I've Fallen Behind

I've fallen behind with house updates. Now that the interior framing is up, it is much harder to take sweeping pictures capturing the whole site. It is also difficult for those who don't know the plans inside and out to understand anything about what you might be seeing in the pictures. For reference I have included the floorplan as well.




Looking from bedroom #3 through the hallway (and closets) and into bedroom #2.


Standing in the greatroom looking through all the interior framing on the west side of the house.


Looking at the bypass closet in the guest bedroom.


Standing in bedroom #3, looking at the walk in closet & mechanical room.


Looking through bathroom #2.


Patio drainage being installed through the columns.


Master bedroom interior wall.


Lincoln's bathroom.


All of the duct work being installed in the house for heating/cooling!


Some vents installed in the greatroom.


Skylights in the pantry & laundry room!


Nest of ductwork over the guest bedroom!

Well?

Get out there!

Chipped Tooth

My poor Roxy slipped in some bubble residue on the tile and chipped one of her front teeth. She only has 3 teeth and now one of them is already chipped! Poor sweetheart. I feel simply awful that this happened and am beating myself up like it was totally my fault. Andy asked why I thought it was my fault. Well, it can't be her fault...she is just a baby!

I am glad that these are just her practice teeth. And also happy that we have a dentist appointment in a few weeks for Lincoln & June. I'm hoping that maybe the dentist will be able to file her tooth smooth again, or something. :(

A new dancing queen in the house!

Roxy has started to find the rhythm when there is music or singing. She just puts her head down and rocks out! Super cute.

Toddlerhood Explained...

Hehe!

Pretty eyes

Everyone knows that Lincoln has pretty eyes, but check out these girlies' peepers!





Not too shabby, huh? :)

Secret to Marriage

:)

Genius

This post is genius. It is written about our children being geniuses. I am copying it here so that I can remind myself in the years to come about the special genius and unique talents of each of our children.
The post can be found HERE.

“Don’t worry, Scout, it ain’t time to worry yet,” said Jem. He pointed. “Looka yonder.”

In a group of neighbors, Atticus was standing with his hands in his overcoat pockets. He might have been watching a football game. (*He was actually watching the house next door to the Finch home burn to the ground.)

“See there, he’s not worried yet,” said Jem.

(p.105-107) To Kill a Mockingbird


I’ve been thinking about my mama friends for whom the start of the school year is a difficult time, because the classroom has proven to be a tough place for their child to display his particular brand of genius.

For these precious mamas, starting school means revisiting old worries and facing new ones. It means tears and tense phone calls and scary conferences and comparisons and lots of fear and anger and suspicion and Oh My God, Is He Allrights and What Are We Doing Wrongs?

I have some thoughts about this and so I’ve just sent up a Twitter prayer to the G-O- D that it’ll all come out right. Sometimes I know something to be true, down deep in my bones, but when I try to turn it into words, it changes. Gets all jacked up. Like how blood is blue till it hits oxygen and turns red. Which is why I predict we’d be better off if people talked less and just quietly knew more. She said, as she wrote her 367th blog post.

Here I go. I’d like to talk to you about your brilliant children.

Listen.

Every child is gifted and talented. Every single one. Everything I’ve ever written about on this blog has been open for argument, except for this one. I know this one is true. Every single child is gifted and talented in a particular area. Every single one also has particular challenges. For some kids, the classroom setting is the place where their genius is hardest to see and their challenges are easiest to see. And since they spend so much time in the classroom, that’s a tough break for these little guys. But I know that if we are patient and calm and we wear our perspectacles and we keep believing, we will eventually see the specific magic of each child.



Like my student who was severely dyslexic and also could’ve won Last Comic Standing at age seven. “Hey, Miss Doyle. Were you really busy last night or something?” Yes, actually, I was. Why do you ask, Cody? “Because your hair’s the same color it was yesterday!” The boy was a genius.

Like my precious one who couldn’t walk or speak because of his severe Cerebral Palsy, but whose smile while completing his grueling physical therapy inspired the rest of my class to call him the “bravest.” Genius, that kid.

