and the excitement

keeps building! {literally}


it started with the playhyouse. (being used as a shed for now!)

then they moved our natural gas meter from our basement to the exterior of the house.

then we knocked down the old icky garage.

then we started to build the new much improved garage.

we also can't forget the number of deliveries the kids have been entertained by. backhoes....dumpsters (yeah those are fun!)....gravel....lumber and mesh....garage package....more garage package...

and now....

they are replacing our water pipes. the kids have front row seats for this. cheap babysitting is also what i call it!

it is actually a neat operation to watch. i think i've enjoyed it nearly as much as the kids. friday afternoon Aidan perched himself on the railing of our front steps and watched all the action. one of the supervisors even came to our door and asked if Aidan wanted a closer look. so the little guy even got to sit in the seat of one of the trackhoes. he was totally thrilled.

so the concrete got poured on Canada Day. saturday they started on the walls.

see Aidan here. i'm sure he is overwhelmed with excitement!

Kristian is anyway. this shot was taken near the end of the day. i'm amazed he had strength to smile. he and his dad were exhausted...to put it mildly. with just the two of them, they were able to get 3 walls in place

and today there was more progress. they finished the fourth wall. and got the trusses up and one row of sheeting.

the package came with nails. the kind you need a standard hammer for. we're taking them back. thankfully we have a nail gun. Kris is getting more the hang of using it. and his dad is thankful for that! ....a few of the nails missed the stud (they were nailing the OSB from the outside, into the studs) and went right through the OSB. thankfully the walls were on the ground during these misses. we are all grateful that Kris will not quit his day job!!

and this is what it looks like after the weekend. i guess another half day and the roof will be completed. another day to shingle. another day to install doors and windows. another day to put the siding on. i'm learning that another day does not always mean one day or work. slowly that part is making sense.


so lots of building excitement in our lives. Kiara probably thinks this is normal. next summer should be boring for her. unless they repave the front street!

i found this cute stroller at a garage sale this weekend. it even has an infant carrier. she has logged a number of hours pushing "Teddy" in it already.

this morning Aidan went to play with his friends Kelley and Christopher. Kiara, Teddy and i went to the zoo. sometimes Teddy was in her stroller. sometimes he was carried. wherever he was he was shown to the animals. all very cute. our last stop on our visit was getting her face air brush painted. unfortunately i forgot to take a photo. that was weird. she loved it and sat so still. CTV had some cameras roving around. she might have been on TV tonight, but we missed it.

and the excitement just continued....

Uncle John brought Auntie Arlene and cousins with him. bike riding, park time, stomp rockets with a neighbor, sand box, toys, movie.....they were busy!

and so was Auntie!

both these past few days my excitement was cooking. as it has always been on these crazy work days! i cannot believe how much food gets cooked and quickly eaten. too quick even for pictures! and dishes. usually i BBQ. we've had steak, hamburgers, chicken and salmon. lots of baked potatoes. i cooked a roast today. i wasn't sure who would be here for supper, so i put a frozen one in the slow cooker this morning. it is very motivating to cook when you have that yummy smell permeating the house. then we had mashed potatoes. and rice. and corn. and hot wings. and jalapeno cheese sticks. and no dessert! it was a filling meal. but apple pie and ice cream really would have finished it off nicely....yesterday i made raspberry almond blondies from the martha stewart cookie book. they didn't last either.

i know i'm going to sound like a farmer. i guess i can get away with it. i grew up on a farm. but...what is with the weather?! this past week had been so weird. my neighbors have an amazing garden every year. hail really hurt them on tuesday. feels weird to put on sunscreen and then wear a raincoat.....

well off to rest for whatever excitement comes our way this week. after i unload the dishwasher, then load it for the second load!

oh happy day

was it just less than a week ago that i was having one of those "terrible, no good, very bad..." days? and as the book says...."some days are like that."


AND....check out my comments from yesterday too. notice who wrote a comment?! wahooo!!!! thanks Sally!!! {{hug}}

here are some pics from yesterday....

i got these great paints that are non-toxic. they can fingerpaint or brush paint. or both!

Kiara took the painting quite seriously this time.

both of the kids painted three pictures each. our dining room wall is now more bright and cheery!

Kiara is still experimenting with brush strokes and such. Aidan is just starting to make recognizable pictures. so neat to see them develop artistically.

and then we headed outside with our sidewalk chalk....

i cannot believe that I took this photo!

we did silhouettes of each of them. and an extra one for Aidan that looked like he was jumping. it was at this point that we noticed our garage package being delivered.

way in the distance.....you can see Aidan watching every move of the delivery vehicles. and right here?! another thrilling photo for me. caught her in the act of jumping!

yes...he is watching the delivery. an exciting day for Aidan.

and that is our garage. sitting in our driveway.

and to toot my own horn....as soon as i saw the two windows on the top of the pallet...i knew that it was just a matter of time before the glass would get stepped on by someone "perusing" the alley. and then i noticed the boxes of nails on the other pallet. Kristian was away in Calgary at a meeting and i knew it would be late before he was back. and not to tempt fate.....i moved everything off of those two pallets except for a package of shingles and the door!! a little tricky since the trusses and concrete blocks took up the entire driveway! i got one scratch. had one "incident". but it was a successful move.

don't tell Kristian....but i had moved the windows over to the trusses while i moved to the other side. i was nearly done moving the first window when i heard a bang. a wind gust had come up and caught the last window on the truss....and it fell. i am still amazed that nothing broke. and thank goodness it didn't! i was much more cautious of my moving process after that. nothing was more breakable than glass....but picking up thousands of nails didn't seem like much fun.

some laughs

Kiara is napping.

yay!

Aidan and i are awake.

and we are laughing!

at this YouTube video:

Sneezing Panda


(if i knew how to download videos from YouTube...i would...but i don't. so you'll just have to click on the link!)




we found it after watching a video from Sally Lloyd-Jones blog.

Dramatic Lemur


Sally Lloyd-Jones is the author of the Jesus' Storybook Bible.
I picked up a copy last week. Kiara is still too young to enjoy it. but Aidan and i have been reading it together. in fact, i'm selfishly not allowing Kristian to read any parts of it to Aidan!! i could always read it on my own, or listen in....but....it's not the same. yeah. crazy. it is one of those bibles that i know will be read several times in our home.

if you go to this page....you can hear her read six of the stories from the book. make sure you start with "The Story and The Song".

i first heard about this children's bible from Angie, author of "Bring The Rain" blog. (not a personal friend....but one of those people you wished you knew personally!)
then my friend, Kathy, told me how much she was loving it as she read it with her four year old daughter.
and now i'm telling you!

okay, Aidan and i are going to do some more fun stuff together. we're waiting for our garage package to get delivered today. before they dig up the alley!! oh, yes, i'll tell you about that next time. next summer may be quite boring without all of this building activity going on.....lol!!