Beam Up

Beam Up, originally uploaded by kidsideup.

Now we just have to attach the floor/ceiling to it.
And fire the dummy who decided we needed 9 ft ceilings downstairs.

Proof

Proof, originally uploaded by kidsideup.

I now know she CAN follow directions. Whether or not she will...



She did this by herself except the drop of glue for the eyes which she penciled out for me.

Oh Good

Oh Good, originally uploaded by kidsideup.

You know, we were worried we wouldn't be able to get the Ranger through our 6 feet slider door. I was worried that I may have to get something special order...

The Trial

The Trial, originally uploaded by kidsideup.

This is the nearly 600 pound beam that we raised yesterday...three times. Tonight, we'll put it up for real.
If you look close you can see that the front tires of the Ranger are off the ground. Mike would pull the wench and pull his tires off the ground and wait for his tires to near the ground, bringing the beam further toward its' goal.
It was interesting getting it up, but not quite as interesting as leaping out of the way when it fell.
Who the heck wanted nine feet ceilings and an open floor plan??
Oh, yeah, that may have been me...

Ready for Business

Ready for Business, originally uploaded by kidsideup.

A strong, tough daddy on one side. A cookie in one hand and a measuring tape in the other. I think Emma means business.

Mishap

Mishap, originally uploaded by kidsideup.

When the kids visit us on site, there's generally a mishap of some kind requiring a change of clothes. Usually Emma.

The Beginnings

The Beginnings, originally uploaded by kidsideup.

The beginnings of a house, no?

My kitchen window

My kitchen window, originally uploaded by kidsideup.

Yep, this is and will be the view out my kitchen window. We've checked lots and house sites and no one will build between me at my sink and this view. Gotta love it.

Murphy's Law

Murphy's Law, originally uploaded by kidsideup.

We're supposed to turn several piles of this into a house. Fortunately we have a vague idea on how to do this and also, very fortunately we have my father who has more than a vague idea on how to do this. Unfortunately, the pieces we need first happen to be on the bottom of this pile.

I think I've gone too far

I think I've gone too far, originally uploaded by kidsideup.

I try to make sure my love-everything-frilly-pink-bejeweled-princess-ballerina daughter is also an outdoor loving girl who can brush off scraped knees and keep playing. I want to make sure (remind yourself he's only 19 months) that my son grows up into the sweet sensitive kind of guy that will care about those around him.
I think I went too far.
Today, Emma pulled a pair of Jack's overalls out of his closet (the still too big side) and put them on with her hat. She freaked out when I suggested that for the 8 mile trip to the grandparents (who live in a nice neighborhood) and for the trip for me to give a guitar lesson (also in a respectable neighborhood) we take our van instead of the Ranger (you can see the front in the photo).
Jack was not happy about going for yet another ride on the ranger, we had already done three that day. It's become necessary to travel from my house to my new house since road construction has turned the two mile trip into a half hour drive. With the Ranger, we don't need any stinkin pilot car...
Anyways-
I dressed Jack but he found a pair of shoes he liked better than the ones he was wearing. He nicely brought them to me, sat down and held them up doing the "aaahh, ah, uh," that only kids who are nearly talking can do, and really asking, "these shoes, on my feet."
While his sister is sitting on the ranger, with her hat and overalls just waiting to get dirty.

Jack actually just came up to my while I'm typing with a pair of shoes. At least I've instilled a love of shoes in my kids.
Mike would roll his eyes.
But I should add here that Mike has more shoes than any other man I know.
Who isn't gay.

Perfectly Matched

Perfectly Matched, originally uploaded by kidsideup.

One dark pink sock to match the shirt. One light pink sock to match the pants.
Perfect.
For more of our house and little family go to www.flickr.com/photos/kidsideup
Happy Day!

It's Called Concrete Baby!

It's Called Concrete Baby!, originally uploaded by kidsideup.

Oh yeah. One step closer.
Oh, and you HAVE to see that things are starting to be GREEN!!!

Emma chases the moose

Emma chases the moose, originally uploaded by kidsideup.

After we spotted the moose (I have no idea how long he was there) Emma wanted to get a closer look. She ran toward the moose and the moose ran behind the house. The kids and I carefully went to the other front corner of the house to look around and see where our little moose had gone. He had the same idea. We all met at a distance of about 10 feet at the corner of the house. We were both pretty surprised. I really wish I had a picture of that little surprised moose face.

moose on the loose

moose on the loose, originally uploaded by kidsideup.

If you look behind Jack in the backyard you can see the little yearling that we nearly ran into after we scared it behind the house.

Little Digger

Little Digger, originally uploaded by kidsideup.

Emma loves going out to see our new lot. This is right in the middle of dirt work when there are all sorts of interesting trucks and things to play on.

One of Millions

One of Millions, originally uploaded by kidsideup.

This is one of what I'm sure will be millions of trampoline pics this summer. There's Jack, with his feet up in the air. I would "rescue" him from the older kids by telling them to stop jumping so that Jack could get up. He would promptly be tossed off his feet, sometimes on purpose, and bounce around like a little piece of popcorn while wildly laughing.

I tried to take him off a few times but he would run to the middle, throw his feet in the air and begin the process again.

it may look the same

may look the same, originally uploaded by kidsideup.

But to us, we're one step closer!
Boy will you guys be sick of looking at our house, or, as in this case, lack thereof.

My Happy Moment

My Happy Moment, originally uploaded by kidsideup.

