Ug

Sometimes, this thing is more trouble than it is worth.  I have to turn it in.  AGAIN.  Hopefully, I will be back in about 2 weeks.  And, by then, I will have ALL kinds of fun stuff to report!  Until then.... *Sigh*

Takes me a while sometimes

Remember waaaay back, a long time ago, when Kari got her hair cut during spring break?

Well, it took me only, oh, 5 months, but I finally sent her hair off to its destination. 

We got a certificate back this week, with a donation form attached to the bottom, in case we wanted to donate $600 to sponsor a local child with hair loss.  As much as any child would appreciate this, the hair is about all I can manage right now.

Some people can be so greedy.  $600 AND the hair off your back...  Er, I mean head :)

Show and tell

At Kari's school, they just finished their unit on pets for science, and they are going to have a show and tell.  But they can't bring pets into school, so the teacher asked us to email a picture of our pet, which they will project on the wall, and then Kari can do her "telling". 

Despite the look of my demon dog in the picture below, she really is pretty sweet.  We got her the same week we found out we were pregnant with Kari and bought our first house.  Yeah, it was a busy week for us :) 

I wish I could be there to hear what Kari will say :)

More Basement

I know this isn't the most exciting thing ever, but it kinda my life right now...  Cuz it means we are getting closer and closer and closer to our never ending projects....  We hung all the drywall a few weekends ago, and this past week we were lucky enough to have some professionals come and mud, tape and sand all the seams and screw holes.  I cannot tell you what a difference it made.  I am sure it would have taken hubby and I days and days to do it all, and it still would not have looked that good. 

 And, it only took them a total of, about 6 hours split between 4 guys and 3 days.

 Oh the joys of having connections :)

 And, this is for my Aunt, whom I love and adore :)  Hubby drew the plan on the computer, and I printed it and scanned it, and hand drew on the before, since we didn't have that.  In the laundry room (right beside the stairs) we added that little utility room behind the washer.  That contains the hot water heater, the sump pump basin, and the sewage pump basin for the new master that will pump up to our septic tank in the front yard.  The master is the biggest change (in my opinion).  There was a strange faux closet there to the side of the door (literally a wall with closet doors, but probably 3 inches inside).  Then a bathroom there on the side that was all fabulously pink, including the toilet and bathtub.  And, all that big empty space there.  I guess he used it as a sitting room?

 In the new master suite, we took out the weird non-closet and opened up the room.  We have a seperate toilet room, a sink with counter top (we took out the pedestal that was there, and we are not doing a double sink anymore) and a tiled shower.  That weird space over to the side there we are going to use as a rocking master closet! 

I am SOOOOOOO excited!!!  

More Basement

Hubby, being the construction professional that he is, has made up a schedule of things that need to get done, what order, how long, and approximately when we will be finished (hopefully).  And, can I just say that we are certainly getting closer, for which I am most grateful and excited!  One of the things we needed to do was close up some windows we would no longer be needing.  And, while masonry is certainly not my favorite thing to do, it needed to get done.  So, here is the bigger window, all bricked up.

 The views that we blocked went from the closet, or toilet area, into the workshop/garage area outside. 

What a view....  *Sigh*  I will miss it so....

The smaller now nonexistent window.

 And, these are pictures of drywall, which when I took the pictures, was finally all hung.  It is brown because it is technically exterior drywall, which is mold and mildew resistant.  And while we don't plan on getting water into the basement anymore, we are doing everything we can to make sure if it does come in, it won't affect us.  But, let me just say, that this stuff was heavy!!!!

 Excuse the dust.  Hanging drywall is a dirty job.  And, while they won't read this, many thanks to the helpers from Hubby's work who came to help!  I probably could have done it, but it was nice not to have to, and I am sure hubby enjoyed all the testosterone they were able to share :)

That is, of course, only a few pictures.  But, it all kinda looked the same, so I didn't want to bore you.

As a matter of interest though, one of the other mold/mildew precautions we took, you can see on the right side of that picture.  Under that brown drywall, you see some grey with some tan-ish stripes.  Those are the "furring" strips (I think) that allowed for hanging the drywall on cement block, but also allow for air circulation.  So IF water does get behind the drywall, it should have the air it needs to evaporate, instead of condensing on the drywall and molding...

And, there is your construction lesson for the day.  Class dismissed. :)

King of Order

I remember my little brother lining up his cars growing up.  (*Waves*  Hi Jonoman) 

 I don't remember it branching out to things such as squirty tub toys...

 Or crayons...

 But cars I can relate to...

 Definitely cars.

How much should I plan on this transferring over to his teenage and grown up years? 

What?  Not much, you say.  Unless he has multiple cars?  Dang.

Bump

Well, there it is.  Lovely stretch marks and all.  You can see it better (for now) when I lay down.  I love to give him/her a good back rub in the morning when I wake up.  Today I have a regular doctors visit, and will schedule my ultrasound (UPDATE: For Oct 17).

And, I am happy to announce that for the whole pregnancy thus far, I have only gained 2 lbs.  Yeah.  Be jealous :)

Adventures in Chile

Remember when I mentioned my parents were moving to Chile?  Well, of course things have been interesting during the acclimation period.  They are, at least, finally in their semi permanent home as of now.  However, the interesting-ness hasn't finished yet.  And, since my mother has a blog, but hasn't updated it in years, I am going to let her borrow my blog for a day by posting her email to us, telling us all about her fabulous new experience.  Introducing:  MY MOTHER!

"Less than 24 hours after we move out of the safety of the guest house into the uncertainty of our own house, and have a 5.1 Earthquake, what should happen next?

