11 Years

I almost forgot - Michael had to remind me.  It was our 11th wedding anniversary.  Thankfully my mom and sister were able to take the kids overnight even on short notice.  Friday night we dropped the kids off and went out on the town.  We went to dinner (with gift card), we wandered around the Capitol Building, went to a movie (well we tried, we couldn't find a good show time at the place we had a gift certificate to), did a little window shopping and then came home and watched Sherlock on Netflix and ate brownies.  We know how to live it up around here!  Wild times!  The brownies were fabulous though.  It was a new recipe as we are trying to eat very little animal products.  I found it here and I would eat it vegan or non-vegan.  They were beautiful and moist.  The cashews and chocolate chips didn't hurt either.

Saturday morning we lazed around in bed.  No little people came in and informed us they needed breakfast, or needed to go potty, or that mom just needed to get out of bed.  It was lovely and decadent.  Michael even made me a green smoothie and served it to me in bed.  Lovely.

Then we went for a hike/jog.  We headed to the Table Rock Trail and started jogging.  A quarter mile in my lungs decided they had enough and I had an asthma attack  We walked the rest of the way.  Not that I would have been able to jog it much further.  I am not cut out for jogging.

We may have walked but we made it to the top!  It was a fairly uneventful trip back down.  There was the minor incident where my left leg gained a mind of its own and decided to see if I could do the splits.  The answer is a big resounding no.  My right leg was caught rather off guard and I ended up with a skinned knee and a tweaked calf.  My wrist did not appreciate trying to catch all of my weight either.  I was able to pick my scuffed self up and continue on though.

After a shower, lunch at Quizno's, a couple errands and a visit with Michael's sister we picked up the very, very exhausted kids.  Dinner, bath and bed and our anniversary was over.  It was rather a good one.  I think I'm up for a lot more of these anniversary things - even if Michael has to remind me!

Catch-Up

I haven't posted in a long time; not because nothing has been happening but because too much has been happening.  Some good, some bad, and some just really crazy.

The last week of February I got roped into helping decorate (who asks me to decorate?  Who?!) for the Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet which made me very grumpy and very busy for a few days but Tuesday night it was over and I took a deep breath.

Then Wednesday, the director of my homeschool co-op sent out a letter saying she was "done".   Her and another lady started this co-op 5 years ago and it has grown to 29 families.  During this time her family had grown from 5 kids to 10 kids (don't worry, there were a few adoptions in there) and she just couldn't do it anymore.  This group of ladies and children have rescued me, strengthened me, made me laugh, and made me feel normal since we joined 3 1/2 years ago.  I was devastated.  They kept me semi-sane while homeschooling.  I felt lost and abandoned.  Our co-op met the next day for our regular day and also to make some decisions about the group.

Before I headed to co-op I ran next door to say goodbye to my dear friend and jogging partner because she was moving later in the day.  She is one of those friends who could drop in when me and my house were at the worst and I would welcome her in.  She also inspired me to jog three days a week.  Those are hard friends to come by.

With all the stress, a migraine was looming so I kept myself well-medicated.  The sadness of my friend moving, the stress of my co-op falling apart, topped off with a healthy dose of caffeine from the migraine medicine caused me to be a shaky jittery mess.

At the end of our co-op classes we had a mom's meeting about how to keep our co-op going strong.  We formed a committee of eight people to take over the job that one person had been doing.  I blame what happened next on the caffeine.  We had every position filled except co-director.  It was asked if anyone would volunteer.  Dead quiet. Then my trembling, overly-caffeinated hand rose of its own accord.  I've sworn off Excedrin migraine for life now but the damage was done.  

Meanwhile life continued on:

The girls (and Sam) have been running around the house wearing swimsuits despite freezing temperatures.

 People still took occasional baths.

The kids and I made a heck-o-lot of bread for a Primary teacher training.  I also discovered the limits of my Bosch mixer:  Approximately seven loaves of whole wheat bread is all it likes to knead at a time.  Pansy.

 Ten loaves all wrapped up to give to the primary teachers.

 Grace has been drawing, and drawing, and drawing.  All are variations on the same theme.

 And still working on home improvements. 

Here's hoping I don't regret pulling this sidewalk out the moment it's gone!

Still Talking about Remodeling

To set the scene:  We are doing a bit of remodeling in the kitchen.  Orion pulled out the pantry and is putting in cupboards.  Before he can put in the cupboards, though, the wall he ripped out needed mudded and resurfaced.  He had another guy come over to do this.  He applied one thick coat and cautioned me to keep the kids away from it (a wall right in the middle of our living area).  Cue sarcastic laugh and crazy mom screeching, "Don't go near the wall!!!"  Eventually the mud dried with only a few kid fingerprints.  A couple days later the second coat went on.  This is the smooth coat.  This must be left alone but the kids knew the crazy screeching woman drill and respected the space, plus we were gone for a couple hours while it set.  Life is okey-dokey.

