Yes, more house construction!
Bob's friend the professional drywaller needed some help with a job he was doing (tearing down a rock fireplace), so asked Bob to trade work. Bob helped him 2 days, and then he came over here and helped with our drywall/sheetrock. We've had the sheets up for quite a while, and Bob had started covering the screws recently, but the last few days work has proceeded at an immense rate. In preparation for the mess, we unplugged the computers and moved them away from walls, so I haven't been on a computer since, oh, Tuesday? Anyway, they got everything tapes and mudded, and textured the ceiling of both dining and living room Saturday morning. Tomorrow they will texture the walls.
And after that we get to try to clean the mess. Oh, the mess! And start painting while we have the furniture moved and covered.
Last night Ruth decided not to go to bed. She just was awake, playing and talking, until 1:15. So I got in bed, and then she woke up at 2. And 4, and 6, and 7:30. So my two cups of coffee are barely keeping my eyes open today.
Oh, speaking of coffee, we tried a new brand, and it is without question my favorite (unflavored) coffee. http://mountcomfortcoffee.com/ We got the Peru version at Sam's club for a lot cheaper than on the website. It has a complex but very smooth flavor, with no bitterness or bite. I hope it's something they continue to sell.
That's all I got for now.
Sunday, 22 February 2015
Wednesday, 18 February 2015
the end of an era?
Well, as three of my 100+ "friends" noticed, I recently quit Facebook. I figured I had enough other ways to waste time online. :D Really, it had got so frustrating, trying to see what people actually had to say. On the final straw day, I had a news feed that consisted of the most recent hour, and then a jump to 2 or 3 days previous. And anyway, even if I could somehow convince the algorithm that I want to see every single thing that every one of my friends originally write, but none of the shared "photos" (most of which are simply text saved as jpeg to make it more sharable) or comments that they make on non-friends' posts, it still wouldn't do me any good because people don't share useful information anyway. And if I try to enter into an actual discussion, or provide an alternative point of view, they just delete or block or unfriend me. So there.
In other news, the children keep getting older and cuter. And I get more forgetful and Bob gets more tired and painful.
Today I drove my 15 pack, rear-wheel drive, diesel powered van uphill on ice. In the dark. It took a little longer than it should have, but at no point did it go backwards.
Taryn is 16, still no license (but soon!) and is going to the Mennonite youth group. She went through (is still in?) a Bill Gaither music video watching stage, and decided to get more serious about her music. We've started her on piano lessons, and she is even going through the 4th grade English book with Naysha in case she decides to follow Bill's advice and go to college. Well, it's a start.
Naysha is sad because she is only 12 and Taryn is growing away again. But she is beginning to take on the world in her own way. She is studious, hardworking, and dedicated to the task at hand. She's started teaching Elijah his letters and thinks teaching is a possible career choice.
Riah is as himself as ever. He's grown a lot, and has been eating constantly so that we fear another spurt. His heart won't take many more growth spurts before requiring surgery.
Cedwryck has matured a lot since losing Gena dog last year. He's also focused on getting a puppy. He and Naysha watch dog training videos, measure the prospective yard, and read and watch videos on breed characteristics.
Ella may be softening a bit.
William has learned his alphabet, but made no headway with reading. He still knows his times tables to 12 and is working on division, having mastered carrying and borrowing. A few nights ago as they were settling in to bed, Elijah asked William the time, then an addition problem. Then he told me, "William is my calculator." He still likes puzzles, too, but like most smart people, doesn't like to have to work at things.
Elijah is starting to grow up. At 5, he still has many traits of a 3-year old. He is very affectionate and tender-hearted. He is making an effort at schoolwork, but when Bob tried to get him to write the number 2, he would make it perfect 10 times, and then just make some completely random mark on the paper and declare he couldn't do it! So I sent him to puzzles and blocks for a few days. He is great friends with Daniel, and anybody else who will play with him. He cannot think what to do by himself.
