Monday, June 30, 2008

Follow Up - Seperation Anxiety

They made it there and back safely. Frank had a blast with his Grandad! They even built a bird-house together. :D

Separation Anxiety

Is it normal to have trouble letting your 5-3/4 year old go away? With his Dad (your Husband)? To see his Great-Grandad? For the day?

I just saw Tom and Frank off for the day. Tom takes the boys (one-at-a-time) with him to work quite frequently. Usually when he goes on a long-drive to a customer. Normally, we find out about it right before it happens. I grab a few things for them, pack a snack bag and send them off. Typically, it's in the middle of a busy day, when I'm ready to be down-by-one.

Today's trip was in the planning since Friday. We packed for it yesterday. We set alarms to get up early for it today. They've been gone five minutes and I still have a pain in my heart from watching them drive off. It's weird. I know Frank will have fun. I want him to spend time with his Grandad. I certainly want him to enjoy himself. I just am sad when I'm not their to be a part of it.

This is in contrast though to how I've been feeling / acting lately. I have been so grumpy and quick to anger this past week. I am sure it's related to being tired and running around a-lot and our diet being off. So. I'm ready to strangle my kids one minute and the next I'm sad for them to go away for the day. Very confusing.

Perhaps some of my apprehension comes from the fact that on Friday we were told we were welcome to come for the Fourth of July (Tom's birthday) and that night, but we were NOT WELCOME to stay at my cousins' for the 5th or 6th of July, because they need "Family Time" together. Well. What are we? Chopped liver?!?! So. This happened Friday and a few hours later, we planned to let Frank go spend the day with Grandad.

Grandma is very unstable these days. All last month she carried a loaded-firearm with her. Whenever Grandad was out of the house, Grandma had the gun on her hip or the table next to her. She put it away last week. But still, I'm apprehensive about Frank spending time alone with her.

Grandad has a Chiropractor's appointment this morning. It is still undetermined where Frank will be during the doctor's appointment... at work with Dad (who's visiting customers for the first time), with Grandad (who wants to leave him with Grandma instead of taking him along), at the family's house who just had a surgery on Friday and told us we couldn't come visit for the whole long weekend? Where will Frank be and will he be safe?


De-ja-vu moment while typing just now. In my new sewing Studio. Where I've never been up at this early hour typing.

Also. Adding to my worrying heart this morning. Tom and I went to bed late last night. Then, apparently he got a tension-headache a few hours after we went to bed. So. Tom got up nauseous and very tired. He *has* to take this trip today... 144 miles, one way... for work. So. He's out there on a long drive. Tried and in pain. With our first-born-child. I'm apprehensive.

Do you think I could get any more sleep? I have to be up again (for my own appointment) in thirty-minutes. :P

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Camp Wrap Up - Mini-Hawks Multi Sport

So. This past week Frank participated in his first Day Camp. It was put on by The Skyhawks and was everyday (M-F) from 9:00am to Noon. In our "Sister City", 15 miles away. Here's a group picture from the last day...


If you are having trouble finding Frank and his friend George. Look for the two kids who shirts stick out like sore thumbs... or just look for the Ever-So-Serious George.


Frank was roaring like a Dragon. George has a sense of humor and laughs quite a bit... just not when he thinks others are being ridiculous! George does things on his own terms!

T-shirts were handed out on Thursday afternoon. The kids were told to decorate them with their group/team mascots (King Cobras, Desert Eagles, or Red Dragons). Since Frank loves to tie-dye, we decided to do that and then paint a Red Dragon (Fire-Breathing) on the back. We also decide to invite his friend over to join in.



Of course, The Pixies must have been helping me read the instructions the first two times, because when we'd tied the shirts and put them in the soda-ash solution at 7:30pm, I realized that the dye was suppose to sit for 12 hours! Whoops!!!

With the help of Fairies, the following happened on Friday morning:

3:00 am - got up and started rinsing shirts
3:20 am - done rinsing
3:45 am - rinse and spin done in washing machine
4:00 - 5:00 - laid in bed while tumble dry on shirts
5:00 - 5:30 - painted shirts... THEY LOOK AWESOME!!!
5:45 am - back to bed for a few more hours sleep

I wish the boys could have put the paint on too, but all the same, the boys LOVE THEM! They look so totally cool!