When we got home Libby wanted to make brownies "all by herself."  Ethan decided to be a booger and kept interfering with her.  He was grabbing the cook book and demanding his turn to crack eggs.  He ended up in time out.  He was not happy.  There was screaming and banging of cupboards.  I was irritated but life was manageable.  Then I checked on Libby.  She had dumped the frozen butter and cut-up unsweetened chocolate into the bowl with the flour, sugar, and eggs.  She got very upset when I told her it wasn't going to work and she may have ruined the whole batch.  I fished the butter out and stuck it in the microwave to melt, hoping we could save her brownies.  Remember that Ethan is still yelling and carrying on so stress levels are high.  And then I hear Libby screaming, "No, Sam, NO, NO, NO!!!"  I turn and look.  While I was helping Libby, Sam was not three feet from me and he had found the pie server.  He used said pie server to gouge chunks from my newly mudded wall.  By the time I noticed him he had taken out over a dozen huge chunks of my brand new wall.

My stellar parenting method shone through as I swore, yelled "Sam! No!", then stomped outside to swear some more.  After a couple of moments I came in to find crying, subdued, apologetic children.  I was still mad, so I called Michael at work to yell some more.  He let me vent and by the time I was done I was a little calmer.  I realized Sam had the decency to destroy the wall behind where the new cabinet would sit.  About this time Ethan's timer went off and he crept into the kitchen, apologized and crept back out. The butter finished melting and I stirred it into Libby's concoction and put it in the oven.  Ethan calmed down, the drywall guy didn't need to come back, and Libby got to make another batch of brownies (although the first batch ended up pretty good).  The day was saved, even if I spent the rest of the evening in a very stressed and snappish state.

How can I love four little people that are going to be the death of me so very much?

P.S. I do have to wonder what people will make of the gouges in the wall behind the kitchen counter if it's ever remodeled again.

P.P.S. I figure I will get the whole calm, zen, perfect non-cursing mom thing down about the time Sam moves out.  Then I will tell my kids all the things they are doing wrong with my precious grand-babies.  I'm looking forward to it.

Sam decided to meditate on my new cupboards (real counter coming soonish).  Nope, can't stay mad at him.  Maybe zen will come sooner for me with a Master living in my house. "Om..."

Finally Moving In

After we decided to stay put, we finally got around to painting.  We picked out paint and everyone got a turn to paint the walls.

Painting my new room.

Isn't it a pretty blue?

Grace had to have a turn painting as well.

The boys' room is painted "atomic tangerine".  Ethan is very pleased with the color.

My room all finished.

We may have a much smaller bedroom but just look at that lovely back door.  Makes ya' tear up a little, doesn't it?

The girl's room.

It was between this and a black room with pink and purple hearts.  I used what little clout I have with my children to sway the vote.  Michael's sister, Amy, did the murals in the kids' rooms.  Bless you, Amy.  You are a saint - a very talented saint.

Another view.

The kids new toy box.

Best new toy in the house.  And not to brag (because I would never do that), I made that toy box.  Well, to be fair, Michael did the shopping and cut the wood but I did the planning, measuring and assembling.  It is sturdy enough to sit on, won't scratch the wall because of a set back hinge, and it's big enough for all their toys.  Plus we had a $25 Home Depot gift card and little bit of extra wood sitting around so this toy box cost me $8 out of pocket.  Not that I'm bragging.

Ethan's wall design (Amy is awesome).

The boys got our old bedroom so it doubles as the play room.  This has led to some squabbling but I think it will work itself out.  I couldn't give two people the biggest bedroom without them having to make some concessions as well. 

The other side of the room.

Not the most interesting picture but it's what I've got.

Our home is finally starting to have some personality.

Destroying the House

Almost four years ago, we bought a little townhouse with a tiny little yard.  We felt it was a good move but always imagined we would move in a few years.  This winter we even started the process of selling our house and started looking for a new home.  But, as they always do, things got complicated.  After much soul searching we decided we should stay put.  This was a hard decision as our house has some quirks that are hard to tolerate (besides the size).

Our biggest complaint about our house is we have no back door and no place to put one.  The kids' rooms are at the back of the house and I don't want a door off my child's room.  Partly for safety reasons but mainly because I knew it would make me very grumpy to have to walk through a messy child's room to go outside.  I would constantly be nagging them to clean it up.  I knew it would not go well.  Michael and I struggled with this for the last three and a half years.  We had an architect in, we contemplated tearing down walls and doing a massive remodel and then one day it just came to me.  I turned to Michael and said, "Why don't we just switch rooms with the boys?  Then the back door would be off our room."  We just sat there staring at each other slack jawed.  Did it really take over three years to think of this solution?  Are we both really that dense?  Why yes, we are.  After recovering from our shock we called our contractor friend, Orion, and got some quotes.  Things went pretty quickly from there.

The boys' room before we started.

Cutting out walls.

The temperature was only climbing into the teens during this time.  Orion was outside most of the time.  I felt so bad for him even though he kept assuring me he was comfortable.  The kids kept offering him popcorn and hot chocolate.  He politely declined but let them watch what was happening.  He even let them help demolish the wall (if you need a contractor, I can get you his number).

"Put your backs into it!"

"Timberrrr!"

Libby hammering the wall down, while Orion pulls with a crowbar.  Guess who was doing most of the work?

Ethan had it well in hand though.

Next post will have pictures of the door and kid's rooms.  We finally painted!