House Update

Here are some random pictures of what we have been doing lately.  They mainly revolve around the house, but there is some sprinkling of other things too!

Amber and I hosted a bridal shower this past weekend.  This is the cake we did - well actually Amber did it.  I just poured the wine and told her what an awesome job she was doing :)  

I took full advantage of having my sister in law home and she helped me make these signs for the kids bathroom.  The projects we could accomplish if only we lived closer!! We both agreed we would probably have a business! 

This is what the family looks like after working at the house all weekend.  Of course mom is still awake! Someone has to capture these moments!

Back to the house....The house needed very little work, but a few things we wanted to change.  It started with a few rooms needing paint to a consult with a Sherwin Williams decorator leading to the whole main level being painted.  We cannot thank our family enough for all of their help.  And oh by the way...let's knock a wall down!

Painting the crown.  This was a planned project! 

New kitchen sink and automatic faucet!

New Dining room color. 

My dad and Brandon working on the crown.

The kids warming up by the fire :) 

We found some toys!

Grant gave it up and passed out on the dining room floor.

At Steak n Shake when Aunt Amber came into town.  Grant was longingly looking at the milkshake menu.  Apparently Ima lets them get milkshakes! 

Grant having a bad day.  First he blew a hole into the knee of his jeans when he fell.  Then he spit his root beer float out onto his new shirt.  Elizabeth was kind enough to let him borrow one of hers!

Grant's room, before and after 

Elizabeth's room - now full of zinnias thanks to Aunt Sandy! I could never had done this by myself!

The wall isn't quite finished yet, but the kitchen is now more open to the family room.  Good vision Brandon!

Oh in case anyone was wondering if we were going to get a break this winter, the answer is no!  We woke up to fresh snow this morning and more forecasted for Friday and Sunday - perfect!! I figure mother nature must be planning a beautiful spring! (isn't that positive?!)

Valentine's Day

Two years ago I made a beer can chicken on our new green egg for Valentine's Day.  As soon as we sat down to eat Grant starting throwing up and I spent the rest of the evening with that mess of fun.  So any Valentine's Day that doesn't include someone sick I am happy!  We have unpacked a few things from one storage unit.  The other one we can barley stand to look it.  We do though.  We go, open the door, roll our eyes (everything is still there! piled to the ceiling) and quickly close it.  But one of the treasures I unpacked was the kids valentine's envelopes.  It was pretty low key.  They got a little stuffed animal, a box of chocolates and a card.  I was in the shower when Brandon left for work and I shouted "your card is in the drawers, not worry about getting me anything" and by the time I had gotten out of the shower the kids and Brandon had brought me a card and a dozen roses. Awe!

Elizabeth had her party at school.  That night we had our favorite shrimp and asparagus that was outstanding!  I have to brag about the dinner because dessert is a different story.  I was really hungry for lemon meringue pie so I decided that's what we would have for dessert.  It took me 45 minutes to make.  A real labor of love.  I didn't have my zester so that was a unique challenge that I met with a vegetable peeler and chef's knife.  Anyway, an hour later the pie sits on the counter and I am thinking to myself, what a lovely pie I have made and then it occurs to me...I DIDN'T BAKE THE CRUST!!! (and a few other choice words).  I was totally defeated, but after a few texts with my mom and grandma I decided to not be beat.  My mom had another pie crust and I made it all over again. It felt good to make it right, but oh my, so much time wasted!  Nobody puked so Valentine's Day success!  Love and kisses!

Progress Reports

I had Elizabeth's conference with her teacher last week.  It was rescheduled due to a snow day.  Elizabeth asked me "When are you going to talk to my teacher so she can tell you how good I'm doing?"  Well, the girl doesn't lack confidence, but she wasn't wrong!  She is doing very well.  I wanted to attach the progress report because I know 20 years from now she will want to see it!  She missed the number 6,7 and 9 and letters Q, W, F and N.  For some reason she has really struggled with the number 7.  I understand getting the 6 and 9 confused, but 7? Sometimes we work on it and she gets it with no problem, other times it is like she has never seen it before.  Someone suggested that maybe she doesn't understand the significance of numbers so perhaps she isn't real motivated to learn them.  Oh boy, I really hope we don't have to prove to her why we need to learn certain things.  I am pretty sure that is a card I played while trying to get through trig and organic chemistry! Why do I need to know this?! I was most proud when her teacher told me that she is friends with everyone in the class.  We will figure out the numbers, but being a friend is more important right now (to me anyway!)

