It's a good thing they're cute....

The boys were getting ready for bed. I was doing something with Jo and Jim was working with Andy who actually decided to sit on the toilet (unfortunately I think the only thing that got in the toilet was the pee guard for the potty seat). I realized that I hadn't seen Doug for a little bit and that things were awfully quiet. With my mommy senses tingling I went searching for the child. I called his name a couple times but didn't get an answer so this heightened my suspicions even more.

I walked into the kitchen only to find Doug standing in his pajamas in the middle of a very large puddle of water.....

Earlier in the day the kids had put two of those little figures (a pirate and a treasure chest) that you soak and they grow to 600% the original size into a very large clear plastic tub (like the kind of container you would put 10 lbs of flour in). Doug had wanted to see or touch the figures and had apparently tried to get at them himself. He didn't spill quite all of the water...there was still about a half an inch in the bottom of the container. I definitely know where the low spots are in the floor now as it took three large bath towels to clean it up and the water had "ripples" and "waves" as I pushed it all together. He, of course, was wearing footed pjs and they were dripping wet.
I suppose the bright side of all this is that now at least half of the kitchen floor is clean.

You know it's time to go home when...

So we went to this Mexican restaraunt we like and the boys ate really well, and were well behaved up until the very end. Then you know it's time to go home when they start running laps around the table and barking like dogs....

Our view

This is the view from the deck. It is pretty impressive (in my humble opinion). You can see that we have a spot for the RV on the lower drive and that, while there are power lines running behind the house, they don't really block the view at all. We literally look down on the neighbors behind us. I'm not sure that you can see it in the pictures but the back yard has to tiers to it and then a short fence. The power company recently came through and caught a whole bunch of limbs to keep the lines clear (they actually took out our big umbrella but they replaced it). The people cutting the limbs assured me that the trees would live. So far we have seen a bunch of different birds out in the tress.

Ack!

I arrived at work this morning and the plastic bag I had my lunch and pump pieces had fallen off the seat onto the floor of the car. I was horrified to see as I was picking up the pieces of the pump that it looked like it had dirt on them and I was even more horrified to see that there appeared to be dirt in the bottom of the plastic bag.

I was grumbling and complaining that I had managed to pick up an apparently unclean plastic bag (since I got it off the counter instead of out of my usual bag storage spot) when I suddenly realize that it wasn't dirt....it was crumbs from a bag of oreos that I didn't realize was open.

Hmm...does this mean that Jo gets chocolate milk today?

Extreme close-ups!

Andy noticed my camera and since both of the other children were asleep we had some fun with the camera. When he was first walking and crawling I used to get all of these extreme close-up pictures of him because as soon as I would pull out the camera he would start moving towards me.

Backyard pictures

So this is the back of the house. There is a raised deck with stairs going down and a patio underneath it. Normally we have an umbrella with the table but the wind was blowing hard enough last night that it tipped over. There are three doors out from the basement level. There is a sliding door onto the patio area (the door is on the fix-it list because it currently doesn't work), there is another door from the playroom with a storm door in front of it, and then there is a little short door out from the strange little short storage room.

House Updating

While I have been very busy with my courses already this semester I figured that one easy way to start updating the house was to swap out the handles on the kitchen (and bathroom) cupboards. The ones that were on there where thin handles that had sort of a leaf pattern at either end. They were so grubby that it felt a little sticky to grab them to open a cupboard or a drawer. I am also having to clean the wood a little bit when I remove the handle but it is looking good so far. It took me a little bit to find a handle that I liked the price on (since I have 33+ handles to replace) and that would also look good angled. The handles either had to work mounted on an angle or it would have involved filling and painting one of the holes and possibly drilling new holes if we had ended up with a handle that had to be parallel to one of the edges of the cupboard door. So, while I am not completely done replacing all of the handles, I have made progress and I like the way these look, and I think these will look ok with whatever kitchen color we end up painting the paneling, and these are also so much more pleasant to grab onto to open the door or a drawer. In the picture you can see the old one on the left and the new one on the right. If I get a chance I will take a picture of how it changes the bathroom cupboards and drawers because in there they painted the handles white.

One more way to know you are a parent

I realized that I forgot one way to know you are a parent...or at least a parent of small children.
*You know the exact sound and feel of stepping on and crushing that one cheerio that you missed sweeping up.

Top Ten Ways to know you might be a parent

After arriving at work this morning, only to look down and find a splotch of spit-up on my shoe, I think it is time I do a post I have been thinking about for awhile. In honor of those of you who have been dealing with sick children, here is a list of how you might determine whether you are a parent:
Top Ten Ways to know you are a parent:
10. You have ever arrived some place and suddenly realized you have a little bit of spit-up/snot/poop/puke on your clothes.
9. You have been so distracted getting dressed that you have arrived someplace and suddenly realized you are wearing two different color socks, two different shoes, or your shirt is inside out/backwards.
8. You are used to referring to yourself in third person. (Mommy is going to go potty now.)
7. You know what I mean by my sister’s phrase about children being “help more work.”
6. You find yourself repeating things at least twice. You find yourself repeating things at least twice.
5. You have ever told someone (a person not a pet) to stop licking the table/floor/window/etc.
4. You have heard strange sentences coming out of your mouth. (My favorite lately was thanks to a box of toys my sister sent along that allowed me to say “Get the hack saw out of the train area.”)
3. You can name all of the characters and sing the theme song to a TV show that is animated or most of the characters are puppets.
2. You have ever picked a booger out of someone else’s nose.
1. You are used to getting interrupted and don’t have time to completely finish a….

