Flashback

Here's a picture that was taken prior to my existence. Any guesses as to who this stunningly-attired young man is?

That is my Pops. He was about sixteen, I think, and was ushering at his brother's wedding. Smashing tux, and the hairstyle really completes the ensemble, don't you think?

I'll bet that on that day he never imagined that he would get saved, marry a beautiful blonde, have four children, complete a Naval career, and eventually become a pastor!

The Boogie's Perspective

After church one evening I asked, as always, "Did you have a snack in class?"
"Yes," the Boogie replied, "I had one small, thin cookie. That was it."
"Oh!" I said, "It sounds to me that you aren't very grateful for what you got. You should always be thankful for things you get, even if you think they are small."
"Well," she said honestly, "a big, thick cookie would be more grateful."

I sneezed and exclaimed, "Ouch!"
"What's the matter, Honey?" she asked. "What hurts?"
"My uterus!" I joked.
"What's a uterus?" she asked.
"It's an organ in my stomach, what the baby is growing in right now," I explained.
"Oh," she giggled, "it sounds like a planet."
Uterus: The Ninth Planet.


We were reading a book and there was an illustration of a group of people with upset faces. "Look at those people," I said, "they look very ... "
"Sad!" Peabody said.
"And what else?" I prompted, going for "angry" or "upset."
"Morose!" The Boogie said.
My jaw dropped. "Morose?" I repeated dumbly. She began to backpedal.
"Wait ... what does 'morose' mean?" she asked hesitantly.
"No, you're right!" I quickly assured her, "It means 'sad' and you used it right."
"Yeah, I know," she recovered herself, "I knew that's what it means."
"That's such a good word to know how to use correctly!" I praised her.
"Yeah, I know," she agreed.
Smart, and also humble.

She wanted a nurse's cap, so she made one. It looks like a bishop's hat but we didn't tell her that.

 

She definitely got that creative gene from my mother -- it skipped right over me!

Random Peabodyness

*This is an old post I started writing several weeks ago.*

We were wandering through the baby/toddler section in Target the other day. I rarely look in that section anymore, since the Boogie has outgrown it and Peabody doesn't ever need clothes. This time, though, we were looking for something for Bacon and we came across these. 

I love Peabody's face!

The Boogie just fits into hers now so will undoubtedly outgrow them soon, but since they are pajamas who cares if the pants and sleeves get too short? They were so delighted with them, especially Peabody. They call themselves the Batgirl Twins. The emblem on the front is all glitter, so they wake up with glitter all over their faces and in their hair.

Peabody announced, "I know da letter dat goes wif dis sound: tuh, tuh, tuh, tchurch!"

I asked the girls what they would like for lunch. Peabody chose "peanut butter an' choc'late" as always. She asked to make her own sandwich, so I helped her spread the bread with peanut butter and generic Nutella. I cut an apple into slices and gave them to her to put on her own plate. She carefully arranged them in a pile on top of her sandwich. "Dese are da finishing apple touches," she said.


I told them that if they ate all of their lunch they could have a treat. The Boogie ate hers, but when Peabody was finished with her sandwich and I asked if she was ready for her cookies, she said, "No, sank you." Refusing cookies? Unheard of! After our walk she decided she was ready. I set her up at the table and as I left the room I heard the Boogie ask something and Peabody reply, "Sure!"
"Hey, you already had yours! Did you ask for one of her cookies?" I demanded of the Boogie.
"No, I didn't," she protested, "I just asked if I could have a bite, and she said yes."
"You may not have any," I said. "You already had your treat and those are for your sister." But Peabody piped up, "We talked abou' kindness. And sharing is being kind." Well, whaddaya know. She does listen in Sunday school! For the past four weeks our lessons have centered on kindness, and we always discuss ways that we can be kind to others. I was so tickled to hear her say that.