As it turned out, I was *A LITTLE* over the top with the decorations. The Head Coach said that in three years he's NEVER seen anyone tie-dye their shirts, and that they were COMPLETELY AWESOME!!!

When you get a shirt from something like this, it often winds up as a rag or in the donation bag, but, if you tie-dye it, you cover up a little of the logo and create something fun and totally unique. I like this method for give-away shirts, and, like I said, Frank loves to tie-dye.

Personally, I'm really proud of how the dragons turned out too! On Tom's suggestion, I made a stencil, then used a sponge brush and some acrylic paint to dab it on. The scales and eye were created with pieces of masking tape. It went quickly and looks great. Oh, and of course, I put newspaper in between the shirt layers before taping the stencil down.


So. Back to the camp...


Frank learned the basics of three sports. Basketball (he was the tallest, and slowest, in his group)...


Soccer...


Yes. He is picking daisies/clovers in the grass while the goalie waves at his fans.

Seriously, Frank was tired from all the running in Basketball he'd just done. No really. Look. He gets up and participates...



And yes. That's Jack with the Indiana Jones' hat and mini-basketball under his shirt. Every chance he got, he was sneaking on the court/field to try to participate. He really IS Our Athlete, but this camp was for 4-7 year olds and we thought it would REALLY help Frank to have a basic understanding of how to handle the equipment for some standard games.

The last sport... Baseball...


As I said, Frank was the tallest in his group, and they didn't adjust the height of the T-ball stand or his feet stance, so his swings were, shall we say, awkward. Still in all, this was his favorite sport... "the one with the glove" or "the one with bat" as he calls it.

Today, we went to the park. While there, Frank actually hit a ball the Tom pitched to him... his second pitch! It was an exciting moment (not to be repeated yet).


The week was busy and tiring, but worth it. Frank feels much more confident with balls now (though not proficient). He
can actually THROW a baseball now. Like, decent throw. Soccer he rarely talks about. Basketball, he's still working on the whole dribbling thing.

And Jack and I got a WHOLE bunch of one-on-one time. More than ever before. I'm enjoying his funny-little-personality more and more.

It's also encouraging us to just get outside and play with the boys more.

Oh. And we had lunch each day with a friend and her kids (George's mom and brother), and she's making me raise the bar. Frank has always been "Frank". No nicknames, just his name. His brother, on the other hand, has had DOZENS of nicknames in his three short years.
So, this week, Frank asks "Mom, what do you call me?"
I say "Frank".
"No, I mean other times?"
"Punk."
"No. Like 'Sugar'."
After being with my friend every day, he'd heard her call her boys "Sweetie", "Beautiful", and or "Sugar" all the time. Suddenly, being a "Punk" just wasn't good enough.

Tonight, at dinner, I took my friends' more baby-talking tone and tried to get Jack, to eat a bite of soup. I was like "here Sugar, have some food." On and on, I oozed baby-talk and sweet nick-names. They all just laughed at me and no food was actually eaten during the process. Then, they went back to being Punks!

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Fit for Life - My Great Day has Begun!

This week the "bones" were all installed in my Studio (aka: sewing room). Paint on the walls. Furniture in place. Storage cubbies repaired and hung. One furniture thing remains... to replace a broken piece of glass in a hutch... but I can unpack around that.

So, this morning, I started unpacking my boxes. I have a little fabric put away, cutting mats out and sewing machines up. Still need two machine cords, iron & mat, notions. BUT... it's starting to look and feel like a usable space! YEAH!!!

---------------------

A few days ago I mentioned that all my summer clothes were still in boxes *somewhere* in the garage. Of course I knew the general area, they were in the "MSTR" section, but that's behind/past the "KIT", "LR/FR", "LIBrary", "SEW", and "BOYS" sections AND the aisles' I've created are being clogged up with things from Tom and the boys! So, I dreaded going out there for the summer things. Well, two days later, Tom surprised me with two boxes of my Summer things. Yesterday I unpacked 37 shirts (sleeveless and short-sleeve) and today I tried on the "bottoms". I was kinda dreading that part, because,
as you know, over the Winter I gained 25 pounds. It was a surprise to me when I realized it in February, and since March I've been doing things to remedy the situation. In March and April I went to the gym, since then, I've been VERY active preparing to move, painting, moving, unpacking, doing yard work, sports-camp and such.

