in half and call it good. I wouldn't forget bread for the same sandwich Beau eats everyday, not me. I also didn't totally talk up the school lunch so Anna would buy today since I wasn't out of bread, that just would not be like me to do something like that.

I am totally prepared for Halloween, I don't still have two costumes to come up with and still have to get candy buckets, I'm not upset that all that stuff is in storage. I wouldn't want access to it anyway.

I am in no way counting down the days until Nov. 18th when the stuff comes out of storage and we move into our new house. I also don't mind that there are still 299 projects left today in that short 21 days, I'm not worried at all about the fact that the tile isn't done, the concrete countertops are yet to be in existence, the cabinets aren't here, and the doors and trim aren't painted. That in no way causes me severe anxiety and I don't feel like stopping to puke right now just thinking about.

I have NO guilt about the time the kids are spending watching movies or playing with toys and not spending time with mom and dad. I wasn't at all happy that Ben stopped working tonight to take Beau and Anna to a haunted house and gave them attention. Sometimes he doesn't do great things...only sometimes. :)

I didn't give Luke chocolate milk and cheetos for a morning snack just so I could get 7 pieces of tile on the walls and not have his help, because he is such a great helper, I love when he gets thin set all over everything. I did not run quickly to the shower and spread and place pieces as fast as possible before he could realize that he wasn't helping that would not be very motherly of me.

I know I didn't wear my only good pair of jeans to tile this morning because all my other jeans have thin set on them already and I'm sure they are washed and folded, it wasn't me who has neglected laundry for five days and I won't be upset at all when I realize how much there is because it is all done.

Living in two houses isn't absolutely chaotic and I don't long for the chaos to end.
I didn't already mention only 21 days did I.

We're Getting There

The wood floor is DONE. It looks fabulous.
Now the tiling in the master bath, not so much done. I got one side of the tub backsplash done, the long side, now only the two short sides to go. I also started the first row in the shower. Ben didn't cut the cement board all the way in the doorway so I only hit my head 7 times tonight. Tomorrow morning I will attempt to cut it or hit my head 7 more times depends on how the morning goes. I'm hoping to get the next row in on the two walls I've started and then get the first row in on the other two walls. While that is setting up I will probably go paint some more doors. We definitely have our work cut out for us and the days are quickly ticking away. Three weeks tomorrow. That isn't very many. Wish us luck, we need it.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

More Projects...

We are getting there. The wood floor has a few hours of work left. I spent all day Thursday and some of Friday morning laying the tile in our bathroom. I broke 5 pieces along the way which set me back in the supply category so I had to buy another box. Darn it. I was doing so well too. Actually I think I miscalculated from the get-go and then breaking 5 meant I was definitely cutting it way too close so I feel better with a little extra. My super special tile arrived yesterday, it is special because it was such a dilemma trying to get it, I ordered it over a month ago and then they told me they couldn't do it, I had a minor melt-down and passed the problem to Mr. Fix-It, that would be our contractor, he made the calls set the people straight and 2 weeks later, I have my tile. I am a very happy person now if I can just get it up on the walls the way I want it, life will be good. I have designed a wonderful concept but now making it reality is the tricky part. I'm hoping Ben is done with the floor in time to really help me with this part of tiling. Although I feel confident with the tile saw I am not so sure about putting tile on a vertical surface.
Other projects for the upcoming days are painting doors, concrete countertops (grinding two that are done and building forms and pouring another one), ordering light fixtures (just been putting off spending the money), and keeping kids happy (that is an on-going project).
The boys are taking a shower, Anna is reading all the words she knows and naming letters as I type. While it is kind of neat to hear her say I, my, and the as we go the moving of the mouse all over the screen while she does it makes it hard to stay focused. So on that note I will sign off and wish you all a wonderful Saturday. I can't wait to share our home with you all.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Mishap Madness

