“I wish you cared more about this,” I said jokingly, yet exasperated at his nonchalant attitude.
“It’s not that I don’t care. It’s just that I’m a big proponent of delegation, and I’ve delegated all that to you!” he said with a smile.
Either he’s being truthful, or he’s discovered a loophole big enough to see from space.
In the “Olde Town” section of our little suburban city, the city planners have done a lot of renewal projects. The area is full of quaint little Mom ‘n Pop stores and local restaurants. There is a brand new library, complete with “an interactive fountain.”
The moms just call it the Olde Town Sprayground.
Prior to last week, Claire and I had never been there, and it wasn’t until I joined this Moms’ Club that I even knew it existed. The Monday Playgroup met there a week ago, and we had a blast! We had so much fun that we also decided to join the rest of the moms when the “regular playgroup” met there on Wednesday.
This particular place is located one block from a Free Public Parking Lot, so it’s super-convenient. And, playing in the fountain is free, too! Who knew!? All you have to do is bring sunscreen and a towel…and a desire to get splashed!
During Monday’s visit, we played without needing a potty break, but that wasn’t the case on Wednesday. I did discover that the bathrooms in the adjacent Library are right inside the door. We were able to tiptoe in and use them discreetly…and our swimsuits didn’t even drip too much on the floor. Perfect!
I wanted to take a picture of the Sprayground, so as to capture the magic on film, but I wasn’t sure how to do it without getting my camera wet. So, the camera stayed safely at home, and you’ll just have to use your imagination. The fountain is comprised of circles within circles in the shape of a circle. The water shoots up at different intervals, and it is amazingly fun. What is hard to describe is the size of the fountain. The water shoots way up in the air, well over my head, and there is a ton of room to play and run.
Claire and I had so much fun chasing each other as we got blasted by the water. You know it’s a good time when there’s a lot of screaming involved…whether it be screams of joy or screams of “It’s not time to go yet. No!” 
What an awesome way to burn off all that extra energy, and what a great way to cool down. Although I wish I would have found this place sooner, I’m sure we’ll have more opportunities to take advantage of it before the summer sun sets…
Over the years, we’ve done a lot of Home Improvement Projects. And, there are a lot of things we want to do to the kitchen, specifically: tile the floors, replace the countertops, figure out the best way to either refinish or replace the cabinets, etc. Although our latest major projects have been bathroom-centric, it’s not like the kitchen has been completely ignored: we’ve already removed the wallpaper, textured the wall, painted, replaced the garbage disposal, replaced the ceiling fan, and installed recessed lighting.
After seven years of projects, we want to take a little break. No kitchen projects allowed! (At least for right now!)
Well, back in June, my hubby submitted a “replace the stove” project proposal through The Management, and approval was granted (i.e. I agreed). He’d found a killer deal for a really nice, new(er) flat-top stove on Craig’s List, so I told him to go for it. Arrangements were made, and we replaced our vintage 1970s double oven with a 3 or 4 year old flat-top stove. After some elbow-grease to spiff it up a bit, it was ready to install.
Because this wasn’t really a kitchen project, I forgot to take “before” pictures. Luckily, I found some random photos of the kitchen that were taken on Christmas 2007. Please ignore the giant ham on the cutting board and all of the things cluttering the counters.
Click photos to enlarge.
Yes, that upper monstrosity is a full-on oven. It was actually my favorite feature. You didn’t have to bend over to check on anything, and hot food was kept up and out of the way of those pesky toddlers.
Because this wasn’t really a kitchen project, I didn’t post a recap in a timely fashion. We traveled to the Midwest (twice) and have been enjoying a fun and guest-filled summer, and posting pictures of our new stove just kept getting pushed farther and father down on my To Do List.
So, without further ado, here is our new stove! Eventually, we’ll replace the microwave (on the counter) with a hood/microwave combo that goes above the stove.
And, here is our new dishwasher!
Kidding! It’s not new; it’s the same old one! It’s amazing how a coat or two of new appliance paint can totally change the look of a dishwasher, huh??
