The classroom floor

Great transformations are taking place everywhere you can check out many here:
http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/
or just keep reading to hear about mine!

A small room sits at the front of the house of our Cape Cod. We were always a bit unsure of what to do with it but new there was great potential. This room needed a lot of reconstructive work done to it. The floor was rotten in a few places and the previous owners had apparently let their children use it as a coloring sheet. Since it was at the front of the house on the bottom floor I did not want to turn it into a much needed child's bedroom. It was just to far from ours and made me nervous. With our children home schooled and the kitchen table not at all working for us we decided it would be their classroom.

The work began. We added proper drainage to the outside corner of the house to stop the water from coming in and the floors from rotting. We ripped up the old floor, sub floor even framing. It was all bad and to our surprise done unevenly. My husband, NOT A CONTRACTOR barley a handyman, had to build a level base something he had no clue about. After a few tries he enlisted the best help cookies and chocolate milk could buy and got the framing in.




Then came me I stepped in with the primer. Painting over all the crayon I kept thinking about what color would be a good choice for a children room. I did what everyone else does and googled it. What is the best color for learning? I came up with orange. Not a slap you in the face orange but a softer more pastel type. Okay why not I will go to try my hand at picking out a paint color again. Cue the scary music.

It still was not easy after that but next came the sub floor. The first attempt sloped something terrible. Ugh and we were getting so close. We had to rip out the entire thing and start over at fixing the framing. DH was frustrated and so was I.

The framing got fixd the floor got laid and the orange was applied by me 8 months pregnant hopeing that would he baby make his arival. No baby, and no support form the rest of the family about the color. We let it sit for days as we would walk by and just stare. The room looked like a pumpkinpatch! You would often hear some one say go turn the light off in the classroom only to walk up to it and realize that no light were on the paint just radiated so much light! We nearly did not need the new light fixture that we put up next.

One sunny day my father called and asked what do you want to do today? Ah ha, I wanted the flooring laided so our phone call pretty much went like this:
Well Daddy (somethings up when your 30 and adress your father by Daddy)why don't you come up here. DH is working on the floor and he would like your help.
Now I had to go tell my DH that he I also roped him into working on the floor. He is goingh to love me.

Those two started working on the floor and within an afternoon the finished! I can't believe it. We now have a floor that looks great in the classroom and I have to men in my life who are very proud of themselvs. As they should be.





We have slowly got used to the orange.

Now the trimwork needs to be done. I am hoping today but with rain in the forecast all week it might have to wait. Our classroom is comming along.

Waiting for the children

The house is quite and still. The movement has seized as the children are away. Oh how do we miss them. I miss rolling over in bed to find my 4 year old has crawled up in it looking at me with such a sweet face, curly hair and BIG brown eyes saying "hello mama I sleep with you." I love the closeness. I then kiss him close my eyes so he will close his again.



I miss my oldest and all his questions. His excitement when he hears the answer he wants. "Yes its Mommy's day off" "Yes its a t-ball day" "No I love you even more than that." He is a comedian and keeps you well entertained throughout the day.



Such sweet kids such wonderful blessings. We now have a date for our newest! At a doctors visit yesterday they told me that if baby does not come by Monday I am to check in to Labor and Delivery 6 am Tuesday morning for an induction. I am excited and scared. I have had one child induced and it sure is quick and painful. But it is labor. Within that day I will be holding a soft a new baby and all will be okay. I am still hoping everyday that it is he day. Maybe June 5th is an unknown birthday.

Welcome June

Yesterday was the first day of June. A beautiful warm late spring day. The kind that cradles you in its arms and says I am so glad you are here to play with me.

I wish I would have done more of that but yesterday was a tough pregnancy day. Lots of ill feeling, body pains, exhaustion, and nearly a complete inability to move. But the good news is yesterdays ailments are over and after a good nights sleep I feel 100% better today. Good enough to labor if you so be it baby. I am at 38 weeks and feel like it. I am very excited and mostly very thankful to the Lord for this precious blessing He will soon deliver.

The boys were able to get in some good outdoors time. They usually tend to play together pretty well. A few arguments come form the competitive side of the both of them. They are at such sweet ages where they love to be divided into teams. We have Gregory representing the red team (when he is not the Pirates) and Evan representing the blue team. I have no idea why or where they got this. But it makes life easier on me. For instance they will no longer have matching tableware sets but they each will have their team color. It is so much easier when one wants more juice and I know immediately which cup is whose by the color. Also if I find cups, shoes, or toys laying around the house there is no denying whose it is. I simply say blue team come get your ______ and put it away.

They love these big blocks! My mother brought them up for the boys in 2 large garbage bags and I thought oh my what big toys. My husband and I are not fans of BIG or little toys, toys with lots of pieces and toys with lots of instructions, toys that make the children dirty or make messes everywhere, toys that kill the grass or get stuck to everything in the house in fact we are just pretty anal people. I suppose if the it weren't for people bringing the boys presents the children would be left with well...humm...?