First after yesterdays finger biting I thought today might go a little more smoothly...
Well not really.
Luke is not Superman, he let go of the swing in midair and while he was airborne for all of .25 seconds I don't think that counts as flying. I wanted a picture of the aftermath but didn't get that far before the next incident...He had rocks stuck to his lips and a few minor rock cuts in his head. Nothing major but you can definitely tell the playground is pea gravel rocks not the softest of landing but he was fine.
Incident #2
I got a phone call from a friend of Ben's at work around 3:15, not my favorite time of day it is that we just got home everybody is hungry and everyone wants a piece of mom's attention because we haven't been together ALL DAY. So the phone rings, a number I don't recognize but 395 the first three is Ben's work, so Ben is just calling from another phone...Wrong. So it is someone else saying, "Ben asked me to call he fell in the 'poop pond' and he needs new clothes." Well first off I was relieved he just needed clothes and we weren't in need of medical care, then I was a little ticked because now I had to drive 40 minutes down and 40 minutes back to bring him clothes, yippee. He will bring extras from now on. For those that don't know what the 'poop pond' is I will enlighten you. It is the fabulous sewer lagoons on the reservation, it is what Ben spends the majority of his time at work taking care of, and I might add I think it is fairly important that these things are properly managed. So while I am proud of what he does I do not enjoy talking about it with him nor the fact that my washing machine has to clean the clothes that he was wearing when he fell in. He will be putting that load in and turning it on, my gag reflex is very weak and I'm not even attempting it, I'd just throw it all in the garbage if he got that stuff anywhere near me. The kids do not share my contempt for the 'Poop Ponds'. Beau was upset because I wouldn't take him to see where dad fell in, Luke was very concerned that daddy had poopy on him and Anna really ignored the whole situation and complained the whole trip about how she was starving and thirsty, me I couldn't even think about food.
So if that wasn't enough, Anna's teacher came out to see Luke when he fell off the swing. Mind you Luke pokes his head in every day to say hello to Mr. V and then must talk to him at pick up time too so they are buddies. But anyway, the teacher informed me that Anna was really opening up in class and doing excellent...she even burped in class today. Okay so not my proudest moment and we did have a discussion that burping in class is not acceptable she needs to only do it at home or in the bathroom. She then informed me proudly she did it twice today in class, and I re-emphasized the we don't do that during class lesson. I think she's got it but only time will tell. I'm glad the day is almost over. Ben took Luke and Anna to the property he was stopping at McD's to feed the starving child, Luke insisted on eggs so I had quickly made him 2, the child never used to touch eggs now is begging for them over McD's, what a strange life. Beau and I are going to CCD he loves it. I teach 6th grade this year and am still learning the ropes it is definitely interesting.
So off to the evening edition of my life...

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

I Bit My Finger...Wah!!!

So we are running late this morning, we are out of milk and of course the lunch at school (cheese burgers) is inedible for my children. Luke would like it. I made eggs for breakfast thankfully we had those, these days we don't usually I run out frequently and never remember to buy them. But today we did, so I made two eggs for each child, now there are rules in egg making. They must be able to erupt like volcanoes or they may be left sitting on the plate until I make proper eggs that don't have the slightest bit of hard yolk. Thankfully my dad mastered the art of this kind of sunny side up egg making long ago and I took note, good thing I learned from my parents. So all was going quite well, then Anna wanted toast. Well I had just enough bread for two half PB and honey sandwiches and three pieces of toast, good thing Anna didn't want a whole today and Beau will only ever take a half. So toast is out--buttered, then sugar and cinnamon, the sugar bowl is almost empty so we all use our fingers to sprinkle on a little then cinnamon is dumped on because everyone wants to do it themselves. At this point I leave and get myself dressed---that is when Anna starts wailing, well now what is the problem she has finished her eggs, her toast is all but gone when she shows me her finger...somehow she managed to bite her finger while biting her toast--go figure. Now the problem I have is this isn't the first time she has done this. It is almost a monthly occurrence that Anna bites her finger while eating something...AGGHHH somebody help me. When is she going to figure out to keep her fingers out of her mouth when taking a bite.
So we got to school on time...and I am only slightly miffed with Ben for thinking he was doing us a favor by not waking us and letting us sleep in a little this morning.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Not Me...Monday


This is a fun blog post from MckMama at www.mycharmingkids.net you can link to it above, that I thought I might partake in today seeing as there have been a lot of things this past week that I don't want to mention...