"I wanna tell God sumping," she said at dinner.
"What do you want to tell Him?" I asked.
"I wanna tell Him dat I am really silly. And when I'm silly it makes God REALLY laugh."

Every morning when she gets up she asks for a snack. Not just any snack, but a "cereal snack" which is then followed up with the request "jus' cereal, in a bowl, wis no milk." I usually say no, and tell her that if she is hungry I will make her breakfast, which she then refuses. This morning when she asked for a snack I surprised her by agreeing. Her face lit up. "You said yes!" she exclaimed. She came over and patted my arm, beaming, "Dat's a good mama."

On our way out of the grocery store she wanted a flyer advertising next week's sales. It got left in the car, and tonight in the car she tried to look at it in the dark.
"Daddy, can you turn on da light?" she asked. He agreed at first, but when he realized why she wanted the light he changed his mind.
"You don't need the light on," he explained, "I said yes because I thought you were looking for something."
"Yeah," Peabody replied without missing a beat, "I'n lookin' for sumping to eat."

Sneak Peek

Look who we got to see the other day!

Bacon

Here are the big sisters, for comparison.

the Boogie

Peabody

The girls went with us to the ultrasound. They were very interested, especially the Boogie. Both kept asking, "What's that? What's that?" We saw some great shots of tiny hands and feet! It's pretty amazing to see so much. Everything looked great, for which we are very thankful.

And no, we did not find out the gender. I think Eric would like to know. He's wanted to find out each time. With the Boogie it did seem practical to find out. With Peabody I wanted to be surprised but Eric didn't, so I humored him. This time it's my turn to be humored. I do have a suspicion ... but I'm keeping it to myself! I will truly be delighted with either way.

This And That

The Boogie was chatting with FIL, discussing caterpillars and moths or something, when FIL said, "I'm perplexed! Are you perplexed?"
"Well, I would be," the Boogie said, "if I knew what it means."

Sometimes we watch old tv shows on MeTV, things like I Love Lucy and The Brady Bunch. The downside to watching things on tv is that there are commercials, and the channels that play older shows have commercials aimed for older people. So it follows that while watching Leave It To Beaver Peabody informed me, "I want a alert. If I fall down I can push da button," she indicated an imaginary necklace around her neck, "and da firefighters will run to me. And da police will get da bad guys away."

We watched one episode of Gilligan's Island. Just one episode. Almost a week later we went to Chick-fil-a, and the girls played in the play area for a while after they ate. There were two little boys around the same ages playing with them -- both boys were dark-haired with bowl cuts. In the car on the way home Peabody talked about them, referring to one as "dat boy wif hair like Gilligan's." Ha! She was right!

(Sidenote: since I've now been writing this post for approximately 27 days, I should point out that two or three weeks later she still talks about "dose boys dat look like Gilligan.")

Eric laid on the Boogie's bed for a few minutes at bedtime. After prayer and hugs they traded places and she immediately complained, "Daddy made one of my spots hot, and I don't like it when my bed is hot."

While snuggling Peabody I accidentally tickled her and she squirmed and giggled. "Dat tickles!" she exclaimed.
"I'm sorry," I apologized.
"No sorry!" she said, growing serious. "Don't say sorry for tickles. I LOVE tickles!"

Every now and then Peabody will come up to me and ask, "Can I see your uvula?" I don't know where that fascination came from.

Sometimes she will randomly exclaim, "Nip it! Nip it in da bud!" Bonus points to the person who knows where that came from.

One evening we had hamburgers, macaroni and cheese, and broccoli for dinner. When Peabody's plate was clean she announced that she was finished. "Would you like any more?" I asked.
"Yes," she replied, "May I have some more broccoli, please?"
"Is that all? Do you want some more burger or mac'n'cheese?"
"No," she said, "just broccoli."
A few nights later she asked for more peas and carrots. What a weird kid.

She prefaces words with "un" unnecessarily: glue is unglue, tie is untie, cut is uncut etc.

