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TwitterLivi "built a whole city"
And managed to find enough pieces to make a bed in her city, with a pillow & even tuck her little guy in!!
And Hayden got pretty creative hooking his cars all together. What else are barrel of monkey's good for?
June & July projects
Better late than never!
The Cleaning Closet:
Which the dog running from the door to the yard had DESTROYED!!
Stripping....
And sanding...
Hard to tell, this picture was taken in the dark.
After:
All broken down to fit on a trailer to come home.
Re-building. It fits against the garage wall in the side-yard, which was otherwise essentially "wasted space."
Adding trim & a roof.
Pure awesome!!
The Cleaning Closet:
It was a disaster!
Not to mention, the walls were filthy dirty. Who knows what the previous owners had in there?
So it got stripped down & cleaned.
And painted. Fun.. because why not? Maybe it will motivate me to clean? Or maybe not.
A tension rod for cleaning bottles on one side. A hanging basket off the shelf for rags.
Jeff added an additional shelf for me to take advantage of the vertical space.
I have to paint that wood bracket yet.....
The other wall got a whole bunch of shelves. Way better use of space than before.
And a white board on the door for my list making madness :)
Before:
After:
The Deck:
Before. A very solid stain. (with part of the rails already taken off)
Before:
And July was the shed! We started cleaning out the garage... but that will be a much bigger undertaking than the month of July could hold. The shed was Jeff's 2 week summer school undertaking.
Building the shed in summer school
Funny Findings
When you start doing projects... its interesting what you discover.
I thought all the walls in the entryway, living room, stairway & upstairs hallway were the same tan/cream color. Painted in a glossy, half ass, attempt to neutralize for sale type of way. Well I was wrong.
I have a big Jeff project for the wall on the left. And where the cabinet is at the top of the stairs, I need some bigger storage cabinets/dresser. And then I need to find some light fixtures. But its amazing how much a couple gallons of paint can make a place feel so much cleaner!
I thought all the walls in the entryway, living room, stairway & upstairs hallway were the same tan/cream color. Painted in a glossy, half ass, attempt to neutralize for sale type of way. Well I was wrong.
This wall will eventually be blue, hence the BLUE, but look how similar the colors are. This is the entryway.
Then you turn the corner & go up the stairs. And the walls were apparently white! Seesh, I had no idea they were different!
So far we have painted the hallway upstairs & part of the entryway.
After.
School Open House
Yesterday was the kids' last "Miss Beth day." We shall surely miss her.
Monday we start three new adventures in with Miss Sarah, Miss Starr & Miss Kiana.
We have been talking it up for 2 weeks & I think they have accepted the fact that this is happening. They moved their stuff from their cubbies & their nap mats down with Miss Beth yesterday. And we had an Open House in the evening, complete with bounce houses, face paint & cotton candy. I was expecting to meet the teachers & maybe get a cookie, but they put on a real show! We found all 3 classes. Found all 3 cubbies. All 3 bathrooms. Got 3 folders with their "curriculum." And met 3 teachers.
In the brief meeting with the teachers that we had, I think they will be a good fit.
Hayden has Miss Sarah. Who seemed pretty mellow, yet a little more to the point, which he needs.
Logan has Miss Kiana. Who spent a lot more time talking up the curriculum, which sounds like a classroom in which he will really learn. He is very ready for that.
Olivia has Miss Starr. Who seems the most tenderhearted. We talked to her some & she did a great job trying to really interact & talk to Olivia while the boys were jumping in & answering all the questions & Olivia was peering shyly over her glasses. Miss Starr did manage to get a yes nod from Olivia before we left, so there is hope.
We let them all know to expect some tears & a period of transition, so they should be prepared. And we joked with the director that we just have to drop them off together in the gym each morning. Splitting them up each day we will leave for them!
The kids all seemed pretty excited to find their own class. Maybe it will go off without a hitch? One can hope, right?
Pray for them next week.
