It's Mainly Textual

When I was ready to retire to my pull-out sofabed in the living room late last night, something electronic was losing its battery power and blasted two jarring rings every 5 minutes. I was stymied by what was making that noise. I suspected it was on the high kitchen counter near my laptop, but I couldn't find the offending electronic medium. I didn't know if I would ever get to sleep. I would start to doze, then "BA-BOING" would split the silence. I finally managed to fall asleep between electronic blasts, only to awaken an hour later to the 5 minute interval sound bursts. Then I managed to sleep until 5 AM and awakened to quietness. The thing was dead! OK... I will open this up to guesses as to what the offending object was! I'll post the answer tomorrow in the comments for today.

The backyard neighbors have allowed a woody weed vine with large leaves to encase their fence and cascade profusely over Greg & Cathi's side of the fence. This morning, I rose before Kien awakened, to go out in the cool of the morning to chop it back out of our sight (for a week or two). Then I started to work on weeding a planting bed Cathi established, but she has been too sick with the pregnancy all this year to do anything with it. Within a couple of digs, I knew that this job was beyond my brawn, but I stuck at it to see what I could do when fire ant bites began burning my wrists and legs. Pesky things! They aren't called fire ants for nothin'! I told Cathi that she needs to pull out the brick edging she put in and mow between the shrubs. Forget the planting bed!!!

However, the front foundation bed, which I weeded my first week here, is looking good now. The Monkey Grass and Stella D'Oro lilies are blooming! Unfortunately, Greg chopped back the mum left over from their wedding flowers two years ago, so it will not be blooming this year.

Kien was a bit out of sorts this morning. He has had considerable potty success since I have been here (nothing to do with me!). So Mommy bought M&Ms for rewards. However, now he asks, "poopy toilet," ALL the time!!! And he will sit there forever hoping for success (and candy) which has not been forthcoming recently. That was the routine again this morning, but no one wants to spend their day sitting in the bathroom with him. Mommy suggested that he might need a nap. With the next burst of tears, he said, "nap."

I had planned to take him grocery shopping with me, but I went alone. After lunch, I hoped for a nap to make up for lost sleep last night. But you know the life of motherhood: as soon as you lie down, you begin to think of all that needs to be done. My major chore was to repaint what I had touched up yesterday with the wrong paint! A couple of years ago, we worked out graduated tints of grays from dark to very light for the various rooms and to highlight the Spanish style archways. As a result, it is very difficult to figure out which paint goes where. It seems to fall to me to be Ms. Touchup when I come to visit.

I am still dealing with the insurance companies over the fender bender while stopped for a train on Aug. 18 in Greg's Odyssey. It appears that the retired Marine who hit the guy behind me and pushed him into my (Greg's) bumper made up a story for his insurance company after we all agreed on what happened and jovially pointed fingers at him for causing the accident. He now says the sandwiched guy hit me, which caused Semper Fi to hit Mr. Subway. One flaw here: Brandy and I felt only one big jolt. I can't get the officer to return my call, so I marched to the police department to get a copy of his report only to learn that he didn't write it up since the damage was minimal. Now I need to track him down when he returns after some days off.

I am into simple cooking. I planned out several easy recipes before coming as I knew I would be chief cook during Cathi's recovery. One meal which I expected would not be a favorite was Chicken Pot Pie. I made it anyway on my waning week. Surprisingly, everyone was excited about it. Shock! Plus I made a big fruit salad to go with it. Kienie Bean LOVES fruit. So after his share of pot pie was devoured and everyone else had left the table, he continued with lots of fruit -- especially the watermelon!

I love the way he pushes his little feet against the bottom of the tray!

Sunday

I began the day with a nap! ha! While waiting for everyone to be ready for church, I konked out for about a half hour on Kien's nursery floor while Jeremy played with him. I was aware of Kien climbing on me from time to time, then Jeremy put a comforter over me and took a picture.

Jeremy caught this shot of Kien too.

What great family dogs!

