Dream House – Page 3

February 21, 2014February 21, 2014

Whaddup Weekend?

We are home again this weekend! And I have plans!

Do some fun photogging with the kiddos. Feel like my camera hasn’t been getting a work out lately and the kiddos are getting big before my eyes!! Tabby is turning 7 a week from Tuesday!!
Get out and have some real fun: check out our new Trader Joes, see the Home & Garden Show or the Lego movie … or our newly expanded Science and Nature Museum. Lots of good choices!
Get all the lingering cardboard boxes of random crap gone.
Make something NEW for dinner! Like these mini beef wellingtons from Jamie Oliver. mmmmmm
Go for a “long” run, i.e. 5 miles. Sad that that is long at the moment, but I’m going to make a comeback! Really!
Sew the freaking patches on the kids’ karate uniforms. Already lost the first set somewhere in a moving box and replacing them cost us $40 ($40?! for patches!!!) But, apparently they cannot test for their belts without these magical patches. And they are ready to test! Wonder where my sewing stuff is in our friends’ basement?!
Actually catch up on all that financial stuff. For real.
Finish reading Anna and the French Kiss. It’s only been on my list for about 3 years now.
Take our poor neglected dog to the dog park … assuming it doesn’t get too nasty out. Seems no one can agree on what our weather is supposed to be like this weekend.
Do a bunch of that cooking stuff so we don’t eat poorly in the upcoming week.
Obsess over the construction of our house.
And maybe, just maybe, a little extra sleep.

February 19, 2014

In the Hole and Under Contract

So things are moving along with our house. They have now drilled and poured our piers that run to bedrock for our basement. A typical basement would have concrete poured directly into forms in the hole, but because our soil is expansive, they have drilled down to bedrock and anchored these piers with rebar. Boo ya. Next comes the pouring of the walls and the laying of the floors.

In related news, we are under contract on our old home. It’s been hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that we don’t live there anymore. It’s helped that it’s staged within an inch of its life and doesn’t really LOOK like our house anymore … but it’s still the house where we have spent nine and a half years and the house we brought our babies home to; the house where we said goodbye to our dog, May, and brought a crazy ball of black fur (Loki) home to. It’s the house where we spent countless evenings with my mom. It was so good to us and I hate to leave it.

Happily, from what we can tell (based on various internet snoopings), the people who want to buy our house are young couple. They are moving from a smaller house in the city, which I’m guessing means they have little kids or want some soon. I like the idea that it will go to a young family, like us, who is in our ‘hood for the great community and good schools and a cozy little place to call home. It helps.

So … onward upward. Hoping the walls are up by weekend, but I’m not sure if the piers need to cure before they can pour the footers and walls. I should ask some construction people about that …

February 17, 2014February 19, 2014

Of Valentines and Presidents

It was a pretty fun weekend. And longer than normal to boot. That probably helps.

Thursday, after a typically mad week, I left work early to go play hostess at Tabby’s classroom Valentine’s party (our grand finale of the year). It’s been great, because her BFF’s mom has been my cohort and we are similarly on the page of THIS IS FOR THE KIDS, SO LET’S NOT KILL OURSELVES TRYING TO IMPRESS OTHER PARENTS.

So we haven’t. Valentines was: 1. Jeopardy-style trivia game. It was a bit challenging for the kids, but by re-wording the questions, it came out OK. 2. A craft where we made fortune cookie valentines (super easy). 3. A game where they tossed a beanbag which landed on a heart-healthy exercise that they then had to perform. 4. Food, brought in by all the other parents.

I felt very lucky that while friends were up til all hours, cutting cheese into heart shapes with cookie cutters, I was in bed by 9 or 10.

After the party, we picked up Ben early (he’s always a fan of that) and went over to the new ‘hood to check out our lot, now complete with a HOLE!
... and play on the playground that will soon be near our house.

