When Four Worlds Collide

What happens when this



meets this


with a little of this


and this thrown in on the side?


I'm grateful that this season of sprummer lasted only a month. More or less. Bringing the school year to a close with all the fun little details while, at the same time, preparing for a summer of delicious nothing-to-do days and crowded soccer nights.

Sprummer activities have included but were not limited to: pool set up and maintenance, a strict laundry regimen, and soccer 8 nights a week, with Friday, Saturday and Sunday excluded, painting of the bus and most of the inside of our house.

"We" also ventured out of our "gimme gimme" box and volunteered to coach our 4 year olds soccer team. What a hoot! MY kid, of course, is the one who wants to disappear off the field and sneak away to the park...

The kids think I'm SuperMom. Not in the fact that they respect my power, just that they think I can do everything for them and still manage to wash the towels and have their soccer clothes clean for the appropriate evening. Expectations are hard to live with.

So, that's where we've been. We've adjusted to our chaos and are settling into our summer routine. We're a little slow sometimes but as I always say, "Better late than never!"

Psst...Come Closer

I'm whispering.

They're here early. I feel like locking the door and pretending I'm not home. I have to get dressed now. I missed my opportunity for a shower. Do you think they'd really know I am home?

I know, it'll look so nice when it's all done but I feel a little on the cranky side this morning. Probably because of the rain at the soccer game last night. Just enough to get wet.

Oh, but wait. Did you see that rainbow?!?! Double. From the game I was at we could see the whole arc. Both of them! It was amazing but I didn't have my camera.

I feel better now, thanks for reminding me of the beauty amidst the yuck of life.

C'mon in, I think I'll make some cookies.

For everyone who's been asking...

In the middle of demolition.stop.

big hole in side of house. stop.

shower/tub to be installed today.stop.

bathroom gutted out.stop.

barely hanging on to sanity.stop.

will be in contact soon.stop.

Kari

Discombobulated - Day 2

Today was much like yesterday only we handled it better.

Most of the shingles were torn from overhead and only half of the roof needed to be re-sheeted. Jack (the contractor) only fell through the roof in one spot and that was only onto boxes of maternity clothes stashed in my attic. They only found one nest of carpenter ants.

All in all I think we could count it as a good day.

It's going to take awhile to get out of School Mode for some of my kids.


I found this one timing how long he could sit on the swing without touching the ground...Talk about discombobulated! I told him 18 minutes was too long to do Nothing and suggested he start cleaning the pool.

It wasn't long before he started to enjoy the process and he warned me, "I might want to take this job away from Dad."

"You guys will have to settle that without me." My standard answer for any squabbles about chores.

Discombobulated - Day 1

It's a good thing we started our summer schedule this week. Even I cannot withstand the temptation to watch this.

We've had this project in the works for months and now it's finally happening. We've never had anything but self-inflicted remodeling/construction projects, so I'm not sure how this will affect our daily lives. If today is any indication of future discombobulation...It's gonna be a long summer.

For the little boys it was pretty much business as usual. Except for the restrictions on where they could enter and exit the house and the instructions on which ladders NOT to climb (that would be all of them) it was almost a normal day. It was hardest for them to stay out of the way and not engage the workers in conversation all - the - time. I decided to stay outside with them when I say Jack (the contractor) pushing Isaac on the swing.

We all eventually gravitated outside. It was a lovely day and we had lots of little projects to do. We patched a big hole on the bottom of the pool and watched it fill.

We labeled some books for an upcoming sale out on the picnic table, the boys played catch, and the neighbors stopped by to chat.

I'm thinking the roof will be done by the end of the week...and our bathroom habits can return to normal.

Family Handyman

Last week 2 of my kids plotted out our lot. They ventured outside with paper, pencils and a tape measure. Returned enthusiastically to transfer their measurements to graph paper...

They were very accurate, only a couple of feet off. (I've re-measured everything and I can't find those feet either)

Because a piece of paper that big would never survive in our house (and, because this is what I do best) I graphed it out on a spreadsheet.

(You can click on the images to make them bigger)
As I was plotting all the little extras I realized, when we moved in, there was nothing but "House" and "Garage". Matt added everything else.


I'd love to post before and after shots this morning but that will involve scanning and photo albums. Remember those? The non- digital kind? An exhumation and good dusting off of those will be a wonderful project for the snowy weekend that's being forcasted.


Note added after original post: If you're wondering HOW the bus fits into our lot, I added it here just for fun.