Well, today I tried on my summer "bottoms"... six pair of capri's, 4 skirts, and 2 dresses. In February I bought size 16 to fit comfortably, today, the 14's were loose and half of the 12's fit a little snug while the other 12's were *just right*! I'm so happy to have worked myself back down to where I was last summer. Now, to get them all so they are loose this summer, and then next year, I think I'll make a trip in June to Arizona (14th = Aunt's B-Day, Father's Day Weekend = my Brother's
Annual Gaming Convention). During that trip, I'll plan to shop for size 10 or maybe even 8 clothes! 10 is my goal, if I could ever see 8 again I would be so flabbergasted! Anyway, I am very happy right now to have gone down 2 sizes in four months!

I'm especially tickled because I haven't been to the gym in 2 months, or measured myself in 2-3 months, but, I have been aware of what I'm doing and eating. Now... to work on my baby-belly. Time for some serious ab work! ... Uh... how do I do "serious ab work"? Besides sit-ups and crunches; I don't know. What's worked for you?

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Icky Ziggy Friday

I had a bit of a scare last Friday when I took the kitten and puppy in for their first Vet checks.



I've noticed the kitty's bloated abdomen, but didn't really have any clue what could be causing it. Up here it's highly recommended that you de-worm your animals, so we did. Then, an experienced nurse came in (and then the doctor) and told us the kitty had worms. Also, she had sores in her mouth which could have been from Feline Leukemia.

So. We waited for a blood draw and some test results. It was during the wait that I first noticed I was getting the blisters from my sunburn... at first I thought they were hives from all the animals at the veterinarian's Office, but soon realized it was from the sunburn.

One hour and $54 later, the test came back negative, but what a yucky way to spend a Friday afternoon!

Monday, June 23, 2008

Wyoming Life - In the Summer, Right after Moving

The weather here in Wyoming is AMAZING right now!


70's-80's, slight breezes, occasional light rain showers. GORGEOUS!
but I got a wicked sunburn... on my arms on Wednesday. By Friday, both arms were all blistered up. It's really weird! I mean, I know I burn easily, but this still surprised me. Partially because it wasn't "hot enough" to think about getting burned, and also because I've never blistered before, I usually burn, turn red, and peel. This was a totally different type of burn... maybe there just wasn't the pollution to dilute the sun's rays! :P

So. I've been staying in a lot letting it heal; which means the veggies garden isn't in yet.


We were given over 100 sq ft of sod, so, we now have a patch about 8' x 24' off our back patio. (The landscaping crew had extra at the end of the job of doing our whole street.) It was the first day the landscapers were here that I burned... I spent 11 hours outside (planting Irises and grading the front yard for the lawn.)


Even though I burned and wore myself out, I'm glad of it. I've been watering five yards (the developer hired me to do this until the houses sell) and everyone of them (but mine) has major puddling / bogging issues. I'm SO glad that ours is leveled out nicely!!!


We signed Frank up for a "Mini-Camp" this week. He's at the camp M-F, nine-noon, learning basics about Soccer, Basketball, and Baseball. He REALLY enjoyed today's time!


Understandably, Frank was tired after his first day of camp. He actually only ate a few bites of his sandwich... and that was done while laying down.


Jack and I are just tooling about playing at parks (and train yards) since the camp is fifteen miles away and I don't want to waste gas (money) driving back and forth twice each day.


So. Get rid of sunburn, sports camp, stay hydrated, get veggies in yard, and continue unpacking. That's my plan for the moment.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

1930's Homemaker

I always knew I should be "Suzy Homemaker"... actually, after divorcing my first husband, I seriously contemplated making "Homemaker" my legal last name. I KNEW I'd get married again, and so wouldn't carry the name for long, but I also thought it would be A TON OF FUN to REALLY and truly be Suzy Homemaker! Any-who, I just took the 1930's Wife Test and came up very well...

