Current Events

First and foremost, we finally hauled off all our construction rubbish. (hallelujah!)

We thought long and hard about turning this into a garden planter, but, well.... I think it looks too nice for our yard...




These old kitchen cabinets were SO HARD to part with... I shed a tear...
Okay. Maybe not.


Then last week, we took the monkeys back to the Zoo for the first time in MONTHS. They've really become quite tame (and most of them are potty-trained), so we eventually decided to bring them back home again.

This is Evie saying, "No! [I don't want my picture taken!]" She really is a very lovely girl...


Adorable little monkey #3


We only broke the camera out in front of the new lion exhibit


Precocious monkey numero uno!


A better-behaved monkey girl


This week (while cleaning the childrens' horrific bedroom mess), Hylton got a promotion to a big boy bed. The morning after the change was made he woke us up at 6:45am. So he is back to sleeping alone, in his big boy bed with the door shut until he's not so excited to explore his independence in that area. (Sterling is residing with Evie for the time being.) It's hard to be mad when he is so dang cute, though. It's so tender to see his tiny body curled up and sleeping in the ginormous bed.


And finally, here's all three crazies we call our progeny:

Easter

Hello, my one or two blog readers. For your delectation today, we have some very boring pictures of Easter.

Exhibit A: half-naked child retrieves egg from dye


Exhibit B: half naked-child displays egg-before-dye


Exhibit C: half-naked child throws flying fit because he can't do it "self"


Exhibit D: pajama babies cuddle Daddy on Easter morning (pre-sugar high)


Exhibit E: pajama girl racing to find eggs (yes, she is ALWAYS in pajamas)


Exhibit F: human halfling flings hard-boiled egg to the ground


Exhibit G: human halfwit wears dumb t-shirt to Easter dinner (just kidding Jer.... I liked your shirt)


Exhibit H: One full-loader and one free-loader (ie. one pregnant lady and one non-family member ....hey, it's hard to come up with clever titles that are complimentary...)


Exhibit I: cute niece with egg


Exhibit J: Cute pajama girl with a handbasket of eggs

Resources and Resourcefulness

One of the perks of our new location is being within walking distance of the local parade route. On Saturday morning, we traipsed our kids across the field to the start of the St. Patrick's Day Parade. We were able to meet up with some friends who live nearby and the kids got lots of candy (which is pretty much their whole reason for going).



MotoCops showing off on bikes.


Churches, Pyrahs, and Mattesons


When we got home, we tried to take advantage of a Burn Day and get rid of the debris pile in our backyard, but despite Doug's best efforts (5 gallons of Gasoline) it was too wet to burn. It was great entertainment for the kids though, and Sterling later got himself in trouble by going outside by himself while Daddy was napping on the couch and dumping the rest of the Gas on the pile.



On Friday, I was feeling inspired to beautify my surroundings. I am impatient about the agonizing pace of remodeling so I decided to be proactive and put the finish floor in the entryway myself. I knew ultimately we wanted to remove the underlayment that's there so we could make the level of the floor match the rest of the hardwood, but it is just laminate, so I figured we could come back later and do that. Well. I put the floor in and guess what? The weather plate under the door no longer fit. I sat for a moment pondering the merits of removing the door and sanding the bottom off to fit, or getting a new weather plate. Both entirely plausible. In the end, I decided to wait until Doug got home to run to Home Depot and get a new plate. When he got home and saw the gaping "vent" under the door with the weather plate and screws tossed askew on the front porch, he was unduly upset about the whole affair and we ended up taking the floor back up and I guess we'll wait until we finish the underlayment; after we finish the kitchen. So much for initiative...


I just love the incongruity of this photo- tools and teddy bears...


Ma baby girl... While I was trying to install the entryway floor, she fell asleep.


And last, but definitely not least, we are now the very proud owners of kitchen countertops. (Applause, please.) Maybe sometime this year, we will finish up this project of unforeseen and unfathomable epic proportions. Are you feeling the bitter sarcasm?