Monday we start three new adventures in with Miss Sarah, Miss Starr & Miss Kiana.
We have been talking it up for 2 weeks & I think they have accepted the fact that this is happening. They moved their stuff from their cubbies & their nap mats down with Miss Beth yesterday. And we had an Open House in the evening, complete with bounce houses, face paint & cotton candy. I was expecting to meet the teachers & maybe get a cookie, but they put on a real show! We found all 3 classes. Found all 3 cubbies. All 3 bathrooms. Got 3 folders with their "curriculum." And met 3 teachers.
In the brief meeting with the teachers that we had, I think they will be a good fit.
Hayden has Miss Sarah. Who seemed pretty mellow, yet a little more to the point, which he needs.
Logan has Miss Kiana. Who spent a lot more time talking up the curriculum, which sounds like a classroom in which he will really learn. He is very ready for that.
Olivia has Miss Starr. Who seems the most tenderhearted. We talked to her some & she did a great job trying to really interact & talk to Olivia while the boys were jumping in & answering all the questions & Olivia was peering shyly over her glasses. Miss Starr did manage to get a yes nod from Olivia before we left, so there is hope.
We let them all know to expect some tears & a period of transition, so they should be prepared. And we joked with the director that we just have to drop them off together in the gym each morning. Splitting them up each day we will leave for them!
The kids all seemed pretty excited to find their own class. Maybe it will go off without a hitch? One can hope, right?
Pray for them next week.
A quick hello!
I've got quite a few things to blog... and quite little time to blog. Just a few minutes while I wait for my bread to finish baking, then its off to bed.
I've been baking...
Baking Cucumber Bread- we have SOOO many cucumbers from our garden its insane!!
And Brown Sugar Almond Carrot Bread- YUMMO!
Thank you Pinterest for some awesome recipes.
And painting....
I have a project I want to do in the kitchen, which won't happen for a long time, but thinking about it inspired me to move the picture we had hanging on the one kitchen wall that is not covered in cabinets. Before moving it, I wanted to paint the wall I hung it on. A quick little nap time project. A little "hall" between the kitchen & what technically is a formal dining room {or for us an office} which also holds the door to the basement.
I've been baking...
Baking Cucumber Bread- we have SOOO many cucumbers from our garden its insane!!
And Brown Sugar Almond Carrot Bread- YUMMO!
Thank you Pinterest for some awesome recipes.
And painting....
I have a project I want to do in the kitchen, which won't happen for a long time, but thinking about it inspired me to move the picture we had hanging on the one kitchen wall that is not covered in cabinets. Before moving it, I wanted to paint the wall I hung it on. A quick little nap time project. A little "hall" between the kitchen & what technically is a formal dining room {or for us an office} which also holds the door to the basement.
Before:
After:
All 4 walls got a fresh coat of paint. The "big" wall went so fast. Then painting around all 3 of those doorways & such little wall spaces was so time consuming. The dark color is the same from the office. The other 3 walls are a light grey that will be in our entryway. Its a very similar color to what was there, just grey based vs brown based & not as glossy. Buying that paint has me working in the entryway too, that & the living room are my next project. I have so many pictures I need to get out of boxes if I ever get this house painted once!
My original goal of getting all the walls in this house painted by 2013's end has been adapted to say all the walls, excluding the kitchen & master. The kitchen is going to be a bigger undertaking than just paint... so it can wait. And the master, well I have NO idea what I want to do in there. So it can wait too. I have some projects that include Jeff building things too, so we'll see how much really gets done by January 1. Really it doesn't matter when it gets done, I just motivate myself if I put a time stamp on it.
Speaking of, have I ever posted pictures of my more or less finished office? Or the deck? Or the cleaning closet? Seesh, I'm so behind!
Night!
Its the Splits
When you have multiples, you know that inevitably there will be a time where you have to decide to keep them together, or split them up in school.
I always thought we would split in Kindergarten. Then I thought, no I'm chicken & they are so interdependent, maybe we'll wait until 1st grade. Or until they say they are ready. Or....never.
