Soccer and Smiles

Dear Justin,

I vaguely remember hearing you come in last night (or should I say, this morning, was it 2:30am?). Do you realize that’s a 21 work day? Granted some time is spent in the car, but I’m surprised how well you’re doing. I don’t think I could focus that long.

We were glad you could come to Abigail’s game today. She’s really getting good (that must be my athletic genes, lol). However, I worry she might becoming a little of a ball-hog, do you think? She wasn’t excited to play today in fact when we were driving to the game she said she didn’t think she wanted to play soccer next year. Isn’t that strange since she really enjoys it once she gets on the field? I got a few pictures of her in action.

SCORE!!

Moving in for the steal

Check out the tongue action on this goal

I made the kids chicken nuggets and quesadillas for lunch today (I know, highly nutritious, but they had some grapes too). When they were done cooking Abigail called out, “nuggets for sale.” So I went along with it and told the girls they had to pay for the chicken nuggets. Quesadillas were free. Carly already had a penny downstairs so she bought one right away. Then she ran upstairs and got two more pennies. One for her and one for Abigail. I thought it was sweet that Carly bought Abigail lunch. Abigail commented that they normally don’t have to pay. I explained that I’m on overtime this week.

Jason was SO HAPPY this morning. Maybe it’s cause he got to spend a little time with his Dad. He enjoyed the YMCA, shopping at Sam’s, and was so much fun even after we got home. Before we knew it, it was after 2pm and I decided I needed to put the boy down for a nap anyhow.

Tonight while Jason took a bath, I told the girls if they got the two loads of laundry folded/hung and put away then they would earn dessert. When they accomplished that, I then gave them the opportunity to choose ANY dessert they wanted if they emptied the dishwasher. Man, did those girls move. Their dessert of choice: ice-cream bars. As I was handed them their yummy treat Abigail asked, “do we have to pay?” ha, ha

As I was straightening up our room today I noticed a note Abigail left on your pillow. Since it will be dark when you come home tonight and still dark when you leave in the morning (whether for work or church meetings), I thought I’d post it for you now.

Only 5 days (4 really BUSY) until you get some well-deserved time off! Hang in there!

Missing You!

The kids haven’t seen Justin all week and there have been numerous days over the past 2 months that I haven’t seen him either, yet I know he’s come home and caught a few hours of sleep because when I wake up in the morning his side of the bed has been slept in. We miss him a lot. He’s so busy at work that we often don’t even get to talk all day. Occasionally I’ll receive a brief text, “Dow down 650”, “Maui less than 400 round trip”, “Need deodorant”, etc… I received a text last night around 10pm from Justin that he was leaving work cause he was “mentally exhausted”… working the equivalent of two full time jobs would definitely do that to a person. When he got home he gave me a hard time about not posting lately and said that the blog is the way he keeps in touch with us these days. So here’s a post for my hard-working husband.

Dear Justin,

I’m glad you made it home early last night (10:30pm) so we could talk for a little while. I’m sorry I haven’t blogged lately. We’ve been a little busy.

Abigail is really enjoying school. Yesterday was the first time I volunteered in her classroom. I really like her teacher (you’ll like her too). I think the first/second grade split class is perfect for Abigail. Her teacher gives her opportunities to be challenged and I love that. Everything in the classroom refers to Abigail as Abby. That’s what she has chosen to go by. I know that you didn’t want that to happen. She’s still “Abigail” to me too… I think it will take me a long time to get used to her new name. On Monday Abigail will be the first in her class (including the second graders) to turn in the last word wave (a list of words they can pass off when they can read them all correctly). She’s excited because she will earn an opportunity to eat lunch with a friend from another class.

Abigail is learning a part for the Christmas play at school. None of the kids have lines by themselves; they say everything in small groups. Abigail’s group is the “narrator deer.” She’s really excited about it. I sent you an email with the date of the performance; did you put it on your calendar?

Last night soccer was cancelled. I was so relieved. I was really dreading taking all the kids out in the rain to watch Abigail practice for an hour in the wet and cold. Thank you thunder and lightening. She has a game tomorrow at 10:15am… I really hope you can make it.

Right after we heard the thunder and lightening last night I was heading outside to get the mail and dump all the old tomatos in the yard waste. The girls were concerned about my going out in the “storm.” I reassured them that I would be fine… unless I got hit by lightening. I then had to explain the consequences of being struck by lightening and added that it rarely happens. As I walked out the door Carly passionately told me to “hurry” and “be careful.” I was gone for less than two minutes, but I’m sure it seemed much longer for Carly. When I came back in she was waiting for me and asked “did the lightening hit you!?!” It was so funny. I only hope I didn’t instill a great fear of lightening in her.

