Bathroom Construction! Phase 1

I didn't realize what I was in for when posting my quite hopeful "to do" list yesterday. You all served as wonderful accountability partners and really kept me on my toes.

Even though I didn't finish everything, I did add a few unposted endeavors. Sorting through the little girls' clothes, rotating the cooler weather items in and the warmer weather items out to the "Get Rid Of" bin was a must. Then, making a dish of lasagna, garlic bread and lettuce salad for supper and inviting the neighbors and their children over to play in our back yard was another.

And while I did get a few snapshots of our unfinished basement bathroom yesterday, I thought I'd wait to post them today. Thanks for waiting so nicely. Our carpenter Tim is hard at work as we speak. Directly below me, and next door to the twins' room, is where he is making his mark. The thought that his loud drill and constant pounding is feet from my napping babies doesn't worry me a bit. They've become accustomed to sleeping through most everything. I guess that's what sharing a crib with your sister does to you. Transitioning to married life should be a breeze for them.

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Now if you will, grab your hard hats and follow me.

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First, watch your step, we'll go down two sets of stairs to get to our basement living room. Take a right and pass through the living room to a short hallway. We'll open our first door here on the right.

And here you have it. Our unfinished, roughed in, basement bathroom. It's been serving as a paint closet--as you can see--since we moved in. We immediately finished the living room, dividing it into two rooms, allowing for our exercise space, but we left the bathroom until now.

To be honest, I have no idea what Tim is working on now. But, I am excited to take more pictures when he leaves.

Here we are standing in the bathroom, looking out. If you took a right and continued down the hallway to the next door--on the right--you'd find Norah and Hazel's room. The room at the end of the hallway is where my SIL (husband's sister) and her daughter are currently staying. They just moved to town and have temporarily linked up with our busy household. And then the only other room in the hall is the utility room directly across from the girls' room.

So. There you have it. A mini-tour of our construction zone.

Here's hoping Tim is a speedy worker. While I love, love, love surpises, I have a hard time waiting for them. Maybe he'd let me post his "to do" list for this project. (For some reason, I have a feeling he might not care as much.)

Tomorrow, remind me to...

...get up and work out at the gym near the bottom of our hill. Preferrably without hitting my cellphone snooze button.
There was no hitting snooze for me this morning, thanks to Mr. Marvelous and his early morning--5am--shower. He has Men's Fraternity through our church on Tuesday mornings and I will now be rising an hour earlier than planned on those days. Sigh.

...fold the laundry that's currently in my dryer.
And the basket that was sitting in front of my dryer. And the basket that was sitting in my bedroom. So long laundry. See you next Monday.

...take Luke--and all the other children--to his doctor appointment.
But first we packed a lunch, hiked around at our Nature Center, and ate our picnic near the entrance of a 100 year old cave.

...post before photos of our unfinished basement bathroom. (BTW, our carpenter was supposed to start today, but instead will be starting on Wednesday. No worries, though. He's bringing extra help and has reassured us that it will be finished in a timely manner.)

...make the Keylime pie that I've been craving.
Of course, I wouldn't leave this one uncrossed. I made time at the wee end of naps to boil up some keylime and pour into a shortbread crust. It's been screaming my name in the frig ever since. I won't eat it when the kids are awake. I need to concentrate while I enjoy it. But as soon as 7:15 rolls around finally gets here, I'm cutting a couple slices out for Mr. Marvelous and I. To be honest, I hope he doesn't like it.

...remind Luke that if he continues to stay put in his crib when he's tucked in, he'll get his big boy bed back that we tucked away in his closet last week.
Check! And really, there might not be any more need to remind him. He does a great job reminding us that he'll get his "big boy bed back...and...stay.in.my.bed."

...plan meals for a pregnant mama from our church.

...assign meals for a new mom from our church.

...remind Julia to pick out a show-n-tell item for preschool on Wednesday, have her place it in her backpack.
She did. The lucky item to be shared tomorrow is Julia and Luke's Storybook Bible. Amazon sent it to us a couple of months ago. It was highly recommended by Angie. And I now know why.

...use up the pears in our crisper drawer.
Now to use up the pears on our counter.

...pick up my 4-year-old niece from her preschool after naps and snacktime.
Despite the fact that our stroller walk to the bottom of the hill and around the corner yesterday was wonderful, and Julia and Luke had a great time seeing their cousin's preschool, Mr. Marvelous decided to get our niece on his way home today.

