Our front hall work-in-progress

We have a lot of projects we're working on at the moment. These are pictures showing the progress we've made in the front hall. We're opening up the wall, to better connect the dining room to the rest of the house. It has greatly improved the flow of foot traffic already! We're still not done, but I figured I'd show you how we're coming along.

This first picture was taken over a year ago; I'm posting it just to show you a 'before' picture.

Again, about a year ago....Will got into helping Daddy pull up the floor tile
Originally we were going to mimic the opposite opening (the other side of the wall was a closet space). Here you see Gordon cutting the sheetrock along that opening. After making that step, we decided to open the wall all the way up to the ceiling.

Tearing down the sheetrock, piece by piece.

Grace couldn't wait to be able to help -- she LOVED getting to kick at the wallboard.

Once we got all of the wallboard out of the way...

And now the studs are gone too

After Gordon got the chance to reroute some of the wiring.

even more pictures

The big girls aren't as good about letting me take their picture as frequently as I do the little ones. They run faster! Here are a couple of the two of them from the summer.

Grace playing with her horses in the car at Nana's house one day....it was too hot to run around much & Aunt Becky wasn't home with her kids to play with.

more pictures

These are pictures of William on his first day of school.

Riding in the car on the way to school

In the parking lot at the school

playing at the sand table, one of his favorite things to do at school

outside in the playground at the end of the school day

pictures, pictures, pictures!!

I've decided to post pictures of the kids one-kid-at-a-time. Here are some recent pictures of Eleanor.

She practically climbs right in the dollhouse!

Now that Nora stands all the time, she loves to push buttons on the television -- turning it off or changing the channel. It's especially fun when her big brother or sisters are trying to watch something!

After trying out cousin Breanna's walker over Labor Day Weekend, we decided it was time to pull out the old walker to clean up for Nora's use....that thing has gone through ALL four of our kids. Nora LOVES it!!

I'm not sure that Nora actually ate any of her pudding -- she wore an awful lot. She sure enjoyed it either way!

Jumping back in the saddle too

My friend Shannon from A Crafty Mom's Blog recently posted a blog about being back in the saddle. She had gotten so busy this summer as a mom of three children five years old and younger that she hadn't had a moment to post to her blog in a long while. She blogged about there being no better way to get back into blogging than to dive in head first. I'm going to take her advice and just jump right back into blogging myself.

I hope Mom is prepared for me to be posting lots of pictures in the near future. I've got oodles of pictures that I have taken since the start of the summer that I really need to post and share. Knowing Mom, she'll be sure to share the images with all of her coworkers and friends -- I hope they think my kids are as cute as Mom and I do!

What better blog content could there be than to see pictures of my beautiful babies??

Right now, it's time to crack the whip and get my three eldest ready for school. Make sure you check back later (Uncle Dick!) for pictures!!

Tough times

'They' are right -- tough times are when you really know who your friends are. I have had such an outpouring of love and caring from friends and acquaintances in these last few days.

I have to admit it, I'm shocked by all of the help that everyone has offered and given.

Don't get me wrong -- I knew we'd made some really great friends since moving here almost five years ago. I just didn't realize HOW great these friendships were.

Without all of our friends' love and support, I don't think I could have gotten through this last week. With Dad's wake today and the funeral services Saturday, I'll still need to lean heavily on our friends. But I know it's ok -- they want to be here for us.

Thank you, God, for giving me all that I need right now and for showing me just how awesome our friends are.

heavy stuff

So, that last blog entry is a pretty heavy one. Definitely hard to follow up. But Life goes on. Dad wouldn't want us to wallow in our sorrow for any extended length of time.

Still, it's hard to move on and think about a life without him.

Out of all of my children, I can't tell you who is taking the news of Dad's passing the hardest. Grace seems to be processing it pretty well. She's asking questions as they creep into her head. But she hasn't cried much because she said she doesn't want to cry in front of a lot of people. Dianna, on the other hand, hasn't said much of anything or shown much of a reaction. She knows, and I believe she understands, but she isn't talking about how she's feeling about it. And then there's William. He has gone downstairs at Mom's house a few different times to look for Poppy, only to come back upstairs and comment 'Nope, no Poppy.'

