Wednesday, May 31, 2006

I convinced Dan it was his turn to put A to bed, which meant that I had to go catch the garter snake poor C discovered on our porch. While I attempted to do so (and failed- I'm hoping it left on its own accord and is not lurking underneath something), I realized that I had just agreed to chase snakes in order to avoid putting my daughter to bed, and still felt I had the much better end of the deal. This is a sign that SOMETHING needs to change....

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Memorial Day

When I told Cadao we were going to the parade, he said they'd learned about Memorial Day at school. "It celebrates veterinarians and people who help people and stuff like that."

Friday, May 26, 2006


Dan wanted me to stand next to him to hold the roof panel while he cut it. That lasted about 3 seconds, until the sparks started flying.  Posted by Picasa


The new-and-less-dangerous roofing method Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Another trait A inherited from the Day side

At the playground today, a very "helpful" 2-year-old wanted to follow Alyra around everywhere and talk to her and TOUCH her and all sorts of awful stuff like that. Alyra of course hated it, and she finally planted her feet, screwed up her face in frustration, and screamed, "PEOPLE!"

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Oh, I forgot to mention-

Dan was BAREFOOT on the roof.

Saturday, May 20, 2006


 Posted by Picasa


Noah, luckily, did NOT fall off the roof Posted by Picasa


work circle Posted by Picasa

our first work circle

For a few years before A was born, we had a work circle with five other families. We met monthly at one family’s house on a weekend morning and worked together on projects until noon, when we ate lunch together. All except one of the families in that work circle moved or got pregnant about the same time I did, so it sort of fell apart at that point.

Recently we joined a newly-formed work circle, and as the only family who’d done it before, we got the first work slot to show everyone else How It’s Done. Hosting an effective work circle usually requires a large amount of planning; in addition to serving a meal to 10 adults and 6-ish kids, which in itself is not an insignificant endeavor, we make it our goal to get the Most Work Possible out of every member of our work crew. This means having multiple projects going at once, all the materials and supplies at hand, and something that can be accomplished in the presence of children (who should not be in the area during asbestos removal or rusty-nail collection or the like).

With only two weeks to prepare, during which we had several other commitments, we didn’t get as much planning done as we’d like. We did have several fairly small projects to do, such as moving a bookcase, and the neverending weed-clearing in our yard is good to suck up hours of anyone’s time. But we decided to start off with a literal and figurative bang- replacing the roof on the shed.

Dan ordered the materials to arrive a week in advance, and started roof-demolition on Thursday; he was out there again at 7 a.m. today to get good start before the work crew arrived at 9:30. What with the expected demolition-and-tarpapering and the less-expected carpenter-ant vacuuming (maybe we should try to get in a Dyson infomercial for that) and the pre-drilling of the roof panels (oh, we got metal, of course; we couldn’t make it easy and cheap by getting asphalt shingles like everyone else- which means we can NOT move from this house for at LEAST 30 years), however, it was 11:30 before the metal started going up. Everyone worked ‘til 12:45-ish before having lunch, and then two families (thankfully) stayed on to finish.

Finally, everything is done except for the last pieces on each side, which need to be cut. Since it’s 2:30 at this point, the roofers start putting up a tarp so they can finally go home.

It’s at this point, when we’re almost done, that Dan decides to hurl himself off the roof.

We suspect a broken foot. Dan hobbles around with ice while our friends do a beautiful job of cleaning up. (I, incidentally, was all-but-useless for much of the work circle because A was extra-needy; which means our friends slaved away while I watched.) Andy, who is a doctor in his spare time when he’s not fixing our roof, needs to be at the hospital immediately; he sends his wife home to get him less mossy clothes and then borrows our OTHER friends’ car to take Dan to the hospital with him. (In this way, we managed to inconvenience as many people as possible while I still got to stay home and watch other people work.)

Andy fast-tracks Dan at the hospital so it "only" takes him three hours to get in and out, and to hear that his foot is in fact NOT broken, just horribly painful. (Hurray!) Dan gets 8 x-rays and a diptheria vaccine, and Andy waits around to deliver him back home again. Are our friends amazing, or what?

Incidentally, we just made up a budget a few nights ago. Should Dan’s medical bills fall under "medical" or "home repair"?

Monday, May 15, 2006

In which A absorbs more Rain family culture

-Due to C's endless repetitions of his Mary Poppins medley, when he sings "feed the birds..." she pipes in with "twopence."

-When she wants someone to get out of her way, she says "beep beep." "Beep beep Paco!"

-She's started teasing Dan. She says "Yucky Daddy!" to him with an evil grin, and runs away laughing.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

C's a suck-up

After coming home from the co-op today, Dan was kind enough to keep feeding the kids in the kitchen while I ate dinner. C roamed into the dining room and tried to chat, and I told him that I was wiped out, needed some peace, and would be much more pleasant to be around after I finished eating. He said, "I always think you're nice to be around because you're my Mommy." Way to make me feel guilty-

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

renovations

Since we decided we don't have the energy to build an office outbuilding this year, and Dan nixed the idea of converting our closet into a bedroom for A, we decided that we should instead confuse our lives by transferring all of our furniture from room to room instead. While final positioning is not yet complete, C's room is now downstairs in our former office, and A is in his old room. The computer and office stuff are in our bedroom.

We're getting more sleep with A in her own room (well, except when Paco keeps us up all night with his elimination needs, but we're hoping that our most recent financial sacrifice to the veterinary gods will take care of that problem). C's craft table, formerly occupying a corner of our dining room along with several less-than-attractive blockades to prevent toddler invasions, is much better off in his new gated-off room. The bedroom/office is less than ideal, but it's not awful either. The main thing I hate is having C sleep downstairs. Though we leave our door open, I still don't trust that we'll hear him if he calls to us. He's old enough now to seek us out, but I still wish that adding another upstairs bedroom were a simpler prospect....

A is proudly displaying her younger-child status with her latest language addition- "me too! me too!" She spends a lot of time picking "dindy ion fwowers" and "eyelet fwowers" (dandelion and violet flowers). Colors are becoming more interesting; the "black cat" in her tractor book is her favorite, and today she pointed out "Dee-dahs orj shoot" (Cadao's orange shirt).