She has finally decided to take some measure towards walking and will walk assisted if forced. She can, however, go up and down the stairs all on her own. Oh, and I did immediately remove the marble from her mouth. And the toddler was okay.
10/26/11
Relaxed Lunch
Never, ever, ever, wash and DRY a diaper!
Last week was a busy week. Busier than normal. The floor was installed Wednesday and we had to be out of the house the entire day. So, with my mom's house as our hub, we went Hazelnut picking in the morning and to our swim lessons in the afternoon. We arrived at our house after dinner. The floor is gorgeous. Thursday morning was more relaxed, for the kids. I had an entire house to clean for my first home school co-op on Friday and then a large Turkey dinner on Sunday. The morning cleaning extravaganza was followed by our first choir practice - which reminds me of some songs that we are supposed to be learning and aren't. oops. Thursday night, I was informed by our contractor that his subordinate would be at the house the following day to trim. WHAT! My husband kindly let them know there would be 30 people running around the house. They chose to hold off a day. Phew. Friday saw 17 kids and 5 moms gather in the house for "show-and-tell" and drama. We had a blast. The kids were great. Surprisingly little mess was made. These kids prefer to be outside when possible. Ya. Saturday was spent cooking and preparing for the 16 person Turkey dinner. And Sunday was the event, which was our least stressful large gathering dinner to date.
During the co-op I received a call from my husband. I assumed he was calling to see how the house and I were holding up with all the people. I said that things were great and the builders had decided not to show, so some of the stress was relieved. He was happy to hear that. He then suggested that I may want to rewash the last of the 5 loads of laundry that I had washed the previous day and had left in the dryer because I had accidentally washed and dried a diaper with it. Um, okay. And, yick. That was the end of that conversation. After all the kids left, I headed down stairs to rewash the clothes. As soon as I opened the laundry room door I knew I had a problem. The urine stench was over powering. I rewashed the clothes, opened the window and left the dryer door open, This did not help. When the washer beeped done, the smell was still there. I took a closer look and the dryer was coated with urine diaper glue. Ick. Not wanting to deal with it yet, I closed the door and left. This is how I problem solve. I have to walk away from the problem and ponder the situation. When my husband arrived home from his 3 day leadership course that night, he said that he had to quickly get his clothes off. Ahhhh. Ick, again. He irons his clothes in the dryer and ended up smelling like urine the entire day, confined in a room with 11 people, learning about leadership. Oops.
A few days ago, I was telling ,my sister, who just had a new baby, to never, ever dry a diaper. She burst out laughing when I told her about my husband's predicament and said, "Follow me, I smell like pee!" Sorry, babe.
PS. A smearing of Pink Solution, a wipe down, and then a drying with a very wet blanket washed in pink solution solved the dryer smell problem.
During the co-op I received a call from my husband. I assumed he was calling to see how the house and I were holding up with all the people. I said that things were great and the builders had decided not to show, so some of the stress was relieved. He was happy to hear that. He then suggested that I may want to rewash the last of the 5 loads of laundry that I had washed the previous day and had left in the dryer because I had accidentally washed and dried a diaper with it. Um, okay. And, yick. That was the end of that conversation. After all the kids left, I headed down stairs to rewash the clothes. As soon as I opened the laundry room door I knew I had a problem. The urine stench was over powering. I rewashed the clothes, opened the window and left the dryer door open, This did not help. When the washer beeped done, the smell was still there. I took a closer look and the dryer was coated with urine diaper glue. Ick. Not wanting to deal with it yet, I closed the door and left. This is how I problem solve. I have to walk away from the problem and ponder the situation. When my husband arrived home from his 3 day leadership course that night, he said that he had to quickly get his clothes off. Ahhhh. Ick, again. He irons his clothes in the dryer and ended up smelling like urine the entire day, confined in a room with 11 people, learning about leadership. Oops.
A few days ago, I was telling ,my sister, who just had a new baby, to never, ever dry a diaper. She burst out laughing when I told her about my husband's predicament and said, "Follow me, I smell like pee!" Sorry, babe.