Carly asks everyday if she gets to go to preschool today. Her teacher told me that Carly is really smart and that she’s having a hard time challenging her. She got out some more difficult things for Carly to work on. I guess we don’t see how smart she is because we compare her to her big sister who was already reading chapter books and writing stories at this age. It was nice to hear that Carly is doing fantastic. She’s a bright girl.

Jason has been grumpy the past month… maybe it’s cause he misses you. He’s making the move to taking only one nap a day. That may be more my doing though cause one nap makes it easier for me to get things done outside of the house. He slept in this morning til 9:30am. Too bad I had to get up earlier to be ready in case the wood guy showed up… which he didn’t until after 10am …. bummer.

I think it’s so cute when Jason crawls. He’s so proud of himself. I’m grateful that even with our third child I still find all these milestones exciting. He’s gone up the stairs (under the watchful eyes of his two big sisters), but he’s completely clueless on how to get down the stairs. We’ll need to work on that. Thank heavens he hasn’t even tried.

Jason got his first hair cut today. I decided to take him to the Kid’s Cut at the mall. He sat in an airplane and did amazingly well, especially since it was naptime. I kept telling the lady to cut the top shorter and shorter. She only trimmed off a quarter inch at a time so it took a long time to make it look okay. I can’t say I’m completely satisfied, but it was fun for him and the haircut was long overdue.

Check out how long his hair is on top!

I was so suprised to see him smile and enjoy his first haircut.

He enjoyed holding a sucker and playing with the wheel too.

The "after" picture

The wood guy started working on Wednesday. I’m back to being surrounded in dust and power tools. It’s frustrating to never know what time he will show up and what state the house will be in when I get home. I am so grateful the kids haven’t even once been tempted to get into all the construction mess. He has finished replacing the dining room floor and tore out the rest of the damaged wood in the kitchen and family room, but he’s already left for the weekend. This is what I have to deal with over the weekend.

Not fun. It’s almost over though, right?

I went to the gym twice this week and I’m considering going tomorrow after Abigail’s game. I still HATE, HATE, HATE exercising. It’s been almost a year since we joined. Will I ever enjoy it? The good news is that Jason no longer cries when I drop him off in the childcare area. Yesterday he actually walked in willingly… yeah!

I was really hoping to bring the kids up and eat lunch with you this afternoon since Abigail didn’t have school today. I wish we could have found a way to make it work with your schedule and meetings. Instead we went to the newly remodeled Southcenter Mall. It looks great. We went into a “kid’s lounge” to use the restroom. It was so cool I had to take a picture.

On the left are private little nursing areas with comfy leather chairs and your own TV. They even had a tiny toilet for toddlers… so cute. There are lots of new stores and restaurants. If I didn’t have three kids with me I would have loved to do a little shopping… I guess I’ll just have to wait til New York City. Speaking of which, my Mom will be in NYC this weekend. I am so jealous. Let’s arrange our flights ASAP. I can’t wait!!

I’m so hungry. Can you believe it’s been over two months since we’ve been to a sit down restaurant when we typically went weekly? I’m so jealous you get to eat yummy food for lunch and dinner every day… and for free. Actually if it takes working 15-20 hours a day to get “free” food then it’s really not “free”, is it?

We ate lunch at the food court today. I had Panda Express. The lady only charged me $2.18 (w/tax) for my large side. I was honest and tried to tell her it was wrong, but she didn’t care. I thought my fortune cookie was kind of funny.

I guess the cookie makers aren’t aware of the current state of our economy, or our 401K.

We miss you! Have a good day and get lots done. Only 5 days left, then its family time! In the meantime I’ll try to keep you posted.

My Three Joys

If you’ve been following our floor saga then you’ll know that things haven’t gone perfectly. The new wood is scheduled to be delivered and installed next week. While juggling three kids on my own and a busy schedule, life continued to throw lemons at me throughout the week. My Kitchenaid mixer died while I was making bread, the satellite still won’t work properly, and the power went out the evening I was hosting book club. I managed to get my hair done last week and before she even started I told her that I wouldn’t be surprised if I walked out with purple hair… it had just been one of those weeks. Last week a six-year old girl in our stake died from a brain tumor and was buried on Friday, my Dad’s birthday and the 10-year anniversary of his funeral after fighting the same cancer. I’m on my second cold sore this month. Justin’s had busy seasons at work before but never with this much chaos at home… we’ve really missed him.

