Put rocks in glass house

So, we got this greenhouse. Rowan and Kristina gave it to us. It was attached to their house and they didn't want it. It was a kind and generous gift. The size and shape were exactly what we dreamed about for a greenhouse, but would likely never get on our own. Nice, solid aluminum frame and real glass. So, exciting.

So in November I went down and spent a day to take the greenhouse apart. I loaded up all of the frame and most of the glass. I unloaded it into the shop and waited for drier weather.

Oh...right. November 2009. I don't know...it just kept raining? And then, oop, baby Ellie? Plus, I don't really know what I'm doing most of the time.

I'm pretty sure I started and stopped this project about three times. Each time the project got a little better planned, a little better designed, and a little more frustrating and annoying.

There are several factors that made the greenhouse project difficult:

• The greenhouse attaches to a wall. It is like a half house-shape. This requires a nice square, plumb foundation and attach wall. My shop is neither square, nor plumb, nor nice. Well, it's kind of nice, for an old, old shop. But it's crooked and creaky, to be sure.
• The greenhouse is about eight feet tall at the peak. The wall it attached to on Rowan and KK's house was nice and big, with nothing but flat siding surrounding the greenhouse. The wall of my shop were we aimed to put the greenhouse is about eight feet tall, and the roof rafters and eaves come down. The pitch of the roof of the shed is not quite the same as the pitch of the greenhouse roof. This required that we dig out a rather largish pit so that the greenhouse could fit under the eaves of the shop. Side note: This created a very large amount of dirt. We was another thing which we took a very long time to decide what to do with.
• I don't really know what I'm doing most of the time.

This was before I really started digging it out. Because this? This wasn't even close to how deep and wide it needed to be.

So, things went very slowly. Really, it wasn't until Paul came over and helped me get everything square and plumb with the foundation and the wall. It really was a two-person job. And in terms of house projects, Paul is sort of like one-and-a-half people, and I'm like half a person, so together we got it figured out.

Then the frame went up easy.

Then things sat for a bit. We needed to get some pea gravel to fill in the pit. But we also wanted to get gravel for our driveway. So much gravel! Stalled out. Gravel overload. We got no gravel, and got nothing done.

So last week, we just went ahead and got some damn pea gravel. Last weekend, the whole family moved gravel. Then I put up the rest of the frame and put in the glass. Tada!

Of course, the longer it took to get this greenhouse together, the less glass seemed to survive. There was only a few broken pieces when we took it down. One or two broke when I brought them up to Bellingham. Some smaller pieces got damaged when Rowan and KK brought them up. But the worst was just a couple months ago. After I finished our bench in the play room, I was storing the extra plywood and shoving it behind a dresser in the shop. I had forgotten that the greenhouse glass was leaning against the other side of the dresser. Forgotten until I gave a stiff shove and heard a sickening crash. I'm pretty sure significant cursing followed. About eight panes broke. It sucked. A lot.

So part of that "put in the glass. Tada!" involved an unpleasantly priced trip to Lowe's for plexiglass. The top is all plexiglass, which I figured would be good for defense from flying things, but it sags a bit. But it's fine.

One thing that didn't work is the roof window. The original had a window that would open to vent the greenhouse, but it attaches right at the wall and sticks up higher than the I didn't plan that into the design. So the rafters get in the way. We just didn't put it in. I think it will be fine. We've got some built in vents because I didn't cut the plexiglass quite long enough, but we don't talk about that.

Anyway.

Now we have a greenhouse! It is awesome! Our peppers will be pepperful! Our starts will start!

The project was a pain in the ass, but now that it's done (mostly), we're all happy. Not because it's done (mostly), but because We Have A Greenhouse! It Is Awesome! Our Peppers Will Be Pepperful! Our Starts Will Start!

Thanks Corbin and Eliza for helping with the gravel.

Thanks Erin for nagging  silently judging "supporting" me on this project for three years.

Thanks especially Paul for helping me get through the hardest part.

Thanks especially Rowan and Kristina.

*Still to do:

• Razor blade the glass to clean off tape, gunk, and other stuff that's been on there for 30 years probably.
• Figure out something for around the outside of the greenhouse, between the gravel and the grass.
• Build some sort of bench/table/shelf inside for pots, etc.
• Get pots or something for peppers and other inside veggies.

Books Books and more Books

We love books here. I don't know if you remember but we got Corbin a library card for his birthday. We use it weekly. We currently have over 40 books between the 4 of us out of the library. Most of them are kids books. We usually make at least one family trip to the library each week and sometimes the kids and I make another. Adam has been veraciously reading the latest young adult and middle level books. He is also finding new books for Corbin to fall in love with.

