Category: Uncategorized (Page 54 of 212)

Things are moving along on schedule.  The floors are installed up to the kitchen and the kitchen has been patched.  Ben had the displeasure of taking all our laundry to a laundromat for cleaning.  House repairs make you appreciate things you take for granted.  I had forgotten about hoarding quarters to wash our clothes.

Ben and I used a date night to look at backsplash tile and countertops.  I think I’ve settled on a design scheme.  Then we ate and Red Robin and got home in time to put the kids to bed.  

Yesterday we saw Hidden Figures at a theater in Stapleton.  The Alamo will always be my favorite theater, but this new one, Harkins, has babysitting!  It was fantastic.  For $6 per kid they got movies, video games, crafts, toys, and unlimited popcorn and water in the play center in the lobby.  I got a silent pager in case they needed me during the movie.  I wish more places would offer services like this!  The movie was great too.  Not especially factual, but fun and full of good feelings and great period costumes.  

Tomorrow the boys are off of school for MLK day.  If they’re good and my cold and injured back are not worse, I’ll take them swimming.  They’ve been good sports about the house.  They deserve a treat.

It’s a big relief to see something being built up instead of torn down.  We’re on the other side now.  Bonus picture of Sam being entertained by a spinny chair in the Daltile showroom.

You would think that losing a chunk of hair would teach you not to run your new car over your head.

Sam didn’t learn from his Christmas Day mistake, and this time doubled it!  

The main floor is truly in tatters now. Electric has been installed and left a patchwork of holes in the kitchen. The floors are being demolished. Aside from a leaky washer faucet we have been lucky to find no major problems.

They think the floor demo will be done today and they can start laying down the new wood. Then three passes of sanding, then stain and finish. If we stay on schedule it will be done by Friday next week.

This is how we live now.

We are lucky to have a comfortable basement with a mini sink and fridge. I sort of feel like I’m living in the dorms again :-). We even have a long trek to the bathroom like the dorms, which is two levels above us now. In the mornings I prepare breakfast downstairs, then carry it on a tray to the little masters upstairs. They eat in their toy room before dressing for school. This system works well, but emphasizes my servent role. I imagine myself in black and white uniform as I carry the tray up, expecting Mrs Crawley at the top.

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Let’s go back in time, to a place before Ben’s birthday, before the house started to get torn apart.  After sad good-byes to pets and endless class parties.  We flew to sunny Florida to a Waterhouse vacation in the Walt Disney World Resort!

I have a ton of pictures on my Flickr account and posted some favorites here – sorry they are backwards order.   I still can’t figure out how WordPress uploads (maybe it defaults to reverse chronological order?).

The park was crazy crowded as we expected.  Despite that, we had some great meals, rode more rides than I expected, and had a great time with family.   We did some new things, like character meals and meeting Chewbacca, that were fun and unexpected!  We did some old favorites like Star Tours, Haunted Mansion, and Soarin.’   I loved the newer rides, like Toy Story Mania and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

We were exhausted and stuffed with memories by the end of the trip.  On Pena Boulevard Sam asked if we were headed to Disneyland (his general term).  Sorry kiddo, it’s time to go back to real life.

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We are READY and counting down for Christmas.  The kids are amped.  The tree is drowning in presents.  I’ve baked up pounds of butter into cookies and cakes.

Here’s the kids enjoying this Christmas carolhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vd79mpzBnJ4&sns=em

We had friends over to decorate cookies.

We went downtown for a dinner date and wandered up to the Christkindlmarkt.  I was thrilled to catch the tail end of the German dancers!

Now we are counting down to bedtime.  Merry Christmas to all!

This new blog has a link to my ravelry project page – and I love that.  But please do not explore until AFTER Christmas.  As usual, a few of you can expect knitted goodies under your tree.  Unless you want to spoil the surprise – do not click.

Today we put both of our pets to sleep.  It’s been a sad week and a very sad day.  We feel relief and are confident we made the right decision at the right time, but it’s still immensely sad.

Molly was dwindling for months.  I’m fairly sure she was diabetic or had another renal problem.  She lost most of her muscle mass and had little interest in her food or play.  Her toileting has never been stellar, but it’s become a real problem the last few months.

Jem got sick with diarrhea before Thanksgiving, then added a cough and vomiting.  We ran bloodwork and got her on antibiotics.  She would seem to be getting better, then it would come back just as strong.  She spent most of her days laying around, obviously in pain.  More medication, no improvement.  When the vet said that the next steps would be more imaging studies, looking for masses or other causes that would need drastic interventions, we decided it was time to be done.

We have a trip coming up and then at least a month of major house work.  That’s not WHY we made our decision.  Rather,  as Ben put it, those events put up a mirror to view the pets through.  We realized we were uncomfortable putting either pet through either situation, and if we didn’t think they could handle another week without us, that meant it was time to put them to rest.

We took Jem to the vet this morning and she had a very easy, very peaceful passing.  It was good to be with her and feel her finally relax and feel good before slipping away.

A little later today a home-visiting vet came to do Molly at home.  I was uncomfortable with taking her anywhere because she hates travel so very much.  The home vet was kind, efficient, and soothing.  An expensive option, but a nice way to go.  Molly had ice cream and ham and then cuddled until she drifted off.

The kids are taking it well.  Ben and I had a lot of guilt and the decision was hard to make.  Andy called me and talked yesterday and it was really good to be validated.

Ben found some old photos of the animals today and it was shocking to see how much they had changed because it happened so gradually.  Our robust, happy animals were already gone.

We are relieved and looking forward to enjoying Christmas and travel and house remodeling without stressing about the pets.  We miss them, we cried a lot.  But we also let the kids have a movie-picnic in the living room for the first time ever.  I think I scrubbed my last daily-fecal mess.  I won’t have pet hair on everything.  We have good memories and are confident we did our best for them.

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It’s been a holiday whirlwind so far.  Here’s some choice selections from my day to day happenings.

Sam visits Santa.

Jack visits Santa.

The Alamo put floating candles and castle walls on the hallway into the theater for Fantastic Beasts.  They also had a photo booth in the lobby.

Jem has a sick tummy and cuddles a Santa hat.

Jack has his “Star Week” and brings in a poster and show-and-tell items about himself.

Amanda manages a fire drill in the middle of Act 1 of Peter and the Starcatcher.

Jack learns to knit.

Sam will join primary as a Sunbeam in the new year.  They brought in the little ones to practice sitting with the group.  They have new matching sweaters on this day.

Didn’t my cranberry bundt cake turn out fantastic?  Ha, no.  Tasted good.  But I replenished my empty can of Baker’s Joy the next day.  Never rely on Pam for a bundt.

I bought an Ikea kitchen!!!  This is some of the cabinet style. Hopefully I will have a resplendent kitchen enjoy soon!

Found this amazing candy shop in Park Meadows mall.  Had to tell Santa about it for stocking stuffers.

MagicBands arrived!  We are so pumped!

Don’t you nap best with a mountain of manly machines to keep company?

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