What I’m working on…

Life is busy.  So much for the lazy days of summer!  I’m working on:

  1. Getting our house ready to sell.  Suddenly, out of nowhere, we have four showings and one of them has already made an offer! I have spent the past few days cleaning, straightening, taking things down, filling holes, painting, sweeping, etc.  Our house is looking spic and span and sparse!
  2. Coordinating contractors.  The upstairs bathtub started leaking, through the floor and through the bedroom ceiling!  A project which wasn’t on any list suddenly jumped right to the top!  We have a contractor here now who is doing the work, very well, but very slowly!  I’m also trying to line up someone to hang drywall and someone to fix our bulkhead door.
  3. Keeping up with the new house.  They are behind schedule (of course!) because of all this dang rainy weather we’ve been having!  The foundation is pour and at this point they are planning to start framing on Monday. They are also hoping to pour the garage and pour concrete on Monday.  We have been eagerly awaiting that so we can try to put hand prints in fresh cement on the porch.  I started a shared Google album where I’m putting pictures of the house project.  I’d like to make it into a book when it’s all done. Feel free to check it out.  I’ll add photos as the house is built.
  4. Finishing up my two grad courses.  I have a project a week due and a big one due on Sunday.  I worked hard to get ahead of the assignments before leaving for California, but then was behind by the time I got back.  One more week and all the assignments will be due and done!  Then I get a break before the next round of courses start. :)
  5. Inventorying the library collection.  I got approval for summer work to conduct a full inventory of the library, which hasn’t been done in over ten years!  That was great news, however now I’m trying to get those hours in before heading to Franklin next week.  By the time I get back from Franklin they will cleaning the carpets in the school and very shortly after that we will be back at work!  Where is my summer going?!?
  6. I was trying to make a Snapfish book about our vacation because they had a great promotion running, but I missed that deadline so now I have a half finished book.  I’ll try to finish it soon so it’s ready for the next time they are running a special.  Also, this blog. :)  I think I’m a few blog posts behind.
  7. Ferrying kids back and forth to camp this week.  Ignoring the dog.  Ignoring all my healthy eating and exercise efforts.

Last week I got last minute tickets to see Beauty and the Beast, but put on by the theater company who is running Eve’s theater camp.  I took Eve and one of her classmates.  We had a great time!  It was a fun little break from the busy chaos.

Eve and her friend with Belle. Eve’s friend got all decked out in her pretty clothes and high heels. Eve grabbed a stuffie and flip-flops.

Also, Lex loves the cat.  I love Lex.

They are adorable. <3

And my fish at school had babies!  Surprise!  I was there doing inventory and a summer school teacher (they are using the library) came over and asked if the fish were mine.  Umm… who else’s would they be?!  He said, “Did you know you have babies in the tank?” Ummmm… nope!  I had five cichlids, one died (or was killed by the others) and the others are two mating pairs.  Surprise!  I didn’t even know the females were pregnant.  I don’t even know which ones are females!!  (You’d think as a librarian I would figure these things out, but really, who has time for that?!?)  So now there are lots of little babies swimming around.  I hope one or two survive to adulthood.  :)

Babies! Fries? :)

Doggie gets a nose job

I walked in to Lex’s room this evening and saw this atrocity!  Arlo has attacked again. Every time he chews up a stuffy I’m always thankful it isn’t one of the Doggies.  This time it was. 😕 

Lex still sleeps with his doggie every night.  I asked is I should fix it or just out it away, and he said “Please fix it Mom. I still want him.” Don’t have to ask me twice!  I think I love the doggies as much as the kids do! 

So, I present, Alex Doggie with his new nose job!

I know Lex will be happy when he wakes up.  Not sure if he’ll be this happy though!!  

A four year old Lex, very happy to be reunited with his missing doggie!

The trip so far…

My phone posted these pictures backwards, so scroll to the bottom and work your way up.  More details will come later.  ????

Sunset over Santa Maria. Settling in for the night.

Back in the ocean for this little fish. Overcast and 64° but she was thrilled anyway. (Carmel By The Sea)


Alan bought a Tesla… hat!

@ the Googleplex

Drooling over Teslas

Tasty treats everywhere we go.