Last night we video taped Jason’s latest accomplishment. He has finally learned to crawl and stand up.

Our kids can get quite goofy around bedtime. Last night was almost out of control. There was LOTS of giggling, twirling, gymnastics, singing, and animal noises? Yes, even animal noises. Justin and I were cracking up as we watched these video clips… maybe it’s just cause they’re our kids, but seriously, I feel like one of the luckiest Moms. I have the best kids.

Ode to Handyman

Handyman Steve was a slightly-stocky, middle-aged man, an avid hunter and strong supporter of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. As he would put it, he was a "jack of everything and a master of none." (Being his most recent client I would have to agree.) Handyman Steve was a punctual man and put in a hard days work although his bladder issues required him to use my upstairs bathroom each and every hour (I deciphered this from distant observation). Handyman was a married man and recently displayed his devotion to his loving wife by purchasing her a new dishwasher with a delayed-start feature (although he selfishly admitted that this purchase now enabled him to watch TV in peace). In our poor economy Handyman Steve was looking forward to receiving a paycheck with a full-week of work. I liked Handyman Steve even after he seriously damaged my new hardwood floors (see previous post). He felt horrible and in parting I made an effort to make him feel better by jokingly thanking him for being responsible for the damage instead of being responsible myself.

This afternoon my wood guy (which I've never seen use the restroom) came over to estimate the damage caused by Handyman Steve. My wood guy tried to iron out the indentations (who would have thought of using an actual iron, I had to dust mine off for the job) - it did help but in order to completely fix the damage all 75+ boards will need to be removed. It’s not an easy job (the boards are tongue and groove and nailed down). So prying them up could result in more damage and then having to glue the new boards down could cause additional issues since the floor is somewhat uneven. Anyhow, as if that wasn’t enough (which quite frankly, I think I’ve had more than enough), my wood guy informed me that Handyman Steve was fired. Again I felt sick, I begged my wood guy to tell me he was joking, but his face remained serious. He told me this wasn’t the first time Handyman Steve has screwed up and continued by commenting about Handyman “missing something between his neck and the top of his head.” I tried to express how horrible I felt for Handyman, but there was no compassion from wood guy. Have you ever been responsible for a nice (although not very talented) man losing his job? It feels terrible.

Wood guy and I but a piece of tape on the boards that need to be replaced.

Day 19 – New Floors (Completion Day?)

The day finally arrived… completion day. The bathroom was finished yesterday and today the fridge, washer, and dryer were to be put back in place and the doors rehung. We were finally going to get back to normal life and put everything back into its rightful place. The guys showed up at 9am sharp and brought along their nifty air-lifting, pillow-making thingy to gently float the fridge across my brand new wood floors and place it in the nook it belongs. So exciting. Once it was in place I then noticed the 20 foot long indentation on my brand new floors spanning from the dining room throughout the kitchen. That nifty little air-lifting, pillow-making thingy failed me miserably. I feel sick, like throw-up sick. Heaven knows that floor will get many nicks and scratches, but oh, my… it was crushing. I tried to keep it together, but decided I needed to call my “designer”… she has coordinated this whole process. As I explained the situation I got all choked up… so much for not being a crier (I didn’t actually shed a tear, but my voice was shaking and at one point in the conversation she asked if I was still on the line… I was trying to compose myself). I’m trying to tell myself it’s only flooring, but it was one of my biggest fears (see previous post). The wood guy is coming on Monday to check things out. We have an extra box of wood and they’ll try to round up more if needed. Just when my cold sore was leaving…

Lingering Summer

We’ve had beautiful weather. Highs in the low 80’s. My Mom visited at the end of July and she thought it was too cold (only in the 70’s)… so maybe September is better?? Crazy. We spent an evening at Coulon beach this week. We live in such a beautiful area.

House update (Day 18): Slow going week… We’ve run into some minor baseboard hang-ups which means we might not wrap everything up this week. I’ve got to wait around the house today in hopes that we can still get the plumber in to finish up the bathroom. I’m ready to be done.

Look what he can do!

This is what Jason figured out this weekend. Okay, so I know he’s like six months behind on this milestone, but it’s a milestone nevertheless.

