Our Ibiza - Chapter 6: The Shape of Things To Come

Well, the framing of our new house is almost done, and it is so amazing to see it come to life. I don't have many pictures, but here are a few:

Two photos of the construction of the roof. Its completely on now, but I forgot to get a picture of it from the front when I was there yesterday looking around.

This is what the house will look like when it's finished, if I don't waffle on the color selection again. I was thinking of doing something funky with the color of the garage, but our architect came up with this color combination and we liked it much better. We were thinking of doing a board & batten siding on the green portion of the house, but now we see it mocked up we are thinking of going to a horizontal clapboard. Or maybe that will change too. I'd love any and all opinions on this one if you want to take a minute to comment.

This is another house in our area with board & batten siding for a frame of reference:

A shot from the back of the property, looking at the back of the house (this with the roof on). There will be a deck off the back.

The 3-D model of what the back of the house will look like when finished.

Again, it's all subject to change at any moment.

Here's a super-short video of the interior framing of the main floor. It shows the laundry room, the living area, the kitchen area, and the upstairs master bedroom.

Here's what it should look like when it's done:

I've been amazed at the relative calm I've felt over most of this project. At first I was stressed when we were making the decision, but once it was made, I've been doing great. Until just lately. For some reason all the decisions are looming, and I am feeling a bit freaked out. Unfortunately, this is just the way I am. Maybe I should cut down on the caffeine and do a bit more yoga.

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (Dance Remix)

We went to the Christmas Party at Jack's Preschool the other night, which is always a lot of fun. They go all out with the Christmas decorations and treats and there's even a really cute Santa for the kids to tell their Christmas wishes to. Part of the party every year is the kids getting together to sing Christmas songs. Jack can be a little apprehensive about these things, so I didn't know if he would want to do it, but he got right up with the other kids and got into it. Maybe a little too into it. Watch and see what I mean (sorry, but the only, and I mean only, spot I could get to take video was on the floor behind the microphone stand):

It looked like he was pulling out some Gene Kelly moves from Singin' In The Rain:



It totally cracked us up. I never knew he had it in him.

S is for Storytime

One of the things that has gotten me through being the mother of two small children is Storytime at the library. Our local library goes all out, and it's nice to see considering the amount of children we have in our area. I am a big advocate of reading to kids, and I started reading with Max at 6 weeks old. I still absolutely love reading to them, so I want to do all I can to reinforce the idea that books are fun.

At Storytime each week the leaders give each kid the letter of the week, then everything focuses on that. There's songs, stories (of course), and a puppet show. I really give the library credit for teaching both my kids their letters at a young age, and Jack is able to recognize most of them already. We go every week, and then go out to get a bagel afterwards, and it's been such a fun ritual. Its even more fun now because a lot of my friends come with us, and I've made new cool mom friends at Storytime too. I was a little sad at the beginning of the school year when I realized that this is the last year I will be able to go with Jack because he will most likely be in preschool four mornings a week next year. I love it so much I may just go on my own. Okay, I'm not that pathetic, but it really will always be one of my favorite memories of this stage of childhood, and motherhood.

Making A List...

Jack and I went to Wendy's today for lunch (I know, fast food, I should be shot), and he got a little package of Peanuts Christmas stuff in his Kid's Meal. There was a Wish List for Christmas presents included, so we decided to fill it out. He tried to write the first two things himself, and when I asked him what they said he said "I don't know, what do they say?" You can see them in the photo, and your guess is as good as mine. Some of the other things on his list were pretty typical, but some totally cracked me up, so I thought I'd share it here:

• Lego Star Wars (he already has this game, but apparently he just can't get enough).
• Star Wars Guys
• Guy in an Airplane
• Motorcycle Guy
• Charlie Brown Christmas (Wendy's can rest easy, their marketing worked).
• Something to Blow In The Wind
• A Charlie Brown Book (Maybe the Marketing worked a little too well).
  
• Spiderman Toy
• Big Toy Beast (Jack asked me yesterday what a beast was, and I told him a big scary monster, so now he just has to have one).
• Little Toy Chair
• Little Toy Guy

Christmas to a three year old, is there anything better?

Sometimes Its The Little Things

I went to buy gas at Costco the other day and the price per gallon was only $1.58, which meant that it cost less than $20 to fill my gas tank. In my Volvo. Life is good.

Feeling Feisty

Last year for Christmas Steve got me the album The Reminder by Feist. I had discovered her, as so many other people did, through the iPod Nano commercial that was out last year. I had downloaded 1,2,3,4, but hadn't heard any of her other songs, so it was a great discovery for me. I love her voice, which reminds me a lot of Chrissie Hynde from The Pretenders, one of my favorite bands. I think this album was my favorite Christmas gift from last year, and I still listen to it all the time. In fact, I also ordered Feist's first album Let It Die shortly after, and these both have become the soundtrack for my life over the past 12 months. There's something sweet about her songs that capture what my life feels like, and here are the videos to some of my favorites:

1,2,3,4: The one that started it all. You can see why Apple chose it for the bright colors that correspond to the Nanos, but I love it because when we were watching it with the boys on YouTube both Steve and I looked over at each other and saw we were crying. Yes, we're total saps, but there is just something so beautiful, free, an unashamedly happy about this song and the video that I had to download it onto my iPod so I always have it with me. It never fails to make me smile.



Mushaboom: This one really reminds me of life with my kids. I don't know why; probably because the images of snow and living and appreciating life together that I feel when I hear it. The subtitle of this blog "We'll collect the moments one by one, I guess that's how the future's done" is from this song. To me, that's the secret of a truly happy life; appreciating every moment. I also love this video and my kid's reactions when they watch it. They love that the toast flies, and the first time they saw it they were all "Woah, woah, woah..." when Feist starts flying. It reminds me of happy moments when I feel like I could fly too.



I Feel It All: Another song that just reminds me of happiness, and when you feel all the wonderful things in your life hit you all at once. I love it's energy.



My Moon, My Man: I think it's genius that someone could make something creative out of people movers at an airport. It reminds me of those moments when the world is just clicking away and you can feel the rhythm of it buzzing inside you.



Thanks for indulging me. I just was listening to this music today and realizing just how fantastic my life is. I Feel It All.

Playmobil Nativity Scene

One of the fondest memories I have of Christmastime is playing with my family's nativity scene, making baby Jesus jump from branch to branch on the Christmas tree and having Mary and Joseph hold hands. My parents had a plastic one that looked like carved ivory, so there was never a problem with little kids playing with it. A couple of years ago my Mother-in-law gave us a Lladro Nativity Scene, but every Christmas I just cannot bear to put it out because I know it will be broken to smithereens, so it's still sitting in a box in our garage.

I really wanted the kids to have a Nativity they could play with, so I was so happy to find this Playmobil Nativity Set last year at Target. It was less than $20 and the kids can play with it as much as they like, and it even comes with a booklet with the story of the Nativity. It has been the favorite toy since I brought it out a few days ago, and I love the memories that come back when I watch them play with it. Unfortunately the shepherd's walking stick has been turned into a lightsaber and the angels have both been used as Princess Leia, but I drew the line at the baby Jesus using the wise man's scepter to shoot the other characters. Maybe we need to read through that story of the Nativity again. At least they're having fun.