Girls Day: Christmas crafts

Amanda has gotten to the point where she is now going back and reading all of my blog posts from the very beginning.  It is nice to know that this day has finally come, since the initial purpose of the blog was to document family happenings. 

However, my blog has slowed to a near halt in recent years due to the business that occurs within a family of five.  Amanda has been after me to post more, so I will try to do better.

Today Dave (Daddy) and Liam planned a 'boys day' with Uncle Jason and Nick, which by default left us with a 'girls day.'  The boys were headed to the Museum of Science in Boston, and we had planned for a day of Christmas crafts. 

We got a lot done, and boy... did we have fun doing it!  Despite it being only Nov. 22nd, we had the Christmas music playing and we were in the holiday spirit.

I can't share many of the photos, since most of what we did were family Christmas gifts, but here are some sneak previews.

Liam got to join in on the fun before he left...

Eva: hard at work.

Amanda works on one of her surprises...

While the girls worked on their gifts, I got creative making 'spa kits' for my two best friends.

A lamp found at Saver's

I jazzed it up with glittery white tissue paper and irredescent snowflakes.

Add a flameless candle and voila! (Although this photo makes it look way more yellow than it really is.)

My 'friends spa kit": a mug, chocolate bar, tea bags, bath salts, pedicure brush, lantern, and an ornament

If you are fortunate enough to be one of the recipients of these crafts, know that they were made with lots of love and hard work.  (And fun!) 

I think we'll need to schedule more of these girls' crafting days in the future!

House Progress: Exterior - North and West Sides

 This blog post shows:

- installation of family room window
- replacing and painting clapboard
- fresh coat of paint on the deck and fencing
- extensive repairs to the foundation and clapboard on the north and west sides of the house
- installation of the new chimney for the propane stove
- new location of the propane tank
- roof shingle repairs
- and a newly rebuilt cupola

I hope I remembered everything..

BEFORE PHOTOS:

The back deck: installing the family room window and repairing clapboard

Window is in.  Next step: Painting the clapboard

Painting is done.  Next step: Painting the deck/fence.

Deck and fence are all painted.

 AFTER PHOTO:

Back side of house: DONE!

 **************
Moving around to the north side of the house...Lots of work to be done there.

North side

The chimney was in bad shape!

The clapboard and foundation were in bad shape too!

North side of house

New clapboard

AFTER PHOTOS:

New chimney, propane tank moved, new clapboard and a fresh coat of paint

Brand new cupola, built by Dave

The past two years have been a lot of work, but it has been very rewarding to see how far we've come.  Thank goodness for BEFORE and AFTER photos.

Dave keeps saying that "2015 will be our year."  I sure hope he's right.

House Progress: Front Beds

This past week, we tore out some of the larger, overgrown bushes that were next to the house.  We also redefined the beds with large, white cobblestones... and finished them off by spreading dark black mulch.  Dave also installed a series of spotlights around the house to brighten it up.  I love the effect!

We got rid of the Andromeda outside of the dining room window, as well as the row of evergreens that were near the bulkhead doors. 

We talked about possibly putting in a little brick patio here.

A new coat of stain on the front steps

This is the front corner of the house, and you can see the new cobblestones, spotlight and mulch.

Side bed: We planted a bunch of bulbs here, so it should look pretty in the Spring.

Front bed

Another bed

Night view with spotlights on

House Progress: Fall 2014 (Family Room)

It's been a while since I documented our house progress.  This first series of photos are of the family room, which doubles as my piano studio.

June 2014: Installing a new window in the corner

Window is in place

And voila! - a window AND air conditioning. Thanks to Dave, it was much more pleasant to teach this past summer.

In this blank space above my music closet, we used to have potted plants.  We replaced them with a display area.

BEFORE:

This wall of the family room had some drywall repair/painting that needed to be done.

AFTER:

Replaced the drywall and trim, and added a new coat of paint.

BEFORE:

This is the entryway window.

AFTER:

New trim - - all done!

Liam's First Day of School

After watching his sisters head off to school for the past four days, it was finally Liam's turn to go. He was ready and waiting, with his Spiderman backpack on, an hour before it was time to leave.

He chose to wear the polo shirt from Grandpa Clint and Grandma Reda, because it matched his brand new Skechers!

So handsome!

This is our 7th (and final) year at the preschool, so we are in the home stretch.  Next year, public school for everyone... and no more private school tuition!

Liam plays 'Birthday Train'

In this video, Liam plays 'Birthday Train.'

Listen for the fun horn toots (harmonic 4th's) at the end.

(Sorry about Dave's electric sander in the background!)

First day of school

Back to school!  Despite the bus coming a whole 45 minutes earlier than last year, everyone was ready in record time. 

'Twas the night before school and outfits were laid out, lunches were assembled, and backpacks were packed with all of the necessary school supplies. 

4th grade

2nd grade

Ready to take on a new year!

Have a great year, girls!!  I can't wait to hear all about your first day.  

Reference: DIY Tick Repellant

After three separate courses of powerful antibiotics for Lyme Disease, I think it is safe to say that Dave is a "Tick Magnet."  The effects of Lyme Disease can be pretty severe, and and the side effects of the medicine have also wreaked havoc on Dave's system this year.

I made an all natural repellant this year, and am sharing it here so that I can find it again when I need to make more!


All Natural Tick Repellant 
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup rubbing alcohol
1 tsp rose geranium (also called geranium) essential oil
1/2 tsp lavender essential oil

Mix all and pour into a spray bottle.

I've also read that you can simply put a few drops of rose geranium oil on your wrists and that is supposed to work just as well - on both people AND pets. It smells a million times better than the chemical laden sprays. 

Aspiring author has first published work

Amanda recently submitted a written piece for our the debut column, Young Voices, in our local newspaper.  We found out that her article made it into the paper today! 

Some background... Our town went through a major redistricting of our 5 Elementary schools. There was a lot of shifting and re-drawing of each school's territory, an it has been a touchy subject for many. Luckily our kids will not have to move to a new school, but it has affected some of their very best friends. It will be an opportunity to meet new people and make new friends.

In preparation for the new school year, which begins next week, Amanda wrote some advice for the new students. Much to her delight, she even made the front page!

Click on the picture to zoom in.

Thumbnail on front page

Here is the full article.

Amanda, to quote you, "We believe in you!"  Way to go!  I'm so glad you made the time to write something, and it's awesome to see your words in print.

Liam is starting to read.

Liam is learning to read, and it's a family effort.  The girls are practicing their "Reading Buddy" skills and Liam is eating it up, loving all the extra attention.

He is a motivated and quick learner. 

By George, he's getting it!

Father's Day 2014

The kids and I had a plan for Father's Day morning: they would cuddle with Dave and give him a back rub, and I would sneak out to grab Starbucks coffee... and then make breakfast.

I  made cinnamon swirl french toast and bacon, and was just about to serve it when I saw a flash out the window.

Right outside of the dining room window, where the bird feeders are, a fox had hunted down a squirrel.

After all of that excitement, Dave opened up all of his gifts, homemade cards and the annual "questionaire."  The kids always do these for Mother's Day and Father's Day, and it's my favorite tradition.

This is a gift that Liam made in Preschool - beach art with shells and seaglass. 

Wow, just as I was typing this, I saw the red blur outside of the same window... and it was the fox again, this time trotting past with a chipmunk in its mouth.

Happy Father's Day to all of the dads out there, but especially to Dave and my dad.  You are amazing men and we all love you very much!