//and then there were chicks//

It's so fascinating to me that little chicks can be sent right to your post office through the regular old mailing system. We bought our chicks from the other side of the state. Then yesterday the post office called and said our chicks were in and we went to town and picked them up. And that was it. Now we have 25 little cheeping puff-balls and 3 enamored puff-ball lovers.

Their names so far are: Dander, Shy, Baby cake, Pumpkin (largest), Feisty, Chip, Chip 1, Chip 2, Chip 3, First, Baby, Bumpers.

Ida keeps counting to make sure we still have 25 chicks present. And Urban wants to "tell Great Grandma that chickens are stinky."

Right now holding chicks trumps riding bikes. That's a big deal!

 

first s'mores

Nothing makes the little vowels more happy than a fire burning in the pit, so over the weekend we collected sticks and started a camp fire. I love sitting around the fire as a family. If it were Josh's way, we would camp every night. As for me, camping is not something I enjoy, so having a fire pit in the back yard is perfect. We do s'mores and play until we can't tolerate the mosquitos one second more before heading inside our house. It's perfect.

Bring it on, summer. We are more than ready for ya!

 

life with Urban

Urban has started to share some of his thoughts and feelings in uncoached conversations with us and it is one of my favorite things about my every day life. I am excited to wake in the morning and hear what he has to say. He hasn't much liked the bathtub for the last several months, which has made bath time a chore. One evening, in desperation, I asked Urban if he was interested in taking a bath in the kitchen sink which I presented as the "kitchen pool." He loved the idea of having his very own little pool and has been excited to bathe ever since. During the day when he sees me washing our glasses by hand because I refuse to put them in the dishwasher, he asks me what I am doing in the "kitchen pool."

There is constant construction noise in our house. Urban only feels comfortable with the activities if he is wearing his "earmuffs." The irony of his earmuffs is that he can't hear anything, even things he is meant to hear. He talks to me and asks questions but can't hear my responses so I end up yelling at him so he can hear. One day he was wearing the earmuffs and saw me chewing gum. He kept saying, "what mama?" thinking I was talking to him because he saw my mouth moving. HA!

Today Urban and I planted the sunflower plants the kids grew for me as Mother's Day gifts. It has become a traditional activity they participate in at school. And each spring I plant them in the garden. We enjoy them all summer. Urban watered them after we chose a nice, sunny corner where I planted them. As he stood there holding the watering can he told me, " Want to go to school. Be okay at school, mama. It's okay to go to school." He is right. He will love school and be really great at going. And for now he's really great at spending the day with me.

 

Bathroom Remodel Before(yikes)/After

Prepare yourselves, these before pictures aren't pretty. Not one bit. I had almost forgotten how horrible our bathroom looked, and looking through these old pictures again has made me feel so grateful for the hard work and hours Josh spent turning our bathroom into something so fresh.

Ida ran in from outside yesterday to use the bathroom. She was in there a long time before I started wondering what could be happening. I figured she got distracted painting her toe nails or brushing her hair. When she came through the kitchen on her way out to play again she said, "Mom, I love our bathroom. I feel like it's a hotel bathroom. It's so nice and fancy." And then my heart danced.

Okay, so here it is, finally documented.....the bathroom remodel before/after.

AFTER:

The countertops and with under mount sinks are quartzite. I absolutely love them. They are a synch to clean and look great all the time.

The shower curtain is from Urban Outfitters. I had seen the shower curtain online when I was trying to decide if I wanted glass door surrounds for the shower. We only have one bathroom on the main floor and three kids so I decided that a curtain would give more privacy for bathroom emergencies while people are showering. to my surprise, we I went to order it, it was SOLD OUT! Oh, I was disappointed. I continued to look and look for a curtain that I loved as much but never found one. In the meantime, we were using a plain, white, plastic guy. Then one day it happen. I went online and saw it was back in stock and ordered it feeling SO happy to finally be able to put in in the bathroom. Then I waited. And waited. I waited for 18 days for that shower curtain to come in the mail and it didn't. After investigating, I discovered it was lost, no one could tell me where it was and there was nothing anyone could do. What!?!? The little plastic, pitiful curtain just hung there while I decided if I wanted to spend another $50 to replace it. And all at once, one day, the one I ordered came! All battered and taped, but it came!!!

