To sit and rest and be

I see I haven't written a post since the beginning of September. Lest you forget that this is not, in fact, just Erin's blog, I will write a post. Then I will wait five months and then write another.

Erin's been bugging me for a while to start and finish a little house project in our play room. In said room there is a little alcove created when a tiny room was built for a water heater. It has a shelf up high, but nothing below. For a while we had a dresser in there, but we took it out when we ceded the room to our children.

So Erin wanted a built in bench/sitting/curling up spot. This is a perfect project for me because, (1) it is not hard, and (2) it should not take long.

We had a three-day weekend a few weeks back. So I figured I'd bust out a project. I finished, mostly, last week.

I framed it in. On the right is the wall of the water heater closet. As you can see, the bench is planned in the traditional trapezoidal shape, typical of most classic built-in benches.

I made it the same height as our couch. Because we're going to sit on it. And we sit on our couch.

Corbin did some actual nail pounding. Eliza did some actual noise-making. Note: I am in this picture. That is called "adult supervision."

With the help of Jen's sewing machine, Erin put new covers on some old pillows and made a trapezoidal cushion to match the trapezoidal bench.

It is Eliza-sized.

 I got a piece of plywood wainscoting for the front. It is painted the same color as the accent wall in this room. 

A winner! The only thing that looks off to me is the baseboard trim. It seems too high with the wainscoting. We'll get used to it.

Important note: You can open the top of this bench and put things inside, such as toys, single socks, children, old phone books, pets, or "other stuff." Also very useful for evading Imperial stormtroopers ("Never thought I'd be using them to smuggle myself").

There's just a little bit left to do. I need to sink the finishing nails (which means I need to get a nail sinker thingee), which will then need to be filled in and painted over by Erin. Erin also needs to finish up the cushion. In the meantime, however, the bench is fully functional.

My work here is done!

At least until I get my nail sinker thingee.

Mom's Ski Day

It's been a rough winter around here in terms of sickness. We just can't seem to get healthy for longer than a week. Colds, coughs, croup, fevers, pink eye, 24 hr bugs, ear infections, & more. We seriously get healthy for a week and then something else comes along. So this last week it's been pink eye. Yep. Pink eye. Then it turned into an ear infection and possible sinus infection. Yuck! We had planned to go cross country skiing on this gorgeous weekend but decided that Corbin should probably stay home and rest up, get a nap, etc. I was bummed about missing a skiing weekend during this nice weather. Adam was too... but our friend Jill was still going to go with her son Miles (21 months old) and convinced Aimee and I we should just go with the little guys. So we decided to make it a mom's and little ones ski day.

Here is where having a minivan would be amazing. We had to take 2 cars for the 3 of us moms and 3 kids. Bummer! But the sun was shinning and we were ready. Miles fell asleep on the way there but Eliza and Uma fell asleep within 10 minutes of skiing.

Everyone was saw was always so impressed to see us all with kids on our backs! We had a little snack at the end of the trail. Although with carrying kiddos in Ergo's and not having our male pack-horses, we had light snacks since we couldn't carry much food or water with us.

Miles, Eliza, & Uma (18-22 months old)!

We were all tired when we got back but had a good time with just one kiddo. My toe nail has some weird bruise on it though and one of my wrists hurts but it was all worth it. Everyone is tired and ready for bed!

SNOW!

We finally got our annual snow fall. I love it. I know some people don't love it and are thinking about all the days we will need to make up in June but I LOVE it! We already had a short school week because of MLK day on Monday. And now we are on our 3rd snow day tomorrow! I love it!!

This is what we woke up to on Monday morning. Going out to play!

Watching the big kids sled on the street.

The old runner sled that was my dad's. It's an old classic. I love it! It's perfect for snow covered packed down roads.

Corbin had a run-in with one of the neighborhood kids knees...although the kids shins probably looked worse!

I just love the look on Corbin's face!

Why not lounge in the tree, she says.

We had friends come over for dinner, tired the kids out, and then woke up to this! Almost 10 inches by the end of the day!

We headed over to the park to sled with friends. It was so quiet out. The snow was so peaceful. I love it!!!

Eliza and Uma weren't too into sledding but snacks and watching big brothers were pretty fun!

A little stop at Lafeen's for some hot chocolate and donuts, what could be better after sledding!

Then we had to head out to the best sledding hill in the neighborhood, next to our friend Jen and Toby's house. It was awesome! It was too big for Eliza and all Brindzi wanted to do was chase everyone down the hill. Tomorrow we will check it out even more and see how it goes with some hard cold packed down ice.