Maybe now he’ll start pulling himself up when he falls down…

Sneak Peak (Day 15 - New Floors)

Alright, alright… I know that some of you have been waiting to see pictures of the new floors, but I’ve had a hard time taking a picture where the floors don’t look real red. (It’s always dark outside when I think about taking pictures and my flash is too harsh). Since the painter hasn’t shown up yet this morning I took some pictures in the natural light, but I still think it looks so much better in person. This is our dining room/entry. The baseboards still need to be finished and since I haven’t gotten around to putting felt protectors on the bottom of the furniture we’ve improvised an area rug. Finding a real area rug is turning out to be quite a challenging task. (surprise, surprise)

Note: We knew when we picked out the wood floors that we wouldn’t really love them with the dining room set, which is much more red than we like, but we decided to go with the flooring we really like and try to make the best of it.

Don't Spoil the Fun

Okay, I’ve been tagged a few times recently and even though I know I’ve done a few of these “tags” in the past, I really enjoy reading what other people write so I won’t “spoil the fun.”

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? No (I’ve been asked several times if I was born around Christmas, but my birthday is actually in July)
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? I’m not a crier, but I did tear up during Tara’s lesson today in young woman’s… she always gives such great lessons
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? No, in fact I vaguely remember in first or second grade getting the equivalent of an F on penmanship
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Not much of a meat eater, but if I do eat meat I would definitely go with turkey
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Yes, three... sometimes it feels like I have four :)
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD THEY BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Hmmm, do they have many others? :) I think I fall short in the thoughtful friend area. Plus I’m not real fluffy; I think I’m too honest sometimes. But I think I’m a good friend in other ways, so yes, I’d be my friend.
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Probably
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? I do. Besides teeth and babies I haven’t had anything removed.
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? No, I’m a Disneyland ride kinda girl.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Corn Chex (too bad they don’t go on sale very often)
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No, the only shoes I wear with laces are my gym shoes. I don’t untie them when I take them off, but I do have to untie them to put them back on.
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Oh yeah, you should ask Justin cause it’s been topic of discussion at our house. But I’m still a wuss when it comes to picking up heavy furniture.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Founder’s favorite at Cold Stone
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? I’m not sure, their face I guess
15. RED OR PINK? Red.
16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? My lack of motivation to keep a clean house
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My Dad… on Friday it will be 10 years since he past away
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Of course
19. WHAT COLOR SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? I don’t wear shoes in the house. I’m bare foot and in desperate need of a pedicure
20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? An old Crunch bar… that’s all I could find. My chocolate stash seemed to have mysteriously disappeared and we’re all out of ice-cream… it’s a sad day at the Fletcher house
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? My girls were playing in a fort they built using our out of place furniture but they got too loud (Jason’s napping) so now they are singing Primary songs out of the children’s songbook… doesn’t that sound so Brady bunch?
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? I’ve answered this in a previous post. I don’t make decisions easily so I’m opting out of having to make a choice.
23. FAVORITE SMELLS? Food, fresh baked bread and cookies
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? I haven’t talked on the phone yet today…but I’m sure I’ll talk to my Mom later
25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Yes, she’s one of my oldest friends (oldest as in time not age)
26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Basketball or Hockey, but not on TV
27. HAIR COLOR? Salt and Pepper
28. EYE COLOR? Hazel
29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? I used to but I had Lasik three years ago… worth every cent!
30. FAVORITE FOOD? Potatos has always been my “favorite food.”
31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Definitely happy endings – watching a scary movie sticks with me and I get too freaked out
32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? I can’t remember. We haven’t had our TV and satellite hooked up for over two weeks. Justin and I saw Batman in the theatre last month.
33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Red
34. SUMMER OR WINTER? Hard call. Summer if it’s not over 85 degrees and Winter if I don’t have to drive on poor roads
35. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs
36. FAVORITE DESSERT? Fondue because you get a little of everything (ice-cream, brownies, fruit, cake) all covered in chocolate
37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Brenda?
38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Justin
39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? I just finished "My Sister’s Keeper” by Jodi Picoult for this month’s book club. I really enjoyed it and look forward to the discussion, but there is some language.
40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? The Dell logo… we don’t even have a Dell computer anymore
41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? (see #32)… so sad
42. FAVORITE SOUND? Jason laughing and the peaceful sound of Jason breathing when he’s asleep… they are both great sounds for a mother
43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles
44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Europe. We went with my Mom on a tour throughout Europe in 1999.
45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Am I the only one that hates having to participate in talent shows? As a child and teenager this question seems to be asked all the time and I’ve never known what to write down. I don’t play sports, I’m not musical… next question…
46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Salt Lake City
47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK? Anyone’s

Tag #2

List 5 Joys, 5 Fears, 5 obsessions/collections, 5 things you want to learn, 5 surprising facts, and tag 5 people.

