Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Forces of Nature







It's hard to fathom the difference between last night and today in our weather. Today I am thinking about donning a pair of sunglasses because the sunshine streaming through the windows is almost blinding. Last night those same windows were dark but the wind howling behind them made Kris and I go outside around midnight to try to discover the sounds of bumps in the night. We had heard on the TV that there were reports of 70-mile-an-hour winds. We weren't quite prepared for what we heard. The wind nearly blew us over! Smudge's dog house (the bumps we heard) was now nestled up against my car. There were a few tarps on our logs that were threatening to take flight! We hurried in the wind and cold to gather rocks and weight them all down. The temp. dropped 30 degrees. It was hard to get to sleep after that!
On the building front Kris is still working on prep-work for installing "Goliath". That is the name for the 32.5 ft. tie-beam that will be placed on Monday. It's huge and needs the supporting walls ready to hold it up. It also required Kris to build stairs going down into the basement so Kris could actually get to materials needed to build these walls. Here are the new steps. And how often do you get to skate in your dining room? :) I had to take a shot of Isabel doing this! You can see some to the results of the wind last night from looking at the tarps. I think Katahdin Log Homes got some free flying publicity today as some of the tarps with their logo and name seemed to have flown away.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

non-visual update

Hey, guys! After my last heavily pictured post here is one that is a bit lighter. No pictures today. Kris is working on the porches and steps going to the basement. It is hard to show these projects right now but when the view looks a little different you can be sure I will be uploading my 4 minute pictures to share with you.
Isabel said a priceless thing the other day. When Wesley was expressing his surprise that something I had told him was right Isabel looked at him in disbelief. "Of course she is right. She is the Momma!" :)
I hope someone expresses their appreciation for all you do this week as well.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Ice and water, 1 week, 750 miles apart

FLORIDA to OHIO
I am still trying to catch up on being gone for 4 days! Isabel and I flew to FL and spent the weekend with Wendy and kids. We had so much fun and saw SO many of our friends. It was great for me to see all the places that were so familiar for 13 years since this was our first time back in FL since our move in May.
I was very surprised to find out that I was reliving all of these memories alone. Isabel had just turned 3 a few months before we move and it should be noted that she was medicated for half of her life. She remembered only a few things...her classroom, Chloe, the place her class planted a garden, and the playground. We had plenty of opportunities to make some new memories, however! First Baptist Church of Indian Rocks was having their 50Th Anniversary. There was a concert by Avalon, jumpers, fireworks, and a special service that took place during the days we were there. Isabel and I got our feet wet. It was in the high 50's and a bit chilly and overcast for the Sunshine state.


We went out for dinner with my former coworkers at Morton Plant and I got to see more people when we brought bagels in for everyone. It was so nice to see the familiar and it made me realize how much energy learning new things actually takes from you. Of course we loved being able to spend time with Wendy, Abby, Chloe, and Dominec. They only live a mile from where we used to so I was able to run around Taylor Park (my favorite running spot). Heidi hung out with us for some of these outings and it was good to see her, too.


I had about 5 loads of laundry waiting for me when I got back! After working a few days, catching up on all the cleaning, sorting, and shopping it was time to do something fun with the kids.
Isabel surprised me once again this week with her memory. This time was a positive! :) When we went ice skating she did remarkably better. Instead of being afraid and crying, she was actually standing straight up and I could hold her by her hands near her head instead of holding her up by her waist. Not only was this easier on my back but we were able to move faster. She really enjoyed it. Wesley and Kristianna were much more comfortable on the ice and trying out some new moves.










It was great to be away and great to come home. Being in FL made me realize how much I love being in OH and our life as it is now. I wish there was a way to see our friends from there more often and am very thankful for this blog and the chance to keep in touch with all of you. I don't think this next week has as much in store. We are braving the coldest temps since we've moved here (about 12 degrees) and Kris has been at track meets this weekend. We hope you all are staying warm!
Enjoy the weekend.

















Wednesday, January 9, 2008

row # 16




Good news!! Isabel was cleared by her neurologist today! She only has to follow up with her regular doctor. Here the kids are with washcloths that Uncle Gregor gave them.

We were under a tornado watch last night. We also had a parent of one of Kris's runners from FL stay with us. He flew all the way in from PNG! It was great to be able to entertain but it does make us look forward to the time when we have a whole place for people to stay rather then throwing things together at the last minute.

On that note...Kris finished row # 16 today.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Ooops!

Kristianna is # 2 in the game shot! Sorry.

Different views










I got a complaint that there weren't enough house pics on this site. When Kristianna told me that the bus driver noticed how much was done I thought I better step up the construction pics!

Here are a few pictures from different angles then I've posted previously. Even now they are one row short of what is actually there! Kris and Dad W. put up a new row after I took these pictures. Perhaps now you can see what the bus driver sees even if you are far away!
I am also posting 2 of Kristianna's first Basketball game. It is a learning experience but she is enjoying it.




Thursday, January 3, 2008

A great date to skate



I am guessing that you have all had days that begin with the potential for a really bad attitude! Today was one of those mornings. I think nothing quite says you are all grown up like the prospect of spending your birthday working the first of three nights in a row and with Kris away in FL. I honestly don't know why this was bothering me. After so many years you would think it should just be another day and it is in fact another day. I decided to move on and focus on my kids only having a few days left of Christmas break. It was then that I remembered they still had one Christmas gift that I had almost forgotten about. SKATES!
We bundled up for the 16 degree weather and headed to downtown Dayton to an outdoor rink at RiverScape. I know I have posted pictures of the Little Miami River but this was on the banks of the Great Miami River. It was perfect for us. They had a little fire set up and ice guards. The best part was aside for the $2 in hot chocolate and the $1 for parking it was free! We had SO much fun. This was the first time Wesley and Isabel had been on the ice. Isabel will need a few more coaching lessons but the older two did great. I even had some time to skate when Kristianna was working with Bel for a bit. It wasn't quite the pond in the back of the property I grew up with but it was still a special memory for us all.

Isabel began to get cold after an hour and had to be wrapped in my coat. She was sad tonight that she left the ice early and insisted on sleeping with her skates!
Stay warm and have a fun weekend.
















Wednesday, January 2, 2008

New views

Happy New Year! I had to show a picture of what the wind and our latest snow storm did to Smudge's dog house. Doesn't it look like it was plowed all around? It was pretty cool! Kris took advantage of some ground freezing days to put in window wells in our basement and a window this week. Other additions since last post are the frames for the doors and windows on the log home.




I am not sure how you all spent your New Years' night but at midnight I was with a patient who spoke Arabic. How often does that happen?! :) I decided to fore go using my only Arabic word I could think of since I couldn't remember where the accent went to refer to her baby as either "handsome" or "camel"!
Have a great week.