Daniel is still Mister Personality. He wakes up every night and goes to the girls' room, and announces happily the next morning that he slept with Naysha. He insists on being sung to every night, selecting his favorites from our hymn book. He's developed tremendously with his language, but still needs work with some pronunciations (says t for c most of the time, though he has no trouble with c in general) and assigns gender-specific pronouns willy-nilly. He also doesn't quite get past tense, and will say "I did throw" instead of "I threw" and "I am" instead of "I will." He often sounds like an ESL speaker.
Ruth is a joy. She rarely fusses, and is affectionate, vocal, and mobile. She has said "mama" distinctly several times, and sings to herself (or along with others) frequently.
I have quit ice cream in a desperate attempt to lose some weight. I won't do anything crazy while breastfeeding, but am looking into severe diets for afterwards. My size has gone from inconvenient to downright embarrassing. But I still feel alive and in touch and healthy mentally and emotionally. Well, the mind does slip some when given only 5 hours of sleep per night, but I manage to wake up happy and hopeful rather than otherwise.
So now we are all caught up, maybe I can get on with blogging.
In other news, the children keep getting older and cuter. And I get more forgetful and Bob gets more tired and painful.
Today I drove my 15 pack, rear-wheel drive, diesel powered van uphill on ice. In the dark. It took a little longer than it should have, but at no point did it go backwards.
Taryn is 16, still no license (but soon!) and is going to the Mennonite youth group. She went through (is still in?) a Bill Gaither music video watching stage, and decided to get more serious about her music. We've started her on piano lessons, and she is even going through the 4th grade English book with Naysha in case she decides to follow Bill's advice and go to college. Well, it's a start.
Naysha is sad because she is only 12 and Taryn is growing away again. But she is beginning to take on the world in her own way. She is studious, hardworking, and dedicated to the task at hand. She's started teaching Elijah his letters and thinks teaching is a possible career choice.
Riah is as himself as ever. He's grown a lot, and has been eating constantly so that we fear another spurt. His heart won't take many more growth spurts before requiring surgery.
Cedwryck has matured a lot since losing Gena dog last year. He's also focused on getting a puppy. He and Naysha watch dog training videos, measure the prospective yard, and read and watch videos on breed characteristics.
Ella may be softening a bit.
William has learned his alphabet, but made no headway with reading. He still knows his times tables to 12 and is working on division, having mastered carrying and borrowing. A few nights ago as they were settling in to bed, Elijah asked William the time, then an addition problem. Then he told me, "William is my calculator." He still likes puzzles, too, but like most smart people, doesn't like to have to work at things.
Elijah is starting to grow up. At 5, he still has many traits of a 3-year old. He is very affectionate and tender-hearted. He is making an effort at schoolwork, but when Bob tried to get him to write the number 2, he would make it perfect 10 times, and then just make some completely random mark on the paper and declare he couldn't do it! So I sent him to puzzles and blocks for a few days. He is great friends with Daniel, and anybody else who will play with him. He cannot think what to do by himself.
Daniel is still Mister Personality. He wakes up every night and goes to the girls' room, and announces happily the next morning that he slept with Naysha. He insists on being sung to every night, selecting his favorites from our hymn book. He's developed tremendously with his language, but still needs work with some pronunciations (says t for c most of the time, though he has no trouble with c in general) and assigns gender-specific pronouns willy-nilly. He also doesn't quite get past tense, and will say "I did throw" instead of "I threw" and "I am" instead of "I will." He often sounds like an ESL speaker.
Ruth is a joy. She rarely fusses, and is affectionate, vocal, and mobile. She has said "mama" distinctly several times, and sings to herself (or along with others) frequently.
I have quit ice cream in a desperate attempt to lose some weight. I won't do anything crazy while breastfeeding, but am looking into severe diets for afterwards. My size has gone from inconvenient to downright embarrassing. But I still feel alive and in touch and healthy mentally and emotionally. Well, the mind does slip some when given only 5 hours of sleep per night, but I manage to wake up happy and hopeful rather than otherwise.
So now we are all caught up, maybe I can get on with blogging.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)