Bathroom Inspiration

I want my bathroom to look exactly like this. I am not sure how close we can get, but the pedestal sinks are in the garage--wish us luck!

Art Time

Today is a rainy, gray day. Jens and I celebrated by doing some art work with 7 Brides for 7 Brothers on in the background. It provided some upbeat tunes to work by. I am really happy with my little project, which matches Sylvie's name letters and bedding, and Jens is very pleased with his, thank you Miss Jennifer, for the castle inspiration.

I think she likes it.

A chair before photo is in the post below in the picture of the garage cabinets. The other chair is primed and awaiting my decision as to what color it wants to be.

February 25

Last week Jens was off school (a full week for President's Day? Seriously?). Mike was off on Monday, which is always fun.

We enjoy our family time. It was a beautiful weekend, so we hit the park a few times. The rest of the week we filled the time with swimming lessons, yard work, which included hiring someone to come haul away all of the trees we cut down AND both of those weird little decks! TA DA:

(I also weeded and Jens collected "Seeds" and put them in brown paper bags to save as Christmas gifts. Sadly, I think they got accidentally thrown away while I was cleaning the garage. This one was for you, Loren. Don't you like the little people he drew on the bottom?),

a little building (Jens made this fancy chair with a little help. He painted it all himself. He wanted it to be a people size chair at the beginning, but I talked him into starting small),

taking Dad out to lunch, and Jens having a special outing with Laura. Saturday night Laura came and watched the kids for us so we could enjoy a quiet evening out. It was so peaceful, and after a full week of all Jens all the time, I needed it. We went to Viscontti's, a local Italian place, and ate a leisurely, delicious meal together. We also got Mike new shoes and browsed at Borders.

This week we were supposed to do another week of swimming lessons, but Monday after class Jens was very pink cheeked and cranky. By bedtime he was running a temperature. Tuesday he was still tired, but I had some errands to run, so we went out. I got everything done at Lowes and then we stopped at Sams to pick up pictures for Jens's half birthday celebration for school the next day. As I was standing by the photo counter, Jens said urgently "I feel like I'm going to puke!" He doesn't usually give false alarms, and luckily there was a little garbage can right next to our cart. I shoved it under him just in time. We finished our shopping and came home, but I rescheduled swimming lessons and his half birthday celebration. He spent the rest of the day "laying low." He even fell asleep on the couch for a little while, and those of you who know Jens know that is a rarity. He was peaceful and calm all day--it was a very restful change; it is amazing what a low grade fever can do to mellow a boy out. He wasn't feeling well yesterday, either, so we stayed home all day and I took all of the cabinets intended for the master bathroom out and installed them in the garage--we decided we do not want them in the bathroom.

We are making some decisions around here, people! It was a big job because I had to take the counter out, put in the cabinets, and reinstall the counter. It is about 5 inches taller, which for us is great. Unfortunately, while I was finishing up, Jens decided to do some cooking.

We have talked and talked about his cooking, and how we need to use a recipe and have a grown up help, but it isn't sinking in. I have even tried to do more cooking with him, showing him how I use the recipe and add certain amounts of each ingredient, but that only seems to fuel his interest. We actually made pumpkin bread that very morning, so his cooking that afternoon featured a lot of cinnamon and nutmeg. Mmm.

Sylvie continues to be her happy self.

She is starting to try and communicate more, particularly with what I call "grabby hands." If she sees something she wants, she opens and closes her hands, usually while complaining. I have been trying to fill in the appropriate words for her, usually something like "I want bread! I want more bread! I want cereal! I want a bagel! I want more food!" Seriously, the appetite on this little girl is unbelievable. Here she is enjoying the pumpkin bread. She really liked that.

And here she is just rockin' the piggies.

And here she is, riding the carpet cleaner, which has yet again proven its worth. I cleaned the carpet twice this week--once after an unfortunate Casey/Jens incident and again after Jens's most recent cooking debacle, much of which took place under the kitchen table.

Today Jens is feeling much better. We are going to make cookies for his half birthday celebration tomorrow and I am thinking about tackling the drywall in our bathroom.

Addendum: Jens is not feeling better. While I showered this morning he got back into his bed. (!) That prompted me to check his temp again--still 100. No half birthday celebration tomorrow, I guess.

The baby swing

Coversation

J: Mom, would you like a miracle to happen?
M: What kind of miracle?
J: I'm going to write it.

He runs away, comes back a minute later, and proudly shows me his paper.

Just in case that isn't striking a chord with you, we are reading Charlotte's Web right now, and the first thing says "Some Pig" and the second one says "Radiant."

Miraculous.

And her first real, intelligible word is . . .

Jens.

Really? Not Mom?

A little about Sylvie

Sylvie is a blossoming creature. Since beginning to walk, we are seeing a whole new side to her personality--a gregarious, friendly, chatty, busy side. She walks and talks and explores all day long. Some of her favorite activities include sitting on me (on my lap, on my legs, on my head, if I am on the ground, she finds a way to climb onto me and sit down), sucking all of the juice out of markers and wipes, putting everything she can find into her mouth, sitting in the dog bed (ew), toys that makes noise,

looking at the photos going up the stairs, pushing her stroller,

reading books, and eating.

Things I love: watching her try to climb onto the couch. She swings her whole leg up, trying to get her foot on first. It never works out for her, but it sure is cute to watch those fat little legs in action. Her hair, which is soft and smooth, sort of like silk. Her hugs, which include little hand pats. Her cheerfulness, even when being pulverized by her brother. Her excitement about spotting something she loves (usually a dog, food item, her blanket, or her baby).

Isn't this little expression so funny? It looks like she is in trouble!


