Remodel pics

No matter how I upload them, it seems to always put the pics in reverse order...so I guess start at the bottom & move up.:)

The gutted bathroom

Where the shower was, it will be tiled instead

Before....

Before....

Asleep on the couch after not taking a nap.:)

Trains & the beach

I had a hair appt. on Fri., so rather than walk around the mall with the kids Erik took them down to Titlow beach (I think perhaps this is the first time he has taken all 3 of them out by himself - woo hoo!) to watch the trains & play on the beach. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, though by the evening was a little bit chilly. I don't think anyone cared too much. The kids were thrilled to throw rocks in the water & got to see 3 trains go by!! I met them after my hair cut & we went to dinner at Steamers. Yum. We picked a table so that we could still see the trains, but no more came by. We will definitely have to go back!

Our remodel is progressing: the kitchen floor is DONE! Tiled & grouted. We aren't able to walk on it yet since the grout is still wet, but the appliances were moved back in today & we should be good to go tomorrow. He started tiling the shower off the kitchen today as well, & will pick up some more parts on Monday & continue.:) We have to pick paint for that room, as the texture is going on the wall Monday & he wants to paint it Tues. Erik & I got a babysitter this a.m. & went to look at tile again, as we are still deciding what to do in the other bathroom. We didn't get very far, but will have to make some decisions before I leave next week! It will be nice to be gone for some of the work.:)

Pee & poo

It seems that most kids reach a time in their lives where they are a bit obsessed with pee pee & poo poo...for most, it seems to be just prior to potty training - OR - when an older sibling is potty training. We have many look-sees at diapers full, & many tears are shed if mommy flushes the toilet too fast...yes, I know you are fascinated by this.:) But I have to set the stage for the following stories. We are still in the midst of our remodel work, which I'll write about later, currently we have a lot of tile work going on. The tile guy, Clete, was heading down the hall the other day to use the bathroom (we were having lunch or something). Kellen wanted to know where he was going, so of course I said to the bathroom. He then asked, "Is he going pee pee or poo poo?" Fortunately Clete didn't answer...;) Then today, while Kaarin was having a bath, she had a 'code brown" as my friend calls it.:) Fortunately it was easy clean up, but then she had another filling of the diaper a bit later. I was changing her, & of course showing the other two what the contents of her diaper was, & Kellen said, "Why does she have a lot of poo poo?" I told him it's because she eats food. He said, "Next time we eat food don't give her any."

So, yes, the remodel is continuing on...the kitchen floor is pretty much completely tiled, I think he is going to grout it tomorrow, then the appliances will get moved back in.:) Our refrigerator is in the living room & the stove is outside! He will then start tiling the small bathroom by the garage. We are planning to get that bathroom completed before starting work on the next bathroom, so that we will at least have a bathroom outside of our bedroom to be used. We are still making a few choices on the other bathroom, so hopefully those come together quickly.

I got the dvd player installed yesterday, so the kids got to watch Finding Nemo on the way home from grandma & grandpa's house! They were SO excited.:) It looks great, & will definitely help on our trip to Palm Springs!! One week until we leave!! And oh-so-much to do before then...

A quick note -- Kaarin has been attempting to stand by herself! She is also cruising along furniture (I maybe mentioned that last post). This girl is growing up too fast!! But so much fun.

Cruising

Kaarin has started cruising along the furniture! She is especially motivated by the phone or remote control.:) For now she mostly goes in a straight line, not around corners. But that will only be a matter of time!! She is doing great. She has been eating a nice variety of foods & is self feeding a lot of them. Last night she ate pizza for the first time, & she has also enjoyed meatloaf & chicken this week. She is not quite as hesitant as Kellen was with new foods, but also not quite as adventuresome as Annika was. She saw the dietician (I can't remember if I wrote about this -- sorry if it's repeat info!) last week & is still small, but she really has no concerns. She is having us come back in 3 months for one last check up.

Annika has been so cute lately. When I call her 'Baby Girl', which I do partly just out of habit since that's what I have called her since she was a baby, she says, "Not baby. Ah-ni-ka." :) She is counting to 3, knows all of her colors by name, & is talking a ton. When she sees someone is sad in a book or something she says that they are sad because they "want mommy & daddy."

Last night Kellen told me, "I like that shirt on you. It's a nice shirt." LOL. I or someone must have said that to him.:) It's funny how things kind of roll out of your mouth & you don't really think about them until you hear them repeated back to you! Kellen is officially enrolled in the Senior class for pre-school next year. He will go M-W-F instead of Tu-Th. The class should be mostly the same kids, so that will be nice for him.