Then.... daycare wanted to conference with us last week!
They do a bump up to the 4 year old pre-school class in August & wanted to discuss with us our options. There are 4 4 year old classes, so we can split them if we choose. They offered us to split when we started last October & we said no without batting an eye. This time, it took more thought.
We sat down with their teacher & she showed us an "academic evaluation" of each of them. Which went fine. They were more concerned about the fact that they all listen, follow directions, participate & try than what they actually know or don't know. She said "If all my kids listened, picked up & shared as well as yours do, I could have 30 kids in my class no problem." *blush* Wish those skills carried over at home! She said, they try to sit kids who don't listen well or share well by them to try to use them as peer examples. again, *blush* They are at different levels of mastering their alphabet, numbers, pre-writing skills, identifying patterns, cutting & some other skills but I love Mrs. Beth & that she started out by saying "I don't want this to seem like I'm comparing them because I'm not. They are all unique individuals & learn different things at different speeds & in different orders." LOVE HER!! Wish they could be in her 3 year old class forever.
They do a bump up to the 4 year old class in August & again in December. And even though my preemies only go 2 days a week, and just started in October, they feel they are ready & have no concerns about them moving up to what they call the Pre-K class.
The biggest discussion was about their interdependence. Olivia, who at home we joke has to hit 1000 words by 10am, hardly talks at school. They ask her questions & she says "no thank you" instead of answering. Or she repeats whatever Logan said. Or she just looks at them over her glasses like "yeah, never gonna happen." Logan raises his hand, answers eagerly, and does the best of being his own person. Hayden falls somewhere in between. So it became a debate if putting them in separate classes will "force" her to speak for herself or if it will cause her to shut down even more.
Logan I think would be fine in his own class. Hayden will do so-so. It's Olivia I don't know what will be best for. Remember, it took this girl 12 weeks to PEE there!
After days of debating pros & cons, we finally decided.....to split them.
It makes me gag in my mouth a little bit every time I say it. I have to keep reminding myself, if they were singletons, they would be alone & they would be fine. They will be fine. And its only 2 days a week!
The biggest weigh in on the decision from my viewpoint is that they will have 2 years in this pre-K class. So if they get nothing else out of this year than learning some self-independence, they will still have the next year to master their pre-K skills before heading off to Kindergarten. And, if this year is horrible, miserable & a huge flop... well we learned before we got to Kindergarten, where it's real school & it "really" matters.
The next issue was that each class has a partner class that they do outside time with, some special activities with, etc. So 2 kids will get to see each other during the day & not the 3rd. {Guess we should of had quads} That decision sucks more than the decision to split. It seems so harsh & unfair. We think Logan will do the best, so initially we thought about paring H & O in the classes to see each other, but then we worried any mid-day splits would be hard on them & give a potential for tears all over again. So ultimately we decided it should be Logan & Olivia. Hayden & Olivia have more similar personalities & play together at home a lot. Hayden & Logan play together too & share a room & have a pretty obvious boy-bond. But we rarely see Logan & Olivia off together. So we decided they would be most likely to continue to maintain independence if put together for any activities & this might encourage them, who have the least obvious bond, to spend some time together.
As much as they all fight at home some days, I'm hoping some time apart will help them appreciate each other a little more at home. {I'm trying to justify my decision here, bear with me.}
I know its going to be a rough, rough couple weeks or probably months as they transition in. Makes me glad I'm not the drop off parent! Mrs. Beth is the one who walks them down to their new class the first day, but I imagine drop offs in the many days to follow will be tricky. At least they get dropped off together in the play gym, so they can have each other for a while before the school day begins.
We've spent the last couple of days since our decision trying to talk this up to them. "You're getting so big you get your OWN teacher." "You won't have to share your teacher with your brother/sister." "I'm going to be so proud of you getting so big." Bla, bla, bla!