PS. A smearing of Pink Solution, a wipe down, and then a drying with a very wet blanket washed in pink solution solved the dryer smell problem.
10/22/11
Bath Time
This doesn't happen any more. The bath is too small. The kids are too big. Usually I divide and conquer: littles first, twins second. But I figured I had to get at least one picture of all four of them in there together.
The Reno
This is my new favorite place in the house. I enter the kitchen and my face lights up. It is truly Luxurious to have all this space. The kids are no longer under foot when we eat or I am cooking. The frustrations are limited because I am not tripping over them. My parents had a few spare lounge chairs that they let us have and there is nothing better than getting a few minutes in the afternoon sun, drinking tea, and reading a book with one of the kids. The baby can now see me when I am cooking and happily eats her meal/snack. The shoes are no longer all over the entry and the dirt is contained a bit better. There is some major progress happening today as the builders are here all day. Should be fun.
Hazelnut Picking
Mom
10/20/11
Numbers
3 meals prepared
2 snacks
5 loads of laundry washed and put away
8 cups/bottles of pseudo-milk prepared
4 more cups/bottles of milk still to prepare
1 wall primed
1 table put back together, glued, and clamped
8.5 lbs of hazlenuts partially dried in the oven
8.5 lbs of hazlenuts in nylons hanging on doors drying
2 boys taken to choir practice
2 littles dancing to the singing at choir practice
4 cups of tea consumed
2 times I have sat since waking this morning (and did something for me)
1 shower I took
3 showers still to give
1 bath to prepare
5 times I nursed the baby (so I guess I sat a few more times)
2 times I have cleaned the toilet, so far
2 pizzas in the oven for dinner (fake crust, sauce, and cheese - mmm!)
1 loaf of Almond Bread I should have made today and now have to make tonight
1 wall still to finish painting before bed
1 episode of Survivor to watch and then head to bed
Sleep, still a long way away
2 snacks
5 loads of laundry washed and put away
8 cups/bottles of pseudo-milk prepared
4 more cups/bottles of milk still to prepare
1 wall primed
1 table put back together, glued, and clamped
8.5 lbs of hazlenuts partially dried in the oven
8.5 lbs of hazlenuts in nylons hanging on doors drying
2 boys taken to choir practice
2 littles dancing to the singing at choir practice
4 cups of tea consumed
2 times I have sat since waking this morning (and did something for me)
1 shower I took
3 showers still to give
1 bath to prepare
5 times I nursed the baby (so I guess I sat a few more times)
2 times I have cleaned the toilet, so far
2 pizzas in the oven for dinner (fake crust, sauce, and cheese - mmm!)
1 loaf of Almond Bread I should have made today and now have to make tonight
1 wall still to finish painting before bed
1 episode of Survivor to watch and then head to bed
Sleep, still a long way away
10/15/11
Life
I think every post during this time of life could be titles: busy or sick. That seems to be the extent of things around here lately. At least the sick has not resulted in a hospital stay - ya to our crazy diet and naturopathic/pharmaceutical remedies. They seem to be working. I myself have noticed a huge change now that I am on this diet too. I do not get sick. I may get a sore throat and a bit tired, but that is the extent of it. It doesn't seem to matter how little sleep I get. I am not getting sick. Wow. I used to catch everything. I am starting to realize that I am the one with all these food intolerances and I have passed them on to my kids. Eeek. Sorry kiddo's.
I have felt rather uninspired to write of late. I am finding my head extremely cluttered. This is a direct result of our very cluttered house at the moment. I really do like a tidy house and a clean floor to keep my head in the right frame of mind. But with our reno, the chaos is starting to slip into the rest of the house. We painted the kitchen and hallway last weekend/this week, so there are pictures and tables crammed everywhere. We are starting to see an end, though. The paint is done. The floor goes in Wednesday. The counters are getting measured Monday and hopefully put in the following week. I managed to find the same counter top we currently have, so we no longer have to replace all the kitchen counters. We just have to replace the main one. This saved us a tonne of $$.