Friday was similarly chill. I worked out again (2nd time that week) and went into work for a while.
Then I met up with Matt for lunch and a kiddo-exchange … and took them to see Frozen, The Sing-Along! with their friends. Most everyone had seen Frozen and it was fun to see it again and to listen to the kiddos sing along.

We had dinner with Matt and my dad and sister at a great Chinese restaurant near us (new find!) … where Tabby scored a giant kiddy boat-drink, The Shirley Temple. She was just a bit thrilled.

Saturday was another crazy day. Matt headed out early to put some rock out in the backyard of our old house – it needed a bit of work but we couldn’t get it done before we moved because of the weather. And I went for a run (workout #3 of the week!) on the treadmill and then took the kids to karate. We met back up with Matt later for lunch and a NAP.

Then we got to getting ready for one of my bestie’s 40th birthday bash – planned by myself and another one of her friends. More on that later, I hope. We did some work on that, ran some errands for that and gathered to get ready and then headed off to the party. I had a wine slushie at the venue and like that, Saturday was done! The kids were up ’til 11.

Sunday we met up with our former neighbors (boohoo!) to take them on a tour of the model of our new house. They’re a lovely couple, like extra grandparents for my kiddos, and we had a great time. When that was done, we grabbed lunch and were then invited on an impromptu outing to IKEA, which we were totally game for since we needed to return a bookcase.

It was a kind of crazy three-hour tour and at the end of it, we left the kids with our neighbors/friends/landlords so we could go do the postponed grocery shopping. It was great fun and though the kids were off today, my weekend was over.

December 18, 2013

Playing Catch-Up

Well things are rolling along sometimes fairly normally. The kids are doing great, growing and learning by leaps and bounds. We register Ben for kindergarten next month. I can hardly believe it. Tabby has been having fun with spirit week at her school (see green hair above) and even Ben got in on the action.

The kids have been enjoying the season and all of the fun things it has to offer. We saw The Nutcracker with some friends last week. Everyone really enjoyed it. Tabby has been studying Waltz of the Flowers in music class and she and her little buddies could be seen doing hand motions as it played. The kids both took home nutcrackers (joy! rapture!) to add to our Christmas decorations.

Tabby baked cookies yesterday and has asked to make apple cider caramels again. She’s also been asking about Elf on the Shelf which all of her friends have. We do not have one and I made an executive decision that this was not the year to get it. I love the creativity behind setting up the tableaus, but I a) don’t have time and b) am not really into the Santa deception thing, particularly as it pertains to manipulating my children’s behavior.

We have been doing lots on the house situation, particularly as it pertains to getting our house ready to sell. We are finished retiling the master bathroom (a project we should have done YEARS AGO). It was ridiculously tedious because there were tons of things to work around and a diagonal wall. We had a family friend come in and help us knock out the last stage in record time, and despite how the above looks (don’t mark tiles when it’s late and you are STOOPID) …

It turned out really well. AND I’m so glad to have it done. Well mostly done – still have to put the trim back and reset the toilet. OY.

We have also been busy picking finishes for the new house. Above is our fireplace surround tile (bottom) and kitchen backsplash (top). I am very excited to see all of this start to take shape … but it will be a while. We had a snafu with our site plan and we STILL haven’t gone to permitting. It is resolved and we got a nice $25k option for FREE out of the deal, but it is frustrating. It should go in by the end of this week. I am anxious to start seeing dirt flying. Hopefully BEFORE we put our house on the market.

What else has been happening?

Matt and I saw a wholly unsatisfactory Broncos game (they lost). At least the seats were awesome.

It’s been cold (this hampered the tile project) … but also warm.

Tabby lost another tooth, but the tooth fairy still has yet to get ahold of one of Tabby’s teeth – she kept the last one and lost this one before she could turn it in. The note was more than fair payment though, I say.

I made quite a few Sunday dinners, including Pioneer Woman’s pot roast. YUM.

