Garage Project: Part 2 - Concrete Garage Slab

At 8:30am this morning two trucks pulled up to my house - and unloaded this:

Harrison was in heaven (his favorite word just happens to be excavator) and we spent most of our day like this:




Digging, leveling, footings and forms.....

when the mixers arrived my heart stopped briefly. This is the view from a window inside the house....


pouring...




and then a little boys dream came true (the truck was actually running)...

Garage Project: Part 1 - Tree Removal

Finally after living in our house for almost exactly one year - we have started the garage project. In our neighborhood almost all of the homes have detached garages and we are doing the same.

First item on the checklist: REMOVAL OF TWO GIANT-NOT-SO-ATTRACTIVE-TREES

We were sad to lose the shade but not the anxiety of thinking a branch is going to come crashing through your back window every time the wind blows. However, I am from Oregon......so two trees out - and two will go back in (eventually).

The trees were cut down, stumps destroyed, wood hauled off and everything cleaned up in under two hours. These guys did their thing. Harrison was in heaven with all the loud power equipment used - and he added chipper and chain saw to his vocab.

Looking down the driveway from the street and then looking at them from the backyard.

I told you they weren't pretty.....

And the Box Elder is history...

Next is the Sumac.....I was thrilled to see this one go. Just a couple of weeks ago a giant branch broke off and missed our window by inches.


Down came the trunks.....


Then the stump grinder....


and they are gone.

Now I realize the yard still looks absolutely horrific - there is MUCH more to come...

Snackin' Cousins

At least Claire will smile when asked - Harrison not so much.

Passing the time

When the mornings are too cold - we get creative with tape.

Car Trouble

Jordan was in a car accident last week. Thank goodness he is okay - nothing a good chiropractor can't fix. But we are so so so very frustrated.

The other guy is claiming it was Jordan's fault (it wasn't).

His insurance is a joke - some mom & pop thing back east.

They are NO help to us (shock).

The guy that hit him was in a rental car - so his life has gone on as normal while we are dealing with rentals, tow yards, body shops, etc.

We find out today from our insurance if they deem it a total loss or if it can be fixed. The body shop guys told us they are certain it cannot be fixed (broken axle and all) - so that means car shopping (right up there on the fun list with job hunting) and a car payment.

So basically, the guy that was speeding down a one way and plowed into Jordan, has had to change NOTHING about his everyday life while we have inherited deductibles, injury, inconvenience, and a future car payment. Annoying to be sure.

A Snow Day

I knew the last week or so was too good to be true. The sidewalks were clear, grass (although gross looking) was poking through the snow, walks were taken, the backyard was explored and a small glimmer of hope that an early spring was coming consumed my thoughts.

But today we woke up to more snow - both on the ground and falling from the sky. Harrison climbed up on his look-out chair in the living room - his hopes dashed of another day outside. He just kept saying "snowing.... snowing......cold......cold."






So we tried to keep busy doing other things........we played with animal magnets on the fridge which he transferred from fridge to the salad spinner and back about 100 times........we watched a little Mickey Mouse...which he tired of in about 5 minutes........

He played with his beloved fire truck and he demonstrated his brave climbing and balancing abilities.....

He dumped the sea creatures from his Cubs bucket and proudly wore it as a hat most of the morning (including through snack time)...........

And stayed in our pajamas until 2pm. Loved it - but I will love my days even more when we can leave the house!

Happy Birthday to my Dad

I just love this picture of him. It was taken at some sort of activity at the church when I was in high school and Emily was in middle school.

I love it because he is a little teary eyed - and I don't know for sure why. But I do remember the way I felt that night - and I KNEW he was proud of me.

Now that I am a parent, I realize sometimes you just tear up when you look at your child/children because you just plain LOVE them.

And I just plain LOVE my Dad - and want to wish him the happiest of birthdays!

Harrison learned two special words for the occasion...."Haw Birfday!"

The Sick House

14 days of sickness. You name it....Harrison or myself has had it.

Pneumonia.
Ear Infections.
Coughs.
Fevers.
Chills.
Congestion.
Constant Nasal Drip.
Nausea.
Aches and Pains.
Insomnia.
Diarrhea (those diapers are awesome).

-all around misery-

Luckily Jordan has been able to ward off the sickness (so far) but Harrison and I are going stir crazy.

Oh yeah - and my entire house looks like this:

and Harrison can't get enough of the kitchen cupboards............

After two weeks of this, we are finally on the mend. I went out with Jordan last night to a Jazz game (wonderful), while Lizzy and Heath stayed with a sleeping Harrison. It felt so so so good to be out of the house. I am not 100% yet - but I am optimistic.

Oh yeah - I took down my Christmas decorations just a few days ago, and my child is now addicted to TV since that is about all we have had the energy to do recently. That about sums it up.

The Big Three

I have seen lots of kids who like to carry around something small in their hand/s at all times. My friend Kjersten's little girl Kennidy always carried around a plastic Barbie shoe. She never lost it - and always knew where it was. Harrison does the same (minus the Barbie shoe of course).

He has THREE things that at any given time during the day - he will have at least one of them clutched tightly is his chubby little fingers.

I give you the big THREE.....(all of which are wooden puzzle pieces).......

The Fire Engine (the most popular)

The School Bus (which is now beginning to peel away)

The Number 4 (the most recent addition now that he knows all his numbers)

It is so funny to watch. I will go into his room as he wakes up from a nap and the first thing he says to me is "fie ingin. Ah need it. Ah wan it. Fine it."

Occasionally he throws us a curveball and needs something else.....like one Saturday morning after Christmas we woke up to him yelling from his crib: "double-you! double-you! Ah can't fine it!" Over and Over and Over. Jordan and I just laid in bed cracking up. He loves his new letter puzzles and magnets and for some reason he needed the 'W' right then and there. He can now identify and name all the the letters in the alphabet and shouts them out as he sees them while we are driving down the street:

"E........F........X........D!!!!!!" as we followed a FedEx truck down the road. Precious to be sure.

He has also started to put little sentances together:
"Ah wan et"
"Chris es running"
"Take a bite"
"Ah wanna see em, Daddy - see em"
"Daddy.....where are you?"
"Cwaire.....where are you?"
"Jackson....has stairs n carsn twucks"
"Daddy! ah wanna westle"
and my personal favorite any time he drops something or falls over or whatever....."Ah jees."

It is hilarious. I love watching him try new words - and say them over and over until he gets them almost right. The best is probably Sesame Street. When he wants to watch it he says: "SeeSwee Stweet!!"