Energy efficient?

So we called the Energy Trust of Oregon to come and give us a free home energy report. Nothing fancy, just let us know if we are missing anything besides insulation (we live in an old house with no or very little insulation).

A very laid back energy guy came over right on time. He was the epitome of an Oregonian. A little crunchy granola, wearing the Columbia Sportswear jacket and hikers. I'm sure in the spring he wears Birkenstocks. Anyway he was so laid back I swore he fell asleep a few times.

He told us we don't have insulation in the walls (surprise!) and we need to insulate our heating ducts. We also don't have any insulation under our floors except for a strip right down the middle of our house. Why? We have no idea. Next year we will be installing radiant floor heating and then insulating the crawl space so our toes will not be frostbitten in the winter.

He gave us a new shower head and faucet thingies that help conserve water. Also about half a dozen shiny new flourescent bulbs. So we scored about $50 of new stuff!

He didn't really tell us anything we didn't know and I thought he would give us more tips but hey it was free. What I found most interesting however was the Engery guy and Brian were leaving the lights on in every room they examined. I had to go and turn them off. Hummm....

Are we crazy?

We bought Marco's brother. So now we have two puppies. It will be a good decision in the long run as we actually want to leave the house without Marco. Marco and Finn are best friends and will keep each other company when we have to go out somewhere. Finn is so loving and loves nothing more than to crawl up into your lap and lick your face. When Graedon cries, he's the first one over with some kisses. We really love Finn and he fits in well. Here is Finn.

In other news, I went for an ultrasound last Thursday because my doctor measured me at 13 weeks when I thought I was only 11.5 weeks. Turns out I am 13 weeks! Yeah, I gained a week. We got to see our little guy (*note we don't know for sure if he/she is a boy/girl but I have a feeling it is a boy*). He is so cute and perfect and I guess I really am pregnant. The morning sickness is starting to go away and I'm feeling a little better. Just started walking, weight lifting and Tae Bo-ing this week and it feels good to workout again. I'm going to ask for a balance ball and a pregnancy pilates dvd for Christmas. Trying to avoid the 50lb weight gain that I have with every pregnancy yeah right. I do lose it all but I sure hate carrying all that weight.

The girls are in our church's Christmas play and I have been busy sewing two angel costumes and one magi dress. They turned out great and the girls love them. I'll get some pics posted later. I really have missed sewing and hope to get back to it soon (oh and I miss the $$ from it too - Mama needs a new van. :)

Grae just woke up from his nap all pink cheeked and adorable so I need to go cover him with kisses.

Here he is....

Everything came together perfectly so we feel confident God meant us to have Marco. The weather was perfect and sunny, the van we rented turned out to be the same type as the one we are going to buy and I didn't feel too sick on the trip!

Our rest stop on the way to Newport was the Lincoln City Beach. Graedon had so much fun at the ocean. He couldn't stop running and chasing the sea gulls. It was hard to get back in the van but the pull of the pup couldn't be overcome.

We made it to the breeders right on schedule and were greeted to about 5 male puppies all trying to get our attention. The first on that came out barked at us for a long time so we knew that wasn't the pup for us. A sweet little puppy came up calmly to greet Graedon and I so we kept our eye on that one. Another little one came to greet an anxious Ellie and treated her to a lick on the face.

The breeders were really nice and obviously cared about their dogs. After about 30 minutes of checking out the puppies we knew that the first puppy that greeted us was ours. He even crawled into Maddie’s lap while his brothers were play fighting with each other. We loaded him up in the crate we brought for him and were on our way.

He HATED the crate and whined for awhile. He then threw up and went to sleep. We only had to make one stretching stop on the way home. Marco was glad to get out of the van just as much as we were.

He sniffed his way around the house, ate all the old food on the floor, went outside to do his business, snuggled in his fleece blanket we bought him and went to sleep. He is the most mellow puppy we have ever seen. He's so gentle with Graedon and lets Grae lay all over him. All Grae gets is a lick.

Whippets are very thin skinned and don't have much fur so I made a fleece backed nylon jacket for him to wear outside. This was my test pattern so it doesn't fit him to well. At least he wasn't shivering while he was out playing with the kids.

We're getting a puppy!