My grandma gave me this picture from her basement.

A great DIY project. We put window film on the bottom half of the window to allow privacy without curtains. Love it,

We kept the original lights and Josh rewired them to come down from the ceiling.

We repainted to double vanity (LOVE it! The storage space can't be beat.) and the tile is porcelain tile made to look like wood. It is beautiful.

The difference is remarkable!

 

taco bell house, but hey!

My brother bought a house! In fact, it is the house right next door to my dad, they are neighbors. How's that for awesome? My dad has already mowed his lawn all nice and neighborly-like. They both seem so happy.

Jacob (my brother) called Josh to see if he could come up and give his advice on changing the floor plan now while the house is completely gutted and ready for remodel. Not a problem for a guy who likes to destroy, build, destroy. The kids and I tagged along thinking it would be fun to have dinner with Grandpie (as the kids call him) and hang out with Uncle Jacob ( he is so nice, the kids whisper).

The green house is my dad's where I grew up and the taco bell house is going to "definitely" be repainted and is Jacobs. He has an acre and plans to build greenhouses for year round harvesting.

Grandpie got the tractor out for the kids to drive. Ida wasn't heavy enough on the seat to prevent it from stalling out so I rode along with her. She was a complete maniac and has zero boundaries when it comes to fun! I lost count of the number of times she almost knocked me off the tractor with her crazy driving.

And for old times sake, we took the kids for a walk to the store to pick out a treat, JUST like when I was little. The store is next to Jacobs house so we just walked down the road and then cut through his yard on the way home. I felt like I had gone back in time.

The other cool things that happened during our visit: the school bus came by and dropped kids off at the exact spot that used to be my bus stop growing up, Mark from across the street came home in his white truck after work like always, Joann was mowing her grass, and the Mill pond looked so mill-pondy. Plus, we drove Waterloo road to town and then home. I love that road buckets and buckets!

 

:: the day urban and i rode the elevator at school ::

 

Did I tell you the kids have an elevator in their school? Serious. It was a very busy day for Urbs and I that day when we rode the elevator in the elementary school down to the very bottom floor....basement. We went in having no intentions of doing it and it just crept up on us. We went to see Emerson during art time and meet him at the art show. We got there a touch early and thought quickly, "I have a visitor's pass, let's explore and find Emerson in the art room before he comes to meet me." And then it happened all at once while I was in search of the art room that I had never seen, but legend had it that it was in the basement. While standing by the stairs and the elevator and finding the courage to move somewhere a very nice 5th grade teacher invites, "You can use the elevator. We are on 1. B will take you down." And then he opened the door for me! I pushed the stroller right in. Urban squealed going down. In the basement I suddenly felt like I had done something wrong, it was so quiet, so we rode the elevator back up and met Emerson at the art show. Fun day.

Emerson and his self portrait.

Ida stinker didn't even tell me she had a piece in the show! But, mom's always find out.

Ida's rocket.

 

april is for birthdays

So Josh and I are now 34, and I have to say that being 34 feels a lot like being 33. I don't think I will write that when I am 36 because that is close to 40 and it seems that for me, 40 is the new 50. So yes, I will be happy being 34 because " honestly, we'll never stop this train."

First came Josh's birthday and it went something like this.

After delicious supper we had delicious chocolate cherry cake.

One thing Josh and Urban do NOT have in common, Urban HATES cherries.

Ida made Josh a friendship bracelet.

The kids made a family chant. One by one, everyone puts a hand and then another "in" and shouts "home." Once all hands are in you yell "cheeseburger," just as you would on a basketball team with all hands flying high. I have NO idea where it came from, but cheeseburger it is. And a great birthday closer.

We left the balloons and banners up because then it was my turn to be 34. We have started taking family pictures on my birthday.

Last year's:

That will be a great tradition.

Oh the festivities! Cheesecake and gifts, homemade cards and laughter. Great birthday!

And that's about being 34.