She and the Boogie play often with baby dolls, pretending that they are the parents. One day from out in the living room we could hear Peabody in the playroom sternly reprimanding her baby: "Don't do dat anymore! I told you five ... I told you six times!"

She asked to have her nails painted. "Honey, can you paint my toenails? Because dey are really not byoo-ah-ful."

The Boogie has been asking to do jobs for pay so she can save up money for a certain toy. After one of our "what can I do to earn some money?" conversations, Peabody asked, "Honey, can you give me a quarter for playing?" I guess it never hurts to ask ...

Since the Boogie is now in first grade, she's graduated from the beginners Sunday school class to the primary one, and to the older junior church class. She is SO excited to be in what she calls the "second" class. Every time someone asks her what grade she's in, she tells them first grade, and the second class at church. It's very strange for me to not have her in my class anymore, since I've taught her for almost four years. But I've still got Peabody who will be around for a while yet, and by the time she graduates up Bacon will probably be starting!

The Boogie has been asking for a jump rope for a while. The week before school started we found some at the dollar store so she chose a yellow one while Peabody picked blue. The Boogie couldn't wait to try hers out and as soon as we got home she went right to the backyard to practice. Within ten minutes she tripped up in the rope, did a face plant on the patio, bruised and scraped her chin, split her lip pretty badly, and knocked out a tooth! For a few seconds I panicked, thinking that she'd lost one of her adult teeth, but thankfully it was the last of her baby teeth in the front -- it had been loose though not quite ready to come out, so her gum was bruised too. Poor kid. What a way for her wish to play out! Once she got over the initial shock and pain she was pleased that she'd lost another tooth. She healed up pretty quickly. Thankfully it didn't happen any closer to school picture day!

Mama Dog has been banished from carpeted areas ever since we had them cleaned in the spring. At first we kept the pet gate up, then we took it down and chased her with a spray bottle back into the kitchen enough times for her to get the idea. She did pretty well staying on her rug just inside the kitchen door, but lately she's been pushing the envelope by laying just outside the kitchen door. The command "Get in the kitchen!" is heard multiple times a day. We let it go a lot, though, and just ignore her, as long as she stays just outside the door. Sometimes we'll tell her to get in the kitchen and she'll get up, turn around, and lay back down on the carpet with just her head on the kitchen rug.

"What? I AM in the kitchen."

At night the gate is put up and a drying rack blocks the door as well because, although she knows she isn't supposed to, she can easily jump over the gate. So:
1. Mama Dog knows she is supposed to stay in the kitchen.
2. Mama Dog knows she is not supposed to jump over the gate. If she does, she usually lays down right outside the kitchen door with her ears down, because she knows she's about to get into trouble.
3. For 17.5 of the 18 months that she has lived with us, she has not been allowed up on the furniture. Ever.

So, how is it then that when we occasionally forget to put the drying rack up, she will jump the gate, venture all the way across the living room, and sleep on the couch in the middle of the night? Usually Eric catches her since he's the first one up in the morning, but the other day she jumped back into the kitchen before anyone caught her -- the only way I knew she'd been on the couch was the fur on it! She is such a sneaky little booger.

And now, since I've been working on this post for forever, I think I'll just go ahead and publish it.

So stylish. Please note the hair sticking out of the hole on the side, since the hat is actually for a teddy bear.

Teatime

This Kid

 ... chose her own clothes and then proceeded to cover her legs, feet, and face with stickers.

... asked me to drop her off at work this morning. I suggested she could walk, to which she agreed. Then she cried bitterly because I would not actually let her leave the house by herself.

... thinks it's hilarious to repeat back to me each sentence that I say to her.

... gets all wired on chocolate milk or lemonade.
... knows how to push her sister's buttons.
... can turn a perfect somersault.
... asks every night if she can sleep in her sister's bed.
... covers her ears and tells me, "I'm brave!" when it's time to wash her hair.
... still sucks her thumb when she's sleepy or upset.
... loves to cut and glue.
... is generous with hugs and kisses.
... makes us laugh every single day and brings great joy to our family!