5 Joys
1. Sleeping in
2. When Justin has the day off
3. Dessert, usually something with chocolate
4. Getting Christmas cards that include pictures and an update
5. My kids on a good day

5 Fears
1. Having something serious happen to my kids
2. Making a huge gash in my new hardwood floors
3. Teaching – it doesn’t matter if they are five or fifty, I don’t like teaching.
4. Being a single mom (every time I get a small taste of life without Justin, I realize I’d be in the loony bin)
5. Having someone break into my house while we’re home

5 Obsessions
1. Excel, there’s really not much you can’t keep track of in excel (coupons, books, scrapbook paper…)
2. Keeping track of every dollar we spend.
3. I am obsessed with sweets. A meal just isn’t complete without something sweet.
4. Tile Tower (game on Webkinz that is similar to a game I played as a youth)
5. I’ve been saving the proof of purchases off of Kraft macaroni and cheese for as long as a I can remember, even though they stopped being redeemable for prizes a decade ago… totally irrational

5 Things I want to Learn
1. Spanish
2. Millwork (we just put on new baseboards and I would love to have more white millwork throughout the house)
3. Patience
4. Photography
5. To enjoy exercise

5 Surprising Facts – after responding to several questioners I don’t think there’s anything left surprising about me…

I tag: Justin, Brenda, Mary H., & the Baumgartners (I’d also love to hear from my Mom & other siblings (and in-laws) via email) see post above

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good:

• Our hardwood floors are completely installed (I love them!)
  
• I have a stove again
  
• Our dishwasher was reinstalled yesterday… no more washing dishes by hand
  
• Late last night Justin and I were able to move our couch back into the family room… finally, a comfy place to sit down and relax
  
• Abigail’s principal called me today and they’ve decided to place her in a first/second grade split class… I think this will be a great fit for Abigail
  
• This morning I found Jason sitting up in his crib (he’s 13 ½ months and this is the first time that’s ever happened)
  
• Justin’s BUSY September 15th deadline is only four days away

The Bad:

• We won’t be construction free til at least mid-next week (tomorrow was our original completion due date)
  
• Another week without a downstairs bathroom
  
• It’s been 13 days (and still counting) without a washer and dryer
  
• Our fridge is still in the living room
  
• The YMCA reopened this week after a week of “deep-cleaning”… so it’s back to the gym for me
  
• Justin’s other BUSY October 15th deadline is still over a month away
  
• Nearly two weeks without TV… good thing fall shows haven’t started

The Ugly:

• All the craziness of construction and not having Justin around has given me a cold sore. (see previous post)

Go Cougars!!

It’s been nine years since I’ve been to a BYU football game. Justin and I had season tickets, but I didn’t go to most of the games. I’ve never been a die hard football fan (which is mainly because I never really understood the game). Yesterday BYU played the University of Washington in Seattle. A friend of ours got us free tickets because her nephew plays for BYU. Our seats were on the 6th row behind the goal post. Not the best seats in the stadium, but free makes them perfect for us. We sat right in front of the BYU cheerleaders and were surrounded by BYU fans. It felt great to be a BYU alumni in a crowd of thousands of local Husky fans.

(view from our seats)

It was an incredible game. At the end of the fourth quarter BYU was up 28 to 21. UW scored with only 2 seconds left in the game. An excessive celebration penalty was called against UW pushing back the extra-point try 15 yards. I leaned over to Justin commenting about how unlikely it would be to block the kick, but BYU did just that and won the game (28-27).

(picture with Cosmo)

We arrived home to find our babysitter outside with the kids (and several neighborhood kids) playing games on the grass. Jason sat cozy on her lap playing with her cell phone. We felt horrible having her watch three kids with our house in the mess that it is. They spent all day playing outside (all seven hours) and the kids had a blast. It was a great day for us all.

First Day of School

All these years I’ve been thinking how great it will be to send my kids off to school. I know Abigail is more than ready to spend the entire day at school, but I’m not so sure I’m ready. It’s not that I have a hard time seeing her grow up… it’s that I’m losing my biggest helper, Carly’s playmate and best friend won’t be around all day, and my lazy mornings are gone (I may actually have to wake up to an alarm! The thought of that alone makes me grumpy.) This morning Abigail informed me that I don’t have to get out of bed to help her... she’s such a good girl and I have no doubt she could do it all on her own.

