Sprrrring

We inherited a ton of planters and pots and such from the former owners of the house. There were actually built in planter boxes on the upper deck. So even though I'm not what you would call a green thumb, I've been itching to plant some flowers. At least to fill the planter boxes with something other than last years dead flowers.

 But Spring is pretty hard fought here in the mountains. There is a lot of back. And forth. And back and forth. And just when you think it's gonna happen, it goes back again. 

I am terrible at waiting though. I kept looking at flowers all through May, tempted by their bright springiness. I restrained myself. Which was a good call because it looked like this on Mother's Day: 

April Showers bring May... Snow?

But finally, finally! There is a weekly forecast where no temps below 40 are predicted. And it is supposed to be pretty nice and sunny. It was crazy gorgeous earlier today. I had asked Joe if he would get me some flowers for our anniversary next week, and boy, did he deliver. So I spent this afternoon making the outside of our house nice and Springish. 

Joe had gone on a hike with the three biggers so I got these cuties to help me. And actually, they were relatively helpful! Now I just need to keep the plants alive :)

Journal: August heat wave

Out my window: 76 at 9 in the morning.  After several weeks of very mild temperatures, it is hot again. Supposed to get into the 90s or mid-90s most days this week. Bleh.  Make up your mind, Summer, you can't have it both ways.

Clothing myself in: Black and grey tank tops, black capris. Mismatched ankle socks.

Around the house: Oh my. Well, we have been discussing the room situations since school was going to start soon. Prior to this, Issy and Adelle shared a room, Liam and Isaac shared a room and George had his own room. All on the main floor.  It was fine, except that they would tend to keep each other awake talking after bedtime. If we separated them (especially the boys) everyone would fall asleep much faster.

We also thought it would be good if Issy could stay up a little later reading in her room some evenings without keeping Adelle up. So we decided to rearrange things completely. We didn't want Issy to be alone in the basement, so we moved her into the playroom and Isaac into the guest bedroom.  We actually painted Issy's bedroom this weekend. Sky blue. It is really lovely.

So on the main level, we have Adelle in the boy's old room, which we painted pink for her.  She is thrilled about it. At least the idea of it ;)  Tonight will be her first night, so we will see how that goes. We let her and Issy stay in Issy's room last night. It was cute, as I was tucking the girls in, Issy said, "I am glad my first night in my new room I can share will Delle." We are moving Liam to the girl's old room because it is big enough for two. Eventually, George will share with him.  We will decorate the boy's rooms in a few weeks. We told them they can have sleepovers in the basement on Saturday nights since they like sharing rooms so much.

So yes, it was a big weekend around here.

The toddler: Mostly great. Articulate and fun. Unfortunately, however, his biting has gotten worse. Yes, I have *that* kid. It is super duper frustrating. Any mamas of biters here? Suggestions? Commiseration?

The kiddos: Lots of adjustment with the new sleeping arrangements.  I have anticipated Adelle having a hard time with it, but I had underestimated how much it would effect Liam.  Growing pains sometimes. But I think everyone will rest better this way. And they will still have sibling time on the weekends.

School starts in 8 days. Whoa.

In the kitchen: Tuna burgers, roasted chicken, chicken salad sandwiches, bean and cheese burritos.

Crafting: I seamed one side of the baby sweater. It was painstaking work. It prompted me to rewrite the pattern so you knit it from the top down, reserve some sleeve stitches and knit the front panels and the back in one piece. I am testing my rewrite currently and it is going well, as far as I can tell.

Bringing me joy: Posh pink and sky blue rooms for my girlies. How much my children really love each other and enjoy their sibling's company, the way George whispers I love you after I tuck him in and pretends to snore when I walk out of the room, working in the woods with my family.

Thinking about: How much life is going to change next week. I am nervous about just having Adelle and George around together. The dynamic between them can be really tricky. It might make things better (or perhaps worse?) to have the two of them together all day. It will be weird not to have an older child helper.

Pictures to share:

Journal: It's almost summer!

Out my window: 55 and overcast. I need some sunshine to keep the mosquitoes at bay.

Clothing myself in: Cloud pajama pants, blue tank top. Grey hoodie to keep aforementioned mosquitoes from biting me while I pottied the puppy.

Around the house: Joe is really trucking on mudding and sanding. We picked out a basement color- neutral but lots of fun accent colors to coordinate. We have talked back and forth about the flooring and I think we finally decided to go ahead and do laminate- Joe (and I) can lay it ourselves, we can get endcap stuff at Home Depot fairly cheap and with kids, it will be easier to clean.  I am so excited to get the basement done!