Brandy taking her Sunday afternoon nap with Daisy!


Cathi had to take Brandy shopping. Meanwhile, Greg and I worked on restoring the house while Gabe slept and Kien played. He escaped from his family room "jail," and played the Wii drums. (Turn up your sound to hear him singing!)

I mentioned to Greg that Kien and Gabe are going to need a play table. He said he saw one recently that he liked, then tried to find it online. He found a Handy Manny one which intrigued him since Kien likes tools (to his Daddy's amazement and enjoyment!). But we had never heard of Handy Manny. Greg set my laptop on a bin and looked him up online. We discovered that Kein knows Handy Manny! LOL Greg played a couple of YouTube videos and then this Bob the Builder one.

Men! Greg set up Gabe with the remote.

Daddy LOVES his little boy! :)


I got to babysit him tonight! They went to their church small group meeting with kids except for Gabe and Jeremy who was playing with a neighbor. Gabe likes grandma! :)

BEDTIME

Mommy read their favorite story to Kien tonight -- "HICCUPotamus". Karin loved that story too. I never "got" it, but it IS cute when Cathi reads it (I never did hear Karin read it).


Then they wanted me to read another favorite of theirs -- An Elmo "Where's Waldo" type of book.

First Day of Recovery

This morning, the grout was dry enough to be mopped. Jeremy occupied Kien while I worked. Kien was quite happy until I snapped this photo.


After the floors were clean, I was ready for other projects of the day. The first was to take Duke and Daisy to have their nails clipped. They were far too noisy on the new wood floors. Jeremy and Kien went too.
The dogs wanted to get into the front seat with Jeremy and me.


Kien had fun seeing the puppies and kitties that came to the vet's.

Jeremy giving Duke a treat for being a good boy.

Kien giving Duke another treat.

Here is Gabe enjoying sitting near the table while we had lunch.

This afternoon, I took the mini-van to Discount Tire for a rotation and two new tires. One was worn and one (my flat from Easter time) was causing the low pressure light to come on this week.
Brandy and Jeremy's Dad's mother came to visit this afternoon. The kids enjoyed seeing their "Nanny," and Kien knew she was a nice lady! They demonstrated their guitar skills and Brandy showed her some band videos.

Gabe thought she was OK too!

We managed to unpack some bins and move towards settling the place.

The Worst Day

It was MY plan to NOT do their bedroom this week. Three rooms plus bathrooms having new floors was too much for me to handle. What do you DO with everything??? There is not room in the house for that much readjusting. Brandy was already kicked out of her bedroom this week, because much of Cathi's scrapbooking furniture and stuff went into Brandy's room. Brandy slept in the family room with me on the sectional sofa. All of the bins full of kitchen and family room stuff were stacked in Jeremy's room. All the toys were in Kien's room as it had to be his playroom for the week too. Now where was the stuff from the bedroom going??? Answer: in their closet, the kitchen, and the front hall. You can't even walk through the front hall without tripping over something!

When the men arrived this morning, I asked what their plan was for the day. They were going to finish the ensuite bath, then begin the master bedroom. I told them that was not a workable plan! We had to have the kitchen and living room completed so that they could be cleaned and resettling begun before beginning a new room. They got the message. I did mop the floors, but they will need multiple cleanings before they are "clean." We did not get far with settling. There were other things to do -- like care for babies (Kien is not feeling well and vomited this morning!), buy more paint to touch up the master bedroom, then paint while the furniture is away from the walls, and go to Discount Tire to have the tires rotated and one (maybe two?) replaced because a warning light is on.
Why is it a tire problem happens when I am here? They didn't have the brand Greg wants, so will have to go to another DT tomorrow.

When Cathi came in from her errand run, we were all on the sofa, so she grabbed my camera.


It is done (except for the resettling).

Full-blown Disaster Area

Kien started the day with, "Watch men work" (spoken with a pause between each word). We watched them cut tiles and, later, wood pieces, outside his bedroom window. He ate breakfast in his high chair while watching them grout the kitchen floor.

