There were a list of things around the house that we've wanted or needed to do for a while and kept putting off in the name of doing other stuff on the weekends. I always hate to have Justin come home from working all week only to have to work all weekend. But this week, he arrived home to a list of stuff that we were going to get done so we loaded up the Suburban and headed to Lowe's. Now I have to confess, I know that many women either don't like, have no use for, or are intimidated by Lowes but I love it. Love it. I could drop a load of cash in there and always come out with a list of things that I want to do. We hope to replace the flooring in the house soon but that will have to wait for a few months since, well, the money tree has yet to start producing. So we went for knocking off some of the smaller projects. First up, the light in our front yard needed replacing. Every house in our neighborhood started out with the same light and over the years, some people have replaced theirs for whatever reason. We had to replace ours because the globe was stolen when we lived in Florida and the rain shorted out the electrical stuff (we think). Yes, it has been out for 3 years. Before we replaced it, it refused to come on at dusk as it was supposed to do but it worked perfectly if you would go up and smack the hell out of it. It was like on of those tap lights or whatever they're called. You know the ones from the infomercial- yeah, that was our yard light. So, we bought a new pole and new lighting fixture and Justin took to replacing it. Let me say this now- I am forever grateful to have a husband who is so talented at fixing things. So it went down like this:
First, after turning off the power and unhooking all the wiring, you have to work on getting the pole out of the ground:
After breaking the hold of the cement, the pole will finally be free:
Then you do this because, well, it's pretty damn funny:
Then, you ride the pole off into the sunset:
After the wacky hijinks are finished, you install the new black post and wire up the light. No real pictures of that because well, it's not as funny as seeing Justin ride a big white pole across the yard. He also installed new light fixture in our hallway and a new kitchen faucet. Then collected wood from the woods and built a fire.
Then spent quality time with his lovely daughters:
So, we're just going to pretend that the whole almost 2 months that have passed since I last blogged didn't really happen, right? Right? I have to confess that this time I do have a pretty decent excuse for a lack of blogging- baseball. That's right- the great American pastime is my reason for not blogging. How do you like that? Next time, it might be apple pie or the Constitution but this time, my excuse is baseball. Both Zachary and Alden played fall baseball and boy, did I have no clue how busy that would be. We've done baseball with one kid playing before but two kids playing? That is pretty nuts. I'm not complaining because I love to watch baseball and this year was exciting because Zachary was in the division for kid pitch and stealing bases and all that cool baseball stuff. He hadn't played since Spring 2007 and I have to admit to being somewhat nervous but he really improved during the season. His coach even said that he was the most improved. I was proud of him for sticking with it and putting in the effort to improve and play as a team player. There were a few times during the season that we had to have a talk about how playing in the outfield is as important as playing in the infield. Every boy wants to play a base but Zachary really excelled in getting to the ball and getting it to the infield very quickly. He's already looking forward to playing in the Spring. Alden had the same coach that he had last spring and many of the same players. This was great because it kept things consistent for him and he loves his coach. And he already considers so many of the kids on his team to be his "best friend." He has really stepped it up in the batting department this season and his throwing has gotten better. And while all of it is so much fun for us, it does get exhausting. Most weeks we were at the baseball field at least 5 days, if not 6. And with Zachary playing for the older division, that meant later and longer games so there were nights that we didn't get home until close to 10:00pm which is huge for my kids because they go to bed at 8:00pm. But we made it through and look forward to the next season. I always mourn a little at the end of baseball season because I enjoy interacting with other adults on a daily basis and we've been lucky to be on teams with some great parents (with the exception of Alden's ragball team- that was one group of weird people with the exception of Amanda and Steve. And I know that she'll back me up on that one). So I always feel like I'm a little set adrift when the season winds down. I am definitely looking forward to not living in my car- between dropping off at 2 different schools most days and then doing 2 separate pick-ups at the elementary school and 1 at the intermediate school, then driving back and forth between baseball fields and practices and games (not to mention all of the normal errands that I have to run)- well, I like my car but I'm tired of being in it so much. I am also looking forward to getting back to running I miss it and I can tell my body misses it. So that's what we've been doing for the past 2 months. Hopefully, I will get the Halloween pictures up before Christmas.