64

As a 1930s wife, I am
Superior

Take the test!

How did you do?

Monday, June 16, 2008

All in The (Animal) Family

The plan was always to have two cats and a dog in our household.

When
Casey found her new home, we were going to get a kitten from my sister (her cat didn't bother my allergies). That didn't work out (getting the cat from Sonya), but, last Friday, we stopped at the local Animal Shelter. We came home empty handed, because although we'd been planning on getting new pets, I wanted to check with Tom first. After he gave us The Green Light, Frank and I went back and picked "Ziggy Ziggers" out of the eleven kittens at The Shelter.

At five weeks, she has a nice, playful personality. The most curious thing about her is that she can be purring and crying (complaining) at the same time! We all like her though.
Here's Zoom Zoom first meeting Ziggy.


53 hours after bringing Ziggy home, Zoom Zoom and her were playing together. It was great fun to see! Although my camera was downstairs and we were upstairs! :P


Originally, I'd planned to get a kitten, then in a year (or so) get a puppy. Well, after doing some reading last month, I realized that raising a puppy and kitten together would probably result in a happier animal home.

So, this morning, we went back for a 3-month-old puppy we'd seen on Friday. He was available for adoption at 10:18 this morning. We got there about 30 minutes early, "talked" with the puppy, filled out papers, and I was putting the key in the ignition to leave at 10:18.


Jack is so delighted with his puppy, whom Jack named "Zagawuki"!

I suppose I should explain the names. We have an Alphabet CD from Parents Magazine. It's got one alphabet song at the beginning and then one song for each letter of the alphabet. The "Z Song" is called "Zig, Zag, Zoom!" On a road trip last February, we decided it would be fun to name our new pets Zig and Zag (since we already had a Zoom!)

So, now we have:

Ziggy and Zaggers spent some time following each other around.



After just a few hours they are playing and hanging-out together.


Zoom Zoom will probably take a few more days to adjust to the dog, but on their first meeting, she just pooffed up her fur, arched her back, and glared at Zaggers. Since she's 12 pounds of fur, and he's just six pounds, he sniffed her nose again, turned and walked away... no aggression from him, and no hissing or swatting from her.

I was very unsure about going back to the Pound for Zagawuki... he is VERY little (that's good for the size of our house but not necessarily for little kids). Whenever Jack handles him though, Zagawuki just licks Jack. After a few hours with Zagawuki, I'm happy with him. I think he's going to be very trainable and well-mannered. Oh, they said they think he's a Chihuahua mix.

One other thing, for those of you who knew me while I was pregnant, you will find this part the most humorous of all... while pregnant I often said "we're going to wait to meet our child before we name them; since you don't go to the pound looking for a "Spot" or a "Rover", you find a dog and then name it." Well, now I've done just what I said people "never did"... I went to the pound looking for a "Zig" and a "Zag!"

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Sixteen, no make that Seventeen Colors with Five to go!

There were a few questions about how one could/would put sixteen colors in one house. I guess first of all, it should be mentioned that both my hubby and I like color. Whenever we would go into a home with a lot of color we always said “we like this!” We lived at Sh---r Station five years. We added one new color per year. I was very slow and cautious about it. I would always pick “the lightest” color on the light paint chips, and Tom would pick the darkest. Always, we settled on the middle color – and loved it!

With this home, I knew I wanted it painted and it would have to be done before we moved or it just wouldn’t get done. I spent at least four hours, in the house, while it was under construction, with piles and piles of paint chips. I came on cloudy days and on sunny ones. I came with a few chips at first, then would “need a different shade or color” and would come back with more.

So, on Memorial Day (FYI: Home Depot has a Behr sale every year on Memorial Day weekend) we bought paint. Lots and lots of paint! I actually have a spreadsheet (surprise!) with the paint colors, numbers, how many square feet they needed to cover, sheen, and gallons needed. The paint people said I was “the most organized person they’ve seen” (BIG surprise!) I’ve also got all my paint chips punched (with a 3-hole punch) and on little rings so I can take it with me places.