What I loved the most about this hill was that the whole neighborhood was there. Old, young, parents, kids, everyone. I loved it. On our street, only kids were out. Kids who should have been supervised. It was fun to see that just a couple of streets over with such a neighborhood feeling.

They are seriously crazy!

Today I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, so did Corbin and Eliza. Although I love the snow, it's hard. It tires everyone out. We get dressed up, undressed, look for mittens, hats, coats, etc. And today, I lost my patience with my kids. I couldn't decide if I needed some alone time or to get outside again. But one thing I did know was that I wanted to go x-country skiing out my front door before the storm was over. Tomorrow is supposed to not be so nice, so it was my only chance. It was also colder today and I had an allergy shot at 11:15 but I was determined to get out. So we bundled up again, and went out skiing. We went to the big field near Bloedell Donavan. I was a little nervous going along Electric for a bit, but we all made it. Corbin promptly decided he did not want to ski anymore and I had to leave. But I got out. I did it. Adam had to bring the kids back by himself while I hurried to my appointment. But I felt better afterward. I think we all did.

Brindzi also LOVES the snow! She was in 7th Heaven!

See this backpack. Eliza is all of a sudden obsessed. Seriously. After riding in it yesterday, she kept saying "Ba pack" over and over again. She wouldn't get out of it after we got home. She even had to sit in it while we ate dinner. Seriously. Then this morning, she sat in it for 30 minutes this morning. Whatever floats this girls boat! We had to hide it so she wouldn't see it.

Riding in the backpack makes me tired....(see our newest project...more on that later).

And down our hill again and again this afternoon. I had to sit out for the most part because, guess what, Eliza wanted to be in the backpack!

No school again tomorrow...possibly not on Friday either....wow!

play!

Adam requested a night off of watching "Friday Night Lights", which I am addicted to so he could read. I can now catch up on some blogging. The kids have been having more fun playing with each other lately. It's a bit of fresh air from the constant refereeing which I seem to be also doing a lot. I know I am not in the clear but it has just been wonderful to watch them play.

The kids have been sick again this week. It's so frustrating. Just as we get healthy, they get sick again. I don't know if it's Corbin being in school or both of us working. Or that we need to wash our hands more. Or all of it. Corbin was sick on Tuesday (one of my work days) so Adam stayed home. Now Eliza has a fever tonight. And I work again tomorrow. So I am staying home and a friend will watch Eliza in the afternoon. It's been a rough winter of sickness. Let's hope for some health in the next couple of months.

Here are some videos of skiing, sledding and playing!

Also, happy 18 months to my baby, Eliza Jolie! I can't believe she is one and a half! I am so lucky to have her as my baby!!! Maybe I will write a 18 month post for her this weekend. Maybe.

Skiing!

After Christmas we packed up and headed to my parents house in Bend. The weather didn't want to cooperate with much snow, so we spent the first day at the High Desert Museum, fun but not snowy. The next day we headed up to the mountain. It was snowing and continued to snow most of the time we were there before it turned to freezing rain. But a good time was had by all!

The skiing fam!

Four generations of skiing from 93-18 months! We probably had the oldest and youngest out there skiing!

Eliza rode in the Chariot while Corbin skiied. He did so AWESOME! He skiied for the longest he has yet. Although snowballs were a bit of a distraction first. After lunch, my dad, Adam, and I went to ski a little more with the Chariot (thanks Dad for pulling it) and my mom took Corbin. They went up and down and up and down and up and down! And then played in the snow.

Eliza slept in the Chariot. I almost died for my first time out on Skate skis with a couple of inches of snow. I admit, I walked the last hill back to the lodge so my legs could not be in an "V". Now we just hope to get out a little here at Mt. Baker before our Leavenworth trip.

The next day we just couldn't muster the energy for skiing with everyone again (and paying for Bachelor), so we headed to the sledding hill. Corbin had a blast! So did Eliza, after she got over the initial shock of sledding, she loved it! But she threw some major tantrums waiting her turn. It just didn't quite work for her and Corbin to go with Adam down the hill, so they had to take turns, she thought that was bull.

Corbin even went down the hill (part of it) by himself! He did a face plant at the end and cut his lip a little (battle wound!) and scraped his face. But then he got up and did it again!

Although it was a short visit, it was lots of fun to see the kids out in the snow with Grammie, Buppa, and Great Grandpa Dan. Hopefully next year there will be more snow down lower to play and ski in.

Appreciations

We do appreciations first thing for our family meeting each week. For almost the whole last year Corbin has always said that he appreciates Eliza going to sleep OR he appreciates that I put Eliza to sleep OR that Eliza takes naps. Tonight for the first time he said he appreciated that Eliza plays with him and that she giggles :-) Oh my heart!