Zachary leading off of 2nd base
Alden getting ready to hit
This summer we toyed with the idea of putting our house on the market. We had never planned on living here forever- honestly, we thought we would live here a few years and move up to a bigger house. Well, the housing market has had other plans. We looked at houses, at land, dreamed a little. We de-cluttered and painted the house to tone down some of the crazier colors. We researched other comp houses in this area and came to the conclusion that we aren't going anywhere. With 3 houses for sale in our neighborhood (on our street alone), we're pretty sure that houses like ours just aren't selling. So we decided to do something that I have dreamed about for years. We got chickens. I have longed for chickens for a long time. Many years ago, while babysitting, I saw an episode of Martha Stewart's show where she talked about her chickens that layed colored eggs. I was hooked and dreamed of having chickens. But the timing wasn't right for a long time- we didn't want to put down the roots of getting chickens because it would obviously make it more difficult to sell our house. Plus, with the revolving door of newborn children that have shown up in our house over the past 5 years, I have been a little busy. With the children getting older, it seemed like a nice time to bite the bullet and go for it. But we had to figure a housing solution for the chickens. I found coop plans online but the cost factor and the fact that we've never built anything before was scary. And buying a coop pre-built was crazy expensive. However, luck would have it that, as always, Justin managed to find a way to make my dream come true. He found a large shipping crate from one of his jobs and envisioned a coop. So, he hauled it all the way from West Virginia in the back of a pickup truck. Two weeks before he was able to come home, I jumped the gun a bit (shocking, I know) and purchased 3 red sex-linked pullets from Tractor Supply. But where they going to live? I made a brooder box for them from a plastic storage box and they lived in the corner of the kitchen. For a little bit of outside fun, I built them a "playhouse" for temporary outdoor time. But the coop was to be their permanent home. Justin came home with it on a Wednesday evening and first thing, Thursday morning, we got to modifying it to make it a home for chickens. We built nesting boxes, we cut doors and windows, w framed out the run, we went to Lowes no fewer than 6 times. And after 4 days of work, we had what we consider a little masterpiece in our backyard. A chicken coop. A real honest-to-god chicken coop. And what is a chicken coop with just 3 tiny chickens? That is certainly not good enough for us- we called a guy with a Craigslist ad and 3 hours later, we had 6 more chickens. And a couple of hours after we got home- we had an EGG!!!! I was checking the inside of the coop for something else when I spotted it. Excitement and disbelief- those would be understatements to convey my emotions. So here we are. We have our ladies in the backyard, our kids running around in the woods (what tiny bit of wooded area we have), and a firepit in the backyard ready for s'mores. It's not the country home that we long for, but it's as close as we're going to get and it's home. And it looks like we're finally getting settled in.
The coop pre-construction
Justin and his work of art (I'm so proud)
Posted in
chickens,
home
I know, I know. I am the perpetual bad blogger. Here, it has been over 3 months since my last blog post- Eleanor has had a dance recital, the boys have gotten out of school, I painted and
decluttered the house with the goal of putting the house on the market, we decided to we're going to stick here
because I doubt we could even sell it, we've spent a summer doing pretty much nothing but butting heads and playing
xBox, I ran a 5k, Harper turned 2, I finally beat a video game from beginning to end, the boys have started back to school, and we got chickens. And I might post pictures from some of those events at some point or maybe not. I always intend on being a better blogger but really, there are about 6 people who read it so the experience of blogging is as much for myself as it is for other people. There are some times when I know that I want to record the events as they happen but by the end of the day, many times I feel like the words are gone. I fret over the idea of not remembering my life when I look back through the haze of the years. And I know that I want to remember the days that my kids are little but at night, when I finally have 30 minutes to myself, at that point in time, I just don't care. But I am resolving to be much better about recording the day-to-day activities of this little crew.
Justin and I were lucky enough to have the opportunity to get a weekend away this past weekend so we packed up and headed to Charleston. The last time that we went anywhere for an overnight trip (not counting me going to the hospital to have a baby) was in 2003. That's over 6 years and 3 kids later. Why did we choose Charleston? Well, it has long been one of my favorite cities. And I was determined to spend a chunk of time on a beach doing absolutely nothing. So Friday morning, we finished packing (and I shed a few tears over leaving Harper for so long) and trucked the kids over to Grammie's house. The part that I have just left out is that I woke up at 3:30 am on Friday. For some reason, when there is something exciting going on the next day, I find myself completely unable to sleep. The night before my friend Dianne's wedding, I was awake for hours. My mind just kicks into planning mode ("what am I forgetting?") and I can't turn it off to go back to sleep. Luckily for me, Justin doesn't mind a sleeping car companion so I slept for most of the ride down to the Lowcountry. It was a wonderful weekend. I love my kids dearly and I missed them (can I tell you the number of times one of would say "wow- the kids would love this"?) but it was so nice to have a break. To not have to change a diaper or referee a fight between siblings
or tell someone to please flush the damn toilet after using the bathroom. We walked around and shopped and held hands and laid on the beach. I wore a bikini for the first time in a decade (thanks to Couch to 5k and running for the past 6 weeks). We ate so much great food and walked around the streets taking pictures. It really was a perfect weekend except for the random stripes of sunburn that I got on the beach. Note to the readers (all 4 of you): when buying sunblock, remember that the clear spray stuff is tricky- it's hard to see if you have covered an entire area with it. You have now been warned. We're already planning a return trip with kids in tow- they love the beach (well, Harper has no clue what a beach is but she loves a sandbox so I think it's safe to say that she'll love it). Sure, it's bound to not be as easy and carefree as this weekend but it's bound to be tons of fun and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Justin in our hotel room
Justin posing on the beach
Folly Beach
Justin using his talents of self portraiture to get a shot of us
I love kites. I love the mechanics of getting them airborne and keeping them so. I have a thing for flight- planes, birds, butterflies- it is flies, I love it. I love to watch the kids getting excited for that first flight of the spring. So, every spring, we have kites. Nothing fancy, mind you, just the run-of-the-mill kites from Target. Last year, at the end of the season, I bought some of the nylon kites when they were marked down in the hopes of getting a sturdier product because between the crashes into the ground and unfortunate run-ins with the trees, the poor mylar (cheap) kites end up getting a serious beating after a few weeks. So, this morning, with a sunny sky and some breezy conditions, we brought out the kites.
