Doh!

Dwayne just got a big bonus and it has been fun planning what to do with it. Until we got back from camping today and had a thick envelope from the IRS waiting in the mailbox, saying we owe them almost $7000 from our 2010 return.

Oops.

It should be noted, albeit briefly, that I do the taxes in our household.

After a few hours of pouring over our 2010 tax file, I finally found that instead of inputting $654.05 on Form 1099-B, I put in $6540. Take that, throw in some interest, maybe a pinch or two of penalties, and there goes the extra block Dwayne was going to get to finish up the outside walls. 

Sorry, Baby!  I love you.  Um, happy birthday?

Bare Back

I really like this photograph because I am not carrying any of three children.

(From Wolf Haven, on our way home from camping.)

Can-Do Attitude

When Dwayne’s parents were here a few weeks ago, I took off Piper’s training wheels with visions that I would have time to help Piper learn to ride her two-wheeler.  Well, we practiced for about 5 minutes and never got back to it.  And she really didn’t like it.

Later that week, Piper came to me with a wrench and said she had put her training wheels back on her bike.  I didn’t think I heard her right, but I checked, and I had to adjust one of the wheels, but she had done it and done it well.  [I am completely bewildered how she figured out the nuts and bolts and wrenches, but no adult admits to helping her.]

Tonight, as I was packing up the car for camping, I asked Piper if I should pack her skuut (balance) bike or her pedal bike.  She wanted her skuut, and I packed it with all the other gear.  In the meantime, she had gotten out the correct size wrench (that must have been dumb luck!) and was trying to take off her training wheels from her pedal bike.  She finally asked me for help to loosen them and she took them off.  Then she wanted to learn to ride in the [cramped and cluttered] garage.  I suggested we would do better on the driveway or street. 

The first time I let go, she went about 5 feet.  The second time, 10 feet.  The third time, 20 feet.  The next time, halfway around the island.  In a few more tries, she learned how to start herself going downhill.  A half-hour later, she started herself on the uphill. 

I give equal credit to lots and lots of hours logged on the balance bike and Piper’s “Of course I can do it—it’s never occurred to me otherwise” spirit.  How does one bottle that and where can I get some for myself?

* * * * * * * *

Just so you don’t get an completely unbalanced report of this child, she did quite deliberately, right in front of me, eat yet another cookie she was told very clearly that she couldn’t have.  She was very much taking advantage of the 20 or so people over for a little afternoon party this afternoon.   She has completely fallen apart several times the last few days, staring the exact minute Kyla went off to Kindergarten without her.

Happy First Day of Kindergarten, Kyla!

This is MY kid! (Okay, she’s Dwayne’s, too.)   I’m so proud of her!

Laboring on Labor Day

This is just what we do on weekends and holidays.  Work on the house.  I finally finished all the @$&*# deck railings just as the weekend began…

(This would be the “middle” picture.  It’s done now, but seriously.  Name me a worse painting job than a second story deck with 1”x1” railings every 4”.)

 

….so that we had time to throw Kyla a birthday party, completely repaint the master bath (mold problems—now completely taken care of and looking pristine), and then complete the first layer of bricks for Dwayne’s Fricking Big Wall.

This is the part of the walls and stair Dwayne had completed last year. 

 

Looks big?  A drop in the bucket, my friend.

In the last few months, we build both sides here…

continued the inside wall down and around….

 

and continued…..

 

all the way to the other stairs.

 

Every single brick is about 80 pounds.  We hauled yards upon cubic yards of gravel (to give a good, level foundation) and lots of rocks to stabilize each brick once it’s in level.  Dwayne lays each one down—because this calls for perfectionism and I don’t qualify—and I do as much as the heavy lifting as I can between calls of “Mama-duty”. 

And did I mention this is the 3rd time building this particular wall?  So not only are we building this, we are also digging out the sand we had originally laid, and carting back uphill all the small blocks our younger and naïve selves used seven or eight or nine years ago. 

I really, really hate this project, though I will be the second to admit how great it will look if it ever gets done. 

The only thing worse than building walls out of 80 pound brick down a large, steep hill is painting deck railings.  But I’ve griped enough about that.  Besides, the next time the railings need painting, the kids will be old enough to do it, and the time after that….we’re getting Trex.

Thank goodness Labor Day is over for one more year!

The Best Part of Labor Day Weekend

My parents and local brother (and SIL) came over for dinner and play this afternoon.  Both Grandma and Grandpa jumped on the trampoline with the kids, Parker found the stash of balls and the foam bat, and we warded of the chill with a fire in the fire pit.  It was perfect. 

Thanks, Papa, for reading to the kids by fire light.  They loved it!

Piñata Party

Kyla is 6 years old today.  Six.  And she finally had a birthday conveniently on a Saturday. 

We invited all her playgroup friends (we’ve been together just shy of 6 years now!) with families and made the most of a beautiful September day.

 

We made it special with a piñata.  At first, Kyla couldn’t decide between the T-Rex, the butterfly, or the princess.  The good news?  We got to whack a princess with a stick.

 

All the kids got to take lots of whacks before it finally opened up.  And no kid took a broom handle in the face!   That’s pretty good for 14 kids, include four 2-year-old boys. 

 

I put very little candy in there, but Wesley dove in, took 3 lollipops and walked off before anyone noticed.  Luckily, it was caught on camera.  (With so many kids of different ages, I had whistles, gliders, tattoos, etc., and the rule was to get just one of everything.  This worked great…except for Wesley who just took the suckers and left everything else.)

 

Check out this awesome cake my friend, Elizabeth, made.  If you look carefully, you can tell it is a simple round cake, cut a certain way and flipped around a bit.  Pure genius.

 

Kyla like everything about her special day.

 

There was an “after-party” for those who didn’t have to get home for naps.  We opened up the air-rockets Kyla got and did our best to send them to outer space. 

 

The kids stood back and took running jumps on to the air pump and then tried to catch the rocket before it landed. 

 

Aubrey impressed us all with how high hers flew!

 

To get a  rocket out of the trees, one first throws Wesley’s yellow bat up after it.  To get the bat of the tree, one only needs to throw a basketball up after it a few times to bring everything back down.

 

The day couldn’t have been much better, either the birthday or for her mother.