She has also discovered this interesting thing:

Through the new door

And yes, he does say "I'll get you dog poo right now." Whether he did or not, I will leave up to your imagination . . .

Something New

We got a new door! We are so excited. It has a screen and everything. It does make all of the rest of the windows in our house look very blah. Also, the trim looks nice and makes all the rest of the trim look very blah.

Happy Valentine's Day

Love,

Jens and Sylvie (Mike and Alison, too)

Wearing Sandals

I have to admit something. Sylvie doesn't own any real shoes. Shoes with a sole, I mean. She has some little leather ones that we wear most days, but no actual shoes. Today I dug out this cute pair of sandals (which fit perfectly, thanks, Aunt Jessie, due to all the velcro options) and she was so excited. She loved clomping around in them. Then she figured out how to take them off. Right now one of them is stuffed onto one of her bears.

Tree Carnage Continued

Some stats about our backyard:

When we bought this house, there were 174 Italian Cyprus ringing the yard. Yes, people, ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FOUR. Talk about overkill. I figure close to 2K was spent on those trees. As of last night, there were about 50 less. I feel guilty about it, until I go out back and see the sunshine and feel the breeze. The patio is already less green, although that might have to do with several consecutive sunny days.

Our new problem is what to do with the dearly departed trees, which we spent 4 hours cutting and piling yesterday. Any suggestions?

Art work at our house

Jens made a valiant attempt at his full name, Jens Michael Helquist. I was pretty impressed, especially with the Helquist. (In his mind, "Y" makes a "wa" sound).

I finally framed and hung this up. It looks pretty.

Our Back Yard

Our back yard is awful. It has strange cement, strange decks, and a lot of weeds, the sprinklers don't work very well and Jens has spread sand every where. It does have some interesting trees, however. When you walk out, this is what you see:

The redwoods on the side are very pretty, and the Italian Cyprus across the back give us great shade in the summer. Unfortunately, the Cyprus ring the ENTIRE yard, which makes it very private, but also makes it feel very closed off and dark in the winter. Breezes are discouraged from crossing our yard, and during the rain, that means we have sitting puddles of water that never dry and breed algae. It sort of smells like the Hermitage Lake in summer during a bad year. I was out cleaning the patio off yesterday and couldn't stand it any more.

This is what it looked like when we bought the house:

This is how it looks after I spent hours with a little tiny saw. My arms really hurt. I am tired all over. I wish that I had a chain saw, but I don't. That is why they aren't all cut down across the side, and won't be until Mike borrows a saw for me.

I felt like a terrible tree killer--it didn't help that Jens was out there with me saying "We are killing the trees, right Mom? We have to kill the trees. Let's cut down some more."

Also, I notice that our weedy grass is much greener now then it was when we moved in. So that is something, I guess.

More Videos

Sorry I have done so many videos lately--I just know how much Grammy likes them. I have taken a few pictures, and I will write up a post sometime this week.

The first video is a disappointment to me--Jens and Sylvie were laughing and laughing together, playing with Jens's awesome hat, but my battery died mid-video, so we just got a few seconds of them playing together.

Craft

Sylvie gets a lot of air time, but that doesn't mean that Jens isn't up to interesting things, too. Today he got creative, and this is what he made:

This little person is so cheerful and happy. It seems like walking has brought out her personality more. She is delightful.

One more for you, Mom

Getting fast on those chubby little legs!

For those of you who were concerned about my arm, don't worry about me. I am fine. My arm still hurts, but it is clearly NOT broken, and in fact, the bruise resulting from the incident is quite disappointing and less than impressive. Frankly, I expected more. I guess icing it really helped.

We have been up to our regular things--Project Runway, Visiting teaching, allergy shots, changing diapers, going to church, doing chores.

We did manage a trip to the granite and tile place on Saturday. We ate lunch at Panera first, then spent two hours looking at stone and tile. The kids were troopers and I am totally indecisive. We found some beautiful granite that Mike and I both loved, but of course it was super expensive, and for our bathroom we need about 14 square feet, but we have to buy the whole slab (53 square feet). After thinking about the cost and staring at our bathroom for hours, I am backing away from the granite. I wish I could tell you we have decided on something else, but we certainly haven't.

In other news, we have been busy partying. Mike turned 33 yesterday. Doesn't that sound old and mature? I am happy to report that Mike is no more mature now than he was when I married him. Forever young, that guy. To celebrate we have been hitting the town! Monday night we went out with JP and Natalie while my sweet friend Wendie watched the kids. Jens had the best time with her--he was so happy when we got home. They had been practicing tracing letters together because Wendie needed to learn her letters. Tuesday night was our family birthday dinner. Jens cried through most of it, which made it really fun. He perked up in time for presents and lemon pie, though.

Mike's best present is Mastermind, which he and I played at Christmas at the Bacons' house and thoroughly enjoyed. Yesterday was our real party day. We left our kids with some really great friends and went to San Francisco for the day. We saw Wicked, which we both thoroughly enjoyed, went down to the wharf for a nice dinner, and hit Ghirradeli Square for dessert. It was really pleasant to have a day to just be together. The weather was clear and since it was a Wednesday we had no problems with crowds, lines, or traffic.

Today I have been lazy and sleepy and I haven't gotten properly dressed. I did cook dinner and rearrange the furniture in our bedroom, though. Winter must be the season of furniture rearrangement--I have been wanting to change around every room in our house.

oops

I pulled the vacuum cleaner down five steps onto my arm today. It feels like it is broken (what does a broken arm feel like?). I can't move it without pain, there is a raised welt on my forearm, my wrist hurts, and I am very grouchy. I was trying to vacuum the stairs.

Lesson learned--the stairs will never be vacuumed again.

Also, I hate remodeling. I wish my bathroom was back to how it used to be--rusty sinks and all.