Not much has been going on here lately. We had a nice Thanksgiving. Thursday we drove to Keizer to Brian's brother and sister-in-laws house. What was supposed to be a 1 hour trip turned into an almost 2 hour trip. I drove because I make a horribly sick/throw up passenger while in my first trimester. Well a 2 hour trip made me a horribly sick/throw up driver. Needless to say by the time we got there, food was the last thing on my mind.

Saturday was Thanksgiving at my house with my Dad, brother & family and sister & family. We provided the turkey (brined of course) as well the potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, sweet potato pie, apple pie, crackers/cheese/sausage/chips/pickles/olive plate. Sounds like a lot but it really was no problem.

I adore my neices and nephews. My sister has one girl and twin boys who are hilarious. My brother has two girls and then twin girls. I am the only one that doesn't have twins. Do I want them now? I don't think so. Well.....maybe. I guess I don't really have a say in the matter though.

We decided to add to our family and get a puppy. Our criteria was that it didn't shed very much, didn't stink, was quiet, good with kids, wasn't too small, loved walks and didn't really bark. We found exactly that dog. It is a whippet.

This is a generic picture of a full grown whippet. The whippet is smaller than a greyhound but larger than an italian greyhound. We are so excited to finally get a dog. The girls are bouncing off the walls with anticipation. There is a breeder with 3 month old pups for sale in Newport (at the beach). We rented a 12 passenger van and are driving there on Saturday. Our van is only a 7 passenger with no cargo space for a dog crate. Yes we are getting a new 12 passenger Chevy Express Bus Van in April.

I'll post a pic when we actually have the little guy with us. So far God has brought all things together to get the puppy. I told the girls that 4 things need to be met before we can go get the puppy on Saturday.

1. The breeder actually had them for sale and they had a male. -Check
2. The breeder didn't want our first born for payment-Check.
3. We are able to rent a 12 passenger van for the weekend on short notice-Check (& I found a 25% off coupon)
4. The mountain pass didn't have anymore snow. - Still up in the air but the weather report seems favorable.

So we'll see.....

Just a bee...

I was on the phone with Brian the other day and feeling a lot of morning sickness. All of the kids were upstairs playing. Suddenly I hear a scream, then two, then three. These were heart stopping - somebodies dying screams. I started running upstairs. I think I took the steps 6 at a time.

All the while, I'm thinking that something has happened to Graedon, he's bleeding to death, he fell down the stairs, he's trapped. I hear Ellie screaming "Get Graedon, get Graedon." For some reason I was still gripping the phone.

When I got to the top of the stairs, there was Graedon looking at me with tears in his eyes. Lauren grabbed him and took him to her room. I was so frantic, I couldn't get the upstairs gate open. So I kicked it. Didn't work and hurt my toe. Finally, I wrenched it free and ran to Lauren's room.

Ava was hiding beside Lauren's bed but looked fine. Ellie was in her bed and was fine. Maddie was crying. Graedon was holding a toy and was fine. Lauren was holding Grae and was fine. I looked around for the blood, protruding bones, smashed heads and didn't see anything. So I sank to the ground to catch my breath and try not to throw up.

"What on earth happened?" I roared. "I don't see anything wrong."

"There was a bee in my room," said Maddie.

"A bee. A small stinkin bee. I rushed up the stairs to save you from a bee? Was the bee chasing you? Did the bee sting you? Did the bee ask you for directions to Baskin Robbins - cause that would freak me out too." I asked not so calmly.

"No, it just scared me. I don't like bees." replied Maddie.

I can not begin to tell you how frustrated I was. I was prepared to call the ambulance, to look at a crime scene, I didn't know what. The screams were that awful.

Turns out it was just Maddie screaming in terror. Ellie was screaming because Maddie was screaming. She didn't know what was going on. Graedon was crying because his sisters were screaming and running past him. Lauren was trying to shout "Calm down."

I went to Maddie's room, found the bee (no it wasn't a wasp Maddie) and killed it with Ava's shoe. I left it in the window and told Maddie she didn't have to worry anymore and she had better not react that way again to an insect. It is alright to be scared of bugs but it is not alright to scream bloody murder.