Abigail’s first full-day of school was today (yesterday morning we had a short orientation). Here she is yesterday ready to walk to school with some of her friends.

This morning Abigail said she wanted to meet up with her friends on her own. We all walked her out the front door and took some pictures. (Carly was so excited to start pre-school today that she insisted on wearing her backpack for the pictures, even though she was still in her nightgown.) Aren’t they so darn cute?!?

Off she goes...

12:30 p.m. finally arrived… Carly heads off to her very first day of pre-school.

We took this picture a few hours before pre-school. Right before we left to take her to school she fell off her bike and cut open her lip. She started her first day with a fat upper lip, a bloody-swollen bottom lip, and a new white shirt stained with fresh blood (due to construction, we couldn’t go back inside to get a new shirt). Needless to say she wasn’t too keen on getting a picture taken at pre-school. She had a great time though and is so excited to be in school.

Day Four - New Floors

Today they started laying down the new hardwood floors and got about 1/3 of the kitchen/family room installed. The plumber should come tomorrow and get our downstairs bathroom functioning once again… yeah!

We got this great idea from some friends. The girls thought it was great to write on the floor. Maybe in 15-20 years someone will find the handprints of our family.

Day Two - New Floors

Today was Day 2 of our two week floor replacement process. Yesterday and today were demo days. The carpet was removed in the family room and dining room, the wood floor was taken out in the entry and the kitchen, and the linoleum was ripped out of the laundry and powder room. I am so glad to see the cheap, dirty, matted down builder’s carpet gone. Only the carpet in the living room and office are staying. In preparation we had to take out all our kitchen appliances (the fridge couldn’t fit out the front door so it is in our living room along with every other piece of furniture we could possible cram into that one space).

I can already tell I am going to love having the same flooring throughout the kitchen and family room. Since they are basically the same room it just makes sense. Besides that when our house was built they installed our sliding glass door too far into the family room so the flooring had to be cut on an awkward angle. It’s always bugged us. Of course they got it right on all the other homes they built after ours.

Today they also installed most of the new tile in the laundry and bathroom. Me and the kids spent the day at Justin’s Mom’s house. There won’t be much going on tomorrow, just finishing up the tile work. On Thursday the wood will be acclimated and ready to be installed. Justin got after me that I didn’t take any Day 1 pictures… but I didn’t let him down today.

Justin’s Mom sent us home with stew for dinner since we don’t have a stove or oven. We don’t have any place to sit downstairs so the girls decided they would eat on the fireplace surround.

I can already totally see the benefits of doing this sort of thing before you move in or at least while you’re out of town. Everything downstairs is covered in dust, even everything we piled in the living room. Keeping a toddler safe when the majority of your living space is under construction adds an additional challenge. When I needed my ice cream fix tonight (all the freezer food is in the garage) - I couldn’t walk on the freshly laid tile floors to get out to the garage so I had to walk out the front door (in my pajamas), bowl and ice-cream scoop in hand, open the garage door from the outdoor padlock, scoop myself some ice-cream then walk back through the front door. Not the most convenient situation, but it will all be worth it… only 10 days left!

My Issues with Commitment

In college I purchased a hair clip. It was a small purchase, but I wasn’t 100% sure I was going to keep it so I didn’t remove the tag. I finally started to wear the clip, although I still didn’t remove the tag [I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have returned it at that point.] I wore that clip all year with the tag hanging off it. I guess it became “my thing.” It got to the point where people would have probably noticed if the tag was missing. When I finally did cut the tag off, I glued it in my scrapbook (it was 3 for $6)… I’m such a dork.

Another prime example of my non-commitment is when I purchased a rug from Pottery Barn. It was May 31, 2004. [Because I’m a dork I can tell you the exact date of nearly everything we’ve purchased.] I loved the rug, but it just didn’t work with my living room furniture. On March 25, 2005 I returned the rug. Pottery Barn has an exceptional return policy. No questions asked. If you do the math… that’s nearly 10 months of walking by that rug, countless times a day, stressing over whether or not to keep it.

