Call It What You Want...

Today the boys and I went to Menards to buy yet another set of shelves. I love shelves, and our basement -- such as it is -- is always in need of some more. I think once our whole basement is full of shelves, then I might have enough.

I let myself go down and work on them while the boys played nicely upstairs, because naptime today will be dominated by a birthday party we're headed to. When I got them done, Mark came down to inspect.

"THAT looks like ORGANIZED!" he said, surprised. "I thought it would still look like a dump down here!"

"Thanks," I said.

"Was it hard work?" he asked. I answered that it was.

"But it was worth it," he told me.

He's very pleased, apparently, with the results. Now perhaps the extra toys and stuff won't just be piled in the walkway.

It was worth it. :)

I think it's time to lay down some uncontested rules for appropriate behavior at the table during meals, so the little darlings will know for what they are being fined when I start levying fees. *
 (* These fines go into a jar marked "Mommy's Money" and when there's enough in there, I get to go buy myself some ice cream.)

So.
Here are the rules.
1. Thank God.
2. No kicking.

3. No pushing or pulling. (This is a problem when someone shoves the table and hits the other in the chest, trapping him against seat and table in an uncomfortable position. This is also a problem when suddenly the table is pulled away from a boy who is eating because his brother saw fit to give it a mighty tug.)



4. No blocking. (Think "Talk to the hand" or something. This is one of the most horrifyingly evil things a brother can do to the other -- hold his hand up, palm facing the brother, thus "blocking" one from the other. It's cause for hysteria.)



Now that you know the rules, you can come have a meal with us.
See you soon!

Yesterday we went outside to play and ended up shoveling/sweeping our driveway.

When we got done, we still had more outside-play energy, so we went across the street and did Mr. and Mrs. Smith's. Eh. It was just more fun, playing in the snow. And doing the sidewalks, and Mr. Smith's walk from his house to the mailbox, along with the driveway. It was fun.

Then we went in and had hot chocolate. The boys LOVED their hot chocolate.

This morning, Mr. Smith showed up with a present:

They're a bit larger than this, multicolored with shorter "hairs", one for each boy, as a thank-you. Really, it was entirely self-serving, as we got to play outside. But the boys were thrilled with the new squishy balls.

And then it happened. Linda. Perhaps you will find this familiar.

"Thomas is driving through the wiley hair!"

Now where did he hear THAT, Linda? (Hint to the rest of you -- when we were at Linda's on Saturday.)

Now the squishy balls are wiley hair -- and hair, much to Grandpa Larry's approval I'm sure, is pronounced with two syllables.

I may get tired of it, but for now, it's funny.

Du kannst mir sehr gefallen! (You can please me very much.)

Yes, perhaps it's true and I am the last person to put up my Christmas tree, as suggested by Janay and Cheryl, but one must wait until other December obligations (my birthday) are met...

So up goes the tree, and the boys are pleased. Decorations will come after naptime, but let's just enjoy the important things:

The lights

The "Baby Jesus set"

The "Baby Jesus rug"

Now the tree is up and the boys are in their naps, but not before giving the tree a kiss and a hug (Adam's idea). Ornaments will come later, as will the snowman that lights up and other exciting things.

For now, enjoy our tree. I'm sure we will.

Got some cute pictures of the boys on the computer this week, so I thought I should share...

Adam demonstrates his building skills. Would the Denver Developmental Tests say his fine motor skills are okay?

In this image, we catch Mark on what might have been his first date. He told me yesterday that he was kissing Anna. I thought he had just slipped his arm around her in a super-smooth date-move. Incidentally, both moms were there to supervise said date, so all was fine.

Here we see how Daddy deals with boys drawing in the condensation on the front door... he gives them cleaner cloths and puts them to work! They cleaned what they could reach, and then Mark retrieved a stool to clean a little higher (which explains how he appears THAT much taller than Adam). They were very proud of their work.

 

Since Mark spent the whole week last week in beds with real bedspreads (he's been sleeping with a (small) fuzzy blanket, but hey, dude, winter's coming), I decided it was time to get him a real bedspread.

I previously bought the sheets from the Hit the Road! bedding set from Target, and I like them (they're good quality and CUTE CUTE CUTE) so today while the boys were in school, I bought the comforter that goes with it.

HOW CUTE IS THIS?!?!!?

So. We came home. I told Mark I'd gotten him a new bedspread. While I was taking off Adam's shoes and jacket, Mark had already run upstairs. He went potty (by himself) and then I heard him shrieking in his room. He was throwing his animals up onto his bed (with the new bedspread on it) and jumping around shouting.

I think he likes it. :)

Added moments later:

I went up to tuck him in for his nap -- he gets a few minutes to play first -- and he actually decided on his own that he wanted to use the "new" pillow rather than his old construction pillowcase (that I made and that he's used, eschewing the matching white pillowcase that goes with the sheets), so I tucked him in and got a quick picture before bed.

Good night, sleep tight!