...straighten my scraproom before my friend Sarah comes over to scrap...after the children are in bed, of course.
Check! She'll be here any minute. I think I'll scrap a couple of pages of Norah and Hazel. It's their turn.

and...tackle this Ms. Fiesty McFee down to the floor, squeezing tightly and kissing much. Then roll around with her tickling her neck. She likes that the best. This girl has quite the spunk in her.
Of course I made time for this one. Twice. First, in our front yard on a blanket this afternoon. And then after supper in our basement living room this evening. Don't think Norah missed out. She got into it too.

Here Hazel is wearing one of her many faces. She's oh-so-dramatic!





The sound that comes out of a face like this one might sound something like, "ARgh!" She quite possibly learned that from me. I've caught myself saying that to her when she plays in the toilet, or when she whips her sippy cup on the floor. Leakproof my eye!

And, maybe I'll post some action shots of her taking Norah down on the deck the other day. She grabbed at the waist then pulled, pulled, pulled until they were both spread out on the floor. Laughing all the while.

What a goofball.

She must take after her daddy.

the new 'do

Just as I was about to post these hair pictures, Mr. Marvelous walked in for our meeting that was scheduled here with a kitchen designer.

I totally forgot!

It went ok. We'll see what she pulls together when we meet with her next Monday at her office. And because our house has a very open floor plan, her volume level kept Julia up from her nap (she's sleeping now), and woke Luke early from his nap. So after settling Julia into bed, and getting Luke up with some snack I'm back with some snaps of the new darker, reddish 'do. I know I told you that I was hoping for an aggressive change. And although I didn't get the aggressive look I was hoping for. I think I like it.

My colorist was new. And frankly, I think she was nervous to go bold. But she ended up foiling a spicy red along with a warm brown into my highlighted sandy brown hair. And really, this is the darkest I've been since probably college. That's 5 years.

And even those this picture's lighting is way off, it still shows the definition she made around my face. I tried taking these pictures while we waited in the parking lot of Julia's preschool, since we arrived a bit early to pick her up. Do you see Hazel's turqouise bow in the background? She didn't mind at all that we sat still for a bit. Her sister on the other hand.....not so much.

If you remember this photo of my dad and I, this was a couple of weeks ago.

And this is the new 'do.


Do you color your hair?

God, will you zip up my pink cowgirl boots?

This morning as we were all getting ready for church, I was standing in our laundry room that's off of our kitchen. That's where I tend to straighten my hair and dab some makeup while keeping an eye on the little girls eating breakfast in their highchairs.

Since our bedroom is on the other side of the house, the laundry room works nice. (Straighten, straighten, slice some bananas. Straighten, comb, straighten. Straighten, pick up Norah's sippy of milk that she flung across the floor. Straighten, straighten, dab some makeup.)

And, gosh, after reading that last paragraph, I feel sort of like a high maintenance mom of 4. But I promise you I'm not. See...let me share with you a little secret of mine. I only wash my hair about twice a week. Gasp! On the off days, I don't.do.my.hair.**

But back to this morning. As I was in mid straighten, in walks Julia.




"Mommy, can you help me zip my [hot pink cowgirl] boots?"


"Sure, hon. Are they stuck?"


(kneeling down to start on the first zipper)


"Yea, and I asked Jesus, "Will you please help me zip my boots up?""


(me trying not to chuckle, still kneeled down to her level)


"And I looked down and they still weren't zipped."


(me trying extremely hard not to chuckle)


"Why didn't He zip them, Mama?"


"Well, hon, maybe He wanted you to keep trying. Maybe He thought you'd get it if you tried really hard."


"Really? I thought I heard Him say, "Go find your Mama.""





**Even though I didn't get a photo of my new cut and color today, I'll shoot one of it tomorrow to post. Do remember, it'll be day old hair.

a hot number and I'm lovin' it.

My mom came this morning to spend the day with our 4underfeet while Mr. Marvelous and I tended to some business.

She's so great like that!

Ever since Julia was born, she has come on Mondays to play, sometimes clean, and stay while I run errands. Boy has her grandmother role changed slightly since then--3 years and 3 children later. And, I know that long days like these aren't always a piece of cake. (Goodness, it's a challenge for me sometimes and I'm nearly a pro. Joke people, definitely joking!) But, my mom always greets us with a smile and fun stories from the day when we return.