Touristy things in San Francisco. (Lombard Street)

Trying not to get blown off Beacon Point overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge.

We love the ocean. (Muir Beach)

Their first time at the Pacific Ocean!!

Lots of this.

Little fishes swimming in Greg and Kathy’s pool.

We made it to San Francisco!

A beautiful, uneventful flight.

Two houses being built…

Funny story. I was out walking Arlo on Monday morning and decided to stop by the new house. When I got close I noticed there was a lot of activity going on and discovered that they were working on our house and the show house at the same time. At our house there were two guys in sweaty t-shirts banging with hammers on the wood frame around the foundation (they were removing the framing). At the show house there were six guys, wearing clean jeans, white t-shirts, and OSHA safety belts. They were posting for a picture of them (three of them together!) measuring with a chalk line. One guy had a camera, and another guy had a broom!! Sweeping up the foundation. I literally laughed out loud. Cleanest job site ever!

They have drones! Think they’ll do a flyover of my house too?! :)

Cleanest job site ever!

Our house. Not so clean. :)

That was Monday. Today Eve and I stopped by after school and found this:

Foundation insulation? Alan says this is excellent, so I’m happy too. :)

Starting to look like a house now?

Eve is not impressed. (just kidding, really she was just tired)

We also found Alan there talking to a guy from SunCommon. Alan’s dream is being realized. There will be solar panels on our house! :)

He also spoke with the builder before we got there and the builder said they would be pouring the rest of the foundation early next week. They have to finish the framing on the show house and get it weatherized before they can do the framing on our house. It won’t be too long though!

Sunny weekend

We had a lovely sunny weekend. On Saturday Eve had her Girl Scout pinning ceremony. She’s still a Girl Scout, but now with more pins and badges!

Taking an oath, I think. I was a little distracted by Arlo.

Awww…. they used to fit in these baby swings!

Then Sarah came to sleep over afterwards. This morning they woke up at 5am asking to go swimming. Wheee!! We decided to hit up our old favorite, Lake Pineo, before they officially open next weekend and start excluding non-association members. :/

It was a beautiful day!

Swimming. Eve is in there somewhere too. Maybe behind Sarah. Or maybe underwater. You just never know with that girl.

These two are going places in life! :)

I wish they would let us swim here all summer. It’s such a perfect beach.

Then we got lunch as the Quechee Snack Bar (deep fried everything!) and washed it all down with some ice cream. Then home for an afternoon on the computers. :) Happy Sunday. I’d like to say Happy Summer Vacation, but alas, four more days.

New house update

The poured the footers (I think that’s what it’s called!) the other day.  We got there just in time to see them cleaning the cement mixer and putting the rebar in.

Does it look like a house yet?!

Today we had our friend in the car so we stopped by to show her the new house.  Eve and I explained in great detail how the girls would get back and forth to one another’s houses after we move.  Right now it’s a short jaunt down the street, but this fall they will have to go around a few corners.  I reassured them that it would be ok, but they are still concerned because they won’t be able to see each others houses.  It’s nice to have good friends just down the street.  <3

Over the dirt pile, past the house, through the trees, and you’re there!

We all wrote our names in the dirt. :)

Eve, playing in the new garage, with a big bag of candy! (we had just come from a birthday party with a pinata)

I wonder what comes next.  :)

 

Middle School Spring Concert

I never imagined I would be spending as much time watching my children perform as I have been this spring!  Concerts and plays and spelling bees and plays, oh my!

Lex had his spring concert this week.  The band was great and I always love watching him on percussion.  The middle school has a fun jazz band too and Lex decided he would join that next year.

Spelling Bee

This young lady came home with a Spelling Bee qualification a few weeks (months?) ago.  I was surprised that she had taken the pretest and pleased she qualified.  She was nervous and proud of herself.  She did a little practicing off and on over the next few weeks, and today was the big day!

 
Spelling “climbed”

Spelling “dimensions”

She made it to the top five!  She was one of two remaining fourth graders and she went out with a third grader.  The Spelling Bee ended with the top two spellers (they were the top two for the past three years!) going back and forth for a few rounds and then the winner finally emerged – victorious for the third year in a row!!  She is a friend of Eve’s and Eve was proud of her, although she later told me, “Mom, next year it’s mine!!!”   :)