The Boogie Begins First Grade

We had our first day of first grade yesterday!

If I was a forward-thinking person I would have planned something yummy for breakfast ... like donuts. Or baked some muffins or something. But I didn't think of it.

The first day was super easy.
Bible: "In the beginning God created ..."
Phonics: "A says 'a' as in 'apple'."
Math: "What is the number that means not any? Zero!"
Handwriting: "Trace then write this letter."
We will add a couple of subjects in the next week or so.

Peabody was tired and crabby but she did a couple of workbook pages, too. I am impressed by her cutting and matching skills. I thought the book would be over her head but I underestimated her.

In the afternoon the Boogie called my mom and told her all about it.

Last night while Eric and I were watching tv in the living room, I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye ... and it was a tiny frog! We caught it in a glass. It must have come out from under the couch because it was all covered with lint and kept rubbing its "hands" over its eyes to clear them. (Note to self: vacuum under the couch.) Eric took it outside and released it in the front yard. I don't know how it got into the house -- I guess it was small enough to get in under the crack in the front door. I wish we'd taken a picture. I hope no more frogs come into the house, though. There are two slightly bigger ones living in the back yard. Somehow they have escaped Mama Dog.

Yesterday I went through the playroom and filled a laundry basket with accumulated papers, old coloring books, cardboard-boxes-turned-craft-projects, partially used sheets of stickers, pieces of pipe cleaners, random lengths of yarn, and odd plastic thingamajigs from kids' meals. Toys were put away in proper places, and children were lectured about the importance of returning things to their homes. We shall see how long that lasts.

The contents of the laundry basket were sorted through after the girls were in bed so as to avoid conversations that start like this: "Honey, don't throw away that boat I made out of a box, tape, and yarn! But I really want to keep all of those old Sunday school papers! I need that craft I made in kindergarten!" I even braved the dark side of the house at nighttime (spiders) in order to conceal things in the outside trash and recycling cans. Hopefully sneaking them out of the house means they will never be remembered.

Next I will have Eric bring down the bags and bins of toys that I put in the attic in the spring -- my original plan was to pack things away for a while until they are forgotten, then cycle some of them back into the playroom while donating some of the rest. It's trickier to hide the things that are going to be donated. I might have to take them straight to the garage, though it's more convenient to have a box in the house to toss things into as I go through closets and drawers. Peabody especially has a lot of summer clothes that she rarely wore, so as we near the end of the season I am getting rid of some of them instead of packing them back up. Can you tell I am in my semi-annual "purge everything!" mode?

I've been doing a little sewing, finally learning how to use my machine, and yesterday I finished my latest project:

I'm kind of in that in-between stage of clothes. Some of my regular clothes still fit, and some maternity things are starting to fit. I do have enough clothes to get me through to cold weather and full maternity wardrobe, but I was lacking in the skirt department and wanted a comfortable lightweight one to help bridge the gap. I think it turned out fairly well for my first try! I'm pretty happy with it.

I've also been trying my hand at turning old t-shirts into tiny diapers for the baby. So far the results haven't been that pretty, but I figure they don't need to look great to be functional and it's good practice for me.

My hand has healed up really nicely. Tomorrow will be 3 weeks since I cut it. I was able to take the bandages off after ten days. It's sensitive and I don't have quite as much flexibility as before, but I think that will improve with time. I'm very, very thankful that it healed so well and I didn't have any infection at all.

Today marks 18 weeks pregnant! Eric has given the baby a nickname and now refers to him/her as Bacon. Lovely. I'm feeling lots of little kicks and thumps. I can sometimes feel it when I rest my hand on my stomach -- Eric felt one good kick once but hasn't felt anything since. Peabody lays her head on my stomach then immediately sits back up and says, "The baby kicked me!" I'm looking forward to when both girls can really feel it!