While he worked on that on Saturday, I worked on organizing the storage room, which is about 1/3 full of tubs of kid's clothing. I got the other things organized and labeled better, then I started working on sorting the clothes.  I already have it semi-organized by kid but some if it just doesn't make sense for me to keep- stained or ripped stuff, stuff that is out of style.  I got that about halfway finished.  I do actually need to finish because the kid's clothing is currently strewn about the guest room and my sisters are coming to visit in a week (!). And they might like a place to sleep.

The toddler: Looks kinda rough right now. Between tumbles from playing outside and mosquito bites (who like to get him on the face :-/) he looks a bit like a scratched up leper.  Continuing to work on being soft, particularly with Adelle and Critter.  Talking up a storm.  His poo has been relatively normal, formed, non-horrible for the last two weeks (knock on wood). I have done nothing different, which I am not sure whether I should be happy or frustrated.

The kiddos: I am meeting with Issy's teacher today about her working on some Math over the summer- he thought it would be good for her to work on it since she started last year a little behind.

Isaac is doing well, for the most part.  He woke up late last week (Friday?) with more of a cough and his throat has bothered him more.  His toes and a little bit around his fingernails have started peeling and around the corners of his mouth have gotten worse so I am going to call the doctor again today.  I am fully aware that I might be being paranoid, but given the circumstances...

Liam has been having some listening issues lately. It definitely coincided with the end of the kid's school- more going on, more to get distracted. Trying to figure out the best way to approach it.

Delle had a good birthday, I think. She got a bike, which she asked for and likes, at least in theory.  She doesn't particularly like to pedal (she has a bit of a damsel in distress personality) and since other people can't ride the bike for her, she has gotten a little discouraged. She will come around.

In the kitchen: Spaghetti, Turkey and rice casserole, Bean/cheese/rice squares. Nothing inspired, but good, solid meals.

Crafting: Some knitting

Bringing me joy: This is gonna take some digging- I am not in a very good mood this morning. Hmmmm- sitting on the couch in the basement drinking a beer with my husband and discussing our basement finishing plans, imagining the increase in space for our family when we finally get it done, family bike ride, the way the air smells with the pines, Issy telling me that she finally knows where she belongs: here, because she is a country kind of girl, Home Depot smell, quiet rest time in the afternoon. Whew. That wasn't so hard.

Thinking about: Oh, still my Isaac.  Worry, worry, worry. When he sleeps in, I worry that he has had a heart attack in his sleep.  I watch him like a hawk and ask him how his is feeling, since he isn't always entirely up front about it.  I am still trying to figure out what would be appropriate in regards to letting the doctors that treated him the first time know about his misdiagnosis.  I don't want to sue them or anything, but I would be remiss to not let them know that they were off the mark significantly.

Pictures to share:

He was brushing her hair.

Sweet little four-year-old in her birthday dress.

 Ridiculously large turtle we saw on our bike ride.

It's a happy house-i-versary!

We moved into this house a year ago today. I love it.  It isn't perfect, but it is perfect for us.

Spring

Summer

Autumn

Winter

Evolving Breakfast Nook/ Office/ Now Reading Nook

This is one of my favorite areas of our house.  It was built as a breakfast nook, with a more formal dining room on the other side of the kitchen, but I liked it so much, I wanted to try to squeeze our table in.  It was possible, but not ideal.  So we put the table into the formal dining area, which was a much better fit.

 Since the formal dining area had been functioning as our "office" we put the computer in the nook area.

But George is who he is and he kept turning off  the computer, so we moved it up on the desk, but then he could reach the printer and shoved a toy in it that caused a paper jam.  He would get up on the desk and one time I found him squatting on the desk, a pencil in one hand and a pen in the other. Yet, we continued on. But then a morning a couple of weeks ago, he pulled the V key off, which was apparently the last straw because Joe promptly rearranged furniture and took the his computer downstairs into the guestroom/ office.

So now we have a reading nook.  This is my favorite use of the space yet :)

Journal: Happy New Year!

Out my window: 28. Snow on the ground.  It is supposed to get above freezing the next several days, which makes me crabby. I don't want my snow to melt!

Clothing myself in: Black Army sweatshirt. Navy blue sweatpants. You are all jealous of my fantastic wardrobe, I am sure.

Around the house: We finished the bathroom.  Joe is plugging along on the basement- almost done drywalling around the duct- then onto mudding and sanding.