Mommy, Gabe, and Kien watched Blues Clues in Mommy's bedroom. There is no TV in the family room now.

Kien was teaching Gabe to play with his toys. As of a couple of days ago, Gabe began trying to focus on them.

Cathi cleaning the sides of the range while it sits in the family room.

The family room carpet is gone and prep for the new floor begun.

Kien and I sat on the sofa watching the new wood being laid. Now, instead of saying, "Watch men work," he piped up with, "Help them," with pause between words. He is trying to insert a scrap piece.

The driveway is rather full with their vehicles. Kien loves the trucks!

All of the toys from the family room have moved to Kien's bedroom. We played toss-the-ball for nearly 10 minutes as we did a couple of days ago too. I am amazed that he has that much interest in playing with a ball!!! Maybe we have one red-blooded American baseball player in the family!

Totally Off Schedule!

Brandy has to leave for band practice at 6:15 AM, when Greg leaves for work. Everyone's early rising has Kien awakening early too.

Greg, Cathi, and Gabe spent part of the morning at the dentist's.

Due to the floor project, Kien's highchair is in the living room, which has him totally out of whack for normal eating. He had "interesting" meals today.

Kien tried out the "baby chair" as he called it.

By mid-afternoon, the tiles were laid in the kitchen and the hall bath. Tomorrow will be grouting day and beginning the living room.

Kien wanted to hold baby Gabe, but he cried!

Kien asked, "What wrong?"

Kien helped hold the baby bottle too!

While waiting for Daddy to arrive with Arby's, we played outside.

After dinner, we went out to play again.


Doing a wheelie already???

More horseplay ... ummmm ... or should I say dogplay!

Brandy and the Babe.

The hall bath floor cannot be walked on tonight, so, instead of a bath in Mommy & Daddy's big tub, Kien bathed in the shower stall!


The end result of this crazy day was that Kien refused to go to sleep. He cried and cried and cried until he was gasping. Poor baby... Poor Mommy!

First Dirty Day

Today was the first day of work on the floor project: removing the builder's flooring and installing new. I understood the job would be dirty, but I didn't realize that we wouldn't be able to breathe! We stayed holed up in the bedrooms much of the day.

We covered as much as possible with sheets.

Once the dining set was dusted off, we had take out dinner at the table, now in the living room. Eating in the living room goes against a basic family rule!

The workmen left with the kitchen floor stripped and half of the room laid with ceramic tile, but we can't walk on it. Thus Brandy cannot get to her bedroom. I sleep on the pull-out bed part of the sectional. She is sleeping on another section. Daisy will be her teddy bear while Duke is mine.


Kien's Talents:
I have neglected to blog that he sings songs to himself. In the past couple of days, I have heard him sing "Skinamarinky Dinky Dink" (It comes out more like "skinadinky dinky dink doo") and "Jesus Loves Me" to himself. He even read a book to himself.

First Day of School!

Today, Brandy started 10th grade, Jeremy began 7th grade, and Kevin (in NC) became a Kindergartener! While Cathi drove the kids to school, I stayed with Kien and Gabe. I decided to try to take pictures of his ears. LOL He has the cutest, unique ears! His right one is flat and straight. The left one is curly! :) Soooo cute! It probably won't remain that way, but, for now, he is our curly eared baby!


Meanwhile, Kien built towers with his Fruit Loops. I can't believe my grandchildren eat Fruit Loops!!! I never let my children eat sugar coated cereal, and now their cabinets (even before they were parents!!) sport several types of sugar cereal. (sigh)

While I was getting dinner on the table, Daddy fell asleep with Gabe. Aha! I caught a spy picture of Father and Son!!!

I spent the day preparing the kitchen to have the floor pulled up tomorrow in preparation for the new ceramic tile. See the bins waiting to be filled in the background? When talking to Steve tonight about Kevin's first day, we learned that Steve is packing up his house to have new flooring (carpeting for him) laid this week too!!!

Three generations! Isn't this the sweetest?