I didn't run out of clean breakfast bowls because I forgot to run the dishwasher two days in a row, nope not me, must have been Ben.

I wasn't stubborn and thought I could life the tile saw on the stand without a man's help and almost drop the thing and hurt myself in the process...that must have been someone else...I didn't then proceed to listen to the man's advice on how the tile saw worked because then I might actually have gotten it right, so once I didn't do it the wrong way did it work the right way...what do men know anyway. I also didn't almost start having a tantrum when the pan for the water was leaking because I don't care that something else went wrong in this whole house building project. Nope not me.

Once all the tile was laid I didn't go eat a huge handful of candy corn because I care that all this work is helping me lose weight and I'm eating only healthy snacks now.

I didn't once think about asking Ben to take over because I thought my arm might fall of spreading grout, or when he finally did offer, I did not concede and hand him the grout float while saying under my breath it's about time you got in here, nope not me.

I did not under any circumstances want to have a hissy fit over some of the unperfect boards of wood my wonderful husband inserted into the new wood floor he is laying because that would be crazy for someone to expect pure perfection. Not me I wasn't inspecting every speck of dust landing on the new floor as though I were a Hoover.

I also don't go into space shuttle launch when I find a mark or nick on my newly painted walls, nope I just brush it off and say nothing. I would not even think about pointing out every one of them to Ben just to see if he will own up to it.

I have not allowed my children to watch an obscene amount of movies in an effort to finish one project after another during our 28 day count down.
I also haven't spent $20 on playdoh in the last 2 weeks just to watch it be thrown in the trash three days later, that would be crazy even though the kids seem to find hours of entertainment from that same playdoh.

I also do not absolutely love our house and realize that in about a month all of this nonsense will be in the past life will be somewhat normal, our children will look back and remember the good times in all this and I will not look back and think we were crazy.

Not me, I don't know why anyone in their right mind would build a house. I can't see why anyone would want to watch an empty piece of land be dug into a hole filled with concrete, then watch as a structure is built that looks like nothing, or why anyone would voluntarily paint it themselves and tile and lay wood floor and build concrete countertops, I don't feel the satisfaction in doing the work. I don't like watching as it is pieced together and things fall into place. Not me, I don't secretly think that I could do this again in ten years.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Update on the House

WE HAVE A TOILET, indoor bathroom facilities are very special to us now. This is our half bath, all of the kids are very schooled in going outside to the bathroom, but now they get to go inside and they and we are so happy. We hung a sheet over the door for privacy and put a little tap light on top of the toilet today. Luke was very nervous using in for the first time he just didn't understand where the light switch was. He made me stand in there with him for the first few minutes then told me to leave when he wasn't quite finished. He likes his privacy.

This is looking into Anna's closet and Beau's is the next one, I finished all the grout in their bathroom/closets today and my arm might fall off. Ben helped with the last 30% but I did the majority. I feel pretty good about it too.


This is what the kids did while we worked, they played. For some reason they are fascinated with the wood floor, slipping and sliding were all the rage, not to mention running into the wall a little bit. After a few rules were put in place they had a great time.

This is my front door, I really like the added touch of the electrical cords running through the hole for the bolt. Ben is doing a great job laying down the wood floor and I love how it looks.
Just one more picture of my wood burning stove because I LOVE IT.
Then this is my closet, well look at it sideways I forgot to edit before I put it in the post and I'm sorry but I'm tired and I don't feel like going through all the steps to do it right. Right now my closet is the hole we put the kids into with their stuff, videos, books, playdoh, paper, scissors, glue, it was fun to clean up today. I'm feeling like the closet is large but once everything is in place I'm thinking it won't seem as large, but who knows.So that is where we stand. I'll start the tiling in our bathroom soon, i.e. tomorrow, then the shower tile arrives Wednesday so we will just keep tiling. 29 days and counting. We are definitely excited and can't wait to make the BIG move. Notice the small black DVD player on top of the TV a casualty in the building process our little portable DVD player took a dive. It doesn't work and Ben made an emergency Walmart run to get this baby and allow peace to return.
Can't wait to share more updates with you all.