This past week I discovered yet another sign that I have issues. I was in Jason’s room trying to find his binkies. I can’t tell you how many binkies I have bought, yet we still can’t find them… oh, wait, yes I can tell you… we have purchased 12 binkies in the last eight months (that doesn’t include the 2 binkies I received at a baby shower). Anyhow… I was looking under Jason’s crib and saw this:

I purchased Jason’s bedding well over a year ago. I guess that also reveals that in addition to being a dork, I’ve never washed his crib skirt, but honestly it’s clean… and no, I don’t plan on returning it, yet even after taking a picture, I still haven’t cut off the tag… isn’t that a tad bit bizarre?

It’s amazing I ever got married. Especially considering the whole “eternity” aspect of marriage. “Eternity” screams commitment. There’s nothing in fine print informing me I can return my husband within 90 days. Nothing about exchanging him when (I mean if) I find any defects or flaws. Total and complete commitment. It baffles me how easy it was to get married. I think Heavenly Father knew just how difficult it would be for me to make that big of a decision so he placed Justin in every aspect of my life. We were in the same class at school (in the accounting program you have one intense 12 credit class), assigned to the same study group (in the accounting program those are some of the very few people you see after school hours), we were in the same ward, in the same FHE (Family Home Evening) group, we had the same friends… we couldn’t get away from each other (not that we wanted to)… so… we got married.

My latest issue of indecisiveness is my bed. Three weeks ago my Mom assisted me in purchasing new bedding. [Her assistance consisted of her telling me to do it and patiently waiting (for what must have seemed to be hours) while I hemmed and hawed over it in the store.] You may remember from a previous post that I have been looking at bedding for well over a year, but had yet to see anything that called out to me as “the one.” Amazingly enough I left the store with an actual purchase, but for three weeks it has remained in the packaging. Until today.

I saw this bedding in the store a few months ago and it grew on me… yes, it is totally loud. Definitely bright and probably not me at all. With a little encouragement from Justin my bed finally got made [while I was downstairs Justin quietly unwrapped everything and made the bed himself]. Most of the tags are off so I’m pretty sure it’s a done deal. I finally have new bedding.

A few weeks ago we got a new mattress. It was long overdue. Our old mattress was a wedding present from Justin’s parents nearly 10 years ago. Over the years the plush pillowtop became SEVERLY dipped. One dip for me and one dip for Justin – with a large mountain in between.

I don’t recommend going from a super pillowtop to a firm mattress [Justin’s choosing.] It’s been a huge adjustment for me, but they have a 30 day return policy… so I’m still not totally committed…

Progress

We had a fun weekend with one exciting thing after another.

Abigail:

Abigail lost two teeth this weekend. She wiggled the first one out during a party at a friend’s house Friday night. The second one was pulled out during church yesterday. This makes eight lost teeth for Abigail. She’s keeping the tooth fairy very busy… so busy that the tooth fairy doesn’t always show up quite when she’s supposed to. Thankfully, Abigail is very patient.

Carly:

Justin and the girls love to go on bike rides together. On Saturday Justin took off Carly’s training wheels and decided to work with her on riding on two-wheels. Less than five minutes later he told me to come out with the video camera.

I think this is one of the instances where she’s probably been ready for a while, but we haven’t worked with her enough. She still needs to get some more practice before we send her out on a long bike ride, but we’re pleased to report that Carly is officially a “two-wheeler.”

Jason:

I can’t tell you how many times I am asked if Jason can walk and I never know quite how to answer that question. It usually sounds something like, “Yes, he can walk, but he doesn’t stand up or sit down on his own.” Over the past week we’ve been working with Jason. I can’t really say he’s improved much on the getting up or getting down part, but he’s gotten very gutsy and walks around the house now even when we’re not watching. He’s taken some tumbles, but that hasn’t slowed him down one bit.

Walking around the playroom

He took a tumble and wasn’t too happy about Mom taking pictures instead of helping him up

Carly took pity (the girls always do) and gave him his binkie


Amazing!!! I’ve only witnessed this a few times! Jason actually got onto his knees…

Then onto his feet, but where can he go from here???

Down, down, down

I finally took pity on the poor boy…

Update on Jason

Jason’s rash was MUCH worse on Sunday then the pictures I posted on Saturday. The majority of his body was covered with large, red welts and his face was red and puffy. Yesterday he woke up looking much better, but he is still quite moody. Thankfully he is still sleeping really well, but when he’s awake he is difficult to please.