I am amazed at our new stove. Correction: I’m amazed at how horrible our old stove really was. When you turn this stove on, it fires up instantaneously. Stoves are supposed to do that? All of these burners cook evenly. Where’s the fun in that?
It’s all fancy with its working properly and keeping the correct temperature. Gone are the days of realizing that a burner isn’t really on, or the temperature in one of the ovens has varied so wildly that you have no idea how much longer something needs to bake. In fact, we don’t even need our little separate temperature gauge. I think we’ll keep it in there, just for old time’s sake.
In fact, cooking around here has become rather mundane. We’re so spoiled now!
And, my hubby was right…we should have done this non-kitchen project much sooner. Now, if I can just keep him from eyeing all of the floor-tile options…
Today, August 9th, marks my 365th consecutive day of blogging!
Rock.
On.
Whew! I made it. A blog post every day for a whole year! This was a little goal I set for myself last August when my blog wasn’t even a month old, and I do feel a little twinge of accomplishment. No one made me do it. I didn’t really tell anyone that I was going to do it. But, I did it.
Pardon me while I massage my arm. I think I hurt it while patting myself on the back.
Of course, my hubby accuses me of spending more time on my blog than on my other writing, and this is true. He’s obviously forgotten that I am an Expert Multitasker. But, he’s right. Not a day went by that I didn’t have my blog covered, but I felt like it was okay to slack on my other writing projects. In a way, I felt obligated to my internal goal. Now that I’ve done it and proven to myself that I could do it, I can shift some of my focus onto some other projects.
We’ll see. There shouldn’t be any reason that I can’t do both. What can I say? Old habits die hard. Plus, I’ve already started working more and more on my book. And, honestly, I can’t wait to write more! At times, I feel giddy…and this is a great feeling.
But, blogging has become a part of my life, and, now that I’ve done it every day for a year, I’m not sure I want to stop. I love writing, and I love chronicling Claire’s life and our adventures…and blogging makes my creative juices flow which helps me with my other projects. See? Like any true addict, I’ve justified my behavior.
I can’t guarantee that I’ll post every day for another year, but I’m definitely not done. In fact, I’ve just begun…
The neighbors on either side of us have dogs. To the west, we have big, gentle George. He only barks when he’s supposed to. To the east, we have two little yippy dogs, that we lovingly refer to as Tasty Treats.
When I was pregnant with Claire, I worked from home. The dogs to the east of us would yip constantly, for hours at a time. Then, there was one day that these little tasty treats barked NON-STOP from before 8am to well after 10pm. NON-STOP. They are the kind of dogs that only bark at two things: things that move and things that don’t.
I love dogs. Honestly, I do. But, I can only handle so much.
At 10:12pm I snapped. As the pregnancy hormones raged through my body and the barking rang through my ears I found the phone and called every number we had for the neighbors. Every call went to voicemail. I left two rather disturbing messages, one on the home phone and one on one of their cell phones. Although I made my point very clear, I was careful not to swear or actually threaten the lives of their dogs, but I was *this close.*
The neighbors apologized.
Profusely.
They kept the dogs inside for the rest of the summer.
They’ve been much better since and have been really pretty good for the last three years.
Until last night.
I’m not sure what happened last night, but it wasn’t pretty. Who can sleep with the constant high-pitched barking? Are the neighbors not even home?? And, if so, how can they ignore this!? No, there are no pregnancy hormones flowing this time, but all this senseless barking conjured up all kinds of wrathful thoughts from the past. Plus, trying to sleep while dogs bark continuously during the night makes my blood boil.
So, in honor of our tossing and turning last night, here is a Haiku dedicated to the little Tasty Treats that live next door to us. Their stature belies their noise level. How can something so small and dainty be so frickin’ loud??
Yip, YAP, Yip, Yip, YAP!
We hope the fox eats you both.
Please stop the barking!
It is quiet today. I can only hope that somewhere there is a fox with a full belly.
I’m kidding! That would be horrible.
Right?
As the three of us were cleaning up the kitchen one night after dinner:
Daddy: ♪♫♪ Hmmm hm hm hm…hmmm hmm hmm hmmm…♪♫♪ ”Ahhh! I can’t believe Oh Tannenbaum is stuck in my head. Maybe I’m subconsciously wishing for colder weather.”