Bissell Pro Dry Giveaway

So I can't sleep tonight and Momdot a cool blogging mom website is giving away the Bissell Pro Dry steam cleaner, I thought maybe I might need one and if any of you might just click on Momdot here or above to enter yourself.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Question of the Day

"Why do crickets and grasshoppers look alike?" Asked by Anna at 10:15 pm on our way home from the property, my kids sure think about the strangest things.

Friday, October 17, 2008

A Day Off...What Fun

Doesn't this look like good family fun. I thought so too, all the kids sat down this morning a played a game of match. Well they never finished but they did pretty good. I think Luke found the most matches, although I know he was getting a little BeauAnna help along the way.
When the cards got old, they opted for some computer printouts to color. They spread out in the living room and colored away. It is nice to have a couple days off school now and then.

They have all played so nicely today and Luke sure enjoys having them home. Not to mention while they entertain eachother I get to update the blog. We have been way off schedule with trying to finish up the house only one more month from today and it is ours and we get to move in, we can't wait. But there is a lot to do. I get to go to the tile store today, they really screwed up our order and we had to do a little contractor involvement for them to make it right, but Mr. Jim never fails to get the job done and now they are being very nice to me, except the lady who will probably never talk to me again. They don't like when you go straight to the boss. All is coming along well, the kids slept til 8:30 because they were up past 10 last night while we started the wood floors, they look amazing.
Random thought, how do kids sit like this, my feet would fall asleep.
Oscar didn't want to be left out today and kept sticking his nose in front of the camera so I thought I would include him today too. He doesn't know it yet but he is soon to become and outdoor dog.
Life is good, God is great, and we are very busy leading this exciting life. Thanks for coming along for the ride, we love sharing it with you even if we can't share it in person.

Luke Sillies


Taking pictures of the three of them has been difficult lately because Luke has to ham it up every time. Yesterday during the group shot only one picture didn't have his tongue out or his face squished up. Then today I was taking a photo of them coloring. He said wait I want to do the banana dance. He stood up grabbed a banana and posed with one foot in the air and the banana raised up high. I don't know about him, he is becoming more like Ben every day. He is a lot of fun and a bundle of energy. Napping isn't as regular and we never know what he will say next. His most famous of late are naming a kitten "Batman" and Mr. Jim proceeds almost every statement when we are at the property and our builder is around. He never stops talking and likes to be involved with everything going on. Gotta love the Lukeman.

Anna Madness

Beau and Anna didn't have school yesterday, so Anna came down in one of her favorite outfits. It was a skirt and short sleeve shirt. The shirt is almost too short but don't let her hear you say that. She would wear a skirt or dress daily if able, the winter wardrobe is a little less filled than her summer one was. So we braided her hair, something not permitted on school days for fear of putting her into a terrible mood, she has a very sensitive head and the tears come quick. After she'd been running around in her skirt most of the morning we had to run an errand. So she put sweat pants on and then had a zip up sweatshirt to wear. Now all was fine with that but she insisted on wearing her matching flip-flops. I obliged and she wore them it was almost 50 degrees, and we weren't going to be out long. Where did this girl come from? This morning she has a necklace on, oh but did I mention she is still in her pajamas with the necklace on.