For Christmas Joe bought me a ceiling fan for the master bedroom to replace the one in this post.  The new one is a gazillion time prettier. And quieter:

The toddler: So many teeth coming in! All four molars are through and I can now see one of his incisors.  Let's just get this done, shall we?  New word: hallelujah.  It sounds like hal u yah.  But cute, nonetheless.  He also got his first big boy haircut and his been acting like more of a big boy ever since. Sniff.

The kiddos: The big guys are back to school this week after two weeks off.  Issy seemed ready, Isaac wasn't too thrilled about having to learn again, ha!  Back to homeschool, settling into winter days with my three smalls.

Crafting: For Christmas, Joe built Issy a bunk bed for her dolls.  I had bought some fabric (that Issy picked out but didn't know what it was for) the day after Thanksgiving to make mattresses, pillows and blankets for them.  Issy took this one:

In the kitchen: Italian sausage soup, chicken noodle soup, rotini and sausage.

Bringing me joy: Spending days and days with Joe and not having to worry about him being "on call", seeing him working so hard on our basement, imagining the space it will become, hanging out at Home Depot with the family (never imagined that would bring me joy!), the chance to go skiing and have some time to myself.

Thinking about: Two years ago today.  It is funny how this date really sticks with me.  It was just such a game changer.  All the other big things that have happened in our life together were either planned or we saw them coming.  What a beautiful little surprise.

Pictures to share: Blizzard right before Christmas:

 Christmas picture 2012:

 The peg dolls were a hit with everyone, even the big guys!

Master bathroom makeover

Joe's sister and brother-in-law came to visit mid- December and they were nice enough to help us (well, really demonstrate how to) rip out all the linoleum and tile in our bathroom and  put down new tile.  I love the way it turned out! Thanks so much, Gina and Dave!!

It is dark, but this was the best "Before" picture I had.  The tub tile was fine, but not too exciting. It was the linoleum that was not-so-good.  It had scroll-y things. And pink flowers.  

Demo shot. We (Dave) had to replace the sheetrock because it was pretty weak in that spot.

She is a Master Tile Layer.

Ready to caulk.

 I finished painting, we reinstalled the toilet, and sealed the grout.

Here it is, all finished!

 Detailed in the corner:

 Pretty glass tile:

Journal: Giving thanks

Out my window: 43 and cloudy. Might rain today.

Clothing myself in: Black sweatpants, black shirt, grey sweatshirt.

Around the house: Busy weekend! As mentioned in my last journal post, we had decided that Joe would refinish our table again.  He hadn't finished the benches from the last time we refinished it, so we have been using folding chairs the last couple of years.  He finished the table and the benches in just a couple of weeks! We had been toying with the idea of painting our dining room recently, but had decided not to try to do it before Thanksgiving.  Then on Friday, Adelle created a little masterpiece on the wall in there and we decided to just go ahead and paint it.

 Before: taken last May.  I was never overly fond of this shade of yellow.  I like yellow, just not this shade. The stain on the table was also red/ more orange than Joe had intended. And the folding chairs.

After: Natural color stain/sealant on the table and benchtops. White supports.  The walls are now a slate blue, actually really similar one of the colors in the master bedroom.

Also bringing me nerdy domestic joy: a new dryer. That actually dries things in a timely manner, thank goodness.  Also, I found a way to destinkify my towels, which has been a battle for, I kid you not, years.  Years, people.  And Pinterest helped me find a solution that is both cheap and easy peasy.

The baby: Been sleeping better, particularly with not getting up ridiculously early. Thank goodness. I feel like I can handle his shenanigans when I am not dead tired.  Words this week: "um yeah", alternating with "oh, no".  Whacking himself on the head and laughing while saying "ow". If you ask him where his honk is, he grabs his nose and says nose. Also, growling- need to get a video.

The kiddos: They are on break this week.  We are going to be cleaning some more to get ready for our guests and I think we will try to squeeze in a unit on the first Thanksgiving.

Going with Issy and Mom shopping on Friday.  Issy cannot. stop. talking. about it.  It is adorable. She got to go with me, my sisters and nieces last year and loved it.  She talks about it once every waking hour, literally, and usually more often than that.  I hope it lives up to her expectations.

Crafting: Still need to work on my Patricks. Got three more drawn on.

In the kitchen: Making my list for our feast: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, joe's brown sugar, walnutty sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie with homemade whipped cream. Yum.

Bringing me joy: Clothes fresh from the dryer, a beautiful table to sit at, a bright dining room, anticipation of seeing Joe's parents and brother, George's sweet little baby curls, the way he put his arms around my neck in  Church yesterday, Adelle's facial expressions, a long-awaited sweet little baby girl born to my friend yesterday afternoon.