We're getting ready to go to town (an hour away) to do some more shopping for the house. I'm walking down the hallway between the two bedrooms and bathroom and what should I see? A GREAT BIG HAIRY TARANTULA!!! Just calmly sitting there by my two pairs of scissors on the floor by the bathroom door. I had just been in that bathroom about 1/2 hour earlier drying my hair! He captured the beastie with a clear drinking glass and a piece of cardboard. Then we put it in a disposable ziploc container with the lid on tight to await our return home from the stores.

Grandpa looked up tarantulas on the web and they are VERY common here in Chile. They are kind of reddish orange or Rosy colored. So, I decided to call her Rosy. I told Grandpa this and told him and I just hoped she hadn't decided to invite any of her friends or family to come and visit. I had just gotten out of the car/truck with a sack to take in the house and jumped up onto the porch. (We need another step or I'm going to break my neck!) The front porch light was on so I could see Rosy all balled up in her dish - I hoped she was dead! Grandpa had gone back to close the gate. When what should I see right by the front door? Yup! Rosy had invited a GUEST! There was ANOTHER TARANTULA waiting for us!!!! Now this one was outside and it SURE wasn't going to be coming into MY house, but I was starting to wonder.... How many more did she invite and did they get into my house? So I went through every room with the lights on looking for big, hairy spiders...... So far, thank goodness, nothing.... yet!

  Can I Come Home Yet?????"

I believe my response to her was something along the lines of:

"Oh Mom!  That sounds like so much fun!  Tell Rosy we said hi!"

Yeah.  I have always been the sympathetic type...

And, for your viewing pleasure, I am including a picture of said Rosy Tarantula.  So, for those of you with weak constitutions, feel free to skip to the bottom.

The End.

VA Visit

I mentioned a while ago that my children spent some time up in VA with their grandparents.  Since, I wasn't there, I can't tell you exactly what they did, but based on the pictures, it seems they spent at least half of their time in their swimming suits.  Which, I suppose is ok...  Less laundry ;)

I know they went to the beach 2 or 3 times.  I have some pretty adventurous body boarders, wave jumpers, and sand castle makers on my hands.  Here they are with Cousin Ashley.  And would you believe that they came home without any sunburn?  Good job Nana!

 Then, as if the beach wasn't enough, they spent time in the neighbors pool.  I gave birth to some real fishes :)

 And, in staying with the water theme, they also went to a local aquarium.

I love these pictures.  Shows just how enamoured they were. 

 They made it home without any bite marks either ;)

And, last but not least, they made their own water slide.

I haven't noticed any gills yet, but I will let you know when they finish evolving :)

Grateful

I am grateful my hubby isn't particularly fearful of things like this.  He knows at this point, that a big, froofy skirt is just something fun to dance in....

Pay no attention to the conversation going on in the background.  Something about drywall and primer.  Blah.

Built up Frustration

When my parents came through a while ago, my mother had run out of luggage packing for her move to Chile.  So, as a last resort, they used a box.  When they left, I was kind enough ( :) ) to give back a bag my mom had let me borrow earlier, and they left the box here.  Not a problem.

Kari asked if she could have the box, and knowing that often times an empty box is a child's best toy, I agreed.  She proceeded to draw a face on it, and name him "Jam".  Again, I thought her imagination was great, and that she was going to have so much fun with her new best friend. 

Then, she hit Jam.  And kicked Jam.  And threw Jam across the room.  And, each time she did this, she took the box back up stairs and drew a bruise or some blood.

 Close up...  A little bit easier to see the face, with two bloody/black eyes, a bloody tooth, and several bruises.

 Poor Jam.

Me thinks that maybe she was frustrated about something?  At least she got it out in a semi productive way....?  Maybe?  Hello?

Labor Day

In honor of Labor Day, we took a rare weekend off working on the basement.  Well, not the whole weekend, but 2 days (which is currently a lot since we are under a 26 week deadline.  :)   However, I think it is safe to say that the kids are glad to have some time to have daddy to themselves.

What do you think? :)

6 months later

Today was Dentist day again.  Remember last time?  Kaitlyn so rigid with unrational-ness she couldn't even sit in the chair.  And then the fiasco with the toy.  Oh my gracious was I nervous about today.

Much to my amazement and surprise, today went off without a hitch.  They took big girl Kari back all by herself to get some x-rays, then came and got me when it was time to clean her teeth.  We all (all 3.5 of us) scrunched in the corner out of the way and watched as Kari got her teeth cleaned.  She is pretty anxious, by the way, for her baby teeth to fall out, and her big girl teeth to come in.  I imagine it will happen any time now.  I have to remind myself that she didn't get any teeth until she was 11 months old.  So, apparently, she is a slow teeth grower.  They wiped her mouth clean, handed her new new toothbrush, and the "magic carpet" descended back to the realm of us mere mortals.

Kari slid down and I held my breath.  I waited to see whether I would have to coax, bribe, pick up Kaitlyn, etc.  Nope.  Not a one.  She climbed up on the chair all by herself.  As it started to lean back I watched her every move, all the while trying to appear relaxed and nonchalant, so hopefully she wouldn't pick up on my tension.  Not a whine, not a tear, not so much as a word.  I probably squeezed Dylan on my lap as I tried to look out of the corner of my eye, (you know, not watching her at all) as "Mr. Tickle" made his appearance and started cleaning her teeth.  Do you know what that child did then?!?!  Nothing.  She laid there and watched TV and didn't make a sound.

There is no one on the planet who is more amazed right now than I am.  It was like 6 months ago never happened.  She got her toothbrush and coin, slid down from the chair, and scampered happily out the door.  After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I followed.

We did almost have one major fiasco though.  As Kaitlyn slid down, Dylan started climbing up asking "My turn?"  Thankfully, he was distracted by a shiny gold coin of his own, but, he has now been added to the list of appointments for next time.  Whew!!!  Crisis Averted!