Did it!

So, we did some work in the living room this past couple of weeks. Here are some before and afters.

I couldn't find a good before picture of  this side of the living room, but you can see it a little bit in this ghost party picture from last Halloween.

We still have more to do, but I'm happy with what we've done so far. I haven't done anything with those cords beside the fireplace yet, and I think I'll get curtains sometime soon. Then, one day we have work to do on the ceiling and I can't wait for hardwood floors. I also think it would be great to hide the brick on the fireplace with either stone, or just sheetrock over it and put in a nice mantlepiece.

Next week it's on to repainting the kitchen....

Back in project mode...

Well, I took a break for a couple of months, and now I'm ready to get back to work on this house.

Ryan's song

He always asks me to sing him "I Am a Child of God" before he goes to sleep. I didn't realize he knew it so well. Clearly, he doesn't need my help.

You can also click here to view the video.

Today's rambling (it's long, don't feel guilty for not reading it)

Homeschooling is going pretty well with Hannah, I think. Thank goodness for some fun poetry this morning. She got frustrated with her math, and she tends to have a hard time letting go when she gets upset like that. So, she didn't enjoy her spelling, but then we got into literature and she read a couple of funny poems that got us laughing. Whew, I was afraid it was going to be a long day. Although, she has gotten to a point in her art book where things are getting more challenging. She doesn't really want to take the suggestions from the author and change the way she has been doing things. She started getting mad again when she started in on her art, so I made her run around the house two times. At first she was walking in a circle around the downstairs rooms, and she was a little shocked when I told her that I meant she had to run around the outside of the house twice. She just stood there until I opened the garage door. Thankfully, she really was calmed down by the time she got back. This parenting stuff is so challenging. I wish she could see that things really are not so difficult and frightening as she thinks. It's okay to not be perfect the first time you try something. It's okay if something is hard to understand. That doesn't mean you can't learn and get better at it.

Ryan is such a good little boy. I wish I could bottle up his sweetness and pour it out on him when he starts pretending his fist is a hammer. How do you get a reluctant toddler to be interested in potty training? I'm so ready, but he very forcefully protests to using the potty. He also protests any kind of diaper change. He has done that since he was a tiny, tiny baby, but he's a lot bigger and faster and much more verbal these days. I know everybody says just don't worry about it -- they won't be going to kindergarten in diapers. Well, I'm not worried about three years from now - I'm tired right now of hearing about how he doesn't need a diaper change because Daddy already did it when I can see his diaper hanging to his knees.

Nikki complained for the first time yesterday that Ryan didn't want to play with her anymore because he gets to play with Hannah all the time. She used to be the one to play with him most, but she's right that he really is enjoying having Hannah home. I didn't really know what to say to that.

I've eaten more vegetables in the past two weeks than I have in probably the previous two months. I like to start my New Year's resolutions the week before January starts. It seems to give them more validity if I'm not just waiting until Jan. 1 to try to start something new. Ridiculous, but anyway... One of my goals for January is to organize my recipes in a menu-planning friendly way. I've seen a few ideas, and I'm still not quite sure what I'm going to settle on. But in the process of this I found a nutritious 28-day meal plan. I looked at the first three days and they seemed pretty doable, and I decided I'm in the mood to infuse a few new good recipes into my repertoire. I also decided I'm not going to substitute the only five vegetables I like into every one of the recipes or leave out everything that I just don't want to try (well, I did draw the line at goat cheese, anchovies, and beets -- this is about progress, not perfection. Okay, I usually leave out the tomatoes, too, but I did try them). I've been amazed at how many of the recipes I really like! I learned that I like avocados, cucumbers are just fine, I can eat red peppers very nicely, and blue cheese is delicious. Hannah and Nate are wondering what happened to their mother/wife. :) The down-side to it is that it takes some time to prepare every meal. Breakfast and lunch are not an in-and-out-of-the-kitchen-in-10-minutes affair. I also have lots of dirty dishes!

Last February, I started working online in the mornings as a TA for an online computer science professor. It was a cool job, but it ended up taking more of my time and attention than I thought it would. Kellee is starting to take over for me this week. I feel nervous for her. I remember that feeling of getting started with it so well! I can't believe everything she does. It makes me feel kind of wimpy for giving the job up when she already does so much else on top of it! But I don't feel wimpy enough to take it back. :) I'm actually really enjoying the extra time I have. I still get up early in the mornings. I learned last year that I can wake up early. It feels so good to actually be ready for the day by the time Nate and the kids are ready. I remember Mom always saying how much she could accomplish in the morning, and it is so true!

New Year's: Look Not behind Thee

I've made some goals for the new year, but I think the one goal I've set that will allow me to accomplish the others is to go to bed on time.

Snow!!

We went to bed Christmas night anticipating snow in the morning, and we were not disappointed! Ryan enjoyed it much more this year than last. And we finally found a way to go down the hill using a swimming floaty! One of these days we might actually think to buy a sled before we're snowed in.

The Big Day...

 Getting started...

 I love how big his eyes got over those M&Ms

 This was gone pretty quickly!

 The proverbial orange. Did everyone else always get one in their stocking growing up?

 This was one of Ryan's favorites. He always wants to play with my blender, so this toy one seemed just right. Too bad no one realized how annoying it would be when he left it running and running!

 The piano is sounding pretty good around here these days, and it looks like it's going to just keep getting better.

 For months she has been asking for this huge dog pillow she saw in Target. I figured we could go for it since she has had her mind set on it for so long, but then when I went to buy it I couldn't find it! Thankfully, she was happy with this substitute pillow pet.

 #1 favorite toy. Aunt Robin sent some matchbox cars, which were the perfect compliment to this racetrack he got. If he wasn't playing with his blender, he was saying, "Mom, Ready? Go!"

Of course the best part of Christmas is just seeing how happy everyone is and being together as a family. We had a great holiday, and I'm not sure I'm ready to get back into the groove of things next week. How about just one more week of vacation?

Gingerbread

One of the reasons I prefer a homemade gingerbread house is because it has become our tradition for the kids to leave the gingerbread house out on Christmas Eve instead of cookies and milk. The homemade stuff tastes so much better for the Midnight Snacker! Here again, we were all impressed with Ryan's decorating skills. The girls were a little nervous that our schedule didn't work out for us to decorate it during his naptime, and then they were a little put out that he started in on the front door of the house, but in the end it all worked out just fine. And can I say that I love Dots and Mike and Ike's?

Christmas Cookies

What a delicious tradition! While Ryan may have been a little heavy-handed with the icing, we were all impressed that he wasn't crazy and ruining everybody else's creations.