Something's Brewing....

Some projects take longer then others.This one will take 40 weeks, followed by 18 years at least. I'm looking forward to every minutes (well, except for the morning sickness, sleepless nights, temper tantrums, worry....)

Oh yes - due date: March 28.

As the Work Week Draws to a Close

It's been a pretty busy week here at Kolstehause.

We've all been working away on various projects.
Dirt was moved:

Rhubarb was cut and baked (Thank you to "internet Ann" for the fantastic Rhubarb Cake recipe).

Ian helped mix the cement for the gazebo deck posts. It was the perfect job for a junior helper - it was dirty and involved long sticks.

Yesterday, the kids painted these pavers for me. I had dug them out of a bizarre "walkway" in our backyard and saved them - because I KNEW they would somehow be useful. This afternoon, with the paint all dry, we moved them into my back garden, to make a colorful walkway to the bird bath. Since it is a shade garden, there isn't a lot of flower color, so I've been adding it in other ways. The kids liked this addition especially, because now they can safely refill the bird bath by themselves.

But if you are two, all this work has been pretty tiring, so if you take a little break and fall asleep reading your book, nobody is going to bother you about it.

Strike While the Iron is Hot...

...or at least the water is lukewarm and soapy.

Yesterday, Ian thought doing dishes looked like fun, so he asked to try. He spent the next half hour doing a pretty good job - much better then I expected from a four-year-old (almost 5) boy. So, he has a new job now: breakfast dishes every morning.

Hurrah! One less project for me!

Making Progress

For the past few weeks (months, even years now), this man:

has been working like crazy to get our house into some sort of shape. One of his most recent accomplishments has been to install this window in our basement. It replaced another "window" - if you can call several pieces of clear plastic caulked into place (and poorly caulked at that) a window. It is amazing what a change this simple upgrade made in the basement. In addition to the window addition, he cleaned and de-bugged the room it belongs to, set up some shelves, and even created his own office space. One-third of our basement is finally habitable. I think I might be in love.

As if that change wasn't enough, Aaron also contracted with some cement guys:

to come and lay our new and improved patio. Of course, he had to do a lot of work to prepare for this project, but he got it done in time, and over the course of the past week the contractor came and set up the forms:

and then poured the cement:

Yesterday we celebrated with a family gathering on the finished work of art. Would you believe that I didn't take any pictures?

Splitting Hairs

Is cutting hair a project? It is if the victim is a wiggly two-year-old who isn't thrilled with the prospect. Her mop, however, had gotten totally out of control and it was time for a trim.

First, the back. It was pretty forgiving.

Second, the front. I think I should have done the front first, because Brynn was getting bored and the wiggling was increasing. As you can see, she zigged when I zagged, and her bangs ended up a little short.

Oh well. I guess that's why they made clips.

Camping Projects

Every year my sister, her husband and my husband (who were high school buddies), and I pack up our families for an annual camping trip. This is our SEVENTH year, so we've got our system pretty well worked out. But, since our families keep growing, there are new challenges every year. Camping is definitely a project!

Sadly, there comes a time on every camping trip, when even the best of buddies (yes, she is wearing a popcorn bucket on her head - they claim it is an "English helmet) can't seem to get along. Everything leads to an argument and they just can't figure out what to do with themselves.

It is during those moments that you better come up with something to do, and fast!

This year we pulled out some clothespins and colorful pipe cleaners and made butterflies. It was low-tech, as any good camping activity should be, and each kid could make their own - however they wanted to - which helped soothe frayed nerves.

When the butterflies were finished, we hung them on a string to decorate the campsite.

Soon, pipe cleaners were appearing all over the campsite and laughter was ringing out once again.
On to the next camp project: cooking supper.