I did devise a plan to fetch the dead bee when Maddie was sleeping and tell her it came back to life when she was sleeping and that I didn't know where it was - but Ava beat me to it and threw it away before bed. Not that I would have actually carried out my plan. 'Cause I am a perfect Mom and would never intentionally try to scare them. ;)

Can't wait for tonight!

If it wasn't that half the people in this house are either throwing up or feeling like it I would totally have an election night party. I can't wait for 8:00 pm to roll around when the polls are closed and the results trickle in.

Politics get my blood pumping. I worked at the Oregon State Capitol during one session as a Legislative Assistant in 1995 (right before my oldest was born). I LOVED it. Loved sitting in on session and committees. Loved the behind the scenes deals. Those who have gripes about politicians need to work for one and see how hard it is to get anything done. It is not pretty but is necessary.

Anyway if Veronica Mars isn't on, the channel will be permantely fixed on results. We have a couple of pretty important races (Governor) and ballot measures (Parental Notification before a minor can get an abortion, Property Rights, Judicial Boundries). Oregon is a liberal state so I don't have much hope for the Parental Notification but hopefully it will do well.

Hopefully the school funding measures will go down. If not than we can expect up hundreds of dollars to be added to our property tax bill. We don't even use these services as we homeschool so I don't want to be taxed for them. Don't even get me started on public education.... ;)

10 more hours to go....

Can you have internet friends?

It has been a really hard two weeks here at the Shearer household. My 3 year old daughter came down with a stomach bug which gave her vomiting and diarrhea. It started last Saturday. At the same time, Lauren (my 11 year old), Brian (the husband) and I came down with a head cold. I was already feeling nauseous so this was just great. We all stayed home from church on Sunday, built a fire in our fireplace and vegged out.

Brian still wasn't feeling so hot on Monday so he actually stayed home from work. Ellie continued to spew forth. She wasn't eating and barely drinking any liquids. She just lay on the couch and slept. I did the same.

Tuesday, Brian went to work for a half day, came home and crashed. So did I. Meanwhile Graedon decided he didn't want to sleep for more than 2 hours at a time at night so we were tired right when we woke up. We missed our church's Reformation Day celebration and the girls were so disappointed. I was too.

Finally on Thursday, Ellie got up, ate, drank and was merry. Bri and I were getting over our colds.

Will we actually make it to church on Sunday? Guess who is throwing up now - Graedon. Brian doesn't want to leave me with Grae all alone while he takes the girls to church. I get so sick when I am around puke that I can't handle it.

During this time, I had announced to my internet sewing friends that I was pregnant and feeling morning sickness all day. I got congratulations and encouragement via email but I also got a package in the mail. In it were lemonheads, life savers, saltines, chocolate, a Burts Bees baby care package and a Parents magazine. Boy did that lift my spirits and the lemonheads calmed my stomach a little.

I've often wondered if internet friends could be "true" friends. I have met many ladies online that I would consider friends. I may never meet them in person but we do care about each other and "talk" via email or message boards. So thanks Internet Friends - your friendship is so appreciated right now - especially since I can't leave the house without wanting to throw up ;)

I've been a little busy...

And when I say a little busy I mean sitting on the couch underneath a blanket trying to think of foods that don't make me want to gag and then eating said foods and gagging anyway.

#6 due in mid June.

(photo is from ABC.com and is Sun's pregnancy test from the show Lost, I didn't take a picture of my test.)

I painted the bathroom again...

I wasn't ever really happy with the blue I painted the bathroom so I painted it again. I really like it now. It is very cottag-ey and relaxing. The color didn't really come through on the pics but it is a creamy sandy color. Goes perfectly with the floor and shower curtain.

Before pics can be (you will need to scroll down)....found here

New pics:

I bought this nice linen drape shade from Pottery Barn (on eBay) and put candles in pale yellow and red on the window sill. I'm still looking for a wire shelf to add some flowers and plants above the toilet.

We finally got the light installed over our mirror. We got it at Lowes and it matches really well.

Shelf, mirror, baskets, ducks and lotion dispenser from Target and Marshalls. The shelf has beadboard on the sides which of course matches our bathroom.

I really love old paint by numbers. I bought these on ebay and painted the frames red.

There are shelves behind the door and I lined them with this great polka dot oilcloth. Works great and wipes clean easily.