Like my autistic little man, who couldn’t have hurt another living being if somebody paid him to. He was the most gentle soul I’ve ever known. And he loved animals like they were a gift made just for him by God. Which, of course, they were. But nobody in our class knew that but him. Undeniable Genius.

Like my third grader who read like a kindergartener and couldn’t add yet. But one day I stood behind her at recess, where she played all alone, and heard her singing to herself. And that was the day I discovered her gift. It was also the day that she discovered her gift. Since I FREAKED OUT. And marched her over to the rest of the teachers to make her sing for them. And announced to the class that we had a ROCK STAR in our midst. And she quietly beamed. And she sang all the time after that. All the time. Actually, it was a little much. But we let it slide because you don’t mess with artistic genius.

Or the little man in one of Chase’s classes who was always getting in trouble. Everyday, getting in trouble. And Chase came home one day and said, “I think he’s not listening because he’s always making pictures in his head. He’s the best draw-er I’ve ever seen. He’s going to be famous, I bet.” Chase was right. I’ve seen this kid’s work. Genius.

Or my little one who was gifted in learning the classroom way, and was miles ahead of the other kids in every single subject. But had challenges being kind and humble about her particular strengths. So had a lot of trouble making friends. Sometimes it’s tough to be a genius.


Every single child is gifted. And every child has challenges. It’s just that in the educational system, some gifts and challenges are harder to see. And lots of teachers are working on this. Lots of schools are trying to find ways to make all children’s gifts visible and celebrated.And as parents, we can help. We can help our kids who struggle in school believe that they’re okay. It’s just that there’s only one way to help them. And it’s hard.

We have to actually believe that our kids are okay.

I know. Tough. But we can do it. We can start believing by erasing the idea that education is a race. It’s not. Actually, education is like Christmas. We’re all just opening our gifts, one at a time. And it is a fact that each and every child has a bright shiny present with her name on it, waiting there underneath the tree. God wrapped it up, and He’ll let us know when it’s time to unwrap it. In the meantime, we must believe that our children are okay. Every last one of them. The perfect ones and the naughty ones and the chunky ones and the shy ones and the loud ones and the so far behind ones and the ones with autism.

Because here’s what I believe. I think a child can survive a teacher or other children accidentally suggesting that he’s not okay. As long as when he comes home, he looks at his mama and knows by her face that he really is. Because that’s all they’re asking, isn’t it?

Mama, Am I Okay?

In the end, children will call the rest of the world liars and believe US.

So when they ask us with their eyes and hearts if they’re okay. . . let’s tell them:

Yes, baby. You are okay. You are more than okay. You are my dream come true. You are everything I’ve ever wanted, and I wouldn’t trade one you for a million anybody elses. This part of life, this school part, might be hard for you. But that’s okay, because it’s just one part of life. And because we are going to get through it together. We are a team. And I am so grateful to be on your team.

And then, before we dive into “helping.” Let’s just eat some cookies together and talk about other things. There are so many other things to talk about, really.

And then our kids will see that we are like Atticus Finch . . . Hands in our pockets. Calm. Believing. And they will look at us and even with a fire raging in front of them they’ll say, “Huh. Guess it’s not time to worry yet.”

And then we’ll watch carefully. We’ll just watch and wait and believe until God nods and says, “It’s time. Tear open that gift, Mama.”


And we’ll get to say our Mama FAVE. Told you so. Told you so, World.



Have a brutiful weekend.

Love,

G

Ouch!

I guess nobody ever said that medications were cheap...

This is for a 90 day supply of 100mg Zonegran (anti-convulsant) at Lincoln's current dose of 2 capsules per day.

Fall & Winter Artwork!

Here is all of Lincoln's artwork from school from September through December. I know it is sappy, but the days where Lincoln comes home with paint under his fingernails make me especially happy, because soon there will be another Lincoln piece of artwork for me to treasure.

September:




October:






November:






December:

Inspiration

My little Roxy discovering the world.

The Potty Process

We have had the potty chair out & available for June to use for the past month or so. She liked to sit on it occasionally, but never really did anything. But that was okay, because originally I wasn't considering even attempting potty training until after we moved into our new house to avoid a potential regression, and so she is a little older with better control of her body.

