Improvement

  I mentioned that we were going to paint the house a bit ago. It didn't happen. We've been having some minor incompetency issues with Home Depot. They can't seem to get the right paint ordered for us. Rob has been very patiently going back time and time again to figure things out with them. The front of our house is stucco, while the rest is sided. We're only painting the front, obviously... So instead of painting with regular masonry paint, we want a good quality elastic paint called Elastomeric. It stretches with weather and any cracks that should come along. It lasts a long time with a lifelong warranty. It's sold exclusively through Home Depot. So it's been about a month that we've been going back and forth with HD. And we're frustrated!
   However, none of it matters, because even if we had the paint, we've had heavy rain and thunderstorms every time we could have gotten the job done.
  So instead, when we had a clear day, we did this.

 

Just having that cleaned up has already improved our curb appeal by leaps and bounds. Here's a before picture to remind you of how hideous our yard was.

 

 

                    Rob hard at work.

 
            Until he hit the sprinkler line.

 

But it's done! I'm not going to plant anything until after we paint, since I don't want to smash up my new flowers in the process.

I'm just enjoying the fact that our front yard doesn't look like it's unloved.

 

 

 

If I'm honest.

   I really don't enjoy baking bread. I really do enjoy eating it, and so does the family. And once in a while I like making an effort to make them happy. (In Max's case, overjoyed with the task of baking) One batch of bread makes six loaves. That means, thankfully, if I make two batches I don't have to do it again for a couple weeks. And that's really nice. Today I sliced up the last loaf of bread I'd had in my freezer. I dreaded the thought of it being gone. That meant I had to bake more. Ugh. But the imps at my knees demanded toast for breakfast. And then more. And then bread with honey on it. And then bread to brush their teeth with and use as deodorant.
   I really did bake today. (I could only stand to make one batch this time) But I did my best to put it off. I did things like ...laundry. And replied to emails. Combed my hair twice. I made sure Maggie had sufficient silly-face time, with the appropriate amount of baby food smeared across her cheeks. Then I took a lot of time cleaning her up, much to her disapproval. I pondered how to get Max to stop picking his nose. And biting his nails. And being the over-all gross kid of the family. I mean, really. I don't remember how many times I yelled GETYOURFINGEROUTOFYOURNOSE!!! yesterday. I have NEVER had to do that with Connor! Then I finally started baking. By cleaning the kitchen first, of course.
   At least it's done for a week. The bread baking I mean. Not the cleaning. That's never done.
   Speaking of boogers, we have all been sick for 2 weeks, give or take. Connor started it with a cough, then a cold. My body thinks I have to compete with him, apparently, because I get whatever he gets. It spread to the other 2 pretty quick. Maggie got croup, and the rest of us weren't much better off. We've been on antibiotics since Tuesday. The kids are better now, and I'm about halfway there. Except my chest has started rattling when I breathe. I'm sure that means I have pneumonia. Positive. Better spend another day in bed tomorrow, to fend it off. Rob has been wonderful. He had to come home from work one day last week to take care of us. He never once complained about the hacking, barking, and sneezing coming out of every one of us. Not to mention every orifice. Hey, when you cough that hard, you can't control what happens on the other end. He never felt sorry for himself having to wipe noses and butts and generally be Mr. Mom. And he seemed immune to whatever virus we were sharing. Until a couple nights ago when he came to bed with a high fever. He tossed and turned and shivered half the night. The sheets were charred from the heat of his body, but thankfully when the fever broke, the sweat stopped the flames. He felt fine the next morning, but now he's the one hacking and barking and sneezing. And I'm trying to take care of him as well as he took care of me. And I only sometimes laugh when a bark comes out his butt. What? I'm not proud of it.
   
          Max was supposed to be in bed, but was being mischievous instead.

 

            So I sneezed at him. That'll show him.

  

 

How??

  Maggie is already standing up without holding on to anything. Any day now she'll take a step and I'll ask myself for the 745th time, HOW?? WHEN? This girl just popped out of me yesterday! I didn't even see the first time she sat up from her snake-like slither. All of a sudden, she was updownupdownup. And now she's standing on her own and clapping while she does it. Show-off. Tomorrow she'll graduate kindergarten.

 

 

Connor is going to stay in preschool for another year. His teacher doesn't think he's ready for kindergarten. He'll still be four for a couple weeks after it starts, so it's not a big deal to keep him back another year. She mentioned having him evaluated for autism or Asperger's. We talked to his doctor about it, but she doesn't think he has either one. He doesn't show any red flags for autism. His speech is fine, he's very affectionate, and he's very smart - he's academically ready for kindergarten. He's just socially and emotionally behind. Basically, he likes to play by himself, and has a hard time following group instructions. We'll see how he is doing at the end of the next year of preschool. If he's still having some problems, we'll have him checked out. Right now, I think another year will do him a lot of good!

 

 

 

  

How does your garden grow?

We've been enjoying beautiful weather here! Today is supposed to be nearly 80 degrees. Monday should be 90. The boys have been spending almost every waking minute outside, and their necks are about as brown as the dirt. Most of the time that's because they are actually covered in the stuff. Baths have once again become a nightly task.
    So there's this girl I know. She's never started a garden before. And she didn't really know what she was doing when she planted her seeds. ..... really close together. Really, really close together. And a lot of onions. About 3 times as many onions than she can ever actually use. And when she explained to her mother how she planted her garden, her mother laughed at her a lot. (Random fact - onions can be bought and planted as bulbs. Wish I'd known that before I bought seed packets.) I know it's not very obvious, but that girl is me. Maybe next year I'll just shop at the farmer's market instead.
    Next weekend we are FINALLY painting our house!! We were going to do it last weekend, but it didn't work out. I'm very excited to get that done! Then we can move on to a little landscaping. (finally) Currently, the house looks like it's unloved. I will post before and after photos of the paint job IF we don't mess it up too badly.
   Crossfit is not as horrible as my last post. I've actually become a little addicted to it! Ok, a lot addicted. I talk about it all the time. I have a board dedicated to it on Pinterest. It's a little ridiculous, really. You will get sick of hearing about it. But Rob has joined me in the lifestyle, so at least we can chatter about it together and not bug everyone else. I still chicken out now and then if I know there's going to be a particularly scary or difficult workout. Like running 2 miles. Can't do that. Or 150 wall balls. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29r5q9PAyek
 That actually happened, and I totally skipped that day. I can maybe do 20 WB's with my 10 pound med ball. I'm weak. But I can already see and feel some changes to my body, and I don't have any desire to quit!
   Connor is almost done with preschool. Only a month left. It feels like he just started!! I need to bring some papers in to the elementary school, and he'll be all set to start kindergarten AUGUST 2ND already!! Unbelievable.
   Maggie is growing so fast! She still refuses to crawl, and I'm sure now that she never will. She army crawls so fast she looks like a snake slithering across the floor. It's crazy. She's pulling herself up on everything now. Such a big girl. I'm weaning her off of her bottles. She still gets one at bedtime, but the rest of the day she does without as much as possible. Sometimes she just NEEDS it. She says hi, and baby.

This is how she sleeps at night. She never took a pacifier. Guess she found something better.

I find her like this all the time too! Feet up!

Getting so big!

 

LOVES to swing!

 

 

 

Photo taken by Connor.