We still have this shower curtain so that looks the same, except for the blue paint.

Just call me Martha....

I just got my new copy of Martha Stewart Living and they had a great idea for decorating your fireplace mantle. So I copied it. You can see what her's looked like here.





She used corn husks to make a wreath. I went to Joann's and bought one I liked for 30% off. The mirror is actually a old window that we bought at an antique shop. I painted it and had a local glass shop cut some mirrors to fit. The total cost was under $50.00. I think the frame is too dark now so I will probably add a lighter color on top and then distress it.

Here is the rest of the fireplace. It is halfway stripped of paint and looks bad. Our next project is to strip it all the way. Repaint it and add some pretty tiles around the opening.



We use the fireplace almost every night. When you walk into the house it is the first thing you see so we do want to put some thought into it. I can't wait to finish it so we can paint the living room!

My little 15 month old man...

Did you know...

Did you know that adding two packets of splenda to your eggs by accident doesn't taste good? Nope and no matter how much salt you add to it, the flavor doesn't improve. And when you think about eating anything else, that taste comes back to you and suddenly nothing sounds good anymore.

**Don't try this at home**

We painted our door purple!

We have a beat up door that was painted white. The door doesn't close properly and you can see daylight from the edges if you are inside. Not the best insulator against the cold. Next year we will be ripping out the door and frame and building a porch. For now we are going to be installing a storm door (and energy certified one to take advantage of the tax credit). Hopefully that will help. This spring I had painters tape around the edges to keep out the wind. It was classy looking, let me tell you.

Bri and I got a wild idea to paint the door purple to go with our green house. It's called Rootie Tootie purple. After a couple of coats on the door I sort of liked it. I didn't hate it enough to repaint the door white. Then I got the idea to paint the shutters that same color. Hey why not! Ugh...I hated them. Bri screwed them up next to the windows and bam...we are circus people (as Chris from Notes from the trenches would say.)

Bri heard a lot of...I do not like them...please take them off now...we are the embarassment of the neighborhood....we are those people who paint their houses bright neon green and think it's beautiful...

I was told that he would take them down tomorrow if I still didn't like them. Ellie, our 3 year old, loved them. You can't trust her taste though, she wants to paint the house pink.

The whole next day was spent with me indoors glancing out the windows to see if anyone was pointing and covering their mouths in horror.

As soon as Bri got home from work I stuck a plate of food in front of him with a side of screwdriver. He took the hint and took them down. I was never so relieved to have a plain house. Now I need to repaint the purple shutters white and life will be good again.

Behold the circus:

Toddlers...

Ellie (age 3) just came up to me crying. I asked what was wrong. "I can't find my Playmobil girl." I told her that crying wouldn't help so please stop. She replied "If I find my Playmobil, I'll won't need to cry."

Well, it does make sense!

He slept!

Just to update you on our sleeping situation because I know it is important to your lives, he slept last night! From 8:00 pm until 5:07 am. I nursed him and he went back to sleep until 7:01 am. I feel so rested that I'm going to go paint something. I owe the front of our house another coat of paint.

Sleep number beds for babies...

We have a Sleep Number bed. I LOVE it and wouldn't sleep on anything else. Well apparently neither will Graedon. He much prefers our bed to his crib. I've tried to make his crib nice and cozy. He has a pillow he sleeps next too, his tiger and a hand crocheted blanket.

Last night he woke up 3:00 am to nurse (he doesn't need to nurse as he is 14 mths old but I'm too tired to put up a fight) so I fed him. Brian put him back to bed and he threw a fit. We decided to let him cry it out even though that means we wouldn't sleep. His crib is pretty much at the end of our bed.

Cry it out doesn't just refer to a baby - the mom also participates. I got up so many times to lay him back down, pat his bottom and tell him "night-night". Up he would stand and continue crying. Finally we just layed in bed and let him cry. At this point it was a pretty fakey cry, like he was forcing himself and trying to be really pathetic. We didn't buy it.

Grae would fall asleep for 5-10 minutes - just long enough for me to start to relax - before bursting into and tossing me out of bed in alarm. This went on from 3:00 am until 7:00 am when Bri got up for work.

I'm tired.