Jason’s gaining more confidence and is walking more without holding on to anything. The problem still remains of when he wants to stop. It’s become a game for him to stop, smile, and then drop straight backwards without bending his knees. If me or the girls are nearby (which we usually are) we catch him before he lands on his head… he giggles then does it again. Of course he has crashed countless number of times. But I don’t have the heart to let him drop if I can be there to prevent it. Last night I decided to try to teach him to fall on his bottom instead.

Last week we were surprised to find that Jason has one of his molar teeth. He still only has his two bottom teeth and one of the front top teeth. Just one more indication that Jason isn’t going to do things the “normal” way.

Thankfully it's not contagious

It’s been a hard week for Jason. He’s had a fever on and off, thrown up a few times, hasn’t wanted to eat anything, and has just not been himself. I figured it must be a reaction to the immunizations he got last week. This morning Justin took of Jason’s jammies and we saw this:

Jason gets an occasional heat rash, but nothing like this. I called the pediatrician and he agreed that it was a reaction to the MMR shot and said it should pass over in a few days. Poor little guy.

Blue Angels

On Saturday while Holly and Joyce were away, I decided to join up with my mom and Tami and her family to go see the Blue Angels. This was our first year to participate in the Seafair festivities. Though we did not see any hydro action, we had a great view of the Blue Angels as they flew past us.

The girls had a great time with their cousins but Jason did not really enjoy the roar as the planes raced by. I borrowed a few pictures from Tami as I did not bring my camera. We are probably going to have to put this on next year's to-do list. It sure is nice to get out, enjoy the weather, and just do something a little bit different.

Carly, Hallie, and Abigail being silly

Abigail comforting Jason

San Juan Island

It’s been nearly three years (and in my opinion way too long) since I’ve had an entire day and night without children. When my Mom told us she was coming up to visit, I decided we would plan an overnighter to the San Juan Islands. We had planned on taking the commuter train downtown to catch our ferry, but Justin changed our minds (he didn’t want to pick us up on Saturday night) so we decided to drive into Seattle instead. We woke up early Friday morning and gave ourselves two hours to travel what we normally take 45-60 minutes with traffic. We were about 20 minutes away from Seattle when the traffic came to a stop. We turned on the radio and learned about a tanker that had overturned on the freeway. We tried to remain positive that they would at least let the carpool lane get through. But they closed the entire freeway and we were diverted off some exit along with everyone else.

Come on, we could have totally squeezed by in the carpool lane.

After two hours on the road it became clear we weren’t going to make our ferry. (By the way it was “non-refundable”, but I’m hoping we can at least get a credit so if anyone is traveling on the Clipper to Victoria or San Juan, let me know…)

Anyone that knows me understands that I don’t like to be late, and I don’t handle being in a rush. I don’t like driving, especially in a city, in the rain, and in bumper to bumper traffic. So missing the one ferry out of Seattle was a major bummer. (I was cursing Justin at this point... not that he caused the accident, but someone tangible needed to be blamed and he did convince us to drive.)

We decided to take our chances and drive an additional hour and a half and try to catch the state ferry up north. We made good time and we both sighed a huge sense of relief when we pulled into the ferry lane with time to spare. We were going to make it to San Juan after all! However, we had one more time constraint. Our ferry was due to arrive on the island at 12:10pm and once we got there we needed to drive to the other side of the island for our 1pm whale watching tour. So we were excited when we pulled onto the ferry and parked in the front of our row. However, when it came time to deboard our row was one of the last. We sat in the car only a few feet from the exit waiting for our turn, it seemed like an eternity. When it looked like we weren’t going to make it to the dock in time we tried to call our guide to ask him to wait, but there was no answer. Seriously, could it be any more difficult to get anywhere? I drove quickly and we did make it (late, but they didn’t leave without us) and all the stress was worth it.

I know the pictures aren’t great. It’s nearly impossible to take pictures while on a small boat, but I have to share.

We were lucky enough to see three different pods of orca whales.

There was a pair of porpoise (dolphins) that played by our boat for about 10 minutes. They were adorable and kept jumping in and out of the water. So hard to catch on film, but soooo amazing.

We also saw a huge school of salmon jumping and a bald eagle.

This is Captain Jim. He keeps his eye on the orcas while steering the boat with his foot. Classic tour guide humor, but he really knew his stuff.

On land we saw deer eating along the hillside and a fearless little fox followed my Mom and me near a hiking trail.

We ate great food, attended Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest” at an outdoor theatre, walked around the little shops in the harbor, and visited a lavender farm.

Aside from the first several hours of our trip, it was a great get away and I am so glad I could spend it with my Mom.