We left a smidge before 9am and walked back through the door a bit before 7pm. And, if you followed my twitter updates you know Mr. Marvelous and I headed into the city to our season ticket seats to cheer on our State Football team today. Here are some things I found myself lovin' about today:

• A peaceful car ride with great conversation.
• A sausage and egg mckmuffin AND a sausage burrito AND a pulpy OJ AND a hashbrown (gosh, I must have been hungry.)
• A train ride into downtown.
• Sitting next to my little brother who met us for the game. (His wife (in glasses) is gone on an All-Girls Whitewater Rafting trip near the East Coast.)
• Singing Sweet Caroline with 50,000 other off key fans.
• Occasionally sneaking peaks at the adorable elderly couple sitting near us.
• Watching touchdown after touchdown completed by our team, followed by a victory.
• Running in the rain holding Mr. Marvelous' hand.
• F.i.n.a.l.l.y finding a vanity/sink/faucets for our downstairs bathroom. Ugh!
• A concrete raspberry mixer. Mmm!
• Tiptoeing up on the children, who were quietly playing when we returned home, and surprising them.
• And of course, staring at this hot number all day...

What have you found yourself lovin' lately?

Watch out! Wednesday

Julia's 5-year-old friend offered her a spin around the block cul-de-sac in the Austin J40--built in the south of Whales.

Watch out!
Does she look a bit frightened to you too?

And, while we've have builders over here left-and-right the past month to give us ideas on how to give our majorly-outdated-by-20-years kitchen a head to toe bodylift...we decided yesterday--on a whim--that we'll quick finish our roughed in bathroom in the basement first. Starting Monday.

Watch out!
You'll be seeing some before and after pictures soon!

can I get a translator?

The conversation we thought we heard here between these two went something like this:

Luke: Hey Doo doo!

Julia: What Lukey?

Luke: I dorry fo puyen yo hayah.

Julia: That's ok, Lukey.

Luke: (Smiling) Ooo you ogif me?

Julia: (Nodding and smiling) Yes!

Any stabs at the translation?

a tisket, a tasket UPS left me a package

I sweep and mop once a day, grocery shop and do laundry once a week, switch out our families bedding once a month--did I just say that outloud--and by golly, I'll buy a pair of Sailor Pocket Trousers once in awhile.

I have a hard time shopping online. Unless it's with Amazon. I love Amazon. But buying clothing and paying for shipping, then not really knowing how something will fit, or look, or feel...I hesitate at the idea. However, when I find a great opportunity to pay no shipping, and return with no fee, I'm takin' it and runnin'. And that's obviously what my new pants' delivery team did too...I already have my new jeans. Wahoo! And I love them and their chunky buttons, and extra long striking wide leg. Since I knew you'd want a look, I'll show you here on Mr. Marvelous' weight bench in our workout room in the basement. Bring it on Autumn...60 degree weather doesn't scare me and my indigo colored jeans.

Is it just me or do packages in the mail tickle your fancy?

I have some explaining to do.

I feel as though I have some explaining to do.

Did you ever hear that phrase as a child? Maybe you put the cat in the dryer, or a toad under your sister's sheets. And even though it was out of pure curiosity with no harm meant, you still had some explaining to do.

Now, I never put any of our cats in the dryer, and I didn't even have a sister to scare with a toad, and quite honestly I believe I was a pretty even keel kind-of-child and a wonderfully well-behaved firstborn. So when I say I have some explaining to do, I only mean clarifying. I've done nothing wrong, except lacked in the specifics of my posts. And thanks for keeping me on my toes, I wouldn't want to leave anyone wondering if we've welcomed a goat into our residential neighborhood. More on that...keep reading.

To start, you all are getting good. The picture--a couple of posts down--of our towel wrapped twin is Norah. While Hazel has a more round face, Norah has the more full face. Norah is the big sister by 2 minutes. She always measured about a full pound heavier in utero, and was born at 6lb 10 oz while little Hazel was 5lb 10 oz. (Yes, if you do the math, that's over 12 lbs of babies induced exactly 3 weeks early.) Now their weight split is about 1 1/2 lbs. Norah still weighing more. And a sure fire way to tell them apart is their forehead. Hazel has a more pronounced line that runs from the bridge of her nose to her hair line. When they were born, we didn't have to tag them, or paint ones toenails to tell them apart. We could always tell by the shape of their face.

And, you met Molly the Milking Goat in my last post. Have you ever milked a goat? What a good goat she is. But not ours! Oh, no. I have a hard enough time keeping the few flowers we have around our house alive. I'd not be a good candidate for taking care of any kind of animal. But my hippie friend does a great job. Her, her husband, and their 3-year-old are our home-away-from-home, along with their horses, goats, cats, and sheep. They have 2 goats, one of which they milk, and hope to get 3 or 4 more. She no longer has to buy her raw goats milk, and soon she'll be making her own butter, cheese, and ice cream. She's striving to be self sufficient. She's on her way. She's.on.her.way.

And finally.

Julia is a Preschooler!