Check Ups

The girls had their yearly well-checks this week. Only four months overdue for the Boogie, and three months for Peabody! I couldn't believe how full the schedule was at their pediatrician's office -- I made the appointments back in June, and they couldn't get us in for two months. That being said, we've never had any trouble getting an appointment on the same day if someone is sick (which is rare, praise the Lord.)

First they got weighed and measured.

The Boogie, at 6 years and 4 months old, is 46 lbs. and 46 inches tall.

Peabody, at 3 years and 3 months old, is 32 lbs. and 36 inches tall.

Then the Boogie had her vision and hearing checked, and both were perfect. Peabody won't do that until next year.

Then we were put in a room and both girls changed into gowns. They were very excited about that.

The Boogie had her check-up first while Peabody watched intently. During Peabody's turn when the doctor asked her questions the Boogie kept piping up with answers -- I think we need to work on that bad habit!

Both girls checked out perfectly and the best part for them was that neither of them needed any shots. That's a perfect visit to the doctor! The best part for me was that my car started despite me having left the headlights on. Oops.

The Little White House: Bathroom Remodel

It seems I never did post about the bathroom remodel. Four months after its completion I think it's probably time to do that ... Go get yourself a cup of coffee or something because this is gonna be long.

It was a lot of work, but would have been much more if it weren't for Eric's brother who spent many hours here. We are so grateful for family and friends who are willing to help us with our projects!

I started out taking lots and lots of pictures but as the project dragged on and on and on I just forgot to pull out the camera.

So without (too many) more words I give you ... The Great Bathroom Project.

Before, in all of its 1970s-era-glory:

There were originally shower doors which I loathe so Eric removed them before we even moved into the house.

Ugh, it looks so gross in these pictures. It was mostly clean though I'll admit I kinda let it go as we were getting close to demolition day. I just didn't have it in me to bleach moldy grout when I knew it was just going to get ripped out anyway.

We replaced toilet and vanity when we bought the house so saved them for re-installment.

 

Please make note of the charming spinning toothbrush/soap holders. Eric really pushed to install them in the "new" bathroom but he wasn't able to convince me since I was too grossed out to put anything in them and was constantly cleaning water/soap/toothpaste splatters off of them. We saved them though ... maybe one day we'll build a retro bathroom with turquoise tile where they'll fit right in. Or maybe we'll sell them on eBay.

Demolition:

When the drop ceiling tiles came down we discovered BRIGHT blue paint on the ceiling. This picture does not adequately capture the brightness and blueness of it. It finally explained those random blue paint splatters on the tub which I often puzzled over while cleaning. 

When the old drywall came down the guys found dozens of old used razor blades down between the studs behind the sink. Apparently when the house was built, the medicine cabinet had a slot in it for disposing of old blades -- they just dropped down into the wall!

Goodbye, old tub. Goodbye. Forever. And good riddance.

 

New tub in the garage!

The wiring and plumbing part of the project took a bit longer than expected. It was during that period that picture-taking became neglected. I cannot find any pics of the gutted room, but we lived with it that way for quite a while so it is embedded in my memory.

Construction!:

A new tub and surround. Purple drywall/sheet rock/whatever you call it in your region of the country. Joint compound. Lots and lots of joint compound.

A friend who hangs drywall/sheet rock/whatever for a living came over with Tom one day and they hung most of the walls (the same friend hung drywall in the living room, hallway, and front bedroom when we first bought the house and gutted those rooms.) Then once it was all up Tom taped and mudded. Then it dried overnight. Then he came over the next day and sanded and mudded. Then it dried overnight. Then he came over the next day and sanded and mudded. Then it dried overnight. Then ... well, you get the picture. He did a really great job. I vacuumed up pounds and pounds of drywall dust every day. I went through a vacuum bag every day for a while. I feared for my vacuum's life. And the rest of my house looked like this:

See the vacuum in the background? I think I stopped putting it away. It just lived in the living room.