Momma: “That’s okay. The other day, I kept singing ♪♫♪It’s Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas.♪♫♪ I’m not sure what that’s all about.”
Claire (not to be outdone or left out of the conversation): ♪♫♪Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to everybuhhhhddddy! ♪♫♪
I guess you had to be there…
Let me preface this by saying that Claire is potty trained and has been since the beginning of June. For this, I am very grateful. I truly, truly, truly am…
That being said, we’ve fallen headfirst into The Potty Game. In case you are unaware, here are the rules:
Seriously. This game is exhausting!
Part of this is my fault. At first, I had to pretend that every restroom we used was awesome, because she was a picky pee’er. She wouldn’t go if it was the slightest bit ‘off.’ She has a bladder of steel and can hold it for what seems like an eternity, but still. It’s best she goes when she says she has to go. So, I always say, “Oh, this is a good one!” as soon as I see that toilet is usable. I used to make a big deal about how great the restroom was until I realized that she’d rather be in there than at the table eating. Now, I try to convey the opinion that the bathroom is totally usable but downplay the splendor of it all.
I’m trying to teach her to ‘let it all out’ every time you go, but we’re not there yet. I’d say we’re at a 60/40 split right now. Sixty percent of the time, she actually pees when she says she has to, even if we’ve just gone moments before. Forty percent of the time it’s full-on trickery. At the risk of having an accident in public, I take her when she says she has to go. I don’t want an embarrassing situation to set us back, because she really is doing an awesome job with this whole potty training thing.
So, who wins at this game? During the “pretend” trips to the bathroom and as I’m eating my cold food, I have the overwhelming urge to pout about how it’s not fair and she’s winning and I feel like I big ol’ loozer and how she’s got me! I can’t not take her to the bathroom! And, then I snap out of it and remember that it really isn’t a contest. And, a day without diapers is a day that everyone wins.
Click images to enlarge.
Clicking on each photo a second time will show more detail.
Where is Claire?
I thought she was in here somewhere…
I found her!
I love puzzles. My collection of puzzles is rather massive, but I don’t have many that are geared toward preschoolers. I decided to get some for Claire when it hit me…I could make one!
So, here’s what we did!
We always get a ton of calendars from different organizations throughout the year. When Claire was littler, we’d use these calendars as picture books. She’s always loved looking through them. Not only do they make great books, but they’d also make fabulous puzzles! So, we picked one of our favorites.
Click on image to enlarge.
Clicking a second time on photo will show more detail.
Here’s what you need to complete this project:
1. Calendar (or other photo source)
2. Scissors
3. Sharpie
4. Envelope
5. Tape
This project can be completed with or without the preschooler present. If the preschooler is “helping,” I’d suggest giving that little person a piece of tape or something else to keep her occupied.
Choose your photo and tear it out of the calendar. (I tear it out first and clean up the edge with a scissors…)
If you use a calendar, there is a nifty smaller-sized photo of what your puzzle is to look like on the back.
Cut that out and tape it to the envelope. Label the envelope with the name associated with the photo, if you like. This envelope will be the home for your puzzle pieces. (In the picture, you’ll see that the preschooler is holding on to her piece of tape and not pestering the puzzle-maker…)
Flip the photo over and draw your puzzle pieces on the back.
Cut out your puzzle pieces.
Flip over the puzzle pieces to start putting them back together.
Depending on how difficult the design is or how small the pieces are, adult assistance may be required. (Note: The photo Claire chose was a difficult one, and I was way too ambitious with the number of puzzle pieces. This one was fun for me, but not so much for her. She enjoyed “helping” but she couldn’t do it herself.) This one is almost finished…
Puzzle complete!
And, when you’re done, all the pieces fit into the envelope.
Because the first one was a tad difficult, I made another one right away.
This one of the Green Tree Frog was more Claire’s speed, and we’ll save the Polar Bear one for when she’s a bit more skilled.
So, there ya have it! That is how to make a really cool puzzle…and I have 10 more puzzles waiting for me to create from this calendar alone! When she gets bored with this one, I’ll have my work cut out for me, so to speak.
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