Logan is buying in. Or at least he says he's excited. Hayden told me tonight he doesn't think Mrs. Beth will think this is a good idea. So I told him to ask her next time. He said "I will. I hope she say no!" And Olivia sometime says "I hope I get to be in __{enter other friend's name}___ class." and other times is very outspoken against it.
Say some prayers. Its going to be interesting.
I think this is happening August 19th already!
Change is good, right?
I always thought we would split in Kindergarten. Then I thought, no I'm chicken & they are so interdependent, maybe we'll wait until 1st grade. Or until they say they are ready. Or....never.
Then.... daycare wanted to conference with us last week!
They do a bump up to the 4 year old pre-school class in August & wanted to discuss with us our options. There are 4 4 year old classes, so we can split them if we choose. They offered us to split when we started last October & we said no without batting an eye. This time, it took more thought.
We sat down with their teacher & she showed us an "academic evaluation" of each of them. Which went fine. They were more concerned about the fact that they all listen, follow directions, participate & try than what they actually know or don't know. She said "If all my kids listened, picked up & shared as well as yours do, I could have 30 kids in my class no problem." *blush* Wish those skills carried over at home! She said, they try to sit kids who don't listen well or share well by them to try to use them as peer examples. again, *blush* They are at different levels of mastering their alphabet, numbers, pre-writing skills, identifying patterns, cutting & some other skills but I love Mrs. Beth & that she started out by saying "I don't want this to seem like I'm comparing them because I'm not. They are all unique individuals & learn different things at different speeds & in different orders." LOVE HER!! Wish they could be in her 3 year old class forever.
They do a bump up to the 4 year old class in August & again in December. And even though my preemies only go 2 days a week, and just started in October, they feel they are ready & have no concerns about them moving up to what they call the Pre-K class.
The biggest discussion was about their interdependence. Olivia, who at home we joke has to hit 1000 words by 10am, hardly talks at school. They ask her questions & she says "no thank you" instead of answering. Or she repeats whatever Logan said. Or she just looks at them over her glasses like "yeah, never gonna happen." Logan raises his hand, answers eagerly, and does the best of being his own person. Hayden falls somewhere in between. So it became a debate if putting them in separate classes will "force" her to speak for herself or if it will cause her to shut down even more.
Logan I think would be fine in his own class. Hayden will do so-so. It's Olivia I don't know what will be best for. Remember, it took this girl 12 weeks to PEE there!
After days of debating pros & cons, we finally decided.....to split them.
It makes me gag in my mouth a little bit every time I say it. I have to keep reminding myself, if they were singletons, they would be alone & they would be fine. They will be fine. And its only 2 days a week!
The biggest weigh in on the decision from my viewpoint is that they will have 2 years in this pre-K class. So if they get nothing else out of this year than learning some self-independence, they will still have the next year to master their pre-K skills before heading off to Kindergarten. And, if this year is horrible, miserable & a huge flop... well we learned before we got to Kindergarten, where it's real school & it "really" matters.
The next issue was that each class has a partner class that they do outside time with, some special activities with, etc. So 2 kids will get to see each other during the day & not the 3rd. {Guess we should of had quads} That decision sucks more than the decision to split. It seems so harsh & unfair. We think Logan will do the best, so initially we thought about paring H & O in the classes to see each other, but then we worried any mid-day splits would be hard on them & give a potential for tears all over again. So ultimately we decided it should be Logan & Olivia. Hayden & Olivia have more similar personalities & play together at home a lot. Hayden & Logan play together too & share a room & have a pretty obvious boy-bond. But we rarely see Logan & Olivia off together. So we decided they would be most likely to continue to maintain independence if put together for any activities & this might encourage them, who have the least obvious bond, to spend some time together.
As much as they all fight at home some days, I'm hoping some time apart will help them appreciate each other a little more at home. {I'm trying to justify my decision here, bear with me.}
I know its going to be a rough, rough couple weeks or probably months as they transition in. Makes me glad I'm not the drop off parent! Mrs. Beth is the one who walks them down to their new class the first day, but I imagine drop offs in the many days to follow will be tricky. At least they get dropped off together in the play gym, so they can have each other for a while before the school day begins.