Alden obviously shares my fondness for always wearing sunglasses
Despite all of the running around, the kites only got tangled once.
I love this picture so much. I love the shear joy on Eleanor's face. Her little hand holding onto the kites for dear life while the kites tries to fly away to freedom.
The Easter Bunny has come and the baskets have been pillaged. Chocolate has been consumed for breakfast. What better way to celebrate a lovely spring day? Happy Easter from the Wilsons!
If there is one thing that can bring me down, it is the long and drawn-out end of winter. By the end of February, I am longing for the spring time warmth and, in general, just tired of being cold. When we lived in FL, I remember thinking it was so odd to have an entire winter without cold weather but honestly, now I would take it. I'm ready to get out of the house and play in the yard. Open the windows and enjoy the breeze. Take pictures with good lighting (something that is impossible inside our house). Plant my garden. Think more about getting chickens. But alas, we still have the end of winter to endure. Luckily, we received a respite from the cold this past weekend when the sun came out and it was warm enough to play outside without 74 layers of clothing. And obviously as you can tell by the above picture, Harper was simply delighted at the prospect of posing for a picture.
Eleanor dropping leaves on me my head
Zachary throwing the football with Justin
Wow- I just realized that it's been over 2 months since I blogged. I find myself just throwing the pictures on Facebook and just forgetting about them. But with the new year rapidly approaching (maybe too rapidly), I find myself resolving to be better about blogging in 2010. In that vein, I thought I would do a series of posts to catch up with the Wilson crew since I last blogged.
Well, we had a Halloween party- our 1st annual Halloween party. I have to say that I love Halloween. Always have, probably always will. I would almost dare say that I enjoy it more than Christmas. Perhaps it is my love of skulls (particularly sugar skulls) or my interest in vampire lore and the supernatural, I don't know. I enjoy it. So this year, I decided that I wanted to have a party and thus finally have a legitimate excuse to dye my hair pink to go with my fairy costume.
This is probably the best pic that I have- my tutu/skirt was massive and weighed a ton but what girl doesn't love a tutu. I even wore mine while I was out running last minute errands prior to the party- luckily, I had Eleanor the Rainbow with me so her cuteness helped to mask my dorkiness. Obviously, Justin is a vampire because vampires are unable to resist fairies. (Sookie Stackhouse reference)
Here is Vampire Justin with Zachary as that brilliant sleuth, Sherlock Holmes.
Alden as Bumblebee. Sigh. I tried to convince him that he wanted to be something else (that perhaps wasn't so common) but he could not be steered away from Bumblebee.
Harper the Sunshine.
And no pictures of Eleanor. :( I am a bad mom. It rained for most of the day and then, once the party started, she was off and running with Sophie so I neglected to get any pictures of her. Plus, she can be quite difficult to catch in a picture when she is feeling ornery. Sigh- but she was an adorable Rainbow complete with Rainbow tutu. The original plan had been for all of the kids to be weather themed- Alden was going to be lightning, but the boys bailed on that idea.
The week before the Halloween party (I didn't say this would be in chronological order), Alden's class went on a field trip to a pumpkin patch and I got to go! This was very excited since it was the first time that I got to be a chaperone. Usually, I have a baby that can't be left or a husband who is travelling so I can never go on field trip but this time the stars aligned and I was able to go. So, I hopped on the big yellow school bus and off we went.
Alden's girlfriend and Eleanor's best friend, Sophie, on the hay ride
Running for pumpkins
I had so much fun as a chaperone- the kids were pretty well behaved and it was fun to watch Alden interact with his friends. It also made me realize that under no circumstances do I ever want to be a 4K teacher.