More House Pics

The first two pictures are of the big room downstairs. We are kind of using it as a play room, and yes there is a second fireplace. There there are two slightly different angles on the front of the house. At some point (perhaps when it it warmer) I will walk out the back and take a picture of the backside. We actually have a pretty nice view out the back. I didn't take pictures of it but there is a door to outside (well two really) in the basement room, there is also a short little storage room off the playroom, plus a hallway leading to another bedroom, and another bathroom (with a shower stall), and there is also a workshop with a door that lifts up like a garage door. So lots and lots of space and it looks like all of our stuff is expanding to fit it!

Good Movie!

I got to watch the movie "Stranger than Fiction" (well...all but the first minute or so...somehow I missed the Opening and Title with the DVR).
It is the movie with Emma Thompson and Will Ferrel where he is an ordinary man with a very routine life. Suddenly he starts hearing a "narrator" in his head who turns out to be an actual writer writing his life. The catch in all this is the phrase (or something close to it) "Little did he know that this small act would lead to his death."

I don't know if it was because I run around slightly tired these days, or hormones, or general mood, or what, but I actually cried a little at the end. It was a very good movie.

Kids Room Pictures!

These pictures are of the kids' bedrooms and bathroom. If you go in through the boys bedroom they have a door that goes into a small (tub width) bathroom. This bathroom is a "jack-and-jill" bathroom with a door into Jo's room. The bathroom has cheerful yellow tile and the funny thing is that despite the fact that it is a relatively small room it has two light switches and yet no outlet. Jo's room has the door from the bathroom and then also a door into the hallway. I am hoping that when we get around to getting things on the wall and window treatments that it will add some more color to their rooms.

Caught in the act!

Jo is definitely into exploring these days. Yesterday she managed to get the jelly keeper open and started pulling things off the shelf. As you can see Jo choose a container (with seasoned breadcrumbs) to chew on. The next sequence (had I still had the camera in hand) was that she managed to get the container open, spill some on the floor, get her moist little hand in it, and then proceeded to happily eat seasoned breadcrumbs off her hand.

More House Pictures

The doorway to the left of the dining room table leads into the kitchen. If you piece the pictures together you can see the piano in the first two pictures which is in the living room/dining room room that is long. The archway leads to the long hallway (seen in the lighting post) and to the left of the archway is the front door. Down the long hall there are stairs down to the basement, a door into the bathroom you can see in these pictures, a door into the master bedroom (which is also in this picture set) and then doors into the kids' rooms and a coat closet. It is a house of doors. The bathroom sink you can see actually is in a room that has a door from the hallway, a door into the master bedroom, and a door into the "inner" bathroom where the toilet, shower/tub, and another sink are.

Vintage Lighting

So we have some vintage lighting. It is not so much that I don't like it, but that some of it is a little dark (especially when you add paneling into the picture).

House pictures

Ok, so I haven't remembered to get a picture of the outside yet so that will have to come later. But here are some pictures of the inside. These are the pictures of the eat-in area, the kitchen, and into the den. As you can see we have a lot of paneling to address. There is an entrance from the car port into the eat-in area, and the curtains you see in the den picture are a sliding glass door that leads out onto a raised deck. Ignore the mess....

More pictures!

Cake pictures! I also have to say thank you to Nana for the baptism onesie. She put the stitched butterfly on the onesie which is much more my style than having a frilly lacy thing.
I also finally found a picture that Roger happened to be in (along with Catherine and Nathan).

Funny Boys

Last night we ate pizza for dinner. It was homemade pizza and Doug (who appears to be getting a bit pickier than he used to be) was happy because there were cheese pizza slices for him. He was funny because when the pizza was about half gone he started saying "pizza gone" and pushing the last slices on mommy and daddy. He would say "daddy pizza" and Jim would tell him that he was full. Then when I picked up the last slice he got this gleam in his eye and his mouth made a little "oh" as if to say I was in trouble because that was not supposed to be my piece. When I took a bite you could hear an audible intake of breath and then he started chanting "bite, bite, bite." He is such the little frat boy.

Andy's latest thing has been to say "I have work to do. I'm not finished with my work." He will then proceed to use his play tools to "work" on all sorts of things. He adapted a plastic Halloween pumpkin as his toolbox, but if you look in there he has play kitchen tools, Fischer Price Little People, play tools, musical instruments, and much much more.

Friends and family!

Peter and Jo

Nana with Doug and Jo

Danielle with Jo

Traci with Jo

Catherine with her son Nathan (and Andy in the background)

We get by with a little help from our friends

Ok, so maybe it is with a lot of help from our friends.
My in-laws actually lined the bathroom drawers and shelves and got almost all the stuff off the counter and put away two boxes of stuff marked "bathroom." They also helped setup food and Wayne swept and straightened the laundry room (where I had pulled up the flooring).
Our friends Peter, Traci, and Danielle helped generally straighten and manage food and children, etc. Peter (and Danielle) helped set-up our desktop computers and get them all hooked-up to the Internet. These are the same people who packed most of my house and helped pack the truck when we were moving out. We wouldn't have gotten moved if it hadn't been for them.
In the process of trying to find things (for the baptism lunch, the parts to setting up the computers, etc.) I actually finally found some phones to plug in! So we are definitely making progress. We also have our cats back. They are pathetically friendly and are having to remember what children are like because they have had a cat "sanctuary" for 6 months while they lived with my in-laws (bless them...I just wasn't sure how I was going to manage cats in an RV).
I think that it doesn't just take a village to raise a child, but it takes a village to survive moves with most of your sanity intact!

Baptism Pictures!

I did take pictures but haven't downloaded them from my own camera. So these pictures are from Pop's camera and from our friends Peter and Traci. I had to laugh because at the last minute Wade, who is a friend of our pre-move and also happens to be our minister, chickened out and had me walk up and down the aisle with Jo. I will post more pictures of family and friends once I get a chance and hopefully will be able to take house pictures soon!