Thursday, September 21, 2006

Tidbits

The days just fly by. I know I'm getting closer to having the house ready to sell. I've been working many, many hours on the house. Even took 2 days off work and basically painted or landscaped for 48 hours straight. I've accomplished a lot, and have just a little bit futher to go.
I'm not killing myself trying to get it done. Basically, I'm working, but it will be done when it's done.

Last night my dad and I stayed up until the wee hours laying cement. Me, never having worked with cement, I was the pupil. I learned to mix cement to the right consistency and at what pace water should be added and how to use all kinds of cement tools with funny names like "bull float". It seems like it would be a simple thing, but it really is an art and there is a point of no return that you reach with every step. There is only so much room for error and once you start, you can't stop until you are finished or the job is ruined. There were a few moments of panic when we realized we did not have enough cement to finish the run we were trying to get done. I ran to the local hardware store and got 5 more bags and we thought that would be more than enough. Nope. @ 9:40p we realized we are short again and made another mad dash to Home Depot before it closed at 10p. A little bit later when it must have been close to midnight and the cement we had poured about an hour earlier was just not setting up fast enough. We had cleaned up the edges and run the joints, but you could see a thin layer of water shining at the surface. Without the sun, and the early morning humidy working against us, we could have been waiting for hours for the water to evapoate. So I say to my dad, "why don't we sop up that water with some paper towels? I was thinking about how I sometimes sop up the oil on top of pizza. Wouldn't you know it worked like a charm! We went through about 2 rolls of paper towels and we were onto the smoothing step. I don' t know if we broke some major rule of cement work, but it worked! I wonder if anyone else has tried this shortcut before?

My dad deserves a metal for everything he does. I don't know how it is he seems to know how to do everything, but I'm sure glad he does!

My hands are brittle today. Cement will suck out every last ounce of moisture you have in your hands. Not a very glamous job. I've given up on keeping the manicure up for now. Not that I ever really have in my life, but I was trying since my trip to Honduras.


Aside from painting, landscaping, cement work, etc, etc...
I've still managed to keep the kids in one piece and fed.
Here's some kis tidbits:

Sister Sprout is exploring some new independance. She has started to walk by herself to her daycare, which is only about 3 blocks away. It really happened slowly, but also so fast. Her world seemed to open up a lot once she learned to ride her bike this last summer. It's so strange how quickly it does happen. One day I am making sure she is buckled up in her booster seat and the next she removes the booster from the car and announces that she is too big for a booster seat. She had read that kids need a seat until age 7 and once she hit 7, that was it. She was out of that seat and she had the sign posted at the doctors office to back her up. I didn't fight it.
So I embrace this one too. She'll be okay. She is a smart and cautious girl.
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Brother Sprout has been my funny monkey lately. Just doing things that really crack me up. He is like curious George always trying to get into things and figure things out.

He's figured out where the candy dish is kept (on top of the fridge). He woke up the other morning and decided he wanted a sucker. He really likes the dum-dum suckers. Yes, I'm breaking the rules by giving him hard candy - I know. He whines, he cries, he points to the candy dish and throws his head and body back is distress he wants that candy so badly. Ugh!I'm trying to get us out the door and he is really making it difficult. So I tell him he can take the candy with him to daycare but he has to save it until later. I pop the sucker into his hand and he's happy to go willingly into the car and off to daycare we go. He's holding his sucker as we walk in the door and I tell daycare he needs to save it for later. That kid held out until about 9:30a I guess and then that was it. He couldn't wait any more. Pretty good for a 1 year old.

Then last night I'm tucking Brother Sprout in and he again starts to beg for candy. Oh boy...he really puts up a fuss too when he wants something. I'm glad dum-dums are wrapped. I pop a sucker into his hand and tell him he has to wait until tomorrow to have it. He didn't seem to care. He just wanted it in his hand. He fell asleep with his little fingers wrapped tightly around the little dum-dum. He never liked the pacifier, he doesn't have a security blanket or a stuffed animal. He likes to have food, specifically sweet food, in hand.

Brother Sprout also has learned that his feet and socks stink. We play this game when I am taking socks and shoes off that I smell his feet and then wrinkle up my nose and proclaim "pee-ewe! You have stinky feet!!". And he laughs and laughs and laughs. Well, then he realized that he could take his sock and stick it in my face and get the same reaction. Tons of laughs are hand by that. Well, the other night Brother Sprout wasn't sleeping well due to teething. It must have been about 5am and still dark as night. He is awake and so not to disturb big Sister Sprout I take him into my room and try to get him to lay down some more. He tries, but just tosses and turns. Then he pulls off one of his socks and in my sleepy haze I feel this cotten sock in my face. At 5am in pitch dark he is trying to get me to laugh. I couldn't help it...I said, "pee-ewe, ..." in my crackly morning voice with a smile on my face.

I just love these kids.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's SO cute.

Ya know, I've always wondered how dad knows how to do everything too.

Anonymous said...

Your concrete story brings back memories. That stuff is hard to work with (no pun intended).

Anonymous said...

It's nice to get your updates. I think you should be awarded Mommy of the year with all the work you do! Great job Courtney!! And kudos to your Dad for all the help he's given you. :)