As we painted, I realized the green the boys choose was just too NEON, for the hills I planned to paint. So, I went back and found a darker green. Of all the colors we put on the walls, I didn’t like the way one color sat with it’s neighbors… the blue in my sewing room. Today I remedied that. I picked out a new color, one that matched the sky, and painted over the first color. I’m MUCH happier with the new color.

Oh yes. One other thing. Most rooms have two or three colors in them. The boys, because of the cloudy sky, has seven total colors, but they are in three hues. So. Here are some sample pictures of the paint on our walls, as well as the paint chip names and colors (in case you’re interested in them.)

We started with this color EVERYWHERE (but the trim and doors)


700C-3, Pecan Sandie – the walls were kinda like this color.
It’s nice on it’s own, but everywhere, it feels like dried mud or coffee with cream. It feels dreary and like we’re in a cave. So. Enter color!

Here is the collection of Behr paint chips I’ve actually bought for the house:


Except the top left color, that’s the brown we started with.

First thing you see in the Living Area (couches, dining, kitchen):

#1 – Ceiling – 310C-1, Kansas Grain
#2 – Walls – 280C-2, Serene Peach (we’ve had this in three homes for the past four years.
We REALLY like living with this subdued, calming, cheerful color.)
#3
Accent – 220D-5, Nectarina (I think of this as Terra Cotta or Sedona Red.)


Downstairs is CALM and SERENE with a Southwestern feel. As you go up the stairs, you will quickly see that the upper floor is going to be BRIGHT and CHEERFUL! While walking up, and looking up, you see our laundry room:

#4 Ceiling – 360B-6, Flame Yellow

#5 Walls – 370A-2, Pale Daffodil (I chose three yellow paint chips, and Tom instinctively choose this one… it’s the same one that we had in our kitchen at Sh---r Station!)

Walk around the corner into the boys’ room. Here’s where A LOT of colors went, but like I said, they are all blue, yellow, or green.


#5 Ceiling – 370A-2, Pale Daffodil (same as laundry room)

#6, 7, & 8 Sky – Color Washing Faux Finish

Base Coat, FF88-1, Debonair Blue (like 580C-1, Diamond Light)

Top Coat, FF88-2, Beautiful Fountain (like 580C-3, Impressionist Sky)

Top Coat, FF88-3, Parisian Sky (like 580D-4, Skysail Blue)

#9 Hills – 450B-7, Green Grass (quite a fitting name, no?)

#10 Window Sill & Closet – 420B-6, New Green (Skrek, Nickelodeon Green. Tom HATES this color. The boys LOVE IT!)

#11 Accent Walls – 550B-5, Windjammer (I think this set s off the NEON green well. It reminds me of Smurfs. I think I’ll paint a few Smurfs on the hills behind the door. Any suggestions of which Smurfs I should paint? I was thinking of one per family member, so, OBVIOUSLY I would be Smurfette, but which ones to paint for the boys and Tom?)

I still have some detail work to do on the hills in here. Some darker lines and roads and train tracks. Then, they will have wall stickers that are re-positionable, so, as their interests change, they can change them.


Right beside the Boys’ Room is my Studio (sewing, quilting, and such). Here was the first draft:


The blue didn’t feel “heavy” enough. It was too light. This morning I went in search of a blue the same color as the sky’s I’ve been waking up to. Here is the amazing solution I found:


This new color looks blue when it’s by purple and it looks purple when it’s by blue. Even on the same wall, at the same time, in the shadows and the sun it will look like two different colors.

#12 Ceiling - 760A-1, CrÚme Angels

#13 Walls, Top – 240A-2, Sunkissed Peach (this is a brighter, clearer peach than the one downstairs.)

#14 Walls, Bottom, Original – 520A-2, Ice Flower

#15 Walls, Bottom, Better Color – 570B-5, Gulf Stream


I’ve never been “a purple person”, but after enjoying Behr's Chateau Rose (a light purple with a pink hue) in our halls for the past three years, we decided to try a crisp, clear purple in our bedroom.


#12 Ceiling - 760A-1, CrÚme Angels

#16 Walls – 640A-1, Soft Iris

#17 Accent – 640D-4, Canyon Mist


So. There you have it. That’s how we put 16+ colors on the walls, with a few more to go.