I hope that I am doing this right, trying to engage the two older girls in conversation about Dad. Talking about what's happened, what will happen, and what to expect. Answering all of Grace's questions honestly, but on a level that she can understand without scaring her.

How does one know what to do in situations like this??

RIP Dad

My Dad passed yesterday. He simply went to sleep and did not wake up. He was recovering from a recent surgery. His body was surely tired of the battle it's been fighting for over three years now. It was one long rollercoaster of a haul. He fought as long and as hard as he could, but that nasty disease known as Diabetes won.

Be comfortable and happy in Heaven, Dad. We'll always love you and will keep you in our hearts forever. xoxoxo

Will's first day of preschool for the '09-'10 year

I know, I know. I bet you're checking in on my blog to see pictures of Will's first day of school yesterday. I took pictures. They're still on my camera.

What else is new, right??

I can tell you that Will had a pretty good time. At first he didn't want to leave my side, but then I reminded him how much he'd been looking forward to playing in the sand table. After that, I don't think he'd have noticed if I turned around and mooned the entire classroom!

As I expected, Will didn't want to sit still for Circle Time. I did my best to convince him to join all the other children and their parents. Finally I decided it better to just try to keep him from making loud noises and disturbing Mrs. W while she talked.

When it was time for the Mommies and Daddies to go downstairs for some fellowship, Will didn't want to let me go. Lucky for me, another mommy was standing near me and talking to her daughter who was near William. She said, 'No...you need to stay here and have fun with the rest of your friends while we go downstairs for a few minutes...we'll be right back before you know it!'

Apparently Will thought she was talking to him because he suddenly gave up whining and tugging on my hand, turned around and walked over to the rug to sit with the class for their storytime!!

Once the adults came back upstairs at the end of the class, the children were all playing outside. Will's favorite thing to do! He pleasantly left when I said it was time to leave, though I'm sure he'd have stayed for quite a while longer if I'd allowed it.


I'm hoping tomorrow morning's dropoff will go smoothly. Keep your fingers crossed for me!!

A new church!

First I want to send a BIG thank you to Mrs. Y!! It was after talking with her about our need to find a new church that I decided to try the Baptist Church right by the Town Green. It's the church that Mr. and Mrs. Y attend.

Long story short, Grace and I attended the services yesterday morning. We both wholeheartedly agree that this church and it's fellowship is JUST what our family needs! I look forward to going back next Sunday and getting to worship there again.

The patient

I don't know why my pictures look so grainy and horrible when I post them here on Blogger. They are far clearer than they appear.

Here are pictures of our brave girl from yesterday.

This first picture is right after Dianna changed into her special hospital jammies in pre-op.
Dianna drinking the 'Happy Juice' that the nurse gave her to calm her nerves. (I had to document that Dianna willingly took medication -- it NEVER happens like that for me!)
Not long before she was wheeled into the OR....she was really starting to get nervous.

Post-op. Not the prettiest sight, but I was thrilled to see her again!

Resting comfortably at home...

This is nice!

I could get used to mornings like this. No, I SHOULD get used to mornings like this!

Not the worrying-about-my-baby-girl-because-she's-undergoing-surgery-today part of the morning. The part of the morning where not only did I hear my alarmclock, but I ACTUALLY GOT UP WITH IT!

Just so you know, I had to re-confiscate my old alarmclock from the nightstand in Grace and Dianna's room. I'd given it to Grace to use 'until we get her a new one' a long while ago. And, you've probably already guessed it, we have yet to get her a new one. It's not been high on my list of priorities. Mostly because Gordon is usually able to drag my body out of bed by 6:30 every morning to get a fire lit under me.