Overall, I’m doing OK and in some ways, improving, I think. I have decided that based on my job right now and our lives that early morning workouts are no longer working for me, so I have been doing evening workouts for over a week now and it actually seems to be sticking. Thank goodness. Not that I’ll say no to a nice early(ish) morning run when it works, but as a rule, this is working better for me right now. Working out just makes me feel good. And I’d been missing it and it seems to be helping.

I’m even looking forward to Christmas a little.

May 17, 2013May 19, 2013

Friday Faves May 17, 2013

Another busy Friday! Tabby has Field Day today, so I am spending half my day at her school, playing tag and giving out popcicles and the like. Should be fun! On to another round of Friday Faves.

Favorite Daydream: check out this awesome attic movie theatre. I think what really appeals to me is the soft surfaces and cave-like look of it. I think I could watch movies or just sleep or read in here for hours.

Favorite Purchase: I tried some of this ice cream at the Mother’s Day Race I ran on the recommendation of my girlfriend. Man, she was right. I am not sure I’ve ever had better ice cream. Sweet, salty, creamy, crunchy. AWESOME. Not sure how widely available it is, since they’re a CO company, but if you can find it, BUY IT!! Coconut crunch is great too.

Favorite Savory Delight: This orange chicken with asparagus looks awesome. I think we’re heading out of asparagus season, but I want to make some next week.

Favorite App: This game’s a little hard to explain, but easy once you “get” it. You and a friend both say a random word, then you both try to find something in between your two words. Then again with the next two words you come up with until you both say the same thing. It’s also great because you can get it on Android and iOS. Interesting side note, it was developed by the band OK Go! (a personal fave).

Favorite Craftiness: Just saw this great article on how to make your own paper tape!! You just get some double-sided adhesive and put it on wrapping paper or whatever you like. Such a fun idea.

Favorite Destination: This is Faroe Islands in Denmark and it is definitely going on my must-visit list. So beautiful.

Favorite Workout: Bob Harper’s 20 minute crossfit workout is all things I love: Bob Harper and Crossfit. All you need are some dumbells and this little vid.

Favorite Sweet Thang: Check out these avalanche bars. One of my favorite candy stores, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, sells something pretty similar. It won’t happen soon because I’m trying to behave myself vis-a-vis sugar, but I will have to try these out!

Favorite Funny: bwwaaaahahhahahah! His expression says it all!!!

Favorite Wise Words: yep … well said, Sirius.

Favorite Breakfast Nom: I am constantly on the lookout for new breakfast ideas because while I could (and do) happily eat the same breakfast repeatedly for months, the kids like variety. This breakfast pizza looks great and has the protein that is hard to fit into a quickie breakfast on the way out the door. Going to try it soon – maybe for camping!

And that is it! Hope you have a great weekend!

May 31, 2012

This Crazy Life

What’s going on, you ask?