My happy moment wasn't when Jack came to me with the second poopy diaper in an hour. My happy moment wasn't when Emma helped herself to our "rainbow" ice cream and used a very thin paper plate to eat it off of.
My happy moment is this mess. These are the fabulous people (who came smelling a little like lavender or marijuana, take your pick) that will be "pushing dirt" around on my lot over the next three days or so to make way FOR MY HOUSE!!!
I don't even care that it's still pretty darn cold and I haven't seen the sun in a while.
I don't care that my cloth diapers are beginning to stink up my laundry room.
I don't care that my table has some little rainbow stripes that I'm not sure will come off.
Who knew that some early tokers ( I have no proof, just a nose) digging a big dirt hole could make me so happy ;)

Our New Lot, Again

No Pics, just answering some questions.

1. Yes, we're moving this summer.

2.  Yes, I'm dreading packing everything up.

3.  No, I do NOT want to get my house ready to sell, but when selling the house, it's not really a choice.

4.  YEAH!!  No Water!! (we had some serious water issues on our current lot.

5.  Yes, we start moving dirt this week.

6.  By building it ourselves we don't mean that we, by ourselves, went and found a contractor.  It means that every night and every weekend for what will seem like an eternity, we will be out there with work gloves, hammers, nails, and other building materials working like dogs.

7.  Yes, we're actually excited about this.  It's the only way we can afford to upgrade our current house.  We certainly can't afford something that someone else built and after you build your own, with your own plans, in your own way, the way YOU want it.  There's really no going back.  8.  Yes, we love the view.  We will have a lovely huge window in our bedroom that we can look through every morning...when the house is done...in about a year.

Happy Mother's Day

So, my brother happened to be up here for Mother's Day this year so we thought it would be nice to take some photos of us three kids together.  The last time we took photos of us, I was hugely pregnant with Emma.  She will be 5 this fall.

Mike thought it would be nice to take a picture of our dog's bum.

And of our dog chewing on a stick.

We're about a mile away from my house where the Little Susitna River comes down.  This is just a slough, and a pretty empty one at that.

On a very large side note:

Yesterday, at church, I swear the kids knew they should be on their best behavior and rebelled.  We have just over an hour where we sit in the chapel with our children.  It's definitely tries your patience, but I keep telling myself it's good for them, and it's worth it, blah, blah blah...

For Jack, the best thing to keep him from trying to escape is books.  I made the very big mistake of bringing Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?

Yep.  He makes all the sounds.  BUT yesterday, all the animals made a very loud, "RROOOOOOAAAAAAAHHHHHHHGGGG"

The Polar Bear - RROOOOAAAAHHHHGGGGHHH

The Lion - RRROOOAAAAGGGGHHHHGGG

Okay, I get this.

The snake usually says, "ssssss.....ssssss......ssssss"

But Yesterday??

Snake - RRRRROOOOOAAAAAGGGGGHHH

Flamingo - RRRROOOOOAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH

Peacock - RRRROOOOOAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH

I mean it totally could happen, right?

Because Jack, and all the children near us, are now convinced that every animal can roar, so why on earth wouldn't they?

Soon To Be

Not the prettiest of days but here's Mike and the two kids walking the lot line of our NEW lot where we'll be building our NEW house!!  It's nearly two acres of view lot, it's flat, and there's good gravel (for building a house on)  We love it!

I've Taken to Hiding From My Kids

(The kids playing on the bed in their new t-shirts after discovering my hiding place)

You know how as a mommy, you go to the bathroom and (not wanting to miss anything) leave the door open??  I know some of you do this.  I do not do this anymore.  In fact, I now try to sneak out of the room and quietly lock the door to the bathroom hoping they won't see the light escaping at the bottom.

The other day (Mike was here) Jack was creating all sorts of ear-piercing sounds so when he wasn't looking I went into my room and hid under the clean laundry on my bed.  It was warm, smelled nice and I was SO, SO tired.  He made these mad cries when he realized I had escaped. Daddy was NOT the consolation he wanted.  I laid there and listened to him.  Most of the time he gives up after a minute or two and starts playing happily by himself.  This time his little mad cries turned into these pathetic whimpers as he went from room to room...

How, HOW do they know what mom's can't resist??

So, there's one more hiding spot I won't be able to use anymore...

Jack, Movies and a Screech That Makes Your Ears Pop

Jack is growing teeth, again.  It makes me wonder, do they really need all those teeth?  

He has this screech that really, honestly makes my ears pop.  It's still shocking.  

Jack is happy - Screech

Jack is mad- Mad Screech

Jack is hungry - Screech

Jack wants something - Screech

Jack doesn't want something - Screech

Jack's teeth hurt - Screech while chasing mom.

You get the idea.  This phase, I will not miss.

We're also starting to experiment with small words.  He does a great WoW!  I've been working on uh-oh.  Jack's uh-oh goes something like this, "uh. uh. uh.  uh.  uh.  uh.......

ooooooooow"

I put in the movie, "The Prince of Egypt" the other day.  I can't even remember the last time we watched it, or tried to watch it anyways.  A man leading his enslaved people from Egypt by the power of God just doesn't compete with a snotty, shiny red race car or a very naughty monkey who made it from Africa to New York without going through customs.

While watching the movie, there's a part near the beginning where Moses stops a guard from beating a man and the guard falls to his death.  As the man is falling, Jack is engrossed, I'm second-guessing my choice of movies when Jack says, "uh.uh.uh.uh.uh......ooooooooooww."

Yep,  Jack, "Uh-oh."  That pretty much just sums it up doesn't it?