Wicked Witch

Our top story today comes from Kyla, who is the very essence of the picky eater I did not raise her to be.  Today, I served deli-sliced turkey rolled up around shredded cheddar, warmed it up, and called it a turkey taco.  Kyla unrolled hers, declared she did not like this meat and would only eat the cheese.  I asked her to try the meat, and she took her infamous miniscule bite.  And then another. And another.  Then declared, “Mama, I do like this.” 

I don’t think this will ever happen again, so I needed to record it.

* * * * * *

This afternoon, Kyla and Piper were playing outside, and came running up to me saying excitedly, “Mama, you’re the wicked queen and you are our mother!”  I whole-heartedly agreed with both statements (it had been a rough day, Wesley-wise, and I hadn’t even to the worst of it yet, I discovered later) and my wicked princesses informed me that they were making a trap for Captain Hook.  I asked if they wanted to help me make granola bars.  Piper’s response?  “OH, YES!  Let’s make poisoned granola bars!!” 

 

We went inside and I told her that I didn’t think I had poisonous bananas, and she carefully explained that some bananas were poisonous and some weren’t, and she could tell the difference.  She found a banana, black from the freezer, and declared it poisoned.  Everything we added, except the chocolate chips was poisonous, it turns out. 

 

 

Sorry, Rochelle.  Did I not tell you that before I cut an extra-big piece for you?

The girls’ “wicked” faces!

Stamp This One “DONE”

Dwayne worked all Sunday afternoon with St. Jim and completed the woodshed!  It is the cutest woodshed ever, and if you ever hear grumblings about not being able to put anything useful in it—like a table saw or lawn mower—well, just tell her to shush and enjoy her new kitchen.

Kyla Likes the New Area Rug

She doesn’t care what it looks like, but see how fun it is!

How Desperate is Mama to Thatch the Lawn?

“Hey, Wesley, sure you can take your bike in the trampoline.”  Especially as he gets it in there himself.

She Climbs a Tree

Climbing up…

up…

up…

near the top.

 

I took this to get perspective of the girls, but I was surprise how beautiful spring looks in the front yard!

 

Coming down, down, down.

 

Picture a Piper wiggling back and forth chanting, “I did it, I did it, I really, really did it!” It’s cute enough for a video, but I’m not going to subject you today.

 

 

Posing for me while Kyla is off on her next adventure.

 

“Mom, when can I start climbing trees?”

“Son, when you are old enough to reach the first branch.  And when you stop sucking your fingers.”

Playgroup Play

Went to Kyla’s BFF’s house for playgroup (together 5 1/2 years now!) and spent a lot of time playing outside.

A lucky find—an unused sandbox with rainwater!

Piper generally seemed “in action” all morning.

 

See what I mean?

 

Wesley’s not going to let Piper do something without him.

 

What is that face? Goof ball.

 

Kyla and Isaac garden together. I distinctly heard her say, “I’ll dig this hole and you do all the rest, okay?”

 

Isaac said, “Okay.”

 

Project: Hawaii—Home at Last. Or Close Enough.

The floor and trim were completed today, and I love it! 

(The splotchy pictures are from me dropping the camera in the sand on Sunday afternoon.  When the camera deigns to turn on at all, it won’t zoom, and I seem to have permanent lens “dots”.  And I can’t even blame this camera failure on a child.)

 

The electrician is coming tomorrow to put in all the missing receptacles and generally finish up wiring.  Unfortunately, just minutes ago I noticed an error in light placement above the sink.  I don’t know how that happened, as we spent a long time discussing and chalking light placement.   How did I not notice this before the drywall went up?  It is technically fixable, but it’s not the cost of ripping this out, cutting in new holes, etc, etc, that keeps this light in place.   It is that I would have to paint the ceiling again, and that is unacceptable.  More unacceptable than one light out of place that I will notice every single time I go into the kitchen for the next twenty years.  Okay, so it’s a close call. 

The contractor has a few odd jobs to do that can’t be done until the correct floor transitional pieces come in next week, but nothing that inconveniences us.

