House Pics

For those interested in an update on the house - we've been in process for 5 weeks, living elsewhere for 4 weeks, are over (in theory) 25% done (timewise), and they will be finishing the framing next week.

There have been a couple of bumps in the road, some expected - we had to take the chimney out (or pay a bunch extra to lengthen it and bring it up to code);Some unexpected - the company that makes our floors no longer exists, so we are going to have different (nicer) flooring in the new part of the house (extra cost picked up by Peter, our handy dandy contractor) and they framed the front window incorrectly, so rather than reframe it, we are going to put a new window in (yay! I hated that old one).

For the most part, however, things are going as planned and everything looks great so far.

Our windows have already arrived and will be going in soon. We ordered our front door a couple of days ago and that will be in at the beginning of August.

My biggest concern - the size of the backyard, still causes me anxiety on and off. It will definitely be smaller (duh). But it looks like it will still be plenty of room for us. And living in the duplex, which is in quite a nice neighborhood, still serves to remind me how much more I love the location of our house, and how this was the right choice for us.

I thought I would mind the extra 7 minutes to walk anywhere, but it turns out the bigger downside of our current location is the traffic on the street and the less friendly neighbors. I have really gotten used to knowing every single person on our block, and never hearing any street noise. I won't get into how one day I had no fewer than 4 people stop and come up to our front door to find out if I knew that my naked three year old was playing in the front yard. Apparently that is considered a CPS offense around here. Oh how I miss our tight knit neighbors.

Alright - on to the promised pictures!

Demolished kitchen, dining room, looking into Samuel's and Shira's room, and the extra bedroom behind that.
Goodbye hideous bathroom. I won't miss you. I can't believe I won't have to use you anymore.I also won't miss our wall heater - the only source of heat in the house. Yep, that's what that smaller hole next to the doorway was. Broken thermostat still hanging off the wall, though.Where did our house go? Into this dumpster.The foundation forms. Ready for the concrete.Most of the exterior framing on the new part of the house done. Haven't taken pics of the interior framing and roof yet.

Live Earth Farm Day

We attended a "Wee Ones" day at Live Earth Farm last fall and had a great time picking apples and making apple cider, but hadn't managed to get back to the farm until a couple of days ago.We kicked the day off with sampling in the blackberry fields. I think you can see how they both felt about that.
Followed by a jaunt in the chicken pen. Samuel was able to pet a chicken, to his delight, and Shira was enchanted to hear the roosters "cockadoodledoo".We stopped by a little pond to catch itty bitty frogs.Samuel picked a bunch of garlic for us to take home, and Shira ate some raw. Yum.
We cleaned out our mouths in the strawberry field next. Then joined the sheep in their pasture. Unfortunately, they were behaving sheepishly, and we didn't get the opportunity to get very close to them.Samuel and Shira enjoyed some swinging before I packed them back in the car and they both passed out on the way home. And still were pleasant when they woke up, and went to bed on time. That fresh farm air must be magic.

Standing Practice

Shira is now cruising like a champ, though she still prefers to crawl. At the park last week, she decided there was a big enough audience to make it worthwhile for her to practice standing.Much to her delight, Shira got ovations from multiple moms, nannies, and kids at Mitchell Park, not to mention the round of applause she gave herself at the end of each bout of standing.

Goodbye Diapers?!?

It has been almost a month since I have blogged, and I am sure there are lots of pictures I could post and things I could talk about, but I'm feeling far to lazy to do such a thing.

The biggest excitement around here today was Samuel waking up in the morning completely dry. Yesterday he told me that he didn't want to wear diapers to bed anymore. Steve was skeptical, as Samuel's diaper is usually quite wet when he comes into our room in the morning. But now that we aren't quite as sleep deprived as we have been in the past, I felt it was only right that we honor Samuel's request for a dry run ;).

We got him out of bed to pee at 10pm when we headed to sleep, but he didn't need to go. When Shira woke up at 1am (ugh! she's sick again! how is that possible in July? then again, I think it may be teething. after all, she is almost 13 months and still toothless, but I digress...), I took Samuel to the bathroom again, at which he tinkled a tiny tiny bit.

And when he got up in the morning? Dry, Dry, Dry! Woohoo!

So do I try not getting him up at all tonight?

We may have to thank Woodie Guthrie for this new development. Samuel has recently become obsessed with his "Dry bed" song. It apparently appeals particularly to his 3 year old sense of humor, especially the part when the boy says his bed must be dry because the dog didn't pee in it...

Anyway, I will happily listen to that song 50 times everyday (and I probably will have to) for the next few months, if it means goodbye to night time diapers.

Thanks Woodie!

Demolition has begun

First we prepped the backyard, removing everything from the patio. Everything that we are planning on bringing with us to the duplex went into the front yard (our neighbor's must love us!) and the rest we pushed to the edges of the backyard.They brought a bobcat in to tear up the patio and dig down for the foundation. Samuel and Shira were glued to sliding glass door. We didn't leave the house for the first two days of demo - it was built in entertainment.

Pride and Success for Mom

All four of us went to Rinconada pool a couple of weeks ago for this first time this year. Samuel and Shira both had a great time. And a day at the pool can always be counted upon to deliver naps for everyone involved.

And on Wednesday I braved the pool alone for the first time with two mobile children. At the end of what was a very nice day for all involved, I contemplated the pride I took in my accomplishments of the day. This led me to think about what would have made me feel proud and accomplished a short four years ago, aka THE TIME BEFORE CHILDREN.

Four Years Ago a day that would have had me feeling super proud of myself and accomplished would have consisted of the following:

Arriving at school with well thought out personally created lesson plans that were ready for execution. The plans would access students on multiple levels and make them think, but more importantly, the kids would enjoy them, and be thoroughly engaged. Have lunch with colleagues in my classroom and bitch about students or fellow teachers. I would go for a tough run at Rancho, and push myself. I would come home and make dinner and eat it with Steve.

This Wednesday a day that had me feeling proud of myself and super accomplished: I decided to go solo with Samuel and Shira to the pool. I packed water, snacks, towels, and changes of clothes for everyone and got all of us in our swimsuits. I only needed ONE bag for all of our stuff. I parked, and walked to the pool with Shira in the carrier, Samuel holding my hand and the bag over my shoulder. NO STROLLER. Shira got her time in the zero depth wading end of the pool, followed by me carrying Shira and sometimes Samuel in the deeper parts, as well as spotting Samuel on the slide multiple times.
We got out and had snacks, saw a cool butterfly, and discussed the subsequent clearing of the pool due to a "contamination" incident. Finished snacks, waited for the chlorine to clear out the "contamination", took two more turns down the slide, stripped and dried and reclothed the kids, and returned to the car the same way we came in. Two happy, not cranky kids fell asleep in the car on the way home. I came home, made dinner and cleaned the kitchen.

All the while I was thinking how awesome I am for being able to do all this, with ONE reasonably sized bag. Ahh, the life of a stay at home mom.

Happy First Birthday Shira

The Birthday Girl

The Birthday Brother