Finally the sanding and mudding and sanding and mudding was over and it was time for paint! And that's where my part came in. I can't construct. I can't install. I can't wire. I can't plumb. But I can paint, by golly.

Carefully, oh so carefully, protect the new tub!

Primer

And at last ... color! This is the picture I sent to Eric once the first coat was on the first section:

It's called Jalapeno Jelly and it's GREEN, people. The online color sample looks much more gray than it looks on the wall. It's really, really green. And we really, really love it.

Of course, the first few times I put on make-up in the bathroom I was taken aback by the greenish tint to my skin. Then I started doing my make-up in my bedroom which solved that problem.

The toilet stayed put during the entire project, until it was time for new flooring. We moved into 52 for a couple of days which was really fun and just like old times, but including Mama Dog. She was beside herself with delight to be there. She's allowed to go everywhere and even get up on the couch! It's always more fun at grandparents' house.

We hired a local company to lay the bathroom floor because we wanted to have an entryway put in the living room at the same time.

First a skim coat ...

... then a new floor!

I'm thrilled with the entryway. It made me crazy to have carpet there.

Someone had to come back later to trim the carpet.

We used a Bagster for all of the construction debris. It worked out really well. It was cheaper than a dumpster and we could keep it for as long as we needed. We covered it with a tarp to keep rain (mostly) out.

When I scheduled the pick-up I realized that it was too far up the driveway. Oops. Tom came over with his Jeep and tow ropes and dragged it to the end of the driveway. As it slid across the concrete, we could see little shreds of bag left behind.We figured that probably wasn't good ...

As the operator lifted the bag I could see holes on the bottom! The operator noticed too, see how he's looking at it?

Praise the Lord, it held just fine. I prayed the whole time. I didn't want to have to pick up sodden drywall and old screws off of the street and pay for another bag and another pick-up!

At last, the end result. The room is too small to get one good picture of it:

Brand new tub and surround

I painted the vanity black which took a lot longer than I thought it would and ended up with a rougher texture than I'd hoped -- I guess I should have sanded it between spray coats. Live and learn, right? But it's held up nicely so far and I'm pleased with how it looks in there.

We were going to mount the medicine cabinet on the outside of the wall but Tom convinced us that it wouldn't be too much work to recess it, and I'm glad he did. It looks really nice and the best thing about it is that no one else's toothbrushes have ever been stored in there. Ha!

We found the light fixture on clearance.

It's hard to take pictures of a light!

 The t.p. holder and towel bar match ...

 ... and so does the hand towel rack. It took much consideration to figure out where exactly to mount this thing!

We found tub fixtures to coordinate with the light and other stuff ...

... but although it came with a nice shower head, I much prefer these. A hand-held shower is indispensable for bathing kids!

We bought some new towels and found a shower curtain that coordinates with the wall color almost perfectly. The toilet and shower curtain rod were saved from the old bathroom, since they were both newly installed right after we bought the house.

And did you notice a key element?

NO WINDOW!!!

Tom pulled down the old siding and put up a new section between the other windows. Thankfully, because the siding is white, the old doesn't look too bad next to the new. You can hardly tell unless you're looking for it or the sun hits it just right.

I'll be honest, I kind of miss the natural light in there. And the window did make for a really nice breeze down the center of the house. But I can live without those things! We've talked about putting in a solar tube eventually. We'll see.

There are still just a couple of little things to do, like put some trim along the bottom of the tub, and run a vent from the exhaust fan to the outside of the house (right now it vents into the attic) and re-install the awnings (yes, they are ugly, but after a summer of sun shining on that side of the house I really appreciate their purpose.)

So, at last we have a new bathroom. I love it. I really do. It took a long time, and it cost more than we figured (of course), and the chaos around here was starting to really get to me after several weeks, and if I never have to look at another paintbrush again it will be too soon. But it was worth it!