I have lots of tiny paint touch ups to do and I haven’t begun to putty and finish the trim work.   But I’m going to have fun putting things back and finding new spots for my favorite items.  And maybe the shop vac and ladder can go back to the garage eventually….

Thanks for following this adventure with us!

PS For those who don’t know, this was called Project: Hawaii because a few months ago, Dwayne called my mom and asked her if she was willing to take care of all three kids for a week while he took me on a romantic vacation.  She said yes, of course, bless her.  I was excited at first, but a few weeks later realized that if we had a time and money to go to Hawaii for a week, perhaps we could just tear down a couple of walls and raise the kitchen ceiling.  That’s all.  Dwayne graciously, graciously agreed.  He was the one who wanted to do the flooring, too, and I’m glad he insisted. 

But I think I have the project bug completely neutralized for a long, long time.

The Kids Are Back!

Mom and Dad brought the kids back this morning.  While the house is not ready for them, I certainly was! 

I think they all got bigger over the last ten (!) days.

 

And one of their favorite things to do at Gramma’s?  Popsicles. 

Thank you, thank you, thank  you, Mom and Dad.  For taking the kids…and bringing them back!

Project: Hawaii (X)—I Hate Painting Now

Friday night:  They finished texturing the walls and ceilings about 8pm on Friday evening.  I had been painting on and off that afternoon, working on priming beams, etc.  But I started painting in earnest as soon as they turned off the hopper.  By 5am, I had primed and painted all the surfaces not directly textured. 

In our 32oo sf house, I have painted every wall and ceiling, personally, in the entire house.  Except these two walls.       

These are the two walls in stairwell at the split level entry.  There is no good way of painting the beams, the ceiling, or the walls.  It was lousy, lousy, lousy.  And then painting all the beams in the cathedral ceiling.  At 2am.  And 3am. And 4am. 

Saturday:  Slept 4 hours and then got up and painted for 7 hours straight.  Used up most of a 5 gallon bucket of primer. 

Saturday night:  Went to a fabulous, swanky birthday party at the Metropolitan Grill.  Wore a dress long enough to cover my paint-splattered knees.  Came home at 10:30 and Dwayne and I painted until 3am. 

Sunday night:  Completed all but the final coat of green paint after the kids went to bed.  Take a peek!

 

 

This was my Friday night nemesis, those lower walls.

But I really like how great the ceilings turned out.  The beams are not longer dark brown beams painted with one or two coats of white paint.  There’s no more water stains or little cracks.  It is clean, smooth, and finished…in direct contrast to everything below it.

 

The flooring (and trim) is all that’s left to do, plus a few touch ups.  Done on Wednesday??? (I’m trying to type with my fingers crossed!)

Project: Hawaii—Shed’s Almost Done!

Isn’t it adorable? 

 

Project: Hawaii (IX)—The Mess

Chaos reigns in our house.  I spent six days completely destroying and reconstructing our bedroom to give me one oasis of tranquility and order when it was done.  But Piper’s room and the downstairs have been just gotten worse as more things have been thrown either place to get them out of the way. 

The downstairs:

[Funny story.  Damn Cat Smokey has loved all these open doors lately and we’ve been chasing her out.  Smokey was hiding out on the train table and I tried to get back to her.  I climbed over the brown chair, but halfway over, it tipped over and I fell back on my rear.  With my legs in the air, the chair tipped back to level, spilling me on the ground.  Cat smirked.]

 

And poor, poor Piper’s room. 

Project: Hawaii (VIII) Surf’s Up!

The drywall is up and the men are staying late to get the mudding done!  A lot has been accomplished today in the kitchen, but even so, the floor will probably not be completed until Sunday (and then depends on how fast we can get the trim on).  But it looks like a kitchen now.

 

 

I know it looks like I’m just photographing the scaffolding, but it looks great from here on the sand.

And our room is officially complete, down to the still-drying shampooed carpet and tools all put away.  See, the upper trim finishes it perfectly.  Thanks, Jim, for the use of the nail gun. It made the project much faster and more enjoyable.