January 1, 2011

Yes, we are still here. We had a wonderful Christmas and we are having a relaxing New Year's day. The boys received fun stuff for Christmas. It was good pretend stuff and games, both of which they are very into these days. It seems they got just the right amount, not too much but not too little.

We took our Christmas tree down the day before yesterday. My niece was visiting and she watched the boys for us so we could get out and go to a movie.

Yesterday I took the boys up to the new house to take a look around and see what had changed. We are not going as often these days, as the changes are not quite as dramatic from day to day. It was a very pretty day and not too cold so I thought it would be a good day for them to be outside. They have a lot of freedom there and there is much to do outside so they were very excited about it. We were just about to leave when Nick came in wet from waist to toe. He had slipped while running and fallen into a mud puddle. He was very muddy and very wet.

What I did not realize was that the temperature was dropping very fast while they were outside playing. They were dressed warmly enough so that was not an issue but it sure was cold while I was helping Nick strip down out of the wet clothes. Fortunately we had a hoodie sweat shirt in the back of the van and we still had his good shoes and dry socks. We have gotten to where we now keep the dirty play shoes and a clean pair of stained play socks in the back of the van for when we go up to the house and they want to play outside.

I helped him out of his wet clothes, dried him off with a towel (we also keep a couple of clean towels in the back of the van:) and helped him into the dry sweat shirt and socks. I wrapped the towel around his hips, tucked him into his car seat and got the heat going as quickly as possible. He was fine and both boys thought sitting in the car seat with only a towel covering his private parts was quite funny.

The boys had received a coupon for a trendy frozen yogurt place nearby and had been asking to go there so I had planned to take them but now we had the problem with a half naked boy. I told Nick we could still go if he wanted to put on the snow pants/bib in the back of the van. He was fine with that and it worked out well. It was so cold by then that I think he was probably happy to have them on. I had quite a mess to clean up when we got home though.

The house is coming along quite nicely. They are now thinking they may be finished with it in mid-March. I let them know my birthday is towards the end of Feb. and it would make a mighty nice birthday present:).

They poured the concrete for the front and back porches on Thursday and they are finishing up the mudding/scimming of the sheetrock now. I think they are planning to spray the orange peel affect on most of the walls on Monday. The walls in the main areas of the house will have a bit fancier finish with some sort of trowel affect. We saw it in their model house and really liked it so that will be in the living room, kitchen, dining area, foyer and the hallway areas that can be seen from the foyer/living room. I think it might be in the husband's office too but can't remember for sure.

As soon as they finish spraying on the orange peel stuff, they will start laying the unfinished hardwood flooring. I think they may start laying tile in other rooms while the hardwood floors are being installed.

We have already picked out all of the tile and granite but are still waiting to hear where we came in VS budget on that stuff. If we are too high, we may need to consider some substitutions. We still have to pick out all of the lighting, hardware for cabinets and doors, carpet and paint/stain colors. All of our trim work will be white-ish but most of the shelves and cabinets will be stained. So we are very close to being done with picking out stuff, although we will still have to pick out stuff for the lawn and also window coverings of some sort I suppose.

It is really starting to look like a house on the inside now. I need to take some more pics of the outside. We had lost our camera for a few days so we have no Christmas pics this year, although we did get some footage on the video camera. I have yet to see anything we put on that camera over the years come back off so that seems to be a black hole of some sort. Nick found the camera in the console of the dad's car the other day so now we can take pics again. They have not started the stucco on the outside yet because it has been too cold but hopefully they will be able to start soon. We actually had a couple of days where it was very warm. The boys even wore short sleeves and shorts one day, which was kind of strange at this time of year. They loved it.

I am so ready to finish the house and get moved in now that the waiting is becoming more difficult. I just have to keep my mind on other things for the next couple of months.

Did I mention that the boys are going to start violin lessons? They are so excited and I think the lady who teaches them has a very good feel for how to teach kids this young. We will play lots of games together so I can learn too and can play them at home. They are only required to practice 15 minutes a day at this age so I think the boys will be up for this. We'll see. They are still in swimming lessons and will be until at least the summer and possibly beyond that, depending on how they are doing. They are still in soccer and are really starting to get it. Ben made his first real goal during a scrimmage during their last practice and he was so happy and excited. And it was right in front of me so I had a great view of it and of him and his great big smile. Priceless.

So, overall, not much to report these days. Things are good here. We are all healthy and happy and ready for the new year. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's!