Thinking about: Gratitude.

Pictures to share:

The aftermath of the aforementioned whacking himself on the head and saying "ow". Only, this time, it was during dinner. Spaghetti.  He was not pleased with the amount of scrubbing it took to get all the sauce out of his hair.

Half the master bedroom

I have been saying since June that I would post pictures of master bedroom since we repainted it. And that obviously hasn't happened yet.  My dresser (out of shot to the right of these pictures) needs cleaned off and dusted before it is picture-worthy, but I am going to go for it anyways.  There are a few other things that need changing/ updating in the room, but if I wait, pictures may never happen.

 The accent wall and window wall.  The remainder of the walls are the same color as the window wall.  That color was supposed to be grey, but it turned out more bluish than I was anticipating, particularly the way it reflects the Tiffany Blue. Oh well.

I like the white woodwork. But the windows are very hard to open now, even though we tried to be meticulous in not getting paint on the part that slides up and down.  So I think that will be the only windows we paint white. 

That ceiling fan is the next thing to be updated- probably next spring.

 I love the bedspread, but I am not in love with the headboard.  But it seemed slightly more adult than no headboard at all.  I would really like to upholster my own headboard and fix it to the wall at some point.  We are going to get some nice art and family pics and put them up on the walls at some point.

So there is the master bedroom teaser.  Maybe in another six months I will post more pictures of it?

Journal: Thaaaat was an exhausting week

Out my window: 36 and it looks like the sun is touching the tops of our trees now.  Supposed to be a teeny bit warmer today and tomorrow- 61 and 68 for the highs.  Hope I can get out with the kids since we were cooped up in house all weekend because of rain.

Clothing myself in: Black yoga pants, black long sleeved t-shirt and a Fair Isle sweater.

Around the house: We put up George's border yesterday.  It is very cute and he was pointing at it and smiling, so I think he likes it.  Had we planned on a border (instead of a chair rail) originally, I would have painted the bottom up higher because the border now sits right under the railing of his crib so you can't really see it where his crib is.  But, given his climbing skills, I doubt that he will be in a crib for too much longer, so it isn't a huge deal.

I have about 5 baskets of kid's laundry I need to fold and put away.  I will do it today. I will.

The baby: Last week was, er... rough, to put it mildly.  Some improvement the last couple of nights. We will see if it lasts...

He has started making sounds that sound a lot like talking.  He said, "No, no that!" several times the other day (because who doesn't want that to be among their kid's first meaningful words? :P) His "ninja monkey climbing skills", as his godfather so accurately phrased it, get more impressive by the day.  There is the spark of understanding when we tell him to do/not to do something.  He doesn't always comply, but he definitely knows what we are talking about.

The kiddos: Midterms were pretty great- As and Bs all around.  Isaac is really strong in everything.  Except penmanship- that isn't his thing :) Issy is really strong in spelling, science and social studies.  When I picked them up the other day, her teacher told me how well she was doing in science. I am so glad that we found a school that is such a good fit for them.

Adelle has gotten opinionated about things again, particularly her clothes. And she has started this thing that when she wants to do/ to not do something, she whines. and whines. and whines. and begs and whines. about it.  Here is hoping that this phase is short-lived because I am not a fan.  Her adorableness helps- the other day we were taking a walk by some TPed trees and she whispered, "I have a bad feeling about this..."

Crafting: Blerg. I finished the sleeve. Faaaail. In the original pattern, it was a short sleeved sweater. I decided to make it long sleeved, but for some reason didn't account for arm shaping.  So the sleeves are all loosey goosey and the rest of the sweater is fitted and it looks ridiculous.  I need to put it down for a little while, get distance and then go back and frog the sleeve. Note to self: don't knit while sleep deprived :P

In the kitchen: Soups- we had cream of cauliflower and bacon yesterday, some chicken noodle, some broccoli cheddar soup and potato soup coming up this week.  Yummo.

Bringing me joy: Waking up feeling rested after an adequate night's sleep, talking to my big sister on the phone after weeks of phone tag, not too little/not too much pumpkin spice coffee creamer, the way the baby's laundry smells all fresh from the dryer, cute little monkeys to decorate his room, the understated joy from my little boy as he opened his birthday presents.

Thinking about: Patience, patience, patience.  How to get my children to do things without raising my voice. And again, self-discipline and leading by example.  Not being too hard/ too lax with myself. So much to think about.

Pictures to share:

Birthday boy helping make the cake 

 Georgie's room

 Nursing chair

Curious George border and new paint.  The color isn't quite true, but it was the most accurate given the lighting in the room at the time.