Our work continues to roll on at a fairly quick speed. Today we have an electrician, drywaller, plumber, tiler, etc. all coming out to work. One bathroom is taking shape nicely, & today they are going to take out the kitchen floor. This will make the week a tad interesting, since we won't be able to go into the kitchen for a few days! This means, obviously, that we won't be able to cook, but also that I won't be able to go into Kaarin's room! I haven't decided what to do with her yet, I may have her share the room with Kellen & Annika...we'll see.

My deal of the week last week is the car DVD player: basically the cheapest one that we found that would work for our kids (meaning they wouldn't have to wear headphones to be able to hear) was $699 (9" screen) on sale at Car Toys. This included installation, but with a few other things that would need to be added on the total bill was going to be over $900. Ouch. So, we looked around a little bit more, & found, on e-bay, an 11" screen for $329!! I took all the info in to Car Toys to make sure it would still work...even with having to pay for installation it will cost just over $500! Nice. Obviously still an expense, but a much more acceptable one. It will be nice to have on our several long trips that are coming up...first one being our trip to Palm Springs! We have our route mapped out, lodging booked, so we're ready to start packing! Hopefully it is a smooth trip. If nothing else, the novelty of being able to watch Finding Nemo in the car will be enough to keep them entertained for the first day.:)

Funny phrases

Kellen is very concerned about things blowing away in the wind (I think I mentioned this before) after his b-ball hoop blew away last year in Palm Springs & the umbrella blew over & broke the table on his legs...but he always wants to know if the trees are going to tip over, if his paper will blow away, etc. One day at lunch he was asking if people will blow away & I told him we are too heavy. He wanted to know why people are heavy, & I told him it's because we are big. I told him that mommy & daddy are big & that mommy can't pick daddy up (& probably vice-versa). He said, "You won't be able to give Daddy loves. You could give him loves in your bed." :)

Erik went to school with Kellen a couple weeks ago for their "Hero Feast." The kids prepared all kinds of things for the daddies, including some songs. Kellen was singing here at home & told me he was singing the Nemo song. I asked him how it went & he sang, to the tune of Bingo, "D-A-D-D-Y & Daddy was his Nemo!"

Catching up...

Whew, it has been a long time since I last wrote...I thought about writing several times along the way, & now I have forgotten most of what I was going to write. Probably better, but maybe I'll remember at least a little bit of it! I'll condense it at least.:)

We went to a birthday party for one of Kellen's friends at school, Drew, at the Super Jump Party Zone. It was so much fun!! The kids did great & totally wore themselves out.:) Such a difference from the birthday party there 1 year ago, where neither of them really wanted to do anything. It was fun to see them having so much fun!

Then the next day, Saturday, we went up to Ballard to see Erik's grandparents' house one last time, since it has sold. Kellen & Annika have 2 favorite books, "Larry Gets Lost in Seattle" & "Seattle ABC" which Pete & his dog Larry go to all sorts of different places in Seattle. We told Kellen we would see a lot of them that day. So, on our way up there, at about noon, what does Kellen do? HE FALLS ASLEEP!! He missed all the things he was so excited to see!!!! Silly guy. We ended up walking down to the Locks & saw 1 boat go through, & also a train go over the bridge.:) Annika fell asleep on the way back in the stroller, then we all went out to dinner. We left Seattle at about 6:30 p.m. & ALL the kids fell asleep on the way home...crazy schedule day for them!

We have some remodeling work starting on Wed.: 2 bathrooms are being gutted, then a bunch of odd jobs - kitchen floor retiled, a window replaced in the laundry room, lighting replaced, etc. Sat. Kellen & Annika spent the day with grandma & grandpa while Erik (Kaarin) & I went to look for materials - tile, etc. - for the remodel. Ugh. There are SO many choices!! It is so hard to choose, since so many things would look great, yet we have to decide what 'look' we are going for in each space. We have some ideas, but we need to pull them all together. When we went back to get Kellen & Annika, Kaarin crawled up the entire staircase ALL BY HERSELF! This was the first time she'd done that.:) Good thing we have a gate...

The kids & I are for sure heading down to Palm Desert in a couple weeks. We are going to caravan down with grandma & grandpa & drive it in 3 days. Each day will be about 7 hrs. of actual driving, plus stops & hopefully some fun! We are also looking at having a DVD player installed in the van to help the trip go a little smoother, that was also on our agenda on Sat. (And we looked at beds - whew!)

I guess that is the update for now...kind of just a splattering of thoughts. I'll write better next time.:)