We've spent the last couple of days since our decision trying to talk this up to them. "You're getting so big you get your OWN teacher." "You won't have to share your teacher with your brother/sister." "I'm going to be so proud of you getting so big." Bla, bla, bla!
Logan is buying in. Or at least he says he's excited. Hayden told me tonight he doesn't think Mrs. Beth will think this is a good idea. So I told him to ask her next time. He said "I will. I hope she say no!" And Olivia sometime says "I hope I get to be in __{enter other friend's name}___ class." and other times is very outspoken against it.
Say some prayers. Its going to be interesting.
I think this is happening August 19th already!
Change is good, right?
County Fair 2013
This past weekend we made a couple of trips to the county fair. We went Friday for dinner, checked out the animals & did a few {expensive} rides. Then we went back Sunday with Grandma GG, Molly & Analeigh for lunch {AKA my yearly funnel cake fix} & $19 wristbands. They rode rides for 4 straight hours & did those wristbands justice. And we ended up staying & doing dinner there too. They were a sweaty, sunburned, filthy dirty mess when we left. But they had so much fun!!
Say Cheese!
Clearly Hayden was not thrilled about my taking his picture.
Yummy dinner of fair burgers & fries for the parents. Home packed sandwiches for the kids, {who don't eat anything good anyways so why would we bother to buy them a meal}
And a girl who spilled her whole stinking red juice box on herself right away :(
Logan wouldn't pet the pony. Hayden would pet her for an instant... then run away & laugh. Over & over & over.
Off to the midway we go!
Excited to ride much?
Even Logan rode rides this year!! Last year he was too scared!
That's an ornery face if I've ever seen one!
Logan-Daddy shootout. Nice.
Sunday-Checking out the antique tractors.
Cutest cowboys & cowgirl there!!
We also watched a little bit of the ATV rodeo. 3-wheelers & 4-wheelers through obstacle courses & mud puddles.
And saw a few of the animals that were still around.
We played on some tractors for a little while, while we waited for the rides to open.
Analeigh was less than impressed with the noise level! Ha!!
Then we spent 4 hours dashing from ride-to-ride-to-ride-to-ride!!!
We skipped nap so there were brief moments for each of the boys of fatigue induced attitude & lack of cooperation. This is one of those moments.
Fun house!
The fam on the Merry Go Round.
Analeigh was too short {and way too ornery} to ride anything except for the slide & Merry Go Round which require an adult to go with kids.
Weeee!!
Good thing we had 4 adults!!
I lost the race every single time :(
Roller coaster! Hayden & Olivia LOVED it. Their faces were just beaming. Priceless.
Logan didn't want to go on the roller coaster though. Well, he didn't all of the 100 chances he had, until it was 4:59 & wristbands ended at 5. THEN he wanted to go & couldn't. It was a small breakdown after that, but he was asleep before we left the parking lot, so really I think it was more fatigue induced than anything.
These 2 went probably at least 5 times!
They were so tired, they started getting pretty goofy towards the end.
We went stroller-less & they ran all over. We thought we lost Logan a few brief moments, but really it went fine with them all walking. We of course stopped by to say hi to our "friends" at the ice cream stand who we chat with every year. Their triplets are off to college this year!! Good luck boys! They treated us to some free homemade yummy ice cream again this year. They didn't recognize us without a triple stroller!
They started getting tired & walking...so...slow, so this worked pretty well to keep track of them!
Hayden wanted me to take a picture of his wristband from his awesome day. Can you see how dirty his face is?? It took us days of Benadryl doses to get his allergy induced swollen, red, eyes back to normal from all that dust, pollen, ragweed & animal dander! I just love this picture. Clearly it was an awesome day!
Such a great time!!! We love the fair!!
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