She wanted some pictures of "how cute" she was yesterday. She must have asked me 50 times if she was soooo cute today. So she posed for a few photos. The first was a nice smile then I got this, the hmmm I know I'm cute and I like to do funny things with my mouth.
Now not to be outdone by their cute sister the boys jumped in on the fun.
This is what we got from the ten (well maybe five) we took. Don't they look so loving towards eachother. Looks can be deceiving sometimes, but most of the time they are fairly good friends.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Beau's Thoughts


We were driving home from the property last night and as we get near town the lights shine in the dark. Beau says from the backseat "isn't it beautiful, that is my favorite thing to see." I'm thinking man I wish we didn't have to drive back into town again and he is enjoying the beauty in front of him. The things he teaches me.
The leaves changed last week and fell off the this week, but he has said over and over how this is his favorite season, he just loves the falling leavings. He is looking forward to Halloween but is unsure of what he wants to be, he has a hard time making decisions these days. It is hard when you don't feel grounded to decide anything. Today I packed him a lunch after trying for an hour to convince him he'd like the school lunch, I just looked in his backpack, his lunch is untouched. He decided to buy, go figure. Gotta love the kid, but you just never know.
He is doing fantastic in school even helping the two kids that sit next to him that never seem to know what is going on. He is reading at a higher level than I would have thought and he loves to read although bionicles are still his number 1. He builds and rebuilds and names and renames character after character, he also gets on line to see others creations. He'd love if I got on with him and helped him post his creations, but I know once I do it once it will become a daily desire. So we will continue to put it off.
Beau has also quickly learned the chore of gathering the firewood for the wood burning stove, that will become one of his daily tasks. He can't wait to move and not have to go back and forth but in the mean time there are days he is so helpful I can only gasp, other days he goes back into Beau-land and won't do a thing I say without a fight.
I love Beau for all his challenges and for all his insights into the beauty of life.

Monday, October 13, 2008

They Really Are Painted

So finally the pictures of painted rooms. We'll begin with the boys room, this is leading into their closet which goes into their bathroom. They have a jack and jill set up with Anna. On either side of this doorway I will be attempting to paint two large bionicles. Any ideas???

Now we move on, pepto anyone? Anna loves pink, maybe love is an understatement. Anna will eventually have a three foot strip of green on the bottom covered by a white picket fence and then butterflies, ladybugs, what have you will decorate the wall and fence.

Now onto our room you can see the nice brown color, we like the darker colors in our room, it makes it cozy and warm, this leads into our bathroom and our great tub, we opted out of a jacuzzi, but we really like the looks of what we got, I can't remember what it is called.
Now my favorite element in the house and I seemed to choose a slightly out of focus picture. But I already made a pot of chili on top of it, mmm so cozy.
We are so happy with how the house is coming along. We are down to 35 days until we move in. We really can't wait. Even Luke understands all the madness and talks about where his things will be. He has allowed Mr. Jim (our contractor) to keep one pair of boots in his closet. Luke idolizes Mr. Jim, a good person to idolize he has great Christian values and is a real man of character, I am thankful to God for leading us to the right man for the job.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

WE'RE DONE

Okay not really, but we are oh so close. I forgot a little coat closet, it is trimmed and everything I just forgot to take the roller over and knock it out. We might have to second coat the stairwell, but we will see. The tile is laid in the half bath one step closer to an inside toilet, all my children even Anna are very good at using the great outdoors.
I even took lots of pictures of all the painted rooms, the pink room, the aqua green room, the brown master, but then I left the camera at the property.
Yesterday I even cooked chili on my wood burning stove, who needs electricty, oh we do, the kids enjoyed a plethra of movies between running outdoors, spreading playdoh throughout the house and just generally getting in the way.
Two small concrete countertops have been poured, I love the color. Now we just wait until Monday to see how they come out.
So now that you have had to read this update with no pictures I will apologize and promise to bring home the camera tonight and post something eye appealing.
Enjoy a relaxing Sunday I am going to go lay some more tile and clean up the previous days projects and I am really looking forward to it.
Be back tonight...

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Almost done...