When faced with needing to get up this morning earlier than normal, and not having Gordon here to wake me, I was panicking. I can easily sleep through Gordon's alarm. I do on a daily basis. So I KNEW I had to use my old alarmclock if I stood any chance of waking before the sun came up.

The awesome thing is that I not only woke up, but I've been able to have a leisurely cup of coffee before I jump in the shower and start rousting the Little People! (Smart me packed their breakfasts, lunches, and snacks last night so that we could just grab them and go as we head to Grammie's house this morning!)

So yeah....I'm thinking Grace may not get the alarmclock back. I just may have to run to Walmart tomorrow to buy her a new one. I really need to start waking early like this every day -- I could easily start walking in the mornings again if I did!

Single Mommyhood

Gordon has a seminar he is attending in Boston for the next couple of days, so I'm left on the homefront running the household 24/7 by myself. Normally I wouldn't sweat it. But Dianna's tonsillectomy is scheduled for tomorrow morning. Grace has soccer practice tomorrow evening. And I'm only one person. So I'm just a tad worried at how the logistics of it all will play out.

If I put out an S.O.S. please send in the troops. ASAP!!

Soccer time again

Last night was Grace's first soccer practice of the season. Coach Joe was apologetic to have to schedule a practice on a holiday weekend, but the team is pressed for time. Their first game is this Saturday! Coach Joe figured it'd be a good idea to try to get as many girls assembled as he could yesterday so that Thursday's practice won't be the only one most of them have under their belt when the game starts on Saturday.

Dianna's rec soccer team starts on Saturday, but she won't be able to participate. She'll be excused from any and all strenuous exercises for at least a week. Most likely it'll be extended to two weeks. The ENT doctor said it's best to rest for that long so that the wound sites won't start bleeding from the strain of exercise.

Soon enough, I'll be running both of the big girls here, there, and everywhere for soccer, Scouts, and just because.

Hot Air Balloons in VT

We went to Vermont again this past weekend. While my twin and I were out walking with Mom on Saturday morning, we saw a hot air balloon floating in the sky. It was soon followed by a couple more balloons. It turns out there was a festival going on up in Shelburne this weekend!

Even with camera batteries that were just about dead, I was able to get a couple of good shots of the balloons Saturday morning.

I was better prepared by the time we started seeing the balloons again in the evening. I had my camera batteries charged and my keys handy. Grace and Spencer, my cousin's son, hopped in the van with me. It was kind of exhilirating to chase the balloons a bit -- sort of like storm chasing, but without the worries of getting too close to danger!

Here is a picture of one of the balloons just after it touched down...

The ground tracking crew made quick work of deflating the balloon...

I was trying to chase this one for a while but finally gave up. It appeared to be trying to touch down in Vergennes. My guess is that they were aiming for the sports fields at the high school.

Ooooops, she did it again!

Remember when I wrote about my life being complete? You can refresh your memory here if you don't.

Apparently Eleanor must have thought once was not enough. That or maybe she figured the tub needed a good bleaching again. Because, you probably guessed it, she did it again last night!!

ARGH!

I'm hoping this is not the start of a new 'trend'......I certainly don't feel like experiencing this phenomena on a regular basis.

Di's tonsils need to come out

I took Dianna to the ENT doctor today. He pretty much confirmed my suspicions that Dianna has had chronic tonsilitis for a while. It's so bad that we're skipping the treat-it-with-meds method and heading straight to the take-out-the-adenoids-and-tonsils fix.

I've scheduled her procedure for next Thursday, September 10th. It's an outpatient procedure, so she'll be coming home within hours of the surgery. Still, she'll need to stay out of school for at least a week post-op. I've already e-mailed Dianna's teacher to ask about work for Dianna to complete at home. Dianna is actually excited about getting schoolwork to do at home. She said it'll be sort of like we're homeschooling!

I'm just hopeful that everything will go without a hitch. Especially Dianna taking the required pain meds. Lord knows, Dianna is not a child who takes medications easily!