It is my hope that tonight it will be better. He's had a really good nap today. I don't know if I can take another night like last night. I might have to break down and buy him a Sleep Number ;)

New roof...

The roof looks really great! I like the color we picked out. Brian wanted a metal roof but we couldn't afford it.

I'm just glad it's done.


Front


Back


Side

We have paint...

We wanted to paint the siding last week but it rained all week. The roof went on one day before the rain but not the gutters. Oh no - the gutter guy couldn't make it over. So we had waterfalls coming off of our house all week. The new siding was really muddy.

We woke up this morning to sunny skies and warm weather. By 8:30 am we dipped our paintbrush in the green paint and went to town. Lowe's did an excellent job of color matching to the old ugly green. (we are going to repaint the house in a year or so and will be using Benjamin Moore. Lowe's paint is temporary).

Here it is in progress.





I don't like painting but I did the majority of it. Of course no pics of me doing it. ;)

Getting there....

We put the tar paper on over the brand spanking new plywood. It had skip sheeting and we pulled it all out, re-insulated and nailed up the plywood.

>Brian put up new window moulding and a window sill. I've already primed it!

New pre-primed cedar siding. Bri and I are doing it ourselves and it isn't nearly as hard as I thought. Actually kinda fun.

Chimney's

Before: one furnace chimney (the tall one) falling down, one fireplace chimney falling down.

Furnace chimney gone...

Fireplace chimney going...

Dry Rot in progress

Remember our little dryrot project?

Well my dad came over and said that we couldn't take care of it all from the inside and would have to tackle it from the outside. Problem is we have brick along the bottom 1/3 of the house. We were going to just remove the brick from the dry rotted areas and patch it with cedar siding to match the top of the house. My helpful dad and Brian decide to remove all the brick from the front.

Before:

See the brick on the bottom 1/3?

After:



My dad sledge-hammering away.

More...

Major dry rot! I don't think I snapped a picture of the worst of it. We found some more on the other side of the door. So Bri and my dad are replacing the 2x4's and rim joists that are damaged. We only knew about the dry rot because the window moulding was rotted away.

I scared Jehovah's Witnesses today.

My husband and little son just walked down to a garage sale. I sat back down at my computer to check email and there was a knock at the door. Maybe Bri and Grae forgot the phone or money...I open the door to find two men looking at me. Okay one wasn't a "man" but a 16ish year old boy (taller than me). They are dressed impeccably. I on the other hand had just stepped out of the shower and had on paint splotched clothes and dripping hair. (those of you fixing up houses know not to wear good clothes at all, who knows when you want to whip out the paint brush and paint something).

The 16ish year old said "Oh" and appeared to forgot his speech. I smile benevolently and he starts again, and doesn't look me in the eye. Do I look that bad? After his speech I say "I'm not interested, thank you." He looks relieved and turns to leave. The other man smiles and says "bye". I close the door and chuckle. That was easy.

Dry rot

Outside on of our kitchen windows is dry rot. We knew we would have to take care of it this summer but we keep putting it off. You see, in order to take care of the outside dry rot, we have to open up the inside kitchen wall. We thought the kitchen was lath and plaster and knew how incredibly messy it would be. Imagine our surprise when we found out it was sheetrock!

This saturday I thought it was time to see what was in there. I casually mentioned it to Brian. He agreed we *should* but really didn't want cut into the wall right then. No problem, I'll do it. I took a screw driver and smashed into the wall. I gleefully pulled out sheetrock until I got nervous that all sorts of bugs might pile out. Brian sighed and took over. Wow! We found lots of dry rot. The wood was so brittle and rotted we just broke it off. There was insulation in there but it was rotted too.

Brian sealed the hole up with some paneling and we will tackle that project on Saturday. Our fear is we may have to take out some of the kitchen cabinents. So a fairly small project can turn into a whole kitchen remodel. I'm kind of excited though. Once the dry rot is taken care of we can install the new floor and paint. My ugly kitchen will look pretty soon.

The roof

The roofing guys took a break and I snuck outside to see how it's coming. This is what I saw.
Oh you can see our new chimney from the last pic.