Okay so maybe it has been over a month since I last blogged. In my defense, I have been a little busy- Zachary broke his leg (thus taking away my main assistant while Justin is gone), Justin has been gone a lot, we've been going to football games, Eleanor has been going to dance classes, and all of that one top of the everyday stuff that we have to do. We've done a few things here and there but have been pretty hampered due to Zachary and his crutches but this past weekend, we went to
Festifall at Walnut Grove Plantation so I could get my history geek on and let the kids run around like a bunch of heathens. I love any kind of historical celebration or reenactment- I just think that they are pretty cool. And secretly, I think that it would be very cool to do it too. But as you can see, I've got enough on my plate now- I can't even keep up with a blog much less a historically accurate lifestyle. Anyway, the kids and I had a blast at
Festifall with my friend Amanda and her crew of kids. The kids all mesh well together, the weather was pleasant, and no one had an absolute meltdown when they fired the cannons. I ended up getting stung by a bee (for the first time ever!) about an inch below my left eye so the day ended on a painful note but otherwise, it was a pretty great day.
Candle making
Eleanor with her candle
Alden with his candle
Just off frame from this picture were some chickens and ducks (to show what kind of fowl the colonists would have kept back in the day)- Harper was obsessed with them
Zachary being a trooper while
crutching around the campsites
Today was Alden's first day of 4 year old kindergarten and he was super excited. He has asked daily for months if it was the day for him to go to school with Zachary. And it's a day that I have dreaded from the day he was born. I know that I am extremely lucky in that I get to spend every day with my kids and yes, there are days that they drive me insane but this is a day of bittersweet tears for me. Up until this point, I have been the main person in Alden's life- I get him up in the morning and I take him outside and I do his bidding along with whatever has to be done during the day and from this day forward, he's going to have someone else who is going to influence his outlook on things. Yes, I know that we don't live in a
vacuum so he has other people in his life but I fancy myself as his main woman.
lol And now, it's the point of no return- every school day from here on out, he is going to head into a school and away from me. Plus, I felt guilty for breaking up the Alden/Eleanor partnership. Alden has really only remembered a life with Eleanor as his constant playmate and I worried
how each of them would react. Alden was fine at drop-off but Eleanor cried and didn't want to leave
Aldi. But I know that underneath all of my irrational
emotions, he is entering a bright new phase of life where a new world is opening up for him. He'll learn this letters and numbers- he'll learn about reading and math- about relationships with other kids. And he'll learn about a whole world outside of his home and while that is a good thing, I can't help but wish it didn't have to happen just yet.
We had Harper's 1st birthday party on Saturday and had a wonderful time. Our little house was full of friends and family and laughter which is just the way it should be to celebrate such a fun occasion. I baked chocolate chip cupcakes with raspberry
buttercream icing (thanks to the Martha Stewart cupcake book for the recipes) and
they were yummy yummy yummy. I've got
buttercream left over
in the fridge and I have to fight the temptation to just dig into it with a spoon which is saying something because I am not really an icing fan. Harper enjoyed her cupcake and really didn't make that big of a mess- she is usually a fairly non-messy eater anyway. And she is not one to waste a bite of food so she keeps the crumbs to a minimum. :)
This was before she started eating- right after we sang Happy Birthday and she blew out the candle.
And this was after- notice the shiny face- apparently
buttercream is an excellent moisturizer.
Then is was time to open presents. Harper was spoiled with lots of fun toys and clothing from everyone. She loved everything and had played with all of the toys since Saturday. It has been fun to watch her because it is as though she knows exactly which toys are hers as opposed to what are Eleanor's.
If you notice Alden in the background, he is
wearing what he has started calling his "
birthday shirt." We bought it for him to wear for his birthday party (partly because it matched the Diego colors) and he insisted on wearing it on Harper's birthday on Tuesday and then again on Saturday for the party. As soon as he took it off on Tuesday, he brought it to me and asked me to wash it for the party. I have such wonderfully weird kids. I love it.
I love parades. If there is a parade nearby, we try to attend. And at Christmas time, there is an abundance of parades going on. So this year, I had my parade schedule planned out and was ready to attend 5 different parades. But alas, Mother Nature and her wiley ways ruined me with the weather. It was raining for 3 of the parades, Justin was golfing during one parade (and while I normally would go without him, this one was further away than normal so I wanted backup), and we only got to go to 1 parade. :( So, on Saturday morning, we bundled up against the 30 degree temps and headed out to the Boiling Springs parade. There were the usual fire trucks and police cars. People throwing out candy and bands marching in lines. And a very happy Amy who finally got to go to a parade this year.
A rag tag crew of mischief makers
Harper with one of her treats from the parade
Alden chasing down the candy
Zachary excited to go home and eat candy