Sorry, turn your head sideways!

Today Grant's report came home.  He struggled so much at the beginning of the year separating from me, but he overcame that and his teachers are really pleased with his progress.  They don't have any problems communicating with him, but I did have his speech evaluated last week in our new school district and he qualified.  He really struggles with the "s" sound but also "ch," "ck," "g" and "d" sounds and some cluster sounds and sometimes drops "h" sounds at the beginning of words.  He has also had some periods of studdering.  We first noticed it after Mimi passed away, but after a few weeks it passed.  It has snuck back in and some days are worse than others.  I talked to his previous speech therapist and we are not pin pointing dramatic events to his studderring - not that we haven't had a few this year (death, natural disaster, move) but we have to keep an eye on it and make sure we are doing what we can to help him.  It is totally possible that he is having vocabulary explosions and that there is just too much going on upstairs in his head at once, but it could also be something that he always struggle with.  I think we are being proactive and we will continue to celebrate his accomplishments.  Just like with Elizabeth, I am glad that socially he does well in the classroom.  When I picked him up today I could tell something was wrong, but he wouldn't tell me what.  Did you have a good day? What did you have for a snack? What letter did you work on? Did you play well?  He said everything was fine.  When we got home and I was helping him with his shoes and coat and looked at me with the saddest eyes and said "someone took my hat and gloves." I had noticed he didn't have them on, but assumed they were in his book bag.  I assured him that if someone accidentally took them home they would bring them back.  Most likely, I think they got left behind in his cubby.  

The backside said "Grant participates in class and has basic knowledge of his shapes and colors.  Grant has come so far this year - we are so proud of him! He is such a sweet boy and we really enjoy having him in class."  Good job buddy!

He did surprise me by writing his name on the shower door steam last week.  I need to take a picture of his name, because he actually does a pretty job with it.  He can type it on the iPad with no problem and he will spell it for you all day long.  "G R A N T!"  Sometimes when we are working on numbers with Elizabeth he will chime in with an answer and he is usually right (which also frustrates his sister!).  My mom loves to tell the story about how she had my brother and I confused.  She assumed that I was a social butterfly at school and that my brother was very serious.  To her surprise the teachers revealed to her that I was very quiet and studious and guess who was a very chatty? Yep, David.  I think it is possible that I may confused some preconceived notions about my own children as well!  At any rate, they are both doing great, but perhaps excelling in areas differently than what I would have anticipated or guessed!  Good job kiddos!  Maybe we should go out for dinner to celebrate?! (haha daddy is out of town and mommy doesn't want to cook!)

A New Home :)

We said that 2014 would be a better year.  On January 1st we walked through a home that had just gone on the market.  By that evening we had signed papers and made an offer.  We closed on February 3rd and toasted with Champagne in dixie cups and dinner from Michael's at our new house! We are very excited!  It is a ranch, which we never thought we wanted, but since we caught Elizabeth sleep walking a few weeks ago I think it is good that we will all be on the same level.  A lot of times the master bedroom is at the other end of the house from the other rooms, but we are all on the same side, which again with the kids being little and night time wanders I think this will be a good thing!  The house has a lot of garage space which Brandon loves.  The yard is fenced which Jack will love and underneath all the inches of snow there is a pool somewhere!  We are taking our time to work on a few projects in the house before we move all of our precious belongings.  Kenny Pops and Aunt Sandy have been superstar painters and after a Sherwin Williams consult, we have a lot of painting!  They have been such a huge help.  We will never be able to thank them enough.  Sandy and I have some stripes and zinnia stenciling in our future too for the kids rooms.  Johnny Pops and Brandon worked on hanging crown moulding all weekend.  My mom has made meal after meal for all of the worker bees and has helped keep the kids entertained.  Hopefully we will get a break in the weather in the next few weeks and can start moving some things.  The kids' rooms are getting new carpet and they don't think that it will be installed until the end of the month, so we won't be sleeping there until their rooms are set-up.  I will post before and after pictures when our projects are done :)

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