We are not pushing Corbin to "read" or learn his letters or write his letters. We are trying to let him lead and show us when he is interested. He is really into "reading" right now. I would say most of the time when he is "playing" by himself, he is reading instead of playing with his toys. He can recite whole books to us. Just recently he has shown some more interest in learning his letters and writing, so we have gone with it. We got letter fridge magnets, we found a great game on the computer (www.starfall.com), and we have been practicing some writing. At nap time or quiet time most of these days, he reads for 45 minutes before being allowed to play in his room, quietly. He has a HUGE stack of books in his bed with him. At night he has "quite time" books to read after we have left the room. Many nights I have had to go in and get the books he has fallen asleep with under the covers. We read to him all the time but we have had to limit our night time books to two books or we would be reading forever.

We refuse to let our kids watch or have any screen time while in the car. I use TV at home but not in the car. Corbin reads, draws, watches, listens to books on CD while in the car. He and Eliza have a book box in between them. They fight over books. I love it!

We have started two new things in the last couple of weeks too. Books on CD and Chapter books. He has listened to music or his Winnie the Pooh CD before going to bed for a while. But then he requested more. So we went to the library in search of some more books on CD. We came home with more Winnie the Pooh, which he carried and listened to for 24/7, it seemed. He got a few shorter books that were fun too but Winnie the Pooh definitely stuck out. He then started playing Winnie the Pooh and reciting word for word the CD. So Adam decided he was ready for a Chapter book. So obviously, he picked Winnie the Pooh! Corbin LOVED it. He started asking for Adam to put him to bed every night (which is unusual)! It's so cool to see Adam instilling his love of reading with Corbin. It truly has become their special bonding time. But since Adam (and me) would still like to switch each night, I found a book to read with Corbin too. We started with the Magic Tree House books. The first one is Dinosaurs Before Dark, perfect because we are also in a dinosaur phase right now. Except we read in one day! He loved it! My friend sent me a great link to websites on choosing chapter books for pre-schoolers. One website also said to just choose a book that is about 3 levels above your child's reading level, so a preschooler would listen to a book for a 2nd grader. But we haven't stopped reading picture books either, which is also important. His new favorites are Mo Willmens books, especially "Elephant and Piggy" books. they are AWESOME! We are excited about this new adventure!

And of course, Eliza is also starting to want to read more and new books! She was not as content to listen and look at books as Corbin was when she was a baby. But she is loving them now!

Last Wednesday was World Read A Loud Day. Adam celebrated it with his students by reading books to the younger kids. The kids then raised money to buy their library those books, and then donated the rest of the money, $200!, to the Whatcom Literacy Council! Awesome! Adam has been doing some pretty amazing things with his student and reading lately, especially in his Guys Read book club. I am extremely proud of him! He is Skyping with authors, tweeting with authors, and making videos to introduce authors! It's just awesome!

We celebrated it here, by making a nest and reading lots of books, which we do every day. But it was still fun.

And last but not least...

In which Eliza does yoga while learning phonics.

Mama's

I can't even begin to say how much I love my group of mom friends. It's amazing how much community means to moms. I still have great friends who are not mom's but I think that I would not enjoy being a part-time stay at home mom as much as I do without these moms! One thing about getting to know these ladies is finding how much we enjoy and value similar things. It's been really fun to do things I enjoy with a great group of ladies! This past Sunday, a group of us went up to Cypress Ski Area to x-country ski. It's right outside of Vancouver, BC. Amazing views of the city and the water, great snow and groomed trails, and then some Sushi on the way home! It was perfect. Seven of us were able to go. Two were beginners and the rest of us had varying levels but were all good to ski together. I felt a little bad leaving our beginners after a real quick lesson (real quick). But we met up with them a few times. Cypress has lots of criss-crossing trails. And lots of hills! Good for downhill but lots of work going up.

Bethany, Jill, Liliana, Daylen, me, Aimee, and Lynette.

It was a pretty nice day. Some snow early but it was really trying to clear up while we were skiing. But it was cold!

It was fun to hang out with these ladies. Some of them are amazingly fit and in shape...I can only aspire to keep up with them without skis. So it was fun for me to be able to hang in there with them for most of it.

Then we hit up some yummy Vancouver Sushi. We all ordered way too much because we were thinking Bellingham prices and sizes (expensive). So we all came home with left overs, hopefully that is legal to bring across the border :-) My car did get a random search on the way up. Luckily we were early and it only took a few minutes!

Thanks Ladies for a great time! What's our next adventure going to be ??

Then it was gorgeous out this morning, albeit cold. But Jill and I were up for an adventure. We decided to go for a hike. It had to be Corbin speed though, since I had both kids and only one could get carried.

Miles and Eliza were excited about wearing back packs, although they were a little heavy for their little bodies! They almost fell over when we started uphill! But oh they were SO cute!!