Well we are almost done, only a coat closet and the stairwell to go, plus a second coat on my bedroom and closet but that is the easiest part. Above is the kitchen, you can slightly see in the corner with the ladder the color variation where we transition from the living room to the kitchen, I am very happy with how it turned out.
This one below is Ben painting into the corner where the color transitions.
I thought I had one more of the living room, but it wouldn't be great anyway because now the fireplace is in and it is so much better. I will try and send out more pictures with more rooms tonight.
For now Ben is already there and I have plenty of errands to run this morning, so the girls are shopping, well sort of for a fire poker and tile grout and then we need to get out there and get to work.
Enjoy, we are.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Painting, Painting, Painting

Well I have finished the kids bedrooms. Anna's pepto pink is a little bold but she LOVES it. The boys is a blue green color, they don't seem to care they just want to move in. The bathroom is unfinished because the first color we picked is too yellow and Ben absolutely hates it. We will fix that Thursday when he returns with a new color. The living/dining/kitchen/hallway area is complete. The master area is another story still have to do the ceilings in there. If I am brave I will attempt it tomorrow, but Luke isn't the most cooperative child with just watching. So five rooms to go plus the stairwell but we need scaffolding and more paint for that so it is in the holding pattern. We will start the concrete countertops and tile floors this weekend. 41 days and counting...

Monday, October 6, 2008

Sleeping Children


5 Minutes for Mom is giving away a bedroom set from Home and Bedroom Furniture. You just enter a picture of your sleeping child. I went through a lot of them, but in the end a boy and his dog after a long day of play won me over. Hopefully it will win others over too and we could win the Summer Breeze bedroom collection. Enjoy this picture from the archives.

Halloween costumes

5 Minutes for Mom is giving away some halloween costumes. The one Anna in particular has been eyeing is the cowgirl. She saw it weeks ago and switched from her normal princess to a cowgirl. Beau would really like the astronaut costume size 8-10. He is really into aliens and space. The library book of the week that we have read over and over is Soccer Mom for Outerspace. Luke wants to be a power ranger, I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that one, but maybe I'll win one of the other costumes so I won't feel guilty getting a RED power ranger. If Beau isn't an astronaut I will be designing a Bionicle costume, should be interesting. Can't he just be a starfish again, well not really everything is in storage. But the countdown is on and soon we will all be in our new home with our long lost stuff.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

We're Painting!!!

Finally, today is the day we start painting. We may be consumed in paint for the next couple days but it will all be worth it. Wish us luck! I'll will post photos of updates when I get a break.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Beau and Books

I was going to post a picture of Beau reading with this blog, but that will have to wait until I take one. We went to the library yesterday, Beau picked out 7 chapter books plus some other children's books. I tried to lessen the load in the bag but he was insistent so we went on our way. As of tonight he'd finished his Garfield comic book, two chapter books and at least five of the children's books. His favorite books right now are Horrible Harry, there are apparently about 12 of these books, he has now read three of them in the last week. We will look for the others at the library but I've learned to make him no promises. Tonight we read The Man and the Stinky Cheese by Garrison Keillar (I'm not sure I spelled that right, Pappa Lloyd any corrections.) We are going to have to check that out again when Memere and Pappa Lloyd are here for Thanksgiving Pappa Lloyd is a big fan. We also read The Soccer Mom from Outerspace and Hoodwinked. The thing about Beau is that he will read a book over and over and over and over. I am so glad he can read to himself, it has really made life more interesting. Ben gets caught every time he tries to skip a line.
Beau's favorites are Garfield and Calvin and Hobbes (it took a little while for Beau to pronounce Hobbes correctly). When he thinks a particular comic strip is extremely funny he will bring it to me to read so that I can laugh with him. It is really fun, we are really enjoying this new part of his life. He takes it all so seriously though, if the teacher says he needs to read a chapter book he goes right out and reads ten. I am glad he loves reading. He also loves to find science experiments or recipes in books and then we do them together. Life is never boring, the green slime we made Monday was the hit of the week and Anna can't wait to make yellow. Any book suggestions send them our way, Beau loves to try new ones especially if anyone other than mom suggested it.

I WON

I am doing my happy dance. I won a giveaway I entered and you will all reap the rewards because I won a gift certificate to a card making place. So now you will all be receiving Christmas cards with either a family picture or kid pictures. I know you are all so excited. You can vote in the comments for whether you would like to see a family picture or just kids.
YEAH YIPPEE WOOHOO!!!