 

This afternoon, we saw what is probably the last phase of the road construction -- the "dirt paver" as Mark calls it.

Fortunately, I had been out minutes before to retrieve my newspaper, which my brilliant and efficient carrier had (once again, despite a thousand requests otherwise) dumped into the ditch between my yard and the new curb. Had I not gotten the paper when I had, it would have been unceremoniously buried beneath a foot of dirt.

Please note the nice asphalt on the street. Mission accomplished for the road people, I reckon. Now Mr. Smith across the street went and bought sod to fix his part... We'll see this weekend what we decide to do.

No Parking for Paving, read the sign on our street when we got back from visiting Grandpa and Grandma, On or after July 15.

This morning we almost missed it.

Mark, who was banished to his room for another temper tantrum, got to see it, but Adam and I missed them putting down the asphalt and rolling in front of our house. We did walk two doors down and got to see it.

They'll finish the other side of the street later; here's hoping we get to see that.

The curb machine came through on Thursday, extruding perfectly shaped curbs right along the way. The boys watched. You can see Adam's construction equipment; Mark also had machinery in hand.

Snacks in hand make waiting for the equipment to arrive much more exciting.

Friday morning the concrete mixers were back to pour the base of the driveway, bright and early, as you can tell from the shadows. Adam stood close enough to them at the driveway a couple doors down that he had some tiny splatters of concrete on his t-shirt.

Yeah, Mom, all this construction is fun stuff!

I mean, really, could it be more exciting? (This is down the block.)

Actually, it could be more exciting.

Adam didn't manage a smile because he had an arm around his neck. But it was very very exciting. And fun.

These construction guys are super!

As if the earlier pictures from today weren't enough...

Yep, that's Mark, though he told me later, rather regretfully, that the driver didn't start the engine for him.

Adam got a turn, too.

This was the backhoe that was tearing out the last two feet of our driveway for the new curb to come in. We watched the whole job. And Mark and Adam got to "help". This was only after the backhoe driver offered. And I wasn't loudly saying, "Boy it sure would be nice if they would let you sit in their construction equipment..."

by the way, to the right of the cab in Mark's picture you can see where we're parking our cars for now... That's our van waaaaaay off in the distance...

This week I got a hit on my blog for "Buttonwood Drive Noblesville Construction", so, just in case you try again, let me oblige.

Last week, the boys set up camp on the porch with snacks to watch while the crews did curbs on the other side of the street.

Now it's our turn. Bright and early this morning (they started just next door), they were tearing out the curbs right in front of our house! Naturally, we let the boys get up early to see it.

(Did I mention it was right here where we could stand and watch?)

The boys were very excited to see the machine tearing up the curb and dumping the pieces into the dump truck. The dump truck backed up, too, beeping as it did. That, too, was exciting!

What an exciting way to start the day (even for Doggy)!

We're getting to the punchlist, which is basically finishing up this and that. We need to put the drawer pulls on, the toe kick, scribe molding, and tile. But... behold...

The cabinets fit next to the window after all.

And the King of All Things Building and Fixing was able to use the cabinet over the fridge with just a little modification. You can't even tell.

Soon all the construction stuff will be moved off the counters, undercabinet lighting will be done, and the tile backsplash will be finished. And all will be happy and beautiful. But isn't it awesome?!?!?!

For more on the kitchen project, please see the spouse's site: http://newpics.org/tim for the latest... He's had a chance to update. He also has included a photo from before we moved in as a nice 1970s contrast.

In the meantime, here's a gratuitous picture of the boys:

Kitchen 2008 continues on...

This is partially installed, from where the kitchen table will be once things are done.

As installation continued, I was still without a sink or a surface upon which to prepare food. Or, frankly, any room to get around.

Last night the boys stopped work for a photo. Note the sink in the background. And the counter tops.

Here is the peninsula, minus the toe kicks (they'll be last), and the sink, minus the doors (waiting for the disposer to be rewired).

I guess maybe I should clean off the refrigerator and make a clean start...

I will refrain from any stories or tales of the work on our kitchen because they ultimately belong to the Noblesvillain.

But I thought I would at least share a little bit of progress for those who wonder...

So. That's the original kitchen, with the upper cabinets over the peninsula already removed. And a lot of stuff piled everywhere.

All the uppers gone, as well as all the stuff. (Grandpa Marv is ducked down in the center of the cabinets.)

Two of those cabinets in the boxes are now mounted on the wall beside the refrigerator. One will have to be reordered. I prefer not to talk about that part.

Cool new flooring going in.

This is the chaos I live in right now. Except that the floor is all the way in, even in the closet (right) and the small blue spots toward the pulled-out refrigerator (which is now back in place).

I fixed lunch today in this lovely kitchen. I believe it will be the last meal I fix in it until I get 1) a sink and 2) a counter top.

The guys are doing a great job and the floor is beautiful. I am very happy with the cabinets; they are gorgeous. It will be wonderful -- soon, I hope. :)