Corbin did a GREAT job. He hiked the whole 2.4 miles! I realized I had no idea how far he could go. He got a little tired on the way back down but nothing that fruit leather and peanut butter pretzels couldn't help.

Then we had to stop at Boomer's for some cheap burgers for lunch! Thanks Jill & Miles for a fun little hike, we did get some sun at the end!

Family Ski Trip 2012!

We had our 7th or 8th Ski Weekend this past President's Day weekend. 5 couples, 8 kids, and tons of fun! Some people think we are crazy to even attempt a cross country ski weekend with kids, let alone share it with 4 other family's but it's always a good time. We added a few new friends this time and missed a few with new babies. Hopefully next year it will be even bigger!

We rented the same house as last year in Plain, WA outside of Leavenworth. It has a space/bedroom for each family. Kid sleep in closets, on the floor, in nooks. This year we were a group of early risers. One morning I think we were all up and fed by 7:30 am! And then out the door by 9:15 each morning. Each family takes a meal, either breakfast or dinner and we always bring WAY too much food. This year we had two gluten free folks but it was amazing what great food everyone made.

This year we only stayed 3 nights instead of four but we got an early start and arrived at the cabin around 2pm, right before it started to snow. We sent the kids and boys out to play in the snow right away. It was one of our best snow weekends we have had in a while. The rest of our friends arrived throughout the afternoon. Since no naps had really happened and we sent kids out for fun in the snow, all kids were ready for bed at 7pm! And we adults got to eat by 7:30. It was GREAT to enjoy dinner just as adults. But as usual, we always stay up way too late.

The next morning, we were up early and ready to play. Most of us headed into Leavenworth to ski at Icicle Creek. A great place for beginners. Adam and I decided to skate ski, which turned out to be harder than we had anticipated due to heavy children :-) Corbin started off skiing but then gave up quicker than we were hoping. So carrying Eliza in the ergo while skating is harder than you would imagine. And pulling a 37 lb 3.5 yr old was harder... Eliza was asleep within 10 minutes though. But I couldn't do the big loop. But it was fun as usual!

And sharing hot chocolate with friends, Quin & Silas, is always good too!

Corbin even shared with his little sis!

We tired them out again and didn't have much of a quiet time when we got home after lunch. And Eliza's 25 minute nap meant she would not nap later... oh well. So we played in the house while the boys went outside. I don't know what it is about my children and their amazing choice of clothes but they crack me up. Eliza had on only one boot after this...

Eliza, Uma, do you want to go outside? No. Why play outside when we can dance at the window and be warm and wear just our diapers!

We have the best dad's in the world. The kids had so much fun. And so did the dads! This snow bank was a huge hit.

Corbin going down head first!

Go dad's go! And look at this gang of boys!

The second day we all split up. Aimee and I dropped Eric and Adam off to ski on their own and Aimee and I took our 4 kids to ski on the new Plain Hardware Store loop. The boys were so tired though... the day before had worn them out. Corbin borrowed a friends real x-country ski (who had rented them). He had a pretty good little rhythm going. Next year he will hopefully get some real ones himself.

Post ski snack with Alden.

Then in the afternoon the girls headed out for some skiing and snow shoeing. Jill, Aimee and I headed to ski and Jen and Daylen opted for some snow shoeing.

Dinner for 8 kids! They all did such a great job! No that beer is not Eliza's ;-)

Our last morning we had the kids go outside again while we cleaned and packed up the cars. We got in as much snow play as we could. A snow fort was also built. The gigantic snowman fell down though.

Eliza and her buddy Silas.

Oh and the sledding as GREAT too. It got pretty fast the second day...

And here is the whole gang! From top left to right; Adam, me, Silas (2 3/4), Jen, Toby, Daylen, Chris, Luca (3.5), Eric, Aimee, Uma (23 mo). Bottom left to right; Eliza (19 mo), Corbin (3.5), Quin (6), Jill, Miles (22 mo), Paul, Alden (3.5)!

What a great weekend guys! Thanks everyone. We can't wait for next year. And for the rest of the gang to join us.

My loves

Happy Belated Valentines Day!

I am working on an epic 2012 Ski Weekend post but these two pictures were on here from Valentines Day. We hope some of you received our belated Holiday cards/Valentines Day cards. Corbin had fun making cards this year for family. Some of his favorite included pictures of ghosts, goblins, monsters, and Christmas wreaths, as well as hearts!

He really wanted his picture taken but wouldn't smile for it! Silly boy.

Eliza's first lolly pop!

Coming soon will be pictures and stories from our Annual Ski Weekend with friends. 5 couples, 8 kids! It was a blast, although we did miss some friends who didn't come too :-)

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.