Today is the second day of June a slightly chillier rainy day. But it is early, their is time and hope for our late afternoon T-ball game to proceed. For a break in the sky which would enable us to take a bike ride. Maybe those events are not in the cards for us today could just be the perfect days for laundry, grocery shopping, or a trip to the library.

However our day turns out I thank the Lord for his blessing for the time to spend with the boys. The great family he has provided for us. A sweet little home to keep us dry and very busy. The rain however brief or long to water our plants and provide us with the food for our bodies. (Plants from farmers obviously not the ones we are growing). Thank you Lord for all you are and for all you are doing.

A basketball in my belly

It doesn't even look real. It looks like I stuffed a basketball up my shirt. How my belly can go from little to whoa momma amazes me every time. Pregnancy is a miracle. The perfect combination between you, your husband and God. At the end of 37 weeks I am ready to meet my little baby. Ready to be able to move again, get of the couch, put on my socks myself, and hold my other children on my lap once again. Able to birth any day and feeling like it any minute. When will you come? I never know? But baby if you are ready to make that journey sooner than later I will shower you with lots of love hugs and kisses and appreciation for not making me wait two more weeks.

A green thumb...

I think not. Every year my husband and I try our thumb at gardening. Some years it has been vegetables and some years just plants. Either way they pretty much end up with the same ending conclusion... we are not meant to grow our own food. Each time I bring home a beautiful healthy plant my husband has the same words for it "sorry to know you will be living out the last of your days soon".

Why do we continually put ourselves through this laborious summer of watering, weeding, and worrying about our little plantings? Maybe for the joy of that 1 bloom or the tiny jalapeno the we grew. Many people garden for relaxation? How does that work? We do enjoy it but relaxing is not interchangeable here for us. We care about our little plants and worry about our bunny eating them.

With all the advertisements about upside down gardening we thought we would give that a shot this year. We purchased this upside down right side up planter with the highest of hopes. In fact we purchased 2! One for us and one for my mother, perfect for her city patio. DH researched and found out the best type of plants to grow together and the type of plants that would not grow to long upside down so we would not have food on the floor. We were excited. We ran to our favorite nursery where we bought 2 inch tomato plants. They had to be small to fit through the holes. We germinated some beans (great home school project) and then planted them in pots so they could grow a little bigger to stick through the holes too. Finally after 2 weeks of waiting for them to get big enough we were able to now plant our tomatoes and beans upside down. We covered them with soil and planted a few other vegetables up top right side up. This was such a long patient project that seemed to be producing to results we took the other planter back. I told my mother just buy what you need when you need it. You will be happier. But now over a month into it and after still many unplanned struggles we are seeing a little bit of growth as we too are still buying all are food at the market.





My husband also planted this line of peppers. All sorts hot, mild, long, colorful, worldly, and they all look the same. Little stubby stems with leaves. He planted 3 tomato plants at the end with little faith in our upside down ones.





We are trying yes, succeeding will see. Maybe by the end of summer we will actually have a home grown salad.

If Rodger does not get it first!

Back to Blogging

Its been a long time to go with out blogging and I feel called to be back. I have been tossing it around very lightly in my head and last night I sat up in the middle of the simi sleeping and why not get down stairs and start writing. However, like I said this was late at night and I figured it could wait till morning.

The reason I stopped was simply I just had no time. Between juggling a family, career, homeschooling, pregnancy and home this was one of the many things I gave up. I sill have my family and am very close to adding a new member any day now. We are still homeschooling as we will run it through the summer. But I am no longer working. That has freed up well over 60 hours a week for me. I am taking that time and focusing it differently able and excited to blog again.

January in review

We had a nice January. It was a much calmer follow up to the every bustling holiday season. That did not mean the holidays were over for us by any stretch just not as busy. We celebrated the new years by ....



Sleeping through the ball drop. It's okay I have seen it so many times. I think the rest of the brute was asleep also but as you can see I was off in never land.
Welcome 2009!

Since we are not sports fans we carried on New Years day normal as always.

January 6 we celebrated 3 Kings Day. This was a great time to reinforce to the boys the Christmas story. How on the 12th day of Christmas the 3 wise men made it to the baby Jesus. We had a great time dressing up as wise men, making cake and best of all eating it.



January was a cold month bring with it lots of snow. Not good for the boys to play in because it also brought lots of ice. But if you are a duck you don't mind as much.



With the cold temperatures brought one of our favorite times ICEFEST! We had a blast. Oh boy was it ever cold that day. We started off with a chili cook off to warm up.



Yummy! I love chili. That's the native Texan coming out or maybe just the cold New Englander. There were around 20 competitors and they all dished out chili to willing tasters. I really enjoyed trying all of them. Now so warm and so full we headed out into the below freezing temperatures to see the remarkable craftsman's ship of the ice sculptures.








My ice Kings and Queen. They got so cold at the end, we all did, but they were great trooper through the town.



After Icefest came yup you guessed it sick kids. So we have been spending the last few days now washing extra sheets and clothes because I don't have to go into further explanation for that one.

So back to laundry room I will retreat. February should be fun as well as soon as we defrost.