Locks of Love

Ava had long hair and she refused to brush it everyday. That meant tears and frustration when I had to get all the tangles out. I suggested that maybe we should chop her hair off and it would be easier to care for. She agreed and wanted to donate her hair to Locks of Love. This is a great organization that makes wigs for kids who don't have hair. Ellie said she wanted to also but I was hesitant. She's 3 and has never had a haircut. I loved her long hair but told her she could do it too. I figured that she would chicken out. She didn't.

I about fainted when I saw Ava but I'm used to it now. Here short hair suits her.

Before:

After:

I need sleep...

We are getting a new roof on this house. As I have previously stated, the roof is currently being held together by moss. The roofing guys are tearing up all three layers, including the original cedar shakes from 1938, replacing with one layer of asphalt, redoing the gutters and adding a dormer addition. The dormer will be huge and be our second bathroom (yeah!) and another bedroom.

The work has started. Early. In the mornings. Like 7:00am. We hear pounding, we hear roofing material sliding off our house, we hear plywood being cut. As I make my way into the bathroom, I notice a ladder right outside. Hi everyone. I quickly pin a towel over the window so they couldn't see in.

The work is slow going. Only one side of the house is completely torn off and has plywood. The back side is barely touched. Which means another week of this. I can't wait until it is done! Not only will it look nicer and we won't be the eyesore of the neighborhood but it won't need to be done for 30 years!

Of course now that we have the best looking chimney on our block and will have a nice new roof,our house will need to be painted. That is our project for next summer. House painting and deck building. I really like dreaming up what to do to the house - I don't like actually doing the work myself ;)

Happy B-day Lauren...

11 years ago yesterday you screamed into the world with the distinction of being our first child. I had never held a baby or even changed a diaper before. Dad changed your first, second, third diaper as I was ordered not to get up due to enourmous blood loss. I vowed to never have anymore kids ;)

The sun rose and set with you. I have so many pictures of every outfit you ever wore. You were our guinea pig and our invitation into the wonderful world of disipline. What a willful child you were. We had our battles and some days I carried the "spanking spoon" in my back pocket to have it handy.

When you were 17 months old Maddie was born and you loved her immediately. No jealousy here. You were best friends from the start. Another 17 mths and Ava became your second sister. Same story - what a great big sister you were.

Now you're 11 and growing up so fast. Your body is slowly changing as is your personality. You are sensitive to what God expects of you and want to please Him and us. I honestly didn't think that day would come ;)

I'm a little frightened that we don't have a lot of time left to "raise" you, but I do praise God that He has blessed us with you.

Thank you for being a great help with your little brother and sister. Thank you for helping around the house. Your work and helpfulness is truly appreciated. Dad and I love you and Happy Birthday.

More chimney antics

Yesterday the chimney guy (Dennis) left for a break. He was gone a long time so it was an event when he pulled back into our driveway with his huge truck. The girls were in the kitchen watching. The driveway is only a couple of feet from the window so they had a great view.

I was at my computer at the other side of the house half listening to them tell me that the chimney guy was here and he had an orange bottle with him.

"An orange bottle?" I said.

"I think it's shampoo,"said Ava.

"It's not shampoo," I said.

"He's going to wash himself because he's really dirty" said Ellie (age 3).

"I sure it's not shampoo," I said. "Why would he bring shampoo with him? And get away from the window because I'm sure he can hear you."

"Oh it's sunscreen," said Maddie.

"How do you know it's sunscreen?" I said, willing them with eyes to get away from the window and leave the poor man alone.

"Because he's rubbing it all over his face," Ava said. "And it says sunblock 80 on the bottle."

That's when I noticed that the window was open and he could hear them talking. I motioned agressively for them to come to me.

"The window is open girls. He heard everything you said."

"Oops...." was the collective word along with a little shuffling of embarassed feet.

Then I saw him walk by the window with a small smile on his face. Hope he found it amusing.

Of chimney's & diapers

Yesterday, today and tomorrow we are having one chimney rebuilt and the firebox repointed and the furnace chimney taken down to the roof. I will post before and after pictures in a few days (when we have an after). This is the first step. The second step involves a complete roof tear-0ff, a dormer added to the back of the house, re-roof and new gutters.

It will be nice when it's done. The dormer will provide us with a second full bath and a 4th bedroom.