What do you think?



We have the following areas still left to Paint:

#12 Hall to stairs, Upper Landing, ½ bath, and Main bath – 760A-1, CrÚme Angels (same as ceiling in Studio and Master bedroom.)

#18 Stairwell – 280C-1, Champagne Ice (this is a lighter color from the same paint chip as our favorite Serene Peach.)

#4 Boys’ Room, Sun – 360B-6, Flame Yellow (same as ceiling in Laundry Room.)

#19 Master Bath, Ceiling – 380C-a, Sun Glint (pale yellow)

#20 Master Bath, Walls – 500C-2, Aqua Pura (light, watery color)

#21Master Bath, Accent – 500A-2, Refreshing Pool (I was just unpacking and found the paint chips I’d planned for my Master bath in Arizona, this is the same blue that I’d picked out there!)

#22 Tom’s Closet will be 440E-2, Herbal Mist (light, minty green)

My closet – Some leftover color(s)

Mural in ½ bath, Sonoran Desert Scene


We are very happy with these colors and our enjoying our bright, cheerful home! :D

Monday, June 09, 2008

My Three Favorite Games / Past Times from Childhood

I just linked around to a post from Metropolitan Mama to remember "My three favorite games/past times from childhood". Just thinking of it is tough, not much coming to mind, oh, wait...
  1. Crayons / Coloring
  2. Bubbles
  3. Rainbows
I think it would revolve around these three colorful things. It may not seem imaginative, but, if you could see the assortment of colors I just painted my new house, or the piles and piles of fabric (which I consider my sewing "palette"), you would know that bright, beautiful colors still play a big part in my life!

Sunday, June 08, 2008

Floor Plans

In response to a great many requests, here are the floor plans of our new home.

Downstairs:

The living room is carpeted, except for a 3'x4' area right by the front door.

There is a small closet under the "landing" of the stairs. This is the boys' closet right now, and will eventually hold their arts & crafts as well as school books/papers. It's just over 4' high, and they LOVE playing in it. They're little wooden table and chairs are right beside the closet, under the window.

The pantry is under the stairs, at the end of the hall off of the kitchen.

Across from the pantry is a closet with the water heater and HVAC units. Interesting to me, because in my previous homes these units were in the garage (as opposed to taking up valuable floor space inside the home). I'll bet they are inside though so they stay above freezing temperatures.

Upstairs:

Linoleum is upstairs in the bathrooms and laundry room. Otherwise, the stairs, bedrooms, and landing are all carpeted.

The room at the top of the stairs in the laundry room. It's very nice to only need to go up/down stairs with kitchen linens. All the rest of the things we use every day are on the same level as the machines, which saves stair time carrying loads of laundry!


The landing at the top of the stairs feels very spacious because of all the 1/2 walls (shown in gray). You can see down the stairs and across the space. You'll also note there is a 1/2 wall between the kitchen sink and Tom's green recliner.

The Master Suite has "Jack & Jill" Walk-In Closets, one for each. Tom wound up with the larger closet (6 more square feet) with the most rod space (19 extra inches) because he liked the door swinging in and I preferred the door swinging out. So, after four days in the house, we traded closets. :D

I'll have you know that these two "simple" floor plan views took me FOUR HOURS today! Of course, it was four hours that my body just needed rest. I'm SO WIPED OUT from the past weeks, no, make that MONTHS of running! It's nice to finally be able to just SIT!

We are still kicking around names for the house. In addition to the previous list:

  • Sage Sh---r - because it's on Blue Sage Way.
  • Sh---r Pit-Stop - Frank's submission.
  • Sh---r Stop
  • Sh---r Speedway - because we can see the freeway from our upper back windows.
  • Sweet Sh---r Spot - because of the county we live in.
  • Sweet Spot - shorter version
We've come up with these additional ideas:
  • Shadona (a combination of our name and Sedona, which is the color of "red" on our Living Room accent walls).
  • Shodona (another combination of our name and Sedona).
  • Sh---r Central (train reference, this is going to be another busy home!)
  • Shadonia (a silly name)
  • Sholatopia
  • Sholinator
The top two contenders though are:
  • Shadona Speedway
  • Shadona Central
I'm thinking of combining them into the mouthful "Shadona Central Speedway" which I expect will be shortened to "Shadona".