We are headed camping this weekend. We reserved last minute so all we could get was the “group” site which holds up to 75 people (and 15 vehicles). Three families are going so it’s not toooo ridiculous. I’m calling it The Jamboree. I can’t wait. But of course this makes lots of work … to get ready for camping … again. The kids are beyond thrilled and not just because I got them new buckets and bug catchers.
My darling over-achieving husband added to our workload yesterday by getting MORE bedding plants at the nursery. He was there to get tomatoes and came home with a bunch more flowers to add to the beds. I was a bit peeved because remember how I hate gardening? Still do.
We braised a pork shoulder in Dr. Pepper last night … oh. my. word. We were supposed to take it camping with us but we underestimated how much it would cook down. Unfortunately we were left with about a cup of insanely tasty pulled pork and that will feed … maybe the kids? Maybe me? Not all of us though. Plan B. Costco also has pulled pork.
Speaking of cooking, you have probably noticed that the Cookbook Challenge has fallen by the way side. I had fun with it at first but then it got to be a chore, so I chucked it. I have enough chores. I’ll share a recipe when I really really love it. The end.
We found a piece of land we’re very interested in. There are about 15 hurdles (big ones) we have to jump through and very few of them come with guarantees, but we’re very seriously looking into it.
I have been pretty slacky on the whole being healthy thing, but I had a serious talk with myself and decided I would correct this. It is actually going pretty well and I’m pleased with myself. Of course this is only Day 3.
Relatedly, I am really enjoying running right now. I’ve been chilling more about mileage and just focusing on having good enjoyable runs. Matt and I did a great session at Table Mountain on Saturday. I want to get out to more trails. I love the scenery and the peace.
Tabby is doing a photoshoot with some friends on Friday for an outdoors gear company. They will apparently be some sort of team and may appear on a box. The important part (to Tabby) is that they get cash for their efforts. The kid is big on saving money and this thrills her to the core.
Ben has a nasty abrasion on his face. He tripped and fell face first this weekend while running … on the side walk. He has been wearing a bandaid over it all week. It looks pretty cute and quite rakish on him. They do feel fast though!
I am behind on so many things and trying to get my act together. Work is pure madness right now. I have two very big projects I’m tackling right now and things are falling through the cracks at home as my work hours go longer and it follows me home.
I am very much looking forward to a few minutes of peace tonight when I get my hair cut.

June 22, 2011June 21, 2011

Our (Pipe) Dream House

We’ve now lived in our little house for almost 7 years. I must say I really really love our house. But as much as I love it, it is not 100% perfect and Matt and I have always wanted to build our own house at some point in the semi-distant future. With the housing market the way it is now, we can’t/won’t sell, but we are thinking about buying some land and holding it until we can build up some equity and then eventually build a new home.

Anyhow, we’ve been looking casually at land and hatching this scheme and then today, I saw a great post at Ohdeedoh about what you’d ask for if you had a home makeover show at your disposal, which got me thinking about my “wish list” for our Dream House. Overall, I don’t want anything too big. I really like the size of our house and I do NOT want much more to clean. Still, there are some definite things on my wish list.

Author of the inspirational post on Ohdeedoh, Janie Lee, cited an outdoor shower as her personal fantasy project. I must concur. We had one in the house we stayed at in HI when Tabby was a baby and it was heavenly. I would love it on an upstairs deck, perhaps just outside of the master bedroom.
A REAL pantry. If you’ve been hanging around for more than a minute, I’m sure you’ve heard me bitch and moan about our black-hole pantry that I despise. I wish for a large closet with shallow shelves. The pantry Pioneer Woman installed in her “lodge” a couple of years ago still makes me swoon. I would want baskets as well for storing things like potatoes and squash.
I am a huge fan of outdoor rooms, the type that are covered porches with a wall or two. I would want one with a fireplace or fire pit (probably a fire pit for roasting marshmallows), nice seating areas, a ceiling fan and of course a grill.
I would love to have a mudroom and/or landing area for the STUFF. Bags, backpacks, coats, mittens, hats, boots … all near laundry facilities. Our kitchen sort of functions in this way right now, but it would be nice to have it a bit more portioned off.
Nix the dining room and living room. I have no use for formal rooms. I am not into formal entertaining or wasted space. I would ideally like a dining area attached to the kitchen with a giant stone fireplace.
A nicer kitchen. We are super lucky to have the great kitchen we have, but ideally, I’d like a slightly larger kitchen. Just a few more cabinets would be nice and, of course this is a bit silly and specific, but I would love to have a faucet at the stove for filling pans. I think it would be fun too to have the stove on an island with some seating around so guests could hang out while dinner was prepared.
And since we’re talking DREAM here, I would love to have a really cool personal space. It might be attached to the house or it might not be. But I’d love a space to chill out with my computer and my crafts and maybe my treadmill. It would be primarily mine, but I’d love some spots to work with the kids on this or that or to curl up and read books. This treehaus workspace is particularly cool.

There are of course, a few other things. I would love slightly bigger rooms for the kids and a guest room. An exercise room would be cool. A girl can dream, eh?