However, the last night my family was in town visiting, she came running out of the bathroom naked, and very excited. We asked her if she had gone potty & she had! Over the past week she likes taking her diaper off all of the time, but almost always when she has wet in it. She continues to sit on the potty off and on throughout the day, but with little to show for it. I figured that the first time she went was just a fluke & she really wasn't ready yet. But then, tonight I went into her room after bedtime because she was calling for me. She was naked from the waist down & said "potty" as soon as I walked into the room. I assumed that meant she had wet her bed (it wouldn't be the first time). I let her down to change the sheets & told her to go sit on the potty. Success again! So now we are actually considering potty-training.

One major difficulty will be that she does not wake up from nighttime or naptime dry. Plus, she still requires a bottle of milk to fall asleep, and takes at least one more bottle during the night. She is such a tiny thing, and eats like a bird, so I am reluctant to take all of these healthy milk calories & nutrients away from her (which is why I haven't forced her to give up the bottle in favor of the sippy cup either). However, I know this will make potty training very hard. So I am not sure what to do.

Any insight from other parents who have been down this potty training road?

Family Visit!

So this family visit was quite eventful!

As soon as they showed up on the evening of the 30th, they gave me my Christmas present! A brand new to us, 1998 Plymouth Grand Voyager with a big fat red bow on the hood! It is old, but it still works, and will come in super handy with all of these kids & their stuff! We are very excited!

The next morning we exchanged the rest of the presents! Lots more clothes & toys for the kids. They were in heaven & June helped everyone else open their presents as well! :)

We did a couple of house visits while they were here. We also watched some bowl games, went to a movie, Andy & I shopped for my Christmas present (Cowboy Boots!), we took the kids to the Sonoran Desert Museum, Tombstone, and June & I even got to go to Kartchner Caverns (mom stayed at home with Linc & Roxy). It was a lot of fun! I think the kids enjoyed the museum & all the animal much more than any other outing though. Here are a few pictures of the week.

Here is June's favorite exhibit at the Desert Museum. She loved those fat little prairie dogs!








My sister Jamie & her boyfriend Joe.


Jamie & June!

Tile

So, after several months of hashing it all out, we have this tile thing figured out. One major limitation was our budget. Another was our individual tastes. Finally we had to find something we thought matched our vision of the final house, but was also something that is not too trendy & will be in style for quite awhile.

We decided to purchase slate & slate look alike products. And our first shipment arrived today!



In the above boxes reside 240sf of 12x12 Indian Autumn slate tile. Bought on clearance online for 1.10/sf (2.10/sf shipped). This color slate will be installed in Lincoln's bathroom & the girl's bathroom. An example of the color Indian Autumn below.



We have another shipment from the same store coming within 1-2 weeks. Those pallets will contain 600sf of 12x12 California Gold slate tile. These were also bought on clearance for 0.99/sf (1.65/sf shipped). This color slate will be installed on the exterior columns of the house. An example of the color California Gold below.



We got a major Craigslist score of 100sf of 16x16 Black slate tile for 1.75/sf. This tile will be installed in the guest bathroom. We are planning to do some sort of an accent tile as well (has not been purchased yet). The color of the slate will look something like this (not the same cut however).



We also will most likely be buying some 12x12 Black slate for our master bathroom for 1.89/sf (2.36/sf shipped).

Finally, we want to buy a Porcelain tile with a real slate look & feel for the kitchen back splash. We want something really light, but not white, because our kitchen cabinets, countertops & floors are all dark. We are still waiting on the price from our builder on this tile. Hopefully it is something we will be able to afford. I would love to install it in a strip cut fashion just like around the TV in the image below.

House Update!

A lot has happened in the past week! The garage roof & entryway roof are up. The exterior sheeting is almost completed on both the walls & the ceiling. The window glass & sliders have also been installed! And the floor has started getting honed! So exciting to see the progress!!

The pictures:

Entryway


View out the guest bedroom window!


View out the girl's bedroom window!


The rec room slider!






Great room sliders & windows


Master bedroom window!


Master bathroom windows!


Andy & Roxy & the south side of the house.






North side of the house all sheeted up!