We have been in full swing school/unschool mode around here. Trips to the library. Nature walks. Farm visits. Long discussions around the dinner table. Crafting extravaganzas. Board games. I am truly having a blast spending all this time with my kids and am completely in awe of all they are learning. Twin2 seems to grow his vocabulary by the minute. He truly enjoys playing with words. We were down at the beach park the other day swinging on the the swings when twin1 starts to describe how the lake and rivers are all connected and lead to the ocean. Wow. I love this.
The toddler has learned to ride a bike with training wheels, although he prefers his balance bike. The baby still isn't walking, but she is talking. She said 'Hi, Da.' to my husband on the phone the other day.
I have felt rather uninspired to write of late. I am finding my head extremely cluttered. This is a direct result of our very cluttered house at the moment. I really do like a tidy house and a clean floor to keep my head in the right frame of mind. But with our reno, the chaos is starting to slip into the rest of the house. We painted the kitchen and hallway last weekend/this week, so there are pictures and tables crammed everywhere. We are starting to see an end, though. The paint is done. The floor goes in Wednesday. The counters are getting measured Monday and hopefully put in the following week. I managed to find the same counter top we currently have, so we no longer have to replace all the kitchen counters. We just have to replace the main one. This saved us a tonne of $$.
We have been in full swing school/unschool mode around here. Trips to the library. Nature walks. Farm visits. Long discussions around the dinner table. Crafting extravaganzas. Board games. I am truly having a blast spending all this time with my kids and am completely in awe of all they are learning. Twin2 seems to grow his vocabulary by the minute. He truly enjoys playing with words. We were down at the beach park the other day swinging on the the swings when twin1 starts to describe how the lake and rivers are all connected and lead to the ocean. Wow. I love this.
The toddler has learned to ride a bike with training wheels, although he prefers his balance bike. The baby still isn't walking, but she is talking. She said 'Hi, Da.' to my husband on the phone the other day.
10/11/11
Unplugged Sunday
Weekends around here are usually pretty crazy. In fact, I have to plan for a day of rest on Tuesdays (our weekend is Sunday/Monday) because the kids need some unstructured down time to just be kids. Usually weekends are filled with some home fix-up project, especially of late with the reno going on, or a day long shopping trip. Or my husband and I alternately take up some project that we are working on that can only be done when the kids are busy with the other parent - quilting, painting, gardening, yard work.... My husband and I seldom have nothing on our 'honey-do' list - actually, I don't think I remember a time when it was empty. As soon as you purchase a house, the list seems to be endless. Sometimes by the end of the weekend, we are more tired than before it started.
This weekend roller coaster combined with some added pressure from work for my husband to do some schooling has left the kids feeling a bit family quality time deprived. As we value our children and our limited time together at each stage of their lives, we have decided to unplug one day a week. No TV, phones, internet, errands, projects - just us. Time spent as a family, doing family things. We recognize that this may not happen every week, but if we plan for it and make a valiant effort then hopefully it will become second nature. We will prep for our family time the night before, or the week before. Our goal will be to primarily spend this time outdoors, but in the region we live in weather is a factor. So, we will have to research various events going on in the area.
I can't wait. We still don't know when we will start, but the idea is in place. We have a few commitments to clear from the calendar. Unplugged. A new adventure.
This weekend roller coaster combined with some added pressure from work for my husband to do some schooling has left the kids feeling a bit family quality time deprived. As we value our children and our limited time together at each stage of their lives, we have decided to unplug one day a week. No TV, phones, internet, errands, projects - just us. Time spent as a family, doing family things. We recognize that this may not happen every week, but if we plan for it and make a valiant effort then hopefully it will become second nature. We will prep for our family time the night before, or the week before. Our goal will be to primarily spend this time outdoors, but in the region we live in weather is a factor. So, we will have to research various events going on in the area.
I can't wait. We still don't know when we will start, but the idea is in place. We have a few commitments to clear from the calendar. Unplugged. A new adventure.
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