When the chimney guys were here yesterday, we couldn't go outside for fear of falling bricks. As soon as I noticed them moving around to the front chimney I begged them to let us go to the back of our back yard. I even offered cash and they agreed (and didn't take the bribe).

Right before we made our way outside, I noticed them taking a break in our back yard. They were eating lunch and sitting under our apple tree. No problem, that's the best spot in our yard.
After they were done we went outside. That's when I noticed the diaper sitting right in front of where they were sitting. Not just a diaper but a used diaper. I was so embarrassed. Not only was I embarassed with our roof, falling gutters and chimney's. I was also ashamed off our air conditioner sitting on our back porch held up by duct tape and plywood. Nice.

Wonder what they thought of as they were munching on their sandwiches and looking at the diaper? I don't want to know.

Oh and one of the young guys knocked on the door and asked to use our bathroom. Maddie had just finished cleaning it - whew! So as he was coming in Ava snapped a picture of him with her new little camera. He said "Did you just take a picture of me?" She giggled and so did I. Hey at least it wasn't while he was in the bathroom. That happens around here.

Item not sold

When your item doesn't sell on eBay, they send a helpful little email telling you. Like you didn't know and didn't refresh your auction page every second.

The helpful email says: eBay Item Not Sold, blah, blah, blah.

It should say: eBay Item Not Sold You Loser. Who are you kidding? You thought someone would want that? Ha, Ha, Ha. You can relist it and give us even more of your money thereby draining your bank account and wrecking your day.

Okay - off to get my kids ready for a walk. At least they like me. ;)

Tact? What's that?

Home Depot/Lowe's get lots of our money now. Fixing up an old home is expensive and we would much prefer to shop at say Restoration Hardware, SchoolHouse Electric and such but we don't have the $$$.

We were going to Home Depot/Lowe's every night after Brian got home from work. (Lowe's built a store right next door to Home Depot. They share the same huge parking lot). Ava dreads going to Home Depot but likes Lowe's. Go figure. Lauren and Maddie could take it or leave it but Elllie loves it. She is our little shopping girl.

So on a recent trip Ellie and I were walking down the plumbing isle waiting for Brian to pick out some plumbing stuff. I saw two men looking at parts and one of them had long hair that was in a braid. I really didn't think anything of it until Ellie (2 years old), yells out "Boys don't have braids." I looked at her and she repeated herself. The men were really close to us but didn't seem to notice Ellie's admonishment. She started to say it again but I threw her in the cart and jogged over to Brian. She was still shaking her head and saying "they don't."

I gently explained to her that some boys do have braids, why I don't know, but they do. She still is not convinced.

Happy Birthday G-man!

This year has been a long one. It's been all about getting to the next day, week, month...

Imagine our happiness at finding out we were expecting you, a boy, after 4 girls. I had so much fun shopping for new boys clothes, blankets and toys. You decided to make your appearance only 2 hours after I knew I was in labor, 52 minutes after arriving at the hospital and only 2 pushes.

2 weeks old

You've been such a blessing but also such a frustration. Unless you were being held or nursed you were so fussy. Not colic fussy but "why aren't you holding me" fussy. So hold you I did. And walked. And bounced on the balls of my feet until my calf muscles rivaled any body builder.

The reason why I was the most frustrated was because I had so much to get done during the day. Not only did I homeschool your sisters, do 3 loads of laundry a day, make meals, clean the house but I also had two websites going which involved lots of my time.

6 weeks

Through all of this though, I have always called you My Sweet Boy. Your one redeeming quality was that you were so cute that I had to snuggle with you. Your soft breath on my neck as you nuzzled in for a nap. I loved you sleeping beside me and waking up to your smiles every morning.

Now you are a year and walking, talking and making trouble for your sisters and their lego creations. You say "gook" or "this" when you want something to eat. You can say Ellie "eda" and banana "nana". Of course "Mama" and "Dada", "bye bye", and "hi". You will dance to anything. The blender humming, the vacuum cleaner or simply Ava tapping her pencil on the table or when you see the Wiggles DVD. You yell out "dance" and then start rocking back and forth. It's really cute.

13 weeks

So happy birthday G-man. You have been worth all the trouble.

Pictures from his birthday party.