Next up for your viewing pleasure, taking and publishing pictures of the paint on the walls and maybe even the whole rooms!


POST SCRIPT: I meant to credit the source of the floor plans in this post. I made them using the free, online tools at Floor Planner.

Thursday, June 05, 2008

Back Online

Just a quick note to say we just got the internet hooked back up. Work to do. More later!

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Don't try this at home...

16 Behr paint colors

22 gallons paint

5 gallons primer

20 pan liners
23 rollers
1 broken roller rod

4 paint brushes
2 "handy paint buckets"

7 extra trips to Home Depot

2 parents
2 kids
4 head colds

4 friends

5 soaking baths
24 tylenol
5 hydrocodone tablets
1 bottle Nyquil
1 box Dayquil Gelcaps
1 box Alka-Seltzer Cold Tablets

completed:
laundry room
25 x 25 living space (living room, dining room, kitchen)
3 bedrooms

90 "man hours"

3 days

pain. everywhere. SO SORE!

Monday, June 02, 2008

Wiped Out

I thought you might like to see some of our new home.


We have spent two LONG days painting it. So that, what started yesterday as this...


(can you see the Mocha brown walls? They are EVERYWHERE. They are dreary and made us feel like we were in a cave.)

Now. We have this...



I know. The lighting's bad. It's the end of the day. Actually, I'm VERY good about know intuitively what time it is. So good, that I seldom wear a watch. Tonight I thought it was "6:30 or 7" and when I looked at a clock, realized it was 8:22. I am rarely more than 10-15 minutes off of a time, so I was surprised to realize that we'd been at the house working for twelve hours today! So, it's no surprise what's happened in the corner...


Crashed! Hard. I drug him to his feet and made him walk to the car and up to the apartment. When I went in his room, his shoes were by his bunk-bed ladder, and he was asleep in bed. It's not without reason though. I addition to helping us at the house, as much as we'll allow the boys to help, they are also delighted with the neighborhood gang they've discovered. Yesterday and today there were at least 9-12 kids playing outside most of the day. The ages range from 2-14. Yesterday I only let the boys out when we were watching them, but the kids keep coming and checking if it's okay to do this or that with the boys. Also, other parents are nearby frequently. It's so out of character for me, but today, they were outside a lot while Tom and I worked inside.

This little guy is just... just... a handful, playful, mischievous, cuddly, funny, already "in-demand" among the neighborhood with children coming over saying "can Jack come out and play."


See how he's looking over his shoulder to the front door?


It's going to be hard to keep the boys in now! We couldn't be happier. It feels so good and exciting that we've found this spot where they will be able to be outside and be "BOYS!"

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Kids and Their Pets

Isn't there just this special, magical bond between kids and their pets?!

Yesterday Frank wanted to borrow my camera to take pictures of his cat, Zoom Zoom. I found a series of pictures, where Frank was sitting on the couch and his cat walked by his feet, then sat down. She looked left. She looked right. Then, she looked up at her Master. Look at the relaxed peace in her face...



...I mean, it looks like she's about to fall asleep, even though she's just walked over and sat down.

Here's another picture of Frank and Zoom Zoom recently...


One of the funny things about them is that instead of saying "Here Kitty, Kitty" in a high-pitched voice or even calling her name, Frank calls Zoom Zoom to him by clicking his tongue. Perhaps this is from my dog Chandler, whom I had until Jack was a baby. I called the dog by clicking my cheeks like you would to tell your horse to "giddy-up". Anyway, Frank just says "Zoom Zoom" and clicks his tongue and she immediately runs to him and follows him wherever he goes. It's very cool. :D

Thinking about all this is peaceful. I love seeing the bond that Frank has with his pet. I'm eager to provide the same thing for Jack (by way of a dog for him). In the meantime, whenever there's any Pet-Related Frustrations in our home, I just remember how Frank and Zoom Zoom are... what comfort they provide for each other, and I get out my cleaning supplies and take care of whatever the issue may be.

I am so glad I followed my gut and was able to give Frank his cat!