Phew!!! I'm glad her first morning is over. For my own sake. We had a special Preschool breakfast of runny eggs, frosted and sprinkled donuts and pulpy orange juice. She couldn't stand it she was so excited, so we loaded up and headed out early. And thanks to the sunglasses that I remembered to grab, I'm pretty sure I hid any inklings of a teary eyed, first time, preschool mom. I racked my brain as to how I could distract myself for the next 2 1/2 hours. Do you know what we did? Remember when I "Twittered" about that decorating itch that I had? Well I still have it. So after dropping Julia off, I decided we'd swing through Home Depot for a gallon of paint. If paint doesn't sidetrack a person.... Soon Julia's dresser will have a face lift. As well as her walls. I'll keep you updated on that.

As for now....I'll leave you with this. Can you imagine her begging for "No more pictures, please. Let's go, Mom."

Progressive Picture Party part 3 & 4

Updated: Here you have it! Not Mr. Marvelous, nor I have stepped foot near a milking goat, until last night. It was a first for our family. Great guess Brittany and Amy. I know. We may be a little behind--pardon the pun--in the goat milking arena, but my hippie friend brought us right up to speed. While I helped our lactating participant fill the can, Mr. Marvelous poured it through the strainer. And while Luke tried it too, Julia decided she'd watch.

ORIGINAL POST:

Will this help satisfy your stomach? Some more than others, I think.

This served on a silver platter, is the last part of your meal. Oh, how fun this first time event was for us. Do you got it yet? If not, get ready for dessert. It will be arriving soon. That's when I'll tell you all about it.

Progressive Picture Party part 2

While we had some creative guesses during the first course of our meal, no one chose the right bite.

Please dab your lips and make room for the next course of our Progressive Picture Party.

Progressive Picture Party

We did something we've never done before. As for the details of it...consider them the dessert of this Progressive Picture Party.



Here I present to you your appetizer.

What do you think?




I'll offer you your next photo soon.

Baby A or Baby B?

When we're out and about, people ask all the time how I keep our identical girls straight. That question baffles me because they look completely different in my eyes. Honestly, I noticed their differences the day they were born, and asked the doctor three times if he was for sure they were identical. He assured me that he was. But how many of you can tell them apart?

Any idea who this is?

Norah or Hazel?

And, did you scroll back to check, are you taking a stab at it, or do you know them that well already?

Lakeside Vegetable Sandwich a la carte

We were early getting out the driveway for church this morning.

I shouldn't say that like it's uncharacteristic of us. Mr. Marvelous and I both detest being late. But this morning it was really early. Forty minutes early. (How do you do that with a 3 and 2-year-old, and two 1-year olds? I.don't.know. It just happens.) So we decided to take a drive through the countryside after we picked up two "iced foffees," as Luke puts it, from the shop at the bottom of our hill.

But, I don't know why I drink those things. Caffeine plays with my body, big time. It took everything in me to keep myself from making praise and worship time an aerobic workout. I'm not saying that you should hold yourself back from worshipping emotively. I sure don't. I'm just saying I could have done the speed bag move until the end of Pastor Steve's service.

Oh! And since you asked, yes, Julia and daddy had a great time cheering on our U of [state] fb team last night. They came home with a victory, and a very excited season ticket holder. As for the 2-year-old, 1-year-olds and the mama who were left at the casa, we spent part of our afternoon at the grocery store. Again. But this brings good news for you, I gathered all the necessary ingredients for an old favorite recipe of mine. And I'd like to offer you a taste.

The Lakeside's Vegetable Sandwich.

I forgot all about this vegetable medley smashed between its focaccia foundation, that is, until last weekend when these two fabulous people--hi dad & mom--
decided a lunch date at a favorite cafe of mine from back home was a great idea. The weather was pleasant, much like today. And yesterday. And most all of our summer this year. The lake across the street was sparkling, and our smoothies and my vegetable sandwich were delightful.

So here we have:

Lakeside's Vegetable Sandwich

First, grab a box of Lipton's Vegetable dry soup mix.

(This recipe is on the back of the box.)

...

Mix 1 envelope of the soup mix with:

-an 8oz containter sour cream

-1 c mayo

-a 10oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry and

-an 8oz can water chestnuts, drained and chopped

...

Chill 2 hours. Or if you can't wait that long, don't wait at all. I sure can't.

...

Next, cut a triangle slice of your Asiago Focaccia round. Slice it almost completely open. Slather your vegetable spinach mix on the bottom, then layer with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, red onion, sprouts, and a generous dallop of, again, the spinach mix. Wala! You have another favorite of mine, all to yourself.

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Now tell me. Do you think I look like my dad*? Because, I got mistaken for his sister's daughter all the time as a child.

*Who, btw, is turning 64 in a month and a half. Doesn't he look good!