New stairs (warning: house pics)

After a little stress, we have new stairs! Mark hired a contractor to put in new windows, and he pitched an idea for new stairs. Here is the evolution: Original pic (unbelievably steep stairs with little clearance). Notice that these stairs end before the doorway on the left. No stairs!!

Finished stairs that go beyond the old doorway on the left. Mark can even walk down the stairs without banging his head. Amazing!

Ahhh...finally...quality friends

I know I am super picky about friends. It's just the way life is going to be for my kids. They won't have a lot of friends, but the few that they have will be quality. Today we are having a play date with the other homeschooling family. Their 9yo boy plays amazingly well with Jonah, and they have a daughter the same age as Anna. Perfect! Their 12yo daughter has babysat Eli & Sarah a few times too. If only the had younger children too. Here are the boys in action: And the girls:

Just a cute pic of Sarah

Yes, the van is a little dirty. Remember that our new house is on a gravel road. We are country now.

The boys have a reputation

Our neighbor found a snake under her steps last week, and guess who she called to remove it? Yep, the neighbor boys. Jonah scared it out of hiding and Eli grabbed it. Who needs a husband when those boys live next door? Maybe the boys should think about advertising pest removal services.

We have one of those kids

Jonah has been determined to save his money for a skateboard and here it is. It's definitely right up his alley. I just hope he doesn't start sporting a skateboarding persona.

New shoes

Yes, they all needed new shoes at the same time. Here are their shoe sizes 7yo Anna = 13.5 5yo Jonah = 11.5 2yo Eli = 11 (that's not a typo)

She PASSED!!! She PASSED!!!

Anna passed her level 3 swimming test. Woo! Hoo! She has been working so hard - even going to the pool early to practice. She easily passed all the skills individually, but we all thought she didn't have enough endurance to pass the swimming portion. She had to swim across the pool using the front crawl, tread water for 30 seconds, and swim back using the back stroke. She tried valiantly swimming across, but she just doesn't have the endurance to swim across the pool without stopping numerous times. We thought for sure she wasn't going to pass. But, amazingly, her teacher passed her anyway. Now, the little worry wort is worried about being in level 4. She'll be another year bigger and stronger by then, so I'm sure she will be just fine.

Two steps forward, one step back

or is that one step forward and two steps back? Mark thinks that is the most accurate saying to describe our life right now.

As evidence....if your 2 & under crowd are quiet for more than five minutes, here is what they may be creating...

a floor littered with ice remover pellets. To top it off, the pellets plugged up the vaccum, so I have to solve that problem before I can clean up the porch floor. Grrr. At least they were working well together. Right? Our little lemon eating watermelon.

This little girl is so much fun right now. I totally see why kids are spaced 2 years apart. The little ones hit this sweet phase and it brainwashes you into thinking another kid is a good idea.

Musings

Have you ever looked at something again and again and thought it was just a little off but you couldn't figure out why? Right before I took this picture, I had a lightbulb moment. Eli looked a little strange to me all morning and I just couldn't figure out what was wrong. He was wearing Sarah's shirt and she was wearing his. Geez. Only took me four hours to notice.

Don't they look studious?

Saying goodbye to Daddy before he left for his first reserves weekend. We are really, really hoping the reserves works out. It's a nasty drive - four hours one way - to Minneapolis. But, the benefits are good.....monthly pay now and after retirement a pension and healthcare. Just another 16 years to go!

This gave me a chuckle. I woke up one morning to find Mark's toothbrush hiding on top of the medicine cabinet. Why? Well, I have two little ones who love to brush their teeth. Whenever they notice the bathroom door open they grab any available toothbrush, and they rarely put the toothbrushes back when they are done. In fact, little Sarah often leaves the toothbrushes laying around the house. I guess Mark had had enough.

Here they are busy at work pretending to fix Anna's bike.

I don't think I told anyone about Anna's friend triumph. We were at the swimming pool one day and she was happily playing with a little girl named Hanna until Hanna dumped Anna in favor of another girl. My poor Anna was upset, and of course I was upset for Anna. Anna rehashed it over and over and Mark & I tried to coach her for the next time she saw the two girls. Well, I am so proud of my little Anna. She saw them a couple days later, and she talked it out with Hanna. Hanna ended up coming over to our house that day. By the end of the visit, I heard Hanna tell Anna that our house was a lot of fun. Hanna has been a frequent visitor since then, and the girls are becoming fast friends. Ha! Of course this girl would want to be Anna's friend.

Simon Says

Overheard..... "Simon says to touch your atommen (abdomen)." "Simon says to touch your thorax." The house is coming along, and I think we can see a little light at the end of the tunnel. I will post some pics tomorrow if I get a chance.

We're Home!

What an amazing drive yesterday. We made the trip in 9.5 hours. Can you believe it? The kids were fantastic (I saw a lot of napping). We even made it home in time for Anna's swimming lesson. Unbelievable. Eli had a complete melt down after we arrived, but a melt down at our house is easy-peasy. We ran out to the farm to check progress. Mark has framed in the stairs and most of the bathroom. The shower is in place so it's much easier to visualize the upstairs. Our three new windows were put in yesterday, and they all look fantastic. We need to pick rhubarb and weed Anna's garden. From what I could see between the weeds, her potatoes are coming in nicely.